---

National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2008

I am grateful for the support of noble Lords for the national minimum wage. In response to the question of the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, the issue of inflation is obviously very current and we are cognisant of the impact that it has on businesses, particularly in the retail, construction and other specific sectors. Nevertheless, the 3.8 per cent increase proposed is in line with the independent forecast for average earnings, which is 4 per cent. So it does not have an additional impact on businesses; it is what they would get, in one sense, from the market. On the Equalities Bill, I am advised that it provides an exemption for employers using the youth or development rates of the minimum wage from challenge on the grounds of age discrimination. I am afraid that I do not have the correct answer as regards the point about landlords and I am not entirely sure that I correctly understood the question. I would have been aware of any problems as regards people being thrown out of their homes. Therefore, I can probably reassure the noble Lord on that point in writing.