Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers were identified as being paid less than the national minimum wage in each of the last five years; how many and what proportion of such employers were issued with a formal notice of underpayment; how many and what proportion of those employers issued with such a formal notice (a) paid arrears in full on receipt of that notice and (b) were pursued by HM Revenue and Customs in the civil courts.

In 2014/15, HM Revenue and Customs identified 735 incidences of non-compliance and issued penalties of £934,660. They recovered arrears for 26,318 workers.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 218083 for numbers of workers for the previous years, to the answer provided to her on 6 May 2014 at Hansard Column 110W for information on arrears, and to the answer provided to her at UIN 205613 with regard to penalties.

I further refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 211605 for information on recovery of arrears.