The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24355, whether his Department has carried out any feasibility studies or other assessments of basic income or similar schemes since 1990.
Damian Hinds
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 1 February 2016, reference 24355.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to officials in his Department to support the implementation of the Family Test.
Mr Oliver Letwin
Family Test guidance was published online in October 2014, and is available to all officials. The guidance can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the oral contribution by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, of 26 January 2016, Official Report, column 231, what steps he has taken to contact the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the reform of charities legislation to include social investment; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Rob Wilson
Charity law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Officials in the Office for Civil Society kept their counterparts in the Department for Social Development, Northern Ireland, informed of progress as the measures which are now contained in the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill were consulted on and developed.
I have written to Lord Morrow MLA, Minister for Social Development, following the Third Reading of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill, to draw his attention to the debate and the provisions of the Bill.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to answer Question 24306 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield, tabled on 26 January 2016 for answer on 29 January 2016.
Nick Boles
I replied to the hon Member on 3 February.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lady Hermon on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution by the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, of 2 February 2016, Official Report, column 884, what steps he is taking to ensure the national advertising campaign for apprenticeships extends to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
Education and skills policy (including Apprenticeships) is a devolved matter. It is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own programmes. This includes any advertising campaigns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reduction in numbers of complaints made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline since 2010.
Nick Boles
No assessment has been made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of complaints made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline since 2010.
Since 1 April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. No formal assessment has been made at this time of the outcomes for workers, but we continue to work closely with Acas and four enforcement bodies to ensure the service is bedding in effectively and delivering the right outcomes for the public.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many calls were made to (a) the Pay and Work Rights Helpline and (b) ACAS reporting non-payment of the National Minimum Wage by sector in each of the last five years.
Nick Boles
Final approved answer for 2016/02785
No assessment has been made on the impact of confidentiality agreements on the identification of National Minimum Wage (NMW) non-compliance.
Confidentiality is an important protection for workers who wish to make a NMW complaint. If any worker is concerned they have not received what they are entitled to they should contact the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 for free and confidential advice. HMRC follow up every complaint referred to them by Acas and compliance officers can investigate without knowledge of the complainant’s identity. In addition to complaint-led work HMRC investigate employers using third-party intelligence and risk-based targeted enforcement in sectors and areas where there is a higher risk of workers being paid below the NMW.
The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break NMW law. Between April 2015 and November 2015 HMRC took action against over 500 businesses, identifying over £8 million for 46,000 workers. This is already the largest amount of arrears identified in any single year since the introduction of the NMW.
Building on existing reforms, the Prime Minister announced on 1 September 2015 further measures to strengthen the enforcement of the NMW including higher penalties, a dedicated HMRC team to tackle the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance and additional funding for HMRC from April 2016. We have also increased communications so that working people can access support to make complaints in confidence if needed
Table 1: NMW enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline by trade sector, 2009/10 to 2014/15.
|
Trade Sector |
2009/103 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
Activities of households as employers |
20 |
20 |
40 |
20 |
20 |
10 |
|
Admin/Office work |
2,530 |
4,410 |
3,910 |
2,950 |
3,310 |
2,390 |
|
Agriculture and related activities |
140 |
100 |
120 |
100 |
110 |
100 |
|
Cleaning services |
440 |
400 |
350 |
320 |
420 |
320 |
|
Construction and related trades |
1,350 |
1,290 |
1,050 |
760 |
1,010 |
810 |
|
Education and teaching |
270 |
370 |
350 |
300 |
540 |
450 |
|
Food processing and packaging |
90 |
40 |
50 |
20 |
30 |
30 |
|
Hairdressing |
1,670 |
1,520 |
1,360 |
930 |
1,040 |
730 |
|
Health, social work and child care |
1,590 |
1,750 |
1,590 |
1,430 |
2,090 |
1,930 |
|
Hospitality |
1,880 |
1,580 |
1,560 |
1,400 |
1,780 |
1,340 |
|
Information technology and communication |
150 |
170 |
180 |
120 |
240 |
150 |
|
Modelling, entertainment, recreation |
90 |
90 |
110 |
80 |
160 |
50 |
|
Other manufacturing |
240 |
200 |
150 |
140 |
140 |
120 |
|
Security services |
240 |
170 |
140 |
120 |
150 |
110 |
|
Shellfish gathering |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Taxi/minicab services |
60 |
40 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
20 |
|
Textiles |
30 |
10 |
20 |
20 |
80 |
30 |
|
Training Provider |
– |
– |
– |
– |
70 |
70 |
|
Transport (other than Taxi/mini-cab) |
350 |
380 |
280 |
270 |
440 |
260 |
|
Warehousing, storage and distribution |
490 |
440 |
420 |
340 |
360 |
310 |
|
Wholesale and retail trade |
1,580 |
1,560 |
1,550 |
1,150 |
1,470 |
930 |
|
Other |
4,980 |
3,880 |
2,590 |
1,980 |
2,780 |
2,210 |
|
Not Known |
3,580 |
2,190 |
5,020 |
5,350 |
5,210 |
7,180 |
|
Total |
21,700 |
20,600 |
20,900 |
17,800 |
21,500 |
19,500 |
Source: Pay and Workers Rights Helpline and the Acas Helpline
Notes:
Since the 1st April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.
Provisional in-year data for 2015/16 show there have been 9,800 queries relating to NMW legislation to the Acas Helpline and 3,700 queries relating to non-payment/deductions from NMW. Information on the number of NMW enquiries by trade sector is not collected on a comparable basis as Acas do not ask callers to disclose information about the sector worked in. Therefore, Acas only record this information when a caller chooses to provide it.
Table 1: The number of NMW related calls received by Acas, 2011/12 to 2015/16.
|
Query topic |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/164 |
|
NMW |
4,400 |
3,800 |
3,800 |
4,400 |
9,800 |
|
Non-Payment/Deductions from NMW |
2,000 |
2,500 |
2,900 |
3,100 |
3,700 |
Source: Acas
Notes
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-02-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effects of confidentiality agreements between employers not paying the national minimum wage and their employees challenging that non-payment on the numbers of people coming forward to make a complaint to ACAS.
Nick Boles
Final approved answer for 2016/02785
No assessment has been made on the impact of confidentiality agreements on the identification of National Minimum Wage (NMW) non-compliance.
Confidentiality is an important protection for workers who wish to make a NMW complaint. If any worker is concerned they have not received what they are entitled to they should contact the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 for free and confidential advice. HMRC follow up every complaint referred to them by Acas and compliance officers can investigate without knowledge of the complainant’s identity. In addition to complaint-led work HMRC investigate employers using third-party intelligence and risk-based targeted enforcement in sectors and areas where there is a higher risk of workers being paid below the NMW.
The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break NMW law. Between April 2015 and November 2015 HMRC took action against over 500 businesses, identifying over £8 million for 46,000 workers. This is already the largest amount of arrears identified in any single year since the introduction of the NMW.
Building on existing reforms, the Prime Minister announced on 1 September 2015 further measures to strengthen the enforcement of the NMW including higher penalties, a dedicated HMRC team to tackle the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance and additional funding for HMRC from April 2016. We have also increased communications so that working people can access support to make complaints in confidence if needed
Table 1: NMW enquiries to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline by trade sector, 2009/10 to 2014/15.
|
Trade Sector |
2009/103 |
2010/11 |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
|
Activities of households as employers |
20 |
20 |
40 |
20 |
20 |
10 |
|
Admin/Office work |
2,530 |
4,410 |
3,910 |
2,950 |
3,310 |
2,390 |
|
Agriculture and related activities |
140 |
100 |
120 |
100 |
110 |
100 |
|
Cleaning services |
440 |
400 |
350 |
320 |
420 |
320 |
|
Construction and related trades |
1,350 |
1,290 |
1,050 |
760 |
1,010 |
810 |
|
Education and teaching |
270 |
370 |
350 |
300 |
540 |
450 |
|
Food processing and packaging |
90 |
40 |
50 |
20 |
30 |
30 |
|
Hairdressing |
1,670 |
1,520 |
1,360 |
930 |
1,040 |
730 |
|
Health, social work and child care |
1,590 |
1,750 |
1,590 |
1,430 |
2,090 |
1,930 |
|
Hospitality |
1,880 |
1,580 |
1,560 |
1,400 |
1,780 |
1,340 |
|
Information technology and communication |
150 |
170 |
180 |
120 |
240 |
150 |
|
Modelling, entertainment, recreation |
90 |
90 |
110 |
80 |
160 |
50 |
|
Other manufacturing |
240 |
200 |
150 |
140 |
140 |
120 |
|
Security services |
240 |
170 |
140 |
120 |
150 |
110 |
|
Shellfish gathering |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Taxi/minicab services |
60 |
40 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
20 |
|
Textiles |
30 |
10 |
20 |
20 |
80 |
30 |
|
Training Provider |
– |
– |
– |
– |
70 |
70 |
|
Transport (other than Taxi/mini-cab) |
350 |
380 |
280 |
270 |
440 |
260 |
|
Warehousing, storage and distribution |
490 |
440 |
420 |
340 |
360 |
310 |
|
Wholesale and retail trade |
1,580 |
1,560 |
1,550 |
1,150 |
1,470 |
930 |
|
Other |
4,980 |
3,880 |
2,590 |
1,980 |
2,780 |
2,210 |
|
Not Known |
3,580 |
2,190 |
5,020 |
5,350 |
5,210 |
7,180 |
|
Total |
21,700 |
20,600 |
20,900 |
17,800 |
21,500 |
19,500 |
Source: Pay and Workers Rights Helpline and the Acas Helpline
Notes:
Since the 1st April 2015, the Acas Helpline has, in addition to its usual services, been answering queries previously handled by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline.
Provisional in-year data for 2015/16 show there have been 9,800 queries relating to NMW legislation to the Acas Helpline and 3,700 queries relating to non-payment/deductions from NMW. Information on the number of NMW enquiries by trade sector is not collected on a comparable basis as Acas do not ask callers to disclose information about the sector worked in. Therefore, Acas only record this information when a caller chooses to provide it.
Table 1: The number of NMW related calls received by Acas, 2011/12 to 2015/16.
|
Query topic |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2015/164 |
|
NMW |
4,400 |
3,800 |
3,800 |
4,400 |
9,800 |
|
Non-Payment/Deductions from NMW |
2,000 |
2,500 |
2,900 |
3,100 |
3,700 |
Source: Acas
Notes
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people aged 17 or under of each age were sectioned under the Mental Health Act in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Alistair Burt
The National Police Chiefs Council has reported figures on the number of children held in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act for only three years. These were as follows:
2012-13 256 255;
2013-14 161 256; and
2014-15 145 161.
Data on children and young people sectioned under other sections of the Mental Health Act are not available centrally.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Minister for Public Health has had with Ministers in HM Treasury on the fiscal effect of an additional tax on soft drinks containing sugar.
Jane Ellison
There are ongoing discussions between the Department and other Government departments, including HM Treasury, to consider a range of options to reduce sugar consumption.
We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy in due course. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese.