§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many employers were inspected by the Wages Inspectorate in 1977, or in the latest available year; how many were found to be defaulting on their legal obligations; and how many were prosecuted.
§ Mr. John Grant:30,930, 11,557 and seven establishments respectively in 1977.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will issue a general direction to the Wages Inspectorate that it should abandon its present policy of not prosecuting employers who pay their workers less than statutory minimum rates when the offence is discovered for the first time; and if he will issue an announcement that employers who break the law in this respect can expect to be prosecuted unless there are exceptional extenuating circumstances.
§ Mr. John Grant:No. As I told my hon. Friend last year, I believe that the present policy of not prosecuting first offenders unless the offence is flagrant, but always considering prosecution in the case of other offenders, is right.