Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will take steps to review international evidence of the impact of pay transparency laws on recruitment and retention.
Answered by Justin Madders
While there is no immediate plan to introduce statutory pay transparency requirements for employers, we are currently considering responses to a Call for Evidence on equality law which included questions on this theme. We recognise that reforms introduced in other jurisdictions are prompting constructive debate around how best to include transparency in recruitment and pay systems. We are considering the full range of evidence and remain committed to identifying solutions that balance meaningful progress with the need to minimise unnecessary burdens on employers.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many employees in his Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Justin Madders
Information on the number of individuals directly employed by the Department who earn £100,000 or more, including those earning £166,000 or more, is published on a quarterly basis in the Department’s organograms. These set out senior civil service pay details for staff employed within the core Department and are available on data.gov.uk.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Migration Advisory Committee will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Double Contribution Convention with India on net migration levels.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A DCC is an international treaty between countries which ensures that workers and their employers are only liable to pay social security contributions in one country at a time on the same earnings. A DCC only covers social security contributions, whereas a wider Social Security Agreement (SSA) can include provisions on pensions, healthcare and other contributory benefits. International standards for SSAs are set by the International Labour Organisation.
We have social security agreements covering over 50 countries including EU countries, the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan, where this exemption is extended to 2-5 years. We've agreed to negotiate a similar agreement with India as part of this trade deal.
A detached worker is an employee who is sent by their employer to carry out a period of temporary working in another country. It is standard practice internationally for SSAs to provide for detached workers to continue paying social security contributions in their home country to minimise administration burdens on workers and their employers and to prevent fragmentation of an individual’s social security record.
Detached workers who will be subject to the DCC are able to use several temporary economic migration routes and will remain subject to the requirements of those routes, including those around salary thresholds.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with delivery firms on ensuring that delivery drivers are adequately compensated.
Answered by Justin Madders
This Government believes that hard work deserves fair pay and is determined to deliver a genuine living wage for all that takes account the impact on business, competitiveness, the labour market, the wider economy and the cost of living.
Our Ministers value feedback received from businesses across the country, details of the meetings held by Ministers of the Department for Business and Trade and its predecessor the Department for International trade are available on transparency pages of gov.uk and are released as part of the Government's transparency agenda.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with social care providers to ensure that the social care sector meets required staffing levels.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to reduce the reliance on international recruitment. We want it to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals.
Those working in social care have been ignored for too long, and so will be at the heart of our initial reforms. We will engage with the workers and trade unions to deliver a long over-due new deal for care workers, including establishing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care professionals, learning from countries where they operate successfully.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to help support people made redundant by The Body Shop International Limited.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake
While this is a commercial decision for the company, we understand that this will be a concerning time for workers at The Body Shop, and we stand ready to support those impacted.
Affected employees will be able to access our broad range of support, including Universal Credit and JobCentre Plus, through the Department for Work and Pension's Rapid Response Service.
Employees who worked for the company under an employment contract may be eligible for statutory redundancy pay, compensatory notice pay, and holiday pay, for which they can apply to the Insolvency Service.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information their Department holds on the level of staff retention; and what steps they are taking to improve staff retention.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Civil Service turnover in the Department for International Trade (DIT) was 8.1% in 2022/23.
As part of Machinery of Government changes, DIT has since become The Department of Business and Trade (DBT).
As part of the leavers process for DBT each leaver is sent a link to a survey to gather more information around the reasons the individual is leaving, such as career development or better pay and conditions. This narrative is beneficial to inform future policy decisions.
Examples of current activities to support attraction and retention:
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve seafarer (a) pay and (b) employment conditions on vessels which provide regular shipping services from UK (i) ports and (ii) Freeports but fall out of scope of the measures in the Seafarers Wages Bill and are not covered by collective bargaining agreements with the maritime trade unions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department with input from industry and maritime trade unions is developing the voluntary Seafarers’ Charter to improve working conditions for seafarers. The charter will set minimum standards for overtime pay, access to social protections and address the use of voyage contracts. Further information about the Charter and its provisions will be made available in due course.
We are also looking to implement the improvements to employment conditions for seafarers that were agreed with the support of the UK at the May 2022 meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee of the Maritime Labour Convention. The amendments to the Convention include those to ensure that food and drinking water of appropriate quality is provided free of charge and that seafarers are provided with details of insurance before or during the engagement process. The Department has also supported guidelines requiring the provision of internet access to seafarers on ships in port at free or low cost and has commissioned research on this to ensure the UK remains at forefront of the global seafaring community.
We are in ongoing discussions with international partners, industry and trade unions to drive forward seafarer working conditions.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for International Trade regularly shares information with the recognised departmental trade unions where appropriate and that supports union representatives in carrying out their responsibilities under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This includes details on pay, terms and conditions and other human resource policies, as well as information regarding employee experience initiatives and other organisational transformation or change which is shared as part of regular trade union engagement.
In addition, a range of information regarding the departmental workforce is available publicly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Ministers in her Department received ministerial severance pay for leaving office in 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one-off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.
Details of such payments are published in the departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data/salaries-of-members-of-his-majestys-government-april-2022-html