HC Deb 01 March 1989 vol 148 cc199-206W
Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide a breakdown by wages

Table A: Prosecutions for underpayment
Division 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
London 3 1 1
South East 1 1 2 1
Eastern 1 1 2 1 1 1 2
South West 4 2 3 1 1 2
Midlands 1 1 1
North West 1 1 1 2
Yorkshire and Humberside 1 1 1 1 2
Northern 1 3 1 1
Scotland
Totals 9 8 8 4 2 2 2 2 4 10

Table B: Establishments found to be underpaying 1979–85
Division 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
London (East) 431 495 440 391 441 324 298
London (West) 249 259 270 294 339 354 357
South East 521 769 749 764 871 703 670
Southern 585 576 450 441 494 475 556
Eastern 685 941 848 726 727 914 688
South West 1,010 1,201 1,070 954 1,078 1,033 929
Midlands (East) 634 771 623 532 573 534 430
Midlands (West) 605 674 598 666 543 552 712
North West (East) 946 879 613 648 704 560 529
North West (West) 1,115 1,060 688 652 865 886 804
Yorkshire and Humberside 1,156 1,119 871 964 941 1,026 818
Northern 893 902 736 552 630 721 815
Scotland (East) 710 687 529 515 525 480 488
Scotland (West) 597 750 556 349 389 365 361
Wales 832 1,071 1,033 821 722 534 609
Totals 10,969 12,154 10,074 9,269 9,842 9,461 9,064

Table C: Establishments found to be underpaying 1986–88
Division 1986 1987 1988
London 608 270 317
South East 646 503 537
Eastern 974 405 462
South West 832 961 1,156
Midlands 943 525 747
North East 1,397 541 869

Mr. Lee

[holding answer 28 February 1989]: Estimates from the 1987 labour force survey (LFS) of the number of full and part-time employees in Great Britain, by the length of time continuously employed by their current employer, are shown in the following table:

inspectorate division of the information given in his answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 182, regarding the establishments underpaying and prosecutions for underpayment of wages council rates.

Mr. Nicholls

The information requested is given in the tables:

Division 1986 1987 1988
Yorkshire and Humberside 805 511 631
Northern 844 404 369
Scotland 656 323 509
Wales 500
Totals 8,205 4,443 5,597

Note: The statistics of underpayments have been separated into two tables because the divisional boundaries were changed in 1986.

Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the levels of employment and changes in employment levels for each wages council for each year from 1979 to 1988.

Comparison of the 1979, 1982 and 1987 estimates of coverage by wages councils
Number of workers covered
1979 1982 1987
Wages council All workers Excluding under-21s
Retail trades (non-food) 563,700 512,800 745,000
Licensed non-residential establishment 470,000 508,700 492,000
Retail food and allied trades 522,800 519,300 465,000
Licensed residential establishment and licensed restaurant 530,000 555,300 379,000
Clothing1 294,500 252,800 147,000
Unlicensed place of refreshment 121,900 116,400 96,000
Hairdressing undertakings 128,600 135,600 64,000
Laundry 39,200 33,700 26,000
General waste materials reclamation 20,200 19,300 13,000
Toy manufacturing 23,300 18,900 11,000
Aerated waters 14,900 15,000 5,500
Boot and shoe repairing 7,900 7,100 5,000
Hat cap and millinery 7,800 6,800 4,000
Retail bespoke tailoring 5,000 5,200 4,000
Made-up textiles 6,500 4,800 3,000
Linen and cotton handkerchief and household goods and linen piece goods 5,600 5,200 2,500
Rope twine and net 4,000 4,000 2,500
Perambulator and invalid carriage 2,100 1,500 2,000
Fur 5,100 4,500 1,500
Button manufacturing 3,300 2,100 1,000
Sack and bag 1,800 1,400 1,000
Lace finishing 700 800 900
Flax and hemp 2,300 1,400 500
Ostrich and fancy feather and artificial flower 1,500 1,400 500
Cotton waste reclamation 400 500 300
Coffin furniture and cerement-making 500 300 200
TOTAL 2,783,600 2,734,800 2,472,400
1 In 1979 there were seven councils covering the clothing manufacturing trade.

Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the statistics on wages council employment and compliance

Table 1
Establishments Covered by Wages Councils on Register—as at January 1988
Divisions London S. East Eastern S. West Midlands N. West Yorks & H'side North Scotland Great Britain
Wages Councils
Aerated Waters 7 14 57 16 111 25 24 22 66 342
Clothing Manufacture 3,006 159 306 301 1,282 937 452 214 307 6,964
Boot and Shoe Repairing 764 255 258 345 373 406 277 70 130 2,878
Button Manufacturing 18 4 4 4 18 4 3 1 1 57
Coffin Furniture and Cerement Making 1 2 8 2 5 0 2 20
Cotton Waste Reclamation 1 28 8 3 2 42
Flax and Hemp 1 1 6 8
Fur 147 8 3 7 14 28 11 3 36 262
General Waste Materials Reclamation 124 74 107 151 291 308 240 99 137 1,531
Hairdressing Undertakings 4,482 3,181 3,302 4,106 5,362 5,171 3,029 1,968 2,840 33,441
Hat Cap and Millinery 25 2 44 5 12 14 8 11 2 123
Lace Finishing 1 73 74

Mr. Nicholls

Statistical returns of the number of workers in Great Britain employed in establishments within scope of wages councils are not collected, but periodic estimates are made. The results of exercises conducted in 1979, 1982 and 1987 are shown in the table. The figures in the third column exclude young people under 21 who are in scope of t he legislation but for whom the councils are not empowered to fix minimum rates.

with wages council rates in 1988, in the same format as in the reply given on 4 March 1988, Official Report, columns 731–36.

Mr. Nicholls

The information requested is given in the following tables:

Divisions London S. East Eastern S. West Midlands N. West Yorks & H'Side North Scotland Great Britain
Laundry 215 281 79 114 105 68 67 35 122 1,086
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief 2 1 3 3 10 80 9 1 5 114
Made-up Textile 34 13 36 31 51 34 42 18 33 292
Ostrich and Fancy Feather 12 1 6 4 4 3 30
Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 3 2 5 3 11 4 6 1 1 36
Retail Bespoke Tailoring 180 55 52 38 42 52 39 14 37 509
Rope Twine and Net 1 5 12 5 20 18 5 19 85
Sack and Bag 20 7 5 14 20 12 2 6 86
Toy Manufacturing 17 16 45 30 35 40 32 15 9 239
Retail Non-Food Trades 20,069 11,990 9,840 12,085 19,457 13,350 8,712 4,495 8,840 108,838
Retail Food and Allied Trades 11,770 13,100 10,066 12,853 13,339 15,891 10,018 7,199 10,881 105,117
Licensed Non-Residential 6,263 5,962 6,363 9,323 12,406 9,540 6,452 4,001 5,429 65,739
Licensed Residential and Restaurant 5,023 3,901 3,595 6,842 3,591 3,355 2,013 1,418 3,890 33,628
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 4,143 2,049 1,540 2,585 1,746 1,977 1,324 851 1,497 17,712
Total 56,325 41,069 35,728 48,867 58,357 51,354 32,801 20,451 34,301 379,253

Table 2
Establishments checked and underpayments found in wages council trades—1
Wages councils Establishments checked by all methods Percentage of register checked Establishments checked by visit Percentage of register checked by visit Establishments found underpaying Percentage of all establishments checked underpaying Percentage of establishments visited underpaying
Aerated waters 31 9.0 21 6.1 2 6.4 9.5
Clothing manufacture 603 8.6 559 8.0 128 21.2 22.8
Boot and shoe repairing 245 8.5 166 5.7 18 7.3 10.8
Button manufacturing 7 12.2 6 10.5
Coffin furniture and cerement making 3 15.0 2 10.0
Cotton waste reclamation 4 9.5 4 9.5
Flax and hemp
Fur 18 6.8 18 6.8 2 11.1 11.1
General waste materials reclamation 150 9.7 111 7.2 11 7.3 9.9
Hairdressing undertakings 2,392 7.1 1,654 4.9 330 13.7 19.9
Hat, cap and millinery 26 21.1 23 18.6
Lace finishing
Laundry 125 11.5 97 8.9 20 16.0 20.6
Linen and cotton handkerchief 12 10.5 11 9.6 4 33.3 36.3
Made-up textile 32 10.9 25 8.5 2 6.2 8.0
Ostrich and fancy feather 3 10.0 2 6.6
Perambulator and invalid carriage 2 5.5
Retail bespoke tailoring 43 8.4 37 7.2 6 13.9 16.2
Rope, twine and net 8 9.4 6 7.0
Sack and bag 12 13.9 11 12.7
Toy manufacturing 24 10.0 23 9.6 2 8.3 8.6
Retail non-food trades 9,649 8.8 4,219 3.8 1,130 11.7 26.7
Retail food and allied trades 9,860 9.3 5,713 5.4 2,143 21.7 37.5
Licensed non-residential 5,063 7.7 3,503 5.3 1,016 20.0 29.0
Licensed residential and restaurant 2,631 7.8 2,143 6.3 405 15.3 18.8
Unlicensed place of refreshment 1,530 8.6 1,218 6.8 378 24.7 31.0
Total 32,474 8.6 19,573 5.2 5,597 17.2 28.6

Table 3
Workers covered by wages councils and results of checks—1988
Wages councils Number of workers covered by Wages Order (Est. 1988) Workers whose pay was checked by all methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers found 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 as due
£ £ £ £
Aerated waters 5,500 2,798 390 13 0.4 3.3 336 336
Clothing manufacture 147,000 12,662 11,083 453 3.5 4.0 31,015 10,469 7,546 49,030
Boot and shoe repairing 5,000 759 548 20 2.6 3.6 1,623 652 2,275

Wages councils Number of workers covered by Wages Order (Est. 1988) Workers whose pay was checked by all methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers found 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 as due
£ £ £ £
Button manufacturing 1,000 163 150
Coffin furniture and cerement making 200 42 32
Cotton waste reclamation 300 54 54
Flex and hemp 500
Fur 1,500 220 220 2 0.9 0.9 150 120 1,654 1,924
General waste materials reclamation 13,000 1,425 1,163 12 0.8 1.0 2,204 167 2,371
Hairdressing undertakings 64,000 8,063 5,515 418 5.1 7.5 41,742 6,822 6,397 54,961
Hat cap and millinery 4,000 651 599
Lace finishing 900
Laundry 26,000 4,044 2,696 42 1.0 1.5 3,685 347 2,730 6,762
Linen and cotton handkerchief 2,500 404 396 49 12.1 12.3 2,766 2,771 5,537
Made-up textile 3,000 540 440 8 1.4 1.8 125 125
Ostrich and fancy feather 500 33 15
Perambulator and invalid carriage 2,000 139
Retail bespoke tailoring 4,000 161 147 8 4.9 5.4 474 107 581
Rope twine and net 2,500 300 234
Sack and bag 1,000 154 124
Toy manufacturing 11,000 583 571 4 0.6 0.7 23 259 282
Retail non-food trades 745,000 95,502 17,849 1,731 1.8 9.6 156,327 69,883 24,049 250,259
Retail food and allied trades 465,000 121,718 21,598 4,052 3.3 18.7 321,851 158,094 74,568 554,513
Licensed non-residential 492,000 33,200 22,541 2,532 7.6 11.2 160,502 23,012 22,590 206,104
Licensed residential and restaurant 379,000 30,898 26,524 753 2.4 2.8 67,220 5,304 13,685 86,209
Unlicensed Place of refreshment 96,000 8,526 6,182 763 8.9 12.3 52,149 18,165 11,934 82,248
Total 2,472,400 323,091 119,123 10,860 3.3 9.1 842,192 295,746 165,579 1,303,517

Table 4
Checks carried out and underpayments found in wages inspectorate divisions—1988
Division Establishments checked by all methods Percentage of register checked Establishments checked by visit Percentage of register checked by visit Establishments found underpaying Percentage of all establishments checked underpaying Percentage of establishments visited underpaying
London 3,732 6.6 1,893 3.4 317 8.5 16.7
South East 2,539 6.2 1,654 4.0 537 21.2 32.5
Eastern 5,415 151 2,509 7.0 462 8.5 18.4
South West 3,586 7.3 2,512 5.1 1,156 32.2 46.0
Midlands 4,999 8.6 2,609 4.5 747 14.9 28.6
North West 4,085 7.9 3,198 6.2 869 21.3 27.2
Yorkshire and Humberside 3,123 9.5 1,931 5.9 631 20.2 32.7
Northern 1,686 8.2 1,004 4.9 369 21.9 36.8
Scotland 3,309 9.6 2,263 6.6 509 15.4 22.5
Great Britain 32,474 8.6 19,573 5.2 5,597 17.2 28.6

All branches of mulitiple 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—1988
Division Workers whose pay was checked by all methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers found underpaid Per cent, underpaid of all workers checked Per cent, underpaid of all workers checked by visit Arrears paid Arrears not pursued at workers request Arrears not pursued for other reasons Total arrears assessed as due
£ £ £ £
London 54,501 13,365 513 0.9 3.8 65,756 5,588 7,186 78,530
South East 13,089 8,635 975 7.4 11.3 87,439 27,315 7,810 122,564
Eastern 50,221 14,996 895 1.8 5.7 79,713 21,590 47,460 148,763
South. West 20,855 14,015 2,204 10.6 15.7 133,376 58,255 30,952 222,583
Midlands 36,503 18,222 1,425 3.9 7.8 113,335 50,908 26,455 190,698
North West 94,318 19,369 1,697 1.8 8.7 144,990 52,505 14,531 212,026
Yorkshire and Humberside 22,405 10,741 1,270 5.7 11.8 72,947 44,466 6,088 123,501
Northern 8,827 5,553 784 8.9 14.1 60,465 6,734 9,139 76,338
Scotland 22,372 14,228 1,097 4.9 7.7 84,171 28,385 15,958 128,514
Great Britain 323,091 119,123 10,860 3.4 9.1 842,192 295,746 165,579 1,303,517

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.