Contributions
741 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that matter at BEIS questions today. I will happily take on that challenge.30 Apr 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Lady for raising this issue, and I commit to making sure that I speak to the OPSS about the allegations she has highlighted and what further information we can…30 Apr 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI would welcome it if the hon. Lady passed me the details of her constituent, so that I can follow up that matter.30 Apr 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. She is a keen champion of rights for parents. I agree that fathers and partners have a key role to play in caring for their…30 Apr 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise concerns about banks pulling out of our high streets. Those concerns have also been raised by many other MPs across the country. High…30 Apr 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI congratulate my hon. Friend on his work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group; he is extremely passionate about this subject and does a lot to champion small businesses…30 Apr 2019HANSARDPubs CodeThe Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will today begin the statutory review of the pubs code (the code) and the pubs code adjudicator (PCA) through…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSupermarket Sector: Employment Contract Terms and ConditionsI thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. He is right: we are the party of the workers, which is why we introduced the good work plan, the biggest reform of workers’ rights…30 Apr 2019HANSARDYouth EntrepreneurshipFirst, I would like to update the House: unfortunately, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Energy and Clean Growth will be unable to join us this morning due to a family…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSmall BusinessesSmall businesses are the backbone of our economy, employing over 16 million people, and they make a collective contribution of over £2 trillion. We have provided nearly £5.9…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSupermarket Sector: Employment Contract Terms and ConditionsThe hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise those questions. She is a strong campaigner for workers in her constituency, and we have met on a number of occasions to discuss some of…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSupermarket Sector: Employment Contract Terms and ConditionsI regularly meet representatives of the supermarket sector, both individually and through the Retail Sector Council, to discuss a range of issues. One issue that the council has…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSmall BusinessesAbsolutely. I reiterate that this Government do not support the culture of poor payments and late payments. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the concerns of those…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSmall BusinessesThe hon. Gentleman makes an important point with regard to traditional retail and online sales. I have spoken with the likes of Amazon and eBay, and one thing I have been…30 Apr 2019HANSARDSmall BusinessesI thank my hon. Friend for highlighting prompt payment. It is a particular focus within the Department to tackle late payments, which can be very damaging to small businesses.…30 Apr 2019HANSARDPost Office NetworkIf I might correct the hon. Gentleman, they are not closures; they are franchises. I am concerned about the language used when we talk about the post office network. We are…25 Apr 2019HANSARDPost Office NetworkThe hon. Lady shakes her head, but that is the reality. I apologise to her, because she is always very courteous to me in the many debates we have. At some stage or another there…25 Apr 2019HANSARDPost Office NetworkI thank the hon. Gentleman for that invitation. I do speak to postmasters and, if time allows, I will be happy to go and visit post offices in any part of the country, if…25 Apr 2019HANSARDPost Office NetworkI appreciate that the hon. Lady would like me to announce that we will hold a review, but fundamentally, as I have outlined, the Post Office is a commercial entity operating in a…25 Apr 2019HANSARDPost Office NetworkThe hon. Lady is right to raise those concerns. She is also right that we are concerned about any particular closures that may happen, as is Post Office Ltd. That is why Post…25 Apr 2019