Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on helping reduce the number of employers underpaying the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As a Government we are clear: everyone must get the pay they are entitled to.
In 2024/25, HMRC identified £5.8 million owed to 25,000 workers and issued 750 penalties worth £4.2 million to employers.
We are going further- setting up the Fair Work Agency to improve join up with other enforcement and will ensure that every complaint a worker makes will be followed up. We will also publish names of employers breaching the minimum wage more regularly, helping to level the playing field for the vast majority of businesses who do play by the rules.
These reforms will benefit constituents in my honourable friend's area and across the country.