Company Transparency (Carbon in Supply Chains) Bill

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Karen Bradley

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 16th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

I think it has begun to make a difference, but the measure was only introduced in 2015. It applies only to large companies with a turnover of over £36 million, and we have only just begun to see it being used. I know from friends I used to work with when I was employed as a chartered accountant that they are taking this matter seriously. In fact, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead and I were on a panel only yesterday—this Sunday is Anti-slavery Day—discussing exactly that point and the measures that businesses are taking to identify slavery in their supply chains. It is making a difference. More can be done, and I am pleased that the Home Office has taken more steps in that direction, but it is making a difference.

[Mrs Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)]

May I say through my right hon. Friend to our hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) that if he wants to know what companies are doing he should look at company reports and accounts, and he will see that real action has been taken by companies, who have explored their supply chains, ensuring that there is no modern slavery in them.

[Karen Bradley]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I can tell my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch with absolute conviction that companies and boards are taking this matter seriously. Would anybody wish to be a board director signing off a report saying that they had taken no steps to eradicate modern slavery in their supply chain? I do not think any of us would want that.

I was thinking about what I could do usefully to assist the Government in dealing with carbon, because it is very easy for businesses to offshore carbon. I am not suggesting that UK businesses do that or choose to have products manufactured in high carbon-emitting countries to avoid carbon emission restrictions in the UK. It is absolutely right that this country was the first to legislate for net zero by 2050. That is fantastic, and this country should be incredibly proud of it. We are also hosting COP26, which again gives the UK an opportunity to show global leadership. The Prime Minister, in his recent address to the United Nations, said:

“we have a responsibility to our planet to lead in this way and to do this.”

I say to my right hon. Friend the Minister that this is a simple measure that companies understand. It would allow us to shine a light through supply chains and see what carbon emissions companies are offshoring and what they are doing to bring products for sale in the UK without giving proper regard to carbon emissions.

Now, I am a realist as well as a former Whip—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness May of Maidenhead and Karen Bradley

Monday 21st May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The hon. Lady raises a very important issue in relation to the terrible situation that we have seen in Rochdale, but, as she and others have said, sadly we see too many such cases throughout the country of grooming and sexually exploiting girls. We have already had a report from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre on the issue, and we will look at it again and at how it is dealt with across the country. We have made sure that in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 there is a specific duty on police forces and on police and crime commissioners in relation to the care of children.

[Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

T8. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Staffordshire police and, in particular, Chief Constable Mike Cunningham on meeting the requirements of the budget reductions in the spending review while maintaining visible front-line policing?