Hospitality Industry

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My noble friend makes an important point, and it links in well with some of the other questions that we considered. Before we reach for the easy solution of immigration, we want to make sure that all opportunities are offered to people who are already in this country and that those who are unemployed and claiming benefits can get back into work. That would be a great thing, and we will do all we can to assist that process.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister answered the first Question by telling us about all the sources of economic information that his department collected on the hospitality industry. Subsequently, he has told us that he is concerned about the economic costs, and he quoted a precise figure of the costs of the transport disputes on the hospitality sector. What is his department’s assessment—plus or minus—of the economic effects of leaving the European Union?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The figure I quoted was based on anecdotal evidence that was given to us, but there are lots of different figures flying around for all sorts of different impacts. The biggest impact, of course, was from the Covid pandemic, and clearly energy price rises have had an impact. We keep all of these matters under review.

Prepayment Meters

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness says I do not understand, but I have lived in properties with prepayment meters and I very much understand the issues. No one is forced to have a smart meter or a pre- payment meter, either, except in the limited circumstances that I have outlined, particularly for customers who are in levels of debt, and we have put in place a number of measures to try to reduce that as much as possible. I have outlined the steps that we are taking with suppliers to make sure that those are imposed on customers only in the last possible circumstances.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, the argument that the Minister has trotted out, that it costs more to sustain customers who are on prepayment meters and that is why they pay more, is of course based on the days—I remember writing about this 40 years ago—when people used to put coins in the machine and then somebody had to come and empty the box. That necessarily cost the suppliers more. Nowadays, however, people have to go and have their key recharged and pay in advance, so the companies are getting the money earlier than they do for everyone else on a credit meter. So why are these customers paying more?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am well aware of how the system works. The fact remains that to put in place commissions to shops and others that sell the credit to service prepayment customers over those who pay via direct debit costs suppliers more. Under the licence conditions that have existed for many years, suppliers are permitted to recover what it costs to operate those particular customers.

Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point: it is vital to get the buy-in and support of the postmasters for the operation of the inquiry. I hope that we will get that. If there are any shortcomings in the process of the inquiry, we will not hesitate to go further, if necessary. My understanding is that the inquiry is proceeding well. Sir Wyn is getting on with his work; he is a well-respected judge in this field, and will hold some public hearings in June, which will, we hope, draw more attention to these matters. We will keep it under review, and I hope he will get the support of the postmasters, because that is vital to ensure that the inquiry is robust.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) [V]]

The Minister said that the Horizon IT system had “real problems”. That is a huge understatement, given the misery caused to hundreds of sub-postmasters who had been serving their communities for many years. The Statement says nothing about Horizon’s manufacturer, Fujitsu, a company that continues as a trusted partner of HMRC, the Department for Education, the Cabinet Office, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence and no doubt many other government departments. The NHS had to sack Fujitsu for a huge IT programme which, like Horizon, did not work. The company’s response was to demand £700 million in compensation. The Minister did not answer my noble friend Lady Hayter’s question: how much compensation will Fujitsu be paying those whose lives it knowingly wrecked with its Horizon software? What assessment have the Government made of what this scandal says about other Fujitsu software embedded in so many government departments?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

Fujitsu has been rightly and severely criticised in much of the judgment, but the noble Lord will understand that compensation from Fujitsu is a contractual matter between the Post Office and Fujitsu. I am pleased by and welcome the fact that Fujitsu continues to co-operate fully with Sir Wyn’s inquiry. The noble Lord is right to say that Fujitsu provides a range of services across government and, of course, many parts of the private sector. We are not at the moment aware of any other problems in its systems.

Global Navigation Satellite System

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Wednesday 10th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The answer to the noble Baroness’s first question is no. The UK National Space Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will continue to play an important role in future government affairs.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register. The Blackett review into critical dependency on the GNSS was published in January 2018. What progress has been made on the review’s first recommendation that operators of this critical national infrastructure should report on how vulnerable their systems are to a failure or interruption of the GNSS network? The Cabinet Office was tasked with assessing our overall dependency on these systems. When will this be published, along with an action plan to remedy any weaknesses and the proposals for back-up systems called for by Oliver Dowden, then the Cabinet Office Minister?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The UK PNT strategy group is developing the UK’s first national PNT strategy, which includes a review of critical dependencies and actions. Decisions on the publication of the strategy and leadership for implementation are subject to a wider review of PNT governance being led by the Cabinet Office.

National Security and Investment Bill

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Thursday 4th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, we were all delighted to hear my noble friend Lord Woodley’s maiden speech. I welcome him to your Lordships’ House, and I suspect noble Lords will find him a unique and distinctive voice in this House in the years to come.

I declare my interests as chair of the new National Preparedness Commission, which brings together business, government, academia and civil society, with a purpose of promoting better preparedness in the UK for a major crisis or incident.

The last five years of political discourse have been supposed to be about “taking back control”, allowing this country to make its own decisions and operate independently of other nations—the Minister may recall some of those discussions. However, this is a time of rapid geopolitical change, as US pre-eminence gives way to a multipolar world. China is emerging as a dominant economic power, and the noble Lord, Lord Robathan, described the process by which it is strengthening its world role by ostensibly benign investment. Russia is using hybrid means to maximise its influence, and there are, of course, other nation states that are potential hostile actors. As such, we have little Britain in the world, surrounded by powers that may not be entirely benign.

There is no use taking back control if that independence is a fantasy because other nation states have the ability to control your infrastructure. As the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, says, such matters as our water supply or financial payments system are not included in the definition of the critical national infrastructure—but we would very rapidly notice if they were compromised or damaged in any way. Of course, it is not just ownership but what goes into the infrastructure: the components. This brings us to Huawei, to which my noble friend Lord Rooker referred, as did the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup. However, as the latter pointed out, this Bill does not address the concerns that many people had about Huawei.

We have to recognise that we have a growing reliance on ever more complex and interconnected systems, which creates vulnerabilities, as, in critical services, new systems are overlaid on top of legacy systems in a way that, in some cases, is now almost impossible to disentangle and beyond the experience of many of those responsible for running and maintaining them. This creates its own risks, even before you consider the possibility of external threats being placed at the heart of such complex systems and potentially being manipulated by overseas interests.

Therefore, the Bill is necessary but not necessarily sufficient. Clearly, mechanisms in it need to be proportionate and speedy; I am sure your Lordships’ House will return to this in Committee. Similarly, security issues need to be reviewed by the Intelligence and Security Committee, as my noble friends Lady Hayter and Lord West have said. This has to be written into the Bill, so why is it not there? I hope that, when he responds, the Minister will be able to reassure us that this will be corrected by the Government without this House having to intervene.

The other side of this is: we must not stifle research and innovation. However, we have to recognise that cutting-edge research may be precisely the areas where security is most important, so balancing inward investment in that research needs to be looked at very carefully in the context of security and what that cutting-edge research could deliver.

When he introduced the Bill, the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, reminded us of the importance of inward investment, but, of course, with that, there is a form of dependency. If we are talking about a nation that is able to “take back control”, we do have to look at these issues, at that form of dependency and at the potential infringement of our security.

My noble friend Lord McNicol talked about the need for an industrial strategy. He is absolutely right: we need to balance our need for external investment with our national security, which means that we need what is fundamentally an holistic and systemic approach to the security of our infrastructure and to inward investment. If having an explicitly named industrial strategy is a step too far for the Minister, perhaps he will at least acknowledge that our approach to these questions should be holistic and systemic. He could tell your Lordships’ House how this will be done and who will be responsible for delivering that balance. I am not sure that this Bill provides such an approach, but it is a useful start and step on the journey to taking back control in a meaningful sense.

Post Office: Horizon Accounting System

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Tuesday 6th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)]

My Lords, I think we have dealt with both questions there.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, we are all very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Arbuthnot, for continuing to press this issue doggedly over the last decade. Under the framework document, the Post Office business plan must address

“the state of the relationship … with the community of postmasters.”

The sole shareholder—the Government—is required to meet the CEO

“at least twice a year”.

Ministers have known all about this grotesque scandal. It is not good enough to hide behind the pretence that these matters were merely operational. At how many of those biannual meetings did the Minister pursue this? If he did not, surely that is negligence? If he did, why has it taken so long?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I am not the Minister directly responsible for the Post Office; Paul Scully is the Minister who is directly responsible. He has regular meetings with the Post Office chief executive, and, indeed, I have also met him to discuss this matter. This scandal has been going on for the best part of a decade now, through successive Governments and Ministers. We are not trying to hide behind anything. That is why we have announced this inquiry with a High Court judge to try to get the bottom of these matters. It has been extensively looked at and the High Court opined on it, but we think that more can be done, and I assure the noble Lord that we want to see these matters properly examined and the appropriate blame apportioned.

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

SAGE is an apolitical body. It helps the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser to fulfil his role to ensure that the Government have access to the best possible science advice in a rapid and timely manner. As I said earlier, the participants at SAGE depend on the nature of the emergency, but it typically includes leading experts from within government and leading specialists from academia and industry.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, on the “Today” programme this morning, a Government Minister was asked why, in trumpeting the number of items of PPE equipment that he claimed had been delivered to the front line, a pair of gloves was counted as two items. He responded robotically with the mantra, “We are following the scientific advice.” I cannot believe that SAGE has opined on pairs of gloves, but this demonstrates that Ministers are using SAGE as a sort of human shield. That makes it all the more important that SAGE and its discussions are as transparent as possible. Will the noble Lord tell us whether the Government will bring forward the publication of a full note of the discussions of each meeting, ideally within 24 hours of the meeting finishing? If not, will he tell us why this is impossible?

[Lord Callanan]

I agree with the noble Lord that transparency, including on the evidence informing the views of SAGE, is important in helping to maintain the public’s trust and helping to grow understanding of the disease. As I said earlier, and as is normal procedure except in cases of national security, the minutes of SAGE will be published at the end of the pandemic.

Covid-19: Financial Markets

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan]

I thank my noble friend for his comments but taking short and long positions allows for the hedging of risks, and short selling can therefore benefit a wide range of investors, not just hedge funds, by helping them to manage the risk in their portfolios, particularly when the market is volatile. Many of these investors are ordinary investors, including pension funds for employees of companies and local government. However, I understand my noble friend’s point, and the regulators are closely monitoring activity. I cannot comment on the figures that he quoted about the extent of short selling in recent days but overall, the FCA’s reporting data shows that aggregate net short selling activity reported to the FCA is low as a percentage of total market activity and has in fact decreased over successive recent days.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register as chair of National Trading Standards and of the Fundraising Regulator for charities. The Minister just responded in quite strange ways to the profiteering by some hedge funds. Would he also like to comment on the profiteering that has taken place, with many retailers jacking up the prices of commodities that currently appear to be in short supply? I am sure he is also aware that many outrageous and unscrupulous scammers are going round, preying on all sorts of people, including some who are very elderly, by purporting to be offering Covid-19 cures or testing, and there are even people going around claiming to collect money for Covid-19-related charities which do not exist. What powers and extra support will the Government give to stamp down on all those practices?

[Lord Callanan]

I thank the noble Lord for his question. He is right to draw attention to the profiteering from a small number of retailers. We are aware of that and are looking urgently at what legal powers and frameworks are in place in order for us to do something about it. We will not hesitate to take any action that is required. With regard to his second point, I am afraid that, sad to say, a small number of unscrupulous and callous individuals will always seek to take advantage of any crisis.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Callanan]

The noble Lord makes a good point. I am sure that the FCA and the regulators are closely watching what is happening in all markets. As I mentioned, when short selling, certainly in European markets, is banned in certain exchanges, we also limit trading in those countries. So, yes, it is something that we monitor closely.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

The noble Lord will be aware that his right honourable friend the Prime Minister constantly evokes comparisons with the leadership shown during the Second World War. During that war, profiteering was considered a very serious matter, yet we have just heard that nothing is going to happen very quickly on short selling. Given that the Minister dismissed the activities of scammers preying on vulnerable people simply as something that happens all the time, and given that the aim is to try to get everyone in this country to work together and to support each other, does he not think that the Government should take firmer action?

[Lord Callanan]

I certainly did not dismiss that activity; I said that it was appalling and callous, and obviously I wish that people would not indulge in it. However, criminal law and sanctions exist for activities of this sort. We have some powers in this area, and the department’s officials are looking at this matter at the moment. If wrongdoing and illegal activity are proven, we will not hesitate to take the strongest possible action. I view this activity as appalling and I apologise to the noble Lord if I did not give that impression in my earlier answer.

Smart Meters

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Monday 8th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I cannot help the noble Baroness on the first figure she asked for, but if some figures are available, I shall certainly write to her. Earlier meters will be enrolled in the Data Communications Company infrastructure by the end of 2020, which I hope will help on that front. We are expecting to provide bill savings of some £1.2 billion by 2030, making the programme a very good investment for the country.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register. The network of smart meters will obviously be part of the so-called internet of things. What assessment have the Government made of the cybersecurity of smart meters, of the extent to which they could be turned into a sort of super bot to attack all parts of our infrastructure or commerce, and of the instability in demand for electricity they could create by all of them switching on and off at the same time?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the noble Lord is quite right to point to dangers on that front. The Government will continue to keep the situation under review, but I can assure the noble Lord that we are not aware of any concerns.

Holiday Accommodation

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

Again, I do not think I can take the noble Baroness much further than in previous answers, other than to note what she says and promise that it will be taken into account.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, I may have misread the Question, because I thought it was about the transparency of the costs of holiday accommodation—although we have covered many other interesting points. But can the Minister tell the House what the Government plan to do about search engines such as Google which have a mechanism for ensuring that it is not always immediately transparent whether they are displaying those offers where they get a rake-off—or are paid for advertising—high up their list? More particularly, what will the Government do about biases in their listings of the prices of particular holiday accommodation? I refer to my interests in the register.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, I probably misread the Question, because I thought it was going to be about the matters that he referred to—I did not think we would be talking about food regulations in restaurants. But that is by the by. I agree with him, however, that one needs to be careful about the consumer comparison sites. It is an area that might need further regulation; it might not. At the moment, however, I think that such sites can help consumers compare costs of holiday accommodation—for hotel bookings or whatever.