HC Deb 12 June 1989 vol 154 cc293-4W
Mr. Nigel Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the following five vacancies advertised by his Department's jobcentre in Edinburgh are offering rates of pay which fall below wages council rates in their sector:(a) Ref: 2761 E, (b) Ref: 1965 H, (c) Ref: 1985 R, (d) Ref: 1507 Q, and (e) Ref: 2752 K; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lee

Of the vacancies quoted, vacancy(d) Ref: 1507 Q is offering rates of pay which fall below wages council rates in the relevant sector. This error is regretted and my staff are now taking appropriate action to rectify it.

The subject of wages council rates is quite complex and in a service dealing with, on average, over 2.7 million vacancies a year, there is always the possibility that a few vacancies with wages below the minimum will slip through.