Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Kevin Hollinrake

Thursday 2nd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake]

It is never difficult to distinguish the hon. Gentleman from a ray of sunshine, is it? Our wine industry is thriving, with over 900 vineyards across Great Britain. The UK wine industry produced 12.2 million bottles of wine in 2022, and our new post-Brexit powers provide us with new options. Those include new legislation that aligns existing sizes across still and sparking pre-packed wine so that both can be sold in 200 ml and 500 ml quantities, for which we know there is good demand.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

16. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of New Zealand’s proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill on its obligations under the UK-New Zealand free trade agreement environment chapter.

Post Office Horizon Scandal

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Kevin Hollinrake

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I thank the hon. Lady for her point. I am not aware of the particular case to which she refers, but it is certainly our position that we want to work closely with people who have been through that scheme. The advisory board originally just covered the group litigation order claims. We then expanded its remit to cover all three schemes, so that it could ensure that they provided fair outcomes to all those involved. We wanted to give a level of consistency across the three schemes. The hon. Lady may want to contact Lord Arbuthnot or the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) to discuss her concerns. I am happy to discuss the matter with the advisory board to see what might need to be done.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

We can never right the original wrong or undo all the suffering; all we can do is make sure that the misery is not ongoing. For those who do not look for a grand pardon, what rights of appeal exist other than a request to the Criminal Cases Review Commission?

[Kevin Hollinrake]

The hon. Lady is right to say that no amount of final compensation can ever make good what has happened to many of these people, whether it is loss of home, loss of business, loss of livelihood, loss of reputation or loss of life. No amount of money can ever compensate for that, but we are keen to make sure that, wherever we can, people do get compensated across all those different areas. Compensation schemes provide for pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses, which are some of the things that, sadly, have happened to people in their personal lives. That is exactly what we have set out today. We are keen to make sure that, if people are overturning convictions, there is no requirement to go to the CCRC to do that. It is something that we can do through legislation in this place, and we will be setting out exactly how we will deliver that in the coming weeks.

Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Kevin Hollinrake

2nd reading
Friday 3rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

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

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Scott Benton) for proposing this important Bill, and I thank all hon. Members who have spoken on this subject. I am pleased to say that the Government support the Bill and are committed to ensuring that the UK is the best place in the world to start and scale a business—a phrase hon. Members will hear a lot more, after the Business Secretary’s recent speech from Davos about scale-up Britain, which is music to my ears. To do that, we need a strong and flexible labour market that supports participation and economic growth.

I would like to take a little time to talk about the Bill before addressing some points raised by hon. Members on both sides of the House. It is good to see cross-party support, for the third time today. Unlike the shadow Minister, we believe that zero-hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, both for employers that do not have a constant demand for staff and for individuals who need to balance work around other commitments such as childcare and study. Around 1 million individuals are on zero-hours contracts—around 3% of the UK workforce.

The Government are keen to ensure that everybody can enjoy the benefits of flexible working. We are determined to tackle unfair working practices, such as the issue of one-sided flexibility where workers have to be available to their employer, with no guarantee of work. Employers may schedule or cancel shifts with little notice, leading to insecurity of work and income. I declare my interest, because my daughters are in a similar situation—one is of school age and works at the local pub, and that has happened to her. To be fair, a zero-hours contract works for her to provide flexibility from her side, too.

We recognise that receiving unpredictable and varying levels of income each month can make it difficult for some workers to meet the cost of rent, mortgage and household bills, especially during a cost of living crisis. My hon. Friend’s Bill will allow workers to request more predictable working arrangements, addressing the issue of one-sided flexibility, while ensuring that workers are able to continue working on a zero-hours contract or another form of non-guaranteed hours or temporary contract, if that is the type of arrangement that works best for them.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Does the Minister agree that it is important that employers feel that there is loyalty to their companies and loyalty to the work that the employee is doing? It should very much be a win-win.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I agree entirely. That is what modern employers are looking for. One of the biggest pressures that employers are facing is recruiting and retaining people. This is another measure where people can demonstrate that the workplace is fairer and more flexible, which should attract more people back into it.

The Bill will allow individuals and businesses to strike the right balance between flexibility and job security. Workers will be empowered and encouraged to start conversations with their employers about their work patterns, with the confidence that starting such a conversation will not result in detriment. We expect that employers will benefit from the new right, too—the point that the hon. Member for Bath made—through improved worker satisfaction and productivity. By allowing employers to retain skilled staff as workers, those workers will not have to look for a new role in order to secure a working pattern that meets their needs.

Facilitating higher productivity, both through this measure and the other five private Members’ Bills that we are supporting, will help to drive higher employment, wages and economic growth. As my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South has explained, the right will function in a similar way to the existing right to request flexible working. An employer will be able to refuse a request for more predictable working patterns on specific statutory grounds similar to those established for flexible working. We know how important it is to balance new workers’ rights with the impact on businesses, and those grounds will ensure that employers do not experience disproportionate burdens.

The Government consulted in 2018 on the right to request a more predictable contract, and the vast majority of respondents agreed with the creation of a right to request a more predictable working pattern.

Permitted Development and Shale Gas Exploration

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Kevin Hollinrake

Thursday 28th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Wera Hobhouse]

I could not agree more. We have such a long way to go before we become carbon zero and it is so important. What are the Government doing promoting fracked fossil fuel over renewables? We are living through a global climate crisis.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. She said that fracking is a new fossil fuel sector, but is it not right that shale gas would simply displace imports, rather than create additional demand on gas-fired power generation?

[Wera Hobhouse]

I have been involved in the fracking debate for a long time—since 2014—and just to say that it is a bit less of a fossil fuel than the gas we are importing is the wrong argument. It is a fossil fuel and it contributes to global warming; we should not explore these old-fashioned ideas about how to produce our energy.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Hollinrake]

My point earlier was about displacement: we use gas anyway, so this is not about more gas, but about whether we import it or produce it. There are 23 million homes in the UK connected to the mains gas network. Is the hon. Lady’s home one of them?

[Wera Hobhouse]

My home is heated through a community energy centre. That said, I am talking about how the gas is produced. I am saying that fracked gas is a fossil fuel but that there are renewable gas alternatives that we need to explore and invest in, and which the Government should be prioritising.