Speeches by Madders.

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and my membership of the GMB trade union. I am sorry to say that it beggars belief that the response of a Labour Government to a court judgment confirming workers’ rights should be to run in the opposite direction, in some perverse form of fi…”

“Certainly, it is helpful for this Committee to understand how much of this is folklore and how much of it is having a direct impact on investment decisions. On zero-hours contracts, we had some very useful evidence last week from a number of witnesses. You have in the consultation at the moment an indication that a 12-…”

“Good afternoon, Secretary of State. As you know, lots of countries around the world have pulled back on their ZEV mandates. They have realised that the market is not where it was envisaged. The Chancellor said a few weeks ago that a review was going to come forward. Are you able to tell us when that review will start?”

“Can we just stay on the ZEV for a minute? We have to ask the questions.”

“You have the Committee’s wisdom at your disposal.”

“You have been very clear on that. One of the rationales for the growth Bill is to reduce unnecessary risk aversion. Can you give some examples of how that would operate in the world of health and safety at work?”

“I just have one further point, which was made by Joanne Thomas of USDAW, which is a really important point. She was basically saying—there was a little bit of agreement from the employers’ reps on this as well—that wherever you set the threshold you risk the unintended consequence of people who are just under it not be…”

“Do you have any idea how many workers would benefit if you were to set the threshold at eight hours a week? If you set it at 20 hours, how many people would benefit from it?”

“Can I just probe you a little on the thresholds for qualification under these rules? Again, in the consultation, the Government have indicated somewhere between eight and 20 hours as the preferred option. What is the reason for that band?”

“You can add in your bit in a minute, but you will know from talking to industry just how important a swift decision on this is. There will be investment decisions that will be waiting for a signal from Government. Are you able to give us an indication of a timescale when you will be able to say something more concrete?”

“Just following up on that, you said, “We are getting closer.” I just want to compare and contrast a couple of statements that we have had from the Minister on this. In departmental questions in January, she said, “We will publish our consultation as soon as possible.””

“Yes. We are six months down the line. There is some latitude in that “as soon as possible”. In response to our report on the small business strategy, the Government said, “The Government are committed to a targeted consultation on worker status.” Can you explain to the Committee what that means? Is that a specific aspe…”

“I want to ask you a couple of questions about zero hours and the consultation, but I also want to ask about the growth duty Bill that is coming forward.”

“Yes. Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act says, “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.” Does this Bill supersede that in any way? Are you expecting any qualifications to that pretty important a…”

“Again, the Committee’s wisdom will be available for you, should you require it.”

“I am a big fan of saying that you have to take people with you, and I think that is your way of saying, “We need to be flexible.” You have got the message from the Committee. This is so important. We need a real signal publicly as soon as possible. Could I just ask one very specific question about the way it operates? …”

“My constituent logged into the pension portal this morning and it told him that he had only been employed by the civil service for one year, not the 35 that he had been employed for. He was told this by an agency that did not even exist when he started working for the civil service, and that still cannot tell him what …”

“Yes, indeed. Residents of an estate in Eastham have been paying for a sewer that they cannot actually locate, which just shows that there is too much ambiguity over what these charges are for. Finally, local authorities could be given powers to use their resources to bring estates up to an adoptable level and then char…”

“On 15 June, a vehicle crashed through the fence at Sunny Days nursery in Vale Road, Ellesmere Port, injuring a number of children. Thankfully, it does not look as if there has been any long-term damage. The parents want to praise the staff at the nursery and the local residents and businesses who came to the children’s…”

“I thank my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, for recognising the work done not only by me, but by Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick on the APPG. I was struck by a comment in the Committee’s report about the argument put forward by some freeholders that ground rents are…”