Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Baroness Primarolo Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. A lot of Members are waiting to speak, so interventions must be brief.

[Mr Umunna]

I will expand on that point in more detail later, but what I can tell the hon. Gentleman now is that when I ask businesses what is currently holding them back, most say a lack of orders and demand, not the rights that their employees enjoy at work. If we are looking to encourage businesses to hire people, why not give all micro-businesses a national insurance break—I believe he has a seat in the south-east—when they take on extra workers? That would do more to help them grow their businesses.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. Before I call the next speaker, I must inform the House that all Back-Bench speeches will be limited to eight minutes from now on. Many Members wish to contribute, and if we do not make enough progress to enable all of them to do so, it may be necessary for the limit to be reduced further.

--- Later in debate ---

[Margot James]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. It is quite true that the hon. Lady gets extra time for taking interventions, but of course that takes time from Members who are waiting to speak. Mr Binley and Mr Smith, you might remember that.

[Margot James]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am conscious of that and I will not take all the additional time allotted.

My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) made a good point. The cost in time and money of fighting claims is a huge disincentive, especially to very small companies. That is why I believe we should give micro-businesses special consideration and partial exemptions from some of the measures in the Bill. I hope that the Government will take on board the views expressed by my colleagues and I today, and the concerns voiced by the many reasonable employers who try to do the right thing by their work force. The volume, complexity and, I believe, bias of current law, which allows vexatious and sometimes spurious claims to be brought in the first place, is what needs to be changed fundamentally, alongside the very good measures the Government propose in the Bill.