§ 26. Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what abatement is available in the national minimum wage to those employers who provide board and lodging. [149030]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonFollowing the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission, there is no offset allowed for the provision of board when calculating whether the national minimum wage has been paid. There is a limited offset of up to £19.95 a week allowed against the national minimum wage to recognise the benefit of the provision of accommodation. I have asked the commission, as part of the terms of reference for its third report, to consider whether there is a case for making any change to the maximum accommodation offset. It is due to report its findings by July.
§ Mr. EnnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many enforcement notices have been issued to employers to help enforce the national minimum wage. [150447]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonSince the national minimum wage was introduced on 1 April 1999, the Inland Revenue, who enforce the minimum wage on behalf of the DTI, have issued 328 enforcement notices against employers.
274W
§ Mr. EnnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many enforcement officers, region by region, are employed to police employers who pay less than the national minimum wage. [150446]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe allocation of resources to enforce the national minimum wage is agreed between the DTI and the Inland Revenue, and is covered by a service level agreement between the two Departments. There are presently 77 enforcement officers based in 14 teams across the United Kingdom. In addition there are a further 10 staff at the national minimum wage helpline and seven at the central information unit, both based in Longbenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The number of enforcement officers can be broken down into the following Inland Revenue regions:
Inland Revenue Regions Number East Region 6 London Region 13 Northern Ireland 5 North Region 7 North West Region 7 Scotland 8 South East Region 10 South West Region 5 South Yorkshire Region 6 Wales and Midlands 10
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many workers have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage in the Tooting parliamentary constituency; [144576]
(2) how many workers in the Greater London area have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage. [144577]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 15 February 2001:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions about the number of workers in Tooting and Greater London who have benefited from the national minimum wage (NMW) (144576,144577).The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published estimates of the number of jobs paid at less than NMW rates for 1998, 1999 and 2000. These are based on an improved methodology using data from both the New Earnings Survey and Labour Force Survey. Estimates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions, including Greater London, are available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/themes/labour—market/nmw—1 owpay—tables.aspNo estimates are available for Parliamentary Constituencies.