Minimum Wage (Hansard, 28 November 2000)

§ Mr. Edwards
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the annual savings in Working Families Tax Credit expenditure(a) with the minimum wage at £3.70 per hour and (b) if the minimum wage were £5.10 per hour; [140260]
(2) if he will estimate the increase in tax and national insurance revenue to the Exchequer in the financial year 2001–02 as a result of (a) raising the rate of the national minimum wage for adults to £5.10 and (b) reducing the age for adult rates of the national minimum wage from 22 to 18 years, if the national minimum wage were (i) £3.70 and (ii) £5.10. [140215]

§ Dawn Primarolo
An estimate of the saving in Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) expenditure in the period October 1999 to March 2000 as a result of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the adult rate of £3.60 per hour, appears at Table 3.2 in the Second Report of the Low Pay Commission. A copy is in the Library.
590W
It is not possible to estimate accurately the potential impact on the labour market of raising the adult rate of the NMW to £5.10 per hour, or of reducing the minimum age for qualifying for the adult rate. No reliable estimates can therefore be provided of the effects of these changes on WFTC expenditure, or on tax and national insurance revenue.

§ Mr. Edwards
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will provide a breakdown of those who have benefited from the national minimum wage by(a) region, (b) gender, (c) occupation and (d) employment status; [140257]
(2) if he will provide a breakdown of those employed in jobs with pay less than the national minimum wage by (a) gender, (b) region, (c) employment status and (d) occupation. [140258]

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 28 November 2000The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent questions on the national minimum wage (NMW) (140257/8). I am replying in his absence. ONS has estimates of employees with pay less than NMW rates for spring 1998, 1999 and 2000 (£3.00 per hour aged 18–21 and £3.60 per hour aged 22 or over) disaggregated by gender, full- and part-time, industry sector, occupation and Government Office Region. These estimates were released on 10th November 2000 and are posted on the National Statistics website, reference:
http://www.statistics.gov.uldthemes/labour-market/nmw-lowpay-tables.asp They are based on an improved methodology which uses data from both the New Earnings Survey (NES) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The estimates cannot be used as a measure of non-compliance with NMW legislation because it is not possible from either the LFS or the NES to identify whether an individual is eligible for NMW rates. For example it is not possible to identify people such as apprentices and those undergoing accredited training who are exempt from the minimum wage or are entitled to lower rates.