Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Eilidh Whiteford Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The bank will have the certainty of knowing that it has £3 billion committed to it from the Government and it is in the process of developing the projects to utilise that efficiently. I shall point out to the House some of the steps that have been taken to provide that concrete certainty about which the hon. Lady asks.

We have formed the bank as a public company, called the UK Green Investment Bank plc. It will be headquartered in Edinburgh. I have appointed Lord Smith of Kelvin as the chair and Sir Adrian Montague as the deputy chair. The bank will be funded with £3 billion to 2015, and the first £200 million of that has already been allocated by UK Green Investments. It will have borrowing powers from 2015, subject to a quite proper test of improving public finances. The Bill specifically provides for complementing this work by ensuring that the bank must have a statement of objectives clause in its articles of association.

The Bill also embeds the bank’s independence, which is crucial for its success. To achieve this, the Bill requires me as Secretary of State to lay an undertaking before Parliament not to interfere with the bank’s operational independence or commercial activities as a condition of designation. I provided this undertaking to the bank on its incorporation. This will ensure that the bank operates on commercial terms, funding these nascent and important environmental markets.

[Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)]

I welcome the establishment of the green investment bank in Edinburgh. What measures are the Government putting in place to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses can benefit from the green investment bank? Will there be a procurement code, as requested by the Federation of Small Businesses?

[Vince Cable]

I do not think a specific procurement code is required for this institution, though of course Government procurement raises wider questions. If the hon. Lady looks at the first tranche of commitments—the £200 million—she will find that that is for a fund dealing with a substantial number of waste projects, which have small-scale enterprises as part of their supply chain. That is the way that SMEs will benefit.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Evennett]

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments. We want to get the economy moving across the whole country, and make sure that there are jobs and opportunities. Training, enthusiasm and a determination to help small businesses is fundamental across the country, but I accept that different parts of the country have different problems.

Another excellent firm in my constituency is Texcel Technology, an electronics firm involved in international projects. Its managing director, Peter Shawyer, recently told me:

“The whole gambit of employment law causes us untold stress...Any dealings that affect employees are slow or impossible to implement without the threat of employment tribunals.”

He also said that things are more difficult for smaller organisations that do not have a large human resources department with expertise from which they can benefit.

Steps have already been taken on employment law reform. These include launching an employer’s charter, so that employers know what they can already do to address staff issues in the workplace. However, there is much more to be done, and I welcome the proposals, which will achieve many things.

Small and medium-sized businesses will be able to benefit from reduced costs. Costs are a vital concern to SMEs. If the Government can provide a better way to agree settlements with employees, businesses can save money on administrative costs. More importantly, that will avoid costly employment tribunal processes, which can be a burden to businesses.

[Dr Whiteford]

One of the concerns that the Federation of Small Businesses raised about the conciliation proposals is that they may necessitate employers having to pay for more legal advice, not less.

[Mr Evennett]

I know, but I think and very much hope that the FSB is wrong on this. We need to look after both employers and employees, and get them working together, and I believe that the proposal is the way forward. Quicker resolution of employment disputes will be good for everybody, particularly employees.

New arbitration requirements could prevent the need for tribunals. I welcome the clause that will provide for that, and the fact that ACAS will be involved. However, we need to make sure that both businesses and employees benefit and reach a satisfactory conclusion.

There is another important aspect to this Bill: it will strengthen competitiveness. Effective competition is vital if markets and industries are to flourish. Through competition, research and innovation are enhanced, jobs are created and wealth is generated. It is also of great benefit to the consumer, who gets better choice, quality and price—something we all value. The Government’s plans will help to improve the regime that oversees competition law, ensure that the right cases are taken forward for investigation, and make the system quicker and more predictable for businesses. I support the proposal of merging the Competition Commission with the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading to create a new body, the competition and markets authority. It will be the principal competition authority, and I hope that it will pursue cases of anti-competitive behaviour rigorously and fairly, so that consumers are protected and businesses are treated fairly. That is a very positive step.

The CMA will have responsibility for introducing time limits on the markets and mergers regimes, speeding up anti-trust enforcement and ensuring good working relationships with other regulators. Overall, the new regime will improve transparency, streamline processes and increase efficiency. The measures will benefit businesses, consumers and the economy in the long term, so that markets are truly competitive.

The regulatory reform aspects of the Bill are probably the most important parts of it, as they repeal regulations and legislation that businesses have said should be abolished. The Government are to be commended for listening to business, taking on board its views, and taking action to help create the conditions that will stimulate growth and bring about the economy that we want across the whole country.

The primary authority scheme has helped to reduce administration for companies by allowing them to form relationships with a single local authority. The scheme makes local regulation more effective, and means that robust and consistent advice is given to other councils when they are carrying out inspections or compliance checks. The scheme has been running since 2009; it is one of the two positive things that the Labour Government did to help business. So far, it has delivered real benefits.

To date, it has been larger businesses that have benefited from the arrangement. At present, a company has to operate in more than one local authority area to be eligible. The Bill will extend the scheme in an innovative and beneficial way, so that it supports more firms. Under the proposals, a business will now be eligible if it shares an approach to compliance with at least one other business and, collectively, those businesses are regulated by at least two different local authorities. That means that trade associations or franchises of the same company could benefit from this simpler and more effective regime.

I applaud the Bill and all that it is trying to achieve. Of course we want to make a real difference for businesses across the country. We want to free small and medium-sized businesses from the burden of excess regulation. Employment rules will be reformed, so that the tribunal process is fair for all parties in any dispute; arbitration will be required first, and hopefully that will reduce costs. Markets will be reformed so that competition is fair and enforcement is effective. Regulations will also be removed where businesses have told us that they should cease, and where they are irrelevant.

Good regulation must play a part in ensuring fairness for consumers, businesses and employees alike, but it is the Government’s duty to take action when those rules inhibit companies from taking on new staff. We desperately need new jobs, particularly for young people, and we want to make sure that firms are not prohibited from taking on young and new employees; that would help firms and individuals. I believe that the Bill will tackle those issues, create the right environment for our firms to grow, and stimulate our economy, which is in all our interests.