Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Graham P Jones and Vince Cable

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

They will considerably improve the rights of redress, and there is a whole series of specific measures in the Bill, which will be debated at length, on how to achieve that. When we aggregate all the redress elements, we estimate that it will probably be worth something in the order of £4 billion over 10 years to consumers.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

In June last year the Government announced a crackdown on cowboy builders. The DCLG website states:

“The measures will also ensure that householders have a financial safety net in place… if… self-check installers fail to finish work properly or if they can’t be chased through the courts.”

Around 85,000 complaints about cowboy builders are made to the OFT every year. Will the Secretary of State tell the House how many people have benefited from that Government scheme in its first 12 months?

[Vince Cable]

I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman exactly how many, but I am happy to write to him about that. I launched the scheme and am therefore interested in seeing how successful it has been. Over the years we have all met constituents who have had appalling experiences with rogue builders. The existing system operating through trade standards has not been totally effective. This kind of branding will, we hope, bring more cowboy builders to account.

Amendment of the Law

Debate between Graham P Jones and Vince Cable

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Lady makes a valid point. I have already spoken to representatives of the steel industry about precisely that issue.

The Budget referred to the climate change agreements and to more extensive relief. Energy-intensive industries are an issue, but any Government who are serious about carbon reduction will have to deal with such industries in a balanced way.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that exports are being driven by the decision to stay out of the euro and the low value of the pound?

[Vince Cable]

The low value of the pound has certainly been very helpful, and that is supported by low interest rates. That is indeed a supporting factor for exports. It is not just a question of exchange rates. That is why I introduced the trade White Paper a few weeks ago. We are extending export credit support for small-scale business. The current export boom must be sustained, and it definitely was not sustained under the last Labour Government.

When we consider the catalogue of ways in which the economy became unbalanced under the Labour Government, it becomes clear that there was not just a problem of deficit denial, but there was manufacturing denial, trade denial, debt denial and banking denial. There was denial of many of the fundamental weaknesses that emerged in the economy. We are picking up the pieces and trying to create the conditions for sustainable growth.