Sky: 21st Century Fox Takeover Bid

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and Matt Hancock

Monday 12th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, of course, I would be delighted to keep the House as informed as is appropriate under the legislation the House has passed. I apologise to the House if some of my remarks sound a little reticent, but it will understand that this is a quasi-judicial decision. The Secretary of State does not want her position prejudiced—I do not want to do that—but all these considerations will be taken into account.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

From whom will the Secretary of State take advice about the competition implications of the bid?

[Matt Hancock]

Of course, advice will be taken from officials in the Department, and procedures are being put in place to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest and that the decision is taken appropriately.

Digital Economy Bill

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and Matt Hancock

3rd reading: House of Commons & Legislative Grand Committee: House of Commons & Programme motion No. 3: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Monday 28th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes is the short answer. The Bill does so, and we will best achieve that pressure by delivering on its proposals and then working with the platforms on the issue of platform-based pornography, because that is a much more difficult technical nut to crack.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The Minister has spent more time in the past few weeks thinking about children and pornography than I am sure he wanted to. The Bill deals with the publication of pornography, but we also need to help children to be more resilient and understand that those images are not normal sexual behaviour and are the kind of violence that should not be part of relationships, because research by the NSPCC and others tells us that children, and boys in particular, think it is normal. What discussions has he had with the Department for Education to try to build greater resilience among children to some of the images that, despite the efforts in the Bill, they will see?

[Matt Hancock]

I agree with every word of the right hon. Lady’s intervention—both the first part and the second. Yes, working with the DFE is incredibly important in building resilience and actively ensuring that people’s health through relationships is taught effectively. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and I have both been in discussions with the DFE on that point. That said, the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) makes an important point about the broader circumstances that should be taken into consideration, as well as the clarity in the amendment, which I hope she welcomes.

Turning to mobile phone contracts—a bit of a shift—new clause 7 seeks to place a mandatory obligation on mobile phone service providers to agree with the customer at the time of their entering into a contract a financial cap on their monthly bill. Since the new clause was first tabled in Committee, we have had further contact with mobile network operators, and providers already offer consumers ways to manage their usage: apps that allow customers to turn financial caps on and off, warning text messages when customers are approaching their allowance limits, dedicated phone numbers that tell the customer their usage, and online tools that explain how much data is needed to carry out different online activities. I expect providers to continue to take steps to minimise bill shock and ensure that their customers are sufficiently equipped to manage their usage, but I am sure that the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh) will agree that legislation is not currently necessary, although the movement in this direction is.

On new clause 14, I understand the frustrations of people whose mobile experience does not live up to their expectations, but while roaming appears to offer a quick fix, it risks doing more harm than good, because it could undermine the incentive for operators to invest in new infrastructure. This is particularly damaging in areas with no coverage from any provider at all. There is no incentive to invest capital in a new mast if operators can by law simply piggyback off others’ investment. The Government considered roaming in 2014, but for the above reasons it was rejected in favour of licence conditions to drive increased coverage by all mobile operators.

That agreement locked in £5 billion of investment to deliver improved coverage across the UK, and we now have 4G coverage to 97.8% of UK premises. I can confirm that this is happening: a mast was turned on just last weekend in my own constituency, and coverage on the road to Newmarket from my house is now better than it ever has been—so I have seen it for myself. The House will also have seen the recent announcements from mobile providers that they are expanding coverage to meet their 90% landmass requirements, which they must now meet under the contracts in their licence agreements. The Bill strengthens the fines they face if they miss those agreements. Of course, however, we want further improvements. Last week, new planning laws came into force to allow taller masts, and we are reforming the electronic communications code in the Bill to help operators to extend their networks, making mast-sharing easier and infrastructure deployment cheaper. These reforms have been widely welcomed by industry, and Ofcom will hold providers to account for the delivery of wider geographic coverage.

New clauses 20 and 25 seek to place mandatory obligations on mobile phone service providers to allow an end user to terminate their contract upon their being unable to obtain a mobile signal at their main residence or main place of employment. Existing consumer protections are already in place, while the automatic compensation measures in clause 3 strengthen Ofcom’s powers to require automatic compensation when there is a complete failure to provide a contracted service. I think that the ability to break a contract when one’s signal is not good enough at home is already dealt with, as contracts purchased at distance can be cancelled under the statutory 14-day cooling-off period, while for “in shop” purchases there is often a “check your coverage” cooling-off period for the first two weeks after sign up. Some providers also offer extended periods to ensure that the service meets needs, with the option of cancellation without penalty.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and Matt Hancock

Monday 10th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

That is exactly the sort of anomaly that we have put right by making sure that resource funding is exactly the same per student for 16 to 18-year-olds, no matter what type of institution or where in the country.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

One of the reasons for differential funding has been students who have experienced less education before they get to the sixth form than other students, perhaps because of illness, absence from school or being refugees, for example. The changes in funding for 18-year-olds in further education are hitting those people. What is the Minister going to do about it?

Gender Balance on Corporate Boards

Debate between Fiona Mactaggart and Matt Hancock

Monday 7th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

It might be that this debate and the decision of Parliament that will follow will be brought to the FRC’s attention. I wonder who might do that.

Of course, we share the Commission’s view that fair opportunities for women in executive and non-executive posts should be promoted and we are happy for the EU to disseminate good practice across member states, but it is up to member states to find their own national approaches. Many member states are considering, or have implemented, various and differing national measures on a voluntary basis to facilitate raising the proportion of women on boards. Some have decided on domestic legislation and some, like us, think that we can get there without it. That multitude of approaches is likely to help us find which one works best and has the most benefits and the fewest unintended consequences. The reasoned opinion is intended to set out the views of Parliament separately from the views of the Government, so I am very much looking forward to contributions on that front from Members in all parts of the House.

Let me turn to a couple of the specific questions from the European Scrutiny Committee. The Committee asked for the Government’s view of the Commission’s projection that only 17% of UK listed companies would have 40% women directors by 2020. It is safe to say that the Commission’s projections are rather out of date, because we already have 17% women directors in the FTSE 100. The Commission’s analysis is based on extrapolating the increase in the number of women on boards in the period 2003 to 2011 and using a linear progression, but, as we have already discussed, the rate of change increased markedly at the back end of the last decade, and we will be within a whisker of reaching the target that the Commission has set by 2020.

The Committee asked whether the Government consider that the measures proposed by the EU would be counter-productive. It is true that legislation can have unintended consequences, and if an objective can be reached without legislation it is usually better to do so.

Finally, the Committee asked about the outcome of the Government’s consultations on the proposed directive and the progress on negotiations. We are discussing the proposals broadly, but negotiations in Brussels have yet to start.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The Minister said—I have some sympathy with this view—that if we can succeed without legislation, that is preferable because there are downsides to legislation. Will he undertake to ensure that we will have an annual report on progress and some suggestions about action that could be taken if the rate of success that he predicts is less than he hopes for?

[Matthew Hancock]

We have had a report on this. There are constant reports—for instance, I commend to the hon. Lady the 30% Club website, which has a quarterly update of the numbers—and there are many opportunities to debate this in the House. The most important thing is that we should try to get there without legislation, and certainly there does not need to be EU-level legislation, as it is something that this House can perfectly well do on its own. Having more women on boards is right, and it is good business, but it should be the responsibility of this House.

I am grateful for the European Scrutiny Committee’s work. We would argue that legislation is not necessary now. Yes, there is more work to do to promote women on boards, and we and British business are doing it. I commend the motion to the House.