HC Deb 13 January 1986 vol 89 cc490-1W
Mr. McNamara

asked the Paymaster General what was, for the years 1970, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 in respect of Humberside (a) the total number of establishments on the wages inspectorate register and the total number of workers covered by the register; (b) the number of establishments covered by each wages council and (c) the number of workers covered by each wages council.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The numbers of workers covered by wages councils are available only for Great Britain as a whole. Numbers of establishments covered by wages councils are not collected for areas smaller than wages inspectorate divisions. For the Yorkshire and Humberside division the figures requested are as follows:

employees' pay giving the number of establishments checked, the number of establishments underpaying, the percentages of establishments underpaying, the establishments visited, the percentage of the register visited, the number of establishments visited underpaying, the percentage of establishments visited, the workers whose pay was checked by visits and other methods, the workers underpaid, the percentage underpaid of all workers checked, the percentage of underpaid workers checked by visits, the arrears paid, the arrears raised by workers, the arrears not pursued and the total arrears assessed for Humberside.

Table 1 Establishments—Yorkshire and Humberside division of the wages inspectorate
Year All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit
Establishments checked Percentage of establishments checked per cent Establishments underpaying Percentage of establishments underpaying per cent. Establishments visited Percentage of register visited per cent. Establishments visited underpaying Percentage of establishments visited underpaying per cent.
1970* 5,022 10.5 912 18.2 5,022 10.5 912 18.2
1974* 4,457 9.7 1,059 23.8 4,457 9.7 1,059 23.8
1978 4,056 10.0 1,213 30.0 4,056 10.0 1,213 30.0
1979 6,026 16.4 1,156 19.2 4,132 11.2 1,156 28.0
1980 5,820 15.7 1,119 19.2 3,732 10.1 1,119 30.0
1981 4,083 10.8 871 21.3 2,737 7.2 871 31.8
1982 4,844 13.4 964 19.9 2,680 7.8 964 36.0
1983 3,835 10.6 941 24.5 2,584 7.2 941 36.4
1984 4,025 11.1 1,026 25.5 2,652 7.3 1,026 38.7
1985 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Table 2 Workers
Year All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspections by visit
Workers whose pay was checked by visit and other methods Workers underpaid Percentage underpaid of all workers checked per cent. Percentage underpaid of workers checked by visit per cent. Arrears paid£ Arrears waived by workers£ Arrears not pursued £ Total arrears assessed£
1970* 22,635 1,491 6.6 6.6 17,582 n.a. n.a. n.a.
1974*; 21,564 2,058 9.5 9.5 36,334 n.a. n.a. 36,334
1978† 21,324 2,795 13.1 13.1 145,561 n.a. n.a. 36,334
1979† 28,699 2,396 8.3 10.9 133,955 n.a. 27,705 161,660
1980† 25,420 2,513 9.9 12.6 140,211 n.a. 25,037 165,248
1981† 18,377 2,060 11.2 15.2 136,244 n.a. 52,784 189,028
1982 39,234 2,077 5.3 13.4 145,066 45,589 15,155 205,810
1983 29,306 2,227 7.6 14.2 161,753 75,198 13,685 250,636
1984 29,370 2,252 7.7 13.4 159,068 44,657 27,516 231,241
1985 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Pay checks by methods not involving visits include figures for multiple firms whose head office is located in the division whose branches are located, and workers employed, in other areas. This needs to be taken into account when considering the level of compliance.
* In 1970 and 1974, only inspections by visit were recorded.
† Information about the amount of arrears waived by workers and arrears not pursued was collected only from 1982.