§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is considering proposals to withdraw the protection of wages councils from young workers; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonI am concerned that wages councils should be aware of the need to avoid high wage settlements for young people which can damage their employment prospects. The workings of the Act are kept under review, but there are no immediate plans for legislation.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if any, and if so which, organisations have made representations to him that young workers' wage levels set by the wages councils are too high.
§ Mr. AlisonI have had many representations from both large and small employers, and from several employers' organisations, that current and proposed wages council rates set for young people are too high.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has received any evidence to show that young workers' wage levels have priced them out of jobs; and if he will give details of any specific examples that have been supplied to him.
§ Mr. AlisonThere is evidence from research studies that there is a relationship between the relative earnings of young people and youth employment.
The Department of Employment is aware of cases where employers cannot afford to recruit young people at current wage levels. This evidence has been supplied in confidence.
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§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the earnings of young people as a percentage of adult earnings for the years between 1974 and 1981 inclusive.
§ Mr. AlisonI refer the hon. Member to the figures in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd) on 21 December 1981.—[Vol. 15, c. 280–282.]
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of underpayment of young workers found in wages council industries for the years from 1974 to 1981, compared with the underpayment found for adult workers.
§ Mr. AlisonThe following percentages of adult and non-adult workers whose pay rates were examined by the Wages Inspectorate in the years 1974 to 1981 were found to be underpaid:
Percentage found to be underpaid Entitled to the Adult Rate Per cent. Entitled to less than Adult Rate Per cent. 1974 6.0 5.4 1975 9.4 12.2 1976 14.3 15.3 1977 15.3 20.1 1978 12.5 15.3 1979 10.7 15.6 1980 12.6 14.1 1981 16.5 18.3 As the establishments selected for inspection by the Wages Inspectorate are not a representative sample, the above figures cannot be taken as typical of wages council workers as a whole.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment if each application by an employer for subsidy under the young workers' scheme will be checked to ensure that wages paid conform to statutory minimum requirements where applicable; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. AlisonEach application for payments under the young workers scheme includes a declaration, which must be signed by the employer, that the wages paid to young workers in respect of whom payments will be made are not less than the minimum remuneration payable under any statutory wages order which applies to the employment.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Employment what relationship between variations in youth unemployment and changes in the relative earnings of young people was outlined in his Department's research paper No. 10 of 1980.
§ Mr. AlisonThe analyses in research paper No. 10 cover the period 1959 to 1976. They show that variations in youth unemployment over that period did not appear to have any statistical relationship with changes in the relative earnings of young people. An up-dated analysis of this research showed that relative earnings had some association with youth unemployment, but that it was hard to assess the significance of the part that it played.
Other evidence suggests that there has been a statistical relationship between the relative earnings of young people and youth employment.
West Midlands Region Wolverhampton employment office area Unemployed Unfilled vacancies Unemployed Unfilled vacancies Managerial (general management) 160 2 3 — Professional and related supporting management and administration 1,276 149 38 — Professional and related in education, welfare and health 1,967 390 77 6 Literary, artistic and sports 560 38 36 — Professional and related in science, engineering, technology and similar fields 1,213 406 82 2 Managerial (excluding general management) 1,865 260 71 11 Clerical and related 13,195 1,933 637 42 Selling 6,193 1,106 370 38 Security and protective service 434 255 26 21 Catering, cleaning, hairdressing and other personal service 5,610 2,424 307 63 Farming, fishing and related 1,332 216 42 8 Materials processing (excluding metal) 615 223 19 5 Making and repairing (excluding metal and electrical) 2,651 1,117 142 30 Processing, making, repairing and related (metal and electrical) 12,588 4,140 841 99 Painting, repetitive assembling, product inspecting, packaging and related 6,132 828 356 11 Construction, mining and related not elsewhere classified 5,447 697 315 21 Transport operating, materials moving and storing and related 9,560 1,182 484 39 Miscellaneous (including general labourers) 36,505 825 1,851 12 TOTAL 107,303 16,191 5,697 408
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the most recent unemployment figures for (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands, categorised by sex and age and duration of unemployment; what percentage this represents in each case; and what were the comparable figures for May 1979.
§ Mr. AlisonI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.