§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish for the north-west (east) division of the Wages Inspectorate a breakdown by wages council of (a) the number of firms inspected and number of workers whose pay was checked, showing those by visit and those by other method, (b) the number of firms found to be underpaying, (c) the number of workers underpaid, (d) the total arrears assessed and (e) the total arrears actually recovered, in the last year for which figures are available.
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Wages Inspectorate Staff Outdoor wages inspectors Other inspectorate staff April 1979 September 1979 January 1985 April 1979 September 1979 January 1985 Division Authorised posts Staff in post Authorised post Staff in post Authorised posts Staff in post Authorised posts Staff in post London (East) 15 13 8 7 15 12 14 13 London (West) 17 14 9 10 9 8 South Eastern 16 11 10 10 11 9 6½ 6½ Southern 11 11 7 7 8 7 6½ 6½ Eastern 11 9 7 8 10½ 9 7 7 South Western 13 11 9 9 11 10 8½ 7½ Midlands (E) 12 11 7 6 10 8 6½ 6½ Midlands (W) 14 11 12 11 12½ 11 6½ 7½ North West (E) 11 11 7 6 8 8 7 7 North West (W) 11 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 Yorkshire and Humberside 14 14 10 10 13 13 8 8 Northern 10 10 7 7 7 6 6½ 6½
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[pursuant to his reply, 3 April 1985, c. 626–7]: It is not the practice of the Wages Inspectorate to publish divisional analyses of the results of inspections by wages council trade. With that exception, the information requested relating to 1984 is given in the following table for the north-west (east) division.
North-West (East) division of the Wages Inspectorate—provisional results of inspections, 1984 Number Establishments where pay was checked by visit 1,301 Establishments found to be underpaying one or more workers 560 Workers whose pay was checked by visit 6,104 Workers found to have been underpaid 979 £ Arrears paid 115,859 Arrears waived by workers 26,455 Arrears not pursued 33,262 Total arrears assessed 175,576 In addition, the pay of 828 workers at 221 establishments was checked by postal questionnaire and found to be satisfactory. The pay of a further 52,199 workers at 954 branches of multiples which have head offices in the division was covered by satisfactory checks not involving an inspection visit. A number of these branches are located in other areas.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish by region and sub-region, the latest breakdown of Wages Inspectorate staff, showing separately those who are outdoor inspectors, on an establishment and in post basis, and if he will also publish comparable figures for April 1979.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[pursuant to his reply, 3 April 1985, c. 626–27]: The smallest area for which staffing figures are available is the Wages Inspectorate division.
Staff-in-post are not readily available for April 1979. The following table shows the number of authorised posts at April 1979 and the number of staff in post at September 1979 compared with the position at January 1985.
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Outdoor wages inspectors Other inspectorate staff April 1979 September 1979 January 1985 April 1979 September 1979 January 1985 Division Authorised posts Staff in post Authorised post Staff in post Authorised posts Staff in post Authorised posts Staff in post Scotland (E) 7 7 7 8 7 7 6½ 6 Scotland (W) 8 8 6 6 7½ 6½ 6½ 8½ Wales 7 7 5 5 7 7 6 6 Total 177 158 120 119 144½ 129½ 104 102½
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish for the years 1970, 1974 and 1978 onwards in respect of the north-west (east) division of the Wages Inspectorate (a) the number of wages council establishments registered, (b) the propor-
North-West (East)division 1970 1974 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 †1984 Establishments on Wages Inspectorate register 32,016 30,772 26,788 24,679 25,401 25,236 24,855 24,669 24,705 Proportion of establishments at which pay was checked by visit 11% 8.5% 8.3% 9.7% 7.5% 4.7% 5.8% 6.4% 5.3% Proportion of establishments visited and found to be underpaying one or more workers (See note below) *18.3% *27.8% *38.3% 39.3% 45.9% 51.7% 45.1% 44.7% 43% Total arrears assessed *n/a *n/a *n/a £131,238 £161,824 £129,477 £148,495 £176,654 £175,576 Total arrears paid £10,213 £25,106 £101,677 £115,900 £151,307 £118,884 £122,210 £127,169 £115,859 * Figures for the proportion of establishments visited and found to be underpaying one or more workers in 1970, 1974 and 1978 are available only for employers actually paying arrears. † Provisional. Note: These figures cannot be taken as an indication of the general level of compliance as the Inspectorate tends to concentrate visits on establishments which are more likely to be underpaying.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish estimates for 1984 on (a) establishments covered by wages councils, (b) numbers of inspections and underpayments, (c) numbers of workers covered, together with figures on underpayment and arrears assessed and (d) a regional breakdown of wages council inquiries, in the same format as that used in the reply given on 4 June 1984, Official Report, columns 103–104, together with a breakdown of arrears assessed and arrears actually paid by wages council and region; and whether he will also indicate the number and regional location of cases of underpayment where the employer was prosecuted, and where civil proceedings were taken to recover arrears of wages.
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Table 1 Establishments covered by wages councils on register—January 1985 Wages councils London (East) London (West) South Eastern Southern Eastern South Western Midlands (East) Midlands (West) Aerated waters 11 — 14 145 27 13 28 46 Clothing manufacture 1,894 726 112 242 318 187 835 558 Boot and shoe repairing 259 374 123 99 108 152 159 230 Button manufacturing 14 7 3 5 1 2 8 9 Coffin furniture and cerement making — 1 — — — 2 — 6 Cotton waste reclamation 4 — — — — 1 — — Flax and hemp — — — — — 1 — — Fur 138 113 14 18 12 7 8 10 General waste materials reclamation 89 52 56 72 85 103 140 203 tion of these inspected by visit, (c) the proportion of firms inspected by visit found to be underpaying, (d) the total arrears assessed and (e) the total arrears paid.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[pursuant to his reply, 3 April 1985, c. 626–27]: The information requested is given in the following table.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[pursuant to his reply, 3 April 1985, c. 626–27]: It is not the practice of the Wages Inspectorate to publish divisional analyses of underpayment by wages council trade. With that exception, the information requested relating to 1984 is given in the following tables.
Two employers in the south-west and eastern divisions of the Wages Inspectorate were prosecuted in 1984 for offences under the Wages Councils Act 1979.
Civil proceedings were brought against eight employers for the recovery of sums assessed as due in the eastern, Yorkshire and Humberside, London (east), London (west), south-west, south-east, Scotland (east) and Scotland (west) divisions.
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Wages councils London (East) London (West) South Eastern Southern Eastern South Western Midlands (East) Midlands (West) Hairdressing undertakings 1,405 1,982 2,094 2,433 2,331 2,575 2,430 3,097 Hat, cap and millinery 17 27 3 4 45 4 7 10 Lace finishing 1 — — — — — 58 — Laundry 31 103 71 78 60 99 67 74 Linen and cotton handkerchief 2 4 4 — 1 3 20 2 Made-up textiles 14 16 10 18 37 19 33 23 Ostrich and fancy feather 7 2 2 5 7 2 1 — Perambulator and invalid carriage 1 1 1 4 1 1 8 3 Retail bespoke tailoring 82 169 19 45 38 38 27 33 Rope, twine and net 1 — 1 — 6 12 4 4 Sack and bag 5 3 1 — 8 2 7 13 Toy manufacturing 19 5 29 31 29 29 40 16 Retail trades (non-food) 6,131 10,021 6,338 7,329 6,613 7,154 11,394 8,421 Retail food and allied trades 5,628 4,606 8,229 9,431 8,063 8,781 6,972 8,754 Licensed non-residential 4,888 2,386 4,248 4,659 3,927 5,305 5,196 6,705 Licensed residental establishment and licensed restaurant 908 3,075 2,393 1,940 1,833 5,155 1,565 1,420 Unlicensed place of refreshment 1,252 2,071 1,155 1,054 1,127 1,514 939 897 Total 22,801 25,744 24,920 27,612 24,677 31,161 29,946 30,534
Wages councils North Western (East) North Western (West) Yorkshire and Humberside Northern Scotland (East) Scotland (West) Wales Total Aerated waters 78 26 27 32 28 47 15 537 Clothing manufacture 722 244 488 229 88 375 172 7,190 Boot and shoe repairing 307 72 245 75 59 88 51 2,401 Button manufacturing 5 1 5 1 — 2 3 66 Coffin furniture and cerement making 2 3 5 — 2 10 — 31 Cotton waste reclamation 16 12 4 — — — 1 38 Flax and hemp — — 1 1 20 — — 23 Fur 33 17 19 4 8 39 5 445 General waste materials reclamation 176 158 277 83 52 76 96 1,718 Hairdressing undertakings 2,099 3,474 3,286 1,805 1,420 1,357 1,603 33,391 Hat, cap and millinery 19 2 13 9 1 8 3 172 Lace finishing — — — — 4 — 1 64 Laundry 28 31 44 51 91 28 53 909 Linen and cotton handkerchief 83 34 9 1 6 1 2 172 Made–up textiles 19 25 34 23 15 28 17 331 Ostrich and fancy feather — — — 4 1 — 2 33 Perambulator and invalid carriage 5 — 5 1 — 2 1 34 Retail bespoke tailoring 23 32 60 19 20 9 8 622 Rope, twine and net 12 10 17 3 22 — 2 94 Sack and bag 17 15 13 3 2 — 6 95 Toy manufacturing 26 23 44 10 4 — 19 324 Retail trades (non-food) 6,627 5,811 9,053 4,088 4,346 5,146 3,788 102,260 Retail food and allied trades 7,763 7,453 10,573 7,900 6,002 5,943 5,253 111,351 Licensed non-residential 5,443 4,501 7,129 4,211 3,288 2,187 4,102 68,175 Licensed residential establishment and licensed restaurant 880 1,448 1,834 1,420 2,434 1,365 2,078 29,748 Unlicensed place of refreshment 571 917 1,216 875 782 817 890 16,077 Total 24,954 24,309 34,401 20,848 18,695 17,528 18,171 326,301 783W784W
Provisional results 1984 Analysis by Wages Council All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit Wages Council Establishments checked Per cent. of register checked Number of establishments underpaying Per cent. of establishments underpaying Establishments visited Per cent. of register visited Number of establishments visited underpaying Per cent. of establishments visited underpaying Aerated waters 42 6.7 6 14.3 42 6.7 6 14.3 Clothing manufacture 1,184 14.3 321 27.1 995 12.0 321 32.3 Boot and shoe repairing 171 7.2 16 9.4 164 6.9 16 9.8 Button manufacturing 11 17.7 6 54.5 11 17.7 6 54.5 Coffin furniture and cerement making 2 10.0 — — 2 10.0 — — Cotton waste reclamation 3 8.8 — — 3 8.8 — — Flax and hemp 2 15.4 — — 2 15.4 — —
All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit Wages Council Establishments checked Per cent. of register checked Number of establishments underpaying Per cent. of establishments underpaying Establishments visited Per cent. of register visited Number of establishments visited underpaying Per cent. of establishments visited underpaying Fur 15 3.1 3 20.0 13 2.7 3 23.1 General waste material reclamation 186 9.5 19 10.2 175 90 19 10.9 Hairdressing undertakings 3,481 10.4 823 23.6 2,385 7.2 823 34.5 Hat, cap and millinery 26 13.8 4 15.4 25 13.2 4 16.0 Lace finishing 5 7.6 1 20.0 5 7.6 1 20.0 Laundry 147 13.2 28 19.0 132 11.9 28 21.2 Linen and cotton handkerchief 20 9.9 7 35.0 20 9.9 7 35.0 Made.up textiles 28 8.2 5 17.9 27 7.9 5 18.5 Ostrich and fancy feather 5 15.6 — — 5 15.6 — — Perambulator and invalid carriage 3 8.3 — — 3 8.3 — — Retail bespoke tailoring 80 10.6 6 7.5 79 10.4 6 7.6 Rope, twine and net 16 13.7 2 12.5 11 9.4 2 18.2 Sack and bag 9 8.3 2 22.2 9 8.3 2 22.2 Toy manufacturing 27 6.9 3 11.1 27 6.9 3 11.1 Retail trades (non-food) 11,305 11.2 2,067 18.0 5,324 5.2 2,067 38.8 Retail food and allied trades 11,613 9.8 2,691 23.2 6,261 5.3 2,691 43.0 Licensed non.residential 7,192 10.7 1,446 20.1 5,494 8.1 1,446 26.3 Licensed residential establishment and licensed restaurant 3,713 12.3 1,365 36.8 3,531 11.7 1,365 38.7 Unlicensed place of refreshment 2,090 12.2 640 30.6 1,800 10.5 640 35.6 Total 41,576 10.8 9,461 22.8 26,545 6.9 9,461 35.6
Table 3 Workers covered by wages councils and provisional results of pay checks in 1984 Estimated number of workers covered by wages council orders at June 1982 Workers whose pay was checked by visit and other methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers underpaid Percentage underpaid of all workers checked Percentage underpaid of all workers checked by visit Arrears paid Arrears waived by workers Arrears not pursued Arrears assessed £ £ £ £ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Aerated waters 15,000 530 530 29 5.5 5.5 2,055 — 155 2,210 Clothing manufacture 252,800 24,513 18,598 781 3.2 4.2 87,887 6,086 21,150 115,123 Boot and shoe manufacturing 7,100 392 373 18 4.6 4.8 1,536 804 422 2,762 Button manufacturing 2,100 137 137 11 8.0 8.0 1,363 — 183 1,546 Coffin furniture and crement making 300 19 19 — — — — — — — Cotton waste reclamation 500 21 21 — — — — — — — Flax and hemp 1,400 200 200 — — — — — — — Fur 4,500 100 62 3 30 4.8 185 — — 185 General waste materials reclamation 19,300 1,268 1,130 37 2.9 3.3 5,652 — 196 5,848 Hairdressing undertakings 135,600 11,316 7,344 1,036 91 14.1 92,021 5,769 13,612 111,402 Hat, cap and millinery 6,800 585 548 8 1.4 1.5 655 579 — 1,244 Lace finishing 800 86 86 2 2.3 2.3 5,269 — — 5,269 Laundry 33,700 3,142 2,367 63 2.0 2.6 10,996 1,036 2,118 14,150 Linen and cotton handkerchief 5,200 334 334 42 12.5 12.5 1,999 — 87 2,086 Made-up textile 4,800 223 220 10 4.5 4.5 717 — 561 1,278 Ostrich and fancy feather 1,400 55 55 — — — — — — — Perambulator and invalid carriage 1,500 355 355 — — — — — — — Retail bespoke tailoring 5,200 248 245 7 2.8 2.8 1,865 — — 1,865 Rope, twine and net 4,000 480 455 2 0.4 0.4 113 — — 113 Sack and bag 1,400 137 137 2 1.5 1.4 9 — 4 13 Toy manufacturing 18,900 1,180 1,180 23 2.0 2.0 1,865 — — 1,865 Retail non-food trades 512,800 105,990 21,295 3,478 3.3 16.3 394,226 70,276 65,492 529,994 Retail food and allied trades 519,300 161,796 22,336 5,305 3.3 23.7 512,760 120,877 75,269 708,906 Licensed non-residential 508,700 50,273 30,540 3,185 6.3 10.4 366,240 43,203 31,011 440,454 Licensed residential and restaurant 555,300 35,628 30,596 2,655 7.4 7.4 241,534 18,412 34,691 294,637 Unlicensed place of refreshment 116,400 17,886 8,910 1,346 7.5 15.4 140,997 24,980 22,064 188,041 Total 2,734,800 416,894 148,073 18,043 4.3 12.2 1,869,954 292,022 267,015 2,428,991 785W
Checks of pay carried out at establishments and underpayments found—provisional results 1984 Analysis by division All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit Division Establishments checked Per cent. of register checked Number of establishments underpaying Per cent. of establishments underpaying Establishments visited Per cent. of register visited Number of establishments visited underpaying Per cent. of establishments visited underpaying 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 London (East) 2,841 14.2 324 11.4 1,348 6.7 324 24.0 London (West) 4,506 21.6 354 7.9 1,483 7.1 354 23.9 South Eastern 3,106 10.3 703 22.6 2,504 8.3 703 28.1 Southern 3,223 11.0 475 14.7 1,941 6.6 475 24.5 Eastern 2,858 10.3 914 32.0 1,907 6.9 914 47.9 South Western 3,375 9.9 1,033 30.6 2,499 7.3 1,033 41.3 Midlands (East) 2,830 11.9 534 18.9 1,829 7.7 534 29.2 Midlands (West) 2,537 7.9 552 21.8 2,048 6.3 552 27.0 North Western (East) 2,476 10.0 560 22.6 1,310 5.3 560 43.0 North Western (West) 2,676 10.1 886 33.1 1,815 6.9 886 48.8 Yorkshire and Humberside 4,025 11.1 1,026 25.5 2,652 7.3 1,026 38.7 Northern 1,711 8.2 721 42.1 1,196 5.8 721 60.3 Scotland (East) 1,885 8.7 480 25.5 1,506 6.9 480 31.9 Scotland (West) 1,877 11.7 365 19.4 1,267 7.9 365 28.8
All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit Division Establishments checked Per cent. of register checked Number of establishments underpaying Per cent. of establishments underpaying Establishments visited Per cent. of register visited Number of establishments visited underpaying Per cent. of establishments visited underpaying 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wales 1,650 7.5 534 32.4 1,249 5.6 534 42.8 Great Britain 41,576 10.8 9,461 22.8 26,545 6.9 9,461 35.6 The Divisional figures for the numbers of establishments where pay was checked by methods not involving inspection visits include multiple firms whose head office is located in the Division but whose branches are in other areas. This needs to be taken into account when comparing the Divisional figures shown in columns 1–4 of Table 4.
Table 5 Workers whose pay was checked in each Wages Inspectorate Division—provisional figures 1984 Division Workers whose pay was checked by visit and other methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers underpaid Percentage underpaid of all workers checked Percentage underpaid of workers checked by visit Arrears paid Arrears waived by workers Arrears not pursued Total arrears assessed £ £ £ £ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 London (East) 77,282 8,054 551 0.7 6.8 8,321 8,692 19,481 106,494 London (West) 70,543 9,577 574 0.8 6.0 104,797 19,816 14,166 138,779 South East 15,901 12,421 1,345 8.4 10.8 125,469 17,668 10,061 153,198 Southern 37,003 13,148 751 2.0 5.7 85,401 9,941 4,267 99,609 Eastern 13,762 9,422 1,800 13.1 19.1 159,901 40,422 23,273 223,596 South West 21,021 13,962 1,785 8.5 12.8 147,144 13,019 24,864 185,027 Midlands (East) 20,502 10,759 1,131 5.5 10.5 134,664 30,514 19,495 184,673 Midlands (West) 13,850 11,423 910 6.6 8.0 130,257 8,043 22,559 160,859 North West (East) 59,131 6,104 979 1.6 160 115,859 26,455 33,262 175,576 North West (West) 21,299 9,537 1,832 8.6 19.2 154,843 29,005 24,698 208,546 Yorkshire and Humberside 29,370 16,738 2,252 7.7 13.4 159,068 44,657 27,516 231,241 Northern 8,534 5,640 1,423 16.7 25.2 167,282 8,758 10,838 186,878 Scotland (East) 10,497 8,704 912 8.7 10.5 99,503 19,921 6,564 125,358 Scotland (West) 10,184 6,537 680 6.7 10.4 72,436 7,347 5,218 85,001 Wales 8,015 6,047 1,118 13.9 18.5 135,009 8,394 20,753 164,156 Total 416,894 148,073 18,043 4.3 12.2 1,869,954 292,022 267,015 2,428,991 The Divisional figures for the number of workers whose pay was checked by methods not involving inspection visits include workers employed by multiple firms whose head office is located in the Division who are employed in branches in other areas.
This needs to be taken into account when comparing the Divisional figures shown in columns 2 and 5 of Table 5.
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