Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs’ Pay and Work Rights Helpline in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16; and what funding was provided to that team in each of those years.

Nick Boles

Broadcasting Support Services (BSS) was contracted in 2009 to run the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) until March 2015.

In April 2015 Acas took over responsibility for providing a one stop shop for workers and employers seeking advice on a wider range of employment matters.

The budget was: 2009/10 – £968k, with 9 members of staff; and in 2014/15 it was £750k, with 7 members of staff. The cost of the service was then absorbed by Acas within their existing helpline functions when they took over responsibility for handling calls previously dealt with by the PWRH.