Pub Companies

Debate between Vince Cable and Pauline Latham

Tuesday 21st January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

May I move on, as the hon. Gentleman has intervened once already?

Just as this is not primarily an issue about the rate of closures, I think we would all agree that it is not fundamentally an issue of consumer choice. Otherwise, the competition authorities would have been engaged a long time ago. It has already been shown that the share of microbreweries has increased over the period for which many pubs have been under a great deal of stress. The number of breweries now tops 1,000, the highest figure since the 1930s.

The conclusion that I think we have all reached is that there are issues with the beer tie, but that is not the fundamental problem in itself. The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee argued that it does not want to see the tie model disappear. Under proper conditions, it is a business model that can be used and it has been around in various forms since the 18th century. The abuses are a different matter and are due in part to the lack of transparency in the relationship between the pub-owning companies and their tenants, which is what I want to turn to.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

I was recently contacted by my constituent, Claire, who has been told by her landlords, Enterprise Inns, that the rent on her pub, the Pattenmakers Arms in Duffield, will increase by 42% in April. Claire loves her pub and has brought it from being a grubby and run-down pub to an award winner; she even worked while she was battling breast cancer. Does my right hon. Friend believe that the pub companies whose business practices force out committed publicans such as Claire will be dealt with effectively by some sort of adjudicator?

[Vince Cable]

That is a truly awful case. I hope to see the details of that example, because although we have a lot of cases, it seems to be a particularly bad one. I guess that would be one of the factors that led the Government to conclude that the voluntary code approach was not satisfactory, as presumably it has already been used.

The voluntary approach did have some positive outcomes, such as the Pubs Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the framework code, but the conclusion we came to at the beginning of last year was that the changes had not gone far enough and that problems persisted. To us, the essential point is best captured in the work done by CAMRA that suggests that 57% of tied tenants earn less than £10,000 a year. If we apply that to 35-hour week, 48 weeks a year, we are talking about less than £6 an hour, which means that people are working for considerably less than the minimum wage. Since many work much longer hours, that means that this is a very low-paid industry. Many publicans are struggling. In contrast, only 25% of those who are free of tie are on at the same income level. There is a striking disparity, which is at the heart of the question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Pauline Latham

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

My Department is supporting British exports through UK Trade & Investment. Its strategy, which was launched in May 2011, sets out plans to provide practical support to exporters over the next five years. I have undertaken a number of visits overseas to promote British business to countries including China, India, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Romania, and next week I shall be in south-east Asia promoting British trade.

[Pauline Latham]

Britain is increasingly becoming a centre of excellence for high-tech, high-value manufacturing exports. In Derbyshire, we have some great high-tech exporters ranging from Rolls-Royce, which my right hon. Friend knows all about, to Pektron, an innovative, family-owned electronics manufacturer. What more can my right hon. Friend do to showcase those exceptional firms and remind people up and down the country and internationally that high-tech British goods are in demand everywhere, and that that needs to continue?

[Vince Cable]

Yes, there are many successful British exporters. Over the past year, exports have grown on a year-to-year basis by about 9%. Where we have fallen down historically is that British small and medium-sized companies have not been as involved in exporting as the larger enterprises such as Rolls-Royce. One of the main commitments in the UKTI strategy is to concentrate help and resources on those companies, which would undoubtedly help the specialist company in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Pauline Latham

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

The Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), has already explained the background to the Bombardier contract. It was confined to very narrow tendering terms of reference that, in the circumstances, we could not avoid, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to focus on how public procurement can be used, within European rules, to support British industry. I have taken an initiative with the Secretary of State for Transport to try to make sure that, in future, tenders do reflect that priority.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State meet me and members of the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum to talk about how we can help those who are made redundant from Bombardier, how Bombardier can move forward and get further contracts, and how we can make sure that procurement rules benefit the people of this country as well as those abroad?

[Vince Cable]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the procurement rules. As I said, we are taking an initiative to try to address an anomaly whereby Britain appears to be uniquely open in relation to other European countries. Regarding the work force who are, sadly, affected by these redundancies, I have already announced the launching of a taskforce in Derby led by a former senior executive of Rolls-Royce to try to mobilise assistance.

Local Growth White Paper

Debate between Vince Cable and Pauline Latham

Thursday 28th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I do not share the hon. Gentleman’s concern, because several of the strongest bids were from the west midlands, as he knows—Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, among others. The strategic oversight and the help that we need to give to the automobile industry—he is right to continue to emphasise that and to pursue me about it—will be pursued through the Automotive Council, which is one of our most successful sectoral bodies.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

In his letter to me of 10 September, the Secretary of State said that he would bear in mind a visit to Mid Derbyshire, where I have two companies that are losing all their jobs or greatly reducing them, and one great success story, a hosiery company called Pretty Polly and Aristoc. Will he come and explain to them the measures that he is putting in place, which I welcome and which I am sure they will welcome, so that he can tell them first-hand what we as a Government are doing?

[Vince Cable]

My colleague has been assiduous in pursuing me about that, and she is right to do so. That is what good constituency MPs do. There is an LEP for Derby and Derbyshire. It is one of the strongest, and I am happy to meet her to talk about the future or her specific concerns locally.