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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mr. Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the distribution of earnings is for those earning (a) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (b) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed in (i) Scotland and (ii) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland, broken down by (A) male, (B) female and (C) all workers. [198285] Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Michael Moore, dated 16 November 2004: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the distribution of earnings is for those earning (a) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (b) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed in (i) Scotland (ii) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland, broken down by (A) male, (B) female and (C) all workers. I am replying in his absence. (198285). Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings tables. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work. These data are available on the National Statistics web site: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme labour/ ASHE 2004 inc/2004 work LA.pdf We recommend that you use data supplied for full time employees. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 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 schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings publication criteria ensures that all estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

198285; 426 c1262-3W;426 c1266-7W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Scotland Average earnings

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk