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.

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

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.

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of quantitative tightening on the interest rate yield curve.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England.

The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, it is in line with international standards and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.

Since October 2022, HM Treasury has transferred £85.9bn to the Bank of England to cover losses arising from the indemnity of the Asset Purchase Facility, the vehicle used to implement quantitative easing. This covers losses incurred from net interest costs and the sale and redemption of bonds as the portfolio is unwound.

Data on these cash transfers between HM Treasury and the Bank of England are made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data are available in the ONS data series ID MF7A in worksheet PSA9B [1].

1 : https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/publicsectorfinancesappendixatables110

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what losses or profits have been made from the sale of government gilts and corporate bonds originally acquired through the quantitative easing programme.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England.

The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, it is in line with international standards and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.

Since October 2022, HM Treasury has transferred £85.9bn to the Bank of England to cover losses arising from the indemnity of the Asset Purchase Facility, the vehicle used to implement quantitative easing. This covers losses incurred from net interest costs and the sale and redemption of bonds as the portfolio is unwound.

Data on these cash transfers between HM Treasury and the Bank of England are made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data are available in the ONS data series ID MF7A in worksheet PSA9B [1].

1 : https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/publicsectorfinancesappendixatables110

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK adults are not liable to pay income tax because their total income is less than the tax-free personal allowance.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Data on the number of UK adults who are not liable to pay income tax are not currently held or published.

HMRC publishes projections for the total number of Income taxpayers per year in table 2.1 of the Income Tax liability statistics. Current projections show there to be 37.4 million Income taxpayers in the UK in 2024-25.

The Office for National Statistics publishes projections for the total number of adults in the UK by age in their population projections. They currently estimate there to be 55.2 million individuals aged over 18 in the UK in 2024-25.

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government which piece of legislation originally granted exemptions to the Duchy of Cornwall from paying corporation tax and capital gains tax; and what is the monetary value of these exemptions for the last 10 years.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Duchy of Cornwall is not liable to pay corporation tax as it is a Crown body subject to Crown exemption. This is a matter of common law.

The Prince of Wales receives the annual income generated by the Duchy of Cornwall, but is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy. While the Crown exemption applies to income received from the Duchy, the Prince of Wales pays tax voluntarily on his income received from the Duchy of Cornwall to the extent that is not used to meet official expenditure. The Prince of Wales is otherwise subject to taxation in the normal way. These arrangements are set out in The Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, which is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-on-royal-taxation-2023

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much uncollected tax they have written off in each of the past 10 years.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC revenue losses are made up of remissions and write-offs. Remissions are debts capable of recovery, but HMRC has decided not to pursue the liability on the grounds of value for money. Write-offs are debts that are considered to be irrecoverable because there is no practical means for pursuing the liability.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of pensioners living below the poverty line in 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Households below average income (HBAI) statistics contain estimates of the number and percentage of people living in low-income households in the UK. This is published by the Department annually. The latest data covers financial year ending 2024.

In financial year ending 2024, it is estimated that 1.9 million pensioners were in relative poverty after housing costs, and 1.6 million pensioners were in absolute poverty after housing costs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of individuals who (1) were eligible to receive pension credit, and (2) received it in 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that 1.32 million pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit and up to 760,000 pensioner households were entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving the benefit.

The latest available Pension Credit caseload statistics cover the period up to August 2024. At August 2024, there were 1,360,660 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain. These statistics are available via DWP Stat-Xplore.