Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many times the Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payments Service has made payments of protective awards due to failures on the part of the company or administrator to conduct a proper collective consultation in each of the last five years; to which companies such awards were made; and how much was paid out in (a) statutory entitlements and (b) protective awards in each such case.

The Insolvency Service's Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) only makes protective award payments to employees if their employer is insolvent and an employment tribunal has determined that there was insufficient consultation, by the company, administrator or liquidator, regarding redundancies and makes a protective award.

In the last five financial years, the RPS has paid out the following in statutory payments for cases where a protective award was awarded:

· 2009-2010 £87,209,871.62

· 2010-2011 £82,604,201.50

· 2011-2012 £68,181,382.07

· 2012-2013 £57,267,407.27

· 2013-2014 £7,937,522.34

The protective award payments made on these cases (in addition to the statutory payments) were as following:

• 2009-2010 £28,808,241.65
• 2010-2011 £30,997,901.63
• 2011-2012 £23,437,557.92
• 2012-2013 £29,290,224.74
• 2013-2014 £16,581,330.05

These figures include cases in administration and those in liquidation

A breakdown of the individual cases is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.