Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers were fined the maximum penalty for breaches of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in each month of 2014 to date.

The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.

I am unable to provide in-year figures for 2014/15 as HM Revenue and Customs do not disclose results mid-way through a year; this is because the results have not been internally verified. In an effort to assist I have provided the verified figures up to the year 2013/14, which provides numbers of the maximum penalties issued up until April 2014."