Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

New clause 8 will introduce sensible changes to the employment tribunal rules of procedure recomm...

Will the Minister give way?

I will in due course, but I want to make a bit of progress first.

I welcome this opportunit...

Does the Minister agree that there is much more scope for whistleblowing in this country, given t...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. It is a positive thing that we have an environment w...

I am heartened by these amendments, because one of my concerns in Committee was that this process...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He rightly says that we want that process to be a s...

I wonder how the Minister would deal with an issue that has been raised by the chair of ACAS, Ed ...

As the hon. Gentleman will find if he checks Hansard, I have just said that we recognise that our...

We also need to address the question of ACAS’s capacity to deal with the extra cases—no matter ho...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, which highlights the crucial role of ACAS in thi...

Do the Government recognise that the reason behind the amendments is the concern that many hon. M...

I do recognise that there is genuine concern, particularly in respect of the new fee regime. It i...

If the Minister accepts that there are serious concerns about the introduction of fees and its im...

A range of measures in the Bill will help to improve access to justice. Of course, the most impor...

My amendment 51 seeks to prevent employers from applying for costs and using the provisions as an...

As far as I am aware—I am sure that inspiration will reach me if this is not the case—tribunals a...

I am heartened that the Minister is not seeking to make any changes to the clause. Is she surpris...

It is intriguing, given the experience of Opposition Front Benchers as employment lawyers. It is ...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way shortly.

We believe our approach to settlement agreements is a more effecti...

rose—

I shall give way first to the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (John Cryer).

Earlier, the Minister mentioned the possibility of no-fault dismissal. That is exactly what the O...

I cannot make it clear enough that this is not no-fault dismissal. The proposals in the Beecroft ...

Will the Minister give way?

I will finish answering this intervention and take the intervention from the hon. Member for Edin...

The Minister is being incredibly generous in taking our interventions. Does she not accept that s...

I do not think so. Clearly it is important that the conversation is conducted in a mature and res...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way—eventually. I fear that this is another example of p...

The hon. Lady is being slightly uncharitable in saying that I gave way “eventually”. I took her i...

The Minister is being very generous. Does she accept that, under the proposed arrangement, the co...

I recognise that the hon. Lady is genuine in raising her concern, but I think it is misplaced. Em...

The Minister talks about encouraging good and positive behaviour, but I am concerned that the mea...

It has properly been considered. It is important to repeat that the protection is for conversatio...

I understand what the Minister is saying but I think a little honesty here would be helpful. If a...

I do not appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s implication. The provision is about making sure that tho...

We are hearing a load of bluster and rubbish from Opposition Members. This is a balanced measure ...

Order. The hon. Gentleman must withdraw his use of the word “hypocrites” in relation to Members o...

I do withdraw it and apologise, Mr Speaker.

Thank you. I am grateful.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think it is fair of my hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Jul...

The Minister has indeed been incredibly generous about giving way. For the record, Mr Speaker, I ...

The procedures are far more likely to be used by large companies, and many business people, parti...

indicated dissent.

Well, people watching this debate or reading it in Hansard will see that that concern among busin...

The Minister knows full well that, for example, we welcomed the setting up of the Underhill revie...

I agree that the job of politicians is to balance those interests, but I disagree with the hon. G...

I thank the Minister for giving way again. She has talked a lot about fear. It may well be the ca...

I encourage the hon. Lady to speak to employers in her constituency about the issue, which is rai...

I would be interested to hear the Minister’s analysis of how many of those employment tribunal ca...

This is not about making it easier to sack people. This is about making it easier for people to c...

May I offer my hon. Friend some reassurance that she is charting a middle course? She has heard t...

I think I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. The fact that there is criticism from both s...

I am grateful to the Minister for allowing me to intervene. Let us nail once and for all the myth...

The fact remains that there is a massive backlog of employment tribunal claims, there are massive...

Of course I do not wish to defend bad employers but as the Minister knows, almost all employers a...

My hon. Friend is right to point out that the majority of employers are good employers. I am sure...

The Minister again mentions an additional penalty for those employers. Is she aware that the Law ...

I do not believe that what we have at present is sufficient. Although they make up a small portio...

I raised with the Minister’s predecessor the case of a constituent who found herself in that situ...

I do not know the details of the case the hon. Gentleman describes, but I am more than happy to l...

Will the Minister tell us what the evidence is for those caps?

As I have said, this is a new measure and these are the figures we have put in place. I do not kn...

I am grateful to the Minister, who is being incredibly generous in giving way. What would she say...

I think that it will do what the Government intend it to do—basically what it says on the tin. It...

Before I call Mr Murray to speak to the new clause from the Opposition Front Bench, I have a shor...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would be most grateful if you could point me to the procedural...

Hear, hear.

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and the reaction of the Hou...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) on his election to the Procedure Commit...

rose—

Let me make some progress, and then I will give way.

To start with the positives, I welcome...

Does my hon. Friend agree that taking advice on employment rights from somebody who profits from ...

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention. I think that people can make up their own minds ...

Can my hon. Friend clarify something for me? The Minister said that, by definition, a settlement ...

My hon. Friend asks an exceptionally good question. I think that it would amount to a voluntary l...

It is incredible that the hon. Gentleman is unable to understand the frustration of many business...

The hon. Gentleman makes a tremendous intervention, because he is actually arguing our point: the...

The shadow Minister is making a powerful case as to why the measures are bad for business. To fol...

My hon. Friend makes a fantastic point. I do not have the answer, because the Government have not...

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that Labour does not believe that regulation is a big issue for b...

The hon. Gentleman spent a lot of time in Committee posing such questions, but the Federation of ...

I will speak in favour of the two amendments relating to clause 14 that stand in my name. We have...

My hon. Friend says that the public feel that this place is sometimes out of touch. From what he ...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. All of us are aware that the Labour party has trouble un...

indicated dissent.

The shadow Minister does not agree with me, but let me point out to him the way in which the hon....

Did the hon. Gentleman read the evidence that Mr Beecroft gave to the Public Bill Committee? When...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, but—[Interruption.] I am serious, and this is a serious po...

The hon. Gentleman has mentioned some adjectives used about Beecroft that he thinks were less tha...

The hon. Gentleman, too, makes a good point. I have read the evidence given to the Public Bill Co...

The hon. Gentleman makes the exact point that we constantly made in the Public Bill Committee. Gi...

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s perspective, but the Minister made quite clear her belief that ...

It is worth recording that every business representative group in Britain is concerned about the ...

I thank my hon. Friend very much for that intervention.

I can understand why businesses do not want to face the reality of their actions, but we know tha...

The hon. Lady makes some good points from her experience, but my view is that we should focus our...

What, then, do we do with employers who continue to flout the law? I absolutely agree that the cl...

That is an interesting question. My amateur response is that there are better ways to solve the p...

I will speak to new clauses 1 and 2, which relate to different aspects of whistleblowing. The cur...

I pay tribute to the work done by the hon. Lady on this important issue. Does she think that the ...

I would not necessarily say there should be incentives, but people should not be punished for whi...

Briefly, I would like to give another example. At Network Rail, women were consistently getting c...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. There must be mechanisms by which people can bring problems...

I apologise for not having heard the opening remarks by the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Ar...

We have extremely limited time to debate this group of proposals if we are to debate the green in...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not, because we do not have time and, to be honest, the hon. Gentleman is becoming mon...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, because the hon. Gentleman came late to the debate.

I am not boring!

I might allow the hon. Gentleman to intervene if he came to the Chamber occasionally.

The p...

I thank hon. Members who have taken part in this debate. I note the point made by the hon. Member...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but I remind him that Labour Members are also keen to get ...

If the average award is around £5,000, why is there a rush to get rid of the system?

As I was saying, the measure provides additional certainty and encourages both employers and empl...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way, but I encourage hon. Members not to intervene to raise points that have already ...

I was unable to make a speech because of the length of the Minister’s contribution, but I would l...

I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and his constituent, who, I am sure, is very grateful...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 25—The UK Green Invest...

Those hon. Members who served on the Committee will recall that we spent a great deal of time con...

Do the criteria that the hon. Gentleman has noted extend to nuclear energy?

We can consider that when hon. Members debate new clause 25. We had considerable debate about it ...

rose—

rose—

I shall give way to two eminent members of the Public Bill Committee, but I must bear in mind the...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that generous introduction. I am glad I stood up when I did. The d...

I understand that. The hon. Gentleman will recall that I posed a number of questions in Committee...

I thank the shadow Minister, but I am a bit disappointed by the tone of his remarks. I want to ge...

The hon. Gentleman will recall that I mentioned this issue at length in Committee, when he quite ...

rose—

Before I give way, I should declare an interest in that I have a nuclear power station in my cons...

rose—

I shall give way to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) first, and then to th...

To be honest, I do not see this contradiction. Given that nuclear takes so long to get up and run...

I shall come on to this in a few moments. Because of a huge lack of clarity in the Government’s e...

Given the shortage of time, it may be helpful if I deal with two points now. I can confirm first ...

I thank the Minister for his clarification. It is somewhat at odds with what was said in Committe...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I know that the hon. Gentleman is a keen advocate of manufacturing in this country, but we requir...

I thank the shadow Minister for telling me what I should say in my intervention. What I was going...

That is why I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman will be supporting our amendment 77—which is int...

Time will be limited for later speeches, so let me say this now. My hon. Friend read out a list o...

I agree. The same point was made by the CBI, which concluded in a report produced this summer ent...

I wonder why the hon. Gentleman is insisting on that caveat, as the position shared by his Front-...

My firm policy commitment is to ensure that we have the green investment bank borrowing as soon a...

Is it not possible that the green investment bank can encourage other private organisations and b...

Absolutely, and that is why the hon. Gentleman will be supporting our amendment 77 and rejecting ...

rose—

I cannot resist giving way to the hon. Gentleman again, even though I am conscious of the time, b...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that. It is important to understand the length and complexity of s...

Absolutely. I think the hon. Gentleman can go to the toilet now. Recent research has concluded th...

The hon. Gentleman is talking passionately about policy certainty, yet his amendment 76 reintrodu...

I know that the Liberal Democrats have such power and significance in the coalition that they wil...

I shall try to answer all the questions that have been asked and then leave some time for further...

I believe the Minister said that the European permission excludes nuclear power, which forms by f...

The application, which has just succeeded, did not include nuclear. We do not plan to amend that ...

Will the Minister assure the House that when he talks about a powerful institution to support the...

The Government have already made a clear commitment that the bank will be able to borrow from Apr...

As I understand it, under the Bill in its current form, the bank would not be able to invest in a...

The amendment will allow the bank in future to invest in the UK or elsewhere, but we have amended...

Will the Minister talk us through a scenario in which an investment decision might be made, say, ...

Clearly, one reason for establishing a green investment bank is to ensure that it delivers agains...

For clarity on the point that was made from the Opposition Benches, there is a proposal for a ver...

I would want to look at the details of the scheme. However, the amendments that we have made to t...

On the other means, will the Minister commit to looking carefully at introducing an amendment in ...

We have been very clear about our commitment to allow borrowing and will look at how best to brin...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way, because although we have nearly run out of time—we ...

The Liberal Democrats and, indeed, the Conservatives are supporting this with £3 billion of Gover...

I now have to announce the result of the deferred Division on the question relating to the order ...

I beg to move amendment 93, page 51, line 23, at end insert—

‘(1A) A representative of the ...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 95, page 52, line 5, le...

Amendment 93 is in my name and those of my hon. Friends. This important part of the Bill deals wi...

The hon. Gentleman is arguing for things he would like to see, but as he is well aware, it is alr...

It is because, as I tried to explain in my opening remarks, over the past 30 years we have seen m...

I appreciate the shadow Minister’s point, but unfortunately, as is often the case, the Opposition...

The purpose of the amendments, which have buy-in from Mr Rossi, Fidelity and elsewhere, is not to...

The shadow Minister is making some good points. Does he believe that the Government should provid...

That is a fair point. There are already guidelines in place, including discretionary guidance fro...

Directors’ pay has been very much in the news recently, for reasons that the hon. Member for Hart...

I beg to move amendment 23, page 47, line 17, at end insert—

“( ) But regulations under thi...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government amendment 24.

Am...

In Committee, a number of questions were asked about the scope of what was then clause 56—now cla...

The Minister mentioned the enormous concern across the creative sector about the clause and, more...

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that any proposed exceptions will be the subject of secondary leg...

Will the Minister give way?

On this point?

On the point being debated, yes.

I give way.

It is usual to give way during this stage. What does the Minister think is the maximum number of ...

I give the assurance on the second point: the normal procedures will be used. The normal procedur...

I was broadly reassured until the Minister made his comments, but now I am as uncertain as ever. ...

Will my hon. Friend also seek an assurance from the Minister that, when in future he considers an...

I absolutely agree. I will take this opportunity to wish my hon. Friend a happy birthday for yest...

We do not have a lot of time, and I do not want to detain the House unduly. However, although it ...

I do not know whether I should break out into song and wish a belated happy birthday to the hon. ...

To reinforce that point, the wooliness of the Minister’s response, if it is left like that this e...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman because he is spot on. The other House has people who have lo...

I defer entirely to the Members who have engaged in the debate hitherto, but I have been alerted ...

I welcome the Opposition Front Benchers’ support for the two Government amendments in this group....

On that point, why does the Minister not do what was suggested by the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr ...

Because we want to ensure, as and when technical amendments are considered, that we do not have t...

I beg to move amendment 69, page 60, line 30, at end insert—

‘(d) Sections [Local authoriti...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 4—Town and country pla...

New clause 21 is subsidiary to new clause 20, as are amendments 91 and 69. I will not speak to ne...

I commend the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) for his assiduous and lon...

That was my alternative proposal, which I have not moved. My more moderate proposal would allow t...

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman on allowing local authorities to have the power to change t...

I am grateful for the Minister’s assurance. I wrote to the Department at the time of my ten-minut...

I beg to move amendment 21, page 42, line 38, leave out ‘, other than the Scottish Ministers,’.