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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many officials in his and the predecessor Department worked on the Government’s national minimum wage application and enforcement policies in each year from 2010-11 to 2017-18; and what the current staffing level of that policy area is.

The number of departmental officials who work on either National Minimum Wage policy or on enforcement policy has been approximately ten full time equivalent (FTE) members of staff in each of the years from 2010-11 to 2017-18. This an estimated figure based on the average across the calendar year.

Furthermore, we are committed to cracking down on employers who break the National Minimum Wage law. This is why this Government continues to invest heavily in minimum wage enforcement, increasing the budget to £26.3 million for 2018/19, up from £13 million in 2015/16.