Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that garment manufacturers in Leicester work with trade unions to set employee terms and conditions.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are deeply concerned by reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers in Leicester.
Collective bargaining is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. The Government encourages employers to engage with their workforce’s representatives, whether these be union or non-union representatives.
The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and Leicester City Council, both members of the Taskforce that has been established in response to the allegations of labour abuse in Leicester, have engaged with the TUC on the issues in the garment trade. We are also working with industry through the Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol, a partnership between enforcement bodies and industry partners – including the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association – aimed at tackling all forms of labour exploitation in the garment trade
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the exploitation of people working in UK garment factories.
Answered by Paul Scully
In light of the very serious recent allegations of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers in Leicester, a multi-agency Taskforce, led by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has been set up in Leicester to enable the relevant enforcement bodies to work together at pace to take appropriate action against unscrupulous employers and individuals who exploit workers. The taskforce includes: HMRC National Minimum Wage; Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate (BEIS); Leicestershire Police; National Crime Agency; Leicester City Council; Department for Work and Pensions and Immigration Enforcement (Home Office). The Taskforce has identified around 200 businesses and premises for investigation and is conducting a programme of site visits.
We are also working with industry through the Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol, a partnership between enforcement bodies and industry partner – including the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association – aimed at tackling all forms of labour exploitation in the garment trade.
The Government is committed to improving enforcement of employment rights. We have announced the intention to introduce a Single Enforcement Body, which will provide a clearer route for workers to raise a complaint and get support, enabling more coordinated enforcement action and the use of pooled intelligence to better target proactive enforcement.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to eradicate modern slavery in the fast fashion industry.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery in all sectors, including fashion, which is why in 2017 we expanded the remit of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), giving specially trained officers stronger powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to investigate labour market offences across all sectors of the economy in England and Wales. We have also committed to creating a single enforcement body to crack down on employers abusing the law, to protect vulnerable workers and create a level playing field for the majority of employers that comply with the law.
To address risks in the fashion sector specifically, the former Prime Minister launched 'The Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol' in 2018. The protocol is a partnership between enforcement bodies such as the GLAA and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and industry partners, including the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association, and commits its signatories to working together to eradicate slavery and exploitation in textile supply chains.
We are also committed to improving transparency in domestic and global supply chains. Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to require large businesses in all sectors to report on how they are tackling modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. We are committed to continuously strengthening our approach and in July 2019 the Home Office launched a public consultation on an ambitious package of measures designed to enhance the impact of transparency, including mandating specific topics organisations must report on, introducing a single reporting deadline and extending transparency to the public sector. The Government response to the consultation will be published this summer.
We are also developing a new gov.uk registry for statements published under the Modern Slavery Act, to enable greater scrutiny from consumers, investors, civil society and others and drive a “race to the top".
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken in response to the recommendations set out in paragraph 50 of the Sixteenth Report of the 2017-19 Session of the Environmental Audit Committee entitled Fixing Fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, HC1952, to (a) pursue a more proactive approach to the enforcement of the national minimum wage and (b) provide HMRC’s National Minimum Wage team with greater resourcing to increase their inspection and detection work with regard to workers in the garment industry receiving less than the minimum wage and suffering serious breaches of health and safety law in their workplace.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is deeply concerned by the reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for textile workers in Leicester, especially in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 infections.
The main labour market enforcement bodies (the HMRC National Minimum Wage team and the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority), as well as the Police and the Health & Safety Executive, have been working closely with Leicester Council to set up the Leicester Compliance Task Force. The key aims of the taskforce is to address broader labour market and health and safety issues by using local knowledge to improve understanding of the exploitation risks, increase awareness, support victims and ensure compliance.
Since 2017, a number of operations have been undertaken in the Leicester area linked to potential exploitation, including underpayment of the minimum wage. Where breaches have been found appropriate enforcement action has been taken, including warning letters, recovery of unpaid wages, penalties, and director disqualifications.
The Government has more than doubled the budget for National Minimum Wage compliance and enforcement to £27.5 million for 2020/21, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. Increasing the budget allows HMRC to focus on tackling the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance. It also increases the number of compliance officers available to investigate minimum wage complaints and conduct risk-based enforcement in sectors where non-compliance is most likely.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support environmental sustainability in the fashion and textile industries.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In the landmark Resources and Waste Strategy for England (2018), the Government committed to develop policy measures to promote sustainable practices in the clothing and textiles industries. We are continuing to work with industry through WRAP on the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), and are currently engaged in developing an ambitious new phase of the voluntary agreement for 2021-2030. The most recent figures show that between 2012 and 2018 signatories to the SCAP reduced their water and carbon footprints by 18.1% and 13.4% respectively.
We are seeking enabling powers in the Environment Bill to introduce ecodesign and product information requirements, subject to consultation. Through secondary legislation these requirements could be applied to support durable, repairable, and recyclable textiles. We also identified textiles in the Resources and Waste Strategy as a priority area on which to consult for an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
We are supporting the textiles reuse and recycling sector, which has experienced particular challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, through the WRAP-administered Resource Action Fund. The textiles fund makes a total of £1.5 million available, for small grants of £20 000 to £170 000. Our plans to promote sustainable practices in the textiles sector will be built on and enhanced in a new Waste Prevention Programme, which is currently in development.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to implement a licensing system to protect people in the UK working in fast fashion garment factories from modern slavery; what discussions she has had with retailers on working practices in garment factories; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to tackling labour exploitation and protecting workers’ rights and we have taken a number of steps to deal with the issues in the textiles sector.
We have widened the remit of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority through the Immigration Act 2016, giving it new powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 to investigate serious labour market offences, including in the textiles sector.
In November 2018, we launched 'The Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol', a partnership between labour enforcement bodies and industry partners, including, the GLAA, the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association. The protocol commits its signatories to work together to eradicate slavery and exploitation in textile supply chains.
We recently ran a public consultation on the establishment of a new Single Enforcement Body for employment rights, which included questions on extending licensing to other high-risk sectors. We will publish a response to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of non-compliance with the (a) national living wage and (b) national minimum wage in the (i) garment and (ii) social care industry.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government has made clear its commitment to crack down on worker exploitation across all sectors of the labour market and welcomes the Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018 -19.
There is significant crossover and alignment between this strategy and the government's response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices and subsequent consultations. The Government will publish a response to the Director of Labour Market Enforcement's strategy later this year, once the consultations have closed and the government has considered the responses.
Estimates of the number of jobs paid below National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage by Low Pay Sector (as defined by the Low Pay Commission) are available in Chart 3 on page 10 of the 2017 Government evidence to the LPC report- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630197/nmw-nlw-lpc-evidence-compliance-enforcement-2017.pdf.
These estimates are derived from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016; and it should be noted that some textile and clothing occupations are included in the ‘Non-Low Paying Sectors’ category.
The Government will publish new evidence to the Low Pay Commission containing ASHE 2017 estimates of jobs below minimum wage rates and enforcement stats for 2017/18 later this year.
HMRC works closely with other government departments and agencies to tackle National Minimum Wage non-compliance and wider labour market risks, including in the garment and fashion manufacturing industry.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make leading brands jointly responsible for non-compliance with the national living wage within their supply chains.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Government has made clear its commitment to crack down on worker exploitation across all sectors of the labour market and welcomes the Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018 -19.
There is significant crossover and alignment between this strategy and the government's response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices and subsequent consultations. The Government will publish a response to the Director of Labour Market Enforcement's strategy later this year, once the consultations have closed and the government has considered the responses.
Estimates of the number of jobs paid below National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage by Low Pay Sector (as defined by the Low Pay Commission) are available in Chart 3 on page 10 of the 2017 Government evidence to the LPC report- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630197/nmw-nlw-lpc-evidence-compliance-enforcement-2017.pdf.
These estimates are derived from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016; and it should be noted that some textile and clothing occupations are included in the ‘Non-Low Paying Sectors’ category.
The Government will publish new evidence to the Low Pay Commission containing ASHE 2017 estimates of jobs below minimum wage rates and enforcement stats for 2017/18 later this year.
HMRC works closely with other government departments and agencies to tackle National Minimum Wage non-compliance and wider labour market risks, including in the garment and fashion manufacturing industry.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the contribution to Bradford's economy made by the (a) digital sector, (b) animation industry, (c) fashion and textiles industry and (d) games industry.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
While there are little economic statistics available on individual cities such as Bradford broken down by detailed industries there are estimates of employment from the ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey (BRES). This survey reports that in 2013 there were around 6,200 jobs in Bradford the digital sector (which incorporates ICT and Media) and 1,400 in the manufacture of textiles, clothing and footwear. Employment figures for animation and the computer games industry in Bradford are not available.
Bradford has a rich textiles history, particularly for the production of fine wool fabric. The textiles sector is still important to Bradford today with companies engaged in a wide range of activities – from spinning and weaving to the production of high performance and high value added goods. I am pleased Government has been able, through the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) programme, to support the creation and safeguarding of jobs in textile businesses through the national Textiles Growth Programme. 11 Bradford-based businesses have been assisted to date, with investment in capital projects, skills training and research and development. The Textiles Growth Programme was granted a further tranche of RGF funding earlier this year – bringing total Government investment to £32.3m – giving more Bradford companies the opportunity to secure support for innovation and growth.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to support skills development in textile manufacturing.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Support is available to textile companies through a number of national initiatives such as the Business Growth Service, and through the Growth Hubs which are now being established across England by Local Enterprise Partnerships.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has invested in the Textiles Growth Programme through £12.8 million from round 4 of Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The programme, which is available for textile manufacturing companies across England (excluding London) will enable the UK to take advantage of a rapidly emerging trend for the re-shoring textile manufacturing and help grow the home and overseas markets in clothing with the Made in Britain mark. The Textiles Growth Programme, through the recent RGF Round 6, was awarded an additional £19.5 million on February 12th to provide continued support to manufacturing companies within the sector until end of March 2017. This brings the total RGF funds awarded to the Textile Growth Programme in support to the textile industry to £32.3 million.
On Government support for skills, there is already a wide range of textile, fashion and design provision available at levels 2 and 3 (including access courses) in further education colleges. There are currently apprenticeship frameworks, both intermediate level 2 and advanced level 3, in Fashion and Textiles. There were 170 starts in 2013/14.
In line with apprenticeship Trailblazer reforms we have given the fashion industry approval to develop an apprenticeship standard for a fashion studio assistant, and the level 3 apprenticeship standard is currently in development. The British Fashion Council is fully engaged in this work, and is considering a bid for support to develop higher level apprenticeships, possibly to degree level.
BIS awarded Huddersfield & District Textile Training Centre (Textile Centre of Excellence) £2.28 million under the Round 1 Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) to improve education of the industry including a programme of school engagement; encouraging employers to take on school leavers and graduates and develop a new pre-apprenticeship programme plus new apprenticeship model at level 2 and level 3. The project recorded a range of successful outcomes, and the Centre of Excellence will continue to provide its services to the sector now EOP project funding has ended.
In Q4 last year, two Textile projects were approved through the Local Response Fund Scheme with a total value of over £253,000.
Manchester College was awarded nearly £180,000 to develop the Textiles Task Force. It will work with the Alliance Project to address immediate skills shortages reported across the textiles sector and to support workforce development and employee progression.
NWTexnet was also awarded over £75,000 for “Dynamic Portfolio Management”. This will enable the integration of new product development with a strategy for re-shoring manufacturing capacity. It will significantly rationalise the approach to product development and manufacturing in the sector while helping to up-skill staff so that the workforce is in place to take advantage of these re-shoring opportunities.
As part of the Sector Mentoring Fund, Manchester Economic Solutions Ltd was awarded the sum of £77,500 in January 2014 to deliver Mentor Tex – Textile industry mentoring programme in key areas such as Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire. The scheme has attracted interest from a wide range of textiles businesses, with 35 mentees identified of which 23 have completed full profiles, 10 mentors identified with 7 completing full profiles.
With regard to support for innovation, Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency and the prime channel through which the Government stimulates and supports business-led technology innovation. Companies in the sector can apply to its responsive support programmes such as Smart and Innovation Vouchers.
The Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield and the University of Leeds have already invested £6M and £4.2M, respectively, in textile infrastructure development and innovation. They have become a focus for skills training and technical and design innovation in the UK.