Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) terms of reference, (b) criterion applied in the decision-making process, (c) locations and sites being considered and (d) scorings and assessments are of the considered locations for the Treasury North campus.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Budget 20 committed to establishing a significant new campus in the north of England focused on economic decision making, which will include teams from HM Treasury, DIT, BEIS and MHCLG. Potential locations for the economic campus in the north of England have been considered against a broad range of criteria. Our aim is to ensure the campus meets Departments’ needs and supports the Government’s wider levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Middlesbrough has been shortlisted as a location for the Treasury North campus.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Budget 20 committed to establishing a significant new campus in the north of England focused on economic decision making, which will include teams from HM Treasury, DIT, BEIS and MHCLG. Potential locations for the economic campus in the north of England have been considered against a broad range of criteria. Our aim is to ensure the campus meets Departments’ needs and supports the Government’s wider levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax revenue lost to the public purse from the underpayment of the national minimum wage in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) publishes an annual report that provides an assessment of the nature and extent of NMW underpayment. The latest report published by the LPC in April 2019 can be found here:
There is no robust estimate available of the income tax revenue lost as a result of NMW underpayment.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax revenue lost to the public purse from workers being wrongly categorised as self-employed in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to tackling false self-employment. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) take a risk-based approach to investigating employers who may have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, HMRC establish the facts and take steps to ensure the right tax and National Insurance contributions are paid.
Income Tax and National Insurance contributions lost due to false self-employment are part of the tax gap related to employers. HMRC publish an assessment of the tax gap: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps.
A separate estimate of the tax gap relating to false self-employment is not available.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC national minimum wage enforcement staff were employed in each region in each year since the financial year 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it.
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
HMRC investigate all complaints from workers referred by the Acas helpline, or received via the online complaints form.
The total number of staff employed by HMRC since 2009-2010 to carry out National Minimum Wage enforcement is provided in the table below.
Year | Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff |
2009/10 | 140 |
2010/11 | 142 |
2011/12 | 139 |
2012/13 | 142 |
2013/14 | 158 |
2014/15 | 183 |
2015/16 | 251 |
2016/17 | 352 |
2017/18 | 412 |
2018/19 | 429 |
2019/20 | 442 |
There are also additional staff across HMRC who contribute to enforcing the NMW including lawyers, technical advisers, and those specialising in criminal investigations. These staff are not included in the numbers outlined above.
HMRC do not hold accurate data on regional staff numbers going back to 2009-10. However, most recently, for 2019-20 there were 442 full-time equivalent NMW enforcement staff working from 22 locations in 12 regions across the country:
Region | Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff |
East Midlands | 25 |
Greater London | 40 |
North East | 34 |
North West | 106 |
Northern Ireland | 25 |
Scotland | 65 |
South East | 12 |
South West | 13 |
East of England | 3 |
Wales | 24 |
West Midlands | 52 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 43 |
Total | 442 |
As a national operation, it is common for staff based in one region to work cases in another.
The Government has been increasing funding for NMW enforcement year-on-year. This has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage.
The table below provides a yearly breakdown of funding received for NMW enforcement from 2009/10 to 2020/21.
Year | Funding for NMW enforcement (millions) |
2009/10 | £8.3 |
2010/11 | £8.1 |
2011/12 | £8.3 |
2012/13 | £8.3 |
2013/14 | £8.3 |
2014/15 | £9.2 |
2015/16 | £13.2 |
2016/17 | £20.0 |
2017/18 | £25.3 |
2018/19 | £25.2 |
2019/20 | £26.3 |
2020/21 | £26.4 |
It is not possible to provide an accurate regional breakdown of the NMW enforcement budget.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HMRC has expended on national minimum wage enforcement in (a) total and (b) each region for each year since the financial year 2009-10.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it.
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
HMRC investigate all complaints from workers referred by the Acas helpline, or received via the online complaints form.
The total number of staff employed by HMRC since 2009-2010 to carry out National Minimum Wage enforcement is provided in the table below.
Year | Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff |
2009/10 | 140 |
2010/11 | 142 |
2011/12 | 139 |
2012/13 | 142 |
2013/14 | 158 |
2014/15 | 183 |
2015/16 | 251 |
2016/17 | 352 |
2017/18 | 412 |
2018/19 | 429 |
2019/20 | 442 |
There are also additional staff across HMRC who contribute to enforcing the NMW including lawyers, technical advisers, and those specialising in criminal investigations. These staff are not included in the numbers outlined above.
HMRC do not hold accurate data on regional staff numbers going back to 2009-10. However, most recently, for 2019-20 there were 442 full-time equivalent NMW enforcement staff working from 22 locations in 12 regions across the country:
Region | Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff |
East Midlands | 25 |
Greater London | 40 |
North East | 34 |
North West | 106 |
Northern Ireland | 25 |
Scotland | 65 |
South East | 12 |
South West | 13 |
East of England | 3 |
Wales | 24 |
West Midlands | 52 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 43 |
Total | 442 |
As a national operation, it is common for staff based in one region to work cases in another.
The Government has been increasing funding for NMW enforcement year-on-year. This has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage.
The table below provides a yearly breakdown of funding received for NMW enforcement from 2009/10 to 2020/21.
Year | Funding for NMW enforcement (millions) |
2009/10 | £8.3 |
2010/11 | £8.1 |
2011/12 | £8.3 |
2012/13 | £8.3 |
2013/14 | £8.3 |
2014/15 | £9.2 |
2015/16 | £13.2 |
2016/17 | £20.0 |
2017/18 | £25.3 |
2018/19 | £25.2 |
2019/20 | £26.3 |
2020/21 | £26.4 |
It is not possible to provide an accurate regional breakdown of the NMW enforcement budget.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to use Manston airport as an inland, pre-customs clearing port for outward freight in relation to his Department's freight network capacity plans in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In the event of leaving the EU without a deal, HMRC’s plans allow for the border to operate without significant new infrastructure. In preparation for an April no deal, HMRC announced a number of easements to help businesses adjust to the new arrangements and developed temporary solutions to support transit movements at a small number of locations to address expected pressure on existing infrastructure. HMRC worked closely with Department for Transport and local agencies to expand capacity in Kent, including the use of Manston to support transit movements.
HMRC has continued to listen to stakeholders as part of their preparation for all EU Exit scenarios. HMRC are actively reviewing their plans to develop a more resilient infrastructure solution for transit movements in Kent in the event of a no deal exit on 31 October.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the customs code for the Channel ports will be extended to the Port of Ramsgate.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Government has been clear that we do not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario, however we will continue to do the responsible thing and prepare for all eventualities.
In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, customs controls will be required on UK-EU trade. HMRC has been working closely with key RoRo locations and the businesses that facilitate trade through these locations to understand how best customs requirements can be implemented at Dover, Eurotunnel and other ports in Kent. In recognition of the unique nature of cross-Channel trade, and in response to stakeholder feedback, we are ensuring that a singular, joint location code covering both Dover and Eurotunnel can be used for the customs IT systems. This allows the haulier the flexibility of making last minute changes to routing, which is currently important for hauliers transporting goods to and from the EU. We will continue to work closely with the Department for Transport and other key stakeholders to plan for this scenario, including taking into account industry views on whether such a joint location code should be extended on any RoRo services that would operate out of Ramsgate.