The operation of the Low Pay Commission

The paper provides an account of the working of the Low Pay Commission that was established to advise on the introduction of a statutory National Minimum Wage for the UK. It discusses the way in which the Commission was constituted and the consultation procedures and research methods it developed over its first four years. An account is provided of the principles the Commission developed and of the problems that had to be overcome in delivering what proved to be a successful labour market intervention.