§ Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of the people who have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage. [97579]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonFigures from the Office for National Statistics show that 700,000 more people were earning above national minimum wage rates in March-May 1999 than in the same period last year and almost two million who were earning below the national minimum wage will benefit when its full effects can be measured.