Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 29th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

T2. With your indulgence, Mr Speaker, can I follow on from my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley), our Front-Bench spokes- person, and say that you have been a fantastic Speaker? You and I first got together on the Trade and Industry Committee about 20 years ago, and I recall, before you became Speaker, suggesting to you that you might want to stand for Speaker—I bet you have forgotten that one. Anyway, I wish you and your family all the best for the future. You have always been very fair and very helpful to me, and I think you will be missed in this Chamber, despite what your opponents say. I will come on to more serious matters now. We were promised by the previous Chancellor that the doctors’ pensions tax would be sorted out. He said that he was in negotiations, but this has been raised repeatedly and nothing has happened so far. Doctors are not putting in overtime, patients are suffering and the NHS could be in meltdown this winter. What is the Secretary of State going to do about it?

[Matt Hancock]

Getting this right is incredibly important. The change in the guidance last month allows every single NHS trust to introduce the flexibilities, immediately, to ensure that doctors can do the work and the overtime they need, get paid properly for it and not get penalised through the impact on the pensions system. That change came in at the start of last month. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with the details, so that he can tell all doctors that these flexibilities are available so that they can do the work that they need to.

Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

2nd reading: House of Commons & Money resolution: House of Commons & Programme motion: House of Commons & Ways and Means resolution: House of Commons
Tuesday 18th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The resource question is an important one, and so too is the process. The question of resources and the question of what the process is go hand in hand. There has been an increase in the amount of resources given to local authorities to enable them to deliver in this area, but the question will undoubtedly arise again as we run up to the spending review.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I visited a police station a couple of weeks ago, and I found that the police lacked adequate training to deal with some of the cases that they were coming across. Has the Minister had any discussions with the Home Secretary about that?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I have. This is an incredibly important point. The deprivation of people’s liberty in a police cell when there is a lack of mental capacity—or, in certain circumstances, when there is a serious mental illness—happens far too often. The purpose of police cells is to detain criminals. Providing a system in which such people do not have to be held in police cells is absolutely critical and part of our plan.

Data Protection Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Wednesday 9th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

On the contrary, the scheme introduces new, compulsory, low-cost arbitration to ensure that people can have exactly the recourse to justice mentioned by the right hon. Gentleman. In order to address some of the concerns, we have tabled two new clauses. First, new clause 19 requires the Information Commissioner to publish information on how people can get redress. The point is to ensure that there is a plain English guide to help anyone with a complaint to navigate the system. Secondly, new clause 22 requires the Information Commissioner to create a statutory code of practice, setting out standards on data protection. The point is that, when investigating a breach of data protection law, the commissioner has to decide whether a journalist acted reasonably. When making that judgment, a failure to comply with the statutory code will weigh heavily against the journalist.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

How binding is the arbitration, and how binding is the code of practice?

[Matt Hancock]

The arbitration is binding on the newspapers, meaning that anybody who wants to get redress from a newspaper in the scheme can do so up to a limit of £60,000, and then the recourse is through the courts. The Information Commissioner’s statutory code of practice is binding with respect to data protection standards; after all, this is a Data Protection Bill, so that is what is in scope.

Taken together, the changes from IPSO and the new clauses mean that Britain will have the most robust system we have ever had of redress for press intrusion and it will be accessible to all. It will achieve that and the benefits of high-quality journalism, without the negative effect that section 40 would have.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 5th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Matthew Hancock)]

Demand-side response currently accounts for around 1.8 GW of balancing services, and we expect it to rise to around 2.5 GW. I have met the demand-side response industry a couple of times, and we will ensure that we take into account its concerns as we review the operation of the capacity market, which was incredibly successful this December.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

T3. The Children’s Society estimates that in Coventry South 3,200 children are living in families trapped in energy debt. It has been calling on the Government to increase support for those families by changing the Department of Energy and Climate Change strategy and policy statement to include families with children as a vulnerable group. That will ensure that Ofgem and energy companies do their part to give families the support they need when they fall behind with their energy bills. Will the Minister give that some consideration?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, I do. We are working incredibly hard—in fact, no Government have done more than this one—to tackle late payment. Changes coming into effect at the end of this month will ensure that 30-day payment terms are driven down the supply chain from public sector purchases. There have been 9,400 business start-ups in my hon. Friend’s constituency during this Parliament—one of the highest figures across the whole country, thanks in no small part to her hard work.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

A Minister told one of my hon. Friends earlier that the Government would review employment law. Will the Minister for Business and Enterprise also review company law, certainly in relation to City Link? I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson) will support me in saying that we should review company law as well as employment law. What happened at City Link, with redundancies being announced on Christmas day, was an absolute disgrace. How would people feel if that happened to them?

[Matthew Hancock]

The timing of the announcement was clearly very difficult, but we are doing all we can to support those affected by the decision. Both the Secretary of State, who was constantly in touch with the company and the unions over Christmas, and I are working hard to support those affected.

UK Anti-corruption Plan

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

We are working very closely with the overseas territories. Progress has been made. There is recognition among them that they need to act and conversations with them are ongoing.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

The Minister will know that when agencies are brought together to create one agency, that can sometimes create a form of rationalisation. Does he anticipate a reduction in the resources needed to make the new agency work?

[Matthew Hancock]

As I have said, we are looking at how the budget of the Department for International Development, through its designated funding, can support this work, because we are very clear that there is further work to do both internationally and domestically.

Energy Policy and Living Standards

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Matthew Hancock]

Nobody has direct control over wholesale costs, although I entirely take the point that Government policy that has an impact on the supply of energy, particularly hydrocarbon energy, can have an impact on price. I share the hon. Gentleman’s enthusiasm for shale, and the Government’s proposals will ensure that exploration for shale gas can happen as long as it is done carefully and within a regulatory framework that ensures that it is safe. I hope that he, his colleague the hon. Member for Clacton and all colleagues in his new party will support the local extraction of shale gas; his view is not shared by members of his party across the country. I welcome the support of the new establishment party for shale gas.

It is absolutely essential to ensure that we have security of supply at the lowest possible cost, while living within our international climate obligations. Perhaps there is a point of difference, because the risk of climate change is real and must be taken seriously, but the question is how we deliver on that in the lowest-cost way. On that, I think that the hon. Member for Clacton and I share some analysis. For instance, ensuring that taxes remain as low as possible is an important element of the Government’s programme. Even with the incredible deficit that we inherited, we have managed to keep petrol and diesel prices 20p lower than they would have otherwise have been. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) for the work he has done on that, which is widely recognised. As oil prices fall, I support him in the call for those reductions to be passed on to the motorist at the pump now, not later. The work that he has done, including on the front page of today’s Sun, is an important contribution to this debate.

[Mr Jim Cunningham]

How will the Minister persuade oil producers to pass on the reduction in oil prices to the consumer? Price rises hit a lot of poor families because of their impact on public transport and the cost of living in general. Have the Government had any discussions about that, and how do they intend to achieve it?

[Matthew Hancock]

The Government have had discussions about that. Ultimately, those changes can be best driven by competition. I share the disdain of the hon. Member for Clacton for prices and incomes policies in energy. Indeed, I think that he has missed some of the changes that we have made over the past couple of years, not least in the Energy Act 2013. For instance, he argued for more competition between different technologies so that those with the most potential can drive down costs and improve the situation for consumers. By switching from a regime in which, as he described, subsidy is given out to whatever renewable technology was brought forward to a regime in which a controlled pot of subsidy is auctioned to ensure that we get the best possible value for money, we have made a change towards a market-oriented system.

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 19th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. Improving transparency internationally is important in ensuring that we tackle crime and have a system that people trust, but we have to introduce things in a way that supports legitimate business, does not put undue burdens on business and is secure in terms of the data held. The points he makes are important.

We have increased parliamentary scrutiny of the business impact target—the target for regulatory reduction. We heard in Committee that the Labour party would make no commitment to tackle the burden of regulation on business, whereas we have our one-in, two-out rule. We are ensuring that the targets and the associated metrics will have to be laid before Parliament when they are set or amended. We have also changed the Secretary of State’s powers on administration sales to connected parties and certain elements of the register of people with significant control, so that they are now subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, not the negative one.

We have also introduced new topics during the Bill’s passage, making it easier for small businesses to access finance. Research suggests that 71% of small businesses approach only one finance provider. Our change will ensure that those who want to do so, having been rejected by their bank, can have their details passed on, to encourage greater competition among finance providers. One problem was that there were few different finance providers—the number of banks had shrunk over the past couple of decades—but now, thankfully, the competition is very successfully coming back into the market for finance.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I am sure the Minister has covered this before, but it is worth saying again that one big problem for small businesses comes when the larger companies do not pay up on time and they then get a cash-flow problem.

[Matthew Hancock]

The hon. Gentleman is dead right about that and he anticipates my next paragraph. We have also strengthened measures to support prompt payment, acting both to increase transparency, so that when companies do not pay on time that is made clear, and to strengthen public sector prompt payment so that the sector can lead by example. I am grateful for that intervention.

We have also included a new clause on home businesses to remove the incentive, dating from a very old Act of Parliament, for landlords to prohibit tenants from operating a business from home. Home businesses are the hotbed of enterprise; 70% of new businesses are started at home, and we want to make it easier for that to happen. We have also strengthened support for the early-years pupil premium to help three and four-year-olds from less well-off backgrounds by amending the Bill to enable Departments to disclose to local authorities information on eligibility, while ensuring that unlawful disclosure of such data continues to be an offence.

Questions were raised in Committee about the scrutiny of complaints handling procedures in the financial services sector, so we have introduced a measure to require the independent complaints commissioners to produce an annual assessment of complaints handling. That will ensure that processes are fair and accessible to all complainants, including small business.

Finally, on pubs, the Government have listened and responded to the concerns about the burdens the measures would place on family brewers and removed these smaller companies from the scope of the code during the passage of the Bill. Yesterday, we saw the House express its will, and we will reflect on that vote during the Bill’s further passage.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 6th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

18. What recent assessment he has made of the UK’s energy security.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Matthew Hancock)]

Today we published our annual energy statement, which shows the action we have taken to deliver a secure supply of energy while reducing bills and carbon emissions, meeting the needs of households and businesses.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matthew Hancock]

Indeed, and over the summer we also had some impact on our energy generation, both in nuclear and hydrocarbon generation. The fact that we got 15% renewable generation last year—double what we had in 2010—of course adds to energy security, but, crucially, we have to make sure that this and every winter we take the action necessary to have the energy supply that is demanded by consumers, be they households or businesses.

[Mr Cunningham]

I would love to be able to praise the Secretary of State today, but I cannot because I have to ask him whether he can confirm that, under this Government, construction has begun on just one new gas-fired power station, and even that will not come online until after the next election. That compares with the 10 GW of new gas capacity built under the last Labour Government. I am very sorry that I cannot heap praise on him. I had to give him some bad news.

Rolls-Royce (Aerospace Group)

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I am sure that will be taken into consideration. Also, as this is an 18-month process, if things change during that time—for instance, if new orders come in or other parts of the business are successful—I am sure that can be taken into account. I also want to make sure that opportunities outside Rolls-Royce are made available to those made redundant. All these matters must be taken into account.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I and many other MPs represent constituencies with a Rolls-Royce presence. Coventry may be particularly badly affected by this news, although we do not know the final outcome. The Minister should recognise the hard work put in by the labour force in changing working practices and the other changes that they have been prepared to make. Will the Minister meet a delegation of concerned MPs to discuss this? Families up and down the country are going to be very worried as this is a national issue. Cuts in defence affect Rolls-Royce as much as cuts in the civil arena. The Minister should also bear in mind the fact that Rolls-Royce gets a lot of Government grants for research and development, as he may want to use that as a lever to get the truth out of the company.

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course the relationship between the Government and Rolls-Royce is a very close one, not least because of the support we give it for research and development, but also because of the defence relationship, which is vital to our national security. Of course, I should be very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and other colleagues about this issue. I agree that we should pay tribute to the work of Rolls-Royce employees and the fact that they have a modern and flexible set of practices across the business in order to help Rolls-Royce be a world-beating company. They are determined to continue that, and we are determined to see that continue too.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I pay tribute to the work that BAE Systems does with its apprenticeships. It not only has hundreds of apprentices, many of whom I have met, but offers more and more higher apprenticeships, which provide the very best available training on the job. We have to make sure that smaller businesses get the message that apprenticeships can help them too; in fact, the majority of apprentices are in smaller businesses. We have made the apprenticeship grant for employers focused on smaller businesses to help them with the extra costs they have in taking on apprentices.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

15. When are the Government going to put an emphasis on quality apprenticeships? Why do we need 47 different streams of funding for skills generally? When are we going to sort out on-the-job training from actual apprenticeships? Are the Government lumping on-the-job training into the figures for apprenticeships, when apprenticeships are totally different?

[Matthew Hancock]

No, the figures for apprenticeships show the number of apprenticeships. They also show that we are on track to achieve 2 million apprenticeships in this Parliament—in fact, figures published at 9.30 this morning show that there have been 1.8 million apprenticeships since the election. We are simplifying the funding structures and putting more money through employers, so that they can buy the apprenticeship training they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 6th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

6. In how many of the last 24 months net lending to business by banks has risen.

[The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

The most recent data from the Bank of England show that net lending to small and medium-sized businesses was positive in March, June and November, and the bank’s most recent trends in lending and credit conditions reports show that confidence is beginning to return, helped by interventions such as the business bank. Gross lending continues to be higher year on year, but there is still much more to do.

[Mr Cunningham]

When will the Government stop blaming the previous Government and everybody else and get the major banks such as Lloyds and HSBC actually lending to small businesses? Small businesses in my constituency and up and down the country are suffering very badly.

[Matthew Hancock]

In order to understand the problem that we are having to address, it is important to analyse why it came about. We all know why it came about—because of the under-regulation by the Labour party. It is absolutely true that gross lending increased by £4 billion in October 2013—the highest amount since 2009—so we are moving in the right direction. But there is much more to do to clear up the mess left by the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course UK Export Finance should support growth that is sustainable. It has recently published on its website the sovereign debts owed to it by overseas Governments in order to become yet more transparent.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

10. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the development of the Government’s strategic defence review.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Matt Hancock

Monday 3rd December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

2. What plans he has for vocational education; and if he will make a statement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills (Matthew Hancock)]

World-class vocational education is vital for a world-class economy, so we are bringing rigour to vocational education by recognising the best qualifications, strengthening apprenticeships and introducing a Tech Bac to reward and celebrate stretching occupational education.

[Matthew Hancock]

I met EngineeringUK last week at the launch of its report, so I am well versed on its recommendations and very supportive of the need to increase the number of engineers in our country, something that has been sadly lacking for far too long. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are introducing, along with the Royal Academy, new qualifications that fit the accountability system. We will do what it takes to ensure that this country has enough engineers.

[Mr Jim Cunningham]

What assessment has the Minister made of the Richard report, which recommends that apprenticeships should last at least a year?