§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the effect of the planned reduction in the Wages Inspectorate on the cycle of inspection of establishments compared with (a) the present cycle and (b) the cycle planned on the basis of the number of inspectors intended to be in post prior to current public spending cuts.
§ Mr. AlisonFollowing the planned reduction in the Wages Inspectorate, pay rates at approximately one in 10 establishments within the scope of wages councils are now being checked each year. This corresponds with the106W position for many years prior to 1978 when the previous Administration increased the number of staff to enable a proportion of one in six to be checked.