§ 4. Mr. Russell Brown (Dumfries)If she will make a statement about the future of the Low Pay Commission. [49374]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Mr. Ian McCartney)My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced to the House on 18 June that the Low Pay Commission will be asked to continue its work, monitoring and evaluating the introduction and impact of the national minimum wage.
About 2 million workers will benefit from our proposed minimum wage rates: some 1.4 million are women, over 1.3 million are part-time workers, some 200,000 are young people, around 110,000 are home workers, approximately 175,000 are lone parents who work and some 130,000 are ethnic minority workers.
§ Mr. BrownI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. More than 1,600 families in my constituency are delighted that at long last we shall see an end to poverty pay, which was the trademark of the previous Government. Will my hon. Friend explain how long he believes the Low Pay Commission will remain in operation? Does he agree that this is the real way to encourage people off benefits and into work?
§ Mr. McCartneyThe Low Pay Commission will continue and the best way to ensure that it does is to ensure that at the next election that lot on the Opposition Benches do not get elected again. [Laughter.] I say that in all seriousness because in our debate on Monday evening, the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) made it absolutely clear that the Conservatives would review all the new employment rights that we will provide under our fairness at work proposals, including the minimum wage. We assume that 559 they will go into the next election fighting for wage cuts for the 2 million lowest-paid workers in Britain. What a shambles. What a rabble.
§ Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst)If it were discovered as a result of the monitoring exercise that the Minister has mentioned that one of the results of the introduction of the minimum wage was a loss of employment opportunities, a loss of jobs and, due to a maintenance of differentials, a general increase in wage costs, what conclusions would the Minister, the Low Pay Commission and the President of the Board of Trade draw?
§ Mr. McCartneyThe right hon. Gentleman should opt for sackcloth and ashes. As Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment, he was one of those responsible for getting rid of wages councils—thus ensuring that 2 million low-paid workers in Britain received no protection—and putting 3 million people on the dole. What nonsense. The Low Pay Commission was established to ensure that the minimum wage is implemented in a fair and effective way. Since the announcement of the rate, no one, except the Conservative party, has made other than positive remarks about the way in which the Government have gone about the matter.
§ Mr. David Chidgey (Eastleigh)Will the Low Pay Commission be a permanent body? Will its remit include monitoring and evaluating the variable rates for those under 18 and those in training? When will the Low Pay Commission next report? Will its conclusions be introduced free from political interference or influence?
§ Mr. McCartneyFirst, I make it absolutely clear that the Low Pay Commission will continue because it has a job to do in monitoring and evaluating the introduction of the national minimum wage. From time to time, it will report to the Government on those matters. It is an important partnership body and it is central to the effective introduction of the national minimum wage. We went out of our way to make clear the commission's independence, and that independence led the Government to agree to its 24 recommendations—and they will be implemented.