§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Wales earn(a) £3.60 per hour, 159W (b) £3.61 to £3.80 per hour, (c) £3.81 to £4.00 per hour and (d) £4.00 to £4.50 per hour; and what percentage of total employees this constitutes in each case. [111682]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe 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 Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 28 February 2000:
As the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent question regarding earnings for employees in Wales.The New Earnings Survey (NES) can provide earnings data for geographical areas. However, the release of NES data is restricted to figures which are derived from a sufficiently large sample of employees and have an acceptable level of accuracy. I have provided information for Wales in the attached table. These are based on the 1999 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.We are only able to give percentages earning below specified thresholds, rather than numbers because appropriate grossing factors for the NES sample are not available.The NES is based on a one per cent. sample of employees in the PAYE system and is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold and in particular those who work part-time.
£ billion Abolishing the upper earnings limit on employee national insurance contributions3 +3.2 Introducing a 50 per cent, rate of income tax for taxable income over £100,000 per year4 +2.6 Extending the starting rate band to £2,730 for all taxpayers4,5 -3.5 Extending the starting rate limit to £2,730 for taxpayers other than higher rate taxpayers4,5 -3.1 Raising the rate of the national minimum wage for adults to £4.94 per hour 6— 1 All estimates are consistent with the November 1999 pre-Budget report. 2 Includes the effects on Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Persons' Tax Credit. 3 The NIC effect was produced by the Government Actuary's Department. 4 The income tax estimates are based on the 1997–98 Survey of Personal Incomes. 5 £2,730 is the difference between £7,115 and the non-aged personal allowance of £4,385. 6 It is not possible to give an estimate of the impact on Exchequer revenue of increasing the National Minimum Wage to £4.94 per hour. Such a move could have significant adverse effects on the employment of low-skilled workers. Therefore any Exchequer gains through increased tax revenue could to some extent be offset by increases in benefit payments.