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David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average weekly wage was for workers in the (a) private and (b) public sector in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [39793]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 January 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average weekly wage was for workers in the (a) private and (b) public sector in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. (39793)
Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
I attach a table showing the Average Gross Weekly Earnings for full time employees by private and public sector for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2005. Results prior to 1997 are not available.
The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of (a) the stability of the banking system in China and (b) the effect on the UK economy of weaknesses in the system. [40663]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: HM Treasury continually monitors the stability of financial systems around the world and their effects on the UK economy. The outlook for UK economy was set out in the PBR. A recent IMF report provides an authoritative up-to-date assessment of the banking system in China (see the Staff Report for the 2005 Article IV Consultation) and concludes that progress has been made in reform, but that considerable work remains to be done to improve the efficiency of banking intermediation. UK banks are playing a leading role in modernising China's financial sector.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has made to the elected governing authorities of (a) Guernsey, (b) Jersey, (c) the Isle of Man, (d) the Falkland Islands, (e) Gibraltar, (f) Saint Helena (g) Anguilla, (h) Montserrat, (i) Bermuda, (j) the British Virgin Islands, (k) the Turks and Caicos Islands and (l) the Cayman Islands about their domestic monetary and fiscal policies since 1997. [39215]
John Healey: The Chancellor has made no direct representations to the elected governing authorities of the Crown Dependencies or Overseas Territories about their domestic monetary and fiscal policies since 1997.
However, the UK Government, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, has a continuing dialogue with the Overseas Territories on all aspects of domestic policy, including on occasion domestic monetary and fiscal policies.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers of the intervention he has over the domestic monetary and fiscal policies of (a) Guernsey, (b) Jersey, (c) the Isle of Man, (d) the Falkland Islands, (e) Gibraltar, (f) Saint Helena (g) Anguilla, (h) Montserrat, (i) Bermuda, (j) the British Virgin Islands, (k) the Turks and Caicos Islands and (l) the Cayman Islands. [39216]
John Healey: Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man (the Crown Dependencies) are self-governing dependencies of the Crown. They are not part of the United Kingdom. Each Crown Dependency has its own legislative assembly, administrative, legal and fiscal system and has domestic competence over its monetary and fiscal policies.
In the case of Gibraltar, domestic monetary and fiscal policy are Defined Domestic Matters under the Gibraltar Constitution. However, as Gibraltar is in the EU as part of the UK member state, they have an obligation to
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transpose EU legislation into domestic Gibraltar law, including in financial areas. HM Government liaises with the Government of Gibraltar to assist in undertaking this transposition. But monetary policy remains in the hands of the Government of Gibraltar.
The Falkland Islands and St. Helena have domestic competence over monetary and fiscal policy.
Anguilla, Montserrat, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands either use the US dollar as their currency or have currencies which are linked in value to the US dollar. Fiscal policy is the responsibility of the governing authorities of these territories.
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