HC Deb 19 June 1995 vol 262 cc14-5
32. Mr. Wicks

To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many House of Commons employees employed directly or on contract, receive hourly wages of (a) £4 or less, (b) £3.50 or less and (c) £3 or less; and what is the lowest hourly rate for anyone working in the House of Commons. [27631]

Mr. A. J. Beith (representing the House of Commons Commission)

None of the staff employed by the House of Commons Commission is paid an hourly rate of less than £4. The minimum point on the salary scale of the most junior grade equates to £4.39 per hour. Two staff in this grade are currently paid at that rate. The House authorities do not hold details of the wages of staff employed by contractors.

Mr. Wicks

Is it not a disgrace that the House does not know the level of pay of staff employed by contractors? Is not that pay likely to be very low? Should not we satisfy ourselves from data that the people we employ are paid a fair wage, so that we are not an exploitative employer and the House of Commons is not a House of poverty?

Mr. Beith

As I pointed out, the people whom we employ are paid a fair wage. The House uses contractors principally in the Parliamentary Works Directorate and the Refreshment Department, and usually has contracts with firms or agencies rather than with individuals. If the hon. Gentleman has evidence of low pay in those areas, he should draw it to my attention so that I may draw it to the attention of the Department concerned. The rates paid by the House to contractors take account of the prevailing rates of pay for the appropriate levels of skill for which the contract is made.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Does the right hon. Gentleman know whether the House of Commons Commission employs anyone below the ages of 18 or 19? He may discover that, as in some other public organisations, the rates of pay are high while the number of young people employed is nil.

Mr. Beith

I would require notice of that question, but I shall obtain the information and let the hon. Gentleman have it.