Lord Stoneham of Droxford
Main Page: Lord Stoneham of Droxford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2015
Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts
Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)
My Lords, everybody should be reassured that I do not think that there is much need to detain the House for very long. One of the coalition’s last decisions was to improve the minimum wage. It was initiated by my right honourable friend Vince Cable, to whom I pay tribute, particularly for his work on apprenticeships. It should be particularly gratifying to him to see the special work in these regulations to help those undertaking apprenticeships.
My other, final point is that this procedure was arrived at through the Low Pay Commission. The one concern we have when we come to debate the living wage in future months is whether the procedure will continue or whether we will see the end of a very successful consensus operation that has led to the improvement of minimum wage discussions in this country over the 10 years since the minimum wage was introduced. I support these regulations and I look forward to the Minister’s reply.
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, I thank both noble Lords for their valuable and largely supportive comments during this debate. These regulations will increase the national minimum wage for more than 2.4 million people from 1 October this year. This increase will ensure that the low paid share the benefits of economic growth without damaging their employment prospects. The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the Government about the minimum wage, and I thank it for its detailed report and recommendations.
A number of specific points were made by the noble Lord, Lord Young. He mentioned apprenticeship starts. More than 2 million apprentices have started employment since 2010. We have seen 440,400 starts during 2013-14, of which 278,700 are young people between the ages of 16 and 24. The noble Lord also mentioned more about apprenticeships and youth unemployment. Youth unemployment continues to fall in both the recent quarter and the year. This now still stands at 729,000, but below the peak during the recession of 1 million.
The noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, also mentioned apprentices being paid below the minimum wage. I thank him for giving me notice of these questions. The Government are committed to cracking down on employers who break the national minimum wage law; we have already taken action to reduce non-compliance with the national minimum wage. The 2014 apprenticeship pay survey shows that the level of non-compliance for apprentices is 14%. This non-compliance rate represents a fall from the previous levels of 29% in 2012 and 20% in 2011. The 2014 apprenticeship pay survey estimated that among level 2 and level 3 apprentices, the median basic pay was £6.31 per hour, and among higher apprentices on level 4 and level 5 provision, the median pay was £9.68 per hour.
The noble Lord also mentioned the death of an apprentice, which he read about in the Metro newspaper. I could not agree with him more that any death of any person, particularly a young person at the start of their career, is absolutely horrific. As I understand it, the Health and Safety Executive has confirmed that employers of apprentices are subject to the same health and safety rules as other employers, with additional rules covering younger employees. There are clauses in all Skills Funding Agency contracts imposing requirements in relation to the health and safety of learners, with all the providers and their subcontractors required to comply. However, the primary responsibility for the health and safety of an apprentice sits with their employer.