Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) provides specific Human Resources data/information to Departmental Trades Union Side (DTUS), on request, in line with our obligations under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Furthermore, BEIS publishes a range of information about the operation of the Department, which is available on GOV.UK and so is publicly accessible.
In addition, BEIS meets regularly with the DTUS, presenting and sharing a range of management information as part of normal engagement on a spectrum of issues. Information and data are supplied where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through formal negotiation and meaningful consultation and engagement. BEIS always seeks to work constructively with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if they will take steps to (a) publish an equality impact assessment and (b) consult with trade unions when proposing new HR policies for their Department; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The BEIS HR Directorate carries out equality impact assessments in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty when developing new internal departmental HR policies. BEIS does not routinely publish the equality impact assessments for new internal departmental HR policies, however, they are shared with the departmental trade unions, staff networks, and employees more broadly, upon request.
The BEIS HR Directorate consults with the departmental trade unions when proposing new internal HR policies for the Department.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure his Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have made good progress in recent years in diversifying the Civil Service. The percentage of civil servants from an ethnic minority background is at 15.0% and the percentage of those who declare themselves disabled is at 14.0%. Staff who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or other (LGBO) is 6.1% and the proportion of female civil servants stands at 54.5%. These rates are all at their highest recorded levels. However, we know there is still progress to be made in ensuring we are representative of the citizens we serve across all our grades.
The new Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025 recognises our success and builds on this good work to encourage a broader range of people into the Civil Service to give depth to our understanding of contemporary society in the United Kingdom. It provides the necessary framing for diversity and inclusion activity in the Civil Service as part of our wider workforce strategy, and through that, how the Civil Service delivers for its people, the Government and our citizens. A link to the Civil Service statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics.
BEIS routinely collects a wide variety of data relating to its employees; much of this is published and is publicly available on GOV.UK.
BEIS Human Resources teams use this data to review the impact of our policies and procedures in line with the Civil Service Code, and other our statutory obligations, and make recommendations for improvements, as necessary. Data is shared with Departmental Trades Union Side (DTUS) as necessary and on request.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There is no central policy on buying/selling leave; instead, departments may consider introducing this benefit under their own delegated authority.
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) recently launched a buy/selling of leave policy for the 2022 annual leave year. The policy was introduced to allow BEIS employees to exercise greater flexibility within their total reward package.
All eligible BEIS staff were informed that they were able to access the benefit portal during a three-week window, to register their request to buy or sell up to 5 days (full time equivalent) annual leave. The three-week window ran from 3rd January 2023 to 23rd January 2023.
BEIS issued communications via our Intranet platform on the 22nd November, the 16th December and a final reminder on the 5th January 2023.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage(NLW). In April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. This will rise to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%.
By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
The National Living Wage is the statutory minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over. Different minimum wage rates apply to 21-22 year olds, 18-20 year olds, 16-17 year olds and apprentices aged under 19 or in the first year of an apprenticeship.
All employees of The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are paid above the National Living Wage rate.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure his Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy routinely collects a wide variety of data relating to its employees; much of this is published and is publicly available on GOV.UK. Human Resource teams use this data to review the impact of our policies and procedures in line with the Civil Service Code, and other our statutory obligations, and make recommendations for improvements, as necessary.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure his Department's compliance with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS provides specific HR data/information to DTUS on request in line with our obligations under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Alongside this, management information is shared with the recognised trade unions as part of normal engagement on a range of issues. Furthermore, BEIS publishes a range of information about the operation of the Department, which is available on GOV.UK and so is publicly available.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS publishes a range of HR information which is available on GOV.UK and which is therefore publicly available. In addition, routine human resources information is shared with the recognised trade unions as part of normal engagement on a range of issues. BEIS also provides specific HR data/information to Departmental Trade Union Side (DTUS) on request in line with our obligations under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 gov.uk news story of 11 May 2022, Insolvency Service transitions to regional hubs as part of efficiency drive, whether his Department has consulted with (a) the public, and (b) the business community over the closure of Insolvency Service offices.
Answered by Paul Scully
A key objective of the project to transition the Insolvency Service to a regional hub structure, is to ensure it continues to deliver high standards of service to business and the public. The regional hub structure will enable the Insolvency Service to operate more efficiently and effectively in the future.
There has been informal engagement with a number of stakeholders and this will continue as the transition to regional hubs is delivered over the next three years.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 gov.uk news story of 11 May 2022, Insolvency Service transitions to regional hubs as part of efficiency drive, if he will place in the Library a copy of the business case for the decision to close Insolvency Service offices.
Answered by Paul Scully
It would not be appropriate to place in the Library a copy of the business case for the Insolvency Service’s move to regional centres as it contains commercially sensitive information.
This transition involves closing 10 smaller sites and developing regional centres in 11 locations in which the Insolvency Service has offices. These centres will enable it to provide services more efficiently, with greater flexibility to respond to future changes in demand for services. The Insolvency Service has put in place measures to support staff in affected offices to transfer to their nearest regional centre.