Public Services: Corporate Governance of Businesses

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 13th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, we have always made it quite clear that the importance of public services will come first. In terms of the affair of Carillion, which I think the noble Lord was alluding to without mentioning its name, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State made the situation clear in his initial responses. We have also made it clear that we need to see some degree of reform of corporate governance. That is why we brought forward that reform package and why the Financial Reporting Council has been consulting on its revisions to the code; when those come forward we will take that on further.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Is my noble friend aware that the current Lord Mayor of London has launched a campaign to restore trust in corporate governance and businesses throughout the United Kingdom? In that context, will he join the Lord Mayor of London and extend it beyond that franchise to possibly involve the Institute of Directors, the CBI, the TUC and trade bodies throughout the United Kingdom? As I am sure my noble friend is aware, there is a problem with public trust in the corporate world. Will he make sure that Her Majesty’s Government are absolutely in the vanguard of ensuring that that trust is restored?

[Lord Henley]

I am grateful to my noble friend for that response and I am aware of the Lord Mayor’s campaign. In fact, I was present—if I remember the precise event—at the launch of that campaign by the Lord Mayor. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has also always made her views clear about the importance of corporate governance and reforms thereof. That is why we have brought forward this package and why, as I said, the Financial Reporting Council is consulting on it.

Retail Trade: Online Suppliers

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 28th February 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Competition and Markets Authority about the impact on the United Kingdom retail trade of online suppliers, such as Amazon.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley) (Con)]

My Lords, Her Majesty’s Government want all parts of the retail sector to thrive. As such, we engage regularly with a range of retailers’ associations and the Competition and Markets Authority. If competition is not working effectively, the CMA has powers to investigate and to take action.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Is my noble friend aware of the extent of the dominance of Amazon and the threat that it poses to the retail trade in general and, soon, the grocery trade and pharmaceutical trade? Amazon already controls, in the £1 billion market, 39% of the UK and 57% of the States. Against that background, will the Government level the playing field and consider what France, Germany and so on are looking at in terms of digital taxation, a special sales tax like the USA or indeed a higher rate of VAT, which is possible under our legislation? At the very least, bearing in mind that figure of 39% of today’s £1 billion market in our country, will they set up a monopolies commission inquiry? If they do not, our retail trade as we know it will disappear.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, It is a matter for the CMA to look at these matters. As I said in my original Answer, it has the power to look at that. With regard to some of the aspects of taxation, I believe that Her Majesty’s Government have led the way on this issue internationally. HMRC continues to work with the online marketplaces to ensure effective action against sellers who are, for example, breaking United Kingdom VAT rules and to prevent new non-compliant sellers joining the market. We believe all those multinationals in that world ought to be paying the taxes due and we will not settle for anything less. Other than that, I think my noble friend should accept that many of the changes that are happening in the marketplace are being driven by what the consumer wants, and our job is to ensure that the marketplace can adapt to that.

Small Businesses: Retention

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, as I said, we are considering these matters. The noble Lord quite rightly points out the task force that my right honourable friend has set up; I add that the Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal, will sit on that task force. We will consider all the options as a result of that but we will not rush into legislation; we are going to consider what is appropriate. Perhaps we can give some support to Peter Aldous’s Bill but these matters need to be considered and we will then deal with the problem.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, if the retention moneys at Carillion have gone walkabout, surely that is the legal responsibility of the board of directors of that company and prosecutions should follow accordingly. But in relation to retention moneys in general, in addition to what my colleague the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, suggested, could we not consider the simple principle that if you buy a house and pay a deposit, that money rests with the lawyers for the transaction until such time as completion is made?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am not going to comment on the first part of my noble friend’s question as that is obviously a matter for the official receiver and the legal authorities more generally. On his more general points about retention moneys, we believe they have negative impacts. We want to consider the right way forward, and will then take action.

Energy: Domestic Tariffs

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review their policy on capping domestic energy prices in the light of measures taken by the energy industry to change tariffs to help those most at risk, and to increase competition.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the Government’s intention to legislate, and a draft Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee. The Government will consider the committee’s report before making the final decision on introducing the Bill. The Competition and Markets Authority found a very significant detriment to consumers, and it will take meaningful and long-lasting reform to be assured that there is effective competition across the whole of the market.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I find that a very interesting Answer. When will Her Majesty’s Government look at what Ofwat has done for water consumers, to their benefit, and decide that Ofgem can do an equally good job? Surely Her Majesty’s Government can see that there may not be perfect competition, but there is certainly a lot of competition, with new entrants coming in all the time, and there is an extensive number of schemes to help the disadvantaged. How can a totally uncosted subsidy help when all it will do is disrupt the market even further, above and beyond what is already happening through the Government’s green taxes?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, Ofgem does a very good job, just as my noble friend has made it clear that Ofwat does a very good job. We agree with Ofgem that the energy market is not working for all consumers, and we are determined to address the detriment suffered by those overpaying for their energy. Because the market is not working, we feel that it is necessary to consider introducing a Bill, which is why we have introduced the draft Bill and sent it to the appropriate Select Committee. When the committee has produced its report, we will consider the appropriate way forward and introduce legislation if necessary. That legislation will be temporary, and we hope that afterwards the market can work slightly better.

Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Altmann (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

My Lords, I think my two noble friends are capable of resolving this in some logical, courteous order. To be clear, ladies before gentlemen.

[Lord Naseby]

Normally I would not respond to that but I think perhaps the noble Baroness would recognise the seniority of a privy counsellor in this House. However, I will stand by and sit down for a second. Go on, get up.

[Baroness Altmann]

I thank my noble friend. I congratulate Matthew Taylor on his excellent report and I particularly congratulate the Government on achieving record levels of employment and record low unemployment. It is important that we recognise the benefits to this country’s employment market of flexibility. We have achieved great success; indeed, I point out that when I was business champion for older workers, I found that it is not only students who welcome zero-hours contracts, it is also older people. Does the Minister agree that we need to recognise the increasing importance for people in a pre-retirement phase of being able to work flexibly, part-time and zero hours? Indeed, when McDonald’s offered all its workers on zero-hours contracts the opportunity of fixed contacts, 80% said they wanted to stay on the zero-hours contracts.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

Possibly it trivialises the issue, but it does reflect the fact that these new, app-based jobs are different. I suppose that “gig” is possibly an unfortunate word.

[Lord Naseby]

Is the Minister aware that I had the privilege of working with Matthew Taylor on the child trust fund? I put it to the Minister that this report is excellent. Do the Government recognise that there are three levels—or parties—involved, and that, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, said, the consumer is one? Clearly the workers are absolutely fundamental as well, but fair competition among employers is the third dimension. Is this not an opportunity for Her Majesty’s Government to act almost as a referee by looking at all these aspects and making sure that at every single level there is now fair competition, fair wages and a fair opportunity for all parties to work together?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, as the noble Lord said, there are three parts to this. The report focuses very much on workers and business, and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, said, we ought possibly to look at this issue also through the eyes of the consumer. This is an ideal opportunity for the Government to act, if you like, partly as a referee: ultimately, we do have a clear responsibility in this area and when we have had a chance to consider the report I am sure that we will not disappoint my noble friend.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 26th June 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, this is no ordinary Queen’s Speech, due to two dimensions. First, there is Brexit, to which understandably every government department has to give priority for certainly the best part of two years. The other dimension is that the Session will last two years, which gives us an opportunity to tackle those areas of our society that, for one reason or another, the Cameron Government chose not to deal with.

I start with challenge number one—it is always best to start with something you know about. I have been involved in the housing market ever since I entered politics and stood in Islington North—dare I mention it?—in 1966. I was leader of the council and chairman of the housing committee. I have been a non-executive director of a construction company. Housing, I suggest, is issue number one domestically in this country. We have failed miserably in recent years, in Cameron’s seven years churning out 123,565 homes per year on average. I was a junior housing Minister in opposition in Margaret’s time, and just after that when she took power, we succeeded in building 190,000 a year. Now we need 200,000 to 250,000.

That means that we have to revitalise each sector, including social housing with its two elements. Clearly, local authority council housing has to be revitalised. We need to look again at the housing associations, which means that they must be given some resources and borrowing powers to get on and revitalise what they do so well.

We need to have a look again at new towns. I had the privilege of serving Northampton for nearly 25 years—a highly successful new town. Next door is Milton Keynes, which is equally successful, and down the road even dear old Stevenage did a pretty good job. It works, so let us see some new towns and consider that area.

Above all, one area that I feel really strongly about is young people. When I bought my first house in Islington for £7,000, I was given some help in getting the mortgage and even more help with a cash grant to put in a decent WC and water et cetera. I bought another one later on and did exactly the same. Young people need some form similar to that, and I am certainly willing to be a volunteer to help in that area.

Secondly, there is the challenge of energy. I served on the Select Committee on Energy. Our problem today is not messing around with the margin of cost—I do not know why we ever had anything to do with price caps, not least because Ofgem suggested they would not work. Today’s challenge in energy is security of supply. We already have very limited gas storage facilities, and we now read that the biggest field, the Rough field, is closing. On top of that, we know that Qatar is in a sense a problem for gas storage supply. We have to address that issue.

Thirdly, there is the challenge in industry and commerce. I highlight the retail trade. I have raised six Questions on the Floor of your Lordships’ House about business rates, and only in the last manifesto did I read that the Government will possibly look at a proper reform of business rates. Did no one understand that if we put up business rates—by up to 500% for some shops—people will go out of business? We can see it in the high street. It is obvious that the rates are killing off the retail trade. There is a disparity between the charges for online retailers who use warehouses, who pay only one-eighth of what is paid on the high street. There is bound to be unfair competition. Added to that is the fact that there is supposed to be an appeals system, but that is not happening; it is not working.

Added to that, there is supposed to be a £300 million special fund to help, but here we are three months into the new system and the funds are there—they have been given to local government—but nobody has chased up local government to ensure that they have been distributed to the retailers affected. We were told in your Lordships’ House that, basically, the change would be cost neutral, and I have discovered that Her Majesty’s Government have received an extra £1 billion. That is not cost neutral, as far as I am concerned.

I end by saying that there is much work to be done on the ground. We need to look at competition policy and support for SMEs. If we are short of money—which we are—why not recognise that, if we actually got a grip on tobacco smuggling, it would save £2.8 billion. That is an awful lot of money, and maybe we should do a bit of digging and do something about that.

Brexit: Medical Research and Innovation

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

All I can do is repeat that it is too early to speculate on detailed issues such as the future of the European Medicines Agency, but our approach remains to be fully open and supportive of scientists, researchers and our medical strength. This is particularly famous in the UK because of the National Health Service, which provides such a good base for our medical and pharmaceutical industries.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Is my noble friend aware that one has only to go up to Cambridge and look at the number of start-up companies that are there, then open up the file on the new companies dealing with medical discovery going on the AIM market, to have some considerable reassurance that the industry is confident of the future, recognises that there will be some transitional challenges but, as before we joined the EU, will continue to be a leader in medical research?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I entirely agree with my noble friend. The fund for backing priority technologies, which we have announced today, will further support the UK’s potential to turn strengths in research into a global, industrial and commercial lead.