HC Deb 20 February 1979 vol 963 cc239-40
15. Mr. Michael McNair-Wilson

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons, who are now unemployed, were receiving wages of £45 or less when they were in work; and what percentage this represents of the total unemployed.

Mr. Harold Walker

I regret that this information is not available, but some information will become available in due course from a survey of unemployed claimants being conducted by the Department of Health and Social Security.

Mr. McNair-Wilson

Despite that very unhelpful answer, does the Minister agree that a married man earning £45 a week, who has two children, is much better off when he is unemployed? What do the Minister and the Government intend to do to give some incentive to people in that position to go back into employment?

Mr. Walker

No doubt the hon. Gentleman has been reading the recent article in The Daily Telegraph by the hon. Member for Norfolk, North (Mr. Howell). I am glad to see him nodding in confirmation. Regrettable as are wages at that level, we shall certainly not seek to redress them in the way suggested in that article, namely, by increasing VAT and reducing public expenditure on a dramatic scale.

Dr. McDonald

Is my hon. Friend aware that not one of the wages council settlements, which have so far covered 1.4 million workers, has reached the figure of £45 a week? What action does his Department intend to take to improve wages council settlements?

Mr. Walker

The wages councils are independent bodies and we have given them a freedom that they did not previously enjoy to fix their own wages. It must be borne in mind that the councils fix statutory minima, which may not, in some cases, reflect the real level of incomes earnings.

Mr. Flannery

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is time we knew how many people are getting less than £45 a week, in view of the myths spread not only by the Opposition but by the Government Front Bench that some workers get massive amounts over that £45, amounting in some cases to a total of £70 a week? Is my hon. Friend aware that such underpaid workers are bitterly angry that such statements should emanate from the Government?

Mr. Walker

I have said that the unemployed, who comprise the group referred to in the question, are the subject of a survey being carried out by the DHSS. Of those in employment, I understand that less than 3 per cent. of men and 30 per cent. of women—a regrettable proportion—earn less than £45 a week.