§ 25. Mr. PlaskittTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on the national minimum wage. [65215]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Government have received a number of recent representations on the national minimum wage, both in response to its consultation on draft national minimum wage regulations and through general correspondence.
§ 27. Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those groups which he plans to exempt from the provisions relating to the minimum wage. [65219]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyWe have always made it clear that the national minimum wage should have the maximum possible application. The draft minimum wage regulations, upon which we consulted in autumn 1998, provided for the exemption of 16 and 17-year-olds, apprentices under the age of 26 in the first year of their apprenticeship and apprentices aged 18 in any year of their apprenticeship. We have given careful consideration to the responses we received during the consultation exercise and revised regulations will shortly be laid before Parliament.