Industrial Strategy

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 27th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am not going to temper my enthusiasm; quite the opposite, in fact. We have many opportunities in clean energy, with many breakthroughs in prospect. As was pointed out earlier, we have to ensure that the cost to consumers is taken into account, and that is the judgment that we need to make when it comes to projects such as the one the hon. Gentleman has just described.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

The Secretary of State is welcome to come and talk industrial strategy in Worcestershire any time. Can he confirm that the industrial strategy is intended not to be a 254-page document that will sit on a shelf gathering dust but a deliberate statement of strategic intent and policy that will change over time? Will he tell me how it will be refreshed and changed?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. The purpose of the strategy is not just to inform the decisions taken by Government Departments—although it is important that they should be consistent with it—but to give confidence to investors so that they can predict the direction of policy. We have seen that today in the life sciences sector. It is important that the strategy is kept refreshed and up to date, and one of the proposals in the paper is to establish an industrial strategy council, which will be an independent body that can report to the House and others on progress and ensure that we are agile enough to keep up with developments in technology.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Tuesday 7th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

If the hon. Gentleman talks to people in the motor industry, as in other industries, he will know that no one is more vigorous and active than I am in meeting prospective investors to explain our strategy and the attractiveness of the UK. As a result of the industry’s work, supported by the Government, we have had a commitment from BMW to build the electric Mini in the UK, Toyota is investing a quarter of a billion pounds in Derbyshire, Nissan has confirmed that it will build two new models in Sunderland, and other discussions are continuing. That work, in the context of the need for continued good access to the European market, is giving confidence to the industry. I would have hoped that it was a matter of consensus across the House that we should maintain that confidence, rather than seek to undermine it.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

9. What assessment he has made of the effect on consumers’ awareness of energy consumption of installing a smart meter.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Richard Harrington)]

Recent research has been conducted by Smart Energy GB, the independent not-for-profit organisation responsible for national consumer engagement on smart meters. It found that 86% of people with a smart meter said that they had made energy-saving changes to their behaviour and that this positive action was maintained over time after installation.

[Nigel Huddleston]

The Minister is obviously aware that, by encouraging better energy consumption, the average consumer saves about £75 a year through a smart meter. Does he agree that smart meters will enable more switching of suppliers, saving the average customer £200 a year, and that this is therefore good for the environment and for consumers?

[Richard Harrington]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend’s analysis. Smart meters enable consumers to make more confident and informed decisions about which supplier and tariff is right for them. Interestingly, Ofgem’s survey for 2017 showed that consumers who say they have a smart meter are more likely to have switched supplier in the past 12 months.

Vauxhall (Redundancies)

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

The hon. Lady and I are in complete agreement about the need for a frictionless and close relationship with the single market. However, I think that we would both welcome the fact that, since 2011, the value of parts that UK manufacturers source from the UK supply chain has increased from 36% to 41%. Of course, one of the opportunities for manufacturers is thinking about onshoring production that they would currently buy overseas. The hon. Lady and I want the best long-term outcome, but the Government want to make it clear that the supply chain is as supported as possible for the future, through the Brexit negotiations and beyond.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Will the Minister reassure me that unfair or inconsistent application of the state aid rules is not putting British car manufacturing at a competitive disadvantage?

[Claire Perry]

I am happy to give those assurances. Everything we have to do needs to be put through the prism of state aid rules. We were one of the great proponents of a level playing field. We have always played by the state aid rules in a way that other countries perhaps do not. Everything that we do has to meet those tests. It does that and will continue to do so.

Clean Growth Strategy

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Thursday 12th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

It is a shame; I can only assume that the hon. Lady has not read the report. I genuinely think that for the first time we have the clearest set of cross-Government ambitions, policies, initiatives and funding—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady should have come to the launch, where the chief executive of Siemens talked about how businesses such as his completely welcomed and supported the strategy and were investing in their supply chains on the back of it.

We have an effective, legally binding regime that operates right across the UK. It is called the Climate Change Act, introduced with cross-party support in 2008. We have to produce our carbon targets. I have set out today why I think we are on a good trajectory towards them. However, I fear that the hon. Lady wants to be one of those “command and control” Marxists who wants to predict every single thing that happens in the economy at all times. That is not how innovation works. We set out a framework for investment. We try not to pick technologies; we want the lowest carbon, the lowest cost and the most innovation. We then work with the private sector to create the most innovative ecosystems, so that we can capture the opportunities. I will be very happy to have a cup of coffee with the hon. Lady and give her a slight cheering up. There is a lot of good stuff in the report, and she should be supporting it.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the clean growth strategy. How can we maintain the great momentum behind it across Departments?

[Claire Perry]

This is not an end point, but a stock take. Over the next few months, we will be bringing forward many of the detailed proposals that we need to deliver on these ambitions and policies. I would warmly welcome input from knowledgeable colleagues on both sides and the many stakeholders and campaigning organisations out there. We want to shape these policies for the future.

Draft Trade Union Act 2016 (Political Funds) (Transition Period) Regulations 2017

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2017 General Committees

[Ms Eagle]

We have here a particularly mean and nasty part of a grossly mean and nasty Act of Parliament. It was put in place deliberately to make trouble for trade unions, because the Conservative party does not like the voice of working people being heard and being effective, not only in Parliament but in the workplace. What the Conservative party fails to realise is that it is in all our interests for trade unions to do a proper and good job in protecting people at work, because that civilises all the norms in our society. The Government’s motivation in coming up with the legislation and persisting in forcing these kinds of statutory instrument through the House in this way is plain and obvious for all to see.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

I have to take issue with the hon. Lady’s comments about representing working people. My wife is a member of a trade union, my father was a trade union shop steward, I come from a working-class family and I went to a comprehensive school; there are many Members of all parties who do their best every day to try to represent working people. When we party politicise things in this way, it does none of us any good. Will she please appreciate that?

[Ms Eagle]

This Government party politicised the entire issue, and they have a history of doing that over years. I will not go into that because you will rule me out of order, Mr Stringer, but it is in the history books that opting out was brought in during the aftermath of the general strike to punish trade unions for having the temerity to stand up for their members’ rights then. What we are seeing now is a similar process.

We all know that opting in reduces participation. We know the Government accept that: we in Parliament all agreed to change pensions so that there is auto-enrolment, because the Government want more people to enrol in workplace pensions. We legislated for auto-enrolment to maximise participation.

The sole point of the particular section of the Act with which this statutory instrument is connected is to reduce participation in political funds, so that there is less money available to trade unions to campaign on issues that are important to them in the workplace—health and safety, wages and the conditions that millions of people up and down this country rely on in their jobs—so that the casualisation, the move to zero-hours contracts and the deregulation of our labour market can carry on without effective barriers to that. That is part of the motivation behind this short statutory instrument. I have never seen a smaller and more innocuous-looking statutory instrument that has been designed to cause so much havoc.

If we were feeling generous about the Conservative party’s motivation in proposing the transition period, I suppose we might think that it is just totally ignorant of how trade unions work, but we know that it is not. The Conservatives consulted the unions, the certification officer and the TUC, although in a very unsatisfactory way, but they completely ignored every aspect of that consultation, which drew attention to the practicalities. The unions are being forced by law, like no other organisation in this country, to put themselves through hoops for arbitrary reasons of political expedience, I suppose, to change how they operate. That is because the Conservative party, which has always been opposed to trade unions having a political voice, happens to think that it can get away with being even more opposed to trade unions having that voice, so that there is less resistance to what the Conservatives want to do to working people in this country in the next few years.

Corporate Governance

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

1st reading: House of Commons
Tuesday 29th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; Conservative Members believe in competition and that it provides the best possible environment, which has benefits to consumers, employees and taxpayers. That is very much our watchword. The Green Paper contains proposals on how we can encourage institutional investors, who, as I said, invest the money from pension funds to which many people in this country contribute, to be more active in exercising their stewardship of the companies in which they invest.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

The Secretary of State is right to point out that British corporate governance is already admired around the world, but will he be looking in this consultation at best practice from around the world, particularly in those countries where women have better representation on boards?

[Greg Clark]

I will indeed. It is important that we maintain and extend our reputation for being the place in the world where business is done best. We have been able to make that proud boast over the years. The representation of women on boards is of great importance, and we are looking at how we can best encourage companies to move in that direction.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

3. What steps the Government is taking to develop its industrial strategy; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark)]

I am delighted that the Prime Minister has asked me to lead the historic task of preparing a proper industrial strategy for our country. We have a once-in-a-generation chance to embrace the opportunities of our new global role, and to upgrade our economy so that it works for everyone. We will work with the breadth of British industry, local leaders, innovators, employees and consumers to create the conditions for future success.

[Nigel Huddleston]

May I, too, take the opportunity to congratulate the Front-Bench teams on their appointments?

The words “industrial strategy” often conjure up images of manufacturing and heavy industry. Can the Secretary of State confirm that the service sector, which, after all, constitutes 80% of the British economy, will also be comprehensively covered by this industrial strategy?

[Greg Clark]

I can indeed confirm that. In our projections of how we are to earn our living as a nation, we should look to our strengths. The service sector is undoubtedly one of our greatest strengths, and we must of course create the conditions that will enable it to continue to prosper in the future.