Banking Commission Report

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that we will stand our ground. While I have been on my feet, I have received the news that John Vickers has welcomed our response. I absolutely commit to my hon. Friend, to John Vickers and to others that we will implement the proposals in the report to make sure that our banking system is safer, that taxpayers are better protected, that customers get a better service and that we do not repeat what went so badly wrong under the previous Government’s regulatory regime.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

Given the dominance of the four largest banks in the UK, does my right hon. Friend agree that, in addition to new banks, credit unions such as the Pendle Community Credit Union or building societies such as the Marsden building society headquartered in Nelson in my constituency have a key role in improving competition on the high street?

[Mr Osborne]

I think credit unions and small building societies have a key role to play, whether it be in Pendle or other parts of the country. What we want is the greatest possible choice for customers. This report is an important step towards providing that competition and dealing with the large banks that have such a large proportion of the market. The competition part of the report is important and sits alongside the ring-fencing part—all designed to make our banking system safer and to serve customers better.

Eurozone

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

As far as I can tell, they got rid of all the people who wanted the shadow Chancellor to be the leader of the Labour party and the leader has put in place all the people who wanted him to win. That tactic was used by the last two leaders of the Labour party, as well, at the Treasury.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

In addition to the structural reforms and other measures that the Chancellor outlined in his statement, what is he doing to ensure that the eurozone follows the lead he is showing in the UK by cutting regulations to stimulate business growth?

[Mr Osborne]

There is greater recognition in other European member states that we need to make the European continent more competitive, and the pamphlet that we sponsored on making Europe more competitive, which the Prime Minister presented at the European Council, was endorsed by a number of other member states.

Summer Adjournment

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

On 14 June I led a Westminster Hall debate on the effect of property regulations on holiday lettings. In that debate, I urged the Department for Communities and Local Government to look again at the effect that changes to property regulations would have on holiday lettings and domestic tourism. The key regulation I talked about relates to the fact that as of 30 June new rules, introduced by DCLG, came into force requiring the owners of holiday lettings to obtain an energy performance certificate, or EPC. That is being defended as a European Union requirement when it is not being adopted by any other European country. This will force an unnecessary, costly, pointless and, I believe, legally questionable burden on holiday lettings, doing damage to British tourism in my constituency and many others.

In my Westminster Hall debate, I examined a range of possible reasons for this change and discounted each in turn, concluding that the only possible justification could be that this is being demanded by Europe. However, as I pointed out, it is not being implemented by any other European Union country. In response to my concerns, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Andrew Stunell), made a number of points. In reply to my assertion that England and Wales would be the only countries enforcing this, I was told that it was already a requirement in Scotland. However, I would like to make him aware that the regulations in Scotland are somewhat different from those being imposed by his Department in England and Wales.

An answer from the Directorate for The Built Environment in Scotland states that EPCs are not required for holiday lettings unless the property is let to the same person for more than 12 weeks. The advice is clarified by the Building Standards Agency in Scotland, which also says:

“An EPC is not required for a property sold for the purpose of a holiday”,

so the regulations in Scotland are very different from those in England and Wales. Very few people rent a holiday property for 12 weeks of the year and if this rule was applied to England and Wales, the number of holiday lets requiring an EPC would fall dramatically.

On the way in which other European countries are implementing the directive, the Minister went on to say:

“My hon. Friend produced some information about what France had done, and referred to the fact that a provider of holiday lets in his constituency had evidence from a much wider field around Europe. I hope that he will accept, as a glimmer of light, that the very first thing I shall do after the debate is seek whatever validation we can for those two pieces of evidence. We do not want providers in England to be at a disadvantage to other European countries simply because we have taken too robust a view of how the directive should be interpreted.”—[Official Report, 14 June 2011; Vol. 529, c. 236WH.]

I welcomed that commitment from my hon. Friend. I know that he is not due to give the response today, but I wonder whether the Minister who is present has received validation on the two points. I ask because in addition to the much more sensible interpretation in Scotland, my research still indicates that EPCs are not required for holiday lets in France, Denmark, Sweden or Germany. Given that, it seems likely that they are not required in other European countries.

That brings me on to the question of who we class as a “tenant”. During the debate on 14 June, the Under-Secretary made the point that the way in which the DCLG was interpreting the European directive was that people renting the cottages in this country were “tenants”. That view has been robustly rejected by the English Association of Self Catering Operators, which has obtained a 16-page Queen’s counsel’s opinion on this matter.

In conclusion, my intention all along has been to help Ministers to reduce the burden of red tape on small business. I feel that they have done a good job so far, but with these new regulations they are going in the wrong direction. I ask the Minister to reconsider them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Eric Joyce is not here. I call Andrew Stephenson.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

7. What fiscal measures he has taken to support economic growth in the manufacturing sector.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

Manufacturing is now expanding after years of contraction. In order to support it, the June Budget contained four reductions in the main rate of corporation tax and a cut in the small companies rate from 21% to 20%. The manufacturing sector is expected to gain over £250 million annually when the package is fully implemented. We have committed ourselves to 75,000 more apprenticeships and nine university-based centres for manufacturing. Tomorrow’s Budget will set out further details of the Government’s plan for sustainable, private sector-led, balanced growth.

[Andrew Stephenson]

On Friday I visited Kirk Environmental, a company in Nelson that specialises in turning waste into electricity and usable biogas. It is experiencing rapid sales growth internationally, is recruiting more locally, and is at the forefront of the United Kingdom’s transition to a low-carbon economy. What incentives is my right hon. Friend providing to encourage such companies to invest more in Pendle and in the United Kingdom?

[Mr Osborne]

As I am sure my hon. Friend knows, in the spending review we allocated £860 million to the new renewable heat incentive, and earlier this month, in the House, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced the introduction of the first phase of the scheme. It provides financial incentives to support a range of technologies and fuels, including those involving the use of biogas. I hope that that will help excellent companies such as Kirk in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

1. What steps he plans to take to support economic growth in the north-west.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

14. What steps he plans to take to support economic growth in the north-west.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

I am delighted to have the opportunity to answer these questions on behalf of the Chancellor, who is at the ECOFIN meeting today.

In order to support private sector enterprise throughout the UK and ensure that all parts of the country, including the north-west, benefit from sustainable economic growth, the Government announced a number of measures in the Budget, such as using the national insurance system to encourage the creation of new businesses and establishing a £1 billion regional growth fund. Later in the summer we will publish a White Paper on a new approach to sub-national growth, including local enterprise partnerships, local incentives and more powers for major cities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Stephenson]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Picking up on what my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw) said about the Northwest Regional Development Agency, is my right hon. Friend aware that the North of England Inward Investment Agency, which is sponsored by the Northwest RDA and One NorthEast, currently maintains five offices in north America? In light of the record budget deficit, can he assure the House that he will look carefully into overseas offices and whether they deliver value for money?

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, and there is an awful lot of waste in the regional development agency system more generally. Of course, it will be for the local economic partnerships to look at such issues and work out whether they wish to come together to promote their region in a wider way, but his point serves to reinforce the argument for the structural change that we are making.