§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the additional income received by residents of Cunninghame, South constituency following the introduction of the national minimum wage; [157396]
(2) how many residents of Cunninghame, South constituency (a) have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage and (b) will benefit from the rise in the level of the national minimum wage. [157397]
§ Mr. TimmsThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Brian H. Donohoe, dated 6 April 2001:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions about the benefits of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in Cunninghame South constituency (157396, 157397).The Office for National Statistics has published estimates of the number of jobs paid at less than NMW rates for 1998, 1999 and 2000. These estimates are based on an improved methodology using data from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and Labour Force Survey (LFS). This methodology provides the best estimates for the number of jobs in the UK paid below low hourly rate thresholds and was developed to overcome the deficiencies inherent in using the NES and LFS separately for measuring low pay.Estimates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions are posted on the National Statistics website at:www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/themes/labour_ market/nmw_lowpay_tables.aspEstimates based on this methodology are not available for the number of jobs paid below NMW rates at Parliamentary Constituency level.