HC Deb 29 October 1992 vol 212 c823W
Ms. Quin

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps her Department is currently making to publicise the wages councils system.

Mr. McLoughlin

Every employer identified as being covered by a wages council is sent notices of wages council minimum rates, which must by law be posted where employees can see them. The Department also publishes a booklet "Wages Councils and Statutory Pay Rates", which explains workers' rights to statutory minimum pay.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is her estimate of the number of new jobs that will be created following abolition of wages councils; and if she will publish the evidence on which this estimate is based.

Mr. McLoughlin

There is a good deal of evidence about the link between pay and jobs at national level both in the United Kingdom and in other countries. This link has also been detected in several studies specifically about the wages council industries. We do not have the information to quantify the number of jobs that are inhibited by statutory minimum rates; and attempts to do so are not likely to be successful.