National Minimum Wage: Care Sector

Debate between George Freeman and Paul Blomfield

Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Westminster Hall

[Paul Blomfield]

I congratulate you, Mr Hollobone, on the seamless and unnoticed way in which you assumed the Chair.

I thank all Members for their contributions, which are too numerous to cover in a couple of minutes. They have illuminated the scale of and damage caused by the problem. It is ironic that a sector that is supposed to be about care shows so little duty of care to its employees. To illustrate the cross-party concern, I cite the words of the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) that something is very wrong indeed with national minimum wage enforcement in the care sector and that has to change.

I thank the Minister for the constructive way in which he has engaged with the debate and the issues that we have raised. I do not think he covered all the points that a number of us raised. I will write to him and I hope he will have an opportunity to get back to me on those.

I want to follow through on the Minister’s suggestion that the Government may take up the issue raised by the Low Pay Commission and Unison and to ask him to indicate—he can do so simply by nodding—that he is willing to meet me, the commission and Unison to discuss how we can move forward with implementation of transparency on payslips.

[George Freeman]

indicated assent.

[Paul Blomfield]

The Minister is nodding and I am pleased to acknowledge that we will be able to have such a meeting.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Government policy on enforcement of the national minimum wage in the care sector.