Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Extension of the Relevant Period) (No. 2) Regulations 2020

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Tuesday 19th January 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, and contribute to this short debate on the regulations. I thank my noble friend the Minister for bringing forward the extension, as set out in the regulations, and for presenting it in such a clear and concise way. There is much in the regulations to commend.

I pay tribute to the Government for their generous support, as set out by my noble friend. He referred in particular to the retail and hospitality sectors. I became more familiar with the contribution of the night-time economy to both the London economy and that of the wider UK, in other major cities across the four nations, through the ad hoc committee report in your Lordships’ House on the Licensing Act 2003. At its height in 2019, the night-time economy contributed billions to the UK economy. As my noble friend set out, together with retail and hospitality, the wider night-time economy includes those who advise, PR people and all sorts of managers and so on—it is a much wider industry than it might appear at first, and they are very much in sight when we come to consider the regulations.

Like others, I will focus my questions on the Government’s exit strategy. I entirely support the regulations and the extension to 31 March, which will protect companies and ensure their longer-term viability, and that the focus will be on the petitioner to establish in court that any debt incurred is not Covid related. I accept that this is a payment holiday and, as my noble friend said, that the debt must be repaid at once, in so far as it can be.

I want to highlight the new role played by HMRC, as other noble Lords have referred to. To what extent will BEIS and my noble friend work with the Treasury and HMRC to ensure that they adopt a more supportive approach to businesses? That will help to ease the restructuring of those businesses facing potential insolvency and also, as HMRC is a key creditor, it is in its interests to keep such companies solvent. An even more beneficial effect could come from reducing the fees currently earned, as set out by the noble Lord, Lord Sikka.

We are assuming, as my noble friend Lord Bourne set out, that we will extend this protection beyond 31 March, but that it will at some point come to end. To what extent is my noble friend mindful of that? What protections or balance do the Government intend to put in place at that time?

These regulations are extremely important at this time and could protect many businesses, many of which are major employers, enabling them to remain in business and allowing them to restructure within the three-month period.