§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the policy of the Inland Revenue is with respect to those claimants of tax credits who state that they are being paid less than the hourly minimum wage. [149798]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Inland Revenue enforces the national minimum wage on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry, which has overall responsibility for enforcement policy.
Under the arrangements between the two Departments, the Inland Revenue investigates all complaints made to it by workers and third parties about non-payment of the minimum wage. The Department also conducts a programme of targeted investigations arising from information obtained from other internal and external sources, including Working Families Tax Credit claims.