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947561

registered interest
date	24/07/2018
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Home Care Services: Pay
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to local authorities regarding the payment for travel time to carers travelling between clients; and whether local authorities are required to check if any external contractors they use to provide caring services are paying those costs.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gardner of Parkes
uin	HL9845
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2018 answer text <p>The Government provides online guidance on the steps employers and others must take to comply with the National Minimum Wage, which states that the hours of work that count for minimum wage purposes include any time when a worker is travelling from one work assignment to another.</p><p>The Government is clear that local authorities should have regard to the cost of care when setting prices. This is set out in the statutory guidance to the Care Act 2014.</p><p> </p><p>In 2016 the Department worked with local government, the care sector and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to produce a guide to understanding providers’ costs and fair fees – this was published in January 2017. A copy of <em>Working with care providers to understand costs</em><em>: </em><em>A guide for adult social care commissioners</em> is attached.</p> answering member printed Lord O'Shaughnessy question first answered 26/07/2018 12:44:46 answering member 4545 label Biography information for Lord O'Shaughnessy attachment 1 file name HL9845 - Cost_of_Care_Report.pdf title Working with care providers to understand costs
tabling member	3596 label Biography information for Baroness Gardner of Parkes

513210

registered interest
date	15/04/2016
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
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 Health, what guidance his Department has issued to councils on the payment of homecare workers for their travel time.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	34217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2016 answer text <p>It is for providers to ensure that they are complying with legislation and paying workers for the time they are legally entitled to be paid for.</p><p> </p><p>The Care Act 2014 is clear that local authorities should ensure that care workers are paid at least minimum wage, and are paid for travel time between appointments.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with local authorities and the care sector to improve social care commissioning, including supporting the sector to commission in a way that promotes quality, including meeting legal requirements on staff pay in relation to travel time.</p><p> </p><p>There is clear Government Guidance on the issue of payment for work related travel time. It can be found in full on this website:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work/overview" target="_blank">http://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work/overview</a></p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt grouped question UIN 34216 question first answered 21/04/2016 13:59:52 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

513282

registered interest
date	15/04/2016
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
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 Health, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) councils and (b) other large employers of homecare workers on the payment of workers for their travel time.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	34216
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2016 answer text <p>It is for providers to ensure that they are complying with legislation and paying workers for the time they are legally entitled to be paid for.</p><p> </p><p>The Care Act 2014 is clear that local authorities should ensure that care workers are paid at least minimum wage, and are paid for travel time between appointments.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with local authorities and the care sector to improve social care commissioning, including supporting the sector to commission in a way that promotes quality, including meeting legal requirements on staff pay in relation to travel time.</p><p> </p><p>There is clear Government Guidance on the issue of payment for work related travel time. It can be found in full on this website:</p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work/overview" target="_blank">http://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work/overview</a></p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt grouped question UIN 34217 question first answered 21/04/2016 13:59:52 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

513283

registered interest
date	15/04/2016
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, whether his Department has a policy on the payment of homecare workers for travel time.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	34209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2016 answer text <p>The Government is clear that anyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) should receive the NMW/NLW. The same rules apply on the payment of travel time for homecare workers as all other sectors in the economy.</p><p>Time spent travelling directly between assignments generally counts as time worked for NMW/NLW purposes. Whether a worker is entitled to the NMW/NLW for other periods - such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home - depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. Where the travelling time is time for which the NMW/NLW should be paid, any associated expenditure incurred by a worker in respect of that travel must be reimbursed.</p><p>In September 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in the case <em>Federación</em> <em>de Servicios</em> that journeys made by workers without a fixed or habitual place of work between their homes and the first and last customer of the day constitute working time. However, this ruling does not require the travel time to be paid, and it is for Member States to determine whether this time should be paid. The National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 state that travel time to and from the home to a place of work or a place where an assignment is carried out is not treated as time or salaried hours work.</p><p>The rules on travel time are set out in full on page 31 of the ‘Calculating the minimum wage’ document:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514897/BIS-16-144-nmw-calculating-the-national-minimum-wage.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514897/BIS-16-144-nmw-calculating-the-national-minimum-wage.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 25/04/2016 13:06:56 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

173157

registered interest
date	12/01/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
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 complaints received by HM Revenue and Customs regarding non-payment of the national minimum wage by domiciliary care providers in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 led to formal investigations being carried out.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	220466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint referred to them by the PWRH and, in addition, collate and analyse data from various sources to identify employers more likely not to be paying National Minimum Wage and undertake targeted enforcement against those employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation. Therefore HMRC do not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I therefore refer my honourable friend to the answer provided to him on 17 October 2014; UIN 209191.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 220435 question first answered 19/01/2015 17:49:24 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

173158

registered interest
date	12/01/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
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 complaints were received by HM Revenue and Customs regarding non-payment of the national minimum wage by domiciliary care providers in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	220435
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2015 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC review every complaint referred to them by the PWRH and, in addition, collate and analyse data from various sources to identify employers more likely not to be paying National Minimum Wage and undertake targeted enforcement against those employers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation. This might be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently wishing to withdraw their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer would only be recorded under one investigation. Therefore HMRC do not record statistics by complaints received, but by investigations completed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I therefore refer my honourable friend to the answer provided to him on 17 October 2014; UIN 209191.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 220466 question first answered 19/01/2015 17:49:24 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
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

100853

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
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, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits and disbenefits of HM Revenue and Customs launching pro-active investigations into the home care sector and the non-payment of the national minimum wage.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211863
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay &amp; Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. 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 through robust risk assessment processes to identify employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying National Minimum Wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the targeted enforcement activity undertaken, HMRC have collaborated with care sector representative bodies, such as the UK Home Care Association, and payroll software service providers to improve understanding and awareness of National Minimum Wage compliance issues and assist in the development of compliance toolkits to enable those organisations to promote and facilitate voluntary compliance.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 211864 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:30:25 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

100318

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	Home Care Services: Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to question 209191, how many investigations by HM Revenue and Customs into the home care sector were conducted in the first six months of 2014-15.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	211653
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 211605 question first answered 03/11/2014 15:22:54 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

93234

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
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 Health, if he will take steps to ensure that homecare workers are paid for time spent travelling between clients; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Helen Jones
uin	210315
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department is clear that social care employers should pay homecare workers for their travel time between clients, in order for them to comply with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Care providers must abide by the law with regards to payment of the NMW and we are taking steps to ensure this happens. The Department is liaising with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to name and shame any social care providers who do not comply with the NMW legislation and HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to carry out enforcement action in the social care sector and will investigate all complaints made by care workers that their employer is not paying them the NMW. In addition, the Department is looking to ensure that the statutory guidance that will accompany the Care Act on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed care packages with agreed quality of care.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Norfolk answering member printed Norman Lamb question first answered 17/10/2014 11:59:24 answering member 1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb
tabling member	432 label Biography information for Helen Jones