Hunting Act 2004
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Lord Bates
They might be, but the question is: which Ministers? The power to vary the exemptions was in the Act introduced by the Labour Government in 2004. Section 2(2) provides for the ability to amend Schedule 1 to the Act. We are simply taking the opportunity and advantage of the provision that they wisely put into the legislation.
Lord De Mauley (Con)
My Lords, to what does my noble friend attribute the behaviour of the Scottish National Party, which appears to oppose amending the law in England so that it is aligned with that in Scotland and which a few months ago undertook not to do what it says it would now do?
Economy: Growth
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, my support for the Chancellor of the Exchequer is unstinting. On the subject of the IMF forecast that the noble Lord raised, I point out that the forecast for the eurozone, where 40% of our exports go, is a contraction of 0.3%. It is of course concerning but hardly surprising that our forecast has been affected, so it is all the more impressive that the private sector jobs figures that I referred to earlier have outstripped so substantially the job losses in the public sector. Furthermore, as I said, manufacturing output is up, and exports to countries outside the EU are substantially up. All that must be good news, as is the news on inflation, which is good for both businesses and families. The director of the IMF’s fiscal affairs department said, following the announcement, that we should not change course on deficit reduction.
Lord Bates
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the north-east of England is the only region of the country that exports more than it imports? Is he further aware that figures for the past quarter show that those exports are now at record levels? Is he further aware that today unemployment in the north-east fell for the first time in two quarters? Does he recognise that this is a welcome progression, and will he ensure that the Government continue to make sure that they back winners rather than pick winners?
Lord De Mauley
Yes, my Lords, I agree with my noble friend. The issue is one of confidence. I will tell noble Lords who else thinks that we are doing the right thing. Last month BMW announced a £250 million investment to increase production of Minis, on top of the £500 million investment it announced last June. Ford is putting £1.5 billion into R and D and manufacturing over the next five years. Nissan is building the electric Leaf car, with an associated battery factory, in Sunderland. Toyota is producing Europe’s first mass-produced fully hybrid car and engine in the UK.
Youth Unemployment
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley(12 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Bates
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord. I congratulate him on securing this very important and timely debate. His moving story of how he secured his first employment reminded me of the vital importance of human intervention. We often deal in schemes, numbers and bureaucracy and forget that these are real people who can be excited and motivated.
My interest in the unemployed is exercised in a practical sense through my role as a patron of Tomorrow’s People in the north-east of England, which works with hard-to-reach young unemployed people and tries to inspire them to get into work. There is no doubt that it can make a profound difference to young people to interact with people who believe in them—perhaps they are the first people to do so—tell them that they can achieve things and that they are a solution rather than a problem. Work is going on as we speak in that body’s Working It Out programme, which is taking hard-to-reach young unemployed people in the north-east of England, who often come from households who have been unemployed for generations, and is getting 75% of them into employment or training. Given that those people often have no qualifications, I find that inspiring, as is the transformational effect on their self-confidence of starting employment or training, which the noble Lord also spoke of.
I also completely agree with the noble Lord’s analysis of the vital importance of education in this area and applaud the work that he did when he was an education Minister to promote the academies programme. I know he will find it every bit as frustrating as do current Ministers that often areas where there is greatest need are the last to get the quality of education that they require. It is all well and good saying, “Wouldn’t it be great if more free schools and academies went to the areas where they are most needed?”, but, having tried to set up an academy and a free school in an area where they are most needed in the north-east of England, I found that they were fought tooth and nail every inch of the way by dog-in-the-manger local education authorities and trade unions, which blocked their paths. I find it deeply frustrating to see people wring their hands while talking about the young unemployed but then deny them the education which could provide them with a pathway into employment.
I also very much respect the way that the debate was introduced because it recognised that youth unemployment has been a long-term trend, as was set out in the helpful briefing pack that we received for this debate from the House of Lords Library. Youth unemployment was not invented in May 2010; it has been rising steadily. As Demos says:
“Before the financial crisis hit, youth unemployment had already been on the rise. In fact, UK youth unemployment has risen … as a share of total unemployment for the past 20 years”.
It also observes that from January to March this year the rate was 1.7% lower than the previous year. That is an important point. Although 1.02 million young people being unemployed is a tragedy, we must remember that before the last election the figure was 923,000 and on a rising track. Thankfully, that figure is now beginning to come down just a little, although of course not fast enough.
I want to devote my contribution to what is happening in the north-east of England. I think that there is something else missing from the debate here. It is more than a scheme or a government grant; it is telling young people that there are opportunities out there if they search for them and are willing to push for them. Before the last election, the north-east suffered a series of blows to employment, with the job losses at Nissan and the shelving of the Hitachi trains order. I know that the noble Lord, as Secretary of State, argued vigorously with his friends at the Treasury over that order, but it was shelved. That was followed by the closure of the Corus steel plant. However, over the past couple of years, we have seen the reopening of the plant; we have seen Nissan recruit 2,000 people directly or through the supply chain, and we have seen the £4.5 billion Hitachi trains order go ahead, and that will create 1,000 jobs in Newton Aycliffe. In recent weeks, we have seen Offshore Group Newcastle announce 1,000 new jobs building foundations for wind farms. Moreover, over the past year the number of jobs in the accommodation and food services sector in the north-east has increased by 9,000, up by 12.8%; jobs in science and technology in the north-east have increased by 8,000, or 13.6%; and the number of jobs in the arts and entertainment have increased by 22.4%.
I make those points not in any way to diminish the fact that there is a very serious problem but to stress that if we drum into young people that there are no opportunities, the situation is absolutely dire and there is no hope, we should not be surprised to find that that is the world view they take, asking themselves, “What is the point of applying?”. There are things happening.
Government have a role in this. It is not just about what the private sector is doing; the Government have a role and a social responsibility, and that is referred to in the title of this debate. I would argue that they are exercising that role in a number of ways. As the ACEVO report mentioned, what we need more than anything else is job opportunities—we need businesses to create more jobs. Therefore, it is very important that we see things such as corporation tax being reduced from 26% to 24% and then to 22%, and the freezing of business rates, and it is important that new start-up companies will not have to pay national insurance contributions for the first year when taking young people out of unemployment. These things make a difference. We have seen £1 billion going into the Youth Contract. In addition, the regional growth fund has invested £157 million in the north-east of England, with 33% of the projects that the fund has committed to being in the north-east. Get Britain Building was a programme announced in the Budget, with £28 million invested in the north-east, delivering 750 homes and supporting more than 1,500 jobs in the construction industry.
The north-east is home to two of the enterprise zones. Of course, there is also the element of making work opportunities—particularly low-paid work opportunities—attractive to young people. Raising the tax thresholds, which has taken 84,000 north-east people out of paying tax altogether, is making those positions more competitive and giving people a better wage than was the case before those thresholds were raised. We have seen the number of apprenticeships in the north-east rise by 87% in the previous year—up from 18,510 to 34,550. There is absolutely no doubt that more can be done, but my argument is that a lot is being done and the picture is not as dark as it is sometimes painted in the media. There are opportunities out there and we ought to encourage people to realise their dreams and use the full talents that they have been given.
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, I draw noble Lords’ attention to the fact that Back-Bench contributions are time-limited to 7 minutes.
Employment Law
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, the noble Lord asked whether any other countries had in effect a micro-exemption. Germany does. He was also concerned about discrimination. Broadening the question, I will say that the Government will not tolerate discrimination in the workplace.
Lord Bates
My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that the whole thrust and purpose of the review is to get people hiring again, not to get them firing, and that it is part of a growth assessment? Does he agree that it stands to reason that there must be one set of rules for large employers—the Vauxhalls, the Tescos—with huge HR departments? If one of their workers underperforms, they can provide them with the necessary supervision, training and reskilling. However, where a firm has only two or three employees, if one underperforms then up to 50% of the workforce is underperforming. The firm will not have an HR department or supervisory skills, and did not employ a firm of global headhunters to hire the person in the first place. Therefore, different rules need to be considered.
Immigration: Brook House
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, I am sorry to disappoint the noble Lord, but today I am briefed specifically on Brook House. However, I will ensure that I write to him with an answer to his question.
Lord Bates
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that Brook House as a removal centre is designed to hold detainees for a maximum of three days, but the chief inspector’s report found that more than 17 per cent of the detainees there had been held for longer than three months? Will he look into why that is the case?
Lord De Mauley
Yes, my Lords. It is the Government’s firm intention to keep the length of detention to the shortest possible period. However, in some cases detainees cause delays by failing to comply with the removal process, in particular by refusing to provide accurate information about their nationality and identity. While we always seek to release a person where there is no longer a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable time frame, noble Lords will agree that we none the less have a duty to protect the public from those who pose a risk of harm, in particular those who have committed serious criminal offences. The vast majority of detainees at Brook House fall into this category. However, the Government are committed to finding ways of removing people more quickly.
Government Spending
Debate between Lord Bates and Lord De Mauley(14 years, 6 months ago)
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Lord De Mauley
My Lords, I share with the noble Lord a grave concern about unemployment. I point out to him that, at the end of 13 years of Labour government, unemployment was higher than it was at the beginning. We will do our level best to tackle unemployment and keep it under control.
Lord Bates
My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that the current national debt amounts to some £893 billion run up by the party opposite when they were in government, and that the responsible cuts that he is proposing today therefore amount to less than 1 per cent of the total? Would he care to speculate about the consequences for small businesses, for unemployment and for the most vulnerable if firm action were not to be taken to tackle the debt mountain that has been left for us?
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Bates is quite correct. I have said that the Government believe that the effect of not making cuts, feeding through into higher interest rates, would be vastly worse for small businesses and for unemployment than the effect of making those cuts.