The Agricultural Wages Board of England and Wales

Abstract

This paper briefly describes the history, development and functions of the Agricultural Wages Board of England and Wales. The Board was reconstituted in 1924 having been introduced in 1917. At the same time County Agricultural Wages Committees were set up. Initially these committees established minimum rates of wages for agricultural workers in their respective counties, the Board being responsible for ratifying the Committees' decisions. During the war, however, the Board assumed powers of wage fixing throughout England and Wales. The Agricultural Wages Act 1948 consolidated enactments on agricultural wages then in force and the Board and the County Committees now function under this Act. The powers and duties of the Board have since been extended and the County Agricultural Wages Committees re-constituted in 1974 as a result of the re-organisation of local government. The paper then goes on to explain the constitution and the main functions of the Board and of the County Agricultural Wages Committees.