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170297

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Scottish Power
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he received reports from the MacDonald Partnership in relation to mis-sold Scottish Power Power Plan warranties; what the titles of such reports were; and when he plans to respond to those reports.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
uin	218595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2014 answer text <p>The initial report from Mr MacDonald was received on 17 July 2014 for review by the Insolvency Service. Further information including another more detailed report was received from him during September and October 2014, and these again have been reviewed by the Insolvency Service. The reports are confidential.</p><p> </p><p>The reports themselves do not require a direct response but I can confirm that the Insolvency Service has completed its review of this material and is in communication with Mr MacDonald.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/12/2014 11:11:20 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

64458

registered interest
date	27/06/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Comet Group
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he expects the report from the Insolvency Service into the collapse of Comet to be published.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Alan Johnson
uin	202955
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p>The Insolvency Service's fact-finding inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the insolvency of Comet Group Ltd is being conducted under section 447 of the Companies Act. Publication of the findings of such investigations is prohibited by law although when an inquiry results in the winding up of the company, or the prosecution or disqualification of its directors, this is publicised.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 07/07/2014 15:49:37 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	376 label Biography information for Alan Johnson

64881

registered interest
date	01/07/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Redundancy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in light of the collapse of Comet and the recent industrial tribunal ruling on employee compensation, what plans he has to issue guidance on the law relating to the role of administrators in consulting employees regarding redundancy.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
tabling member printed	Alan Johnson
uin	203234
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2014 answer text <p>I will be looking at the employment tribunal ruling in the Comet case, and its consequences, carefully. As the appeal period has yet to elapse, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.</p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 08/07/2014 15:35:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	376 label Biography information for Alan Johnson

100843

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Social Services: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of HM Revenue and Customs launching pro-active investigations into the non-payment of the national minimum wage.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the merits of pro-active investigations but believes they are an important part of enforcement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC published findings from their targeted social care evaluation on 25 November 2013. Over the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2013, HMRC had made enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector. Of the cases completed by the end of September 2014, HMRC have found non-compliance in 108 (48%) of their enquiries, identifying £1,319,729 arrears of pay for 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of this targeted enforcement activity, HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health has recently published statutory guidance for local authorities as part of the package of secondary legislation that accompanies the Care Act. The chapter of statutory guidance on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states that local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels will not compromise care providers’ ability to pay at least minimum wages. A copy of the guidance can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department of Health is asking all Local Authorities to sign up to the Social Care Commitment which incorporates a statement about employer compliance with minimum wage legislation. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has written out to all its members encouraging them to support the Commitment as a way of raising standards in adult social care.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We regularly update our Guidance on Gov.UK and we will continue to work with the sector to improve understanding and compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue &amp; Customs investigate all complaints.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 03/11/2014 11:47:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

101306

registered interest
date	28/10/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Home Care Services: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to take account of the omission of (a) some workers paid below the lower earnings limit and (b) unpaid travel time from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings when using that survey to estimate non-payment of the national minimum wage among homecare workers.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	212198
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is an employer based pay survey and provides the most accurate information available from which we can derive non-compliance estimates. Estimates are based on a sample from pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) data and may not include some workers earning below the lower earnings limit. However, following the introduction of Real Time Information, ASHE now includes the majority of those earning below the lower earnings limit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The HMRC paper “National Minimum Wage compliance in the social care sector” (November 2013) looked at, amongst other things, the issue of unpaid travel time in compliance. It found that unpaid travel time was not the main cause of non-compliance in the sector.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We take non-compliance in the care sector very seriously, and to proactively tackle non-compliance HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Individuals should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC investigates every complaint made.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 05/11/2014 15:11:25 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

173143

registered interest
date	12/01/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Social Services: Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will instruct HM Revenue and Customs to investigate non-compliance with the national minimum wage in the care sector.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	220434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government will name all employers that do not comply with National Minimum Wage regulations unless they meet one of the exceptional circumstances or have arrears of £100 or less.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has named 92 employers, including a care provider. Between them they owed workers a total of over £316,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £111,000.</p><p> </p><p>Social care cases tend to be more complex than other cases so it can take longer for them to progress through the enforcement and naming process. We will continue to name and shame employers, including those operating in the care sector.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are undertaking targeted enforcement work in the care sector, building on previous work that successfully identified non-compliant businesses. Between 2011 and 2013, HMRC investigated 224 employers in the care sector. Just over half of these were found to be non-compliant – between them owing £1,319,729 arrears of pay to 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931. There are 94 investigations currently underway in the care sector.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this enforcement activity, we continue to do other work to improve minimum wage compliance in the care sector – to provide guidance to employers so that they understand the law, including tips about the most common mistakes and the records they need to keep to prove they are paying their staff correctly. We also encourage and support care sector workers who have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who is concerned that they have not received what they are entitled to should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC follow up every complaint.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 220433 question first answered 16/01/2015 15:48:13 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

173146

registered interest
date	12/01/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Social Services: Minimum Wage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the statement by his Department to the Today programme on 7 January 2015, what steps his Department is taking to name and shame care providers who do not pay the national minimum wage.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	220433
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government will name all employers that do not comply with National Minimum Wage regulations unless they meet one of the exceptional circumstances or have arrears of £100 or less.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has named 92 employers, including a care provider. Between them they owed workers a total of over £316,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £111,000.</p><p> </p><p>Social care cases tend to be more complex than other cases so it can take longer for them to progress through the enforcement and naming process. We will continue to name and shame employers, including those operating in the care sector.</p><p> </p><p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are undertaking targeted enforcement work in the care sector, building on previous work that successfully identified non-compliant businesses. Between 2011 and 2013, HMRC investigated 224 employers in the care sector. Just over half of these were found to be non-compliant – between them owing £1,319,729 arrears of pay to 6,550 workers, with penalties issued with a total value of £146,931. There are 94 investigations currently underway in the care sector.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this enforcement activity, we continue to do other work to improve minimum wage compliance in the care sector – to provide guidance to employers so that they understand the law, including tips about the most common mistakes and the records they need to keep to prove they are paying their staff correctly. We also encourage and support care sector workers who have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who is concerned that they have not received what they are entitled to should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368. HMRC follow up every complaint.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 220434 question first answered 16/01/2015 15:48:13 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

175650

registered interest
date	26/01/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Offshore Industry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what employment protections exist for staff in the offshore oil and gas sector in the event of an employer seeking to replace them with non-UK based workers on lower rates of pay.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	221933
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2015 answer text <p>A range of employment rights, including protections from unfair dismissal, have been extended to offshore workers over the years. The exact entitlements available to an offshore worker can depend on the nature of their employment and the location of their work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, as the Government has already acknowledged, it is not always easy for individuals to establish their employment status and therefore determine their rights. That is why the employment status review, announced by my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in October last year, will consider how the current framework and entitlements work, presenting a range of options for Ministers to consider in March</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 29/01/2015 15:36:23 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

177764

registered interest
date	04/02/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Offshore Industry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the employment protections for staff in the offshore oil and gas sector in the event of an employer seeking to replace them with non-UK based workers on lower rates of pay.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	223458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2015 answer text <p>The protections for staff in the offshore oil and gas sector in this example depend on the exact nature of their employment and the location of their work. The employment status review, announced in October, will consider whether the framework underpinning employment rights in the UK is still fit for purpose. Amongst other things, it will consider the statutory employment rights and protections available to different groups in the UK and identify areas that Ministers may wish to look at further.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 09/02/2015 12:02:33 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

178798

registered interest
date	10/02/2015
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
hansard heading	Offshore Industry
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223458, what the current (a) employment protections and (b) collective bargaining rights are for contractors working in the offshore oil and gas sector.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	224044
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2015 answer text <p>A contractor’s employment protections will depend on the facts of the working relationship and the contract under which they are working. This is irrespective of whether the individual is being contracted for offshore work or not. Contractors who are actually workers or employees would be entitled to the same basic employment protections as other offshore workers with a similar status, and indeed would have common collective rights. Contractors who are self-employed may be entitled to a smaller number of employment protections, depending on the terms of their contract. There is no single list of the protections and rights of offshore workers and contractors because these will be specific to the contract, the location of the work place and the employment status of the contractor. The Government is exploring how to add clarity to this as part of the employment status review.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 17/02/2015 16:15:00 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham