Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford 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 a recent assessment of the potential merits of revoking (a) the Working Time Regulations and (b) other EU regulations on worker rights.
Answered by Dean Russell
We are proud of the UK’s record on employment standards, having raised domestic standards over recent years to make them some of the highest in the world. In leaving the EU we regained the ability to regulate autonomously, and the Government is therefore conducting a comprehensive review of all retained EU law to ensure that our regulations, including worker rights, are tailored to the needs of the UK economy and help create the conditions for growth and investment.
The UK has one of the best workers’ rights records in the world. In recent years, the Government has brought forward a raft of legislation on employment rights issues. In April this year, we made sure 2.5 million people across the UK received a pay raise by raising the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. We have extended the ban on using exclusivity clauses to contracts where a worker’s guaranteed weekly income is below the Lower Earnings Limit, which is currently £123 a week.
Numerous Private Members’ Bills have been introduced on the matter of employment rights, and we are working closely with these members on their proposals. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill and The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill have both passed their Second Reading with Government support and will continue to progress through parliament before receiving royal assent and becoming law in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment the Government has carried out for the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government carried out a consultation on revoking the ban on using agency workers to cover strikes in 2015. It received a large number of substantive responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including employers, agencies and trade unions which have been carefully considered before deciding to proceed with removing Regulation 7 of the Conduct Regulations 2003. In addition, these regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure. Parliament will have the opportunity to debate them before they are made and provide further feedback for the Government to consider, including on their impact.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment he has carried out for the Liability of Trade Unions in Proceedings in Tort (Increase of Limits on Damages) Order 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
We do not consider that a full impact assessment is necessary as the impacts will be minimal. There will be negligible familiarisation costs for unions and businesses. The impact of raising the limits on damages does not apply to unions that comply with statutory industrial action balloting and other statutory requirements. The impact of raising the limits would therefore only apply to those non-compliant unions that carry out or endorse unofficial strike action.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford 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 plans to bring forward legislation on the umbrella company market following his Department's recent call for evidence and consultation on that market.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recently ran a Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market to ensure it has a detailed and up to date understanding of the market and how it is continuing to evolve. This Call for Evidence, which was issued jointly by HM Treasury, HMRC and BEIS, closed on 22 February 2022. Officials in the three departments are working closely together to consider the evidence submitted and the summary of responses will be published in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3621, on Re-employment, by what date his Department plans to publish a draft for consultation of the proposed statutory code of practice on fire and rehire practices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to bringing forward a new statutory code on the practice of dismissal and re-engagement. As BEIS officials progress this work, they will be meeting with a wide range of stakeholders with relevant expertise.
We will publish a draft for consultation in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3621, on Re-employment, with which stakeholders he and officials in his Department have met to discuss the proposed statutory code of practice on fire and rehire practices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to bringing forward a new statutory code on the practice of dismissal and re-engagement. As BEIS officials progress this work, they will be meeting with a wide range of stakeholders with relevant expertise.
We will publish a draft for consultation in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford 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 Government’s response to the Women and Equalities Committee's fourth report of Session 2021-22 on Ethnicity pay gap reporting, HC 110, published on 13 May 2022, when his Department plans to publish the analysis of consultation responses to the mandatory ethnicity pay reporting consultation which closed on 11 January 2019.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government set out its support for a voluntary approach to ethnicity pay reporting in “Inclusive Britain”, the response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report. We will publish the analysis of the responses to the 2019 consultation in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the umbrella company market following the Call for Evidence on that subject which closed on 22 February.
Answered by Paul Scully
The recent Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market, which was run jointly with HM Treasury and HMRC, closed on 22 February 2022. Officials in the three departments are working closely together to consider the evidence submitted and the summary of responses will be published in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3626, on Director of Labour Market Enforcement, by what date his Department plans to publish the summary of responses to the Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market.
Answered by Paul Scully
The recent Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market, which was run jointly with HM Treasury and HMRC, closed on 22 February 2022. Officials in the three departments are working closely together to consider the evidence submitted and the summary of responses will be published in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford 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 plans to impose a legal duty on employers to consider which flexible working arrangements are available for each role within their organisation.
Answered by Paul Scully
Employees in Great Britain have a statutory right to request a flexible working arrangement from their employer. Under this framework, employers already have a legal duty to consider whether such requests can be accommodated within their organisation.