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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 27 June 2017, Official Report, columns 457-8W, on workers' rights, what powers the Government has made available to HM Revenue and Customs to sanction companies withholding employees' paid holiday allowance; and on how many occasions such powers have been used.

HM Revenue and Customs has no powers to sanction companies for withholding holiday pay.

However, HM Revenue and Customs plays a vital role in enforcing the National Minimum Wage and the Government has continued to strengthen enforcement action in this area.

More broadly, the Government has asked Matthew Taylor to consider new forms of work such as the ‘gig economy’ and self-employment, and their implications on employee rights and responsibilities, employer freedoms and obligations, and the existing regulatory framework surrounding employment.