Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme in the last 3 years.

The information requested is not held centrally and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost; however, the Cabinet Office expects all contractors to pay their employees the National Living Wage and minimum rates for younger workers.

Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it is the law. Under the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, employers who have previously broken minimum wage law are publicly named as a deterrent to the minority of employers who may be tempted to underpay their workers. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage have to pay back arrears of wages to the worker at current minimum wage rates. They also face hefty financial penalties of up to 200% of arrears - capped at £20,000 per worker - which are paid to the government. Since 2015 the government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to 1 million workers.

Under this Conservative Government, the National Living Wage (NLW) will rise to £10.42 from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7 per cent, with rates for younger people rising in line with this.