Employment Law (Beecroft Report) Debate

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Employment Law (Beecroft Report)

Anne Marie Morris Excerpts
Monday 21st May 2012

(12 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

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Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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As the right hon. Lady should realise, the discrimination laws will not be changed or affected in any way, so the description she gives is completely false.

Anne Marie Morris Portrait Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)
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Is the Minister aware that 70% of the micro-business community are sole traders? When asked why they are sole traders, they say that the prime reason is the complexity and bureaucracy of employment legislation. Does he agree that if we changed the rules as he suggests in the consultation, we would increase the number of jobs and deal with our unemployment problem?

Mark Prisk Portrait Mr Prisk
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There has been a substantial shift within the small business base, so that we have seen a higher proportion being sole traders rather than employers. We need to try to encourage more of them to take people on; my hon. Friend is absolutely right.