Emissions: Housing

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan [V]]

I am happy to have further discussions with the noble Baroness to see exactly what that loophole is, but we remain committed to working with local authorities to take this agenda forward.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, given the likely increase in unemployment, the need to reboot nationally and internationally post the pandemic, and our chance to give a global lead at COP 26 in Glasgow, will my noble friend use his best endeavours to ensure that our Government follow up on this positive idea put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Teverson?

[Lord Callanan [V]]

My noble friend is entirely right. As the holders of the incoming presidency of COP 26, the Government will continue to press for much greater ambition around the world to reduce emissions, build resilience, co-operate and support each and every country.

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 16th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I refer the House to my interests as published in the register. I thank the Minister for introducing this legislation, which has many valuable facets to it. I also thank the Law Society for its helpful briefing. I will particularly talk about the amendments that relate to the independence of the monitor, which are extremely important. The point has been well made that this is a simple matter to put right, and I hope that the Minister has been listening. It is clearly right that the monitor should be independent of the company. That runs to the very heart of company law.

I also very much welcome the amendment of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, relating to the provision of a list of creditors from directors for a monitor to work from. That is necessary for ensuring that the moratorium process works effectively, and deserves our backing too. I also welcome Amendments 42 and 28, which again relate to the independence of the monitor and ensuring that there are no conflicts of interest—matters that are easily put right, and I hope that we can do that.

It has been a long debate on this group of amendments so I will not detain the Committee long, but I share with my noble friend Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts a concern about the two different halves to this legislation. There is the half—no doubt very important—relating to insolvency procedures, which centres on the moratorium and is very welcome, and then there is the other half, which has an urgency about it and which we need to push through very quickly to protect businesses during the Covid crisis. It is as if we have two halves of different cars welded together, as might have been the case with Del Boy and Rodney in “Only Fools and Horses”, with predictable consequences. That is not to say that it cannot be put right, but we need to push through some important amendments to ensure that this works effectively. I hope that the Minister has been listening and will take on board some of the important points made as we have progressed through this group and, no doubt, as we continue throughout the other groups.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, I draw noble Lords’ attention to my interests as set out in the register. The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, in his understated way, called this a wide group of amendments and we have heard a wide and knowledgeable group of Peers speaking to it. I agree with the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, that we need proper scrutiny of this Bill. Whether we are here virtually or physically, cramming so many amendments into one group is symptomatic of trying to rush this Bill through. That will have unintended consequences, whether the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, believes it or otherwise. We are suffering from undue haste in trying to do in one day what should have been done over at least two or three days.

I will speak to a small number of amendments. On Amendment 10, the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, queried 20 days and suggested 30 days. My question for the Minister is: why 20? What was the science and evidence that suggested that 20 was correct? The noble Lord, Lord Leigh, spoke about the courts being busy. Well, one way of relieving the courts of work would be to have a slightly longer period, because that would mean that the monitor would not have to go back to the courts so often to renew the process. Why 20 days and why not 30, or indeed some other number of days?

Amendment 2, to some extent Amendment 1 and certainly Amendment 28 ask the perfectly reasonable question of what the monitor’s role is. What is the correct qualification for the monitor? It is perfectly reasonable in a Bill such as this, with the role of monitor so central to this process, that we understand what that monitor is and who it might be. I look forward to the Minister’s comments on that.

This group, among others, contains a whole load of amendments that address what I call the creditor waterfall. Amendment 21 and, in different ways, Amendments 25 and 40, talk about the role of the banks and financial institutions and seek to restrain the advantage that those institutions can get from their special position within the creditor landscape. It is not in the Government’s interests to continue to allow these organisations the freedom of the remaining resources of a failing business. What was going through the mind of the Government when those decisions were made to set out this level of access and give financial institutions the run that they seem to get from the Bill?

My noble friends Lady Kramer and Lady Bowles and others talked about the role of small and medium-sized businesses, and Amendment 22 adds small entities to the list of those with preferential treatments. Amendments 37 and 40 call for a review after 18 months of how a moratorium is dealing with SMEs. This is an entirely different review from the other reviews that crop up on later groups. It is very much about how this is really affecting businesses. I am proud to put my name to Amendments 98 and 99, proposed by my colleague and noble friend Lady Bowles, which makes wages and salaries rank alongside continuing supplier and not below them. That seems entirely reasonable and I thought that she set that out very well.

All these issues set up the central point: the Bill is not a fully formed piece of legislation. The Government have recognised that, as my noble friend Lady Bowles pointed out, by granting themselves an almost unprecedented ability to rewrite it. They know that it is not the finished article. We will have an opportunity in later groups of amendments to discuss a better way of doing that and a way of giving Parliament the power to assess and possibly rewrite the rules, but I look forward to the Minister’s reply.

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 9th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for very clearly and fairly setting out the Bill’s scope. It is a mixture of scheduled insolvency reform, which has been waiting for some time, as well as some urgent mitigation measures relating to the present crisis. Like other noble Lords who participated in the debate, I recognise that there is a much wider issue in looking at the political economy questions that the country will face as we come out of the crisis, but I will confine myself to the Bill we have at the moment.

I will first say something about the moratorium provisions, which, as I said, were very much on the stocks anyway and have been brought forward. This is in the vanguard of the first significant reform of insolvency law since those that enacted the Cork committee recommendations in the 1980s. I welcome them, but I have two significant concerns. The first relates to the seemingly open-ended nature of repeated moratoria, or at least an extension of the single moratorium, into the future ad infinitum. I would welcome the Minister’s reassurance that that is not envisaged and on how it can be prevented.

My second significant concern has been mentioned by others, such as my noble friends Lady McIntosh of Pickering and Lord Hunt of Wirral, and relates to the role of the monitor. We need to ensure that the monitor, although an insolvency practitioner as required under the Bill, is independent of the company. I would welcome the Minister’s reassurance that that will be the case.

I turn briefly to the wrongful trading provisions. I agree very much with the comments of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope. The Minister spoke of this as a suspension of wrongful trading. As drafted, it is not; it is a mitigation of wrongful trading because it allows for an assumption of the directors acting in relation to trading, rather than ensuring that it is not the case. In other words, as it stands it is rebuttable, not an actual suspension. I do not know whether that is the intention that needs to be looked at.

I very much welcome what is being done on company meetings. I would have provided for this on a long-term and indefinite, rather than limited, basis, allowing what is the position of common law: for meetings to be held remotely. The case of Byng v London Life Association in the 1990s established that the essence of an effective meeting is the ability to interact and participate, rather than physical presence one with another—something that I am sure we all recognise at the moment as being the way we are proceeding. Like my noble friend Lady Anelay, I would welcome an assurance that these provisions relate to all sorts of meetings. There is a fairly exhaustive list in the Bill, but I do not know whether it is totally exhaustive. It might be wise to provide a catch-all provision, or at least to allow the Secretary of State the power to extend it to other bodies. It seemingly covers trade unions, charities and so on, but it might be that something has been unintentionally missed out.

Subject to that, the provisions relating to meetings are very much to be welcomed. In broad terms, the Bill is something we should support and I certainly do so.

Covid-19: Businesses and the Private Sector

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con)]

My Lords, I also thank my noble friend Lord Dobbs for bringing this debate forward and for presenting the case with his customary flair and gusto. Like others, I think we have a kaleidoscope of support in our country: the public sector, which has been delivering magnificently—our NHS, care homes, transport sector and local authorities —and our voluntary sector, with great bodies such as Age UK, the Big Issue and so many others. We also depend massively on the private sector. We live in a changed world and it will change much more. Our needs and priorities will have changed, and the private sector needs to step forward to help deliver.

Meanwhile I shall mention how, in two key areas, the private sector has been stepping us and delivering, very often literally. First, on food, as many other noble Lords have said, it has done so not just by providing us with food but by providing help to the NHS and public authorities, with companies such as Kettlebell Kitchen delivering food and giving a portion of its profits to the NHS. Pubs and restaurants throughout the country are no longer able to provide pub meals in the pubs but are delivering them to their communities. The George and Dragon in Hurstbourne Tarrant is giving some of its profits to the NHS. Such pubs and restaurants deserve our thanks.

Like other noble Lords, I strongly believe that healthcare needs more encouragement and help by being provided with PPE, ventilators and a vaccine. The public sector and our great universities also need encouragement and help. Nightingale hospitals have been mentioned; They, too, are important. I also applaud what the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has done. He has shown flair, compassion and a steady nerve.

Weights and Measures Act 1985 (Definitions of “Metre” and “Kilogram”) (Amendment) Order 2020

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for presenting these draft regulations with such clarity on what I believe is World Metrology Day. I strongly support these regulations, which, as he quite rightly said, do not actually change anything in a legal sense.

The Explanatory Memorandum makes it clear that these regulations are for purposes that are very much in our interest domestically in terms of furthering international trade, high-technology manufacturing, global climate studies, and, very topically, safety and security, as well as basic health and the basic science underpinning these; this is all set out in paragraph 7.3. The Government and the Minister are quite rightly committed to these aims.

I particularly commend the Government on two aspects of their approach. The first is their keeping the devolved Administrations very much in the frame. Coming in the speakers’ list, as I do, between two distinguished Scots, that seems an enlightened thing to support in any event. These are reserved matters, but it represents best practice to share information. The Government are absolutely right to do that and I commend them.

Secondly, the Government are clearly working closely with the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, based in Saint-Cloud, just outside Paris. As the Minister said, we are a founder member of the organisation. Its head is a Briton, the physicist Martin Milton. Clearly, this international engagement is very much in our interest and represents global Britain at its best. I would appreciate it if the Minister could say a little more about engagement with the bureau. It is very important that we engage with international organisations going forward, and not just this one. Involving as it does 102 member states and associate states, this is very much an international body. As I understand it, this does not have a European Union dimension at all; it is truly international across the piece.

As I say, I strongly support these regulations. They do not change the law, but represent best practice and are very much in the United Kingdom’s interest.