Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Swinson and Mark Pawsey

Thursday 18th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

The first thing I would say to the hon. Lady is that our lightly regulated employment market is an asset to the British economy. It helps the economy to grow and it is one of the reasons why, despite the very challenging economic circumstances we have seen and despite the fact that unemployment is still too high, we have seen employment rates bear up rather better than in some other countries. It is important that we simplify employment law—I would have hoped that there would be cross-party agreement on that—but of course it is also important for a functioning economy that we ensure that basic protections remain in place for workers.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

rose—

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[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

On employment law reform, does the Secretary of State agree that there would be a significant boost to our country’s small businesses if the cost of attending employment tribunals was reduced, given that, according to his Department, the average cost of successfully responding to and defending a claim is £6,200?

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue. It is fair to say that employment tribunals are costly in terms of time, money and stress for everybody involved, both employers and employees, so what we are trying to do through our employment law reforms is reduce the number of cases going to tribunal. We are streamlining the rules of procedure, which should also help to reduce costs, but the really important savings will come from getting more cases resolved through early conciliation, which is what the Government are pressing ahead with.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Swinson and Mark Pawsey

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is also worth noting that strikes and industrial action at present are at historically low levels. That is a sign of positive industrial relations and is to be welcomed. Trade unions play a very important role, and although the headlines generally focus on industrial action and strikes, the excellent work that they do on training and resolving workplace disputes often does not hit the headlines and should be commended. We always keep issues under review, but it is fair to say that the industrial action laws and situations are generally working well.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

4. What steps he is taking to increase the number of small and medium-sized enterprises which export to international markets.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Swinson and Mark Pawsey

Thursday 8th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, because what often happens is that one business goes under and its creditors get into difficulty as a result. We want to make sure that the system works to prevent such situations and provide support to businesses. We need to be wary of unintended consequences, because we also do not want a regime under which people who have had a failure in business cannot start up again, but we need to look at the disqualification regime and check that we have got the balance right.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

16. What recent steps he has taken to encourage business start-ups; and if he will make a statement.