Employment Law (Beecroft Report)
Debate between Mark Prisk and John BaronUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Mr Prisk
Again, I urge the hon. Lady to look at the report and talk to employers, who make it clear that the law needs to allow them to take people on in comfort, knowing that if something goes badly wrong, they can change things. This is not only about employment law, however, but about looking at the whole of the workplace. What matters is looking at all the issues in the round and we are working on each of them.
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
A key reason the eurozone crisis is unfolding is that politicians are failing to introduce the sweeping supply-side reforms needed to generate growth and close the gap between what Governments earn and spend. Will the Minister therefore ignore the cries from the Opposition and take a knife to employment regulations, which SMEs believe are the key reason they are not taking on new staff?
Mr Prisk
Ensuring that SME owners have the confidence to take on that next member of staff—perhaps even someone who is not as experienced as they would like—is a challenge and a risk for them, which is why we need to rebalance the law. I am happy, then, to take a knife to bad red tape, but I will ensure that our workplaces are modern and flexible, which is good for both employers and employees.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mark Prisk and John Baron(14 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
19. What recent representations he has received on access to finance for small businesses.
The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)
I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave to a similar question earlier.
Mr Prisk
It is important that businesses not only press their own bank, but shop around, because there tends to be an anxiety that, having been turned down by one bank, they will not be successful elsewhere—I remember that when I started my own business in the last recession. It is also important, if the hon. Gentleman can, to press that case on his constituents’ behalf with the British Bankers Association. If he does so, would he copy me in? If his constituents continue to have problems, I would like to ensure that the banks understand that we take an interest in the plight and prospects of our small businesses.
Mr Baron
The measures introduced by the coalition Government to help small businesses have been a vast improvement on what went before under the previous Government. However, in the specific cases bought to the Department’s attention by Members of Parliament in which commercially viable small and medium-sized enterprises are still being denied access to capital, can I have the Minister’s assurance that the Department will do everything it can to help?