Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Griffith Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)]

12. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce red tape for small and medium-sized enterprises.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrew Griffith)]

The Government are rightly reducing the burden of regulation for tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises. Just a month ago, the presumption of exemption when Departments make regulations was extended from businesses with fewer than 50 employees to those with fewer than 500, and we expect 40,000 SMEs to benefit from that.

[Siobhan Baillie]

People in the Stroud district are looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, but a constituent has raised with me the difficulty of securing finance for products such as solar photovoltaic and batteries. Will my hon. Friend agree to ensure that the Government work with me in looking into whether the Consumer Credit Act 1974 constitutes a barrier to banks providing finance for renewable energy solutions, and whether changes could be made to the Act to assist consumers and businesses without a cost to the taxpayer?

[Andrew Griffith]

My hon. Friend regularly champions the cause of her constituents with Ministers. The Government are committed to reforming the Consumer Credit Act, recognising the need for modernisation of this regulation. I hope that such reform can support the vital investment needed to improve the sustainability of homes in her constituency and across the UK.

[Craig Tracey]

As a former small business owner in the financial services sector, I know all too well how red tape and disproportionate regulation hamper competitors in the industry, often to the detriment of consumers, particularly those who are vulnerable. The Financial Services and Markets Bill presents a great opportunity to ensure that our world-leading insurance and financial services industry remains globally competitive. Can the Minister confirm that he will take all possible steps to ensure that the Bill delivers to its full potential, with regulators being held more accountable for their decisions?

[Andrew Griffith]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. As he knows, the Government are committed to effective, efficient and proportionate regulation. He has advocated a number of amendments to that Bill, and I am giving them due consideration.

[Dean Russell]

A common concern for small business people I speak to, in Watford and beyond, is cash flow, which has a heavy impact on organisations, for instance when Governments make late payments. May I ask the Government to ensure that the announcement to be made this week sends the clear message that all Departments and local government bodies follow the prompt payment policy robustly and, whenever possible, encourage businesses to follow the prompt payment code, so that SMEs can be paid quickly and fully and do not suffer in the efforts to make efficiencies and savings?

[Andrew Griffith]

I know that my colleagues will join me in paying tribute to my hon. Friend for the time that he spends helping small businesses. As he says, the Government must lead by example on prompt payment. They are committed to paying 90% of valid invoices within five days and 100% within 30 days, which is absolutely right, and the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Bill will ensure that that happens throughout the public sector.

[Giles Watling]

I recently attended a meeting with business leaders in Clacton who worry about being hamstrung on the global stage. We are going to be one of the highest payers of corporation tax anywhere. Does my hon. Friend agree that, despite recent financial upheavals, we must maintain our focus on growth and support our businesses, both large and small, by keeping a firm lid on corporation tax?

[Andrew Griffith]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government are on the side of small businesses and fiscal responsibly, and the introduction of the small profits rate will help the businesses that he talks about.

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

When the Government cut the red tape and open the box, they will find 2,400 pieces of retained EU law, so what are they going to do to help small businesses navigate all the legislation that is going to drop on them at the end of next year?

[Andrew Griffith]

I welcome the hon. Lady’s conversion to the cause of easing the red tape that is buried within EU law. It is this Government’s objective to use our new-found freedoms to create regulations that are appropriate for the businesses of this country and that will help us to grow and deliver the prosperity we need for public services.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

Some of our best SMEs are farmers and my constituency is blessed with many farms. Farmers regularly tell me that the duplication of forms is driving up prices and that pressures around energy are increasing food prices, so can the Minister set out what more meaningful support he will be giving to farmers in my constituency and across the United Kingdom? At the minute, the Government are found wanting.

[Andrew Griffith]

Representing a rural constituency myself, I am familiar with the challenges to our food producers that the hon. Member talks about. I will ensure that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs writes to him setting out what we are doing to ensure that we continue to have security of food supply in this country.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

High street SMEs keep telling me how unfair the current business rate system is, and of course Labour agrees, so as we enter a Conservative recession, will the Chancellor follow Labour’s lead by lifting the small business rate relief for 300,000 businesses to give our high street businesses the boost they need?

[Andrew Griffith]

The Government have committed to review business rates, but it would be wrong for me to pre-empt the outcome of that review here today.

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

Following the mini-Budget, the former Chancellor promised to write to me about energy bill support for a small business in my constituency. That response has yet to materialise. Will the Chancellor please look into this and provide a response that I can share with my business, Equi’s Ice Cream?

[Andrew Griffith]

I will ensure that the case the hon. Lady raises is responded to.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Member without a tie, Ben Bradley.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of the affordability of housing for first-time buyers.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrew Griffith)]

The Government are committed to helping as many first-time buyers on to the housing ladder as possible. We are investing £11.5 billion in building more of the affordable homes that the country needs. First-time buyers can access first-time buyer’s relief for stamp duty land tax, which means that 90% of first-time buyers need pay no stamp duty at all.

[Mr Perkins]

For so many younger people, even those on really good wages, the idea of owning their own house is now a pipe dream. We have 1 million more people in private rented accommodation and, since 2010, 800,000 fewer under-45 households own their own home. What is it about 12 years of Conservative government that has been so brutal for young people with ambitions to own their own home?

[Andrew Griffith]

The Government are very conscious and very supportive of people’s desire to own their own home, which is why we have made so many interventions on affordability. Underlying that is the strength of the economy, which offers great employment prospects for those who seek to work hard, to save and, ultimately, to purchase their own home. We are on their side.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister, Pat McFadden.

[Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)]

The consequences of September’s disastrous mini-Budget continue to be felt, as we will see in the autumn statement on Thursday—the third Budget statement in two months from the fourth Chancellor since the summer, presided over by the fifth Prime Minister in six years. Whatever they represent, it is certainly not stability.

Mortgage rates are still well above what they were before the mini-Budget. I have a constituent who is a first-time buyer, and he is facing a £200-a-month increase on his mortgage quote compared with before the mini-Budget. Why should my constituent, and thousands like him, pay the price in their mortgage payments for the economic damage caused by the Government’s recklessness?

[Andrew Griffith]

The right hon. Gentleman does this House and his constituents a great disservice with that characterisation, which did not mention once the tragedy of the events caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fact that we are coming off the back of an extraordinary intervention to protect this country, jobs and businesses from covid. In the future, when he characterises the economy, he owes it to all of us to be more proportionate.

[Mr McFadden]

I know that, after 12 years, the Government quite like stealing our ideas, such as the windfall tax and the energy price freeze, so let me offer a suggestion. High deposit demands, increased unaffordability due to price rises and, now, rising mortgage rates all mean it is increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder, so will the Government consider Labour’s proposal for a mortgage guarantee scheme, as operates in countries such as Canada, to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder and to protect them from negative equity in times of market turbulence? Would that not be a practical idea to stop people being trapped in the private rented sector and to help them buy a home of their own?

[Andrew Griffith]

Not only is that a good idea, it is a Conservative idea that we have already introduced. I am glad the right hon. Gentleman has belatedly latched on to it.

[Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

With interest rates rising around the world, many others countries are considering more imaginative ways of enabling those with mortgages to continue to pay. Will my hon. Friend look at the schemes operating in the United States that allow lenders to extend the duration of a mortgage to allow payments to remain on an even keel and, therefore, to remain more affordable for hard-pressed households?

[Andrew Griffith]

Yes, I will do that. My right hon. Friend is right to point to the fact that mortgage rates have been rising throughout the world. This Government will always be on the side of trying to protect people with mortgages. Lenders are responsible and are willing to extend. The advice is that people should always speak to their lender if they have difficulties. I will certainly look at the case he mentions.

[Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

9. What steps his Department is taking to promote economic stability.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

As chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on personal banking and fairer financial services, I have been in protracted correspondence with the Financial Conduct Authority about the Blackmore Bond scandal. Despite receiving more than 30 complaints and a whistleblower producing evidence, the FCA refused to investigate. I realise that it predates my hon. Friend’s appointment, but will he investigate this and force the FCA to take action?

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrew Griffith)]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this case. It was, sadly, outside the FCA perimeter, but I would be happy to meet him, because I understand that it raises important issues for him and his constituents.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

T7. It is not just individual mortgage payers who are impacted by increasing borrowing costs; that is a particular problem for housing associations such as Parkhead Housing Association, which I spoke to this morning. Previously, housing associations were able to borrow at fixed rates of 25 and 30 years, but that has been reduced. Would the Chancellor be willing to meet me, to look at how we can pursue this with lenders, to ensure that we do not stifle competition when it comes to building housing association properties?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

T8.   My constituent registered with a regulated firm and invested in the financial product that an FCA-regulated broker recommended. My constituent and her father both lost money on the fraudulent product that the broker recommended. Does the Minister agree that the FCA should step in and support victims of scams, and will he empower and instruct the FCA and other regulators to be more aggressive in their support of the defrauded?

[Andrew Griffith]

I will happily meet the hon. Member to understand more details of the case. It is important that the FCA provides protection for consumers. That is one of the objectives of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.