Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to raise the minimum wage to (a) at least £10 an hour or (b) a real living wage as calculated by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society.
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is an independent and expert body which makes annual recommendations on the appropriate rates for NMW and NLW and other low pay related issues. They will continue to recommend the path of the NLW going forward, aiming to increase the NLW to two-thirds of median earnings by 2024, provided economic conditions allow.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that garment companies in Leicester comply with their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government expects UK businesses to act according to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the authoritative, voluntary international framework, which steers all businesses worldwide on these matters and sets expectations that they should respect human rights.
The UK was the first country in the world to produce a national action plan, in 2013, to respond to the voluntary Guiding Principles and subsequently we were also the first to review and update our national plan, in 2016. Our action plan confirms the expectation that all our businesses should comply with all applicable laws; identify and prevent human rights risks; and behave in line with the Guiding Principles, including in management of their supply chains here and overseas.
Following the increase in COVID-19 infections in Leicester and fresh allegations of links to unsafe working conditions, labour exploitation, and potential modern slavery in textiles factories, the National Crime Agency have launched an investigation into these serious concerns. If evidence of wrongdoing and illegal exploitation comes to light, the perpetrators will face the full force of the law.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to encourage trade union membership to help tackle exploitation in Leicester’s garment industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the positive role trade unions can play in the workplace, however collective bargaining is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. Where possible, industrial relations should be undertaken on a voluntary basis, although if workers want a union to represent them, they have the means to secure this through the CAC statutory recognition procedure.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials of his Department have had with representatives of (a) trade unions and (b) civil society groups on labour rights (i) protections and (ii) violations in supply chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
As part of his annual strategy 2018/19, the former Director of Labour Market Enforcement - Sir David Metcalf – recommended that the Government introduce joint responsibility to encourage the top of the chain to take an active role to tackle labour market breaches through their supply chain. Sir David also recommended that provisions should be made to enable the temporary embargo of “hot goods” to disrupt supply chain activity where significant non-compliance is found.
The Government consulted on these recommendations as part of a wider consultation on the creation of a new Single Enforcement Body for employment rights. During the consultation period, officials from the Department discussed labour market breaches in supply chains with a range of representatives of trade unions and civil society groups. This included a dedicated roundtable to discuss non-compliance in supply chains, and a meeting with members of the Modern Slavery Strategy Implementation Group to further discuss the topic. These discussions have been of great value and the Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of making it compulsory for (a) garment industry and (b) other companies to publish a full list of their supplier facilities on an annual basis.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government encourages businesses to be open and transparent to respond to consumers’ legitimate interest in where and how the products they buy have been manufactured.
UK listed companies are required to report on impacts material to their business including information about supply chains where this is necessary for an understanding of the business as part of their annual reports.
Separately, the Modern Slavery Act specifically requires UK large businesses to publish supply chain transparency statements in a prominent place on their website.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will undertake a review of garment distributors' (a) purchasing practices and (b) costing models to assess whether those practices and models support the payment of the minimum wage by garment industry suppliers.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department does not have any current plans to review garment distributors’ purchasing practices or costing models.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the sales and production of allegedly exploitative companies in the garment industry sector pending investigation into (a) safety measures and (b) reports of fraud at factories supplying those companies.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are deeply concerned by the appalling reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers and welcome all intelligence on this issue. The Government will not tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable workers for commercial gain and already spends £33 million a year on state enforcement of employment rights. Where non-compliance is found, the enforcement bodies will deploy a range of actions ranging from providing specific advice to employers, issuing enforcement notices, prosecutions and director disqualification.
In his 2018/19 Labour Market Enforcement Strategy, the previous Director of Labour Market Enforcement recommended introducing joint responsibility for brands at the top of a supply chain where non-compliance is found. He also recommended provisions for the temporary embargo of “hot goods” to disrupt supply chain activity where significant non-compliance is found. The Government agrees that businesses at the top of the supply chain need to work with their suppliers to take corrective action when non-compliance is identified but recognises that any measures should be proportionate. Government has consulted on these recommendations as part of the Single Enforcement Body consultation and will publish the response in due course.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the incomes of workers are fully supported at or above the minimum wage in cases where their employers are under investigation for alleged exploitative or unsafe working practices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who fail to pay the National Minimum Wage. We are clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it. All businesses – irrespective of their size or business sector – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.
Individuals can contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on 0300 123 1100 or at www.acas.org.uk for confidential, impartial, and free advice if they think they are being underpaid. They can also complain to HMRC, which is responsible for enforcing National Minimum Wage legislation. HMRC will consider every complaint it receives.
The Government has more than doubled the budget for National Minimum Wage compliance and enforcement to £27.5 million for 2020/21, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. Increasing the budget allows HMRC to focus on tackling the most serious cases of non-compliance. It also increases the number of compliance officers available to investigate minimum wage complaints and conduct risk-based enforcement in sectors where non-compliance is most likely.
The safer workplaces guidance does not change existing obligations relating to health and safety, employment, or equalities. If the enforcing authority finds that an employer is not taking action to properly manage workplace risk, a range of actions are open to them including specific advice or issuing enforcement notices.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to update the Companies Act 2006 to include explicit reference to modern slavery and supply chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
UK listed companies are currently required to report on human rights impacts material to their business as part of their annual reports.
Separately, the Modern Slavery Act specifically requires UK large businesses to publish supply chain transparency statements in a prominent place on their website.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to publish an update of the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) Corporate Governance Code and UK Stewardship Code, and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) listing rules to require modern slavery disclosures on a (a) comply or (b) explain basis.
Answered by Paul Scully
It is already a legal requirement under Section 54 (transparency in supply chains provision) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for commercial organisations carrying on business in the UK with a turnover of over £36m a year to produce an annual statement setting out the measures they have taken to ensure that no slavery or human trafficking has taken place in their business or through their supply chains.