To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion
of organisations that hold contracts with his Department pay the National Living Wage.
<p>This question would be a disproportionate cost to answer, as we do not hold this
information centrally. However, as this is a statutory requirement, our expectation
is that 100% of organisations that hold contracts with the department will be paying
the National Living Wage. If the department identified any organisation that was in
breach, we would engage with them to ensure legal compliance.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant
to the oral answer of the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
on 4 June 2019, Official Report, column 53, what the evidential basis is for her statement
that in 2019, £118 million has been paid back to more than 220,000 workers who were
underpaid the minimum wage.
<p>We are committed to taking robust enforcement action to ensure that everyone who
is entitled to the National Minimum or Living Wage receives it.</p><p> </p><p>We have
more than doubled the budget for minimum wage compliance and enforcement since 2015;
it is now at a record high of £27.4 million.</p><p> </p><p>To clarify, since 1999,
minimum wage arrears worth over £118 million have been paid to 835,000 workers. In
the year 2018/19 alone, £24.4m of wage arrears were identified, owed to more than
220,000 workers.</p><p> </p><p>The transcript error within the Official Report has
now been corrected.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps
his Department is taking to encourage employers to be more flexible in their employee
working hours.
<p>Through the Industrial Strategy, the Government is working to transform our economy
and ensuring that everyone, whatever their background, can access and progress at
work.</p><p> </p><p>Flexible working can play an important part in helping businesses
to improve their productivity and recruit and retain the best available talent. All
employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer have the right to
request flexible working. The Government is also considering a new duty on employers
to be clear when advertising a job whether it is available on a flexible basis.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government, with the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development, has established the Flexible Working Taskforce to promote wider understanding
and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices. The taskforce
has developed a high-level business case for flexible working guidance on flexible
recruitment and continues to promote more flexible hiring through the on going campaign
“Happy to Talk Flexible Working”.</p><p> </p>