Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
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 has taken in response to the recommendations set out in paragraph 50 of the Sixteenth Report of the 2017-19 Session of the Environmental Audit Committee entitled Fixing Fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, HC1952, to (a) pursue a more proactive approach to the enforcement of the national minimum wage and (b) provide HMRC’s National Minimum Wage team with greater resourcing to increase their inspection and detection work with regard to workers in the garment industry receiving less than the minimum wage and suffering serious breaches of health and safety law in their workplace.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is deeply concerned by the reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for textile workers in Leicester, especially in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 infections.
The main labour market enforcement bodies (the HMRC National Minimum Wage team and the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority), as well as the Police and the Health & Safety Executive, have been working closely with Leicester Council to set up the Leicester Compliance Task Force. The key aims of the taskforce is to address broader labour market and health and safety issues by using local knowledge to improve understanding of the exploitation risks, increase awareness, support victims and ensure compliance.
Since 2017, a number of operations have been undertaken in the Leicester area linked to potential exploitation, including underpayment of the minimum wage. Where breaches have been found appropriate enforcement action has been taken, including warning letters, recovery of unpaid wages, penalties, and director disqualifications.
The Government has more than doubled the budget for National Minimum Wage compliance and enforcement to £27.5 million for 2020/21, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. Increasing the budget allows HMRC to focus on tackling the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance. It also increases the number of compliance officers available to investigate minimum wage complaints and conduct risk-based enforcement in sectors where non-compliance is most likely.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings of the Covid-19 Operations Committee he has attended.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Covid-19 Operations Committee was set up in June to deliver the policy and operational response to Covid-19. It is chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, attended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and other Cabinet Ministers will be invited according to the agenda.
Given the operationally sensitive nature of the information discussed, it is not appropriate to disclose the additional information requested.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings of the Economic Operations Committee he has attended since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Economic and Business Ministerial Implementation Group was set up in March to consider the economic and business impact and response, including supply chain resilience. It was chaired by the Chancellor, with the Business Secretary as deputy chair, and attended by other Ministers and officials. Given the operationally sensitive nature of the information discussed, it is not appropriate to disclose the additional information requested.