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<p>The Government takes the enforcement of NMW very seriously and HMRC enforces the
national minimum wage legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills (BIS) and has done so since the introduction of NMW in April 1999. It does
that by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying
the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high
risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC does not
capture complaints or the outcomes of its investigations by reference to Government
regions, constituencies or county. Its management information relates to the work
of teams who are multi-located. Additionally, because it resources to risk, work relating
to a specific geographical area is not always done by the NMW team based in that area.</p><p>
</p><p>Prior to 6 April 2009, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued penalty notices
to those employers who failed to comply with an enforcement notice, within 28 days.
A new enforcement regime, introduced in April 2009, saw the introduction of automatic
penalties for employers who are found to have underpaid their workers.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Islington
South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) on 6 May 2014 contained in Official Report column
110W which gives the number of completed inspections and number of non-compliant cases
across the UK in the financial years 2009/10 to 2013/14.</p>
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