§ Ms Rosie WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of those who will benefit from the national minimum wage are resident in Doncaster, Central. [66566]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Rosie Winterton, dated 25 January 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the National Minimum Wage (NMW).Available information is taken from the New Earnings Survey (NES). As the NES does not collect information on employees' home addresses I have provided information for those who work, not live, in Doncaster Central.The NMW will become effective in April 1999 and has been set at £3.60 for workers aged over 21. A development rate of £3.00 per hour will apply for those aged 18 to 21. Workers aged 16 and 17 and all those apprenticeships will be exempt.The Low Pay Commission, in arriving at their recommendations, had to adjust 1999 pay rates to 1998 values. Their methodology produces £3.50 and £2.90 as the 1998 values of the government's preferred rates.The latest available information, from the 1998 NES, shows that of those over 21 years of age who are affected by the NMW in the UK, 0.3 per cent. work in the parliamentary constituency of Doncaster Central. The information is given as a percentage of workers because appropriate grossing factors for the NES sample are not available at very detailed levels of disaggregation. I am unable to provide data for employees aged 18 to 21 years because the sample size is too small for a reliable estimate to be produced. I will arrange for a copy of this letter to be placed in the Library.