Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government response to the Taylor review of modern working practices, published on 7 February 2018, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to improve the clarity of employment status.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 26 July 2022, the Government responded to its employment status consultation which explored a wide range of employment status legislative proposals.
The response concluded that while the Government recognised the boundaries between the different statuses can be unclear for some individuals and employers, the benefits of a fundamental overhaul of the employment status system were outweighed by the potential disruption associated with legislative reform.
Alongside the Government response, the Government published guidance to help clarify the existing employment status boundaries, making it easier for business to comply with existing regulations and for individuals to understand which employment protections apply to them.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on making it easier for fathers to take paternity leave since 25 October 2022.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As set out in our Manifesto, the Government are committed to making it easier for fathers to take Paternity Leave. In 2019 the Government consulted on high-level options for reforming parental leave and pay. The Government are currently considering responses to the consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Good Work Plan published in December 2018, whether it remains his policy to ban the use of pay-between-assignment contracts to avoid agency workers’ equal pay rights.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under regulations 10 and 11 of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, agency workers were able to waive their right to the same pay as a directly recruited member of staff if they signed a “pay between assignments” contract, also known as a “Swedish Derogation” contract. After a public consultation, the Government decided to revoke regulations 10 and 11 to ban the use of “Swedish Derogation” contracts. The ban came into force on 6 April 2020 and applies to England, Scotland and Wales. The legislation is available online here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/724/contents/made.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it remains his Department's policy to ban unpaid internships.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Current legislation is clear that an individual’s entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether they are a “worker” for minimum wage purposes. Most internships are already highly likely to constitute work and entitle the individual to be paid at least the minimum wage from the first day of employment.
It is the responsibility of all employers to ensure they are paying their staff correctly and we will continue to take robust enforcement action against employers who fail to pay the minimum wage. Since 2015 we have ordered employers to repay £100 million of unpaid wages to 1 million workers.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his policy to launch a review to explore how the Government can better support the self-employed.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Enterprise and backing long term growth is one of the main priorities of the Department. This focus on enterprise encompasses a number of different areas, including boosting enterprise by making the UK the best place to start and grow a business, taking advantage of Brexit to build the UK’s competitive advantage, creating jobs and encouraging investment.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department spent in total on external management consultants in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department spent on external management consultants is as follows:
(a) In 2019 spend was not held centrally and can only be obtained disproportionally.
(b) In 2020 it was £906,170
(c) In 2021 it was £1,393,697
BEIS external management consultants’ expenditure is published on gov.uk here, under the expense type ‘Corporate Management Consultancy’.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department retains responsibility for Brexit transition and retained EU law following his appointment.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The responsibility for Brexit Opportunities and retained EU law remains with BEIS.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of hospitals have Protected Site status under the Electricity Emergency Supply Code; and whether (a) hospices, (b) care homes and (c) other critical sites are included on the Protected Site List.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Protected Sites List (PSL) ensures that during an electricity supply emergency, critical sites remain supplied with electricity.
No assessment has been made by BEIS regarding the proportion of hospitals, hospices or care homes in Great Britain which have protected site status. These are the responsibility of the Department of Health & Social Care.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing (a) a right for workers to receive to reasonable notice of future working hours and (b) compensation for workers whose shifts cancelled without reasonable notice.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In 2019 the Government held a consultation inviting views on policies which aim to tackle some of the challenges associated with non-guaranteed hours. These included proposals on providing reasonable notice of shifts and providing compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice.
The Department is currently analysing the results of this consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of creating a single enforcement body for employment rights.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Creating a new body is a substantial organisational change and we are making sure that all aspects of this reform have been thoroughly considered. Primary legislation will be required to create this new body and so timing will be dependent on the legislative timetable.