HL Deb 31 March 1981 vol 419 cc111-2

2.40 p.m.

Lord Spens

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many wages council awards have been back-dated during the last twelve months and how many have been post-dated.

The Earl of Gowrie

My Lords, in the last 12 months wages councils have made 36 orders changing the statutory minimum rates of pay in their trades. Of these, 25 were issued after their effective date of operation and 11 before their effective date. The date of effect of a wages order is a matter for each council to determine, but the date must not be earlier than the date on which the council agrees its proposed changes in minimum rates.

Lord Spens

My Lords, I am grateful for that reply. Would the Minister not agree, though, that the fact that many of these awards were ante-dated is an encouragement to inflation which would otherwise not arise? Would he not also agree that the fact that these awards are spread over the whole country and give the same award over very large numbers of small and medium businesses in different areas must not only be inflationary but likely to be restrictive of job opportunities?

The Earl of Gowrie

My Lords, I do not agree that the wages councils' awards are likely to be inflationary, because they tend more to follow inflation than to create it. We are speaking about an economy where the national average wage for men is now about £130 and for women about £85 and the statutory minimum imposed by wages councils is round about £58, so I do not think that is an inflationary affair. As I said in reply to a supplementary to the previous Question of the noble Lord, I do think that, particularly where the young are concerned, there are some job opportunity losses as a result of any statutory minimum.