AstraZeneca (Pfizer Bid)

Debate between Gordon Marsden and Vince Cable

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I am sure that it is a vote of confidence, but I am equally sure that the companies are motivated by hard-headed commercial considerations. We should therefore be motivated by the hard-headed considerations of the national interest.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State refers to Pfizer’s assurances, but he must remember that Pfizer has pulled jobs and investment out of Sandwich not once, but twice: first in manufacturing and now in R and D. The chief executive of Pfizer has said on the record that he views the UK as

“an attractive place to do science and manufacturing.”

However, after the way that it has treated the workers in Sandwich, is that not a bit like Dracula saying, “I like the look of that blood bank”?

[Vince Cable]

I am aware that there were very sore feelings about the redundancies at Sandwich. The Government had to mobilise a taskforce to rescue the situation on the ground and it is now quite a successful part of the UK. We accept that there was hurt, but that is not unique to Pfizer. As I said in an earlier answer, a roughly equal number of redundancies has been made by both companies. That is not because of their corporate philosophies, but because their patents have run out and they have not developed the pipeline of new projects that is necessary to sustain growing employment.

Consumer Rights Bill

Debate between Gordon Marsden and Vince Cable

Tuesday 28th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I will elaborate on that when I discuss digital measures. The hon. Gentleman is quite right: there are different consumer protection arrangements for the DVD—the physical equipment—and for content. The measures in the Bill specifically relate to how we strengthen protection on content.

The Bill was published in draft last summer and, as I have acknowledged, we are grateful for the feedback we received as a result of scrutiny, particularly by the Select Committee on Business, Innovation and Skills. Many of its recommendations are reflected in the Bill before the House, and I believe that it has been improved as a consequence of that scrutiny.

The first main measure in the Bill deals with goods, which are a critical part of the economy. There are roughly 350,000 retail businesses, but much of the law pertaining to this area is 30 to 40 years old. We have tackled the complexity that makes compliance burdensome for companies and confusing for consumers by setting out in one place the standards that have to be met. For example, we have defined a 30-day period within which goods have to be inspected. We have made it clear that, where consumers have a faulty item repaired or replaced, that repair or replacement must remedy the problem the first time round, or they can insist on some money back. Survey data show that all but 6% of faulty goods can be remedied the first time round, but we have embedded that in a clear set of rules.

We often hear, for example, about consumers trapped in a cycle of repairs that fail to fix a fault. Which? recently reported a case of a car owner who had fault after fault after fault, but he was consistently fobbed off with further repairs that failed each time to fix the fault. Under the Bill, that will not arise, as we will narrow down the obligations.

The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) asked about digital content. There is a good deal of legal uncertainty about consumer rights in relation to digital content, which is unacceptable in a rapidly growing segment of the economy with a turnover of around £200 billion. That is why we have introduced a new category of digital content with a set of quality rights. As I said, we need a distinction between the way in which we protect content, which is intangible, and the way in which we protect goods, such as DVDs, which are tangible and are dealt with under the goods provision.

For example, many people now download music albums, but if one of the tracks is corrupted and will not play, it is not clear what they are entitled to. Under the Bill, they are entitled to a repair or replacement of the digital content and, if that does not fix the problem, they will get their money back. This is a complex matter, and we recognise that, in relation to complex software, for example, there are flaws—that is the nature of the business—but we have tried as far as possible to narrow down the areas of fault and consumer obligation. Clear digital rights are good, not just for consumers but for responsive businesses, particularly new market entrants—a key part of the industry—which will find it easier to attract customers, even if they are not an established brand, because they can establish a track record in consumer service underpinned by the legislation.

Another part of the Bill deals with consumer protection in relation to services. We know from reviews by the Law Commission that the law governing the provision of services is difficult to understand and, when things go wrong, there is no statutory redress regime to put them right. However, we are talking about 75% of the British economy. That is why the Bill provides new statutory rights and introduces new statutory remedies when things go wrong. There is a great deal of debate about the specifics: the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee has suggested a statutory quality right, which we looked at, but we found it too complex. We considered the evidence from Australia, and we are certainly happy to engage in further debate on the matter.

As an example of how the new rights would apply, we can look at the case of cowboy builders. Almost all of us have dealt with such cases in our constituencies, and they cause particular anger. A cowboy builder is doing domestic work and altering someone’s bathroom. They start the work, but there are problems, with debris strewn around the house and disruptions to the water supply. Currently, it is unclear what the householder is entitled to, and a lot of frustration flows from that. Under the Bill, there will be a statutory right to ask for a poorly performed service to be redone if possible. If it cannot be redone within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience there is a right to money back. I stress the example of cowboy builders, as I think that the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy), who may well want to discuss this, issued a press release this morning in which she singled out cowboy builders and said that there was no reference to them in the Bill. In fact, these measures will improve significantly consumer protection in that area.

Another area in which the Bill introduces reform is unfair contract terms—essentially the small-print problem. Legal ambiguity arises from recent landmark court cases—the so-called banks case in particular—and our reforms endeavour to protect consumers from the small print while making it easier for businesses to understand how they can prevent contract terms from being challenged in court. In a typical example, someone joins a gym in January with a lot of enthusiasm, but they have not read or fully understood the details of the small print. When they cancel the contract in March, as many people do—I seem to remember cancelling my gym contract rather earlier in the year—they have to pay for a full year’s membership. Currently, it is not clear whether a court would find that unfair. Under our proposals, it is clear: a court can find it unfair, and if it is unfair the consumer is not bound by it.

The reforms endeavour to make clear what the courts can and cannot consider in assessing fairness. In particular, we make it a key test that price and subject matter in a contract need to be transparent and prominent—the operative word is “prominent”—to ensure that it cannot be challenged for fairness in court.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

I am interested and encouraged to hear that proposal, because I dealt with a constituency case in which a young man found himself with precisely the sort of problems that the Secretary of State has described. Does he agree that there is a role for local councils, if it is a local gym or other local body, and their consumer protection departments, which should intervene in these issues? Will he encourage local authorities to use their public protection departments in that way?

[Vince Cable]

Trading standards at a local level are extremely important. It is not a statutory obligation, and councils vary in their support for it, but it is absolutely crucial. This is where much of the enforcement action will be eventually taken. At national level, as the hon. Gentleman will know, we put £13 million a year into the National Trading Standards Board, which provides training support, for example, and helps trading standards authorities to co-ordinate activities. That is often required, because an abuse can occur across borough boundaries. He is absolutely right: local trading standards officers are crucial in implementing much of this legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gordon Marsden and Vince Cable

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I have not had that case made to me before. Certainly if there is some element of discrimination, that is unacceptable. I guess there might be a correlation with other patterns in the labour force, but I will undertake to see whether there is any evidence of there being a real problem that we need to address.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

May I congratulate the Secretary of State on all his new Ministers? I am delighted that he paid strong tribute to the former Further Education and Skills Minister, the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes). Given his commitment to vocational education and the personal warmth he brought to his task, he will, as I am sure his successor knows, be a hard act to follow.

We now know that over the past year the number of 16 to 18-year-olds starting apprenticeships went down in the south-west, the north-west and north-east England, yet the Secretary of State’s colleagues elsewhere in Government have so far ducked out of doing anything practical to implement Jason Holt’s excellent report to get more small businesses to take on those young people. Will the Secretary of State now change that course, with an active Government response to help small businesses to take on young people for the extra apprenticeships that we desperately need, given the failures to deliver growth by No. 11 Downing street?

[Vince Cable]

The Jason Holt report was published just six days or so ago, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it has not yet been fully implemented. We are certainly going to be working on it, however. There clearly is an issue with 16 to 18-year-olds who need to have a ladder into apprenticeships rather than going straight into a demanding skill course associated with a job. We recognise that there is that transition issue, therefore, and I am working with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in particular on how we address it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gordon Marsden and Vince Cable

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to stress the crucial importance of small business. As he well knows from the autumn statement, the Chancellor has come forward with ideas about credit easing to make credit more easily available at lower rates to small companies, and we will wait for the Budget to see how that will be elaborated.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Our economy contracted in the last quarter, with small business confidence at rock bottom in the latest Federation of Small Businesses survey, and we teeter on the edge of recession, yet Ministers have lost control of the levers that active government has for growth. Why, 10 months after the first regional growth fund winners were announced, do a third still wait for their money while £1 billion from Europe lies idle? With national apprenticeship week about to start, why are Ministers not, as we have urged them, taking unused money from the growth and innovation fund to expand local schemes for small businesses to take on thousands more young people? Is it not true that today, under this Government, growth is just as glacial as the weather?

[Vince Cable]

On the specifics, as the hon. Gentleman will know, a third of regional growth fund projects have already started. I am surprised that he picks up apprenticeships as a theme, because we have increased their number by 50% in the last year from the rather depressed levels we inherited. In terms of broad policy, I understand that the hon. Gentleman is standing in this morning for my opposite number, the hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna), who wrote to tell me that he has gone to Germany looking for inspiration. I think the first thing the Germans will tell him is that if he wants sustainable growth, there has to be fiscal discipline.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gordon Marsden and Vince Cable

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I think my colleague is disarmingly tempting me to commit some indiscretion here. I have been to Lotus, but we did not discuss the regional growth fund bid. It is an outstanding company, and I am certainly aware that it has put in a bid.

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Well, why do we not put the bunting out? Six months after 45 regional growth fund bids were submitted, only three have got the money, so there are only 42 to go. Perhaps the Secretary of State could tell us how many people in BIS it takes to change a light bulb. However, on 17 October, the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk) assured The Times that due diligence on the bids had taken an average of six weeks. These bids have all been waiting six months. Will the Secretary of State tell us when the bidders will get their promised money, as all these continued growth prospects have been put at risk because his Department has been asleep at the wheel?

[Vince Cable]

I definitely think we should put the bunting out for the regional growth fund. As I explained in my first answer to this question, more than half of all these projects are now under way. Factories have been built; jobs have been created—that is what it is about. As was made clear at the outset and as Lord Heseltine made clear a few days ago, the release of funding is a later stage in the process when due diligence has been completed. Are the Labour Front-Bench team seriously arguing that we should dispense with controls over the spending of public money in the private sector? I know they did that in government, but we are not going to do it.