| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Earnings
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of workers on adult rates currently earn less than (a) £2.50, (b) £3, (c) £3.50, (d) £4, (e) £4.50, (f) £5, (g) £5.50, (h) £6.50, per hour, including and excluding overtime distinguishing between manual and non-manual, male and female and part-time workers. [4944]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The information is shown in the table.
| Percentage with | Non-manual males | Manual males | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hourly earnings | Including | Excluding | Including | Excluding |
| less than: | overtime | overtime | overtime | overtime |
| £2.50 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| £3.00 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| £3.50 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 5.7 | 6.5 |
| £4.00 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 12.8 | 15.1 |
| £4.50 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 22.4 | 25.6 |
| £5.00 | 10.9 | 11.4 | 32.2 | 35.1 |
| £5.50 | 15.2 | 15.6 | 41.8 | 44.7 |
| £6.50 | 23.6 | 24.0 | 57.7 | 60.5 |
12 Dec 1995 : Column: 570
| Percentage with | Non-manual females | Manual females | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hourly earnings | Including | Excluding | Including | Excluding |
| less than: | overtime | overtime | overtime | overtime |
| £2.50 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| £3.00 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 8.9 | 9.2 |
| £3.50 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 22.2 | 21.6 |
| £4.00 | 10.6 | 10.9 | 35.8 | 37.9 |
| £4.50 | 17.5 | 17.8 | 55.0 | 56.1 |
| £5.00 | 25.6 | 26.2 | 69.1 | 70.7 |
| £5.50 | 34.9 | 35.2 | 79.4 | 81.0 |
| £6.50 | 52.8 | 53.1 | 91.1 | 91.6 |
| Percentage with hourly earnings less than: | Including overtime | Excluding overtime |
|---|---|---|
| £2.50 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| £3.00 | 10.5 | 10.6 |
| £3.50 | 28.7 | 28.8 |
| £4.00 | 46.2 | 46.4 |
| £4.50 | 59.4 | 60.3 |
| £5.00 | 68.8 | 68.7 |
| £5.50 | 74.3 | 74.1 |
| £6.50 | 81.6 | 81.6 |
Note:
(3) The New Earnings Survey only covers those earning above the income tax threshold. As a result a significant number of part-time employees are excluded.
Source: New Earnings Survey.
12 Dec 1995 : Column: 571
Mr. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of full-time workers on adult rates currently earn less than (a) £100, (b) £150, (c)£200, and (d) £250 per week, (i) including and (ii) excluding overtime. [4945]
Mr. Jones: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Percentage with weekly earnings less than: | Excluding overtime | Including overtime |
|---|---|---|
| £100 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| £150 | 11.0 | 9.2 |
| £200 | 32.4 | 26.9 |
| £250 | 51.5 | 44.6 |
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Unemployment
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Newport, East (Mr. Flynn) of 4 December, Official Report, columns 7-8, if he will make a statement on the criteria he used to calculate levels of employment and unemployment. [5012]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The figures used are from the claimant unemployment count as published monthly by the Central Statistical Office. For Wales as a whole, seasonally adjusted figures are available and used for month-to-month comparisons because they avoid the distortion of seasonal variation. Below this geographical level only unadjusted figures are published by the CSO, so where individual counties and parliamentary constituencies are compared with Wales, unadjusted figures are used.
Bus Services
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the effect of the increase in diesel fuel duty in his Budget statement on the operation of bus services. [5306]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: This increase is very small in terms of the overall operational costs of bus services. There is, therefore, no reason for it to have significant impact on the levels of services. It should encourage the operators to be more efficient in their use of fuel, and reduce emissions from public service vehicles.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to maintain the frequency of local bus services. [5307]
Mr. Jones: Bus operators must be free to respond to changes in the market. It is for county councils to ensure that essential public transport services are provided where these cannot be provided commercially.
Angling Byelaws
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will make a statement on the National Rivers Authority's proposed amendment to change the finish of the salmon and sea trout fishing season to
12 Dec 1995 : Column: 572
7 October, and its impact on fishing tourism in south-west Wales; [5374]
(2) what assessments he has made of the impact of the National Rivers Authority's proposed amendment to the rod and line byelaws on fishing tourism in south-west Wales. [5375]
Mr. Hague: I understand that the NRA is intending to amend its byelaws to conserve fish stocks. It has not yet submitted the byelaws for confirmation, but when it does so I shall consider the case for the amendments along with the comments of all objectors.
Welsh Health Common Services Authority
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh health common services authority concerning the effects on charges to NHS trusts in Wales for the authority's services of the authority reducing its occupancy of Crickhowell house to (a) less than 75 per cent. (b) less than 50 per cent. (c) less than 25 per cent. of the office space; and if the charges will reflect the rent paid by the authority for the whole building; [5640]
(2) what agreement he has reached with the prescription pricing division of the health common services authority in relation to its relocation from Crickhowell house, Cardiff bay; and what agreement he has made with the chairman of the Welsh health common services authority in respect of the market rent for the prescription pricing division in (a) its present location and (b) elsewhere; [5637]
(3) what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh health common services authority in relation to (a) relocations of parts of the authority outside Crickhowell house following market testing exercises and (b) the sub-letting of consequently vacated office space at Crickhowell house; what obligations his Department has in respect of rental guarantees at Crickhowell house regarding vacated space; and if he will make a statement. [5642]
Mr. Hague: My Department is discussing these matters with the authority. The whole of the building has been leased for 25 years from 31 August but there is provision for sub-letting.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh health common services authority concerning special redundancy terms for current employees of the authority over 50 years of age. [5638]
Mr. Hague: None. Following discussions with my Department the authority will be introducing a voluntary redundancy scheme in due course in line with criteria which it will be establishing.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time employees giving their full-time equivalents, there were in his Department on 31 December in each year since 1993; and what are the planned figures for 31 December 1996. [5644]
Mr. Hague: The information is as follows:
| Full-time staff | Full-time equivalent or part-time staff | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 December 1993 | 2,439 | 202 |
| 31 December 1994 | 2,357 | 199 |
| 1 December 1995 | 2,222 | 184 |
It is expected that staff numbers--full-time equivalent--will be reduced to 2,100 during 1996-97.
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with trade unions regarding compliance with European Union directives on large-scale redundancies in respect of his Department's current staff reductions and redundancies programme.[5641]
Mr. Hague: Consultation on the current staff reductions has taken place with the trade unions in my Department on the basis of the appropriate departmental Whitely Council agreements. The consultations comply with the provisions of the relevant European directives.
Occupational Health
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many medical and nursing staff were working in occupational health within the national health service in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and if he will list the grades of those employees.[5428]
Mr. Richards: Information on nursing staff working in occupational health is not available centrally. Information on the whole-time equivalent number of medical staff whose main specialty was occupational health is given in the table.
| Staff in post at 30 September | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
| Consultant | 2.9 | 4.1 | 4.5 |
| Senior registrar | -- | 1.0 | -- |
| Hospital practitioner | -- | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Clinical assistant | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |