Speeches by Smith.

“Q That is a hugely comprehensive answer, and I am very grateful for it. One bit of evidence we heard from other witnesses earlier in the week, which I do not think you covered in your list, was a disappointment that there has not been an extension to bereavement leave in the horrible, sad circumstances of a pregnancy l…”

“And on bereavement leave? Justin Madders: Again, that is something I am sympathetic to. I understand that the Women and Equalities Committee is undertaking an inquiry on that at the moment, and we are going to see what it says.”

“Q I hesitate to interrupt you, but can you give us an indication of where you think statutory sick pay should sit? What should its value be? Dr Stephenson: At least at the level of maternity pay, for example. We are one of only four countries in Europe that does not extend some right to sick pay to self-employed people…”

“Q Good afternoon, doctor. Given the work you do, which you have just described, what is your assessment of what the Bill will do for women and men in the workplace? Dr Stephenson: We think this Bill marks an important step in the right direction in improving the rights of women in the workplace. We particularly welcome…”

“Q I appreciate that, from the perspective of the Department of Business and Trade, there might be a more clearcut answer, but from your perspective, Mr Kirkpatrick, given your answer earlier, do you think there is a high risk that the measures in the Bill could reduce the number of jobs in the UK economy? John Kirkpatr…”

“Q I have a straightforward question that will probably provoke some debate. Impact assessments of any bit of legislation are clearly hugely important to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Who is right—the Government or the Regulatory Policy Committee—in their condemnation of the impact assessments? John Kirkpatr…”

“Q I certainly recognise the picture you paint of Banbury; it is very close to my constituency and I am sure you have people from Buckinghamshire on your payroll. What modelling and projections have you done—on the presumption that the Bill becomes law and obtains Royal Assent at some point next year—on employment numbe…”

“Q Good afternoon, gentlemen. This is a far-reaching Bill. We have heard from the Government and from other witnesses that there is potentially a £5 billion cost to the economy associated with it. Others have suggested that that might even be a small c conservative estimate. From the perspective of your business interes…”

“Q My final question is off the back of that. On Tuesday, Mick Lynch—let us name him—told us that the Bill will lead to the re-unionisation of the economy. Is he getting overexcited? Professor Simms: We have to be realistic about the resource capacity of our trade union movement at the moment. There are certainly things…”

“Q I am sure you will have seen that the Regulatory Policy Committee has been quite damning of the impact assessments done on the Bill. You said that it has been delivered at lightning speed, so perhaps we should not be surprised that the impact assessments do not necessarily add up. How concerned are you on a point of …”

“Q Good afternoon to the witnesses. You are professors of law, but we have heard from other witnesses that the Bill has a lot of holes in it and is very reliant on secondary legislation further down the track. Given that it is such a reforming piece of proposed legislation, do you believe it to be a good proposal, in te…”

“Q This is my final question for you, and then I will bring in the others for the same set of questions. Do you believe, in principle, that the Bill will cost the Co-op money? Claire Costello: Yes, there will be on-costs from the Bill. Do I think it is the right thing overall? Again, we are broadly supportive of where i…”

“Q127 Good afternoon, gentlemen. I will put the same question to you as I put to the other trade union representatives we have heard from so far. The Bill is wide-reaching. Some people from other trade unions have even suggested that it would re-unionise the economy, to use words we heard on Tuesday. Do you share that a…”

“What do you base that on? Nye Cominetti: Internationally, we can draw scatter plots of the employment level in a country and the extent of employment regulation, and basically those lines come out flat. You have some countries with very high employment and very high levels of regulation, and some countries with lower e…”

“Q I appreciate that you will probably put caveats around this, given your previous answer, but do you have a view on whether the Bill will ultimately—ballpark—result in more jobs in the economy, the same number or fewer? Nye Cominetti: The same number, would be my best guess.”

“Q Has the Resolution Foundation attempted to put a number on the impact on the economy, positive or negative, of this Bill? Nye Cominetti: No. I can describe in general terms how we might think about the potential impact, but I think any researcher or economist who tried to put a number on it would be misleadingly spec…”

“Well, the Regulatory Policy Committee has said that eight of the impact assessments for this Bill—the separate columns—are not fit for purpose. Do you think the Bill had its tyres kicked hard enough before it went into Second Reading and Public Bill Committee? Nye Cominetti: It is very hard to assess the impact of the …”

“Q Has the Co-op done any modelling of what the provisions in this Bill would cost the whole business? Claire Costello: Not yet, because there is not enough detail for us to do that. We are really keen to see what the more detailed asks look like.”

“Q On Tuesday, we heard a witness from a different trade union say that the Bill will lead to the re-unionisation of the economy. Do you concur with that assessment? If you do not, or perhaps even if you do, are there any areas in which your unions feel the Bill should actually be going much further? Liron Velleman: At …”

“Sorry, £30 million? Joanne Cairns: No, £13 billion. That was one of the more conservative estimates in the range that it looked at. That would be through reducing workplace stress, improving staff wellbeing, resolving disputes, reducing workplace conflict and increasing labour market participation. Liron Velleman: My n…”