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Press Release 02 June 1997 PROFESSOR GEORGE BAIN TO HEAD THE LOW PAY COMMISSION Professor George Bain, currently Principal of the London Business School, is to be the Chairman of the independent Low Pay Commission. The Commission will be set up to make recommendations to Government on the level at which a National Minimum Wage should be set. Announcing Professor Bain’s appointment today, the President of the Board of the Trade Margaret Beckett said: “The introduction of a National Minimum Wage will play a vital part in ensuring minimum standards for the individuals that work within a flexible labour market. We have always made clear that it will need to be sensibly set according to the economic circumstances of the time and with the advice of an independent Low Pay Commission. I am therefore delighted that our first choice, Professor George Bain, has agreed to take on the task of chairing the Commission. His track record in public service and in industrial relations as well as in the academic world, has shown he has the qualities of openmindness and leadership as well as the management and communication skills necessary to take on this demanding role”. The appointment of other Commission members will be announced as soon as possible. Notes to Editors The Labour Party manifesto made clear that “there should be a statutory level beneath which pay should not fall - with a minimum wage decided not on the basis of a rigid formula but according to the economic circumstances of the time and with the advice of independent Low Pay Commission, whose membership will include representatives of employers, including small business, and employees.” The Queen’s Speech on 14 May contained the commitment to the introduction of a Bill in the first session to establish a National Minimum Wage. The Bill will also establish the Low Pay Commission on a statutory basis. In the meantime, it will be set up as an advisory body charged initially with making recommendations on the initial level at which a National Minimum Wage will be set and on any other related matters which might be referred to it by Government. Its continuing remit once established on a statutory basis will be determined. Professor George Bain has been Principal of the London Business School since 1989. His previous academic appointments have included periods as the Chairman of the School of Industrial and Business Studies University of Warwick, Director of the Industrial Relations Research Unit and Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Warwick and Frank Thomas Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He is currently a member of the ACAS panel of mediators and arbitrators and has also been involved in public service as a member of the Committee of Inquiry on Industrial Democracy (Bullock Commission), Chairman of the Food Sector Working Group (NEDO), and a member of the senior salaries review body. He was also Chairman of the Commission on Public Policy and British Business. Professor Bain holds non-executive directorateships of a number of companies. Low Pay Commission Elizabeth House 39 York Road London SE1 7NQ Tel. 020 7855 4553 | |
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