§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will recommend the prosecution of any employers found by inspectors to be underpaying homeworkers.
§ Mr. John Grant, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th February 1978], gave the following information:
The present policy of not prosecuting first offenders unless the offence is flagrant, but always considering prosecution in the case of other offenders, will continue to be followed in the case of all employers, including those who employ homeworkers.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the total amount by which home-workers have been underpaid in each of the last five years in (a) industries covered by wages council and (b) industries not covered by wages councils.
§ Mr. John Grant, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th February 1978], gave the following information:
No reliable estimate is available. In the case of those homeworkers whose wages were examined by the Wages Inspectorate the following amounts were assessed as due:
Year Total Amount£ 1972 109 1973 315 1974 2,244 1975 2,206 1976 2,424
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that homeworkers are repaid any money they were entitled to by law, but which has been underpaid.
§ Mr. John Grant, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th February 1978], gave the following information:
639WArrears are pursued for all workers, including homeworkers, found to be underpaid.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to increase the number of inspectors covering homeworkers.
§ Mr. John Grant, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th February 1978], gave the following information:
Despite current manpower and expenditure constraints, the staffing of the Wages Inspectorate is under review.