§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Paymaster General how many people were covered by wages councils in 1979 and in 1986, or the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. LeeStatistical returns of the numbers of workers in Great Britain employed in establishments within scope of wages councils are not collected, but in 1979 an analysis of the administrative records of inspections kept by the wages inspectorate indicated that the total number of workers covered was about 2¾ million.
A similar exercise in 1982—the last year in which one was undertaken—revealed a similar number. Work is in hand to estimate the numbers currently covered.