HC Deb 10 July 1969 vol 786 cc1553-5
11. Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she will make a statement on the consultations she has had with the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry about the Departmental Report on a National Minimum Wage.

Mr. Harold Walker

My right hon. Friend will be consulting the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry on the future form of the policy for productivity, prices and incomes. The position of low-paid workers will be considered in the light of the inter-departmental report on a national minimum wage, the information becoming available from the new earnings survey and the question of equal pay for women, who form the majority of the low paid.

Mr. Ashley

Are not the questions of a minimum wage and equal pay separate but related? Are not the Government already committed in principle to the question of equal pay? Would they care to give a similar commitment in principle to the question of a minimum wage?

Mr. Walker

I cannot commit the Government on the question of a national minimum wage. The importance of equal pay in this connection is that the great majority of the lower paid are women and the implementation of equal pay would go a long way towards solving the problem of low pay.

Mr. Shinwell

What is this interdepartmental report on a national minimum wage? Can hon. Members be acquainted with the details? Is my hon. Friend aware that on two occasions—in 1946 and in 1948—there were submitted to the Attlee Cabinet proposals for a national minimum wage? Are they available in the Department? Can we have information about this?

Mr. Walker

As I understand the position, the report should be available in the Vote Office. I will check to make sure that it is. If it is not, I will ensure that it is made available to hon. Members. The purpose of the report was not to commit the Government on a policy but to provide a basis for a more informed discussion on the subject.

Mr. James Hamilton

Will my hon. Friend agree that, on the basis of the report, there is an unanswerable case for introducing fairly speedily a national minimum wage, bearing in mind that many males, as a result of the Government's policy on redundancy payments and related supplements, can receive more money when they are unemployed? If we as a Government are not prepared to give an incentive, shall we not make things difficult for the lower-paid workers?

Mr. Walker

As I said in reply to an earlier supplementary question, the purpose of the report was to provide the basis for a more informed discussion and not to draw conclusions. However, if I may draw a subjective conclusion representing purely my own attitude, it seems to me that there are strong indications in the report that we might misuse resources by introducing a national minimum wage at this time, and those resources might be better used through the existing social security arrangements, the provision of family allowances, and the like.

Dr. Winstanley

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the introduction of a national minimum wage to protect badly organised industries is a necessary preliminary to a move from nationally negotiated wage agreements to plant and company bargaining? Will he consider the introduction of a national minimum wage for that purpose?

Mr. Walker

As regards industries in which the general level or the tendency is towards low pay, this is the sort of question which, among other things, exercised the mind of the Royal Commission, which made recommendations, for example, about the need to develop more effective collective bargaining machinery in those industries, particularly those covered by wages councils. Its recommendations are currently the subject of consultation between the Department, the T.U.C. and the C.B.I.