Schedule 6 - Minor and consequential amendments
Employment Bill
11:00 am
Mr Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)
The Minister can be assured that we are waiting with bated breath to hear his comments, so I shall be brief. I welcome the principle of flexible working and I will not go into endless detail about it except to say that it offers economic benefits and benefits to workers, employees and, apparently, staff.
I support the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and the hon. Member for North Norfolk, which highlighted the errors in this rushed set of Government amendments. That highlights one of the key dangers. It is a complex issue, but we are in danger of making bad law.
Although the provisions constitute a right to request flexible working, my concern, and that of many small employers in my constituency, is that it will become a right to flexible working. I would welcome a guarantee from the Minister that that is not his intention, at least for the duration of this Parliament, and hopefully beyond. The belated receipt of the revised regulatory impact assessment shows that the rest of the Bill represents additional burdens to business of £272 million per annum net of benefits. Those costs are considerable, so I was concerned to read that the amendment related to flexible working represents an additional net benefits cost of £173 million per annum. That is a 60 per cent. increase in the total cost of the Bill to business. Does the Minister have any intention of alleviating some of those costs, particularly to small businesses?
In proposed section 80F(6), the Secretary of State is granted the power to substitute a different age for the first of the ages specified in subsection (3). It seems that that could be nine years old, or 12 or 18. That sheds a different light on what the clause could do, and I would welcome any clarification that the Minister could provide of his intentions. I have waxed lyrical—I hope—and certainly at length on the issue of small businesses. I am grateful for the Committee's patience. Flexible working is an important principle. Most small businesses operate it and do so by their very nature. But there are burdens here. The CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses and other organisations have raised this. I reiterate the point that I raised through my hon. Friend: can the Minister give the Committee some assurance that small businesses will be given clear guidance? Proposed section 80G(2) contains almost a page of details that every employer will have to comply with. That is a burden and I look forward to hearing the Minister's comments.