HC Deb 20 April 1998 vol 310 cc402-3W
Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how many employees currently earn more than £450 per week. [39193]

Mrs. Liddell

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 20 April 1998: As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on weekly earnings. The latest available information, from the New Earnings Survey 1997, is contained in the table below:

Percentage of employees on adult rates, whose pay for the survey pay-period was unaffected by absence, gross weekly earnings, Great Britain, April 1997
greater than £450
Full-time 23.3
Part-time 1.1
All 18.3

Mr. Trickett

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Great Britain-based workers earned less than(a) £2, (b) £72.50, (c) £3, (d) £3.50 and (e) £4 per hour in April (a)1996 and (b) 1997. [38293]

Mrs. Liddell

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Dennis Roberts to Mr. Jon Trickett, dated 20 April 1998: In the absence of the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on hourly earnings. This information is shown in the table below using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Percentage of employees1 hourly earnings in their main job, Great Britain, not seasonally adjusted
less than less than less than less than less than
£2.00 £2.50 £3.00 £3.50 £4.00
Spring 19962 2.2 4.1 7.9 15.5 23.3
Spring 19972 1.8 4.0 7.1 13.6 20.8
1Excluding those whose workplace was outside the United Kingdom
22 March to May

source:

ONS, Labour Force Survey Work is being undertaken to assess the quality of earnings data from the LFS and the New Earnings Survey (NES). Current indications are that the LFS provides the more reliable estimates of workers on low pay, but nevertheless tends to overestimate the proportion of low paid workers. The figures in the table should therefore be taken as upper estimates of the proportions. Details of this assessment of the quality of earning data are expected to be published in the May issue of Labour Market Trends copies of which will be available from the House of Commons Library.