Tag: Sharon Hodgson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints have been made against employers registered in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region for paying employees less than the National Minimum Wage in each of the last three years.

Mr David Gauke

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.

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.

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.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets his Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

Andrea Leadsom

In common with other government departments the Treasury has diversity targets for its workforce (gender, ethnicity and disability), monitors progress and implements diversity initiatives where appropriate.

HM Treasury diversity targets for its Senior Civil Service (SCS)

Group	Target
Women	42 %
BME	5%
Disability	5%

HM Treasury’s diversity targets for its employees below the SCS

Group	Target
Women Range E	50%
Women Range D	50%
BME Range E	14%
BME Range D	18%
Disability Range E	6%
Disability Range D	8%

On progress against the targets the Treasury publishes information on the proportion of its employees by gender, ethnicity and disability by each Civil Service pay scale. The most recent information, March 2013, is in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13, page 43, available on the Treasury’s external website.

The March 2014 data will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts 2014 in due course

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what proportion of staff within his Office who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Mr Nick Clegg

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by My Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Mr David Lidington

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 434W.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what targets her Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

Mr Alan Duncan

DFID has aligned with the Civil Service-wide diversity targets for levels of representation in the Senior Civil Service (SCS). These targets are:

· 39% of the SCS to be women – DFID has achieved this target as 39% of our SCS are women.

· 34% of top management posts (Director and above) to be held by women DFID has exceeded this target as 42% of such posts are held by women.

· 5% of the Senior Civil Service to be minority ethnic staff – DFID has exceeded this target as 7% of our SCS are minority ethnic.

· 5% of the Senior Civil Service to be disabled people – DFID has exceeded this target as 6% of our SCS identify as having a disability.

In addition to this DFID has made a commitment to improve staff engagement survey scores for people with disabilities as this is recognised as an issue across government. DFID has improved the overall staff engagement survey score for staff with disabilities from 65% in November 2012 to 71% in November 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of those (a) starting and (b) completing an apprenticeship in England since May 2010 were (i) female, (ii) registered disabled and (iii) from an ethnic minority background.

Matthew Hancock

Information on apprenticeship starts and achievements by gender, ethnicity and learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD) is published by academic year in supplementary tables to a Statistical First Release (SFR).

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships–2

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298401/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296345/apprenticeship-achievements-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xlsm

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Brandon Lewis

It is not possible to provide definitive or meaningful percentages, as (a) not all staff declare their ethnicity, (b) due to the manner in which white ethnicity data is self-reported by staff , and (c) the sample sizes are so small as to be statistically misleading when comparing years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Elizabeth Truss

Our data does not record nationality; data held records only ethnicity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Hugh Robertson

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 433W.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what consideration her Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Mr Alan Duncan

DFID considers a number of factors including relevant diversity clauses when considering contracts and grants.