David Nuttall
Main Page: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)Department Debates - View all David Nuttall's debates with the Department for Education
(10 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe hon. Gentleman’s constituency is a good example of what is happening in the labour market. The claimant count is down to about 2.5%, which is much lower than it was when we took office. Many engineering companies are short of labour and wages are going up. We have been through a difficult period, but one of the success stories is that employment has massively increased—465,000 during the last year. His constituency is a very good example of the policies working.
Does the Secretary of State agree that retailers would find it easier to pay higher wages if they were allowed to open all day on Sunday?
I suspect that it would make relatively little difference. We had a modest experiment at the time of the Olympics. The results did not show a great deal of real economic consequences, but we are always open to new evidence.