§ Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if she will list the lowest wage advertised in Rotherham jobcentre for each month from June 1994 to the present time. [13573]
(2) what were (a) the lowest and (b) the highest wages advertised in each jobcentre in Yorkshire in each year since 1990. [13614]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Denis MacShane, dated 5 February 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about wage rates advertised in Jobcentres in Rotherham and Yorkshire more widely.
The Employment Service does not keep a record of wage rates advertised by Jobcentres.
However, we did carry out research on vacancies in February 1994 which gave the following estimates for Great Britain, based on those vacancies for which wages and hours were given (ie not those open to an element of negotiation). These show that at that time 11% of vacancies were for hourly rates of pay of £2.50 or below, 47% for £2.51-£3.50, 27% for £3.51£4.50, 8% for £4.51-£5.50 and 7% for over £5.50. Research on vacancy circulation is being carried out at present and is expected to be published by the summer. It is expected to give some further, limited information on wage rates of jobcentre vacancies.
I hope this is helpful.