Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

23. If he will make it his policy to increase competition within the energy supply market; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark)]

I will respond shortly to the Competition and Markets Authority report, and I will take steps to increase competition and help consumers.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

If the Secretary of State is successful in engendering much greater competition, will we need a regulator at all?

[Greg Clark]

The aim of Government policy must be to have such vigorous competition in markets that that takes care of itself. Unfortunately, I do not think we are in that position, so I am determined to make sure that customers are treated fairly.

Opel/Vauxhall: Sale to PSA Group

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

Monday 6th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his engagement over the past few weeks. He knows the workforce in Luton well and what he says about them is absolutely right. There is a big opportunity across the automotive sector to increase the supply chain. It is one of the areas where we can make further progress in what is already a successful sector. We will do that through the industrial strategy and it will have my personal engagement.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Might that opportunity to increase the UK component of the component supply chain be increased if there is to be a change in our relationship with the internal market?

[Greg Clark]

We want to make sure that we have the best possible trading relationship with the rest of the single market, but whether we were leaving or staying in the EU the opportunity to get more suppliers in this country is there, and I am determined that we should take it.

Vauxhall/Opel: Proposed Takeover

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

Monday 20th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The automotive sector, like others, trades across borders. That is one reason why the Prime Minister and I have been very clear that we need to be able to negotiate trading arrangements that maintain our access across those borders without tariffs and without bureaucratic impediments—that is clearly understood. Those negotiations have some way to go, but it is important to emphasise, as I and the Prime Minister have done, what our intention is.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

What guarantees might General Motors USA be required to make to General Motors GB with respect to the pension deficit before any disposal can take place?

[Greg Clark]

As my right hon. Friend knows, the independent Pensions Regulator is the arbiter of any changes to pension arrangements. It is absolutely right that such robust independence is in place. I emphasise that discussions are still continuing. No agreement has yet been reached but, as I have said to a number of colleagues across the House, the future of pensioners is very important to me, as it is to all Members.

Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The right hon. Lady makes two important points. First, as others in the past have recognised, it is vital to recognise the importance of technical education and to improve it, and that is certainly our intention. On the particular proposal that she mentions, if she would care to discuss it with me, we could feed it into the consultation.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Where does the crucial role of free markets sit in this strategy?

[Greg Clark]

It runs through every page of the strategy.

Corporate Governance

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

1st reading: House of Commons
Tuesday 29th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

You are absolutely right, Mr Speaker, and I apologise.

I hope the hon. Gentleman will contribute to the consultation. It is clear that he shares an interest in improving the standards of corporate governance, which we have done from time to time in this country over many decades. We have a good reputation for corporate governance, and it is important to record that the rest of the world looks, and has looked, with admiration at the British economy, the rule of law and the non-legislative aspects involved. I hope he will agree that the examples of poor corporate governance he mentioned are blemishes on a very strong overall record of responsible corporate behaviour in this country. We should put on record our recognition of the importance of business and our support for the job creators, the risk takers, the innovators and the investors—the people who, through their profits, generate the taxes that sustain our public services.

It is reasonable to have a constructive discussion on this matter through the consultation, and that is what we intend to do. The hon. Gentleman said that executive pay had been escalating. Perhaps he would like to reflect on the fact that the biggest rise in chief executive pay was actually in the period from 1998 to 2010, when the average rose from £1 million to £4.3 million a year and the ratio of chief executive pay to full-time employees’ pay rose from 47:1 to 132:1. He is a reasonable and generous man and I know that he will concede that, under the years of Conservative leadership, the average pay for chief executives has fallen from £4.3 million to £4.25 million a year and that that ratio has fallen from 132:1 to 128:1. So we are moving in the right direction and these further reforms will take us further.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the proposals to have workers and consumers on boards. The Prime Minister has been very clear on this, and it is testament to her leadership that she set out her intentions right at the beginning of her term of office and that we are now coming forward with these proposals. She made it clear that we would have not just consumers but employees represented on company boards, and these proposals will allow that to happen and encourage the practice to be taken up.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the relevance of our reforms to the more high-profile sources of controversy. Of course, one option is to extend the good provisions for public companies to our very largest private companies. He will know that the Financial Reporting Council’s governance code requires extensive monitoring of risk levels for plcs over and above the requirements placed on limited companies. He mentioned cases involving listed companies, and I hope he will agree that having a greater connection between employees and directors is a step in the right direction. Conservative Members are unashamedly and unequivocally pro-well-run business, and I hope that he shares our view. Consistent with that, it is important to work with business, employees and other groups from time to time, to look at what we can do to stay ahead of the pack. That is what this consultation does.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Will any of these proposals result in a diminution of the pile of cash on which corporate Britain is sitting, and of the practice of companies buying up their own shares?

[Greg Clark]

We are encouraging a greater role for shareholders in driving behaviour in the boardroom, because this is a matter of concern. It is connected to the point that—to be fair to him—the hon. Member for Norwich South made about long-termism. We want to see a more patient form of capital sustaining businesses that have the capacity to grow, and I hope that this will come out as part of the consultation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Desmond Swayne and Greg Clark

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am glad to hear that question from the hon. Gentleman, because it is true that the success of the financial services is not just about the City of London, but extends across the whole United Kingdom and, of course, Scotland. That is why it is important, in our negotiations, that we achieve the best possible deal to allow financial institutions, wherever they are in this country, to continue to trade freely across the EU.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Can I put in a plug for free markets and laissez-faire as the best long-term strategy?

[Greg Clark]

My right hon. Friend does not need to make a plug for that. It is free markets and the knowledge that this is a competitive place to do business that accounts for our world-beating status in the G7 at the moment.