Government Departments: Communication with Industry and Commerce

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Monday 14th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am happy to give the noble Lord the commitment he seeks. Nuclear power will be an important component of our energy infrastructure and it is also important that we continue to invest in the SMR programme.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, is the message that the Government seek to convey to the City and to commerce that a Conservative Government are best equipped to clear up the mess that only a Conservative Government could make?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his helpful question. The message we seek to convey is that the City of London is an important component of the UK financial infrastructure. It makes an important contribution to the UK economy. Proportionate regulation is vital to this sector, but we continue to encourage and support it.

Climate Change: Behaviour Change

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I think my noble friend is wrong. If he looked at the pages on GOV.UK, he would find tailored advice for his property linked to its EPC, if one exists. Perhaps he needs to spruce up his computer usage.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, one of the effects of climate change will be a moderation in the pace of the population increase of the world, which leads to desertification, deforestation and increased migration. How can we encourage that?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The effects of climate change are of course different in different parts of the world. We need to work with developing countries, which we are doing through our extensive programme of international climate change work, to help them to both mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Employers: Fire and Rehire

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

In his excellent way, the noble Lord makes a good point. I am sure it will give all of us, including the Prime Minister, cause for reflection.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

In the proposed code of practice, what sanctions do the Government propose?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Lord will have to await the details in the code of practice. One option will be to allow employment tribunals to take into account if the statutory code has not been followed and award uplifts in compensation as a result.

Horizon Europe

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My noble friend makes a good point, as he often does. I am not sure that the Eurovision Song Contest is a sufficient precursor to Horizon Europe, but, to be serious, his point is very valid: other non-EU countries are associate members. We want to join; that was the agreement that we entered into, and I hope that the EU will see sense and abide by the agreement that it signed.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, surely the Government’s default programme is a second best. The Minister has said that it will deliver “many of the benefits” of the current programme. Where are the gaps, and what will not be delivered?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not sure that it is second best; it is an alternative. We have many scientific co-operation programmes with many other parts of the world; the EU is not the be-all and end-all of scientific co-operation. However, we think that there is a lot of value in Horizon Europe, which is why we agreed that we should join up. Of course, we are prepared to pay all the associated costs. That was the agreement that we entered into and we want to try to join, but we have a plan B if that proves impossible.

Russian Oil and Gas Imports

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I agree with a number of the points my noble friend made. Of course we should put the maximum pressure on Putin because of his appalling actions, and continue to invest in the North Sea for our domestic production. We should also continue to invest in nuclear power and renewables. One point I differ with him on slightly is fracking, which I am afraid does not offer the silver bullet many people think it does.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, is it the Government’s view that the current and proposed increases in energy prices fundamentally alter the economic and security case for tidal barrages, such as that proposed for Swansea Bay?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

Not directly. The cheapest and most effective renewable source in the UK is offshore wind, which is why we are continuing to develop that at pace. We already have one of the largest offshore wind sectors in the world. We have a target of considerable extra capacity, moving up to 30 gigawatts by 2030.

Post Office: Horizon Compensation

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Monday 10th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I totally agree with the noble Lord on the first part of his question. The correct answer to that is to wait for the outcome of the inquiry. As we have discussed before, this went on for decades, and exactly who was responsible at the time, and who knew what and when, is a hugely complicated issue. Of course, many of the people responsible at those times are no longer in government, in the department or in the Post Office. It will be important to find out who exactly who was responsible over a long period of time, and then we can pin the appropriate blame.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, to accelerate things and bring an end to the scandal, would the Government consider a scheme similar to that which applies to personal injury cases, to agree guidelines or bands within which a settlement could be reached so that legal advisers can properly give advice to those who have suffered as a result of the Post Office injustice?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

As I outlined in my earlier answer to my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot, we will of course take all the circumstances into account, but necessarily it is important to look at the individual circumstances of each of the postmasters who were wrongly convicted and had their conviction overturned. We want to ensure that everybody is appropriately and fairly compensated within the appropriate bands and will do so.

Unpaid Internships

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am not aware of any prosecutions, but I can confirm that we have spent considerable sums on enforcement in this area, as well as on other areas relating to the national minimum wage. As I made clear in my original Answer, it is important that we continue to try to enforce these matters but also to offer advice to employers to make sure that they are aware that it is illegal to offer internships that amount to work and not to pay for them.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, it is extremely important that legal careers be open to all talents and to students from all social backgrounds. Knowing that pupillages at the Bar are the gateway to the profession of barrister, are the Government satisfied with progress in ensuring that pupillages are now paid?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, pupillages at the Bar have changed considerably since the noble Lord’s day and even since my day—which is also a very long time ago. In those days they were unpaid. I will take advice from my noble and learned friend sitting beside me, but I think the noble Lord will find that most pupils are paid now.

Brexit: Consumer Rights

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Thursday 17th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I too feel like this is the latest in a series of number 11 buses coming along together. I have been keen to stress on all occasions—on Tuesday, yesterday and today—that UK consumers should not see any immediate difference. As always, they should continue to read the terms and conditions and I am grateful to the noble Baroness for reminding them of that. They should take advice where appropriate from Citizens Advice and, as I said in response to my noble friend Lady Wilcox, there will still be funding for at least one year for the UK European Consumer Centre. We will consider whether to extend that during the course of the year.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister has used the phrase, “immediate effect” on two occasions. Does he recall that in October 2016 David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, said that there would be no downside after Brexit, only a considerable upside? In light of yesterday’s debate, in which the Minister participated, and the report of the EU Justice Sub-Committee, which showed that we are essentially dealing with damage limitation in respect of consumer protection, does he think that Mr Davis’s views were very wide of the mark?

Brexit: Consumer Protection (European Union Committee Report)

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, the report is headed Brexit: Will Consumers be Protected? This invites the response that of course they will, but the key question was posed by my noble friend Lord Judd: will they be protected as effectively as at present? Many of the concerns expressed today were also reflected in the debate we have just had on security. I have one general point and a number of subsidiary points.

First, I echo the comments of many colleagues. It has been a privilege to serve on a sub-committee so ably chaired by my noble friend Lady Kennedy, who has led a very happy committee in an exemplary way. On Brexit, as a committee we have dealt with a number of issues. Apart from consumer protection, we have dealt with intellectual property and dispute resolution post Brexit. The common feature of these three recent inquiries is that all have a major impact on UK consumers. None played any serious role in the referendum campaign. None, initially at least, received any serious attention from the Government. Virtually all the witnesses who appeared before us were content that the status quo was the best practically available and that what we were doing effectively was trying to limit the damage to the interests of the public. One feature of the committee, which I noted when I had the privilege of chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee in the other place, was that sometimes the evidence given was important in itself, in that it was conveyed to Government and led to certain concessions or changes in government policy. I hope I was right in detecting a certain difference in tone from the Government as we proceeded.

This debate is welcome but has been delayed considerably. After all, our report was published in December 2017 and the Government’s reply was in February last year, so the passage of time may have had at least some effect. The point has been made about the way in which the Minister tried to pass responsibility for trade standards totally to local authorities, failing to mention the resource problem of local authorities. However, she did hint that,

“we might seek to improve the resourcing available to consumer enforcement prior to Brexit”.

Has any decision been made to follow this up? What has happened?

The network of arrangements for consultation and co-operation that has been developed over the years was mentioned by all the witnesses. For example, the chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute said that,

“a lot of consumer protection is based on relationships with colleagues”.

Clearly these sort of relationships, often informal, are of great importance in the exchange of good practice and information. Surely the danger is that such important informal relationships will atrophy unless provided for in new arrangements. What proposal do the Government have? I concede that many of the bodies are not confined to the European Union, but many are.

I turn now to the fact that, even if there is little immediate effect on consumers, particularly given that the withdrawal Bill converts the body of existing EU law into domestic law, there will certainly be a change over time. As the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, said, the situation is not static. It is a dynamic situation and, over time, the law will be added to and refined, new case law will be developed and our ability to influence the law will be much reduced. As outsiders, clearly we will not be in the driving seat, whatever form of association we develop. What structures do the Government envisage to mitigate the difficulties I have mentioned?

These problems will be particularly acute if there is no deal. The Government conceded the problem in respect of no deal in the several working documents mentioned. For example, they said that, if we leave without a deal,

“there may be an impact on the extent to which UK consumers are protected when buying goods and services in the remaining Member States”.

They warned that:

“UK consumers will … no longer be able to use the UK courts effectively to seek redress from EU based traders”.


The Government concede the adverse effects.

The point I am seeking to make about the consumer protection co-operation regulation has been well made by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and I adopt what he said on that.

The final paragraph of our report invites the Government to, as a matter of urgency, produce a clear plan on how the CMA and national regulators can collaborate with their counterparts in Europe. Over a year later, I see no plan. Can we envisage such a plan?

Swansea Tidal Lagoon: Hendry Review

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

I am grateful to my noble friend for paying tribute to our late friend Lord Crickhowell, who we all miss, and for setting out a number of arguments in favour of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. Obviously, there are a number of matters to consider, not just those that she mentioned but the costs and environmental concerns. We will take all of those into consideration, and, along with the Welsh Government, make an announcement when it is appropriate.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

The review of this project, which is very close to my home, was completed well over a year ago and was positive. What further evidence do the Government need?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, it is not a question of needing further evidence but of considering the evidence that is before us such as that relating to costs—obviously, it would be a very expensive operation—environmental considerations and all other matters. My right honourable friend the Energy Minister has spoken about this, as the noble Lord will be aware, to colleagues in the Welsh Government. All matters should be taken into consideration and an answer will be given at the appropriate time.