Hospitality Sector Minister

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the additional support made available by the Government for the hospitality sector in the form of the closed business lockdown payment and the additional restrictions grant, but both of these do not appear to support many of those working in the wedding hospitality sector. While I hear what my noble friend has said about planning, could he tell the House what engagement the Government have had with the wedding sector in particular? What plans, if any, do they have for allowing weddings beyond the current arrangements, which allow them only in the most exceptional circumstances?

[Lord Callanan (Con) [V]]

My noble friend makes a very powerful point. My ministerial colleague, Minister Scully, is closely working with the sector to hear its concerns. He has had a number of meetings with the sector—if that is not right I will correct that for my noble friend—to listen to concerns, hear about plans for reopening and do whatever we can to work with it in this extremely difficult and challenging time.

Covid-19: Night-time Economy

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not sure of the point that the noble Lord is making. It is not a choice of one or the other. Of course the fishing industry is important, but the night-time economy is vital also. I outlined earlier the many steps that we are taking to help them.

[Baroness Warsi (Con) [V]]

My Lords, black cabs and licensed Hackney carriage drivers are essential to the night-time economy. Is my noble friend familiar with offers from black cabs in London and licensed hackney carriage owners throughout the country to assist in the Government’s response to the pandemic? What consideration have the Government given to this offer, specifically to deliver the pandemic vaccination programme?

Covid-19: Vaccine Trials

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Wednesday 13th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord makes some important points. We will certainly look closely at this.

[Baroness Warsi (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the Minister will be familiar with the polling which shows that, although BAME communities were initially less likely to accept a Covid vaccine than white communities, when they had the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a healthcare professional, they were more likely than white communities to be persuaded to have the vaccine. Is my noble friend familiar with this polling, and what work is being done in government to follow up?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My noble friend makes some important points. We are indeed working closely with health experts to provide information and advice at every possible opportunity to all communities across the country. The NIHR launched a public campaign to raise awareness among people from BAME back- grounds, partnering with British comedian Omid Djalili, alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Sanjeev Bhaskar and other leaders, who can offer examples to the community of how important it is to take part in research and receive the vaccines when they are available.

Retail Businesses: Financial Support

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Monday 21st September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his support for our £500 payments. I hope that that will be sufficient at the moment but, as with all these schemes, we will keep it under review.

[Baroness Warsi (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the changes in July which now enable more struggling businesses to access the Government-backed CBILS loans. Have the Government, in the run-up to Brexit, engaged with UK businesses for whom EU public or private sector contracts are their only, or main, form of business? I have raised this question with my noble friend before, but I am increasingly concerned as we approach deadlines.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I know that my noble friend is concerned about this matter and she is right to raise it. We will continue to engage with the business sector to find out what we can do to help those who are increasingly reliant on EU contracts.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Public Procurement Contracts

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Monday 7th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We are completely focused on fulfilling the Government’s manifesto commitment to clamp down on late payments and strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner to support small businesses that are exploited by their larger partners. At the Spring Statement, as the noble Lord will be aware, the Government announced that they will require large companies’ audit committees to review payment practices and report them in their annual accounts.

[Baroness Warsi (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend have details of the financial value of UK companies that are engaged in delivering EU public procurement contracts? In the run-up to the post-Brexit period, are the Government engaged with these firms regarding support because, for many businesses, this may be their main or whole business?

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

As I said in earlier answers, there are a number of different support packages besides CBILS, including the furlough and direct grant schemes. A number of supports are in place for all businesses. I do not accept that the systems have been slow to operate. As I said, 160,000 loans were approved under the bounce-back scheme in the first few days of operation.

[Baroness Warsi (Con)]

I draw the attention of the House to my interests as listed on the register. I congratulate the Government on their package of measures to support both businesses and individuals during this difficult period but, as my noble friend the Minister will appreciate, time is of the essence for businesses. Does he therefore have an average figure for the time between applications for business investment and bounce-back loans and the arrival of funds into company accounts? Secondly, on the furlough scheme, I understand there will be an announcement later today by the Chancellor. Has any consideration been given to the minimum furlough period for employees and whether it would be appropriate for a more flexible approach to be taken for those companies—many businesses—which are working week-on, week-off to cope with ad hoc business conditions?

[Lord Callanan]

I can tell my noble friend that many bounce-back loans are being approved within a day. We are getting the money out to companies as quickly as possible. I am sure she will understand that I do not want to give out information in advance of what the Chancellor might say in Parliament this afternoon.

Covid-19: Employment Support

Debate between Baroness Warsi and Lord Callanan

Thursday 19th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I thank the noble Lord for his question, which illustrates the complexity of the problem, all the different factors that need to be taken into consideration, and how there needs to be a cross-government response, across a number of departments and obviously backed by the Treasury with comprehensive financing. The answer to his question is: yes, all these matters are being looked at. We are looking at various international options and proposals and we will hopefully have something to announce very soon.

[Baroness Warsi (Con)]

Can my noble friend inform the House whether much broader thinking is now being done by government about employees who are affected by the coronavirus crisis, not just regarding health issues for those self-isolating or who have symptoms, but those who are now affected because they have children at home or because the people they work for do not have the orders and they are therefore short-working, and those who are not contractually protected—people on zero-hours contracts? Would it be easier for the Government simply to respond to people’s needs because they are impacted by coronavirus, rather than breaking them down into specific categories?

[Lord Callanan]

Similarly to the previous question, my noble friend’s question reflects the complexities of the issue and why a comprehensive response is required. We are working on that; we of course have universal credit, the social security system—the welfare system—for people to fall back on, but there are numerous different aspects to it and different sectors of the economy that will require a response. We are working on it urgently and cross-departmentally; the whole of government is focused on this and we will come back to both Houses as soon as we possibly can.