Minimum Wage

HC Deb 28 March 2001 vol 365 cc646-7W

Mr. Alexander

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the number of workers in Scotland who have benefited from the introduction of the statutory minimum wage, broken down by employment sector. [1557771

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Douglas Alexander, dated 28 March 2001:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of people in Scotland who have benefited from the National Minimum Wage (NMW) by employment sector (155777).

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. Estimates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions, including Scotland, are posted on the National Statistics website at: www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/ themes/labour_market/nmw_lowpay_tables.asp

The new methodology has been developed to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the two surveys, the NFS and LFS, in measuring low pay. Estimates based on this methodology are not available for the number of jobs paid below NMW rates in Scotland broken down by employment sector.