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170289

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	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 take steps to ensure that interns used for full-time work are paid at least the National Minimum Wage; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Helen Jones
uin	218759
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker. If an internship meets the legal definition of a worker, then they must be paid at least the minimum wage from the start.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. We continue to carry out targeted awareness raising initiatives with interns and HMRC have been working with employers to identify potential non-compliance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Complaints from interns about non-payment of the minimum wage are prioritised by HMRC for investigation and HMRC will investigate every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Determining an individual’s employment status can be complicated. This is why the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status in October this year, to help ensure an employment status framework in the UK that meets the needs of everyone. This is an internal review and will present findings to ministers early next year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:13:10 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones

170301

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	Apprentices: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217684, how many employers have been fined for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage at the rate introduced in March 2014.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	218677
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Notice of Underpayment issued to an employer by HMRC following the identification of underpayments of the National Minimum Wage does not differentiate between underpayments to workers and apprentices. Non-compliance involving apprentices is not restricted to the Apprentice National Minimum Wage; some non-compliance will occur where an apprentice is entitled to the relevant age rate (where they are aged over 19 and have completed their first year).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not possible to provide information on the number of employers who have faced a penalty for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage since March 2014, as HMRC do not hold this information. Nor is it possible to provide details of the number of naming cases involving underpayments to apprentices. We can confirm that every employer that has been named has faced a financial penalty. These penalties will have related to pay reference periods falling before and after 7 March 2014 and so will have been calculated at the previous and current rates.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2014/15, the National Minimum Wage enforcement budget was increased by £1.2m from £8m to £9.2m. There are currently 189 staff across HMRC contributing to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, amongst others. This includes an additional 26 inspectors recently recruited following the in-year 14/15 funding increase. Within this overall resource, we do not specify an amount that should be allocated to enforcing the apprentice National Minimum Wage. HMRC are required to respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition to this, complaints from apprentices are prioritised and fast-tracked.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Anyone who is concerned that they have been underpaid the National Minimum Wage should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline for free and confidential advice on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 218678 218679 question first answered 18/12/2014 12:16:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

170302

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	Apprentices: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217684, how many of the 55 companies named for non-payment of the National Minimum Wage had underpaid apprentices; and how many of those 55 companies have been fined for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	218678
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Notice of Underpayment issued to an employer by HMRC following the identification of underpayments of the National Minimum Wage does not differentiate between underpayments to workers and apprentices. Non-compliance involving apprentices is not restricted to the Apprentice National Minimum Wage; some non-compliance will occur where an apprentice is entitled to the relevant age rate (where they are aged over 19 and have completed their first year).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not possible to provide information on the number of employers who have faced a penalty for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage since March 2014, as HMRC do not hold this information. Nor is it possible to provide details of the number of naming cases involving underpayments to apprentices. We can confirm that every employer that has been named has faced a financial penalty. These penalties will have related to pay reference periods falling before and after 7 March 2014 and so will have been calculated at the previous and current rates.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2014/15, the National Minimum Wage enforcement budget was increased by £1.2m from £8m to £9.2m. There are currently 189 staff across HMRC contributing to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, amongst others. This includes an additional 26 inspectors recently recruited following the in-year 14/15 funding increase. Within this overall resource, we do not specify an amount that should be allocated to enforcing the apprentice National Minimum Wage. HMRC are required to respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition to this, complaints from apprentices are prioritised and fast-tracked.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Anyone who is concerned that they have been underpaid the National Minimum Wage should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline for free and confidential advice on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 218677 218679 question first answered 18/12/2014 12:16:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

170303

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	Apprentices: 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, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 217684, what (a) funding and (b) staffing has been allocated to enforcement of the apprentice National Minimum Wage.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	218679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Notice of Underpayment issued to an employer by HMRC following the identification of underpayments of the National Minimum Wage does not differentiate between underpayments to workers and apprentices. Non-compliance involving apprentices is not restricted to the Apprentice National Minimum Wage; some non-compliance will occur where an apprentice is entitled to the relevant age rate (where they are aged over 19 and have completed their first year).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is therefore not possible to provide information on the number of employers who have faced a penalty for non-payment of the apprentice National Minimum Wage since March 2014, as HMRC do not hold this information. Nor is it possible to provide details of the number of naming cases involving underpayments to apprentices. We can confirm that every employer that has been named has faced a financial penalty. These penalties will have related to pay reference periods falling before and after 7 March 2014 and so will have been calculated at the previous and current rates.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2014/15, the National Minimum Wage enforcement budget was increased by £1.2m from £8m to £9.2m. There are currently 189 staff across HMRC contributing to enforcing NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, amongst others. This includes an additional 26 inspectors recently recruited following the in-year 14/15 funding increase. Within this overall resource, we do not specify an amount that should be allocated to enforcing the apprentice National Minimum Wage. HMRC are required to respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition to this, complaints from apprentices are prioritised and fast-tracked.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Anyone who is concerned that they have been underpaid the National Minimum Wage should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline for free and confidential advice on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson grouped question UIN 218677 218678 question first answered 18/12/2014 12:16:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

170334

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Shared Ownership Schemes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.42 of the Autumn Statement 2014, when he plans to launch the consultation on options for streamlining the process for selling on shared ownership properties.
tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
uin	218731
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>We will be seeking views on streamlining the process for selling on shared ownership properties early in 2015.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 18/12/2014 14:57:23 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

170329

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Council Tax
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which councils have signed up to his Department's offer of additional funding to freeze council tax in 2014-15.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	218809
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>In total 251 authorities in England froze or reduced their band D council tax in 2014-15, which is 60% of those eligible. A list of authorities which met the criteria of the 2014-15 council tax freeze scheme and therefore received the additional funding is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317658/140415_312335_Council_Tax_Freeze__Revenue__Grant_Determination_2014-15.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317658/140415_312335_Council_Tax_Freeze__Revenue__Grant_Determination_2014-15.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 18/12/2014 16:07:08 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

170330

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Non-domestic Rates: Worcestershire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses in Worcester that have received (a) small business rate relief and (b) the High Street Discount on business rates.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218800
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Chancellor announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 business rates bills, bringing the total support from 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices in 2015-16 to £1.4 billion. Autumn Statement 2014 help includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 385,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 190,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief.</li><li>a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;</li><li>increasing the temporary £1,000 discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 300,000 properties in England and;</li><li>extending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000.</li></ul><p>These policies are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including:</p><ul><li>a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops;</li><li>allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property; and</li><li>business rates relief for empty new builds.</li></ul><p>Central Government also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.</p><p>The attached table shows the number of properties in 2014-15 within the Worcester City Council boundary that have benefitted from business rates measures in the previous Autumn Statement, including those that have received small business rates relief and the high street discount on business rates.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 18/12/2014 16:26:04 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins attachment 1 file name 218800 Walker - Table.docx title Table
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170331

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Non-domestic Rates: Barnet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Department has made of the number of small firms and shops in (a) the London borough of Barnet and (b) Hendon constituency which will have a reduction in business rates in 2015-16.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	218808
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Chancellor announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 business rates bills, bringing the total support from 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices in 2015-16 to £1.4 billion. Autumn Statement 2014 help includes:</p><p> </p><ul><li>doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 385,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 190,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief.</li><li>a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;</li><li>increasing the temporary £1,000 discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 300,000 properties in England; and</li><li>extending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000.</li></ul><p> </p><p>These policies are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including:</p><p> </p><ul><li>a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops;</li><li>allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property; and</li><li>business rates relief for empty new builds.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Central Government also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not collect data on a constituency basis, but Hendon constituency lies entirely within the boundary of the London Borough of Barnet. In addition to this, local authority level data is not yet available for the number of properties that will benefit from Autumn Statement 2014 measures in 2015-16. The attached table shows the number of properties in 2014-15 within the boundary of the London Borough of Barnet that benefit from business rates measures extended in this year’s Autumn Statement.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 18/12/2014 16:23:33 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins attachment 1 file name 218808 Offord - Table.docx title Table
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

170332

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Non-domestic Rates: Worcestershire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much was paid in business rates in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Worcester
tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
uin	218749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>Details of the amount of non-domestic rates that were collected in (a) Worcester and (b) Worcestershire in each of the last 5 years are shown in the table below. The data are the amount that was collected in the year, irrespective of the year to which it relates before the deduction of any allowances for the cost of collection or losses in collection.</p><p> </p><p>The data for Worcestershire is made up from the data for Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Wychavon, Wyre Forest and Worcester.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p>Worcester</p><p>£million</p></td><td><p>Worcestershire</p><p>£million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009-10</p></td><td><p>35.0</p></td><td><p>163.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>35.7</p></td><td><p>165.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>37.6</p></td><td><p>176.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>39.2</p></td><td><p>179.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>40.1</p></td><td><p>182.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data were collected on auditor certified national non-domestic rates (NNDR3) outturn forms completed annually by all billing authorities in England.</p><p> </p><p>These figures will reflect changes to the overall size and valuation of hereditaments, new buildings and the change in the multiplier, as well as changes to different types of rate relief.</p><p> </p><p>These data are available on the gov.uk website at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/national-non-domestic-rates-local-authority-level-data" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/national-non-domestic-rates-local-authority-level-data</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 18/12/2014 15:44:50 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

170333

registered interest
date	15/12/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to recommendation (a) of the report of the National Audit Office entitled Financial sustainability of local authorities 2014, published in November 2014, if his Department will publish a real-terms series of change in individual local authority income since 2010-11.
tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
uin	218730
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government will publish a formal response to the Public Accounts Committee's consideration of the National Audit Office report; this will be presented to Parliament in the New Year.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins grouped question UIN 218732 218733 218734 question first answered 18/12/2014 15:34:12 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn