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 publish the number of prosecutions for non-payment of the national minimum wage by region in Financial Year (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

This Government takes the enforcement of the minimum wage seriously. Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it’s the law.

Our priority has always been to ensure that workers receive the money they are owed as quickly as possible. It is for this reason, in the vast majority of cases, HMRC pursue civil enforcement. However, for the most egregious breaches of National Minimum Wage law, where employers are persistently non-compliant, or refuse to cooperate with HMRC, criminal prosecution may take place.

The Government published prosecution numbers for non-payment of the NMW by area in the 2019-20 Enforcement and Compliance report which can be found in Table 12 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964238/nmw-e-c-report-tables-2019-2020.xlsx.

The figures for 2020-21 will be published in due course.