Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 8 April (HL6146), what fines have been levied against companies that have not identified all persons of significant control; and how many have been prosecuted and convicted.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Both the company and the company director are prosecuted for offences relating to registration requirements for People with Significant Control under Part 21A of the Companies Act 2006.
The number of prosecutions under Part 21A of the Companies Act 2006 that have resulted in a conviction against a company, and the total value of fines levied as a result, for the period March 2018 to March 2025, are as follows:
| Number of companies convicted | Total Value of Fines (£) |
2018/19 | 61 | £19,150.00 |
2019/20 | 68 | £21,040.00 |
2020/21 | 23 | £14,420.00 |
2021/22 | 56 | £54,804.00 |
2022/23 | 52 | £25,648.00 |
2023/24 | 31 | £12,620.00 |
2024/25 | 13 | £10,840.00 |
Total | 304 | £158,522.00 |
The number of prosecutions under Part 21A of the Companies Act 2006 that have resulted in a conviction against a director and the total value of fines levied as a result, for the period March 2018 to March 2025, are as follows:
| Number of Directors Convicted | Total Value of Fines (£) |
2018/19 | 64 | £18,170.00 |
2019/20 | 94 | £31,302.00 |
2020/21 | 23 | £14,444.00 |
2021/22 | 58 | £56,174.00 |
2022/23 | 52 | £35,508.00 |
2023/24 | 32 | £11,813.00 |
2024/25 | 13 | £10,895.00 |
Total | 336 | £178,306.00 |
The data provided is from Insolvency Service management information and not from official statistics.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the trade agreement between the UK and India; and whether they plan to seek Parliament’s approval prior to ratification.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A summary document of the trade agreement between the UK and India is already on the Gov.uk website. This Government plans to publish the full agreement when the deal is signed, which will then be subject to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Act provides Parliament with the opportunity to scrutinise new trade agreements that are subject to ratification and, if it wishes, to resolve against them.
Additionally, any changes to UK legislation will need to be scrutinised and passed by Parliament in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have held discussions with the Financial Reporting Council to ensure that the Post Office auditors complied with section 498(1)(a) of the Companies Act 2006.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Regulation of auditors is the responsibility of the Financial Reporting Council. The Financial Reporting Council announced on 16 April that it had commenced an investigation into the statutory audits of Post Office Limited for the financial years ending 2015 to 2018, with particular reference to matters related to the Horizon IT system.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 31 March (HL Deb cols 16–18) committing to provide £2.5 billion to the steel industry, whether they will have an economic interest in the resulting assets and income streams.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has committed up to £2.5bn to support the UK steel industry, which will be available through the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and other routes.
The NWF will catalyse private capital in the UK’s world-leading clean energy and growth industries, including green steel. NWF investments are intended to deliver a positive financial return for the Exchequer, in line with its Financial Framework.
We are also considering other funding mechanisms to help achieve our vision for the sector. We will provide further details in the steel strategy when it is published in spring 2025.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has, so far, been (1) the highest, and (2) the lowest, amounts of compensation actually paid to sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office as a result of the Horizon software.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As of 31 March 2025, the total amount of redress paid to victims across all schemes has increased by more than three and a half times since the General Election, nine months ago, with £892 million having now been paid to over 6,200 claimants across all schemes. During this same time period, more than 3,300 victims have received compensation for the first time.
We are unable to share details of individual claims. Releasing this type of information risks the identification of vulnerable individuals if combined with other information that may become available via other means outside of our control.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the "transformation incentive" scheme authorising bonuses to be paid to Post Office directors for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry was designed, approved and implemented; and which Ministers, if any, approved it.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
These questions relate to the performance metrics for the Post Office Limited ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ in place 2020-2022. The Government at the time agreed to the original targets but were not consulted on whether the Post Office could legitimately say that it had achieved those targets.
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold information on which directors and executives received bonuses relating to cooperation with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Whilst Post Office will hold this information, it is personal information and therefore not appropriate for publication. We understand that all Post Office employees who received bonuses voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry except for one who was on long term absence.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list the names of Post Office directors and executives, and the amount of bonus paid to each for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
These questions relate to the performance metrics for the Post Office Limited ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ in place 2020-2022. The Government at the time agreed to the original targets but were not consulted on whether the Post Office could legitimately say that it had achieved those targets.
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold information on which directors and executives received bonuses relating to cooperation with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Whilst Post Office will hold this information, it is personal information and therefore not appropriate for publication. We understand that all Post Office employees who received bonuses voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry except for one who was on long term absence.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many employers have received the maximum financial penalty for failing to pay the statutory minimum wage since its introduction.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is no total maximum financial penalty for underpayment. The penalty is set at 200% of total arrears due to workers, subject to a minimum of £500 per case and a maximum of £20,000 per worker.
The number and maximum values of penalties per year since 2015/16 are outlined in Table 3 of the supplementary data for the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: government evidence on enforcement and compliance 2023.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many employers have had criminal prosecutions brought against them for non-payment of the statutory minimum wage since its introduction.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the National Minimum Wage on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade.
Criminal prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases involving deliberate underpayment or reckless pay practices. This is usually for cases where there is a wider public interest, or where employers are persistently non-compliant, or refuse to cooperate with HMRC.
Between 2007/08 and 2022/23, 21 employers have been successfully prosecuted for underpaying the minimum wage with an additional case accepting a caution. For more information about these prosecutions, see Table 12 of the supplementary data for: National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: government evidence on enforcement and compliance, 2023 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many registered companies have failed to declare their persons with significant control.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
49,521 companies have not provided details of any current persons of significant control (“PSC”) or any PSC statements giving us information about their current PSC status.
764 companies that have not provided details of any current PSCs, have submitted a statement showing that they believe they have at least one, for which they are not yet able to provide the full details.
919 companies that have provided details of at least one current PSC, have also submitted a statement showing that they believe they have at least one, for which they are not yet able to provide the full details.