§ Mr. McTaggartasked the Secretary of State for Employment if, in the light of the Low Pay Unit's report on low pay in Scotland which shows an increase in the number of employers illegally underpaying workers covered by minimum wage laws, he will encourage the Wages Inspectorate to make more positive use of its powers of prosecution against employers found guilty of such illegal actions.
§ Mr. GummerThe general level of compliance is not as poor as the Low Pay Unit report implies. In fact, only 6.7 per cent. of the workers in Scotland whose pay was checked by the inspectorate in 1982 were found to have been underpaid. This does not suggest that there is a need for the inspectorate to change the prosecution policy which it has followed for many years and which has been endorsed by successive Governments.