Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

14. What steps he is taking to promote regional growth.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences (George Freeman)]

The Government remain totally committed to the rebalancing of our economy through unleashing the economic potential of our cities and regions. We have invested in infrastructure, connectivity, and science and innovation across the country, not least in the northern powerhouse and most recently with the £235 million that the Sir Henry Royce Institute focused on research into advanced materials. We have agreed 28 city deals, 39 growth deals and a total investment of £7.7 billion, including the transformation of the Greater Manchester devolution agreement. It is working: the north-east and the north-west are now cited as the fastest-growing regions in the country. We are going further and are now discussing a further 38 radical devolution proposals to empower local regions.

[Rehman Chishti]

On regional growth, the Government have committed £7 billion of the £12 billion regional growth fund, including £488 million to my own South East local enterprise partnership, which is creating more jobs, homes and growth. However, when does the Minister expect the remaining £5 billion to be allocated? Does he expect the overall pot to grow?

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend is right and I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his leadership locally in helping to secure that £7 billion and the £488 million that has gone into the Thames Gateway in north Kent. Decisions on the remainder of the RGF will be made in the spending review, but I will point out that we restated in the spending review guidance our commitment to the full £12 billion and to a radical package of devolution across the country.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

Regional growth in Thirsk and Malton depends largely on access to superfast broadband. We are delighted that 95% of premises will receive superfast broadband by 2017, but the final 5% percent is without doubt the biggest challenge. Many businesses cannot wait until 2020 to get access to superfast broadband. Will the Minister confirm that he will look at ways to open up the market to create more competition for the final 5%, thereby increasing the pace of roll-out?

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. It is great news that, as a result of our £800 million programme, 95% of the country will have superfast broadband by 2017. However, the final 5% or 10% in the most rural areas require special attention, which is why my hon. Friend the Minister for the Digital Economy is actively looking at a package of measures to help the most marginal rural constituencies. We have launched an £8 million pilot programme looking at vouchers, mobile broadband and a range of innovative schemes, including social investment finance models.

[Heidi Allen]

The Minister might recall that a few weeks ago I mentioned to him the incredible economic growth in Cambridgeshire which risked being hampered because of infrastructure constraints. We are ready to present an innovative private funding model to him, so can I secure some time in his diary to share the proposals with him?

[George Freeman]

I would be delighted to give my hon. Friend a date. She makes an important point, and I welcome the ambition set out in the “Case for Cambridge” manifesto. Having sat myself on the board of the Greater Cambridge partnership, I well know that Cambridge is now a global technology cluster. Only last week, I went to visit AstraZeneca’s £500 million global research and development hub site. It is a city that needs global infrastructure, and we welcome the ambition set out in the manifesto.

[Mary Creagh (Wakefield) (Lab)]

Regional growth in Yorkshire and the north-east is dependent on good transport links, so the cancellation of electrification between Leeds and Manchester and Leeds and Newcastle was a bitter blow to our economy. May I urge the Minister to urge the Chancellor to review the decision in the autumn statement and to look at the skills capacity in the transport sector, which is pushing up costs and prices in the electrification area?

[George Freeman]

First, the programme has not been cancelled; it is paused. It is a massive programme. [Laughter.] Opposition Members do not know much about running major projects. It is absolutely necessary that we get it right. The howls of derision opposite reveal their embarrassment at our success. You would think we would get more thanks for what we have done: a £7 billion regional growth fund; city deals across the country; 11,000 small and medium-sized businesses helped; and 130,000 jobs created, not least in the north.

[Jo Cox (Batley and Spen) (Lab)]

The Minister will know that the suspension of the business rates revaluation in 2013 has had different effects in different parts of the country. Will he commit to investigating how businesses in my constituency, like so many in the north, were disadvantaged by the decision and find a way to redress this north-south divide?

[George Freeman]

I would be delighted to feed the hon. Lady’s comments into the Government’s review of business rates, which is already in hand. We recognise that particularly in many small towns business rates have a crippling effect on the high street. That is why we have launched a major review, which is ongoing and live at the moment.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), the Minister did not talk about the midland main line, but gave a list of other things he was doing. The cancellation of the midland main line electrification is a significant blow to south Yorkshire, north Derbyshire and the east midlands. What representations has the Department made on the impact on businesses and regional growth of not electrifying the midland main line? Will he respond to the question and tell us what is actually happening?

[George Freeman]

I dealt with that point. The midland main line is an important strategic rail route, and we are pausing to make sure we get it right. We will take no lectures from the Labour party on economic competence, when its own shadow Chancellor, according to his biography, is committed to the overthrow of capitalism.

[Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Con)]

I am aware that the Life Sciences Minister is creating a specialist life sciences enterprise zone to support sites across the UK hit by the global pharmaceutical corporate restructuring. Will he commit to providing every possible support to Covance, a pharmaceutical company in Alnwick, in my constituency, where more than 140 scientists’ jobs are at risk?

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend has raised this matter with me already, and the Office for Life Sciences stands ready and is taking a close interest. We have already made contact with the local authority and will offer every support we can to its bid to make sure the site remains viable and that we protect local jobs.

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

10. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on businesses of the UK leaving the EU.

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[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

T7. I welcome the steps being taken by the Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences to accelerate the adoption of new, properly tested medical treatments in the NHS. Can he confirm that this not only has tangible benefits for patients, but also helps underpin the strength of the life science sector in north-east Cheshire and across the country?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences (George Freeman)]

The accelerated access review that we have launched is about unleashing the power of the NHS to support 21st-century drug development and the test beds putting technology into practice in our health system. As my hon. Friend says, this has benefits not just for patients, but for industry, and not least for the north-west. During my visit to the Alderley site with my hon. Friend in the spring, I saw at first hand the power of that cluster in advanced medicines manufacturing and technology, and I think it has a very bright future in 21st-century life sciences.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

T8. With only 6% of 16 to 18-year-olds going into apprenticeships, may I ask the Secretary of State what specific steps he is taking to ensure that the 3 million apprenticeships that the Government hope to create are of good quality, are quality assured and have proper qualifications that will lead to increasing the trainee’s career prospects and are not used, as we are currently seeing in the north-east, as a ruse by less scrupulous employers to employ young people on cheap wages?

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

5. What recent representations he has received from businesses on the importance of infrastructure development to business growth.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (George Freeman)]

The Government have delivered the largest investment programme in the railways since Victorian times and the biggest investment in our road network since the 1970s. The national infrastructure plan sets out £460 billion of investment to 2020 and beyond. Not surprisingly, this has been strongly welcomed by business leaders as part of our long-term economic plan to put the economy back on its feet after the appalling mess we inherited.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Business leaders in Hull would like to have the rail line to Hull electrified, but that was missed out of the Government’s plans. Why is the Minister blocking Labour’s plans for an independent infrastructure commission, as recommended by Sir John Armitt, to take the politics out of the major infrastructure decisions that this country needs?

[George Freeman]

What we need is not more bureaucracy and commissions, but continued progress on infrastructure investment. Specifically, the Chancellor announced in the Budget that we are proceeding with the electrification of the Selby to Hull line. The Liverpool to Manchester line has already been electrified and the Manchester to Selby line is being done. We are investing major sums in northern infrastructure to drive the northern powerhouse—£1 billion on the region’s railways and on updating trains. This is strongly supported. John Cridland of the CBI, for example, said:

“Businesses in the north will be encouraged by ongoing support for infrastructure and innovation.”

The Construction Products Association said:

“We are pleased to see that the government recognises the value of infrastructure, and…has prioritised”

it.

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that the investment in infrastructure in my constituency will enable people to get to the new university technical college that is providing training for engineering and cyber-skills, which will lead in turn to substantial economic growth in Stroud and the surrounding area?

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to his doughty campaigning on this issue throughout this Parliament. It is part of £460 billion package, with £12 billion in city deals and local growth funds and £1 billion in broadband. As he says, this is alongside our investment in vocational training and apprenticeships in engineering to put our economy back on its feet.

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

The Minister mentioned the CBI, and Katja Hall of the CBI has said:

“The vast majority of businesses back the creation of an independent body to assess the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs”

as a means of finding

“a new way to agree upon and then consistently deliver the improvements we’ll need over the next fifty years—not just the next five.”

EEF has said that

“good infrastructure is an essential building block for the UK’s long-term competitiveness and growth”,

and has called for a permanent infrastructure body to act as a “game changer”. This is not, as the Minister said in an earlier reply, “bureaucracy”, so will he respond to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson)? In the light of overwhelming business support and to stop decisions on our country’s long-term future prosperity being kicked into the long grass, will the Minister back British companies and support Labour’s plan to set up an independent national infrastructure commission?

[George Freeman]

This is a bit rich from a party that neglected our infrastructure for 13 years and left us with gridlock Britain. Let me repeat: £460 billion-worth of investment amounts to the biggest infrastructure programme since Victorian times—and it has been welcomed. As I said, the CBI’s John Cridland said that businesses in the north would be “encouraged”. We have set up the National Infrastructure Advisory Board and we do not need another commission. What we need is to continue with the progress of investments. Let me quote Simon Walker from the Institute of Directors:

“The Chancellor was right to resist the temptation of politicised giveaways, and focus instead on long-term investment in infrastructure, science and efforts”.

We are making progress.

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

6. What recent estimate he has made of the average level of indebtedness of people who have taken out student loans.

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[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

Recently, Georgie Hall, my 23-month-old constituent, lost her short fight against meningitis. Her parents Matt and Paula Hall are understandably devastated. Given the impasse over the meningitis B vaccine, can my hon. Friend the life sciences Minister use his best offices to resolve the issue between GlaxoSmithKline and the Government? Will he consider looking at a new framework for drug procurement to avoid this type of impasse and future tragedies like the one that the Hall family has suffered?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (George Freeman)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s work on this issue, which he has raised with me on more than one occasion. I am sure the whole House will want to join me in passing on our condolences to Matt and Paula Hall for the loss of their daughter Georgie from this terrible bacterial disease.

I can confirm that I have asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for recommendations on a national immunisation programme and will use my offices in the Department of Health as well as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to drive negotiations with the company on a fair price. It is also right to point out that we have launched an accelerated access programme for the quicker adoption of innovative medicines in the NHS, which will also help.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

T5. The Minister responsible for life sciences will be familiar with Daiichi Sankyo, an innovative drug company based in Chesham and Amersham. It is launching a novel oral anticoagulant to help prevent strokes more effectively in people who suffer with atrial fibrillation. The uptake of such drugs has been repeatedly blocked by the NHS despite guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that calls for their use. What can the Minister do to clear that blockage so that the drugs can be used to benefit our patients?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (George Freeman)]

I am indeed familiar with the great work of Daiichi Sankyo, and that of my right hon. Friend in supporting its investment in her constituency. I recently had the pleasure of going up to open a new facility. She raises an important point, and the appointment of a Minister responsible for life sciences at the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and of Health, where I have responsibility for NICE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, allows us to begin to ensure that our health system better supports our life sciences cluster. The review I recently launched of speedier access for innovative medicines will tackle the issue of uptake that my right hon. Friend has rightly raised.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

T6. Ninety-three per cent. of those aged 25 or over who completed apprenticeships last year already worked for their employer. If this is not just a rebadging of existing training programmes as apprenticeships, what is it?

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[Mr David Willetts (Havant) (Con)]

Will the Minister confirm that one of the best ways of getting funding into innovative life sciences companies is for them to get contracts from the NHS earlier? He just referred to his very important early access review. What are the ambitions for that, and the timetable?

[George Freeman]

My right hon. Friend and predecessor makes an important point. Since we launched the life science strategy at the start of this Parliament, as set out and led by my right hon. Friend, this country has attracted over £3.5 billion of inward investment into the sector and created more than 11,000 jobs, so something is going very right. He makes a key point: the next step is to ensure that our NHS is driving quicker access. We shall shortly be announcing the chair of the review, and we have already started to gather evidence. My right hon. Friend will have noticed on his recent trip to America the support and the interest that it is gaining overseas for driving our sector forward.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

When the Secretary of State’s Department was called the Department of Trade and Industry, he called for it to be abolished, saying:

“The DTI should be wound up because it doesn’t perform a function. It has no real role anymore”.

Interestingly, his solution was not to reform the Department and rename it BIS; his solution was to split the duties of the Department between existing Government Departments —he cited the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education and Skills. Which of his duties does he think should be handled by other Government Departments, or what has changed his mind? Was it a ministerial salary, perhaps?

Birmingham Schools

George Freeman Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, in particular his commitment to put the promotion of British values at the heart of what every school must deliver for children. Does he agree that the reason this country has been able to offer sanctuary to people from around the world of different races and faith for so long is precisely that of a simple covenant of citizenship: “Come here, speak our language, respect our heritage and values and you are welcome”?

[Michael Gove]

I absolutely agree. One strength of the United Kingdom is that it has provided a safe and warm home for people of every faith over hundreds of years. It is critical that we ensure that our traditions of liberty and tolerance are protected so that everyone, whatever their background, can feel that sense of pride in this nation and allegiance to other citizens, which all of us would want to celebrate as the best of British.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, of course. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to my hon. Friend’s constituency. Many people raised the issue of Siemens, which would invest not only in the UK, but, through the supply chain, in many small businesses. I will look in detail at what he says.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

May I congratulate the Government on the great news that 102,000 new businesses were created last year, bringing the total to an all-time record of 4.9 million? Does the Minister agree that many first-time entrepreneurs and start-ups find that compliance with a whole raft of Government red tape, often designed in Europe and gold-plated in Whitehall, is a genuine barrier? Will he meet me and representatives of entrepreneurial start-up companies to see what we might do to ease the burden on start-ups in particular?

[Matthew Hancock]

I am always delighted to meet my hon. Friend, so I would love to do that. We are always looking at how to ease the burden further. We have reduced the burden on business enormously. The one in, two out rules are in place and are working, but there is always more to do.

Al-Madinah Free School

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Laws]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to put the spotlight on the young people in the school, whose concerns need to be top of our list of priorities. We will ensure that those with special needs—indeed, all the pupils—are properly catered for through this period, which is one reason why Lord Nash has acted so swiftly to ensure that the school resolves the outstanding problems.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

The free school revolution has triggered a renaissance of educational hope and lit a thousand candles around the country, with people investing and taking an interest in new education. May I welcome the speed with which those on the Front Bench have acted on this school, but also urge the Minister and the team not in any way to allow the intellectual and political gymnastics of Opposition Front Benchers—who have opposed progressive reforms in education for years and have now seized on one case of failure—to slow down these important reforms, which are giving hope to millions?

[Mr Laws]

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are not impressed or distracted by the gymnastics we have seen over the last week or by the desperate attempt by the shadow Education Secretary to resolve his differences with his own Schools Minister, who has a totally different view about free schools. We will remain focused on improving this school—and, indeed, all schools across the country that need improvement.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

I agree with my hon. Friend. The aerospace announcement in the Budget, to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just referred, is crucial in supporting those industries. My hon. Friend can be proud of a constituency that has, in Daresbury, an important high-tech centre.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

This week, AstraZeneca announced a deep global restructuring, committing its manufacturing facility to Cheshire, but moving its global R and D to Cambridge, with a £300 million investment and 2,000 staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is a sharp reminder of the deep global restructuring in the pharmaceutical sector and the importance of the life science strategy we put in place 18 months ago? May I congratulate his Department on the speed with which the task force was set up?

[Mr Willetts]

The announcement was obviously disappointing for people at Alderley Park, but we have worked with AstraZeneca in setting up a task force, which I hope will secure a future for the site. Meanwhile, we should celebrate the fact that AstraZeneca decided, having looked around the world, that the UK was the best place to invest in new R and D facilities.

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[Jo Swinson]

This was the subject of a lively debate in the Committee corridor earlier this week. As I made clear at that point, this is a minimum consultation period; where it is helpful to continue the consultation, benefiting the business and jobs, of course that can and should continue. The quality of the consultation is being improved through ACAS, which will help to make sure that business benefits but also that more jobs can be saved as a result of that improved process. There is no benefit in just prolonging the uncertainty when it is very clear that a business needs to restructure to make sure that the remaining jobs can be secured.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

On the day of Lord Heseltine’s birthday, I have no idea what presents he might have been expecting, but I am sure that the Government’s acceptance of his report’s recommendations will have been a strong gift. I invite the Secretary of State, on behalf of the House, to pay tribute to Lord Heseltine’s tireless work for British business over a long career and to encourage the Government to implement his reforms with the radicalism and speed demanded.

[Vince Cable]

Yes, I would be delighted to pay tribute to him. Quite apart from this major report, large parts of which we are accepting, Lord Heseltine has played a major role in chairing the group of business people overseeing the regional growth fund and has led the initiative, now being taken in Birmingham, to mobilise chambers of commerce. Indeed, he makes a contribution far bigger than that of many Ministers in this and previous Governments.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Not yet, but they are about to. UK Export Finance is establishing a series of regional advisers who through banks, lawyers and accountants will reach more SMEs. That is part and parcel of a widespread message going out to all businesses that if they want help exporting, UKTI is there. The trade seminars in Members’ constituencies will be an important part of that.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that one of the biggest frustrations for small businesses is the Government’s tendency to launch a plethora of schemes and press releases to go with them? I congratulate the Government on holding a bonfire of the brochures in the life sciences sector, and on setting up a dedicated life science investment office that is staffed by two industry experts who support the Department’s generalists in providing targeted advice.

[Matthew Hancock]

My hon. Friend makes that comment far better than I could.

Offshore Gambling Bill

George Freeman Excerpts

Friday 25th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) for leading the debate this morning, and to my one-time office mate, the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), whose constituency includes Newmarket.

As a sponsor of the original Bill, it is a pleasure for me to be here on this Friday morning to support this Bill. I support it because I believe the racing industry needs it, and I shall say something about why this great industry requires our support. Contrary perhaps to the wishes of the Whips, I do not intend to talk the House through my family’s long connection with racing, other than to acknowledge it, as I think that will reveal something about the extent of this great industry’s footprint out in the rural economy.

As one or two Members know, my father was a one-time national hunt jockey who rode for Her Majesty the Queen Mother and won the grand national in 1958. My brother is a racehorse trainer in California, where the funding for racing is rather more sustainable. It a place to which many of the British diaspora in racing have headed because of its more sustainable model of funding. Other members of my family have for many years been involved in breeding. My uncle Christo Philipson was a one-time chairman of the British Bloodstock Agency, and I grew up Newmarket, so I know very well that it, along with a number of towns such as Newbury, Malton and others in the UK, is totally dependent on this industry.

I also have a constituency interest. I am not lucky enough to have Fakenham race course in my constituency, but it sits on its northern boundary. It sits at the heart of a deep local, rural and equestrian economy of which Norfolk is proud and on which it relies—a network of point-to-point races, local equestrian activity and pony clubs, which are all part of the grassroots footprint, particularly of national hunt racing, and a cluster of trainers and breeders around the Attleborough area on the fringes of the Shadwell Stud in the corridor between Fakenham and Newmarket. This is the invisible side of racing that one does not see when tuning in to watch the Derby, the 2,000 Guineas or even the grand national. It is for the benefit of those communities and the rural economic impact that I stand here today.

We are debating this important issue because the health of racing is vital to our overall economy, yet it is under severe threat. The crisis in prize money and the crisis in respect of the leaching away from the industry of revenues on which every other racing industry around the world is able to rely is undermining the health of this great industry, It is, as I say, an issue of vital national importance.

Let me take the opportunity of reminding the House of the industry’s size. More than £10 billion a year is placed in bets; more than 6.5 million people attend our race courses, with a total turnover of over £3 billion. About 7,000 staff are employed directly, but more than 80,000 full-time equivalent staff are employed in supporting and associated activities. There are more than 4,000 breeders. We hear a lot about the top 10 or 15 breeding operations, but there are many small breeders and small-time trainers at the bottom of the pyramid who rely on prize money to keep them in business.

I would also argue that the horse racing industry has a disproportionate impact in the rural economy—an area that the Government have rightly put at the heart of their economic mission to drive a rebalanced economy and to help this country claw its way out of the debt crisis that confronts us. Its wider footprint—the feed suppliers, the hauliers, the farriers, the saddlers and the tourism associated with local race tracks—is very significant.

The truth is that our racing industry faces a crisis in respect of prize money, and it is a crisis that is particularly affecting those in the bottom half of its pyramid. At the top of the racing industry, particularly in the flat sector, the cost of racing is easily met by the rewards associated with breeding. For those at the bottom of the pyramid, however, prize money is the central method for covering costs and maintaining racing as a sustainable and viable activity. I shall say a little more about that in a few moments.

[Philip Davies]

As my hon. Friend knows, I share his passion for horse racing, but does he not accept that the levy model largely works by taking its income from low-quality racing, which some people might describe as betting office fodder? The money raised from that tends to be used by the levy board to increase the prize money at the top end rather than increase it at the bottom end, which might help the small-time owners, trainers and breeders to whom he refers.

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. I dare say there is an extent to which the industry needs to think about how it allocates its prize money, but the fundamental point is that unless it has a sustainable link to a reliable source of revenue from its principal input, which is betting, all this discussion is academic. The central point we are confronting today is how this great industry, which successive Governments have acknowledged needs a statutory basis, continues to ensure that the betting activity that feeds off it puts back a sustainable and responsible contribution to promote it.

The truth is that the levy has not been able to react quickly enough to the transformation in the gambling industry, which has seen so many of our gambling businesses move offshore. Eighteen of the 20 biggest bookmakers are now offshore. We have heard of one this morning—it is an “n of 1”—proudly maintaining a presence here in the UK, but the trend is indisputable and has been very significant in reducing the industry’s income.

Prize money has been significantly affected. It is important to acknowledge that prize money is vital for ensuring that we attract the best horses for breeding here, the best horses in training and the best people in the industry. Our elite racing sector at the very top is, of course, world beating, but prize money is also crucial to sustaining the less glamorous part of the industry out in our more diverse parts of the rural economy.

The levy contribution has nearly halved over the last five or six years. I want to highlight that by having a look at today’s Racing Post, which will illustrate some Members’ points. I do not intend to read it all, but let us look at today’s card at Lingfield. The first race at 1 o’clock is the Bet at bluesquare.com claiming stakes. The prize money is £2,045. If we divide that up between the first, second and third and between the owner, the trainer and jockey, and we take off the costs—of fuel, of staff, of getting a lorry to get a horse to the races— we see that that simply does not add up. Across the country, we are seeing small trainers and breeders packing up.

The other interesting thing to notice about the 1 o’clock at Lingfield is that there are only four runners in it. What is happening across the sector is that in that lower half of the market, fewer and fewer people are able to survive. That feeds in on itself. The smaller the fields, the less attractive for TV coverage and the less attractive for betting. In case anyone is concerned that there is a bumper race with huge prize money somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, the 1.30 prize money is £2,000, the 2 o’clock is £2,700 and the 2.30 is £2,040. These are disproportionately small sums compared with prize money in France or in Ireland. That is why we are seeing increasing numbers of trainers leaving this country and going to those territories. We are allowing this structure to undermine one of our great industries at a time when the Government are rightly doing everything they can to remove obstacles to growth and to drive economic recovery.

[Miss McIntosh]

I am following my hon. Friend’s arguments very closely. Does he share my concern that the average prize money in British racing is £10,135, while in France it is approximately £21,500 and £15,700 in Ireland? I think that helps to make the case that the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly) was making.

[George Freeman]

As ever, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point. That was exactly the point I was about to make. The differences in prize money are significant and make a very significant difference. We are not talking here about marginal competitiveness, but fundamental differences in the rate of prize money that no sensible or rational operator in the industry could ignore. Indeed, they are not ignoring them. In the last few years there has been an 8.4% drop in the number of horses in training, and that continues year on year. There has been a 32% drop in foal production, which is an even more significant figure in the context of forthcoming years. Britain now ranks bottom of the global league in terms of the percentage of trainers’ costs that they are able to recoup through prize money—the figure is 21%—which means that trainers are increasingly dependent on their fees. That raises the costs of having a horse in training, with the result that fewer and fewer people—such as my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies)—can afford to do it. We want to make racing an activity that more and more people can access, enjoy, participate in and contribute to, but by allowing the present structure we are doing exactly the opposite. We are feeding an increasing diaspora of British racing talent overseas.

The last Government’s attempt to deal with this problem, as with so many others, failed. The Gambling Act 2005 did not sort the problem out. It allows betting operators to base their remote operations offshore, often simply by placing the servers offshore while many of the offices are in the United Kingdom. It creates loopholes by allowing offshore bookmakers to avoid Gambling Commission regulation, and by exempting them from payment of their fair share of the levy.

[Mr Nuttall]

In what ways does my hon. Friend think the operators who have moved offshore are enjoying any less regulation by being based in, for example, Gibraltar rather than in the UK?

[George Freeman]

Those operators are not required to comply with the regulation that applies to operators based in the UK. The Bill will simply create a level playing field by making offshore bookmakers subject to exactly the same regulation, which I do not think anyone would consider unduly onerous. Such a level playing field would also encourage new entrants into the betting market, a development of which Conservative Members in particular would approve.

I support the Bill principally because I think the amendments that it proposes to the 2005 Act will create that level playing field. It will

“regulate remote gambling on a point of consumption basis; to require all operators selling into the British market, whether in the United Kingdom or overseas, to hold a Gambling Commission licence to enable them to undertake transactions with British consumers and to advertise in the United Kingdom; to provide that all relevant operators contribute to the Horserace Betting Levy”.

That does not strike me as a radical package of anti-business measures. It does not strike me as a dramatic attack on the freedom of the market, or a contravention of any simple, basic business principles. It is simply common sense. We need a structure that supports our industry, is fair, and provides a level playing field for all operators.

I believe that the Bill will unlock three important benefits. It will provide better protection for consumers. If all operators are subject to Gambling Commission requirements, everyone who places a bet will know that wherever they are placing it, it will be subject to the same regulation. Operators will be mandated under the Gambling Commission’s licence condition 15.1 rather than being able to operate on a voluntary basis. The Bill will, as I have said, return a level playing field to the market, and in so doing will make it easier for small to medium-sized operators to enter the sector.

At the heart of the debate is an issue similar to the one that we face across the board. Industries are increasingly dominated by big players, while smaller placers are locked out at the bottom. The pyramid of racing, which at the top relies on the glamour and prestige of the Derby, the grand national and other big, celebrated events, has deep roots at the bottom. Unless we look after those roots and introduce a system that maintains their viability and sustainability, we will see them wither. I believe that the Bill does what the 2005 Act failed to do. It resolves a very simple and fundamental funding crisis at the heart of racing, and gives hope to the 60 race courses in the country—including Fakenham, which is on the edge of my constituency—by reassuring them that they have a sound basis on which to continue to thrive, and to support both racing and the local rural economy.

I understand that the Government intend to give effect to these measures with legislation of their own, and that they have published a draft Bill. I hope that the Minister will assure me that in pursuing their own legislation, the Government will seek to give effect to undertakings given previously. On 20 January 2011, at the end of the debate on the funding of British horse racing, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose)—who was then the Minister responsible for tourism and heritage—said:

“It has also been pretty much universally agreed in today's debate that the current levy system is old-fashioned and, if not broken, in the process of breaking.”

He also said:

“It is absolutely right for the House to urge the Government to come up with concrete proposals before the end of the year, and I am happy to accept that challenge, in line with the mood of the House.”—[Official Report, 20 January 2011; Vol. 521, c. 1067.]

Since May 2011, racing has been involved in a pre-consultation process and subsequent bilateral discussions with the betting industry, represented by the industry’s recognised trade body, the Association of British Bookmakers, and under the auspices of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to achieve a sustainable long-term replacement for the levy. Despite its best efforts, and notwithstanding the aims of the Bill, racing is continually told that the levy is incapable of the reform that would enable it to capture modern forms of betting. It is therefore vital for the work to establish a mechanism that is fair, enforceable, commercial and sustainable to be completed. Solutions, including a racing right and a Gambling Commission licence condition requiring bookmakers to have commercial terms agreed with racing, are available and the consultation is due to begin this year.

I understand the Government’s preference for legislation of their own. Having looked at the draft Bill and heard the views of the British Horseracing Authority, I should like to raise a number of issues which I hope the Minister will address in his closing remarks.

[James Duddridge]

My hon. Friend has referred repeatedly to the contribution of horse racing specifically, but the industry does not benefit the country equally. It is targeted on helping those in rural communities, some of which have suffered particularly badly over the last decade or so.

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend has made an excellent point. While of course the industry has a general economic impact on the UK economy, certain pockets of the country are being hit particularly hard, including some of the areas that most need the economic growth that the Government are doing their best to unlock.

I move on to the areas that I wanted to ask the Minister to address. As I understand it, the clause in what might be called the “McIntosh/Hancock” Bill providing that once all operators selling into the British market have a Gambling Commission licence the legislation must provide that all operators contribute to the levy has been omitted from the Government Bill. Will the Minister provide reassurance that the Government Bill or some other measure will provide that all operators will contribute fairly to the levy?

Does the Minister agree that we need to tackle the basis on which we fund racing, and that voluntary arrangements for the funding of an industry and a sport as important as racing are unsatisfactory in the long term, unless they are enshrined in some sort of contract, with legal underpinning, on the basis of which the industry can plan and invest? Does he agree that we would do well to look at some of the overseas examples, as different countries have tackled this problem in different ways? Australia, in particular, has very effective legislation that ensures a commercial basis between the sport and the bookmakers, providing a sustainable basis for funding the industry.

On regulation, I note that the Government Bill says that the enforcement of licensing at the point of consumption will be light touch. We are all in favour of light-touch regulation, but will the Minister guarantee that the Government’s interpretation of “light touch” will still mean appropriate provision for enforcement is made to prevent many operators from escaping its provisions? Such a situation occurred as an unintended consequence—I am sure it was that—of the Gambling Act 2005.

I hope that the Minister will reassure the House that the ambitions of this Bill, the ambitions set out by the House in discussing its original presentation and the undertakings given by the former Minister will be dealt with in due course by the Government. I understand, as I am sure all hon. Members do, the pressures and complexities that the Minister faces in legislating in this field, but we have a duty to get this right. We have an historic opportunity to do so in this Bill, in the interests of our economy, at a time when we need to do everything we can to ensure growth in key industries in this country, and, in particular, in the interests of our rural economy and British leadership around the world in a great and growing business.

We are having this debate on the day the Prime Minister returns from Davos having given major undertakings about this generation of Conservatives’ commitment to fair tax and to ensuring that we believe in and will support responsible capitalism and moral markets. As Conservatives developing an agenda for growth, enterprise and entrepreneurship, we need a fair tax regime that ensures that those who benefit from the sector pay their fair share in supporting it. I very much look forward to hearing the Minister’s remarks.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. Before the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) responds to that, may I just say that no precedent has been created whatever. If the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) would like to place the Racing Post back on the Bench, we will be able to continue with the debate.

[George Freeman]

indicated assent.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

I think that that means no precedent has been created.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Duddridge]

My hon. Friend has done many things to deserve that, as he well knows. However, I think it best that I move on swiftly.

My hon. Friends have been a great double act in preparing and explaining the Bill and, whatever happens today, legislation should be introduced. Regardless of whether that happens through this Bill or another, there will be a great improvement.

[George Freeman]

Although attendance in the House and Public Gallery is relatively sparse today, as it is a Friday, does my hon. Friend acknowledge that the debate is being closely followed by the many thousands of people involved in the industry? The attendance today is not a sign of paucity of interest; a substantial degree of interest in the Government’s getting this right has been shown in the newspapers and online.

[James Duddridge]

I could not agree more. That is very important and I am sure that if there is a vote, if we reach that point in our proceedings, hon. Members who are working studiously in their offices and Committees will rush to the Chamber to express a view.

Although some might say that there is limited value in having the two Bills progressing through Parliament at the same time, it provides an excellent opportunity for Members of Parliament to undertake additional scrutiny that goes above and beyond the excellent work done by the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport.

Hon. Members will have two options, if they choose to legislate. The first is to pass the Bill today, to allow it to go to Committee and to make progress in that way. The other will be to receive reassurances from the Minister on clause 4 and allow amendment of the Government’s Bill. It is good to have that dual-track approach. I have listened to the debate carefully and would be minded to allow matters to be taken forward in the Government Bill.

In an intervention, I asked about the territorial extent of the Bill and I received some reassurances. I shall come to that later, although I managed to tease out from my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton that there are no explanatory notes. They would have been useful and would have helped its case.

I intend to speak primarily about the parts of the Bill that are shared with the Government’s draft Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill, although I wish to make some additional points on the levy.

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point about the lack of explanatory notes. Does he agree that the Bill is admirably short? It does not even cover the two sides of the page and has no more than five very short clauses? It is also incredibly simple, making provision for the three things that we have all described. Does he agree that it does not need substantial explanatory notes and that it is a wonderful example of proposed legislation? Perhaps we could take that up more generally in the House and encourage the Government to produce simple and short Bills for our consideration.

[James Duddridge]

I would certainly encourage the Government to produce simple and short legislation, and less of it. My hon. Friend mentioned that the Bill has only five clauses, and clause 5—entitled “Short title, commencement and extent”—is needed for every Bill, so it actually has only four clauses. We have already questioned whether another clause can be taken out or amended in Committee, further shortening the Bill. The hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) talked about the Government’s draft Bill and said that there are many similarities. I am not sure who has copied whose Bill, but they both seem to be operating with equal brevity, which should be encouraged.

I want now to give some of the background to the Bill. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk mentioned the Gambling Act 2005, and despite his criticisms I think that there is general consensus outside the House and among most Members of Parliament that that Act was a step in the right direction. It brought together other pieces of gambling legislation, particularly the Gaming Act 1968, and had an awful lot of good stuff in it that I would not want to see go. It might not have been not bold enough, and perhaps it did not have sufficient foresight about how the offshore industry might work and how internet gambling might fit alongside all other forms of gambling.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Duddridge]

What my hon. Friend says is logical, but I challenge him. I have not seen examples of that. I notice that he has his iPad, so perhaps he can zip through a few websites to see whether there are any that are self-excluding. I know that the casinos and the operators were very proud of that facility.

[George Freeman]

My hon. Friend was developing an interesting argument about onshore and offshore taxation. Does he agree that there are strong parallels with the message that the Prime Minister has been giving at the Davos summit in preparation for the British leadership of the G8, that one of our central themes and ambitions will be to ensure an appropriate regime for tax accountability generally for companies offshore and to close the loopholes that have seen major corporations in other areas moving offshore and denying the Exchequer appropriate tax revenues? This is part of the much bigger debate about responsible capitalism.

[James Duddridge]

I entirely agree. The Prime Minister’s other speech this week will receive much more coverage in the coming weeks and months, but I think that his Davos speech was equally important because it sent a message to companies about how they should conduct their tax arrangements, whether they are banks, Starbucks or online casinos. They need to do the right thing and pay tax on their online business, as John Lewis does, or pay tax on the betting framework, as bet365 does.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Duddridge]

I will illustrate the point I was trying to make by placing the bet. Initially, staff pretty much told me that they had never heard of me, but I pressed the issue, particularly when I saw some of the people who were listed. They gave me odds of 250:1. I was not trying to earn money, because I thought that the chances of my ever becoming Prime Minister, let alone the next one, were zero. Instead, I was looking at how the odds could be changed and at suspicious betting patterns, particularly given my comments about Liberal Democrat betting. Within the day they had suspended taking bets on me because I was so popular, based only on one or two bets that I had other people across the country make for only another few pence. That demonstrated how easy it is to manipulate the betting statistics and, in relation to the Bill, how important it is that betting is regulated, supervised and licensed locally, rather than simply offshore.

[George Freeman]

I apologise for interrupting my hon. Friend’s argument. He mentioned that the 1992 grand national included a horse called Party Politics, which he thought was a sign. I have just noticed that the Blue Square website claims that the favourite for the race to which I referred in my speech, the 1 o’clock at Lingfield, is a horse called Wind for Power. I wonder whether he thinks, particularly in the light of the business of the House, that that, too, is a sign.

[James Duddridge]

I am not sure whether I might not still be on my feet at 1 o’clock, but perhaps if I rush through my comments I will find time to place a bet on behalf of myself and my hon. Friend.

Although the majority of operators currently targeting British consumers are subject to established and effective regulatory regimes, not all of them are, so we are suffering from those problems now. For example, some online operators have begun to target British consumers and very little is known about the level of their regulation or, indeed, consumer protection. There is concern about that issue and others when it comes to European operators and, in particular, operators beyond Europe without sufficient regulatory oversight. There has been some debate about light-touch regulation and what is sufficient, but there needs to be a level playing field. I will not go into details of my particular view on the level of regulation—that would be wrong and I do not think that it applies to this Bill.

Even where operators are subject to appropriate levels of overseas regulation, there are different regulatory standards and approaches. This lack of parity inevitably leads to British consumers receiving different levels of protection depending on which operator they use. I recall discussing case work with another Member of Parliament in the Tea Room. A constituent of his had lost £25,000, by which I mean that their online betting account, which had been very successful and had a balance of more than £25,000, was hacked into, a losing bet was made and that money was lost. They maintain that it was not they who made the bet and I am not sure—I was not privileged to sit in on the relevant debate—whether that online gambler was subject to online regulations.

We wander around and make decisions in the United Kingdom under the security of British law. Although there are exceptions when there are problems, largely we are very well protected as UK citizens when making purchases. It is clear that that is not always the case in the gambling arena and that the 2005 Act has not allowed for it. I welcome the exploration of how we can solve some of those problems, whether through the Offshore Gambling Bill or the draft Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill.

My hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton referred initially to the remote gambling Bill. Perhaps that was the working title of the Government Bill. My hon. Friend nods in assent, for which I am grateful. I was somewhat confused when preparing for this debate, because I thought there was a third Bill in play, so I am grateful to find that that is not the case. It is difficult enough to deal with two Bills at one time.

Without specific requirements imposed by overseas jurisdictions, operators may not be compelled to report certain information, such as suspicious betting activity, to the Gambling Commission or relevant sports bodies, even when such an activity may involve a British sportsperson and/or British consumers. As such, there is a potential risk of match fixing. The hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme used the term “in-match betting”, I think, which I was not familiar with, but I suspect it covers things such as how many times a bowler will stray away from the wicket during the course of one over. I understand from press reports that that is an increasingly popular sign of betting.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

In relation to the speed of the process, I was assured yesterday that the FSA will complete early in the new year a pilot it has undertaken to identify the range of companies that might be assisted. That will then be rolled out to all companies. There is a genuine problem of definition. Some companies are sophisticated and took on these swaps quite conscious of the risks involved; others were mis-sold them. The borderline between the two is not absolutely clear, but I agree with the hon. Lady’s general proposition—a view that other Members share—that a lot of small businesses have been severely mis-sold products and need to be assisted.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

The rising world population means that by 2050 we will need to double world production, albeit with half as much water, land and energy. Does the Minister agree that British agricultural science, not least at the Norwich research park, has a potentially huge role to play in helping the world to feed itself? May I welcome the agricultural science strategy and ask that it look to draw in as much investment from around the world into Britain’s science base as possible?

[Mr Willetts]

This is an area where British science has a lead. We have already invested more in the Norwich science park, which I visited with my hon. Friend, and we will continue to do so as part of our industrial strategy.