Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: Foreign Languages
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter(12 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Wilcox
If anyone would like to look up UKTI on the web to find out what is available to everyone, they will see that it is doing an absolutely marvellous job. When I came to answer this Question, I was delighted to see just how much it was doing, including being able to provide bespoke services. Small and medium-sized businesses often need to gain an all-round understanding of how to behave when they get to another country, and that is why this service is available to them. It is subsidised, and businesses can also have a review themselves. I welcome the noble Lord to the Dispatch Box.
Lord Cotter
I congratulate the Minister very much on her comprehensive Answer to the Question. The points that she made and the answers she gave were very good indeed. It is important that there should be publicity about what is available, but often there is not enough. It is also important that schools, as well as businesses, provide education in languages, and that further education colleges provide special lessons in business-orientated languages, particularly Chinese and Spanish.
Baroness Wilcox
Of course I agree with my noble friend. He will know that last week we announced our proposals for the primary national curriculum. The teaching of a foreign language will be compulsory throughout key stage 2, and that will include Latin and Greek.
Regional Growth Fund
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
Baroness Wilcox
I have listened carefully to what the noble Lord has said, but, as he well knows, I cannot say anything in response at the moment because the Chancellor of the Exchequer has not expounded on how he is going to bring this forward. No doubt the noble Lord will ask me a question again when the Chancellor has done so.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, manufacturing accounts for 12 per cent of GDP but 50 per cent of our exports. Can I ask the Minister to give an assurance that the Government will concentrate in the future on financial support for manufacturing, which is very complex—there is a need for seed capital and a need for support for research and development in new technologies in particular? There is also great concern that the private banking sector is not sufficiently delivering on lending, which is a disappointment following the Merlin initiative.
Baroness Wilcox
The ECGD covers all of that, of course. Today I am delighted to say that the Government are funding manufacturing research in a drive for future growth: a £170 million package to sharpen the UK’s competitive edge has already been given out; a high-value manufacturing technology and innovations centre is receiving £140 million over a six-year period; and the TSB and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles will be running a £15 million competition for investment into the research and development of low-carbon vehicles. I am delighted to be able to announce that today.
Public Disorder: Business Damage
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter(13 years, 3 months ago)
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Lord Cotter
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made with the measures proposed to help businesses damaged or destroyed as a result of the recent riots in England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox)
My Lords, the Government acted swiftly to set up a range of measures to support those businesses affected by the recent disturbances. Our immediate priority has been to get local communities back on their feet and to get high streets and businesses up and running again as quickly as possible. The response has been amazing. Businesses have been helping each other and there has been a great spirit abroad. My colleagues, Mark Prisk from BIS, Crispin Blunt from the Ministry of Justice, Damian Green from the Home Office and Bob Neill from the Department for Communities and Local Government, wrote to all MPs on 6 September updating them on the support for communities and businesses. I have arranged for a copy to be sent to my noble friend, as I recognise his involvement, over many years, in the concerns of small businesses.
Lord Cotter
I thank the Minister for her reply. It will take some time for businesses and communities to recover. I hope that the Minister will continue to monitor the situation. However, on a broader point—not just in relation to the recent riots—two-thirds of businesses nationally have been a victim of crime over the past 12 months. Can a higher profile be given to policing crimes against business, to remove the perception, which somehow seems to be the case, that these are victimless crimes and to ensure that firms are given proper advice and help?
Baroness Wilcox
I am only too delighted to confirm to my noble friend that this is something that the Government are looking at. These are not victimless crimes, particularly for small, family businesses, which are almost afraid to open up again. A lot of work is being done in this area. I have spoken with my noble friend Lady Browning, the Home Office Minister, who has responsibility for crime prevention. In the next few weeks, the Home Office will be releasing an improved self-assessment tool for businesses to identify their vulnerabilities, providing practical advice for how those can be overcome. That will be available through the Business Link website and, to comfort my noble friend, I shall stay in contact with him on any other areas that develop well
Businesses: Regional Growth Fund
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
Baroness Wilcox
My Lords, the noble Lord will know that my right honourable friend in another place, the Secretary of State, is for ever speaking to and with businesses. Yes, of course we know that we need a predictable tax system to reward endeavour; we know that we need better access to both debt and equity finance; and we know that we need to reduce red tape. We are working hard on all of that.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, other support for small businesses is intended to come through local enterprise partnerships. Will the Minister take on board concerns that not enough small businesses—not in sufficient force—are being involved in local enterprise partnerships throughout the country? This is of great concern. Surely this should be part of the approval process that the Minister has to go through when he sets up the local enterprise partnerships in the first place.
Baroness Wilcox
The evidence is that we have been overwhelmed by the number of bids that have come in. For the second round that we are in now, there is an enormous number of bids, which is very heartening. It is competitive, and people are doing awfully well with it. I hope that I can speak later to the noble Lord and reassure him on this with the evidence that we have.
Patents County Court (Financial Limits) Order 2011
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
Baroness Wilcox
I beg to move that the Grand Committee has considered the draft Patents County Court (Financial Limits) Order 2011.
This order is part of a package of measures to improve the Patents County Court. The Government’s purpose is to make it easier for small firms and entrepreneurs to navigate legal processes, giving them more time to concentrate on business activities. We often hear that intellectual property litigation is expensive and time-consuming. For many small businesses this can be a barrier to justice. Indeed, a 2006 study for the European Patent Office found that the cost of intellectual property litigation for United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises was roughly three times higher than elsewhere on the continent. If it costs too much for small businesses to litigate, they will be unable to defend their rights. We cannot have a legal system with such barriers. A reliable intellectual property enforcement regime must be accessible in the truest sense, not in the terms of access to finance. Lord Justice Jackson recognised as much in his comprehensive and independent review of civil litigation costs last year, which was of course commissioned by the previous Government. His recommendations were that we should improve access to justice, reduce the costs of civil litigation, and ensure costs and remedies are proportionate.
Now, the Patents County Court was established in 1990 to provide a cost-effective forum for intellectual property cases. It has jurisdiction over disputes in relation to intellectual property rights, and it should hear less complex and lower value cases and offer an alternative to the High Court. Until recently though, procedures and costs have been the same as in the High Court. The damages it awards remain the same as in the High Court, and it is this that we wish to change.
The order intends to set a maximum limit of £500,000 that could be awarded in the Patents County Court. Without this limit, a small or medium-sized enterprise with a legal case worth less than £500,000 may face litigation in either the Patents County Court or the High Court, and not know the level of financial risk it faces. With this order, however, the same business will have certainty that the Patents County Court is the appropriate forum and that there is a limit to its financial risk.
The principle of a damages limit has been examined through numerous consultations, including Lord Justice Jackson’s review. The Patents County Court judges and senior judiciary are eager to see this limit introduced. Legal practitioners and court users recognise its usefulness, too. A host of businesses and associations support the move, and a recent Intellectual Property Office consultation found 77 per cent of respondents supported the £500,000 limit. We will monitor the effectiveness of the damages cap, with a formal review in 2014.
The order addresses the need for a damages limit for patents and design cases, within the jurisdiction of the Patents County Court. Similar work is in hand to take forward comparable changes to other intellectual property rights, such as trade marks and copyright. This measure is consistent with our broader reform effort. For example, we have already simplified procedures for cases heard in the Patents County Court, and introduced a recoverable costs cap of £50,000. In a court where litigants can represent themselves, these changes have been warmly welcomed.
A further possible consequence of these reforms, as Lord Justice Jackson recognised, is that they may increase the availability of intellectual property insurances to small and medium-sized enterprises. At present, they are not widely available at affordable prices.
We all recognise that litigation around intellectual property is complex. These changes, on their own, are no panacea, but they will help small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to innovate, providing clarity about legal processes, certainty over risks and giving them confidence they stand on an equal footing with financially stronger companies. The bigger picture, of course, is that innovation is essential to economic growth, and that is the abiding goal of this Government. I beg to move.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, I am glad that the issue of patents is being addressed today. There is no question that SMEs in particular have disadvantages when it comes to patenting products, particularly worldwide, so anything that can happen to encourage SMEs to embark on the patenting route is to be welcomed. At another occasion, another time, I may emphasise that point.
As the Minister said, the Patents County Court was created to help SMEs by providing an affordable forum for litigation, but it has been found that improvements are necessary, and today we start on that process. In saying that, though, I welcome the fact that within the regulation there is a requirement to review within three years how this process has progressed. Obviously, at the end of it, if any further measures are required, I would certainly support the Minister from these Benches.
SMEs will need to be told about this measure and many similar ones. I see that the benefits will be publicised through the e-mail notification system, which communicates with more than 400 stakeholders. Can we be sure that this means of communicating information will effectively reach SMEs throughout the country? If the Minister cannot provide a detailed answer today, perhaps the matter might be taken away to ensure that SMEs hear effectively and clearly about the measure. On that basis, I am happy to support it and will be glad to hear the Minister's response in due course.
Lord Young of Norwood Green
My Lords, we, too, welcome the proposed legislation. I reflected as the noble Baroness moved the legislation that—if I may paraphrase—justice overpriced is justice denied. The report of Lord Justice Jackson provides welcome assistance to SMEs by reducing the cost of protecting patents and designs in disputes and by allowing claims of up to £500,000, excluding interest, to be heard in patent courts.
It is a pity that we will need further secondary legislation to include IP rights such as copyrights and trademarks. It is a shame that this could not be done in parallel legislation. Perhaps that would not have been possible, but I would welcome an explanation of why there has been a delay and why we could not do both at the same time, given the importance of these areas. I, too, welcome the Minister’s comments on intellectual property insurances. Again, if that helps SMEs and entrepreneurs, it will be valuable.
I have a concern about the post-implementation review. Three years is a long time. Perhaps some consideration could be given to shortening that period. After two years a fair body of evidence should be available. Again, I do not know how practical that is. I concur with the noble Lord, Lord Cotter, on the importance of communicating these important changes to SMEs. With those comments and questions, I, too, welcome the proposed legislation.
National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2010
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox)
My Lords, I am pleased today to present these regulations to the Committee. The regulations before us provide that, where an employer makes money payments for travelling expenses that are eligible for tax relief, these payments do not count towards the national minimum wage. They address the problems we have identified with what are commonly called travel and subsistence schemes, operated by some employment businesses that involve low-paid workers. I will briefly outline how these schemes work and why we are tightening their rules.
Traditionally, employment businesses have engaged workers under agency contracts. In this situation, the worker is not an employee of the employment business. As a result, each assignment with a client is, for tax legislation purposes, considered to be the worker’s permanent place of employment. Increasingly, however, some employment businesses are engaging workers under an employment contract, rather than under an agency contract. These contracts are also sometimes referred to as “overarching contracts of employment” because they link, or claim to link, a series of different assignments into one overarching employment with the employment business. One of the consequences of this approach is that, for the purposes of tax legislation, each assignment with a client is considered to be the worker’s temporary place of employment.
This distinction between a temporary and permanent place of employment is an important one. Since 1998, workers travelling from home to a temporary workplace have been eligible for tax relief on their travel expenses, which includes associated subsistence costs. Travel from home to a permanent workplace, on the other hand, does not qualify for tax relief. Therefore, by engaging workers under employment contracts, employment businesses are able to use travel and subsistence schemes to reduce the amount of tax and national insurance contributions that the worker pays and the amount of national insurance contributions that the employer pays.
Travel and subsistence schemes operate through an arrangement known as salary sacrifice. Under it, an employee contractually agrees to give up part of their taxable income in exchange for something else that is either non-taxable or taxable at a lower rate. In this case, the employee receives travel—and usually subsistence—expenses. These expenses are free of tax and national insurance contributions because they relate to travel to a temporary workplace. Payments of expenses for travel from home to these temporary workplaces and associated subsistence count as pay under national minimum wage rules. Therefore, as long as the taxable pay and the expenses paid by the employer are equal to or greater than the minimum wage, the employer is compliant for minimum wage purposes. The worker benefits from these arrangements as they receive a slightly higher take-home pay than they would otherwise have done. The employer also benefits, as the amount of salary on which they have to pay the employer’s national insurance contributions is decreased. In many cases, the expenses that the employer pays to the worker are less than the salary that the worker has surrendered.
The Government consider that there are several problems with the use of travel and subsistence schemes for workers on the national minimum wage. The first is about preserving the integrity of the minimum wage as a wage floor. As I am sure noble Lords are aware, the coalition Government are committed to the minimum wage because we recognise the protection it gives to low-income workers and the incentive to work that it provides. For the minimum wage regime to be effective, employers must be able to demonstrate easily that they have met their legal obligations.
Workers need to know what they are entitled to, which is particularly important given the vulnerability of those with whom we are concerned today. Allowing some salary sacrifices to count towards the minimum wage where others, such as childcare vouchers, do not unduly complicates the regime. There is evidence that the employer gains far more from these schemes than the worker, and that the majority of workers do not understand how the schemes work. The Government consider this to be a form of exploitation of low-paid workers.
A number of adverse consequences flow from the participation of low-paid workers in such schemes. The amount that a worker pays in national insurance contributions potentially affects their entitlement to certain benefits. For low-paid workers in travel and subsistence schemes, the most significant impact is on the basic and additional state pension. If they participate in the schemes, the pay that is liable for national insurance contributions is reduced, thereby increasing the number of weeks that they must work and pay national insurance contributions to secure the qualifying earnings for the state pension. It thus increases the risk of the worker not meeting the eligibility criteria for contributory benefits.
In addition, businesses not using travel and subsistence schemes can find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to those which do. Businesses using such schemes can undercut them on price or general profit margins, which would not be possible without the tax and national insurance contribution benefits available.
Some businesses have told us that they do not wish to implement travel and subsistence schemes for employees because they consider them to be exploitative and morally wrong. For some, this is an ethical matter. They believe that such schemes might be against low-paid workers’ long-term interests, that workers do not properly understand how the schemes work and that some schemes do not, in reality, give workers the employment rights associated with an employment contract. For others, the implementation costs mean they are cost-effective only where a large number of workers is involved. As a result, smaller businesses are less able to use such schemes.
There are further issues of fairness. Artificially reducing the pay liable for tax and national insurance contributions means that a low-paid worker in a travel scheme becomes entitled to an higher level of certain benefits, such as tax credits, than a low-paid worker who is paid the same amount but not through a travel scheme. We do not believe that this is right. Nor do we consider it right that the burden of financing benefits should be passed from the employer and the worker to the general taxpayer.
For the reasons that I have set out, the Government consider that payments of travel and associated subsistence expenses relating to travel from home to a temporary workplace should not count as pay for minimum wage purposes. The draft regulations before us today will preserve the integrity of the minimum wage. They will reduce the risk of reducing low-paid workers’ entitlement to certain social security benefits. They will ensure a level playing field for those businesses unwilling or unable to use such schemes. They will remove the unfairness in the present situation. I beg to move.
Lord Cotter
I thank the Minister. I declare an interest as having been a member of the committee on the national minimum wage in the other place. I was very pleased to play a part in seeing that legislation through. We sat on one occasion for what I think was the longest-ever sitting in Parliament—close to 24 hours—going overnight to consider the Bill. While many others spoke all the time, I spoke only occasionally. I promise not to speak for 24 hours today, which I am sure is a great relief to everybody. That includes me, because I would run out of steam.
Suffice to say, I thank the Minister once again for the explanation and for drawing out the intention of this measure to preserve the minimum wage, preserve its integrity and ensure that the workforce is not exploited in any way. The regulations are being put before Parliament for approval and I see no reason not to approve their implementation today. In terms of impact, I was glad that small businesses were also mentioned in the regulations. On that basis, I thank the Minister and hope that this goes forward successfully.
Post Office Network Subsidy Scheme (Amendment) Order 2010
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox)
My Lords, I remember, as other noble Lords certainly will, a time when what we now call Royal Mail was known as the Post Office, and then, briefly, Consignia. So perhaps I may start by being absolutely clear about what we mean by the Post Office and what we are here to discuss. The Post Office is an unrivalled network of around 11,500 shops where you can post your parcel or collect your pension. Royal Mail is responsible for collecting and delivering our letters. It provides the universal postal service that connects any post box to every address in the country.
The Government are committed to a strong and sustainable Post Office network. That is why on 27 October we announced funding of £1.34 billion for the Post Office network over the spending review period, subject to state aid approval from the European Commission. On 9 November, we published the policy statement, Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age, setting out our plans and commitments for the network. On 13 October, we published the Postal Services Bill, which is currently being debated in Committee in the other place. I shall expand on our plans for the Post Office network shortly, but perhaps I may first address the substance of the instrument currently before the Committee—which is all we are really seeking to discuss today.
The previous Administration introduced the Post Office Network Subsidy Scheme Order 2007 under provisions in Section 103 of the Postal Services Act 2000. The Act allows the Secretary of State to make an order permitting payments for the purpose of assisting in the provision of public post offices or assisting in the provision of services to be provided from public post offices.
Under the terms of the subsidy scheme order, the Government can provide funding to keep post offices open or to enable the establishment of post offices in areas of the country where, without funding, it is unlikely that they would be provided. The current scheme allows the Secretary of State to make payments of up to £160 million in any 12-month period beginning on 1 April. As we want to provide more funding than at present, we are seeking to amend the current order to increase the limit to £500 million.
For the next four years, the largest tranche of funding that we have committed in any one year is £415 million. Increasing the cap on the level of payments made under the subsidy scheme order to £500 million allows for some flexibility and contingency; for example, in case of changes to the tax treatment of the funding. We know that this is a large increase but I am sure that noble Lords will agree that the Post Office is a valuable national asset. It is much more than a commercial entity and serves a distinct social purpose. That is why the Postal Services Bill ensures that the Post Office will not be for sale.
The previous Government provided funding for the closure of 5,000 post offices; our approach is different. We will address the real economic challenges that the network faces. Our funding will enable the Post Office to do more than simply maintain the status quo. As well as receiving funding for loss-making branches, the Post Office will be able to invest in the network and introduce new technologies so that branches can be brought up to date. As the previous Government did not fully compensate Post Office Ltd in association with its maintenance of the Post Office network, our funding will give it the opportunity to invest its own resources in developing new revenue streams.
There will be no programme of post office closures on our watch. This funding will ensure that there continues to be a network of around 11,500 post office branches in the UK that continues to meet the post office access criteria. They ensure that 99 per cent of the UK population is within three miles of the nearest post office outlet, while 90 per cent is within one mile. They also contain specific protections for people in rural and deprived urban areas.
Furthermore, the proposed modernisation of the network which we set out in the policy statement will allow for longer opening hours and a faster service. This will make the Post Office more convenient for customers. It will also make it a stronger retail partner for Royal Mail.
However, the number of letters that we send is projected to continue declining over the coming years. Although the growth of online shopping and parcels offers opportunities for the Post Office, it will also need to develop revenues from other sources. These can be divided into two main areas: government services and financial services. We want the Post Office to become a genuine front office for government at both national and local levels. We are exploring the scope for greater local authority involvement in the planning, delivery and level of post office service provision. In terms of financial services, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Post Office reached agreement last month to allow their customers, including those of NatWest, to access their accounts at post offices. This means that almost 80 per cent of current account customers will be able to withdraw cash free of charge at a Post Office branch.
However, we—and especially me, as I am getting rather over-excited by all this—must remember that today we are here to discuss the Post Office Network Subsidy Scheme (Amendment) Order 2010. New funding will help to ensure that the Post Office network has a secure and sustainable future. I hope that noble Lords will agree that the Post Office network should continue to play an important role throughout this country and will therefore approve the order.
Lord Cotter
I support the Minister on this measure. It is extremely encouraging that the coalition’s approach is a determination to keep our sub-post offices open. I do not wish to have a go at the Opposition but that is extremely welcome in contrast with the previous Government, under whom there were a lot of closures.
When it comes to regulations and Bills, I am always very keen to see whether there is an impact assessment. On this occasion, there is apparently no impact, but I simply raise it as a point that I always tend to raise because, if there is an impact, we must be sure that the matter is addressed when a regulation is brought forward. However, in this case, it does not apply.
I congratulate the Minister on taking the wind out of my sails. I was going to ask for details of what the subsidy would be used towards and so on, but she came forward with some very tangible points which, as I said, took the wind out of my sails. I was going to ask what measures there might be, particularly with, as the Minister said, the decline in the number of letters and in the sale of stamps and so on. Therefore, it is very good to talk about new revenue schemes, longer opening hours and the network being a very strong part of Royal Mail. The Minister also talked about central and local government services being directed, wherever possible, to the Post Office, and of course we have learnt that the banks are going to be engaged in the new arrangements.
Therefore, I shall not waste Members’ time and shall say no more, other than that I very much applaud what has been discussed and I thank the Minister very much for explaining it so clearly. Tangible measures and initiatives will be brought forward to implement what is proposed.
Businesses: Contracts and Payments
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter(14 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Wilcox
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Sugar, knows what a fan I am of his, so I will always try and please him. I am delighted to know that the previous regime did such work in this area and we intend to do good work to build on that. I hope he will give me time to get that all under way.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, can the Minister clarify one brief and concise point? When it comes to government contracts being given to big companies, is it not right and proper that those big companies should be required by Government to pay small suppliers within the same time that the Government undertake to do so?
Sheffield Forgemasters
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
Baroness Wilcox
I assure the noble Lord that the representation from Mr Cook—copies were sent to Clive Betts MP and Angela Smith MP in another place yesterday on their request and will be placed on the BIS website today—had no bearing on the decision-making process. The decision not to pursue the loan was made on grounds of affordability.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, would the Minister not agree—and I am sure that this could highlight the situation generally in the manufacturing industry—on the need for the banks to give support to manufacturing in particular, especially in the light of a recent report from the British Bankers’ Association showing that bank lending fell substantially last year and that many businesses are still being turned down for loans? I know that the Government are concerned about this, but I urge renewed efforts to persuade the banks to address this issue. Time and again they say that they are lending, but the facts say not—and this is an example, perhaps, of a manufacturing industry issue where lending is required.
Baroness Wilcox
The banks will say, as they always say, that it is not their money that they are lending but other people’s money—
Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2010
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter
Lord Cotter
I welcome these two statutory instruments, which were laid for good reason. I shall be interested to hear the response to the noble Lord, Lord James. I believe that I have heard him make these comments before. I welcome the fact that the second instrument seeks to protect the workers whom we are discussing and reduces bureaucracy.
I shall make a general comment. Over the lifetime of a Parliament—quite rightly so—Governments make regulations that are opposed and sometimes, as time goes on, they need to be looked at again. That is why from time to time people raise the issue of sunset clauses. In view of the present Government’s strong commitment to reducing bureaucracy, particularly for business, the processes in place—I do not know much about them, although I know about sunset clauses—such as statutory instruments, tend to be reactive, although I am open to be corrected by the Minister. People may have said, “There is a problem with the regulations, so can that be addressed?”. I do not have sufficient knowledge on this. Given that overregulation and defunct regulation are big issues for business and people generally, what proactive ways to address these sorts of problems are there that would greatly cut regulations that, over time, lose their need to be there? I am sorry to impose on the Minister. I wished to make a general point.
Baroness Wilcox
My Lords, I hope that the regulations strike a sensible balance between the need to protect workers from unscrupulous practices, the need to maintain a flexible and dynamic labour market and the need to benefit business to ensure that the UK is in the best position possible to recover from a recession.
A number of specific points have been raised. I am, in particular, grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Young, for saying that we are building on his good work. I am glad that that is how he feels, because this truly is based on his previous work. It is nice to be able to take it forward in this way.
I can understand why the noble Lord, Lord Cotter, asked his question. We shall have to do a lot more of this. There will be a lot more statutory instrument work. We will be looking to build sunset clauses into our legislation as we move further along, so that, when things have had their time, we can let them go. I hope that that is how we will proceed in the future.
I am grateful to my noble friend Lord James for raising an important issue, which is of serious concern and on which he has spoken previously. The role of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate is to ensure compliance with the conduct regulations and that those who may be vulnerable are not exploited. The inspectors would therefore be interested to receive any further information about cases such as those that he raised. If the information provided suggests in any way that these young people are being mistreated or taken advantage of, the EAS will investigate further and take appropriate action. If the activity is not regulated by the EAS, it will pass on the information and allegations to the appropriate authorities for them to consider. I hope that that will take things forward better for my noble friend. Given his great experience of such gatherings from his work in the racing industry and so on, we hope that he might talk in confidence to these organisations.
Having addressed those points, I repeat my hope that we have agreed that the regulations strike a sensible balance between the need to protect workers from unscrupulous practices, the need to maintain a flexible and dynamic labour market and the need to benefit business to ensure that the UK is in the best position possible to recover from recession. For these reasons, I commend the proposals to the House.
UK: International Competitiveness
Debate between Baroness Wilcox and Lord Cotter(14 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Wilcox
What we as a Government want to do is make the conditions right whereby all parts of industry can grow.
Lord Cotter
My Lords, the Government are rightly committed to reducing bureaucracy to help competitiveness. Will the Minister look at the hurdles faced by small businesses when they try to borrow? They include new charges and fees along the line, audits, facility fees, reviews, management fees and so it goes on. These are clearly blocks in the way of the ability to borrow. Will the Minister also consider the high rate at which businesses frequently have to borrow through the banks?
Baroness Wilcox
The enterprise finance guarantee scheme has been extended and there will be a Green Paper soon in which we will be looking at all these issues.