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Average Wages (Financial Services Sector)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the average weekly gross wage of (a) men and (b) women in the financial services sector. [139154]
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. Dafydd Wigley, dated 30 November 2000:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about the average gross weekly earnings of men and women in the financial services sector (139154). I am replying in his absence.
- The New Earnings Survey (NES) provides earnings data for different industry sectors based on the 1992 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC92). Estimates for full-time employees are published for all industry sectors when there is a sufficiently large sample of employees and the statistics have an acceptable level of accuracy. I have provided data for the SIC92 'financial intermediation' industry sector in the attached table including previously unpublished estimates for part-time employees and for all males and all females. The figures are for Great Britain and are based on the 2000 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.
- The NES is based on a one per cent sample of employees in the PAYE system and is therefore likely to under-represent low paid staff earning below the tax threshold and in particular those who work part-time. Averages will be affected by a relatively small number of employees earning very high gross weekly earning.
(62) Denotes that a reliable estimate is not available
Note:
2000 NES, Great Britain: Employees on adult rates, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence
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Immigration (Registration Officers)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if it is his policy that registration officers should check (a) the passports and (b) the validity of visas of persons intending to marry; and if he will make a statement; [139342]
- (2) what guidance he (a) has issued and (b) plans to issue to registration officers about sharing information with the immigration authorities; [139341]
(3) what training he is providing for registration officers about their duties under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. [139340]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Lidington, dated 30 November 2000:
- As Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your three recent questions about the arrangements for the coming into force on 1 January 2001 of section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (the 1999 Act). As you know, section 24 is concerned with the duty on registration officers to report suspicious marriages. Specifically you asked about registration officers checking passports and visas and their training and guidance to be issued. (139340/1/2)
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- Under current legislation, registration officers need to ensure the accuracy of information contained in the notice of intention to marry. To achieve this they may examine a variety of documents. The person giving notice of marriage may be asked to provide documentary evidence showing use and spellings of names and details of age and marital status in order to verify the particulars. A variety of documents, including a passport, may be produced.
- I have not issued any policy guidance to registration officers regarding checks on passports on the validity of visas of persons intending to marry. However, the 1999 Act places a duty on registration officers to report to the Home Office marriages they reasonably suspect as being sham marriages. If, in the course of examining a passport, a registration officer discovers the visa of a part to a marriage has expired this may be taken into account, together with other factors, in assessing whether the marriage is a sham.
- Registration officers in England and Wales have been invited to attend a seminar arranged to address both the impact on their statutory duties and the consequential amendments to marriage law arising from the 1999 Act.
- The Reporting of Suspicious Marriages and Registration (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2000 are to be laid before Parliament shortly. They set out the procedure for reporting sham marriages to the Secretary of State for the Home Department where it is suspected that the marriage is or has been entered into for the purpose of avoiding the effect of United Kingdom immigration law. The regulations specify that reports are made direct to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and stipulate the information to be contained in reports.
- A copy of these regulations will be issued to every superintendent registrar in England and Wales. They will also receive written guidance and revised instructions for inclusion in the Handbook for Registration Officers that will contain advice about reporting arrangements. I have no plans to issue further guidance on sharing information with the immigration authorities.
Heroin (Deaths)
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the trend has been in the number of deaths in the UK resulting from heroin use between 1990 and the most recent year for which figures are available. [137468]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 20 November 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 30 November 2000:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on the trend in the number of deaths in the UK resulting from heroin use between 1990 and the most recent year for which figures are available (137468). I am replying in his absence.
- Methods for identifying deaths related to heroin differ among the constituent countries of the UK. Figures on the basis currently used in all countries are only available from 1994 onwards.
- For Britain (England & Wales and Scotland), these figures represent the number of deaths where the underlying cause of death is regarded as resulting from drug-related poisoning, according to the current National Statistics definition, and heroin or morphine were either mentioned on the death certificate, or in additional available information. As heroin breaks down in the body into morphine, the latter may be detected at post mortem and recorded on the death certificate. Figures are therefore provided for deaths with a mention of either substance.
- Figures for Northern Ireland represent deaths where the underlying cause was due to poisoning by opiates and related narcotics, code N965.0 in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Division, (ICD9).
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- The figures requested are presented in the table below:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 336 |
| 1995 | 439 |
| 1996 | 557 |
| 1997 | 525 |
| 1998 | 764 |
| Total | 2,621 |
(63) Deaths with underlying cause codes 292, 304, 305.2-305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5, using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, (ICD9), where heroin or morphine was mentioned on the death certificate.
(64) Deaths with an underlying cause of ICD9 N965.0
Workless Households
Mr. Denzil Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the percentage of workless households in (a) England and (b) Wales. [139453]
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. Denzil Davies, dated 30 November 2000:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the percentage of workless households in England and Wales. (139453)
- The most recent estimates are that, in spring (March to May) 2000 the percentage of workless households in England was 14.9 per cent and in Wales it was 21.2 per cent.
- These estimates refer to working age households, which are defined as households with no-one in employment, that include at least one person of working age, i.e. a woman aged between 16 and 59 or a man aged between 16 and 64. Households with economically inactive people on disability benefit are included in these estimates.
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