"I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important and useful debate for the county of Worcestershire. She talks about the ratio of staff costs being 80% to 85%, but in Wyre Forest we see that rising as high as 95% as more experienced staff go up the internal pay …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"My hon. Friend has mentioned timing on three occasions. Is that not one of the crucial points? Given that we have had that inequality for 20 years and that we have a very strained economic environment, it is vital that we resolve this problem as soon as possible and in …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"My hon. Friend and neighbour might be interested to hear about my recent discussions with some schools in Wyre Forest. Usually, a school expects to pay somewhere between 80% and 85% of its budget on staffing. Now, because of the very low funding formula, we see typical schools in such …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"In neighbouring Wyre Forest I share the same problem as my hon. Friend. Does she accept that it is a tribute to the teachers in our constituencies of Redditch and Wyre Forest in Worcestershire that they choose to work in those financially constrained conditions when they could take the easy …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) for his helpful and useful comments. As he said, I will speak about the slightly more tangible and gritty problems facing businesses. Before getting into the meat of my speech, I am struck by how many MPs are in …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"I will come to the regulatory burden in a minute. My hon. Friend is right. I have seen a turkey farm that has had to comply with huge industrial reporting requirements for toxic chemicals, because turkeys produce ammonia, but it also has to prove that it is not producing a …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"I agree. Our complex tax code is full of all sorts of unintended consequences exactly like the one that my hon. Friend mentioned. It is ridiculous having a tax that means businesses going above £73,000 will have to start charging their customers. That is a disincentive to growth in terms …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech
"I am sorry; the hon. Gentleman is talking about extending it to micro-businesses. Yes, all this has to be put into the mix of things that we need to look at. It is important to consider any way that we can help more micro-businesses.
"Yes. Being a small business man is quite an isolating experience, as many hon. Members will know. People are out there on the front line, struggling to get more business in. They can join network groups and all the rest of it, but they feel like they are in a …..." Mark Garnier - View Speech