§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many and what percentage of the working population earns less than the threshold level of the lowest acceptable wage as assessed by the Committee of Independent Experts. [27656]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe Council of Europe's so called decency threshold has not been accepted by any EU Government and was not accepted by the United Kingdom when it was introduced in 1977. The threshold for the UK was £221.50 per week in April 1994 and 32 per cent. of the full-time working population earn less than this.