Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have fined following court proceedings brought by HMRC in relation to non-payment of the national minimum wage in each of the last ten years; and what the sum total was of those fines in each of the last ten years.

HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

A majority of NMW cases are subject to civil (non-criminal) sanctions, which include penalties of up to 200% of the arrears, and public naming and, for the worst offences, criminal prosecution. Prosecution does not guarantee payment of arrears to workers, can be lengthy, is expensive for the taxpayer, and is generally reserved for the most serious cases that form part of a pattern of wider criminality. Cases are referred to the Crown Prosecution Service who decide whether or not to prosecute.

HMRC have a strong enforcement record on NMW and since 2010-11?have completed nearly 25,000 NMW investigations, identifying over £100 million in national minimum wage arrears for over 950,000 workers and levying more than £59 million in penalties.

The table below provides figures for businesses that HMRC have investigated, prosecuted and the amount of fine imposed following a prosecution, totalling £27,423 for breaches of National Minimum Wage legislation since 2010.