Oral Answers to Questions
Mike Reader Excerpts(1 day, 22 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)
Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)
The Minister for Equalities (Seema Malhotra)
Gender equality is not just the right thing to do; it is imperative to unlock growth, as a 5% increase in female employment could boost the economy by up to £125 billion every year. That is why we are backing women in work and those starting businesses by supporting the investing in women code, expanding access to flexible working, funding childcare for working families and ensuring that employers have a plan to reduce their gender pay gap.
Seema Malhotra
I am happy to join my hon. Friend in recognising the fantastic women-led businesses in Gravesham and the impact that women-led businesses have on our communities and our economy. The Department for Business and Trade’s venture capital unit has recently launched its second female founder cohort, and Government-backed initiatives such as the Women’s Business Council, FTSE Women Leaders and the Invest in Women taskforce—whose first anniversary I was proud to join the Chancellor in marking yesterday—are making a difference to ensure that Britain is the best place for women to start or grow their businesses.
Mike Reader
Danielle Stone, Northamptonshire’s brilliant police, fire and crime commissioner, has just launched the women’s charter, which brings together employers, community groups and the public sector to create safer workspaces for women across my constituency. Will the Minister join me in commending Danielle’s work and set out what the Government can do to encourage more partnerships like this across the UK?
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for sharing that work on the Northamptonshire women’s charter and for his commitment to tackling violence against women and girls. All employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, and we are further strengthening that duty through the Employment Rights Bill. However, statutory compliance on its own is not enough, which is why we are engaging businesses, trade unions and civil society on improving workplace culture. Local initiatives like the Northamptonshire charter are exactly the kind of partnership we want to see.
Oral Answers to Questions
Mike Reader Excerpts(6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Pat McFadden
The hon. Member makes a strong point. I spend every day encouraging Departments to work together, but he will have heard me say that departmental DNA is strong. He is right that if we want to achieve things, we must overcome departmental DNA sometimes and ensure that Departments work together to deliver good projects. That is exactly what we are trying to do.
Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)
A key function of joined-up Government is joined-up procurement, and I have had the pleasure of working with the Crown Commercial Service as a supplier for over 15 years. There is an ongoing issue that the CCS runs its major procurements during holiday exercises, and this summer is no different. The construction professional services framework, which is worth billions of pounds, has been delayed and will run over the summer, meaning businesses and families have to cancel summer holidays and change their plans. What more is the Department doing to address the culture in the CCS of “buyer knows best” and not respecting supply chains?
Pat McFadden
My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the importance of the CCS. We have tasked the CCS with working with suppliers and reviewing how it runs frameworks to maximise the spend with small and medium-sized businesses. That should include the timing of the framework so that everyone can take part as best as possible.
EU Trading Relationship
Mike Reader Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. This debate comes at a critical time, given the upcoming UK-EU summit. This summer we are at the pinch point of the trade triangle, with the trade strategy, the small business strategy and the industrial strategy coming forward to give British businesses certainty. In my limited time, I will focus on the impact to my constituency and the logistics sector and share my personal experience in the construction industry.
One in five people in Northampton South work in the logistics sector, which is a linchpin of my local economy. I spend a lot of time going to warehouses and distribution centres to hear from small and large businesses about the challenges they face. The No. 1 issue that comes up is friction with the EU—the red tape and the uncertainty about licensing agreements. It is all of the issues that have been created by the botched deal that the Conservatives put forward. Businesses cannot see how we can fix things in the short term without a hard reset of our trading relationship with the EU.
Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)
We have 20,000 people employed by the logistics sector in North West Leicestershire, in part because we have the second largest freight airport in the UK, with East Midlands airport being key to international trade. Does my hon. Friend agree that for constituents like ours, logistics needs effective trading relationships with the EU? The sector is key not only to our local economies but to long-term growth.
Mike Reader
My hon. Friend makes a fantastic point. A big thing that businesses make clear to me is that we have to approach this with humility. We also have to recognise the impact that Brexit has had on European businesses and the cost they face in trading with the UK. This is not a one-way issue; it impacts both ways, and it is a real problem that firms are facing. The border target operating model is a real issue, particularly for businesses importing agriculture and plants. I have a large food manufacturer in my constituency, and the No. 1 issue it raised with me is getting stuff in and out of the EU, which is a real challenge.
Turning to my personal experience, I worked in the construction sector all my life, and I was very fortunate to work on a number of projects across the EU, including the Ellinikon regeneration in Greece, major airports in Poland and the Dublin metro in Ireland. One of the challenges we had was mutual recognition of professional services. Professional services are one of the eight verticals in the industrial strategy.
The ability to export our professional services globally is a real benefit to the UK, but the lack of a mutual recognition agreement between the UK and the EU is hampering our ability to take Britain’s great expertise and skills into Europe. Architecture is a great example—the Conservatives tried to match up architecture through the trade and co-operation agreement, but it was not achievable. UK architects are unable to work in the EU on a fair and equal playing field with EU architects. It is a crazy situation.
As we go towards the UK summit, I hope the Government are considering how those negotiations can help to bolster the industrial strategy. Its eight core vertical sectors, including manufacturing, clean energy and professional services, need a robust and clear trading agreement with the EU. There is clear consensus in the room on having a very hard reset of that relationship, to make it easier for all our businesses. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) for securing this debate.