Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill
Debate between Lord Popat and Baroness Neville-Rolfe(9 years, 9 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
That the amendments for the Report stage be marshalled and considered in the following order:
Clauses 1 to 41, Schedule 1, Clauses 42 to 77, Schedule 2, Clauses 78 to 81, Schedule 3, Clauses 82 to 84, Schedule 4, Clauses 85 to 94, Schedule 5, Clauses 95 to 97, Schedule 6, Clauses 98 to 111, Schedule 7, Clause 112, Schedule 8, Clauses 113 to 126, Schedule 9, Clauses 127 to 133, Schedule 10, Clauses 134 to 144, Schedule 11, Clauses 145 to 163, Title.
Lord Popat (Con)
My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in the name of my noble friend on the Order Paper.
National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2014
Debate between Lord Popat and Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Lord Popat
That the Grand Committee do consider the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2014.
Relevant document: 5th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
Lord Popat (Con)
My Lords, in moving the first Motion standing in the name of my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe on the Order Paper, I will speak to both Motions. The purpose of these regulations is twofold. The first set of regulations uprates the national minimum wage rates for all workers and increases the maximum amount for living accommodation that counts towards minimum wage pay in line with recommendations from the Low Pay Commission. The second set extends the apprentice rate to cover apprentices on trailblazer apprenticeship programmes—pilots trialling the Government’s apprenticeship reforms—so that apprentices on these pilot programmes are treated in the same way as apprentices on other government apprenticeship programmes.
First, I turn to the national minimum wage rates. The national minimum wage is designed to protect low-income workers and provide an incentive to work by ensuring that all workers receive at least the hourly minimum rates set. The minimum wage also helps businesses by ensuring that competition is based on the quality of goods and services provided and not on low prices based on low rates of pay.
Following advice from the Low Pay Commission, the Government are uprating the minimum wage from 1 October 2014 so that the adult rate will be £6.50 per hour. For young people aged between 18 and 20 years-old, it will be £5.13, and those between 16 and 17 years-old will have a minimum wage rate of £3.79 per hour. Finally, the rate for apprentices will be £2.73 per hour. This is an increase of 3% for the adult rate and 2% for the other rates. This 3% rise in the adult rate will mean that low-paid workers will enjoy the biggest cash increases in their pay packets since 2008. These rate increases will benefit more than 1 million low-paid workers on the national minimum wage and will mean full-time workers on the adult rate receive an additional £355 a year in their pay packet.
The Low Pay Commission has said that the rise—the first real-terms cash increase since 2008—is manageable for employers and will support full employment. Since its introduction, the national minimum wage has increased faster than average wages and inflation without an adverse effect on employment. It has continued to rise each year despite the worst recession in living memory. The Low Pay Commission has proved that a rising minimum wage can go hand in hand with rising employment.
Every year, the Government set the remit for the Low Pay Commission. Last year, we asked the commission to monitor, evaluate and review the national minimum wage and its impact and to review the levels of each of the different minimum wage rates. As part of its remit, the Government also asked the independent body to review the contribution that the national minimum wage could make to the employment prospects of young people.
The Low Pay Commission has consulted with academics, businesses and workers’ representatives, and undertakes extensive research and analysis to respond to this remit. The Low Pay Commission consists of three commissioners from employer backgrounds, three from employee representative backgrounds and three independents. Its recommendations reflect the objectives of both employers and unions, and are unanimous. The aim is that the rate should be affordable for business and that as many workers as possible should benefit from as generous an NMW as possible. The Government believe that the rates set out in the SI meet this objective.
I now turn to the inclusion of trailblazer apprentice programmes under the apprentice national minimum wage. Apprenticeships in England already offer great opportunities for business and young people. Some 96% of employers who take on an apprentice think that their business has benefited. We want to make all apprenticeships world class, so that the programme is rigorous and responsive and meets the changing needs of employers and the future economy. We want the new norm to be two equally prestigious routes to a great career—university or an apprenticeship.
Our reforms of apprenticeships will put employers in the driving seat, enabling them to lead on the design of apprenticeships to make them easy to access and understand. Long complex frameworks will be replaced by short, simple standards describing the skills and knowledge that an individual needs to be fully competent in an occupation. The reforms will increase quality through higher expectations of English and maths with more end-point assessment to ensure that the apprentice is fully competent. We will also raise aspiration for apprentices by introducing grading.
These are significant reforms so we are testing them with trailblazers. Trailblazers, led by small and large employers and professional bodies, are designing apprenticeships for occupations within their sector to make them world class. Trailblazer activity will help to create a sustainable employer model for future apprenticeship development. The first trailblazers were announced in October 2013 with a second phase in March this year.
The first trailblazers were in eight sectors: aerospace, automotive, digital industries, electrotechnical, energy and utilities, financial services, food and drink manufacturing, and life and industrial sciences. They have successfully produced the first apprenticeship standards and most are planning for apprentices to start on them in the next academic year. We want apprentices on these trailblazer apprenticeships to be treated in the same way for minimum wage purposes as other apprentices on government apprenticeship programmes. These regulations therefore add trailblazer apprenticeships to the list of government apprenticeship programmes covered by the apprentice rate.
I remind the Committee of the key benefits of the regulations. First, they uprate the national minimum wage rates in line with recommendations from the Low Pay Commission and, secondly, they add trailblazer apprenticeships to the list of government apprenticeship programmes covered by the apprentice minimum wage rate. I commend the regulations to the Committee.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca
Debate between Lord Popat and Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Lord Popat
My Lords, as I said earlier, as yet there is no formal bid for this merger. The relevant government department is looking into a number of things, including public health and the supply of medicines to the NHS by AstraZeneca. We will have to wait and see what developments take place over the next few weeks on this merger.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
My Lords, I was glad to hear the Minister say that the Government would do whatever was best in the UK public interest in this case. I was disappointed that the Cadbury merger was not fully scrutinised or blocked, and concerned about a succession of takeovers by utility companies, which ensured that they are now owned from Germany or France and that the UK interest is not always preserved. What powers do the Government or the EU have to ensure adequate scrutiny of this important merger, and how will they ensure the observance of any promises on jobs or R&D?
Lord Popat
The noble Baroness makes a very important point. The law already backs boards that feel that a takeover would be against the long-term interests of their company. Directors must have regard to the likely long-term consequences of their decisions. With regard to foreign takeovers, the code was amended to make it explicit that directors are not required to consider the offer price as a determining factor when deciding whether to recommend a bid. They can take full account of the bidders’ plan which, since 2011, has also had to be set out in more detail.
Quite often takeovers or mergers are looked at on a case-by-case basis. Cadbury Schweppes was a classic example of a large takeover. Although there is a limitation on what the Government can do under present legislation, the party opposite, when it was in government, had the opportunity to make the necessary changes. It did not happen, and the Cadbury Schweppes takeover went very smoothly. We are very concerned to make sure that the interests of British research and development and British exports are taken into account if any such merger or takeover takes place.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Debate between Lord Popat and Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Lord Popat
My Lords, under our Funding for Lending scheme, £80 billion has been allocated by the Bank of England, of which some £17.6 billion has been taken up by SMEs. I agree that a large proportion of that is in the property sector. We have relaxed some of the conditions for lending money to SMEs, which are now able to finance their debt or their stock. Hence we will be lending more money to SMEs and this figure is gradually going up. Real lending to businesses is now taking place.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)
My Lords, finance is important for small and medium-sized enterprises right across the board. Can the Minister tell us what the Government are doing to help with cutting red tape? This is one of the most important things for a small business. Finance is important but cutting red tape, which gets in the way of start-ups and small businesses, is also very important for small businesses’ future.