§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the employers' response to the consultation regarding the decision to retain the agricultural wages board.
§ Mr. JackThe consultation period on the future operation of the agricultural wages board ran from July to November 1993. Over that period, almost 4,000 responses were received with only 10 advocating abolition of the board. Most employers and organisations representing employers' interests recommended retention; however, those responses recommending abolition came from employer interests. An analysis of responses was placed in the Library of the House on 9 June 1994. We also took into account comments received after the close of the formal consultation period.
Some further representations suggesting abolition of the board came from employers and organisations representing employers in the horticulture, poultry and mushroom sectors, with most noting concerns for their sectors of the particular impact of the 1994 AWB minimum wage settlement. However, the views of the great majority of employers and the main representative organisations remained unchanged.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the decision to retain the agricultural wages board on wage rates and wage rate differentials in the agricultural sector.
§ Mr. JackThe agricultural wages board is an independent organisation and reaches its own decisions on minimum wage rates and differentials. It is not possible to predict the future impact of the board's determinations on levels of remuneration in the agricultural sector.
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