Lord Marland
Main Page: Lord Marland (Conservative - Life peer)Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill
Lord Marland Excerpts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Lord Marland)
My Lords, I begin by underlining this Government’s commitment to fostering growth and restoring the UK’s economic prosperity. We recognise that legislation itself cannot generate economic activity, but it can help to set the framework in which enterprise can flourish. The Bill provides a package of measures that will get rid of unnecessary bureaucracy that encumbers business, improve the competition framework to ensure well functioning markets and advance business and consumer confidence alike.
To support enterprise, we are including several initiatives: to legislate for the UK Green Investment Bank; to improve the employment tribunal system and promote resolution of disputes; to give shareholders of UK quoted companies binding votes on directors’ pay; to promote competition through a single Competition and Markets Authority—CMA—and strengthen powers to address anti-competitive behaviour; and to make our copyright laws fit for the modern age.
We intend to simplify regulation and reduce unnecessary red tape by extending the primary authority scheme to more businesses for one-stop advice; by providing clear powers to time-limit new regulations via sunset clauses on new measures introduced; by ensuring regulation, such as on heritage protection, is delivered in an efficient manner while still providing necessary protections; and by repealing other unnecessary regulatory requirements on business.
I will address each of these measures in turn. On the Green Investment Bank, the transition to a low-carbon economy is important for the future, both globally and nationally. Some analysis suggests that more than £200 billion of investment will be needed over the next decade to develop the new technologies and products that will underpin this transition. Yet these are new markets, and the long-term nature of returns on green infrastructure investment may be deterring private-sector investors. That is why we have established the world’s first Green Investment Bank, which is now fully operational and ready to drive the UK towards a green economy.
Our employment reforms reflect our commitment to tackle employment legislation to help employers manage their workforce more effectively and ensure growing businesses have the confidence to take on new staff. Through the employment law review, we are taking decisive steps to remove the fear of employment tribunals and reduce the legislative burden on employers which stifles growth. This includes measures outside the Bill, such as introducing fees to the employment tribunal system and a fundamental review to streamline the rules on employment tribunals and make sure they operate as efficiently as possible. The Bill will provide business with more certainty about its liabilities and provide clarity on dismissal and tribunal processes, while supporting both parties to resolve their disputes earlier. The changes, such as on early conciliation and settlement agreements, will save time and cost for employers and employees. The Bill will give businesses more confidence and flexibility to deal with workplace issues, thereby providing the platform for growth that employers need.
On directors’ pay, the Government are clear that an effective corporate governance framework is necessary to support long-term sustainable growth. Investors agree that the governance of directors’ pay needs to be strengthened. The growing gap between pay and performance is damaging and unsustainable. Our reforms will require companies to be more transparent and to give shareholders a binding vote on remuneration policy. For the first time, shareholders will be able to agree real limits on what companies can pay. Investors agree that these reforms will help tackle excessive pay while still allowing companies the necessary flexibility to set pay packages that suit their specific circumstances and which reward genuine success.
On competition, a free and open market place is key to a growing economy. Pressure from competitive markets enables efficient and innovative businesses to thrive, which benefits consumers. The Government are setting up the new Competition and Markets Authority, which will provide a single, strong voice on competition. It will have a duty to promote competition to the benefit of consumers. The Bill will also streamline and strengthen competition enforcement powers, meaning that anti-competitive behaviour will be tackled more quickly and effectively, bringing benefits for businesses and consumers alike.
Chattels are a particularly damaging form of anti-competitive behaviour.
Noble Lords
Lord Marland
Sorry—I meant cartels. I am glad noble Lords were listening. It is one of those days already; if only I were not dyslexic. I repeat, cartels are a particularly damaging form of anti-competitive behaviour. In this Bill, the removal of the requirement to prove that individual cartelists were acting dishonestly will make prosecutions easy to mount, therefore deterring more cartels. These provisions, which will take out of the cartel offence those arrangements which have been notified to customers or publicised in the prescribed way, will provide a safe harbour for those businessmen engaged in legitimate commercial behaviour. Further comfort will be provided by prosecutorial guidance and by the statutory defences in the Bill.
I intend to bring forward a new provision in Committee and will first provide your Lordships with the necessary briefing on midata. To further benefit consumers, we will be introducing a power to make it compulsory for suppliers of services and goods to provide to their customers, upon request, their own transaction and consumption data in a portable electronic format. This will help consumers to make better decisions on the products and services that offer them the best value. The power will be targeted on certain sectors—namely, the energy, mobile phone, current account and credit card sectors—but may be extended to other sectors if appropriate.
Turning to copyright, the UK’s copyright regime needs to be brought up-to-date. The measures in this Bill will help to bring the law into the modern age and will be of benefit to creators and users of copyright alike.
The primary authority scheme is a highly effective mechanism which allows firms to get assured advice from one local authority on regulatory issues. This is not about scrapping regulation, but about ensuring that the necessary rules are enforced in an efficient manner. We want to extend eligibility, so that more businesses—especially smaller enterprises—can benefit.
On bankruptcy, this Bill reforms the process by which an individual may apply for their own bankruptcy; it will remove the existing requirement that such individuals petition and attend court, replacing it with a suitably robust and more efficient process under a suitably qualified adjudicator. In these cases, there is no dispute for the court to resolve. This measure will therefore free up judges’ time and court resources.
On sunset and review, the Government have already strengthened the scrutiny of new regulations before they are brought into force. But it is also vital to review new regulations after their introduction to establish whether they are meeting their objectives; whether they are still required and whether burdens can be reduced. Past weaknesses in this area have been highlighted in the excellent work by the merits committee—and I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Filkin and Lord Goodlad—most recently in their 2009 report, What Happened Next. The changes that are being made by this Bill will ensure that sunset and review provisions can be included in future secondary legislation. That will support the establishment of a robust and enduring system for tackling obsolete, burdensome or ineffective regulation, and help ensure that regulatory burdens on business are minimised.
Overly burdensome and obsolete rules stifle business. That is why we need to get rid of them wherever that is sensible. For example, it is currently the case that, where health and safety regulations impose a strict duty on employers, they can be liable to pay compensation, despite having done all that was reasonable to protect their employees. To address this potential unfairness, the Bill will remove the right of individuals to make civil claims for breach of most statutory health and safety duties, unless it can be proved the employer has been negligent.
The Bill will also exclude from the scope of the Estate Agents Act 1979 some intermediaries, such as private sales portals, that merely enable private sellers to advertise their properties and provide a means for sellers and buyers to communicate with one another. This is a limited deregulation that should bring benefits to the consumer and to the industry without reducing consumer protection.
The heritage measures in this Bill deliver on commitments made in the Government’s response to the Penfold review of non-planning consents. In particular, they will reduce burdens on owners, developers and local planning authorities but, importantly, without diminishing protection for key heritage sites and buildings. For example, the measures on Osborne House will enable English Heritage to put an unused wing of the building to productive use and to generate income to cover maintenance costs.
The package of measures on equalities reflects the Government’s clear commitment to equalities and the maintenance of core protection under equalities law, while addressing legal requirements which are not necessary or helpful. We want the Equality and Human Rights Commission to focus on its core functions as an independent equality body and an A-rated national human rights institution. We are therefore repealing vague and unnecessary duties and powers from the Equality Act 2006—the legislation that established the commission.
This Bill also implements two repeals arising from the equalities Red Tape Challenge, as well as delivering on this Government’s commitment to promote equal pay by ensuring that there is proportionate further action for the very few employers who flout equal pay laws.
The measures in this Bill are designed to help in our efforts to restore the United Kingdom economy to health and to pave the way for sustained recovery. I much look forward to the contributions from noble Lords and working with all Peers in the constructive way in which this House operates. I commend the Bill to the House. I beg to move.
Lord Marland
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for this excellent debate. I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, for his cheerful and genuine support on the Bill. I am also grateful to my noble friends Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lady Stowell of Beeston who have been extremely supportive throughout, and to our officials who have had to endure a six-and-a-half-hour marathon. There is much to digest, and this is clearly not the point where we go into hand-to-hand combat on some of the key issues. That is for Committee, and I look forward to it.
I have been in business all my life. The Bill redresses some of the imbalances that have developed, particularly in the area of employment, and it comes as no surprise that Members who have had affiliations with the trade union movement feel strongly about these issues, which they take seriously—as indeed do we. I respect their views, but we must remember that workers have rights and, of course, so do the employers. This is what this Bill sets out to do.
The noble Baroness, Lady Ford, said that in her working life she never came across issues of health and safety. I do not think that she has been talking a lot to other business people if that is what she thinks, because to many companies the health and safety issue is becoming really strangling, as are the tribunals, the long process and the time that it takes up.
Baroness Ford
Perhaps I may gently say to the noble Lord that I was aware that he was taking a comfort break during most of my speech. I never said any such thing and I suggest that he looks at Hansard to see what I actually said.
Lord Marland
I apologise. I am happy to accept that, but I thought I heard her say what I suggested, and I was there when she said it.
Business must be allowed to develop without unfair burdens. I totally agree with the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, who said that red tape needs to be reduced, but it is a difficult balance. That is what we are trying to do here—find the balance, because that is the key to prosperity. If we take the view that none of the Bill is acceptable, we are not starting from a point of view of balance. The Bill aims to be fair for growth and enterprise and to protect workers’ rights and those of employers. It also allows small and medium-sized enterprises, unlike large companies, to develop without some of the impositions that can be absorbed by big companies but that cannot be absorbed by small ones. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Greengross, on saying that employers have to be confident in employing their staff, and this Bill provides for that.
In the short time available, I shall rattle through a number of points. I apologise in advance for not speaking too substantively on them because we will do that in Committee. The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, made various points. He thinks that the Bill is in bad shape, but he must remember that it is this Government who have taken on the issue of directors’ pay, not the previous Government; it is this Government who are delivering on the Green Investment Bank; it is this Government who are getting to grips with copyright and the Intellectual Property Office; and it is this Government who are getting to grips with the heritage issues, to which the noble Baroness referred. This Government are undertaking those important forward steps, although the previous Government had the opportunity.
My noble friend Lord Razzall asked a number of questions, but a key one was asking me to confirm that the cap on unfair dismissal awards will not apply to race and sex discrimination. I can assure the noble Lord that any change that we make to the cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards will not affect the awards made in respect of any discrimination claim. I hope that deals with a number of issues raised by noble Lords.
I was very grateful to see the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Kelvin, and I wish him every success with the Green Investment Bank, and I thank him for all he is doing to get that initiative off the ground. He will take that over with his management structure. It is important to remember that it will be independent of government.
A number of noble Lords asked about whether the bank should be allowed to borrow. They also asked whether the Green Investment Bank will be a lender of last resort, and I was delighted that the noble Lord, in his excellent speech, said that definitely it will not be a lender of last resort. We in Government very much agree that the bank’s ability to borrow will be critical to its long-term success. That is why the Government are fully committed to providing the bank with the funding that it needs to become an enduring green financial institution. It is also important to recognise that any borrowing by the bank will score against the national debt targets. We have given the commitment that the Government will seek state aid approval in respect of borrowing from the European Commission before the end of this Parliament. The level of bank borrowing will need to be agreed by the Government as it is part of our future spending plans. I hope that deals with that issue for the moment.
My noble friend Lord Tugendhat and the noble Lord, Lord Gavron, make a formidable team and have raised some important issues with which I totally agree. I would like to read out some things about which I wrote to the noble Lord, Lord Gavron, on 8 November, after a very constructive meeting that we had. One of his points was that companies should disclose an audited figure for the total remuneration of each director. I am pleased to say that in future all remuneration reports will have to include a single figure for the total pay awarded to each director and that will be subject to audit. He also asked me the frequency of the new binding vote on remuneration policy. The binding vote on future pay policy will happen annually, unless companies choose to leave their pay policy totally unchanged. I think there will enormous shareholder pressure on companies that continue to leave their policy unchanged.
The noble Lord, Lord Gavron, and my noble friend Lord Tugendhat were concerned to ensure that companies cannot make payments to directors until they have been approved by shareholders. I can confirm that that will be the case under the Government’s proposals. The noble Lord made the point that shareholders should approve the specifics of pay and not just the general policy. The draft regulations which we have published will require companies to set out clearly and succinctly what type of payments directors are entitled to, how pay links to the company’s’ strategies, how performance will be assessed and how that will translate into awards under different scenarios. Even before coming to the House, we sat down and had constructive discussions which I hope noble Lords agree have made fruitful progress.
The noble Baroness, Lady Warwick of Undercliffe, gave a very good speech about orphan works. There is a lot of good stuff in the Bill about that issue.
My noble friend Lord Lester of Herne Hill has been described as the grandfather of human rights. It was interesting that there were cross-party differences on a number of things that the grandfather put forward. I do not for one moment think that the noble Lord is complacent about anything he does. I compliment him on the clear way in which he let the Government know how he felt about some of these issues. Through discussion, we will try to find a way to mitigate his concerns—and indeed the concerns of all noble Lords. However, as I said, I do not want to go into hand-to-hand combat with him or with other noble Lords at this point.
My noble friend Lady Buscombe talked passionately about the creative industries. I have just returned from Hong Kong, and the opening of the great creative campaign. In the past 18 months I travelled with representatives of the creative industries to China and Brazil. The creative industries are absolutely fundamental to the prosperity of this nation. A lot of the work that we in government are doing will support them.
I welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton; it was a joy to see her again. I am not entirely sure that I welcomed many of her remarks, but that is the fun of the fair. I am so glad to see that the system worked and that she was able to make a very moving and impassioned speech.
The work at English Heritage of the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, is of the highest quality. We are very grateful for everything that she does. She has offered to correspond on a number of issues. Of course, we will take that correspondence extremely seriously, as she deserves.
I compliment my noble friend Lord Lucas on a marvellously brief speech and thank him for his support for our copyright initiatives. We want more speeches like his—although I am afraid I will have to disabuse any noble Lords who thought that I myself would be making a short one.
I had the pleasure of one-to-one meetings with the noble Lord, Lord Borrie. We discussed many issues that he spoke about today. He asked for reassurance that Citizens Advice and trading standards would be adequately resourced to take on additional consumer functions. This matter was raised by a number of noble Lords. Of course, it is absolutely fundamental that all these things are resourced properly. The Government will give the new National Trading Standards Board £9.7 million this year, with an indicative increase to £11 million next year, to help local trading standards target high-priority enforcement cases for consumers. Citizens Advice will receive £1.5 million of government funding for its consumer education role from April 2013. I look forward to further dialogue with the noble Lord, who is expert on the CMA and related issues. His input will be invaluable.
The noble Lord, Lord Low, was kind enough to give me advance notice of a question that he asked. I reassure him that we do not intend to use Clause 66 to narrow or remove the exceptions for visually impaired people provided by the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002. The Government recently consulted on whether to widen these exceptions so that they would benefit more disabled people. We will issue our response to the consultation soon. The Government strongly support international negotiations on a treaty of copyright exceptions for visually impaired people, which we hope will be agreed by 2013. The noble Lord referred to the views of the General Counsel of the EHRC, John Wadham, on abolition by stealth. I will counter that with a quotation from Mr Wadham, who stated:
“This Bill reduces our powers and our remit, but not in a way that we are overly concerned about”.
So there.
The noble Baroness, Lady Ford, talked about fairness in the workplace, and about health and safety, which we have already discussed. She is completely right that there should be fairness in the workplace. The Bill does not hamper that; it creates fairness for both sides.
The noble Lord, Lord Bates, referred to the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises. I agree with him totally. The work that he does in the north-east is extremely valuable and we are very grateful for it.
It is difficult to cope with the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, because he does not seem to agree with anything we are putting forward despite the fact that I and my officials have had exhaustive meetings with him over a period of time. He has a great passion for and knowledge of the subject. I have discussed many of these issues with him and we will carry on our discussions. We recognise what he is saying: we do not agree with a great deal of it but there is a way through this. I hope that he will acknowledge that from the discussions we have had so far and look forward to further discussions. I have a feeling that the noble Lord is going to get to his feet.
Lord Clement-Jones
I thank the Minister for that. I know that it is very difficult to deal with the questions raised during the debate, particularly in the area of copyright where a number of technical questions have been raised by myself, the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, the noble Lord, Lord Grade, and others. Will he undertake to write in response to some of the questions raised during the course of the debate?
Lord Marland
It is not that I am not prepared to write—I am always prepared to write and to get engaged in dialogue—but there a number of things are happening on the intellectual property front at the moment. I have been made recently the Government Minister responsible for it and I am holding an up-and-down review of the Intellectual Property Office as we speak. I can tell the noble Lord that a number of changes will be made, which I do not want to enunciate now. However, during the progress of the Bill I will be able to help in that regard. I am also sitting on a document about modernising copyright with a modern, robust and flexible framework. It will be my bedside reading today and tomorrow, and Government Ministers will know what a joy that is. It is big enough to fill the Red Box on its own. So, if the noble Lords, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Grade, and the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, will allow me, I will deal with this in Committee. During the process I will be happy to engage in one-to-one conversations with them as it happens.
I have enjoyed greatly working in the past with the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. I am not sure I am going to enjoy the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, although it is quite a good film. So far the noble Lord has always fitted in the good category as far as I am concerned and I hope he is not moving into the bad or ugly bit. I am sure he will not.
I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Currie of Marylebone, on his important new role and on his excellent speech, which set out, in a way that I could not possible have done, the excellent work that the CMA will do. As my noble friend Lord Eccles said, it is one thing to have an inspiration to merge things but, in practical terms, it is a big task to achieve to achieve it. However, in my view, it could fall to no greater man.
The noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, will be a challenge because there are many things that he does not agree with.
A number of noble Lords referred to the report by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Graffham, Common Sense. Common Safety, and the report by Professor Löfstedt, Reclaiming Health and Safety for All. We are taking on board many of the matters they have written about and produced evidence for. A great deal emerges from that and no doubt we will debate these issues more aggressively in the coming months.
The noble Baroness, Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, asked a number of important questions, but perhaps I may respond to only one of them in the time that I have available. She said that the change to the public interest test on whistle-blowing will make employees think twice about whether they should blow the whistle. We disagree with that. Where the employee has a reasonable belief that disclosure is in the public interest they will be protected. It is not a difficult evidential hurdle to satisfy. I hope that that deals with some of the points, but obviously a number have been raised.
I am grateful for the support of my noble friend Lord Teverson on the Green Investment Bank. The noble Lord, Lord MacKenzie of Culkein, quite rightly said that whistleblowing takes courage. It most certainly does, and none of what we are trying to do here seeks to prevent it. We are trying to allow people to have the courage to do it, and I think that his were wise and bold words which we agree with. The noble Lord, Lord Touhig, talked about the public interest test. It is absolutely fundamental that we get this right in the debate.
I have only two minutes to speak so I shall be very quick. The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie of Luton, shares a commonality of theme with the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley. I have referred to some of the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, in what I thought was an excellent and balanced speech. The noble Lord, Lord Morris of Handsworth, has clearly shown a long-term interest in the rights of workers, and as I said earlier, this is all part of trying to have the rights of workers protected. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Sheikh for mentioning sunset clauses. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Monks and my noble friend Lady Brinton for their comments about ACAS resources. It is absolutely fundamental that ACAS is properly resourced and there is a Government commitment that it will be. It is a fine service and I am glad that everyone thinks so. We will do all we can to make sure that that happens. Questions were put about Heseltine, but the Government’s response will not be ready until a bit later so I will not deal with it now. The noble Baroness, Lady Turner of Camden, again feels strongly about certain employment issues, and I look forward to her debate. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, for his view on the Green Investment Bank.
There were a number of questions about the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is absolutely fundamental that it should retain its A-grade status and the Government are committed to that. However, it is quite difficult when an organisation does not fulfil its audit commitments and does not manage its finances as well as it should. The commission is in the position it is not as a result of government interference, but through the organisation itself. I think that under the leadership of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, it will be in a very good place.
I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. This House is marvellous at revising and improving things. I know that because I have already taken a Bill through it. In the past it has been a pleasure to co-operate with noble Lords. I hope that I am thought of as a reasonable man to create a dialogue with. I am prepared to listen and we are prepared to have discussions as this complicated and complex Bill with its wide-ranging bandwidth goes through the Lords. I am looking forward to the Committee stage. I respect the views of everyone in this Chamber, as is only right. My door will always be open, as will that of my officials, to listen and provide as much information as possible.