Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Nigel Evans Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 17th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. I will now announce the result of the ballot earlier today for the Chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport. A total of 384 votes were cast, one of which was invalid. There was a single round of counting. With 383 valid votes, the quota to be reached was therefore 192 votes. Dame Caroline Dinenage was elected Chair with 198 votes. She will take up her post immediately, and I congratulate her on her election. The results of the count under the alternative vote system will be made as soon as possible in the Vote Office and published on the internet.

I call the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I am pleased to have the opportunity to talk about the Bill, which will drive innovation, growth and productivity by reforming digital market regulation, the competition regime and consumer protection.

Let me begin with the digital market elements. Technology permeates every aspect of our lives. The businesses that develop and apply new technologies—be they social media platforms, online marketplaces or innovation-driven firms—create huge benefits for consumers and make a major economic contribution. As the Chancellor frequently reminds us, the UK is the only country outside the US and China to have a tech sector with companies valued at more than £1 trillion—companies that have developed their businesses and attracted customers.

We must always be mindful that regulation and intervention in markets come at a cost. My starting point is to trust the invisible hand of the market as much as possible to drive competition, but markets require rules, and where those rules exist, they need to be enforced. We must be careful in how we approach regulation, and not penalise firms for being successful.

As has been said, digital markets have features, including the importance of data and network effects, that tend towards a few large players. It is certainly not the case, however, that having a small number of players with large market power is in itself a bad thing—it can represent the reward for innovation and investment. However, the CMA concluded in its review of online advertising that Facebook and Google’s market position meant that consumers and businesses faced increased costs, there was less innovation, and consumers had unfavourable terms imposed on them owing to competition.

The Bill will give the CMA the tools to designate firms with that strategic market status and apply conduct requirements for fair dealing, open choices and trust, which all sounds reasonable—for example, ensuring that there is a clear appeal process if a user’s marketplace access is terminated, or giving consumers choices and the ability to easily switch between services. However, it could easily become a burdensome requirement, so we must ensure that the regime is proportionate and that the cumulative impact of such requirements is regularly reviewed. Perhaps the Bill could be further improved by including something on its face to require the CMA to do so.

As a member of the Regulatory Reform Group, ably chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami), I share his concern about the accountability of regulators and the systematic underperformance that we see. Given the significant power that regulators wield and the impact of their decisions on the lives of our constituents, they must be accountable for those decisions. My hon. Friend set out very clearly and powerfully the case for our first report’s recommendations to promote greater accountability, as well as introducing standardised metrics so that we can judge regulators’ performance. I hope those recommendations will be taken forward.

I will briefly focus on the consumer regulation part of the Bill. Where companies breach consumer protection rules, there should be swift and proportionate action, but currently that does not happen, as the CMA lacks the powers to rapidly act: it has to go to court when it considers there has been a breach of consumer law. Which? has pointed out that a lack of powers meant that it took nearly six years to get the online secondary ticketing market to change its practices, although as we have heard from the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), there are still problems in that sector. That is why the new powers in the Bill are to be welcomed: there will be a direct enforcement regime, so that the CMA can investigate suspected breaches and issue enforcement notices and fines. That brings us into line with other major jurisdictions.

Others have referred to subscription services. About £30 billion is spent annually on those services, and consumer groups have identified that as another area of potential abuse. We will all have had different experiences: in some cases, it has been simple to unsubscribe from a service, and in others, it has been far more difficult—perhaps deliberately so, to make customers stick. Sky has raised concerns about the level of prescriptiveness on the face of the Bill regarding this issue, and has pointed out that in some cases, the requirements are more onerous than those that apply in regulated sectors. I hope the Minister will carefully consider those concerns, while ensuring that it is simple for customers to unsubscribe from services they no longer wish to pay for.

The final element I will focus on is that of fake reviews, and the detriment they cause to consumers and businesses. According to research by Which?, fake reviews make consumers more than twice as likely to choose poor-quality products, and people can be put off from making choices, whether about restaurants or about somewhere to stay. That is a particular issue for my constituency of North West Norfolk, which has a vibrant tourism and hospitality sector. UKHospitality welcomed the Bill’s helping to deliver fairness for hospitality venues and customers in that area, so I would be grateful if the Minister confirmed when the consultation he has referred to, which will get into the detail of how we tackle fake reviews, will be published so that we can act rapidly to close down those unfair practices.

To conclude, I support the intention of the Bill: to give the CMA powers to act rapidly against breaches of consumer law, to strengthen competition, and to crack down on abuses.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call John McDonnell.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker; I will be relatively brief. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles (Rebecca Long Bailey), I am a member of the National Union of Journalists’ parliamentary group—in fact, I am its secretary. It is really pleasing that there have been so many references to the issues around journalism and publishing from the hon. Members for Warrington South (Andy Carter), for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) and for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles.

The NUJ welcomes the Bill wholeheartedly; Members who may not have been interested in the journalistic or publishing side of this issue will want to understand why. My hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles has described the way in which there has been erosion of local media and local press, as well as national cutbacks. While journalists have been losing their jobs, what has infuriated them is that where they are producing work—quality, reliable, regular news—that news is then being effectively ripped off on to other platforms and used to attract customers to advertising, and they get no recompense whatever. Members can understand why there is a depth of anger that has built up, and why the NUJ welcomes the Bill. We have been working with the News Media Association as well, which also welcomes it, because we see it as restoring some elements of the balance of power between the big tech giants and the journalists and publishers themselves.

To a certain extent, I agree with the hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami) about the importance of the accountability of regulators and ensuring that they can play their role effectively. Part of the problem on regulation at the moment is the forest of regulators that we have and their accountability. About five years ago, my hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles and I commissioned a report from Lord Prem Sikka. I will send the hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden a copy, because it identified something like 50 different regulators in the finance sector stumbling over each other, not being held particularly to account by this place. I see the solution as being more about shifting the balance of power not to regulators, although they should be held accountable, but to the journalists and publishers themselves. That is why part 3 of the Bill is key for us. It demonstrates a firmness of purpose by the Government in ensuring proper regulation and the restoration of the balance of power, but the devil will be in the detail of the implementation of these regulations and clauses in particular.

I am anxious, like others, about clause 29. It just looks like a gaping loophole that could emerge in the coming period. The NUJ stands ready to engage in any discussions and consultations on the implementation of all the clauses in part 3, particularly in regard to guidelines, the final offer mechanism, the issues around timescales of the implementation and, if necessary, the sanctions that could be brought forward for any individual organisation that is dragging its feet and delaying an agreement on the final offer so that people are properly rewarded.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park raised the issue of intellectual property. That is an issue not only for journalists and others, but for performers. It has been raised with Equity, and Equity stands willing to engage in the discussions with the Government on these matters.

Overall, the significance of this legislation, for us and for the NUJ in particular, is that it could be another brick in the wall of restoring some of the infrastructure and architecture that we had for quality journalism in this country. In that sense, that is why we welcome it. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Salford and Eccles that it is one part and much more needs to be done, including investment in the BBC and elsewhere, such as local radio services. Instead, we have this dispute.

We also need to ensure proper investment in local journalism. There have been some developments under this Government to support local journalism. Money has been hived into particular support for community journalism, but there is a lot more to do, and that is why the union wishes to engage in a full consultation with the Government about the long-time future of quality journalism in this country. With those few remarks, I welcome the legislation. We will work on the detail. As I say, we and the unions stand ready to involve ourselves in the consultation on the guidelines for implementation.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call the shadow Minister.

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Nigel Evans Excerpts

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that this change in approach actually helps with that. It allows us to continue beyond the end of this year, whereas the Bill as originally drafted meant that if we had not found things, they would just end up in UK statute with no mechanism to change that. I have now created a mechanism for us to continue, but I have also made sure that the time we spend in this House is about reforming and improving, not preservation, because that would just have swallowed up so much time and not delivered for our constituents.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I thank the Secretary of State for responding to questions for over 45 minutes.

NHS Workforce Expansion

Nigel Evans Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

We are here today because, for a decade, the Government have failed to invest in the workforce of the NHS. Just as an example, there are more than 3,000 posts unfilled for ambulance drivers and paramedics, the highest level for five years. The Government have failed to train the staff, which in turn has fuelled record waiting times for ambulances and poorer outcomes for patients. There are 3,334 vacancies. Quite often, the Government will say, “It’s Ukraine, it’s covid”—it’s anything but Government failures—but the truth is that that figure of 3,334 vacancies is nearly double what it was a year earlier, and three times higher than in September 2020. Heart attack and stroke victims waited an average of an hour and a half for an ambulance and of course, with those illnesses, every minute matters.

We have talked about investment. The Minister has said that there will be an extra £14 billion for the NHS over the next two years, but she fails to accept that, because of the Government’s poor planning, trusts have been backed into a corner. The North West Ambulance Service has spent over £15 million on private ambulances in the past year—how many staff would that money fund? We are talking about short-term fixes, rather than long-term plans. That is not the only example. NHS trusts across England increasingly rely on expensive agency staff. One organisation is shelling out as much as £2,500 for a single agency nurse shift. We have nurses on picket lines to oppose the pittance they get. The NHS paid more than £3 billion to agencies to provide nurses and doctors at short notice during 2021-22. That was a 20% increase on the year before, when health services paid out £2.4 billion on short-term fixes, leaving long-term problems. Temporary staff have vital roles in providing safe care, but they should not be continually used to offset a shortfall in permanent staff. Sadly, my fear is that that will become the norm.

Trusts in England spent £6 billion on bank staff in 2021-22, taking the total spend on additional staffing to around £9.2 billion. Published analysis suggests that one in three NHS trusts paid an agency more than £1,000 for a single shift, while one in every six trusts paid more than £2,000. That is a disgraceful indictment of the health service. You almost think people are trying to privatise it through the back door—underfund it, destroy it and let the private sector pick it up.

That comes amid a record nurse shortage across the NHS. We have heard about the additional staff we have, but I would like to know where they are, because we have 47,000 vacancies for nurses. Again, we have a short-term fix and long-term pain. This crisis cannot go on and we need to understand that it is a Government failure. I welcome the shadow Secretary of State bringing this debate forward, because the situation has become urgent and it needs serious discussion and serious plans. It is disappointing that the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) was critical of Scottish and Welsh Members being here. It is interesting to see the Government Benches: there is no one here to defend the record because it is indefensible.

It is not just about ambulances and nurses. The hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper) mentioned district nurses, dentists and GPs. According to the BMA, we now have 2,078 fewer GPs than we had in 2015, despite Ministers telling us we have thousands more. Where are they? They are certainly not in Blackburn. Then we come to cancer patients. Again, we hear constantly about covid. Someone close to me, through a late diagnosis and a lack of treatment, sadly died in 2017. Had he got that diagnosis earlier, he would still be here today. That brings me on to Macmillan and cancer support.

Cancer waiting times in England have plummeted to the worst on record. Last year was the first in the 13-year history of Government records in which all national cancer targets in England were missed for at least a month. In a system that has already reached breaking point, we need the Government to take measures now to address cancer workforce shortages and to put urgent plans in place to help cancer services. As my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) says, 3.3 million people will be living with cancer by 2030. We need our workforce capacity to grow by 3,371 nurses.

Macmillan was encouraged by the Chancellor’s commitment to work with NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan and to publish workforce forecasts for the next five to 10 years. Sadly, we have already lost 10 years, and too many people have paid the price—patients who through failure of treatment have lost their lives, and staff who are burned out. We have ambulance staff on stress medication, and nurses concerned about how they will manage to feed their families. Is that an NHS to be proud of? It is certainly something I am not proud of. I was always proud of the NHS in the UK, which was held up as a great example across the world. We are now embarrassed by the state of the NHS. I watched a programme last week about hospitals with burst sewer pipes and not enough nurses to make sure that patients were saved. It is disgraceful. This Government must bring forward not the gloss of “We are doing this, this and this”, but a serious plan identifying serious role shortages, a plan to fix it and to make sure the resources are put in place to carry those promises through.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We have two speakers left before the wind-ups. I should imagine that the wind-ups will start at about 4.20 pm, if those Members stick to five minutes, so anybody who has taken part in the debate so far should head back to the Chamber.

Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill

Nigel Evans Excerpts

3rd reading
Friday 24th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Yasmin Qureshi]

With the leave of the House, I am truly grateful to all parliamentary colleagues who have come to the House today and who were here on Second Reading, and particularly those who agreed to sit on the Public Bill Committee. I genuinely felt humbled when I saw them all turn up in Committee, because they did not have to do so. There was no three-line Whip, so they chose to be there. I am truly grateful to all of them for attending.

Before I conclude, I would like to tell the House a little story. I have been a Member since 2010, and every year I used to put my name forward for the ballot. Last year, when we were sent the notice, I thought, “I’ve never been successful in the previous 11 years, so why should I even bother?” It just so happened—I do not know why—that on that particular day I kept coming across my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris), and every time he saw me, he asked, “Have you put your name in the ballot box?”, and I said no. After the third reminder, I went and put my name in, and I was successful. I suppose that is a lesson for all Back Benchers: it is possible for them to get their own Bill.

As a Front Bencher, I have been involved in Public Bills, but this is the first time I have dealt with my own Bill. It was not only a pleasure but a steep learning curve as I discovered how to take the Bill through. Of course, it is the first time I have had the chance to work directly with Ministers and civil servants in the Department. I thank the Ministers I have been working with: the hon. Members for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), for Loughborough (Jane Hunt), for Watford (Dean Russell) and for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake). I also pay enormous tribute to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Rebecca Harris), the lovely Whip, who has been instrumental in guiding and helping me, so I thank her for that.

I thank all hon. Members for their contributions, including the hon. Member for Watford, who was one of the Ministers, and the hon. Members for Orpington (Gareth Bacon), for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell), for Bury North (James Daly), for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon), for Buckingham (Greg Smith) and for Aylesbury (Rob Butler). I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Luton South (Rachel Hopkins) for responding on behalf of the Labour party, and the Minister for signalling the Government’s support for the Bill.

I am glad that Members on both sides of the House agree with the Bill. It is an important piece of legislation that will have an impact on millions of people. I commend it to the House. I am glad to say that the noble Baroness Taylor has agreed to sponsor it in the House of Lords. I wish it a speedy journey.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Congratulations, Yasmin Qureshi.