§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect that the Government stance on the Posted Workers Directive is having on(a) the job prospects for British workers in the United Kingdom and (b) the wage levels of migrant workers in the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement. [145486]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe UK fully implemented the Posting of Workers Directive in 1999, providing all workers temporarily posted to the UK from another state with certain minimum conditions of employment as laid down by law. We have no reason to believe that its implementation has adversely affected the job prospects of British workers in the UK. Unemployment in the UK fell from 5.9 per cent. in the three months ending October 1999 to 5.0 per cent. in the three months ending October 2003 (ILO Unemployment Figure, Labour Force Survey, ONS).
UK employment rights are applicable to all workers, regardless of country of origin, so migrant workers are protected in the same way as other workers by the National Minimum Wage.