The Association of Convenience Stores has written to ministers expressing grave concern about plans to reform the current minimum wage arrangements to compensate young workers that have lost out in recent tax reforms.
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s request comes as part of a suite of measures, that many speculate respond to unrest on the Labour back benches over the proposed abolition of the 10p rate of income tax.
Darling wrote to John McFall, the Labour chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee, to explain the government’s plans to reduce the financial impact of the changes. He wrote: “We have been actively looking at two ways to help these groups - direct payments or changes to the tax credit system.” He then confirmed that he has written to the LPC asking how the National Minimum Wage could further “support young workers.” Darling said that he would report back to the House on the LPC’s findings at the pre-budget report in October.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Retailers are facing an ever increasing financial burden and it is not right to ask them to finance the Government’s tax proposals. It is wrong to expect retailers to bail out the Government’s incoherent tax policies, and we will strongly oppose any move to do so.
“We will be submitting detailed evidence to the Low Pay Commission during this review. We will reassert our view that the minimum wage should be a basic floor below which pay should not fall and artificial rises of the kind the government is suggesting would undermine the neutrality of the Commission and be harmful to our members businesses.”
