Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what enforcement procedures have been put in place in England to ensure that apprenticeship providers pay their apprentices the National Minimum Wage.

Enforcement of all minimum wages, including the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for apprentices, is the responsibility of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

In the period 2017 to 2018, HMRC identified a record £15.6 million in total arrears owed to 200,000 workers who were underpaid the minimum wages and issued £14 million in penalties. HMRC continues to investigate 100% of complaints received from workers in respect of minimum wage law.

The government’s naming scheme, which was introduced in 2013, provides HMRC with the power to publicly name employers who fail to pay minimum wages. 1,900 businesses have already been named. Between them, these businesses owed workers total arrears of more than £11 million. Apprentices are distinguished separately.

Each new apprentice on a government-funded apprenticeship receives a letter from the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills which sets out what they can expect from their apprenticeship. This letter includes information on apprentices’ entitlement to the NMW.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Find an Apprenticeship service also has built-in automated checks to ensure that no apprenticeship vacancy can be advertised with a wage rate below the NMW level. An employer would not be able to submit a vacancy to Find an Apprenticeship until the NMW requirements are met.