Environment and Climate Emergency

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, following the comments on Heathrow, I do not think the noble Baroness would expect me to comment on every development or building project in the country. The Climate Change Committee has said that it believes we can meet our targets with Heathrow, but we are awaiting further advice from the committee. If it wishes to comment on the Oxford to Cambridge expressway, or we feel it necessary to do so, we will do so.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, if the Government are serious about climate change, do we not need to do much more about population growth around the world? I have visited some of the African states and, as the Minister knows, hardly any birth control methods are available to local communities. Should we not do more on this issue?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I believe that birth control is at the forefront of the Department for International Development’s concerns, but the noble Lord will be aware that the rate of population increase is slowing. Many people are saying there is a good chance that it will plateau by the middle to the end of the century. We will continue to play our part in that.

Employment: Automation

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 1st April 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, my noble friend is quite right: they found new jobs, better jobs, more highly skilled jobs and, probably, more interesting jobs.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government have quite rightly tried to deal with the issue of skills training in the UK, but it is quite clear that the FE colleges have been starved of resources for the last few years. What are the Government going to do to put that money back into the FE sector so that it can provide the skills that we need?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I could go on at length about what the Government are doing in terms of funding for new training, starting with the £506 million we have offered for maths, digital and technical education including, and including the £100 million we have committed to the first stage of developing the national retraining schemes to support people vulnerable to technological change. With the seven minutes I have, I will leave it there. There is a great deal going on. That is what the industrial strategy is all about.

Home Care Workers

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 28th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I did not want to comment on any individual case, but what my noble friend has said sounds completely and utterly wrong. As I have said, the law is clear. I recommend that my noble friend tells her friend to take advice from ACAS, which I hope would then recommend enforcement by HMRC.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that the minimum wage was introduced to give an hourly wage? If that person is travelling and not being paid, does that not undermine the principle of an hourly minimum wage?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the point is that the travelling time between the two jobs should be taken into account: it should be part of what is called the pay reference period. One should look at the whole pay reference period and make sure that it is compliant with the minimum wage legislation. If there is any doubt, take advice from ACAS.

Smart Meters

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the companies have been installing the SMETS 1 meters and we are now moving on to SMETS 2. Changes happen when one moves from a SMETS 1 to a SMETS 2 but the same benefits will still be available when consumers switch supplier in due course, and they will be able to benefit from those. There will be a slight delay in that but by 2020, all those who switch will find that they have the same benefits on SMETS 1 as they have on SMETS 2.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, when it is 2020 and everyone has the smart meters, it will be possible for those smart meters to choose the lowest cost provider. If they do that, consumers will all swap to one provider and that will put the rest of the companies into bankruptcy, meaning there will be no competition at all.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I know that noble Lords opposite do not like competition but the advantage of this system is that it offers choice to the consumer and, as the noble Lord quite rightly says, will offer the ability for people to move on to an app that will allow them to choose the cheapest supplier. Once there is competition, I think the noble Lord will find that the 60 or 70 supplier companies involved will compete among themselves to offer the best possible deals.

High Street Retailers

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I was not aware that it was my noble friend’s 12th Question, but it appears that the House was. I appreciate that the rates review affects quite a number of businesses, but our estimation is that some 70% of businesses will see either no change or a reduction. Obviously, it affects different areas differently; in London it has affected businesses more severely, whereas in the north-west, where I come from, there have been some considerable gainers.

As for the unfair competition my noble friend talked about, particularly in relation to the wider question of taxing the digital economy, as he is aware, my right honourable friend the Chancellor is looking at that issue to make sure that things are fair between different types of retailer, whether they are digital or store-based.

On his final point, about parking, I note what he says and hope that other local authorities note what he says. From my personal experience, I have noticed that some local authorities reduce their parking charges, which has a beneficial effect on retail in that area. I have similarly noticed that in other areas the effect of parking charges can be to the detriment of the high street.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, I know that the Government like reviews, but may I suggest that this problem has been with us for some time now and it is action we want, not reviews? Secondly, would the Government consider helping local authorities to downsize some of their town centres, because empty shops just make the situation even worse?

[Lord Henley]

I agree that empty shops make the situation worse. It is up to local authorities to look at what can be done, but we are in a changing environment. Some 10 years ago, 4.5% of retail was online; it is now 17%. That is what the consumer wants and, in the end, the consumer has to be king in a sector such as retail. It is up to the sector itself—that is why the Government want to talk to the sector—to look at the changing nature of what is happening and adapt to that change.

Brexit: Fashion Industry

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, on the overall number of statutory instruments that will be required, different people have put forward different estimates of very large numbers. As regards this particular subject, as far as I know, we need just one statutory instrument. There might be more, and I will write to the noble Lord if that is the case. Whether they will be affirmative or negative is again something that I cannot answer at this stage, but I will write to the noble Lord if a decision has been made.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords—

Public Services: Corporate Governance of Businesses

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 13th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, as I said, the code and its revisions will be important, but it is also important that shareholders play their part in this process. We have considered that and it is why we have already brought forward certain reforms to increase shareholders’ knowledge. For example, shareholders can now see when companies have significant shareholder opposition to directors’ pay. The Investment Association’s public register was launched in December and a number of investors—that is, shareholders—are already using this information as a tool to inform their voting in the upcoming reporting season. If we can improve shareholders’ knowledge, that will improve what they can do in controlling their companies.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, would it not be a good idea to have representatives from the workforce on these boards to break up the old boys’ network that exists on a lot of boards? That way we would get some proper public accountability.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, we think it is very important that the voice of those working for companies should be heard on the board. In the Corporate Governance Reform Green Paper we made it clear that companies should have flexibility to choose how best to engage with their employees, and there are a number of different ways they can do that. They can have an independent director who represents employee views, an employee advisory council or a director directly from the workforce. There are a number of options. It is certainly something that should be looked at.

Parental Leave: Statutory Pay

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is going slightly wider than the original Question on the Order Paper, which relates to shared parental leave. However, I am very happy to say that, like Iceland, we have a female Prime Minister, and long may that continue.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

What would the Minister see as a successful take-up rate for males? Would it be 50%, 60%, 70% or 80%? Can he give an estimate of what the government policy is intended to deliver?

[Lord Henley]

No, my Lords. I have made it quite clear that we want to evaluate the system and, as I said in answer to one of the noble Lord’s colleagues, to see how it can benefit as many people as possible. It is benefiting some at the moment. Take-up is relatively low but broadly in line with what we originally estimated it to be. We want to see whether that can be improved so that more can benefit from it, but obviously we also want to take into account the costs to the taxpayer involved in any changes to the scheme.

European Structural and Investment Funds

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 12th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, the noble Baroness will not expect me to give commitments of that sort, but she will know that the shared prosperity fund will aim to improve the United Kingdom’s productivity and reduce economic inequalities across the entire United Kingdom. Therefore, some of it will presumably be directed at Cornwall. The important matter that the noble Baroness should be aware of is the fresh opportunity to spend money according to our own priorities rather than those set by the EU. I think that even the noble Baroness would agree with that.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that in the past Conservative Governments have reduced funding to areas that have been in receipt of structural funds. Can he guarantee that in any new scheme there will be no reduction this time and it will be additional? Those reductions are one of the reasons our regions are not as prosperous as they should be.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, again the noble Lord will not expect me to give any specific guarantees at this stage. He knows why we have introduced the shared prosperity fund and that we also have the Industrial Strategy White Paper. In that White Paper, we refer to the inequalities between the regions, particularly in relation to productivity but also in other respects. It seems to me obvious, therefore, that we would want to devote the shared prosperity fund—the name of which gives some indication of what it is supposed to do—to doing just that.

Brexit: Aerospace and Automotive Industries

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, it is clear that there is a huge mutuality of interest in negotiating a free, frictionless trade agreement between the EU and the UK. In the car industry and industries where, as the noble Baroness indicated in her question, there are integrated supply chains, it is doubly in the interests of both parties to negotiate such an agreement.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Why is it that the Foreign Secretary says one thing and the Prime Minister says another? Surely, the industry knows what is good for itself. The industry is quite clear that we need a deal, but the Foreign Secretary says that it is unimportant and we can walk away.

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I think it is clear, as the Prime Minister has said—and the Government subscribe to the views of the Prime Minister—that we would like to negotiate a free trade agreement with the European Union with as few non-tariff barriers as possible. If we are not able to negotiate such an agreement, we will fall back on the WTO rules.