Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough (Justin Madders) on securing this important debate. I regret that he himself was a victim of unemployment, cut down in his prime by a capricious boss, although I have greatly enjoyed working with the current Minister, the hon. Member for Halifax (Kate Dearden), to...
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your dispensation to speak on behalf of my constituents. Not once in six years in this House have my constituents written to me saying that we need to cleave West Sussex in two, with two educational catchment areas, two different highways authorities, two social care services and two expensive town halls and council offices. Will the Minister, at this late stage,...
The Government do not create jobs; business does. With unemployment rising, this is the last chance to ask the Secretary of State a question ahead of the start of April when a tsunami of business rate rises will hit. Shops and restaurants will see a 50% increase on average and the business rates of hotels will double. He and I both represent wonderful Sussex constituencies full of...
The Secretary of State forgets that I have not even been here for 14 years. Some days it feels like that, but I can assure him that it is not the case. There was no answer to that question, so let me try another. Does he agree that there is something pretty badly wrong with employment law in this country when Peter Mandelson, the friend of a convicted paedophile and leaker of classified...
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wrote to the Chancellor on behalf of a constituent on 10 December last year; I followed that up on 6 January and 20 January, but on each occasion I received no substantive reply. It was only when I tabled a written question that Ministers finally informed me that my correspondence had been passed to HM Revenue and Customs. They told me three...
But you don’t like the States.
I am delighted to see not just the excellent Minister for Trade, but the Secretary of State. [Interruption.] I did; just bank the win. I read that the Secretary of State is being earmarked as a caretaker Prime Minister, so we are pleased that he has the time to spend with us—I think we have 10 minutes before Labour colleagues have to run upstairs. Richard Cobden said: “I believe that Free...
Well, I was going to be generous to the Government and say something slightly positive. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that Governments of all flavours could do an infinitely better job of listening to businesses. They are the people at the frontline in the real world. His constituents have very deep links to the economy of India and it represents a real opportunity. We support the deal,...
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of Freedom of Information requests received by his Department were responded to (a) within the statutory 20 working day deadline, (b) between 21 and 40 working days, (c) between 41 and 60 working days, and (d) after 60 working days, in each of the last three calendar years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many businesses received free allowances under the Emissions Trading Scheme in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many free allowances were granted to businesses under the Emissions Trading Scheme in each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications were submitted for change of use into Class E for each of the last three years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on the number of entry-level and flexible jobs.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure the Employment Rights Act 2025 does not negatively impact employment levels.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of DBS checks are requested for roles not involving regulated activity.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish information held by the Disclosure and Barring Service on DBS checks issued in the most recent year by (a) sector, (b) occupation and (c) Standard Industrial Classification.
