Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 43
1 Q. Did he say exactly how many stores he had visited?
2 A. No, he did not.
3
4 Q. Did he say why he had done those particular comprehensive
5 checks at that particular time?
6 A. No, he did not. I just assumed it is part of his job,
7 such as the DHSS make random visit to offices.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Morris, that would be the common sense
10 assumption which I would make, unless there is some reason
11 to think otherwise. I would expect that once every so
12 often, someone who is coming in fairly regularly would do a
13 more comprehensive check. How far it extended would be
14 entirely up to him.
15
16 MR. MORRIS: If the evidence we have heard in court is correct
17 and there is, you know, a few dozen inspectors covering
18 over 100,000 workplaces, or whatever, they would not able
19 to make comprehensive checks very often for every company
20 concerned, would they, unless they were particularly
21 concerned about a company?
22 A. I do not know. I did not work for the Wages Council.
23 I do not know how they operate from their office.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I am assuming -- I do not suppose for a
26 moment they check all the records in relation -----
27 A. He could not possibly.
28
29 Q. But I am assuming that on two or three occasions, you are
30 saying, in the six years, they checked a little more
31 broadly than into a specific complaint?
32 A. Exactly.
33
34 Q. A sort of spot check, in that sense?
35 A. Exactly.
36
37 Q. I do not know about wages inspectors, but most Inland
38 Revenue, VAT inspectors, or official inspectors, operate in
39 that way, on my limited experience; and that is what was
40 happening here?
41 A. Yes, sir.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: There are three types of checks made by wages
44 inspectors, are there not and I put them to you: postal
45 questionnaires, especially to big companies; direct
46 inspection of stores; and responding to individual
47 complaints; do you agree with that?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. So, the postal questionnaires which you got, did you get
51 those every year, or how often did you get the postal
52 questionnaires?
53 A. I cannot remember how often they came, but I do
54 remember we had them and dealt with them.
55
56 Q. Were the visits from Mr. Mills a follow-up to those postal
57 questionnaires?
58 A. Not necessarily, no, not always. It could have
59 corresponded. I do not remember. I have not got the diary
60 from then.
