Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 10 November (HL2703), how many of the 13 National Minimum Wage prosecutions made in the past nine years involved roles advertised as internships.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HMRC review all complaints that are referred to them.
HMRC acts on information from a range of sources, including workers, third parties and unions but does not disclose the source of an investigation in specific cases for reasons of confidentiality.
As referenced in the answer to question [[1]] HL2704, HMRC has recorded no prosecutions in relation to interns and the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 10 November (HL2703), for each National Minimum Wage prosecution since 2007, by whom the case was referred to HMRC for investigation.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HMRC review all complaints that are referred to them.
HMRC acts on information from a range of sources, including workers, third parties and unions but does not disclose the source of an investigation in specific cases for reasons of confidentiality.
As referenced in the answer to question [[1]] HL2704, HMRC has recorded no prosecutions in relation to interns and the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in each year since 2010, how many complaints were referred to HMRC from (1) ACAS, (2) Citizens Advice, and (3) individuals, relating to workers being unpaid or paid less than the National Minimum Wage for internship roles; how many of those complaints were investigated by HMRC; and how many resulted in a prosecution against an employer.
Answered by Lord Bates
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) only holds data on referrals that resulted in an investigation being opened.
HMRC began receiving complaint referrals from Acas on 17 March 2015. From this date until 31 March 2016 HMRC opened 6 investigations relating to interns that were referred by Acas.
HMRC began receiving complaint referrals from Citizens Advice from September 2016. HMRC has recorded no investigations opened after referral from Citizens Advice that specifically relate to interns.
The following numbers of investigations were opened as a result of direct complaints in relation to interns from 1 April 2010 to 17 March 2015:
Year | Investigations opened from direct complaints |
2010/11 | 0 |
2011/12 | 30 |
2012/13 | 28 |
2013/14 | 44 |
2014/15 | 56 |
2015/16 | 5 |
HMRC has recorded no prosecutions in relation to interns and the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for revising the Enterprise Investment Scheme; and what assessment they have made of the economic impact of any future reductions in support available through that scheme.
Answered by Lord Bates
The consultation Financing Growth in Innovative Firms set out the vital role the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) plays in incentivising investment into early stage, high-growth firms. In 2015-16 more than 3,400 companies raised £1.9 billion through the scheme. The consultation also noted an ongoing issue of low-risk ‘capital preservation’ investments structured around the relief and asked an open question about how best to target the relief to ensure it helps innovative, high-growth firms receive the investment they need. The government will set out its response to the consultation in the Budget.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on small and medium sized businesses of the Valuation Office Agency's decision to class communal spaces such as staircases, corridors and lifts as separate premises for the calculation of business rates.
Answered by Lord Bates
In July 2015, the Supreme Court clarified existing rating law relating to communal spaces such as staircases, corridors and lifts. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a legal duty to adapt its practices to reflect the judgment.
The VOA assesses the value of property and not the businesses that occupy the property. As such, it does not hold information on whether the occupant of a property is a small or medium business.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many small and medium sized businesses will be impacted by the Valuation Office Agency's decision to class communal spaces such as staircases, corridors and lifts as separate premises for business rate purposes; and how many such businesses will be billed retrospectively as a result of this change.
Answered by Lord Bates
In July 2015, the Supreme Court clarified existing rating law relating to communal spaces such as staircases, corridors and lifts. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a legal duty to adapt its practices to reflect the judgment.
The VOA assesses the value of property and not the businesses that occupy the property. As such, it does not hold information on whether the occupant of a property is a small or medium business.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings contained in the Bank of England's Money and Credit June 2017 Statistical Release that there was (1) a £0.2 billion fall in loans to non-financial small and medium enterprises, and (2) an £8.2 billion rise in loans to large business, in the year to June.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Treasury monitors the Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistical releases and other statistical publications.
The Government is supporting lending to SMEs in a variety of ways, such as through the establishment of the British Business Bank to make finance markets work better for small businesses. The Government is also helping alternative lenders which lend to small businesses, for example through support for challenger banks; introducing a bespoke regime for peer-to-peer lending; and structural interventions such as the bank referral scheme and the SME credit data sharing scheme.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding contained in the Bank of England's Money and Credit June 2017 Statistical Release that there was a 10 per cent rise in outstanding unsecured consumer credit in the year to June.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Treasury monitors the Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistical releases and other statistical publications. The government established an independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and gave the FPC a primary objective to identify, monitor and take action to remove or reduce systemic risks with a view to protecting and enhancing financial stability. The FPC’s June 2017 Financial Stability Report (FSR), published on 27 June, assesses recent trends in unsecured debt in the consumer credit market. The FSR notes that consumer credit has been growing rapidly, but that loss rates on consumer credit lending are low at present.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding contained in the Bank of England's Money and Credit June 2017 Statistical Release that one in six of the 2.2 million people with personal debt are in financial distress; and what action they are taking to reduce consumer debt.
Answered by Lord Bates
The government monitors the Bank of England’s statistical releases, including Money and Credit, and is committed to supporting all those affected by problem debt.
We have a range of measures in place to help achieve that. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates the consumer credit market, and has introduced binding rules to strengthen consumer protection. They are based on the principle that money should only be lent to a consumer if they can afford to repay it; lenders must show forbearance if there is evidence of financial difficulty.
The FCA also capped the cost of payday loans. As part of a review of this price cap, the FCA will examine the high-cost credit market more broadly and consider whether further interventions are necessary to address the risk of consumer harm.
The Money Advice Service (MAS), which was set up by the government, coordinates the provision of free-to-client debt advice. In 2016/17, MAS spent just under £49 million on its debt advice work, directing around 90% of this to fund frontline services. This led to more than 440,000 free-to-client debt advice sessions being delivered face-to-face, over the phone and online across the UK.
In the Queen’s Speech, the government announced the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill. This will legislate to restructure the financial guidance landscape and bring debt advice, money guidance, and pensions guidance together in a single body, and give consumers better access to the financial information they need. This Bill is currently going through Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ access to redress and compensation from banks; and what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the BankingFutures initiative to expand the remit of the Financial Ombudsman to widen support for SMEs.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government will consider the issue of small and medium-sized enterprises’ access to redress and compensation from banks when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes its feedback statement on its discussion paper on SMEs as users of financial services. The remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service is a matter for the FCA.
In April, the FCA published feedback to the consultation on their Mission Statement. In this they committed to consult on widening the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service. They will do so shortly, using a formal consultation alongside its feedback on its SME discussion paper.