Enterprise Bill [Lords]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 8—Disposal of Crown’s ...

New clause 4 might be referred to as the “hokey-cokey clause” because it has been in, out, and sh...

Is one benefit of the Green Investment Bank that in large part it addressed some of the market fa...

I believe that the proposals on privatisation that the Government quickly brought forward followi...

I praise my hon. Friend for tabling this new clause, and for the way that he scrutinised the Bill...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election to the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee. ...

I will develop this point in my speech, but in Committee two weeks ago I mentioned the bear marke...

My hon. Friend is right to point that out, and, by implication, to point out that the privatisati...

I wholly support my hon. Friend’s remarks. What impact does he think it might have on the prospec...

My hon. Friend will understand that I am not going to speculate on that, given that it is not cur...

I wonder whether my hon. Friend has had the chance to look at annex C, which was presented to Par...

I think we would all be interested to know that. Perhaps the Minister will be as informative as s...

Does my hon. Friend share my disappointment that, although the Government have bent over backward...

I agree. My hon. Friend has been dogged in her pursuit of that both in Committee and in tabling h...

I am happy to be able to speak to my new clause 8, which I would like to press to a vote, but fir...

Would not inoculation, to use the hon. Lady’s word, be guaranteed by the special share the Govern...

Unfortunately, the special share has no legal underpinning, so we cannot have reassurance about t...

The hon. Lady is a credit to our Committee, and I am grateful for the many points she is making o...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her intervention and kind words, and I congratulate her on her...

I shall speak to amendment 17, which stands in my name and that of my right hon. Friend the Membe...

It seems to me that the Green Investment Bank has been a success since it was set up by the coali...

That has indeed been the argument from Ministers. We want the bank to be able to fund more projec...

I hope that the hon. Lady will forgive me for intervening, given that I was not a member of the C...

The Minister has said that a report will be presented to Parliament before the bank is finally so...

Are not private sector companies and their directors already under disclosure obligations in rela...

This company has been financed by more than £3 billion of taxpayers’ money at a time when my cons...

The hon. Lady’s arguments are, of course, very persuasive while the bank is in public ownership a...

The bank will not be financed principally by private money. We do not know how much it will be so...

rose—

rose—

May I develop my arguments? I shall be happy to take further questions a little later.

Foll...

The hon. Lady has special knowledge in this regard, so may I tease out some information from her?...

The Committee’s remit was not to second-guess what the Government could or could not get for the ...

The hon. Lady rightly says that there has been a series of investments in the bank, but it would ...

We have not calculated the net present value, but I am sure that it would be quite a simple proce...

May I make a point about the issue of longevity? There is plainly a public interest in the bank’s...

Once the bank is sold, my Committee will have no locus in scrutinising what it does. We could loo...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), who chairs the Environmenta...

My hon. Friend is making a persuasive argument. Does he agree that if we are to be a country repr...

My right hon. Friend has enormous knowledge in this area and I absolutely agree with her. The mos...

It has been an interesting debate, but I must confess that I do not agree with many of the argume...

We welcome the general direction of travel, given the special share. The Government will have a c...

Everyone will, of course, have to comply with the due diligence. I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s c...

rose—

I will give way, but I want to move on to specifically why Opposition new clause 4, relating to t...

I have two points. First, this is not just about green purposes. We should remember that the Gree...

I disagree with the hon. Lady, because the privatisation and sale of the Green Investment Bank is...

Does the Minister actually believe that there is no longer any market failure that needs to be ad...

The fact that the Green Investment Bank has been so successful absolutely proves that such invest...

Members on the Opposition Benches seem to be saying two things. The first is that the private sec...

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent intervention, which I wholeheartedly endorse. We have al...

I am not going to give way because I just want to put on the record my thanks to Lord Smith for h...

In support of what my right hon. Friend says, let me read from Lord Smith’s letter. He says:

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for reading from the letter. Obviously, I am not going to re...

Lord Smith of Kelvin may or may not be the chairman of the bank when this sale proceeds, so I the...

This is a short answer—yes. The hon. Lady will have seen this letter and I hope she will have rea...

The Minister has said on many occasions that she is confident that introducing the special share ...

I hope I am being parliamentary when I say that the hon. Gentleman is being a bit of a minx—I mea...

The Minister criticised me in Committee for referring to people who work in the Office for Nation...

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

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 18, in clause 41, page ...

I am happy to confirm that the Opposition will be supporting amendment 18, tabled by the Scottish...

I was present on Second Reading when the Secretary of State described long-serving public servant...

There was a time when what Ministers said on the Floor of the House could be accepted, and I am p...

Following the hon. Gentleman’s deliberations in Committee, and from his own analysis—obviously we...

I do not have that figure to hand, but we did probe the Government to try to get some idea of wha...

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. In the absence of data, he has his good judgment and his r...

That is what the Government say the target is. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I respect him greatly...

Will the shadow Minister confirm that the employees affected, who will be earning less than £25,0...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Clearly, large numbers of public sector workers, who have...

My intervention very much complements that of the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Steph...

Yes. I will briefly touch on the inadequacy of the consultation later.

Amendment 15 is abou...

Did the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise not take the Committee through a num...

I recommend that the hon. Gentleman read more deeply into the report of the Committee stage. I co...

My hon. Friend briefly mentioned the dates of the consultation—between July and August. Does it n...

My only assumption is that they think fat cats should not have holidays. That is probably why the...

I am listening intently to the hon. Gentleman. I was in the Committee, and I am wondering whether...

I understand the point the hon. Gentleman is making. That would be all right if it was truly a pa...

When companies such as Magnox were privatised, workers such as those at Trawsfynydd in Dwyfor Mei...

I thank the hon. Lady for promoting me temporarily. I agree with her, and I know that she has bee...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is completely inconsistent to include employees of companies op...

I agree. My hon. Friend will have noticed that Sellafield Ltd is included in new schedule 1, for ...

My hon. Friend’s argument is powerful, and I am genuinely at a loss as to why the Government do n...

Exactly. The Treasury’s justification is that, even though the companies have been privatised, th...

If the Government fail to take heed of this issue and that of the pensions of women who were born...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I hope that the Government will have a last-minute change of ...

Will the shadow Minister give way?

I will in a moment, but first I will repeat my question, just in case Members did not hear it: wh...

The shadow Minister well knows that the Government have capped the pension contributions of highe...

What the hon. Gentleman may not realise is that the workers of the banks that have been taken int...

Will the shadow Minister confirm that on Second Reading, the Secretary of State used the term “pu...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I know that it is difficult to believe—presumably, that i...

I am pleased to follow the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan). I h...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Instinctively, I am entirely sympathetic to his argument, whi...

I have enormous respect for my right hon. Friend and I understand his point, but the place I repr...

The point about the entire public sector is a reasonable one, but it would be stronger if the Gov...

My hon. Friend makes a good point.

My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) will appreciate that the intention i...

As my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) implies, the sensible place to dr...

I rise to speak to amendment 18, which is in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Li...

My hon. Friend mentioned the Scottish Government’s record on avoiding compulsory redundancies. In...

I agree with that fine point completely. I went through the same experience as a local councillor...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) and the hon. Member for...

It is also important to point out that the Treasury did not actually allow the employees of those...

There is huge inconsistency because the workers I am referring to were protected in 2004. They we...

Surely the biggest safeguard of all is that an occupational pension scheme is deferred pay. The h...

That is absolutely right. The reality is that the Bill will take away the conditions of service t...

I am listening carefully to what the hon. Gentleman says and I have a lot of sympathy with it, bu...

It is very confusing. This has not been made clear, but my understanding is that if these people ...

Government amendments 3 to 9 will enable Welsh Ministers to make regulations on exit payments tha...

Will the Minister give way?

No, forgive me, but the clock is against me.

No it’s not.

No, there may be reasons. There is no need to interrupt.

Now is not the time to do what som...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker.

It is not a point of order. Come on.

rose—

Mr Brennan, I think it is for me to decide. I am sure it was going to be about time, and I am sur...

I was bobbing up and down like a 5 November apple, Mr Deputy Speaker. In any event, I do not know...

I respect your ruling, Mr Deputy Speaker, that my point of order, which I did not make, was out o...

Order. It was going to be about time, but it is not for me to tell you how much time is left, as ...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I simply note that the Minister was unwilling to give way because o...

indicated dissent.

Would the Minister like me to give way? I am happy to do so, if it is in order, Mr Deputy Speaker...

Minister, are you commenting from a sedentary position, or would you like to make a point of orde...

The record will confirm that I did not say that a Minister’s word could not be trusted. I was tal...

The Minister has clarified her position.

It was not in a newspaper that the policy was announced. As I said, we cannot believe a word Mini...