Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Eleanor Smith and Claire Perry

Tuesday 17th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)]

18. What steps he is taking to ensure that employment law protects and supports self-employed workers.

[The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry)]

The hon. Lady will know through her long and distinguished service in various union careers that the challenge of ensuring that all workers, whether employees, workers or self-employed, receive the rights and protections they are entitled to without having to fight for them is at the heart of the Taylor review. I hope that she and her colleagues will welcome the recommendations made.

[Eleanor Smith]

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves), I want to draw the Minister’s attention to the plight of many self-employed workers in today’s modern workforce. More and more people are classed as self-employed, but they have no protection rights. They have no redundancy rights, no pension protections, no sick pay, no holiday pay and no parental leave pay. Why do the Government believe that self-employed people do not deserve the same entitlements as employees?

[Claire Perry]

I think the hon. Lady probably knows that the Government do not believe that. However, she has identified the real challenge that is out there in the workplace. It is not always clear what status an employee has, and that is something that we must clarify. One of the fundamental points in the Taylor review related to employment status and access to statutory employment rights. I am not ruling out being able to do more for self-employed workers, but at the heart of the review is the need to understand the definitions involved, and to ensure that people in those categories are given the rights and protections that they deserve and for which the hon. Lady and I have campaigned.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Eleanor Smith and Claire Perry

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that these conversations have to happen jointly. There have been numerous meetings between my officials and officials in the Welsh Government, and I have met the Welsh Environment Secretary and her special advisers to discuss this and many other issues.

[Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking to support businesses affected by the liquidation of Carillion.