Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to encourage businesses to pay the real living wage.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The National Living Wage (NLW) will increase to £11.44 on 1 April and be extended to workers over 21. It is reaching two-thirds of median earnings, meeting our commitment to end low hourly pay for those eligible.
The Government commends employers who are able to go beyond the legal minimum. However, the ability to do so varies across sector and region.
Unlike other voluntary rates of pay, the statutory NLW is based on the advice of the Low Pay Commission, which takes into account the impact on business and the wider economy, as well as the living standards of workers.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding The New Craftsmen Ltd received from the Future Fund; and on what dates it received that funding.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is unable to provide information relating to loan amounts for individual companies as this information is commercially sensitive for both investors and investee businesses.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the Future Fund provided funds to Mrs Wordsmith; and how much those funds were.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is unable to provide information relating to loan amounts for individual companies as this information is commercially sensitive for both investors and investee businesses.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses have received funding from the Global Britain Investment Fund; and how much and what proportion of the Fund has been spent.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Global Britain Investment Fund (GBIF) was launched in April 2022 which brought together several pre-existing funds under one banner. Following the machinery of government change in February 2023, GBIF is now shared between the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
To date 110 businesses have received funding, with a total of £630m grant allocated and £169m so far claimed by recipients. As such, 72% of the £880m of funding for GBIF has been allocated and 19% has been paid to date.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that trading standards are being upheld (a) in the travel industry and (b) with regard to travel agents who sell flights to customers.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There is a robust legal framework in place to protect consumers and uphold trading standards. The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 provide additional bespoke protections for package holiday bookings. Traders, including travel agents, must comply with consumer protection law, which is enforced by Local Authority trading standards teams and the Competition and Markets Authority
The Department engages regularly with Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority to discuss consumer and trading issues. The framework is kept under review to ensure it continues to provide effective consumer protection.