Day: December 8, 2017

• Government has identified £1.7 million in back pay for 16,000 workers – more workers than in any previous naming round.
• 260 employers named and fined a total of £1.3 million for underpaying the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates.
  *Retail, hospitality and hairdressing were the most prolific sectors named in this round.
• In Wales, nine employers were named , amounting to £11,000 in arrears, £9000 in penalties, affecting 14 workers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today (8 December) named 260 employers for failing to pay 16,000 workers at least minimum wage rates.

Government investigators identified £1.7 million in back pay for some of the UK’s lowest paid workers and fined employers £1.3 million for underpayment.

Retail, hairdressing and hospitality businesses were among the most prolific offenders in this round. Common reasons for errors made include: failing to pay workers travelling between jobs, deducting money from pay for uniforms and not paying for overtime.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

It is unacceptable for employers not to pay their staff the wages they should receive.

Today’s announcement shows how the UK Government is clamping down on the nine employers in Wales who have failed to pay their staff the National Minimum Wage.

I encourage employees who think they are being underpaid to seek Government advice to ensure they receive what they’re entitled to.

The UK Government is working hard to create the right conditions for economic growth and job creation in Wales, but without compromising employee rights.

Business Minister Margot James said:

There is no excuse for not paying staff the wages they’re entitled to and the government will come down hard on businesses that break the rules.

That’s why today we are naming hundreds of employers who have been short changing their workers; and to ensure there are consequences for their wallets as well as their reputation, we’ve levied millions in back pay and fines.

Bryan Sanderson, Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, said:

The Low Pay Commission’s conversations with employers suggest that the risk of being named is encouraging businesses to focus on compliance.

Further, it is good to see that HMRC continues to target large employers who have underpaid a large number of workers, as well as cases involving only a few workers, where workers are at risk of the most serious exploitation. It is imperative that the government keeps up the pressure on all employers who commit breaches of minimum wage law.

If workers are concerned they are not being paid the correct rates then they can seek advice from workplace experts Acas.

Since 2013, the scheme has identified £8 million in back pay for 58,000 workers, with 1,500 employers fined a total of £5 million. This year the government will spend a record £25.3 million on minimum wage enforcement.

Rates will rise again in April 2018, giving young workers in particular the biggest pay boost in a decade.

For more information about your pay, or if you think you might be being underpaid, visit the dedicated National Minimum and Living Wage website

The Welsh firms identified were:

• Mr Martin Brindley Station Cars, Wrexham LL11, failed to pay £5,303.74 to 1 worker.
• Total Site Maintenance Limited, Neath Port Talbot SA12, failed to pay £3,176.62 to 127 workers.
• Brynamman One Stop Limited, Neath Port Talbot SA18, failed to pay £1,252.76 to 1 worker.
• Ron Skinner & Sons Ltd, Blaenau Gwent NP22, failed to pay £863.5 to 2 workers.
• Rothwell & Robertson Limited trading as Ye Olde Bull’s Head Inn, Isle of Anglesey LL58, failed to pay £627.53 to 1 worker.
• Men At Work (Wales) Limited, Conwy LL31, failed to pay £310.8 to 1 worker.
• Mr Stephen Gomes trading as Moksh, Cardiff CF10, failed to pay £263.22 to 2 workers.
• Vale Holiday Parks Limited, Ceredigion SY23, failed to pay £213.38 to 2 workers.
• Schoolhouse Daycare Limited trading as Swansea DVLA Schoolhouse Daycare, Swansea SA6, failed to pay £125.37 to 1 worker

Renowned experts at the company responsible for the country’s motorways and major A roads are updating the “Design Manual for Roads and Bridges” (DMRB) to make it easier for designers to understand and use.

The DMRB is a cornerstone of the delivery and management of motorway and all-purpose trunk roads across the UK and is a respected document used across the globe.

The modified standards are being published in phases, with the first set being released in 2018 and the full update complete by the end of March 2020.

The re-drafting will be completed using a revolutionary online authoring tool, signalling an important move to digital technology and therefore give the potential for future updates to be more straightforward.

Highways England Chief Highway Engineer, Mike Wilson said:

Highways England is the recognised authority for road design, building and maintenance, and our standards are used across the globe.

This is an exciting time for the highways sector and as we deliver both the government’s £15 billion road investment programme and look ahead to 2020 and beyond, we are delighted to be able to start releasing the first updates to this crucially important document.

We are grateful to our partners in the industry who have supported this significant review which will ensure our roads are designed, built and maintained to the very highest, safest standards.

In April 2015 Highways England began working on a project to review and update the complete suite of over 350 documents and associated Interim Advice Notes (IANs) that make up the manual. This is a specific requirement of the Protocol attached to the Highways England Licence as part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy.

These changes include making it easier to produce and maintain the manual. Requirements and advice will be easier to distinguish, which will result in fewer departures from the standards required for new schemes and the time/cost associated with these.

Over the years, the existing manual has become difficult to use due to the many revisions and variations in language and style. Following a consultation with key stakeholders and users of the manual, a number of changes have been implemented including a new set of drafting rules that follow best practice from national and international standardisation organisations.

The governance processes are also being updated to streamline the development process of the standards and make it more efficient.

To support this extremely ambitious and demanding programme, Highways England is supported by several leading UK consultants, providing world class expertise, to ensure that the manual is fit for the future. Collaboration among suppliers and leaner ways of working are key to successfully delivering the updates.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

The new members are:

• Mrs Jane Burgess
• Mr Michael Cutting
• Mr Paul Dollman
• Mr Tim Frazer
• Professor Robin Mason
• Mr Derek Ridyard
• Mr Timothy Sawyer CBE

Notes to editors

1. Ordinary members are selected for their expertise in law, business, accountancy, economics and other related fields. Prior to the making of these appointments, the Tribunal’s panel of ordinary members consisted of 26 members (11 of whose terms of appointment will end on 3 January 2019).
2. The new members are appointed for 8 years and paid according to the amount of time that they spend working for the Tribunal, based on a daily rate of £400. The appointments carry no right of pension, gratuity or allowance on their termination.
3. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public. None of the new members are politically active.
4. Although these appointments do not come within the remit of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA), they have been made following OCPA best practice.
5. The Tribunal is a specialist judicial body with cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business and accountancy. It consists of the President, Chairmen, who are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and the panel of ordinary members. Cases are heard before a Tribunal consisting of 3 members: either the President or a member of the panel of Chairmen and two ordinary members.

About the new members

Jane Burgess

Jane Burgess has been with the John Lewis Partnership since 1993 first starting as staff and training manager and her last position was as Partners’ Counsellor on the board which she relinquished in October 2017. Her current appointments are as a Lay Member on the House of Commons Committee on Standards, a Commissioner for the Civil Service Commission and a member of the Business Advisory Board at Surrey Business School. Her appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Michael Cutting

Michael Cutting has been a partner of Linklaters LLP since 1995. He has specialised in UK and EU competition law and the law relating to the economic regulation of utilities since qualifying as a solicitor in 1988. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in October 2018.

Paul Dollman

Paul Dollman is now retired and is currently Audit Committee chairman for Wilmington PLC, Verastar and Arqiva. He is also a non-executive director of Scottish Amicable, a member of the Audit Committee of the National Library of Scotland, honorary teaching fellow at the University of St Andrews Business School and Governor of the Edinburgh Academy of St Leonards School. His most recent role before he retired was group finance director at John Menzies PLC between 2002 and 2013. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Tim Frazer

Tim Frazer was a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP) from 1999, during which time he advised on both conduct and merger cases in the EU and UK, and on compliance and audit processes in various jurisdictions worldwide that have adopted the EU approach to competition law. He was previously at Newcastle University, between 1980 and 1997, as Lecturer in Law, Dean of Law and Professor of Law. He is the author of a number of textbooks on competition law. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Robin Mason

Professor Robin Mason is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) at the University of Birmingham. He was previously Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean (Business School) of the University of Exeter, as well as Professor of Economics. His area of expertise is industrial organisation in general, and in particular the economics of regulation and competition. He has provided expert advice for a number of regulators, in the UK and internationally, on competition matters and spectrum auctions and has advised the Prime Minister of Mauritius on competition legislation. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Derek Ridyard

Derek Ridyard is one of the founders of RBB Economics LLP. His active involvement at RBB will cease when his appointment as an ordinary member commences in February 2018. He has 30 years’ experience working in private practice specialising as an expert on the economics of competition, trade, regulation and intellectual property. He holds a BSc in Economics from Southampton University and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. Prior to co-funding RBB Economics, he worked for 15 years in the competition practice at economic consultants NERA, and for five years in the UK Government Economic Service, including spells working as an economist at the Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Timothy Sawyer

Timothy Sawyer is an executive with expertise in turnaround, start-up and growth opportunities having both a UK and international perspective. He is currently Chief Investment Officer at Innovate UK and was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Start-Up Loans and Chairman of Folk2Folk. He was awarded a CBE for services to Government and small business in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016. He has been Executive Director of Cahoot and Ivobank and Non-Executive Director of Banque Dubois, China PNR, Visa UK, Link, Eftpos UK, Card Payment Group. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.