Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

91696

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Home Care Services: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many home care providers were investigated by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last four years; and what proportion of those providers was found not to be paying the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209191
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, by collating and analysing data received from various sources, HMRC ensure targeted enforcement to identify employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The following table shows the number of employers in the home care sector over the past four years where HMRC have commenced and completed investigations. It also shows the percentage of instances where employers were found to be non-complaint with NMW legislation as a result of these investigations. <ins></ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Investigations</p></td><td> </td><td><p>Percentage</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>23%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>46</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>39%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>24</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>46%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>15%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 17/10/2014 13:16:28 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100311

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Social Services: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the national minimum wage arrears identified in the social care sector by HM Revenue and Customs in the findings of its social care evaluation of November 2013 have been recovered and paid to the workers affected.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	211605
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not keep data in a format to enable provision of the statistics requested on the amount of arrears paid or not paid to workers. HMRC contacts every employer whom they find has paid workers below the National Minimum Wage to confirm that they have paid the identified arrears to the workers. In addition, where it has found arrears for five or fewer workers it will contact all the workers to confirm payment by the employer. In cases involving arrears for more than five workers it will contact a minimum sample of five workers to confirm payment by the employer. HMRC will pursue non-payment of arrears through civil recovery action.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and will always investigate any case of possible National Minimum Wage abuse. Therefore there will always be variation in the number of cases investigated within specific sectors.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 211547 211653 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:22:53 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

65127

	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	National Careers Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff are currently employed in the National Careers Service; and how many staff he expects to be employed after the new contract for that service is in place.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	203480
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>As of 1 January 2014 the staff cohort for the National Careers Service was 3,740 people, these figures may vary during the course of the year. Future staff numbers will be decided by the prime contractors of the National Careers Service in line with their contractual responsibilities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 07/07/2014 15:40:57 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

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

65126

	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	Vocational Guidance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what contractual requirements to provide face-to-face advice will be in the contracts of providers of the National Careers Guidance; and what the current levels of provision are.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	203479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Twelve regional National Careers Service providers will be contractually obliged to deliver an area based service that will provide careers advice to adults through digital and social media platforms, on the telephone and face to face from 1 October 2014. The contractors must ensure that customers are aware of the ways they can access the service. Face to face careers advice is available for customers that request it, those who need intensive direct support or those who are unable to access digital and telephone services. <br> <br> The National Careers Service delivered the following during the 2013-14 financial year:</p><p> </p><p>664,948 new adult customers who accessed face to face advice;</p><p> </p><p>371,778 telephone advice sessions for adults;</p><p> </p><p>52,150 telephone advice sessions, webchat, emails and texts for young people;</p><p> </p><p>15,710,908 website visits.</p><p> </p><p>25,871 mobile web home page views</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 07/07/2014 15:42:03 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

64170

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2014
	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	National Careers Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of potential changes in the number of jobs at the National Careers Service arising from the Government's digital-by-default policy.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	202577
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The new National Careers Service has been designed to respond to the changing needs of the economy with a focus on local leadership and providing inspiring careers advice for customers, including a new brokerage role to facilitate relationships between schools and employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the re-procurement process organisations were assessed on their capacity and capability to deliver the service through face to face services and a range of media that meet customers' specific needs and preferences. It is a matter for the new contractors how they achieve outcomes for customers including how they deploy their staff resource to deliver the service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 01/07/2014 14:16:46 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91678

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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 estimate his Department has made of (a) the profitability of the home care sector of the economy and (b) the proportion of home care providers which do not pay their employees the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209190
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department of Health has discussions with homecare providers and the trade bodies that represent them, but they do not measure the profitability of the sector as a whole.</p><p> </p><p>Between the periods of 1<sup>st</sup> April 2011 and 31<sup>st</sup> March 2013, HMRC made targeted enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector of which 206 have been completed. HMRC found non-compliance in 104 (50%) of these enquiries identifying for 6,367 workers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 13:40:27 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91670

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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	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, what proportion of those estimated not to be in receipt of the national minimum wage call the the Pay and Rights Helpline.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209187
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>Estimates from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for April 2013 show that there were around 279,000 jobs paid below the national minimum wage (NMW) held by people aged 16 and over (which constitutes 1.1% of all employee jobs in the UK labour market).</p><p> </p><p>The number of complaints about the NMW to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) in 2013/14 was 3747 (including some calls up to May 2014). We do not know what number of complaints to the PWRH come from workers who are not paid the NMW. There are a number of other callers who also ring the helpline to obtain advice and are able to have their issue resolved at this stage without needing to make a formal complaint.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>During 2013/14, HMRC conducted 1,455 investigations (39% of the number of calls to the PWRH). From the investigations, 47 per cent of the cases were found to be non-compliant, which covers 22,610 workers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 14:35:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

65128

	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	National Careers Service
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what quality criteria will be included in contracts for provision of the National Careers Service; and how performance against those criteria will be monitored.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	203481
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>National Careers Service Prime Contractors are required to comply with robust quality standards. All Prime Contractors must hold and retain the matrix Standard; they must comply with the Ofsted Common Inspection Framework for Further Education and Skills; they must participate in any research to assess, measure and improve the quality of the National Careers Service, and; they must produce an evidence-based self-assessment review each year. They will also need to provide evidence of their partnership activity and their role in brokering relationships between employers and schools and colleges.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency West Suffolk answering member printed Matthew Hancock question first answered 07/07/2014 15:43:08 answering member 4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91679

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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	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, what representations he has received on national minimum wage and travel time; and if he will take steps to publicise guidance on travel time and the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is clear that travel time and rest breaks between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage rate.</p><p> </p><p>Despite this the Government has received information from a number of sources that there are concerns about the relationship between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and travel time.</p><p> </p><p>In response to these concerns the Government has taken a number of steps to publicise and inform employers and workers of the NMW rules around travel time:-</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>the Department of Health have developed statutory guidance, in conjunction with a range of stakeholders, which refers to employment law and to HMRC guidance on payment of travel time, to help Local Authorities assure themselves that the care companies they contract with comply with NMW regulations.</li><li>The Government has 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, in order to improve compliance.</li><li>Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the NMW.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning, the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 13:43:17 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham