§ 65. Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the reduction in the wages inspectorate in Wales and its impact on rates of pay in Mountain Ash and the Cynon Valley.
§ Mr. NichollsThe reduction of inspection activity in Wales was part of a general reduction throughout Great Britain in 1986–87. It reflected the simpler and quicker task of checking compliance with wages orders and the expectation that the level of compliance would rise following the reform of the wages council system in 1986. There is no simple link between wages inspection and rates of pay, but in Wales, as in Great Britain as a whole, the percentage of workers found to be underpaid in checks by the wages inspectorate has reduced. Inspection results are not available for areas smaller than Wales as a whole.