Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on six-day letter deliveries.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on the Universal Service Obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government has no current plan to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service that are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Ofcom has been given the powers and tools to protect the universal service and it has in place an effective monitoring regime that is able to identify any threats to it.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The number of workstations estimated to be available for people employed by the Department within its office locations is 3419.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many work stations were available for civil servants to use within his Department on 11 October 2022.
Answered by Dean Russell
The number of workstations available for civil servants to use on 11 October 2022 at the Department’s main London building at 1 Victoria Street was 2492.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the National Living Wage is set at a lower rate for under-25s than for older workers.
Answered by Margot James
The Government sets age-related minimum wages in order to protect younger workers, who may otherwise be more vulnerable to being unemployed than older workers. Our aim is to set National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for all workers under 25 at a level that maximises their earnings without damaging employment prospects by setting it too high
The 2017 Low Pay Commission report shows the unemployment rates for young people not in full-time education in the UK is 31.3 per cent for 16-18 year olds, 15.5 per cent for 18-20 year olds and 8.4 per cent for those aged 21 to 24 in the second quarter of 2017. This compares to 4.6 per cent for those aged 25 to 30.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the evidence by the Federation of Small Businesses to the National Minimum Wage Low Pay Commission Report Spring 2016, page 244, on age discrimination in recruitment.
Answered by Nick Boles
There have been age-related rates in the minimum wage structure since its introduction in 1999. Setting different minimum wage rates according to the age of the worker helps to protect the employment prospects of younger workers.
The provisions in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 mean that employers are able to pay different rates to workers of different ages in line with the NMW Regulations 2015. The Equality Act 2010 has a specific exemption which ensures that employers are not vulnerable to age discrimination claims where they have paid their workers the NMW age-related rates.
Leaving aside the NMW rates, any decisions on pay more generally, employment or other terms and conditions taken on the basis of age will need to be objectively justified by the employer.