HC Deb 12 April 1994 vol 241 cc59-60W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 March,Official Report, column 433, concerning rewards for productivity, to what extent the statistical series referred to have changed since 1979.

Miss Widdecombe

The following changes in classification have taken place to the new earnings survey since 1979:

1983 Employees were classified by industry according to the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification, SIC 1980. The 1982 survey was classified by both the SIC, 1968, and SIC, 1980, versions and earlier surveys were classified by SIC, 1968;

1984 Employees were classified as to whether they were paid adult or non-adult rates. In previous surveys employees were classified as being adults if they were males aged 21 or over or females aged 18 or over. The 1983 survey was classified on both bases in 1983.

1991 The occupations of employees were coded using the Standard Occupational Classification, SOC. Previously classification has been to the list of Key Occupations for Statistical Purposes, KOS. The survey was classified on both bases in 1990. Note: employees in the survey are classified as either manual or non-manual by their occupation.

Employees are classified to either the public or private sector in the following way: (a) those reported to be affected by a major collective agreement: to the sector in which the agreement mainly operates; (b) other employees: to the public sector—central Government, local government or public corporations—or to the private sector in accordance with the industrial classification of the firm.

During the period mentioned in the question there were compositional changes to these sectors due to the movement of businesses from the public to the private sector.

There have been no substantive changes in the method of calculating the statistical series referred to, although the output series used in the calculation of productivity in manufacturing have been revised slightly in 1980 and 1992 to reflect revised SIC definitions of manufacturing industry.