§ Mr. McWilliamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Low Pay Commission has been given its new terms of reference. [8319]
§ Alan JohnsonThe Government have confirmed the permanent status of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) and will be providing it with full terms of reference for its next report in due course. In preparation for that, and as suggested by the LPC in its third report (Vol II), the 1161W Government wish the LPC to set up a programme of longer term, strategic and rigorous research to inform future work.
In particular, the Government wish the LPC to commission research which will investigate the impact of the minimum wage, over time, on employment and joblessness levels of various age groups. The Government also wish the LPC to find out more about the effect of the minimum wage on the supply of, and demand for, work-based training, and on the link between the minimum wage, education, training and skills development more generally.
The LPC has done a lot of useful work on the impact of the NMW on specific low paying sectors. The Government would like the LPC to use the longer timeframe now available to it to commission rolling research into the impact of the NMW, and the various increases to the rate, on business as a whole and on small businesses in particular, building on the work the LPC has already done on the various business strategies for coping with the minimum wage that have been adopted by such firms.