National Minimum Wage Rates

We recommend that the adult rate of the minimum wage should be increased from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour in October 2008. (Paragraph 5.41)

We recommend that the Youth Development Rate should increase from £4.60 to £4.77 an hour and the 16–17 rate should increase from £3.40 to £3.53 an hour in October 2008. (Paragraph 5.44)

21 Year Olds

We recommend again that 21 year olds should be entitled to the adult rate of the National Minimum Wage. Should the Government maintain its opposition to this proposal, we would welcome an indication of the exact nature of its opposition and a specification of what would need to change for the Government to adopt a positive approach to this recommendation. (Paragraph 3.36)

The Data

We recommend that the Government take steps to reverse the cuts to the sample of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and prevent further erosion of the quality of the key data provided by the Office for National Statistics. (Paragraph 2.26)

Accommodation Offset

We recommend that the value of the accommodation offset should rise from £4.30 per day to £4.46 per day from October 2008. (Paragraph 5.50)

Guidance

We recommend that the Government reviews the existing official guidance on sleepovers as soon as practicable (Paragraph 3.74) and updates the material concerning work experience placements in the official guide to the minimum wage. (Paragraph 3.65)

Fair Piece Rates

We recommend that the Government takes stock and evaluates whether the fair piece rates arrangement is meeting its objectives. (Paragraph 3.69)