Ed Davey
Main Page: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
3. What progress he has made on reducing regulatory burdens on business arising from EU directives.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
I am pleased to have this opportunity to remind the House of our recent successes. The recent political agreement to exempt micro-enterprises from onerous accounting and financial reporting obligations should save British companies between £150 million and £300 million a year. Thanks to the UK’s persistent efforts, a further commitment from the Commission to introduce proposals to exempt micros from new and existing legislation was also secured at the European Council in June.
Mr Laurence Robertson
I thank the Minister for that response. Is he aware of the EU waste electrical and electronic equipment directive, which requires all showers that are not fitted to be registered through a costly system, whereas those that are considered to be fitted need not be registered? There is a great debate about what constitutes a fitted shower. Such nonsense is not helping British business or jobs. Is that really why we put so much money into the EU?
Mr Davey
I am delighted to be able to tell the House that I am now aware of that issue, because I have answered the hon. Gentleman’s written question on it. He is right that the scope of the EU waste electrical and electronic equipment directive has been problematic since its adoption at the end of 2002. For example, there is no reference in the directive to exemption for fixed installations, but the European Commission’s guidance does allow for one in its interpretation of article 2(1). European negotiations on a recast of the regional directive are under way and we hope for greater clarity on that and other scope issues once a new directive is agreed.
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend for his answer, but will he also assure me that he will do all he can to reduce any home-grown regulatory burden that might crop up, especially for small and micro-businesses?
Mr Davey
My hon. Friend will be delighted to know that in the Chancellor’s Budget we announced a three-year moratorium on regulations for micros. We have also set up the red tape challenge. We are dealing not just with future regulation but with the stock of regulation, an exercise that was long overdue.
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
5. What steps he has taken to support the engineering industry; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
I would like to thank my hon. Friend for the work he is doing as chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Azerbaijan to develop the relationship between our two countries. I am pleased to say that more than 100 exporting and investing companies have been assisted in Azerbaijan through UK Trade & Investment in the past two financial years alone.
Mr Field
I thank the Minister for his answer. As he will be well aware, over those past two years there has been compound double-digit growth in Azerbaijan. Is he convinced that his Department is doing enough in two specific areas—the fledgling financial services industry in Azerbaijan and infrastructure investment, on which our companies could add a lot in that part of the world?
Mr Davey
Across the Government, our new approach to commercial diplomacy is working in all those areas. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Europe visited Baku last year and took with him a number of companies involved in the infrastructure project. I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that the British music industry will take all the possible opportunities presented by the Eurovision song contest being held in Azerbaijan next year, and that they are not “Running Scared”.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
8. Which locations he is considering for the headquarters of the green investment bank.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
12. What progress his Department has made on its employment law review.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
As part of the review, we have consulted on employment tribunals and unfair dismissal, launched the employer’s charter, commissioned reviews of sickness absence and of compliance and enforcement regimes, repealed the default retirement age, introduced a moratorium for micro-businesses and start-ups, and announced that we will not proceed with the dual discrimination provision in the Equality Act 2010. We have announced future work priorities for the review, and the red tape challenge will also consider cross-Government employment-related regulations.
Julian Smith
I thank the Minister for that answer. I am really worried about the lack of engagement with the review by other Departments. Does he agree that the Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office also impose significant burdens on employers? May I encourage the Minister to throw his weight around with those other Departments? We have an urgent need for jobs.
Mr Davey
I assure my hon. Friend that all Departments with responsibility for employment-related legislation are contributing to the review; it is important that they should, if the review is to have a real impact on burdens on business. I will talk to colleagues in other Departments to ensure that they are taking a clear role in it, as I am sure that they will.
Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
Given that the well respected Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development considers that the Government are
“justified in seeking to reform procedures to resolve workplace disputes”,
but suggests that
“the decision to increase the qualifying period for rights against unfair dismissal is questionable”
and could be
“potentially harmful to the long-term performance of the UK economy”,
will the Government stop using a tax on employment rights as a pathetic and unproven substitute for any real growth strategy and drop plans to increase from one to two years the qualifying time for unfair dismissal?
Mr Davey
The hon. Lady is right to quote the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on this issue, because it supports much of the coalition Government’s better regulation agenda in this area. She will know that the unfair dismissal period is out to consultation. A number of responses are very much in favour of the proposal, but she would not expect me to prejudge the consultation today.
Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con)
13. How many people in (a) Mid Bedfordshire constituency, (b) the south-east midlands and (c) England have started an apprenticeship in 2011.
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
Yesterday the Prime Minister told us that Citizens Advice was one of the most admired organisations in the country. Given that it and Consumer Focus are boycotting the payday industry proposals on a voluntary code of practice, does the Secretary of State think it appropriate that his Lib Dem colleagues are in Parliament today hosting a reception to endorse it?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
The hon. Lady will know that the Government are working very closely with Citizens Advice on all these sorts of issues and that it is important to listen to the industry on a range of issues. I would have thought therefore that she welcomed hon. Members listening to the industry. She often does not listen to the industry and so often is not as informed as she could be.
Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)
T8. The Secretary of State will be aware that more than 80% of jobs in my constituency are in the private sector. Will he therefore congratulate the world-famous jam-makers Wilkin & Sons, based in Tiptree, on its outstanding international business, on all it is doing to create good local jobs and on all that it does to promote its brand—a great international British brand—at home and abroad?
Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)
With reference to the Minister’s response to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Mr Robertson), Triton Showers, which employs 400 people in my constituency, is extremely concerned that the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive is now being aggressively enforced by the Environment Agency. Bearing in mind the Minister’s earlier answer, will he now make representations to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on this issue, which is causing real concern in the electric shower industry?
Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)
On Tuesday, LVMH, which produces perhaps some of the Minister’s favourite luxury brands of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, signed the “woman on the board pledge for Europe”. Will the Minister update us on what steps he will take to encourage British business to sign this pledge, and does he agree that increasing the representation of women on British boards is a matter of necessity, not luxury?
Mr Davey
I strongly support the sentiments behind my hon. Friend’s question. He will know that the report of Lord Mervyn Davies encourages chairmen and chief executives to publish their aspirations and to have a strategy for their aspirations to have more women on boards. When we consult on the future of narrative reporting, we want to consult on the proposal to make the top FTSE 350 companies disclose their performance, including on women on boards.
Mr Speaker
Earlier in this question session, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills lamented the absence of his colleague, the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, and referred to the increased burden on him by virtue of that absence. I thought I would share with the House the very courteous letter received from the Minister of State, the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), who wrote earlier this week as follows:
“Dear Mr Speaker, My apologies for not being present for either DfE or BIS questions as I am abroad on Government business. I hope that your disappointment is as great as mine at the missed opportunities for a heady mix of scrutiny and theatre beloved by we connoisseurs of such things.”