Mobile Phone and Broadband Prices

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The resilience of our network is absolutely critical. A fibre network is more resilient to many shocks, so the move to fibre will provide more resilience in the future. It is very important that in this transition from the PSTN to the fibre network, vulnerable customers are supported and have the back-up they need in cases of power cuts, and so on. The transition from the PSTN to the other network has already taken place for a large number of consumers in this country and is well on track towards the final handover.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can I bore the House again? Our regulators are some of the worst in the world and they are letting the public down. We are not holding them to account. Is it not about time that some of these individuals got sacked and replaced by people who will protect the public?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

There are very important roles for our regulators. There are also very important governance systems in place that govern how regulators work and how they are accountable to Parliament. I do not think there is any case at present to take the action my noble friend suggests.

Employee Car Ownership Schemes

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 8th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

As the owner of an EV, I have a vested interest in this. The taxation of motoring is a critical source of funding for public services and investment infrastructure, including the upkeep of our roads. Fuel excise duty is £24 billion to the national tax take, and it is important, as we transition to our climate change initiatives, that we balance this fairly so that everyone who uses the roads pays their equal share. Historically, motoring taxation has been structured around two elements: taxation on usage of the vehicle and taxation on the ownership of the vehicle. This transition means that all vehicles shall contribute fairly to the wear and tear of the roads, but drivers of petrol and diesel will pay fuel duty, whereas drivers of electric vehicles will not pay the current equivalent. I refer noble Lords to the Government’s policy on the specifics of how that shall be taxed and taken.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Mr Lords, this is a difficult time for the British car industry and it is a welcome announcement that this matter has been put off for some time. Will the Government continue to monitor car production problems in the car industry and review whether this policy should be implemented at the appropriate time?

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for the question. As I stated previously, as part of our modern industrial strategy we are committed to the automotive sector. Our ability to defer the start date for this particular policy shows that we are in open dialogue. We will continue with that dialogue.

Data Adequacy Status: EU Data Protection Standards

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

That is a very good point. I was able to discuss with my Malaysian counterpart the potential for a digital trade agreement when I was in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. I very much hope that we can progress that to promote digital trade—and likewise with the EU. I assure the noble Lord that the Government are working extremely actively to progress the EU reset.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is this not just another example of the disaster of Brexit, which was spelled out, in all places, in the Telegraph a couple of weeks ago, demonstrating the damage that has been done to the country? Do we not need to speed up our relations and discussions to get back to some sensible agreement with our main trading partner in Europe?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

My noble friend is right about the importance of making swift progress to reset the relationship to promote trade and get all the agreements in place under the EU reset, which goes from everything from energy to defence and security—all sorts of areas where we can make real progress to support the UK economy.

Built Environment Sector

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

I think the noble Lord knows that that is an issue the Treasury will be dealing with in due course.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister give us an update on the practice, carried out for many years under the previous Government, of land banking by housing companies? Is she able to recall the promise that we would deal with this? Can she give us an update?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

This question is very pertinent. I am afraid that I cannot give him the full details on that right now, so, if I may, I promise to follow up in writing with him.

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 4th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, quite rightly we have reset our relations with European partners to improve our diplomatic, economic and security co-operation following Brexit. We are now looking at the opportunities that can follow on from that. The discussions with the EU are at an early stage. We signed a common understanding in May this year, and there will be further negotiations that may lead to a new formal agreement in some of these areas. That may require primary legislation for domestic implementation of the agreements in the UK once finalised. Formal negotiations on the EU SPS agreement have not yet begun and we will set out further details, but we will, of course, make sure that anything we do will be consistent with our international obligations and other arrangements with trading partners.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that the Opposition’s obsession with being isolated from the rest of Europe is very damaging to Britain and the industries?

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, as I say, we see huge advantages to our reset with our European partners. The fact is that UK agri-food trade with the EU has, since 2018 to 2024, fallen by 21% for exports and 7% for imports. It is important that we re-establish those relationships so that our own trade can benefit from the new opportunities that we will have with the reset arrangements following that common understanding with the EU.

Online Abuse: Protection for Children

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, this is an issue that we of course take seriously. We want to make sure that we have the right spread of expertise reflected in the super-complaints process. We are still working that through with Ofcom, and we will be able to spell it out in more detail very soon. However, I take the noble Lord’s point, which is a good one. I will go back and check that that is indeed being addressed.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that too many of our regulators use consultation as a method of doing nothing? Should we not ask our regulators to be more precise, get on with the job that they have been charged with doing and protect the public?

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

In this case, Ofcom can do only what legislators ask it to do or provide for it to do. It is limited in that. As noble Lords will know, Ofcom has a clear remit to implement the Online Safety Act. I know that we have discussed this several times before, but I think that as we roll out the illegal codes and the children’s safety code, they will make a profound difference to what children can see. I am confident that Ofcom has the resources and wherewithal to make that step change, which we all know is necessary.

US Tariffs on EU Goods

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, we will always ensure that we protect the interests of all UK businesses, including those in Northern Ireland.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Does the present position not demonstrate that Britain is being left behind in the negotiations between all the different partners in America and Europe? This is a reflection of our decision to leave Europe, and leave ourselves exposed to these measures.

Online Safety Legislation: Abuse on Social Media

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend will know that, in addition to the implementation of the Online Safety Act, we already have plans to bring forward a new data Bill where some of these issues can be debated. We also have ambitions to bring forward a further piece of AI legislation, on which we will have the opportunity to talk about those issues in more detail. He is absolutely right: these are serious issues. They were debated at length during the passage of the previous data protection Bill, and we hope to return to them again.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not the case that Ofcom is letting down the public? What we need is to review the role of Ofcom and other regulators and, if they are failing to do their duties for the public, they should be removed from office.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, Ofcom has a very wide-ranging and serious set of responsibilities. There is no suggestion that it is not carrying out its responsibilities in the run-up to the implementation of the Online Safety Act. We are working very closely with Ofcom and believe that it will carry out those additional functions that we have given it with proper scrutiny and to high standards. Yes, there is a case for looking at all regulators; we have a debate on this on Monday in the House, and I am looking forward to that, but that is a wider issue. For the moment, we have to give Ofcom all the support that we can in implementing a very difficult set of regulations.

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill

Lord Watts Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 23rd May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My understanding is that, obviously, the first port of call will be the Post Office, as it administers these matters. However, I can confirm that we are in the process of appointing an independent forensic investigator to look into the Capture software and how the Post Office addressed concerns about it—that will be an independent review. I am happy to reassure the noble Baroness that, once the investigator has reported, the Government will seek to return to this House to set out our plans.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

On the issue of credibility, the people who have been affected by the scandal will want the Post Office to have no connection whatever with any investigation. Does the Minister think it would be a good idea to ignore the fact that the Post Office needs to be involved and do this completely independently, to give credibility to the findings that are put forward?

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for that. That is exactly the intention of the independent investigator.

I turn to the amendment on Post Office governance. Amendment 19 is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, and I thank him again for his engagement on the Bill. Post Office governance is a priority for the Government. However, it is not the subject of this Bill, which has a clear scope to quash the wrongful convictions of the postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal. Therefore, we do not see the Bill as the place to address governance issues. Furthermore, we do not support a review of the kind suggested by this amendment, due to other work that is progressing. Phases 5 and 6 of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry are looking at past governance issues and could make recommendations for specific changes that the Government will consider carefully and respond to in due course.

Nigel Railton has been appointed as interim chair of the Post Office, and will be invited to give Ministers his views on the future direction of the Post Office, which could include proposals for change that the Government will consider. We of course keep governance models under review, but we do not support another review of governance issues while the activities I have outlined are under way. I hope the noble Lord will be happy to withdraw his amendment.

In conclusion, I thank the Committee for its attention to the Bill. I commend to the Committee the government amendments in my name.

National Minimum Wage Legislation

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

Since the introduction of the national minimum wage in 1999, the Government have ordered employers to repay over £173 million to 1.4 million workers. It is far more effective that the employers are made to pay the workers than be dragged through courts, which delays payments to workers and does not provide any respite. I am interested in the fact that this is the 25th anniversary of the national minimum wage. When this Government came to power in 2010, the number of employees on low hourly pay was 21% of the workforce; today, that is 8.9%. I also point out that, when this Government took over from Labour in 2010, benefits were the largest source of income for the poorest working-age households, but under the Conservatives it is now their wages.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Is it not the case that far too many employers still find it to their own advantage to pay below the living wage and below the basic wage? Is it not time that we made this a criminal act, so that we can hold the directors of those companies accountable for their actions?

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

As we have said before, our labour market in the UK is one of the most sophisticated and best-working in the world. Out of a population of 66 million people, 33 million are working, and only 5% of that workforce is on the minimum wage. In the meantime, 30% of the population do not pay any tax and the 1% highest earners pay 30% income tax. I think noble Lords would agree that our workforce is in good shape. Instead of criminalising employers, we need to spread the education required to make sure that everyone has higher wages.