Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull 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 he is taking to promote the transfer of employment and skills between different sectors of the offshore energy industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Many companies that work in offshore energy already do so across a range of sectors. To further support this, Government, working with industry, published a workforce plan for the oil and gas sector and also set up a recruitment portal for displaced oil and gas workers to enable them to access employment opportunities in other sectors.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull 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 take steps to prevent recruitment firms advertising for jobs exclusively abroad before they have advertised locally.
Answered by Margot James
The Government amended the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 in January 2015 and further in May 2016, to require employment agencies and employment businesses to advertise both specific and generic roles in English, in Great Britain, at the same time or up to 28 days before advertising in another European Economic Area (EEA) Member State.
For skilled workers from outside the EEA, the Immigration Rules already incorporate a resident labour market test (with exemptions for some roles). This requires the recruiter to place two adverts in the UK for 28 days to ensure that there are no suitable workers already in the UK, before a visa can be obtained for the worker.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to conduct a regional analysis of levels of unskilled migration and its effect on local wages.
Answered by Margot James
The Migration Advisory Committee undertook a comprehensive study on migrants in low-skilled work in 2014. This provided analysis on regional and wage factors.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Director of Labour Market Enforcement will have responsibility for enforcement of the (a) national minimum wage and (b) national living wage in the shipping industry.
Answered by Margot James
The Director of Labour Market Enforcement will have a strategic remit that covers the whole of the labour market. It will therefore include direct employment as well as labour providers, and the whole of the spectrum of non-compliance, from accidental infringement to serious criminality.
The Director will produce an annual strategy which will set the strategic priorities for the work of three labour market enforcement bodies: the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage by HMRC.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects to announce the identity of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement; how many candidates were shortlisted for that position; and where that position will be based.
Answered by Margot James
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State plans to announce the outcome of the recruitment process for the Director of Labour Market Enforcement in due course. It is intended that the position will be based in London. It is standard Government practice not to provide such information, and the Government only provides information about the successful candidate.