Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill

Lord Lennie Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lennie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I begin by thanking everybody who has spoken in this important debate today, and the Minister for the briefings, meetings and information that he has provided on the Bill—it has been very helpful. It has been good to hear so many contributions concentrate on the vital matter of how the Government can produce a framework to support businesses and give them the best fighting chance of succeeding, rather than falling prey to insolvency.

I would like to draw particular attention to the speeches on pensions and pensions governance, by my noble friends Lady Drake and Lady Warwick; on workers’ rights, by my noble friends Lord Hendy and Lord Hain; and on encouraging entrepreneurs in the future, by my noble friend Lord Blunkett. I reassure my noble friend Lord Liddle that the Labour Party is no longer interested in replacing capitalism; sustained capitalism is here to stay, I assure him. I also draw attention to the speech of my noble friend Lord Stevenson, who introduced, with understanding, comprehension and intellect, the range of concerns that we have with the Bill and its shortcomings.

In this brief contribution, I will summarise where the Labour Party feels that the Bill could, and should, do more, and indicate where we will table key amendments in Committee. Faced with the most dramatic recession for centuries, we must do all that we can to save as many viable businesses as possible from going under. This will help make the recession less deep and the recovery less difficult.

The Resolution Foundation estimates that up to 7 million people—workers—will face unemployment if the coronavirus pandemic lasts for up to 12 months; already we are at three months. A second wave of support for businesses will be essential if we are to prevent avoidable future closures and mass redundancies. Already, there have been redundancies of 500 jobs at Aston Martin; 1,500 jobs at Lookers; 3,000 jobs at the Restaurant Group; and, as of yesterday, 10,000 jobs worldwide at BP. Surely that must concentrate the mind of the Government to do more, and more quickly, to provide additional help for the sectors that will take longer to recover, such as hospitality, tourism and the arts. We need a recovery plan to take us out of recession.

Having forced the closure of many businesses, it is right that the Government should do all that they can to support these businesses in their rescue and recovery phases. The Government must act quickly. Where the Bill proposes measures that help to reduce insolvency, we will of course support it. Where it needs improvement, particularly to support the less powerful, we will seek to amend it.

On a permanent basis, we think it is right to give breathing space to firms; preventing suppliers from sending businesses into early liquidation is the right thing to do. On the temporary measures, it makes good sense to remove the threat around winding-up orders, and the suspension of personal liability for wrongful trading makes sense on a strictly time-limited basis. Easing the requirements for company filing deadlines and AGMs is also sensible.

The length of time that measures need to be in place is, however, open to question, as my noble friend Lord Stevenson and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, have said. Does anyone believe that extending deadlines until 30 June, or 30 days after the Bill is passed, will really be long enough?

Preventing hostile action against businesses during this time will be essential, until they have enough opportunity to prove their continued viability. Surely the Government, like the rest of us, know that this will take beyond 30 June or 30 days after the Bill is passed. The end of September might make more sense as an initial deadline. Some believe—indeed, some Tories believe—that the end of the year would be a better deadline than that. Many businesses will not even have reopened on 30 June—hospitality, entertainment, restaurants and pubs, to name but a few. How can they hope to be persuaded of their continued viability 30 days thereafter?

The rights of workers are absent from the Government’s proposals. As has been made clear by the noble Baronesses, Lady Drake and Lady Warwick, when a company is drafting an RP, surely it makes sense to consult its most valuable asset—its workforce. The legal underpinning of this would prevent the kind of hostility that there currently is at British Airways. Rather than keeping the workforce uncertain and cast in the role of reacting to the proposal, as their jobs and futures are at stake, surely they should have the legal right to consultation and to have their voices heard, as a contribution to restructuring plans.

The treatment of pension funds is curious. I am grateful to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association for highlighting this problem. Defined benefit provision schemes, as unsecured creditors, will likely lose out to banks and other financial arrangements, as secured creditors, thereby ranking pension funds below the bankers. In the event of insolvency, by the time the secured creditors have been paid out, there is unlikely to be anything left to pay pension fund contributions. Why do the Government not propose to treat them as priority creditors? Pensions are deferred earnings and their value should not be put at risk by this legislation.

As to the future, the Government should have a credible plan about how they will support the green new deal. Will they put in place new apprenticeships that will support the insulation of our homes, the design and building of electric cars, and the building of new forestry areas—major projects designed to help our economic recovery? If nothing else, this crisis has shown that only government can will the resources to steer companies out of a deep economic recession.

The Labour Opposition support the Government in these measures in so far as they go, although this is a long and complicated piece of legislation, but we have concerns about the limitations of, and other absences from, the Bill. We will table amendments to this effect in Committee. In the meantime, we look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.