Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has spent on recruitment for the position of Director of Labour Market Enforcement to date.

Matthew Taylor was appointed as interim Director of Labour Market Enforcement in July 2019. His appointment was due to end in July 2020 and we extended it until 31 January 2021 to provide continuity during the early stages of the pandemic. In November 2020, we launched a recruitment campaign for a permanent Director of Labour Market Enforcement However, we received an insufficient number of suitable applications for the role to shortlist, so we have now reopened the recruitment process.. So far, we have not spent anything on recruitment beyond resourcing from departmental staff, but some paid-for activity is planned over the coming weeks. The deadline for applications is 28 February. Once the campaign has closed we will work at pace to recruit a new Director as soon as possible. We have not identified a new interim appointment and cannot make any comments on individual circumstances.

While we work to fill the vacancy as soon as possible, the heads of three enforcement bodies will remain responsible for their overall work and enforcement responsibilities. They will continue to work hard to protect workers and bring enforcement action against employers who break the rules.