Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to establish a judge-led public inquiry into Leicester’s garment industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are engaging with the sector to understand the systemic issues that lead to non-compliance and what measures could be used to tackle them. I have met with the British Retail Consortium to discuss the issues in the sector and will be holding a roundtable with their members to further discuss potential solutions. We also look forward to seeing the outcomes of work between the enforcement agencies and retailers as part of the work of the Apparel and General Merchandise Public/Private Protocol, a partnership between the enforcement agencies and industry partners, including NGOs, sector bodies and brands, aimed at tackling labour exploitation in the garment industry.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to enable and support overseas workers who are victims of corporate harm in the supply chain of UK fashion brands to access remedy via UK courts.
Answered by Paul Scully
Whether an overseas worker would be able to access remedy against a UK company in the courts of England and Wales or an employment tribunal would depend on a number of different factors, including whether the court or tribunal has territorial jurisdiction, the nature of the employment relationship, and what right the claimant is asserting under UK law. This would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The UK government has an extensive history of funding organisations such as the Ethical Trading Initiative who proactively support worker representation, freedom of association and collective bargaining. This support has led to direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers, including dismissal for joining a union.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Garment Trading Adjudicator, similar to the Groceries Code Adjudicator, to reduce exploitation in the UK’s garment industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Groceries Code Adjudicator has been successful in ensuring large grocery retailers treat their direct suppliers lawfully and fairly, through its effective enforcement of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. There are significant differences between the groceries sector and the fashion industry in terms of scale and distribution of market share, so we need to understand whether this model would be as effective in driving the right sort of behaviour in garment factories. BEIS officials have met with Fiona Gooch from Traidcraft to further discuss the proposal and continue to consider this question.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory mandatory human rights and due diligence responsibility for the textile and clothing industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Modern Slavery Act specifically requires UK large businesses to publish transparency in supply chains statements in a prominent place on their website.
The Government expects all companies operating within the UK to put measures in place to protect their supply chains from labour exploitation. Following changes to the Modern Slavery Act – where timelines are to be confirmed - organisations will be required to include information about their organisation’s structure and supply chains in their modern slavery statement or to explicitly state that their statement omits this information.
The Home Office announced a series of measures to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act, including introducing fines for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations. We will introduce the necessary legislation, setting out the level of those fines, as soon as parliamentary time allows.
The Government provides advice to businesses on human rights issues across their supply chains, including pressing them to undertake appropriate due diligence to satisfy themselves that their activities do not support, or risk being seen to support, any human rights violations or abuses. BEIS has reinforced this message through engagement with businesses, industry groups and other stakeholders.
UK listed companies are required to report on social and environmental impacts material to their business, including information about supply chains, where this is necessary for an understanding of the business as part of annual reports.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a compulsory requirement for garment industry companies to publish a full list of their suppliers.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government currently has no plans for introducing a compulsory requirement for garment industry companies to publish a full list of their suppliers.
The Government encourages businesses to be open and transparent to respond to consumers’ legitimate interest in where and how the products they buy have been manufactured. UK listed companies are required to report on impacts material to their business including information about supply chains where this is necessary for an understanding of the business as part of their annual reports.
Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to require businesses to report on how they prevent modern slavery in their operations. Following consultation, the Home Office has announced a series of measures to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act. Organisations will be required to include information about their organisation’s structure and supply chains in their modern slavery statement or to explicitly state that their statement omits this information. These new measures will be introduced once parliamentary time allows.
A multi-faceted approach is required to address supply chain challenges. The Government recently hosted two Minister-led roundtables with garment industry leaders, civil-society and other key stakeholders, during which a range of different solutions were explored.
BEIS officials are also in the process of engaging with retailers, civil society and key organisations to explore the merits and challenges of different approaches.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the finding by the British Retail Consortium that workers in Leicester's apparel manufacturing industry are underpaid by over £2.1 million a week, what steps his Department is taking to enforce UN guiding principles on business and human rights in respect of the duty of employers to remedy human rights violations in respect of underpaid wages in that industry in (a) Leicester and (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Paul Scully
The UK supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the authoritative voluntary international framework to steer practical action by Governments and businesses worldwide.
The UK was the first state to produce a national action plan to respond to the UN Guiding Principles. The Plan sets out how the UN Guiding Principles are applied in the UK and expectations of UK businesses’ conduct, including that they comply with relevant laws and respect internationally recognised human rights.
In the UK, the right to just and favourable remuneration for work is protected by National Minimum Wage legislation, which is enforced by the HMRC National Minimum Wage team. All businesses, irrespective of size or business sector, are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff, and consequences for not complying with paying NMW can include fines of 200% of the arrears, public naming and, for the worst offences, criminal prosecution. HMRC follows up on every worker complaint it receives, even those which are anonymous.
HMRC are an active participant in the multiagency taskforce which is responding to allegations of non-compliance in the Leicester garment sector and has undertaken joint operations with partner agencies in Leicester for a number of years. They have historically investigated more than 150 textile businesses, including multiple employers operating in Leicester; and have opened a significant number of investigations in Leicester since 1 July 2020.
HMRC continues to take proactive steps in this industry. They have written to over 18,000 workers in the textile sector flagging their entitlement to minimum wage, common causes of underpayment and encouraging confidential reporting of employers and have written to over 2500 employers in the sector highlighting the main risks which lead to NMW underpayment.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing maximum pay ratios between maximum and minimum earners for garment industry companies and their supply chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have not made an assessment of the merits of this proposal. Levels of renumeration of staff above the National Minimum Wage is a matter for employers.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to promote transparency and accountability within garment industry supply chains.
Answered by Paul Scully
UK listed companies are required to report on social and environmental impacts material to their business, including information about supply chains, where this is necessary for an understanding of the business as part of annual reports.
The Government looks to businesses to be open and transparent in responding to consumers’ interest in where and how the products they source have been manufactured, including the use of raw materials. Since being introduced, we have seen more businesses open up about their supply chains, identify high-risk areas and introduce tailored steps to support vulnerable workers.
The Government response to the Transparency in Supply Chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020, committed to taking forwards an ambitious package of changes to strengthen and future-proof the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency legislation, including:
The Home Office announced a series of measures to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act, including introducing fines for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations. We will introduce the necessary legislation, setting out the level of those fines as soon as parliamentary time allows.
BEIS and the Home Office are also working in partnership with the industry through the Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol, a partnership between enforcement bodies and industry partners, including, the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association. This is aimed at tackling all forms of labour exploitation in the garment industry.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of actively involving trade unions in workplace inspections in order to help tackle exploitation in the garment industry.
Answered by Paul Scully
Trade unions have been involved in the Apparel and General Merchandise Public/Private Protocol, a partnership between enforcement bodies and industry partners aimed at tackling all forms of labour exploitation in the garment trade. Brands, sector bodies and trade unions are working with the enforcement agencies to bring a coordinated approach to improve working conditions in the UK supply chain. All partners are participating in the following workstreams: worker and community voice; intervention mechanisms; business accountability; and regulation, legislation and political engagement.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Fit-to-Trade licensing scheme so that no garment factory could operate unless it was approved by labour enforcement agencies.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS officials, along with Home Office colleagues and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority have been engaging with the British Retail Consortium and the wider retail sector to understand the systemic issues that lead to non-compliance and what measures could be used to tackle them. Given the serious nature of the allegations in Leicester and the spectrum of issues and concerns, it is imperative that we have a strong evidence base to inform the options we are considering in order to protect vulnerable workers and drive-up standards.