The Government policy is that all workers in the UK are paid the statutory National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. This is based on the advice of the Low Pay Commission. In April 2019, the National Living Wage increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay rise. By 2024 the National Living Wage will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected to benefit over 4 million low paid workers.

Through the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) the Government helps to protect the lowest paid in society. In April, the Government increased the NLW by 4.9% to £8.21. This means that a full-time worker on the NLW will be £2,750 better off over the course of a year, compared to when the policy was first introduced.

Employers are required by law to ensure that all workers due the NMW or NLW receive it. The Government takes tough action against the minority of employers who underpay the NMW. We have doubled the budget for NMW enforcement and compliance to £27.4 million since 2015.

The Government also encourages employers to pay more than the NLW where they can but recognises that the ability to do so will vary across businesses and sectors.

DFID tracks progress on living incomes for the poor through global progress against the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) – to deliver sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. DFID measures the contribution its projects make by reporting on the “Number of people supported to have raised incomes and better jobs or livelihoods”. This includes beneficiaries who we have supported to raise their income, which alone amounted to 2.2 million people between 2015/16 and 2018/19.

DFID is investing more than £1.2 billion in bilateral agriculture programmes, many of which support smallholders in global value chains, including cocoa. DFID does not categorise its programme spend according to the nature of different value chains given the significant additional burden this would place on projects if the data was to be robust.

DFID is a founding member of the Living Income Community of Practice and is partnering with the UN Foundation, CARE, and the Fourth Sector Group, to explore how we can encourage the growth of more “for benefit” businesses in the cocoa supply chain. It also supports the Ethical Trade Initiative to improve worker’s rights in global supply chains. This includes working with companies to improve the application of human rights and providing direct remediation of labour rights violations for vulnerable workers.

The Government is responsible for setting legal minimum wage floors which protect vulnerable low paid workers. We are proud to have introduced The National Living Wage, which increased again in April to £8.21. We commend employers who pay more when they can afford to do so.

The Government keeps the tax system under review, and since 2010 has taken a range of actions to support small businesses.

The corporation tax rate has been lowered from 19%, businesses have been entitled to the Employment Allowance, 100% Small Business Rate Relief has been made permanent and the Government has doubled the rateable value threshold for 100% relief, meaning more than 675,000 of the smallest businesses do not pay business rates at all.

No discussion has occurred with Ministers. However, following a similar question from Grahame Morris, MP (and the response provided), officials have since raised this issue with East Midlands Railway.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

In order to safeguard operational effectiveness, the Armed Forces are exempt from the provisions of the 1998 National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act. Nevertheless, we aim to ensure that the Armed Forces are remunerated in line with NMW provisions.

The daily pay offered to Part-Time Volunteer Reserve (PTVR) personnel is derived from the equivalent annual salary paid to their Regular counterparts. The annual salary is made up of base pay plus X-Factor, the latter reflecting the different conditions in Service life experienced by members of the Armed Forces compared to conditions in civilian life, averaged over a whole career and across all three Services. All pay rates, including X-Factor percentages, are recommended by the independent Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB). At present, full-time Regular personnel are paid X-Factor at 14½% and PTVR personnel get 5% X-Factor. In giving their recommendations, the AFPRB give due consideration to the needs of the Services to recruit and retain suitably able, motivated and qualified people.

Following the Government's acceptance of the AFPRB's most recent recommendations (HCWS1770), the current annual starting salary for a Regular private or equivalent (pay increment OR2-1) has risen to £20,000 p.a., whilst the equivalent PTVR annual salary, derived using the lower level of X-Factor, has risen to £18,341 p.a. PTVR daily rates of pay are calculated by dividing the annual salary by 365¼, and a day's pay is earned through voluntary attendance of eight hours or more. For an eight-hour day, this is the equivalent of £6.28 per hour. In addition, PTVR personnel are provided with additional payments in lieu of untaken leave, equivalent to just over 10% of their pay; they may also claim an annual tax-free training bounty of up £470 in their first year of service where they meet their unit's minimum training requirements (approximately 30 days' relevant attendance). When PTVR personnel are called-up, for example for operational deployment, they are paid the same annual salary as their Regular counterparts, i.e. the rate inclusive of the higher level of X-Factor, and they also gain access to the same range of allowances payable for Regular service.

This Government will continue to work with the independent AFPRB to ensure that all members of the Armed Forces are fairly remunerated for the work that they do.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Pay data and specific rates are a matter for each individual contractor, but assurances are provided to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the National Living Wage. In April 2019 Government increased the National Living Wage to £8.21 per hour. This is an above inflation increase that saw a full-time minimum wage worker over £2,750 better off over the course of a year compared to when the policy was introduced.

We value all of our staff and they all deserve a fair and competitive wage, whether they are directly employed or working through our contractors. The Department has agreed with its facilities management contractor that they will align the pay of their cleaning, catering, mailroom and security staff to the appropriate median rates for that occupation, as identified in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

The median applied from 1 March 2019 and will be aligned annually.

The Department’s contract with Abellio does not contain any restriction that would prevent payment of the Living Wage by catering sub contractors. The National Living Wage was introduced by the Government in 2016.

Abellio only took over the franchise on the 18^th August so the Department has not yet held any discussions with Abellio regarding the catering contract with Rail Gourmet, however the Department regularly engages with franchises and will raise this at the next available opportunity.

There are no staff who are paid below the living wage of £8.21 in the Department.

The Department Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not have any employees paid less than the Living Wage Foundation London living wage.

The Government is committed to ensuring fair remuneration for workers across the economy. In April 2019, the National Living Wage (NLW) rate was increased to £8.21 per hour, a rise of 4.9 percent. This means that the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW will have increased by over £2,750 since the policy was introduced. We are also supporting and encouraging employers to pay more where possible and appropriate.

In line with this, at the end of last year, at the request of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State, officials in BEIS undertook a review of the pay of staff working through its contractors, in order to ensure they receive a wage which is fair and directly comparable to other employers across the local labour market.

As a result of this review, the Department agreed with its contractors (Aramark and ISS) that, from 1 March 2019, they would align the pay of their cleaning, catering, mailroom and security staff to the appropriate median rates for those occupations as identified in the 2018 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). This survey captures pay details for around 300,000 employees from the HMRC Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system down to Local Authority level and is therefore a robust and reliable source of pay data.

The immediate change for some staff has been significant. For example, some of our lowest paid security guards saw an increase of over 15%. Pay for staff working through our contractors will continue to track the median rate in future years

The Department does not currently intend to seek accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.