Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between David Crausby and Mark Prisk(11 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Prisk
Absolutely; we need to encourage that kind of innovation, and I commend what has happened in respect of Lowestoft college. That is why we have a £10 million high street innovation fund to help those with the highest vacancy rates. We need to get those empty shops back into use, whether as pop-up shops or as in my hon. Friend’s example. It is very important to tackle that aspect of the problem.
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)
Does the Minister accept that as long as local authorities charge excessively for car parking, customers will simply choose to shop out of town and our town centres will continue to die? What can he do to encourage them in these difficult financial years not to charge for short-term car parking?
Mr Prisk
The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight this issue. That is why we have removed the floor that underpinned the minimum charging for car parking. We encourage local authorities in his constituency and elsewhere to think carefully about the rate of charges so that our high streets can compete with out-of-town shopping centres and others.
Employment Law (Beecroft Report)
Debate between David Crausby and Mark PriskUrgent 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.
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Mr Prisk
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is the sort of informed and balanced overall debate that we want. That is why we have called for evidence and why we are publishing this report. The issue should not be about just the clichés we have heard from the Opposition; it should be about making sure that we get the whole workplace right.
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)
Will the Minister tell me how making British workers terrified of their employers will deliver growth and confidence in the British economy—or is it that the Government simply cannot resist the Tory habits of a lifetime?
Mr Prisk
I wish the hon. Gentleman would read the report and stop using words such as “terrified”. Does he really think that that helps small business owners or people in work? Language like that will be taken up by the media and spun, and I do not think it helps anybody to use that kind of language in half an hour of partisan banter.