Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Masterton Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to ensure that low-paid workers are remunerated appropriately.

[Paul Masterton (East Renfrewshire) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to ensure that low-paid workers are remunerated appropriately.

[Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con)]

22. What steps he is taking to ensure that low-paid workers are remunerated appropriately.

--- Later in debate ---

[Claire Perry]

That is absolutely right. Any employer who is not paying the national minimum wage and is breaching the law deserves to be found out and taken to task. That is why HMRC is conducting proactive risk-based analyses, particularly in sectors or areas where there is a high-risk of workers not being paid. In 2016-17, HMRC proactively investigated over 1,400 cases, in which 68,000 workers were being illegally underpaid. That is absolutely outrageous, and penalties have been issued. The work will continue: employers must pay the national minimum and living wage.

[Paul Masterton]

I thank the Minister for her answer. She highlights that a number of employers are not paying the minimum wage, so what support do the Government intend to give small employers to help ensure that they can pay their employees a fair wage?

[Claire Perry]

That is an excellent point, and it is quite right that small employers who may struggle with some of this are encouraged to do so. We have taken up to £3,000 off their national insurance contributions bill through the employment allowance. We have cut corporation tax from 28% in 2010 to 19% today, and we reduced business rates to the tune of £2.3 billion in the 2017 Budget. All that is going into small employers’ cash flows, so they can pay their workers what they deserve.