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National Minimum Wage
3. Mr. Jim Murphy (Eastwood): If he will make a statement about the impact of the national minimum wage in Scotland. [109608]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid): The national minimum wage has brought substantial benefits to a large number of people throughout the UK, including Scotland, with no adverse effects on the economy. It is estimated that about 150,000 people in Scotland will benefit from the national minimum wage.
Mr. Murphy: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. On behalf of those 150,000 low-paid people in Scotland, may I welcome the recent announcement of the increase in the national minimum wage, which will improve the quality of life of many families in Scotland? I urge him to be tough on two groups who oppose the national minimum wage: first, the small number of Scottish businesses that continue to evade the procedures and legislation. Will he work with others to close those loopholes? Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, will he reserve no effort and no energy in being tough on the Conservative party, which continually opposes the national minimum wage in Scotland and which would have ensured that those 150,000 Scottish families had no national minimum wage whatever?
Dr. Reid: My hon. Friend is correct. The national minimum wage, which is one of the most radical and beneficial changes brought about by the Government, was carried through in the teeth of opposition from the Tory party, with the Scottish National party standing aside, as usual, betraying the low paid in Scotland by refusing to turn up even to vote on the matter. We will be tough on those employers who refuse to implement the national minimum wage. It is of enormous benefit to people not only in his constituency, as he knows, but in a place--I just pluck somewhere out of the air--such as Ayr, where almost 1,000 low paid workers have had an increase. It is not something that they are sneering at, unlike the SNP.
Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire): The Secretary of State is right to say that the introduction of the minimum wage has had many beneficial effects, but will he concede that some groups of workers cannot take advantage of it over a year? I think of people such as school dinner staff, who, because of the way in which contracts are configured, are laid off for the long summer recesses.
The Secretary of State will be aware that the ability of those people to claim jobseeker's allowance during the summer holidays is deadlocked between the Court of Session in Edinburgh and the Court of Appeal in the House of Lords in London. Will he work with his ministerial colleagues and others to change the regulations? At a stroke, they could be changed and those important staff could get access to JSA during the summer.
Dr. Reid:
I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but, he will appreciate--in fact, he mentioned it--that the matter
Mr. Russell Brown (Dumfries):
Will my right hon. Friend welcome the fact that the action of national minimum wage enforcement officers has ensured that women employed at Chicony Electronics in Greenock now receive the national minimum wage and not the pitiful 96p an hour that they previously received? Does he agree that Scottish employers now have a duty to their employees to pay that minimum rate?
Dr. Reid:
Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. The national minimum wage is one example of how people's lives are being made better. Politics is not about charts on accountants' walls or graphs published in official statistics, but about ordinary people gaining benefit from their Government. The case that my hon. Friend mentioned is an example of that. The increase that he mentioned amounts to almost £3 an hour, which is £24 a day or £100 a week. With the other social justice measures that we are introducing--such as the working families tax credit, increase in child benefit, restoration of free eye tests to pensioners and the Christmas bonus--we are the first Government not only to pledge ourselves to combating and eradicating poverty, but to put our pledges on those matters into practice.
Mr. Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale):
Given that the minimum wage has been introduced without detriment to the economy, is there not an unanswerable case to give a commitment to upgrade it annually in line with inflation or, preferably, with average earnings? Will the Secretary of State lobby his colleagues to give that commitment?
Dr. Reid:
Given the hon. Gentleman's absolute passion and commitment on the national minimum wage, I am rather surprised that he could not be bothered even to turn up and vote for it. When we were up all night fighting the Tories in the House on the minimum wage, he was absent. Therefore, I do not particularly want to take lessons from him on the matter. All I would say is that 150,000 people in Scotland will be substantially better off as a result of a measure passed by the Labour Government in the teeth of Tory opposition--when, once again, we looked around and found that the Tories' allies in failing to support the minimum wage were the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues in the Scottish National party.
4. Mr. Malcolm Savidge (Aberdeen, North):
What assistance he has given in establishing the Strategic Rail Authority; and what its impact will be in Scotland. [109610]
The Minister of State, Scotland Office (Mr. Brian Wilson):
The establishment of the Strategic Rail Authority is an important step forward in ensuring a co-ordinated oversight of railway services across the United Kingdom. In Scotland, the Strategic Rail Authority
Mr. Savidge:
Will my hon. Friend seek to ensure that new rail franchises stipulate the maintenance and improvement of direct through train links between Aberdeen and London, and particularly the progressive upgrading of passenger and freight services on the neglected stretch between Aberdeen and Edinburgh?
Mr. Wilson:
I congratulate my hon. Friend and his Labour colleagues in the north-east on their pursuit of that issue. I well remember, during opposition to privatisation, going to Aberdeen to make it clear that if privatisation and fragmentation proceeded, there would not be the same commercial incentive for the upgrading of the link between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. We shall have a Strategic Rail Authority that is able to intervene in those circumstances.
Moreover, the Scottish Executive will be able to make directions to Railtrack. If Railtrack resists, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Transport will be able to adjudicate. We now have a structure within which it will be possible to pursue those objectives. We have also had to overturn the damage of rail fragmentation that was caused by the previous Government and that endangered the type of upgrading that my hon. Friend and I both want.
Mr. Michael Moore (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale):
Does the Minister agree that one of the important functions of the Strategic Rail Authority will be to promote and re-introduce rail services through rural parts of Scotland? Does he welcome with me last week's report highlighting the fact that there is the possibility of a viable railway through the borders, connecting Edinburgh with England and the west coast main line? Will he work with me and my hon. Friend the Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) in promoting that railway and in working with the SRA to ensure that that railway is one of its top priorities?
Mr. Wilson:
As the hon. Gentleman knows from my visits to the borders, I am very interested in, and attracted to, the proposition of restoring that link. He will also know that the Scottish Executive have been examining the matter and have expressed positive interest in the proposals. It is a very important project for the borders.
Again, it would be for the Scottish Executive to make proposals to Railtrack. It would then be for Railtrack to respond, in consultation with the train operating companies. Ultimately, it would be for the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to adjudicate on the matter, if that were necessary. The structure is in place, making it possible for us to go forward on those projects. The Tories sought to make doing that impossible by their fragmentation of the railways and by leaving it all to the free market.
Mr. Desmond Browne (Kilmarnock and Loudoun):
My hon. Friend will be aware that, despite recent improvements in the infrastructure, the rolling stock and the timetabling of rail services in Scotland, it is still not possible to travel from Ayr on the west coast to Edinburgh on the east coast in any time that rivals a direct road
Mr. Wilson:
The Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) is cheering with particular enthusiasm as he wants a direct link between Ayr and Tynecastle. The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) makes is exactly right. It is important that once again we are getting back to the concept of a united national rail network and a strategic framework for the development of the railways. The Scottish Executive has an important role in promoting rail services and working with the strategic rail authority to make exactly the improvements that we would like. My hon. Friend mentioned Ayr, so we should remember the important role of the Strathclyde passenger transport executive, working hand in hand with other authorities to achieve what Labour wants--an integrated public transport system.
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