Draft Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018

Debate between Seema Malhotra and Andrew Griffiths

Wednesday 4th July 2018 General Committees

[Andrew Griffiths]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. It is not just in private business that we see good behaviour. My hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield alluded to John Lewis, but there are lots of examples of local authorities where there is pay restraint, accountability and transparency. That is very important. It is not for me at this stage to dictate what multiplier is good or bad, but I think we have all been astounded by some of the sums that have been paid to chief executives of local authorities—incredible sums that would make even a premier league manager blush.

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

In the spirit of the previous interventions, I rise to acknowledge the work of John Spedan Lewis, who set an early trend for having women at the top and in corporate governance roles by talking about the importance of a woman being the financial secretary of a company and keeping everything in check. I also support the points that were made about the importance of a multiplier. Will the Minister clarify what the draft regulations mean by “employees” in comparison with workers?

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Seema Malhotra and Andrew Griffiths

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

My hon. Friend makes her point extremely well. The £225 million proposed in the Budget to support “affordable” homes building is a fraction of the £4 billion that Labour would have invested.

The Government proposed change but this is more of the same. The policies of this Government have failed on jobs, on growth, on the deficit and in the lives of ordinary people. The Budget will do nothing for the 13,000 on the waiting list for a home in my constituency.

[Andrew Griffiths]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Seema Malhotra]

I am sorry, but I will not.

The Budget will do nothing for the 74-year-old woman waiting a week for a blood transfusion because of staffing cuts in the local hospital. The Budget will do nothing for the family I met recently who live in one room: two teenage brothers sharing a bed; a mother and father who put mattresses down on the floor; the father who goes to work at 4 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon; the mother goes to work at 11 am and comes back at 11 pm. They are not shirkers, they are hard workers and they will not be helped by the Budget.

The legacy of the past three years in my constituency is rising unemployment, Sure Start centres under threat, longer waiting times in local hospitals and police numbers being cut. Families are suffering for the decisions that the Government have made and are wondering where they will live as the bedroom tax kicks in and makes their homes unaffordable. It is not too late for the Chancellor to change his mind, change course and get a plan for jobs and growth that will deliver for Britain’s families and businesses.