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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that non-EU migrants working in the (a) cleaning and (b) hospitality industry receive the statutory rights they are entitled to under UK law.

Non-EU migrants working legally in the UK are entitled to the same workplace statutory protections as any other worker. Fair and effective enforcement is central to the Good Work Plan, which sets out the biggest upgrade of employment rights in a generation. Building on existing minimum wage and agency worker enforcement, we are expanding state enforcement to cover holiday payments for the most vulnerable workers and intermediary companies that operate in the agency worker market.

Government has taken concrete measures to increase the number of labour market inspectors and extend their coverage.

• Government has increased funding for HMRC’s enforcement of the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) to a record high of £26.3 million for 2018/19.
• Funding for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has also risen in the last two years to reflect the expansion of its remit to tackle labour exploitation. The GLAA now receives over £7m per year in funding, up from £4.5m in 2016/17.
• The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has seen its funding increase from £0.5m in 2016/17 to £0.725m in 2018/19.

These three enforcement bodies continue to ensure workers receive the protections they are entitled to. As well as responding to every complaint they receive, all three undertake proactive, intelligence-led enforcement, targeting employers and sectors where the risks of non-compliance are highest, including in the cleaning and hospitality sectors.

Government is also exploring options for a single labour market enforcement body – we will publish proposals on this for consultation shortly. More recently we announced that this consultation will consider extending the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority’s licensing scheme to further sectors and that we will ensure trade unions and businesses are consulted on the strategic direction of labour market enforcement.