Employment Rights Bill

Laurence Turner Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 21st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)]

I am glad to draw the House’s attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and to my membership of the GMB and Unite trade unions.

The Bill is at the start of its parliamentary stages, but today is also the culmination of years of hard work and consultation. It is important to recognise the accomplishment that the Bill’s introduction represents, and the Ministers, civil servants and special advisers involved deserve great credit. The Bill was born out of the undermining of the dignity and protection of work over many years, which falls heaviest on those in working-class occupations. We all know the effects that 15 years of wage stagnation has brought, the shameful limits that in-work poverty places on the potential of the people we represent, and the unfairness shouldered by those who are trapped on insecure contracts, including in the security and retail sectors in Birmingham Northfield. The Bill will make a real positive difference to their lives.

In the short time available to me I will focus on three measures. First, the 3,000 school support staff and care workers in my constituency are some of the lowest-paid people in public services. They are predominantly women who work under inadequate and outmoded terms and conditions, and their professionalism has gone unrecognised for far too long. I hope that the creation of a school support staff negotiating body and an adult social care negotiating body will have cross-party support.

Secondly, the condition of outsourced workers in public services has also been neglected. They are the invisible workforce who keep our hospitals running and our nation secure. For more than 100 years, under the fair wages resolution and the initial version of the two-tier code, Governments of all colours recognised the principle that outsourced workers should not be placed at detriment. The reinstatement of that principle is of critical importance.

Finally, I welcome the proposed reforms to trade union recognition and access arrangements. When the system has been shown to be open to abuse, it must be changed. In that sense, there is a direct line of continuity between the Grunwick dispute of the ’70s—in which the late Member for Birmingham Erdington, Jack Dromey, played such a prominent role—and the creation of a statutory recognition regime 20 years later. I have heard directly from GMB members about the disgraceful anti-union tactics that they have faced, which were not anticipated when the current law was drafted. They must not wait 20 years for remedy. This Bill is important and necessary, and I am proud to vote for it tonight.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laurence Turner Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)]

1. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department’s statutory intervention at Birmingham City Council on the adequacy of public services provided by that council. [R]

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)]

It is a privilege to be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State, and to answer questions from hon. Members on the important issues I now have responsibility for at such a challenging time for our communities.

Councils across the country, including those under best value intervention, are feeling the strain after a decade of financial mismanagement by the previous Administration. I am determined to work constructively with both the council and the commissioners to reset our relationship with Birmingham and support its recovery to ensure that local public services are fit for purpose.

[Laurence Turner]

I recognise that the Secretary of State has inherited a very difficult situation. Under the Conservatives, Birmingham lost 40p in the pound and 60% of local authority jobs were lost—some of the sharpest cuts in the country. Our city is now facing cuts of more than 50% to some public service budgets, but new information has come to light and it is clear that part of the basis for the original intervention under her Conservative predecessor was wrong. Can—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It is meant to be a question; you cannot make a speech. I think you need an Adjournment debate to finish this one off.