Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with the Co-operative Group on Project Lunar.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Project Lunar is an internal policy that the Co-op is introducing and is not a matter that DBT can comment on.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for regulation of workplace health and safety in Great Britain. The primary responsibility for managing risk to health and safety lies with employers. An employer is the person or organisation that is legally responsible, under health and safety law, for managing and controlling risks created by their work activities. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity. There may be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or someone to help them if things go wrong, and an employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them.
HSE provide guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent increases in the National Living Wage on the financial sustainability of small businesses in (a) hospitality, (b) retail and (c) other sectors.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government considers the expert and independent advice of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) when setting the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates. Each year, the Government’s remit to the LPC asks it to take into account the impact on businesses, including small businesses, as well as the wider economy. To inform its recommendations, the LPC undertakes extensive consultation, research and data analysis.
The Government has published an Impact Assessment for the 2025 rates, which sets out the potential impacts on small businesses and the range of mitigations and policy measures in place to support them.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of minimum wage rises on hiring practices of pub chains.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government published an Impact Assessment (IA) for the 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NLW) rates, which includes a breakdown of the expected impacts by sector. The IA also sets out the economic literature to date, which shows that increases to the NLW have had a limited impact on labour demand, as measured by employment levels and hours worked.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in the minimum wage on the trends in levels of hospitality workers.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government published an Impact Assessment (IA) for the 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NLW) rates, which includes a breakdown of the expected impacts by sector. The IA also sets out the economic literature to date, which shows that increases to the NLW have had a limited impact on labour demand, as measured by employment levels and hours worked.