HC Deb 04 March 1988 vol 128 cc732-5W
Mr. Nigel Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the statistics on wages councils' employment and compliance with wages council rates in 1987, in the same format used in the reply on 5 May 1987, Official Report, columns 334 to 340.

Mr. Nicholls

The information requested is given in the tables.

Wages Councils London South Eastern Eastern South Western Midlands North Western Yorkshire and Humberside Northern Scotland Great Britain
Toy Manufacturing 17 16 45 30 35 40 32 15 9 239
Retail Non-Food Trades 20,069 12,050 9,840 12,085 19,383 13,350 8,712 4,495 8,854 108,838
Retail Food and Allied Trades 11,770 13,142 10,066 12,853 13,297 15,891 10,018 7,199 10,881 105,117
Licensed Non-Residential 6,263 5,980 6,363 9,323 12,388 9,540 6,452 4,001 5,429 65,702
Licensed Residential and Restaurant 5,023 3,911 3,595 6,842 3,581 3,355 2,013 1,418 3,890 33,628
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 4,143 2,062 1,540 2,585 1,733 1,977 1,324 851 1,497 17,712
Total 56,336 41,221 35,728 48,866 58,192 51,354 32,794 20,449 34,313 379,253

Table 2
Establishments checked and underpayments found in wages council trades—1987
Wages councils Establishments checked by methods Percentage of register checked Establishments checked by visit Percentage of register checked by visit Establishments underpaying Percentage of all establishments checked underpaying Percentage of establishments visited underpaying
Aerated Waters 26 7.08 24 6.54 2 7.69 8.33
Clothing Manufacture 967 13.36 883 12.20 191 19.75 21.63
Boot and Shoe Repairing 224 8.46 103 3.89 7 3.12 6.79
Button Manufacturing 3 5.35 3 5.35
Coffin Furniture and Cerement Making 2 10.52 2 10.52
Cotton Waste Reclamation 5 9.43 5 9.43 2 40.00 40.00
Flax and Hemp 2 20.00 2 20.00
Fur 21 6.42 19 5.81
General Waste Materials Reclamation 116 7.33 96 6.06 5 4.31 5.20
Hairdressing Undertakings 2,200 6.59 1,132 3.39 290 13.18 25.61
Hat, Cap and Millinery 8 4.82 8 4.82 3 37.50 37.50
Lace Finishing
Laundry 107 11.18 84 8.77 10 9.34 11.90
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief 17 10.89 15 9.61 2 11.76 13.33
Made-up Textile 27 9.12 23 7.77 1 3.70 4.34
Ostrich and Fancy Feather 3 9.37 3 9.37
Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 3 10.34 3 10.34
Retail Bespoke Tailoring 37 7.18 33 6.40 3 8.10 9.09
Rope, Twine and Net 7 7.00 7 7.00
Sack and Bag 7 8.86 7 8.86 1 14.28 14.28
Toy Manufacturing 20 7.29 17 6.20 1 5.00 5.88
Retail Non-Food Trades 8,354 7.85 3,704 3.48 854 10.22 23.05
Retail Food and Allied Trades 8,171 7.45 4,520 4.12 1,399 17.12 30.95
Licensed Non-Residential 6,475 9.18 4,277 6.06 843 13.02 19.71
Licensed Residential and Restaurant 3,213 9.51 2,620 7.75 516 16.06 19.69
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 1,509 9.58 1,346 8.55 313 20.74 23.25
Total 31,524 8.24 18,936 4.95 4,443 14.09 23.46

Table 3
Workers covered by wages councils and results of checks—1987
Wages councils Estimated numbers of workers covered by Wages Council Orders (1982) Workers whose pay was checked by all 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 not pursued at workers' request Arrears not pursued for other reasons Total arrears assessed
£ £ £ £
Aerated waters 15,000 915 900 4 2.05 0.44 897 897
Clothing manufacture 252,800 27,879 19,778 630 2.25 3.18 42,599 4,623 34,058 81,280
Boot and shoe repairing 7,100 535 257 9 1.68 3.50 1,676 1,137 955 3,768
Button manufacturing 2,100 19 19
Coffin furniture and cerement making 300 13 13
Cotton waste reclamation 500 88 88 9 10.22 10.22 1,467 1,940 453 3,860
Flax and hemp 1,400 137 137
Fur 4,500 138 123
General waste materials reclamation 19,300 890 795 10 11.23 1.25 1,139 110 595 1,844
Hairdressing undertakings 135,600 7,350 3,584 341 4.64 9.51 39,233 4,188 8,313 51,734
Hat, cap and millinery 6,800 54 54 5 9.26 9.25 727 727
Lace finishing 800
Laundry 33,700 2,937 1,995 28 0.95 1.40 6,012 6,012
Linen and cotton handkerchief 5,200 261 257 9 3.44 3.50 1,283 296 1,579
Made-up textile 4,800 260 222 1 0.38 0.45 5 5
Ostrich and fancy feather 1,400 105 105
Perambulator and invalid carriage 1,500 379 379
Retail bespoke tailoring 5,200 149 142 4 2.68 2.81 174 765 939
Rope, twine and net 4,000 422 422
Sack and bag 1,400 149 149 10 6.71 6.71 1,202 1,202
Toy manufacturing 18,900 399 380 1 0.25 0.26 63 63
Retail non-food trades 512,800 105,932 14,101 1,394 1.31 9.88 172,445 74,451 22,943 269,839

Wages councils Estimated numbers of workers covered by Wages Council Orders (1982) Workers whose pay was checked by all 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 not pursued al workers' request Arrears not pursued for other reasons Total arrears assessed
£ £ £ £
Retail food and allied trades 519,300 49,999 17,510 2,698 5.39 15.40 257,444 89,972 52,580 399,996
Licensed non-residential 508,700 47,409 26,017 2,295 4.84 8.82 149,636 20,014 35,241 204,891
Licensed residential and restaurant 555,300 37,572 26,590 981 2.61 3.68 85,405 6,070 26,088 117,563
Unlicensed place of refreshment 116,400 7,585 6,235 699 9.21 11.20 64,521 20,660 11,144 96,325
Total 12,734,800 291,576 120,252 9,129 3.13 7.59 825,928 223,461 193,135 1,242,524
1 From 26 July 1986, wages orders no longer applied to workers under 21 years of age. It is estimated that there are about 500,000 in this category.

Table 4
Checks carried out and underpayments found in wages inspectorate divisions—1987
Division Establishments checked by all methods Percentage of register checked Establishments checked by visit Percentage of register checked by visit Establishments underpaying Percentage of all establishments checked underpaying Percentage of establishments visited underpaying
London 3,765 6.5 1,737 3.0 270 7.2 15.5
South East 3,305 7.9 2,350 5.6 503 15.2 21.4
Eastern 3,244 8.5 2,394 6.3 405 12.5 16.9
South West 4,073 9.2 2,410 5.4 961 23.6 39.8
Midlands 5,524 8.4 2,486 3.8 525 9.5 21.1
North West 3,950 8.3 2,707 5.7 541 13.7 19.9
Yorkshire and Humberside 2,906 9.0 1,917 6.0 511 17.5 26.6
Northern 1,678 7.9 1,069 5.1 404 24.1 37.7
Scotland 3,079 8.6 1,866 5.2 323 10.5 17.3
Great Britain 31,524 8.2 18,936 4.9 4,443 14.1 23.5

All branches of multiple firms are recorded under the division in which the head office is located. Account has to be taken of this when comparing divisional figures.

Table 5
Workers whose pay was checked in wages inspectorate divisions—1987
Workers whose pay was checked by all 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 not pursued at workers request Arrears not pursued for other reasons Total arrears assessed
Division £ £ £ £
London 81,043 11,424 398 .49 3.48 59,140 10,094 10,242 79,476
South East 20,687 12,994 1,048 5.06 8.06 94,934 23,349 31,010 149,293
Eastern 20,646 13,928 756 3.66 5.42 62,424 33,184 11,170 106,778
South West 26,378 13,390 1,763 6.68 13.16 124,171 26,293 21,068 171,532
Midlands 48,888 22,122 984 2.01 4.44 131,851 34,715 33,018 199,584
North West 32,400 15,659 1,484 4.58 9.47 116,107 37,703 28,606 182,416
Yorkshire and Humberside 28,401 12,275 1,255 4.41 10.22 92,944 41,248 27,033 161,225
Northern 11,622 6,203 871 7.49 14.04 85,049 5,233 15,066 105,348
Scotland 21,511 12,257 570 2.64 4.65 59,308 11,642 15,922 86,872
Great Britain 291,576 120,252 9,129 3.13 7.59 825,928 223,461 193,135 1,242,524

The numbers of workers in branches of multiple firms are recorded under the division in which the head office is located. Account has to be taken of this when comparing divisional figures.