§ Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list in the Official Report those wages councils which have simplified (a) the content and (b) the form and wording of their wages council orders, formerly statutory instruments, since 1959, other than simplification necessary as a consequence of the Equal Pay Act, and indicate the years in which such simplification was implemented.
§ Mr. John GrantI am writing to the hon. Member and I shall place a copy of my reply in the Library.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list in the Official Report the date of issue and withdrawal of all leaflets produced with the intention of explaining the content and effect of wages councils orders more simply than could be achieved by the orders themselves.
§ Mr. John GrantA leaflet designed to give guidance to employers in the retail food trades in England and Wales was introduced about 1960 and withdrawn in 1966, when it became clear that most 319W employers were not using it. I am at present considering what scope there is for simplification of wages orders.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether and when he has used the powers available to him under Section 7(1)(4) of the Wages Councils Act 1959 as amended by the Employment Protection Act 1975 to establish or abolish central co-ordinating committees in two or more wages councils.
§ Mr. John GrantA central co-ordinating committee was set up in 1949 under previous legislation for the retail trades and hairdressing. It was abolished in July 1956, having failed to demonstrate its usefulness. None has been set up since.