Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Prisk Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

5. What recent progress he has made on the red tape challenge.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)]

To date, of the more than 1,200 regulations considered under the red tape challenge, we have agreed to scrap or substantially overhaul well over 50%. That is in addition to our plans to cap the cost of new regulations through the one-in, one-out system.

[Rehman Chishti]

I am very grateful to the Minister for that answer. Will he clarify how much the one-in, one-out rule saved businesses in 2011?

[Mr Prisk]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is costs that businesses are focused on. I can tell him and the House that last year we were able to rein back planned regulations, which will save businesses more than £3.2 billion a year.

[Brandon Lewis]

Businesses across my constituency and elsewhere, and organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses, are making it clear that red tape and bureaucracy are the biggest blocks to growth and employment. After six new pieces of red tape or regulation a day under the Labour Government, will the Minister outline how many regulations have already been cut and what his ambitions are for the rest of this Parliament?

[Mr Prisk]

We inherited a scenario in which there was the equivalent of six new regulations every working day. I am therefore pleased to say that in the last year we have identified 600 regulations under the red tape challenge which we will either scrap or substantially overhaul, and we intend to ensure that we increase that number in the years to come.

[Alun Cairns]

Reducing the number of regulations is extremely important, but so are the interpretation of regulations, particularly those from Europe, and the risk of gold-plating regulations, such as the agency worker directive. What action is the Minister taking to ensure that in interpreting regulations, we use the lightest touch possible to comply with the law?

[Mr Prisk]

We have changed the guiding principles from those that we inherited. That means, first, that we are not going to tie British business down by implementing early, as we have in the past. We will implement on the last legal day, under transposition rules. Secondly, my hon. Friend is absolutely right about interpretation. We will ensure that we copy regulations out and do not embellish them, as was sadly all too often the case under the last, Labour Government.

[Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)]

Higher education applications in this country have collapsed, although not across the board—I think applications to Oxford, Cambridge and Durham have increased. However, in the universities that ordinary people go to, they have collapsed.

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[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Nobody disputes that unnecessary regulation and red tape have to be dealt with, but Government Members are deluding themselves if they think that is the central issue, when unemployment is at record levels and the economy has ground to a halt. Every time I go to meet a successful manufacturing company that has orders waiting and wants to take on new staff, I am told that the central problem is the lack of finance. Instead of trying to pursue this issue, the Minister should be concentrating on getting money from the banks to manufacturers so we can get the economy moving and they can take on more staff.

[Mr Prisk]

I am glad to say that we are capable of doing both. Unlike the last, Labour Government, we are tackling finance. It is sad that the Opposition are not listening to small businesses. We are, and we are working to make sure we help them.

[Jim Sheridan (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (Lab)]

As part of the red tape challenge, will the Minister look again at the regulations that deny employees the right to proper compensation or redundancy payments if their workplace has fewer than 20 people, as is the case for ex-employees of Woolworths? That is regulation that successive Governments have failed to address.

[Mr Prisk]

I am aware that what the hon. Gentleman refers to is a live case, so I must be careful in the sense that it is before the tribunals. However, I am sure that the representations he has made are clear. Again, we need to strike the right balance so that employers and employees have a fairer deal. Frankly, I do not think that was the case in the 13 years of the last, Labour Government.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Last year, 171 people were killed at work and 115,000 were seriously injured. Is the Minister really saying that now is the time to water down health and safety legislation?

[Mr Prisk]

The changes that Professor Löfstedt has identified are not about reducing safety at work; they are about cutting unnecessary red tape. That is clear; indeed, it is why one Opposition Member has been part of that panel and has supported its proposals, which this Government will implement.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

2. For what reasons he does not plan to implement all the recommendations of the High Pay Commission.

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[Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con)]

7. What steps his Department is taking to support micro-businesses.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)]

The Government have already acted to make it easier to start and grow micro-businesses. Action has included cutting corporation tax rates, extending relief from business rates, and introducing a moratorium from regulation for all micro-businesses.

[Anne Marie Morris]

The Minister is conducting a review of disruptive business models as part of the red tape challenge. Has he considered introducing a new limited liability scheme for sole traders, similar to the limited liability partnership? I believe that such a scheme operates in France, and it would be fantastic to see one like it operating here.

[Mr Prisk]

I know that my hon. Friend is a real champion of micro-businesses. The Government have focused on practical measures that help the micro-businesses’ bottom line, but, as she knows, I am happy to consider the legal issues with her and her all-party parliamentary group.

[Dame Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)]

On Friday I attended the opening of a micro-business in my constituency, Little Rembrandt’s Café in Ferryhill. That business opened despite the Government and despite the banks, which refused to lend. The owner had to put her own financial security on the line by remortgaging her house. That situation obviously cannot be right, because it is stifling growth in the economy.

[Mr Prisk]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point. Two thirds of small businesses are able to secure the money that they want, but that is no consolation to those who are not. Perhaps I could write to the hon. Lady about the community development finance institutions, which we have been funding and which are well placed to help the kind of micro-business to which she has referred.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

When will the call for evidence on making it easier for micro-businesses to part company with their employees begin, and what will be the terms of reference?

[Mr Prisk]

Not yet, but soon.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

The Minister was right to describe the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) as a great champion of micro-businesses. Last week she called for the Government to introduce a VAT cut to 5% on construction, which is part of our five-point plan.

The truth is that the Government are failing Britain’s small businesses. They have failed to live up to expectations on regulation, they have failed to persuade the banks to lend to small businesses, and they have failed to get growth into our economy. Why does the Minister keep pretending that small businesses think his policies are working when it is so clear that they are not?

[Mr Prisk]

There are substantially more small businesses now than there were when we came to office, and they have confidence in what we are doing. We need to support and encourage them, and we will do that. I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s wholly negative analysis.

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

8. What steps he plans to take to address executive pay and reduce rewards for failure.

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[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

10. What recent progress he has made on determining the location of the green investment bank.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)]

In December, the Department invited applications to bid for hosting the green investment bank. The closing date was Monday 30 January, and a total of 32 bids were received. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will make a decision shortly.

[Catherine McKinnell]

Newcastle has submitted an outstanding bid to host the green investment bank, and as a region we have the right mix of natural environment, green expertise, infrastructure and professional services, all supported to grow under the last Government in order to make it a success. However, bearing in mind that we are the region with the highest unemployment levels, to what extent will the Government’s commitment to supporting private sector growth, particularly in areas suffering the greatest loss of public sector employment, be a factor in the decision-making process?

[Mr Prisk]

I do not wish to prejudice the case Newcastle has put forward as one of the applicants. All I will say is that we will look at the points the hon. Lady has raised as part of the criteria for all applicants, and make sure that we can get a decision out by the end of the month.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of prospects for economic growth and their effect on business confidence.

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[Esther McVey (Wirral West) (Con)]

Will the Minister support me in establishing a pilot scheme on Wirral bringing female business role models into schools and thereby working towards the coalition’s intention of practical, real-life role models?

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)]

I would be delighted to support that. It is an excellent idea and builds on the work that we are doing to recruit 5,000 new business mentors—real business women, helping those who want to start their own enterprise.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

What is the Secretary of State doing to stimulate growth in manufacturing industries, particularly the steel industry, which is so important to UK plc and my constituents?

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[Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)]

Although I understand that the Minister does not want to be unfair to other cities, does he agree that Brighton would make a fantastic choice of location for the green investment bank?

[Mr Prisk]

My only worry is that I did not have the opportunity to travel to all 32 locations and be wined and dined, but I note Brighton’s application and we shall have to see.

[Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)]

British Aerospace has a 17% global share, and as such is No. 1 in Europe, but its future depends on not only exports but on investment in research and development. Given that many other Governments in Europe and around the world give more support to research and development than we do, what more can the Government do to help in that vital area?