Gareth Thomas MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 30 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I commend Charlotte on her business. We recognise that we need to do more to help businesses like hers to be able to export more easily to Europe. That is why the Prime Minister has set out our determination to reset the relationship with Europe. We have made clear our plans to negotiate a phytosanitary agreement with the EU, which may or may not make an immediate difference for Charlotte, but there are other aspects of our plans to reset the relationship with Europe that I hope will help.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I recognise that the right hon. Gentleman’s constituents will be concerned about the Bank of Scotland’s decision. He may know that more than 9,500 bank branches closed between 2010 and 2023. That is why the Government are determined to ensure the much more widespread roll-out of banking hubs, with a commitment to roll out 350 banking hubs. I strongly suggest to the right hon. Gentleman that he get in contact with Link and Cash Access UK to make the case for a banking hub in his constituency. If I can help in any way, I will be happy to consider doing so.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Encouraging Entrepreneurship · Hansard source

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  I strongly support my hon. Friend’s substantive point. We are backing the Invest in Women taskforce, which was set up to increase the number of female-powered businesses. We are looking at how to increase significantly the proportion of investment going to all-female founding teams; it has been stuck at just 2% of equity investment in the last decade. That is one example of the things we need to change to help women-led businesses realise their full potential.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Encouraging Entrepreneurship · Hansard source

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  The Government continue to support entrepreneurs through, for example, start-up loans via the British Business Bank. We will publish our small business strategy later this year, which will signal a clear, overarching ambition to promote entrepreneurship, and will articulate a new vision for business support, built around the new business growth service that I have alluded to.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Encouraging Entrepreneurship · Hansard source

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  One thing we need to continue to do is make it easier for entrepreneurs in the hon. Member’s constituency and across the UK to access the finance that they need to set up their business. We have given an extra £250 million to the British Business Bank, which will help to ensure that more people have access to finance across the country, including in his constituency. We will publish our small business strategy later this year, in which he will see further measures to support entrepreneurs in Broxbourne and across the UK.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Growth Service · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman has always been a great champion of small businesses in his constituency and in Northern Ireland more generally. We want the business growth service to complement the support that the Northern Ireland Executive and the Welsh and Scottish Governments already give their businesses, to improve the quality of advice and support available to all businesses in all parts of the UK.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Growth Service · Hansard source

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  Small businesses are critical to our economy and to the future of all our communities. We will bring forward our small business strategy later this year to improve the environment for small businesses to grow. As part of that work, we are consulting widely with small businesses and other stakeholders on the design of the business growth service, which we will launch later this year.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Growth Service · Hansard source

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  I commend my hon. Friend on her support for the microbusinesses in her constituency. We want to get behind all those who are willing to take the risk to set up their own business. They help to make our communities more vibrant, they create jobs, and they generate the tax revenues that make our country stronger. The business growth service will be designed to get businesses quicker access to the support they need from the Government, such as applying for a start-up loan, access to training and management support and help with exports.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  As the Chancellor of the Exchequer said only yesterday, we are driving forward planning reforms, boosting capital investment by over £100 billion over the next five years, and creating the national wealth fund. We are launching the business growth service and will soon publish our modern industrial strategy, which will be unreservedly pro-business. Business leaders, not surprisingly, have backed those measures.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  I think the right hon. Gentleman needs to check his sources for comments from business leaders. Only yesterday the British Chambers of Commerce, the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses were making very positive comments about our plans for growth, and last week, interestingly, PwC published its annual survey of global CEOs to reveal that Britain was the second most attractive country in the world in which to invest. That is something that I do not think the party opposite ever achieved.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her support for Rolls-Royce, which is one of our great British companies leading the way in many export markets across the world. Only yesterday I was discussing with the Minister for Skills our plans to reform the growth and skills levy to make it easier for businesses such as Rolls-Royce to recruit apprentices and find the talent that they need to continue to be successful.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  No, I do not accept that, and I would gently remind the hon. Gentleman that the policy to which he has referred was introduced by his party. I recognise that there are many aspects of the Conservative party’s record about which he and his colleagues are probably embarrassed. The Liz Truss Budget—which the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), helped to write—did huge damage to our country and to consumer confidence. The measures that the Chancellor announced yesterday, for example, will drive growth forward, and that is one of the reasons why businesses backed them so strongly yesterday.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business Confidence · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman seems to have forgotten the extra investment that Nissan has announced, and the extra investment that has been announced by a number of other car manufacturers. He and his colleagues were very clear in opposing the measures that we took in the Budget, including measures that backed investment in the automotive sector, and they set out no plans to pay for that investment. I gently encourage him to reflect a little further on the mistakes that his party made in government, which have caused some of the problems that we are having to sort out now.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Free Trade Agreement: India · Hansard source

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  I recognise that this is a significant issue for my hon. Friend. We remain committed to encouraging the Government of India to make faster progress on resolving this case. My right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister raised this case with Prime Minister Modi on 18 November, and we have made clear the need for faster progress towards a resolution.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Free Trade Agreement: India · Hansard source

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  If I remember rightly, the hon. Member and I were probably the two most enthusiastic Members of this House for a trade deal with India—me slightly more than him, I think. We are determined to do everything we can to secure a trade deal with India. He will forgive me, I am sure, if I do not give a running commentary on our priorities for those trade talks with India, but they represent a significant prize for the UK if we can reach an agreement. The Secretary of State and the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security are determined to work extremely hard and do everything they can to reach an agreement.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Free Trade Agreement: India · Hansard source

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  As the Chancellor announced yesterday, the Secretary of State will travel to Delhi in February to relaunch trade talks with India. Work is under way across Government to prepare for those negotiations as we seek a deal that drives economic growth. An agreement with India, projected to be the fourth-largest global importer by 2035, could provide further opportunities for businesses across the UK and further unlock growth.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  I referred to the establishment of the business growth service in answer to an earlier question. We are working with the Scottish Government to begin to think through how that service can support businesses in Scotland and complement the support already provided by the Scottish Government. We are clear on the need to reform business rates to support retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on the high street. I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend if he thinks there are further initiatives we can take to help small businesses in Falkirk.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  One reason why the Conservatives lost the confidence of the British business community was that despite repeated promises to reform business rates, they took no steps to do so. We announced plans in the Budget, back in October, to reform business rates and introduce permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. The Conservatives were going to end business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure; we have chosen to extend it. We also announced in the Budget that we were looking at what further steps we could take on business rates reform.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  I recognise that there will be a lot of concern in the hon. Member’s constituency following that news yesterday. I agree that banking hubs can make a significant difference, which is why we have been quick to roll out more than 100 of them. Plans for another 76 have already been developed and we are committed to rolling out 350 in total. In the spirit of one Thomas trying to help another Thomas, I am happy to meet him.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady might want to check again with the business she refers to, because, in the most recent Budget, the employment allowance was raised to some £10,500, which will help every small employer’s national insurance bill every year, and should ensure that more than 1 million firms benefit. That is a very practical measure; more broadly, on the point about national insurance contributions, she will know that Labour inherited a very difficult financial situation because of mistakes made by the Conservatives, and difficult decisions have had to be taken.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  We are continuing to work with colleagues across Government to develop a programme that will revitalise the nation’s high streets and support businesses. We will publish a small business strategy later this year, and high streets will be a key pillar of that. We have already committed to continuing funding for business growth programmes such as the growth hub network and announced plans for a new business growth service.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  In her speech yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out a series of measures that the Government want to take to boost growth across the country and benefit every part of the UK, from investing in modern road and rail systems to expanding airport capacity, rebalancing the planning system and driving investment in cheaper renewable energy, and by creating a national wealth fund that can back the new technologies of the future. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the specific concerns he has mentioned, if he thinks that would be useful.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Post Office Closures: Impact on Communities · Hansard source

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  The Post Office has the freedom to operate the branch network within the parameters set by the Government. We protect the network by setting minimum access criteria so that, in urban and rural areas, everyone has easy access to their nearest post office. Those criteria ensure that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Post Office Closures: Impact on Communities · Hansard source

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  We have supported the Post Office in taking measures to increase sub-postmaster pay, to make it a more attractive profession to come into, in order to deal with precisely the issues that the hon. Member set out. She will understand that I do not have specific knowledge of the issues around the post office in her constituency, but I am always happy to challenge the Post Office on constituency issues, so if she would like to write or speak to me about this afterwards, I would be happy to look at the issue in more detail.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Draft Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024 · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. The regulations were laid in draft before the House on 7 October 2024. By way of introduction, let me explain that the regulations seek to amend the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017 and the Limited Liability Partnerships (Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance) Regulations 2017. Let me give a bit of context to the issue. Prompt and fair payment has long been an issue in the construction sector and particularly affects small businesses in the supply chain. Holding what is known as retention money is a long established construction contractual practice intended to provide security against defective work or the insolvency of the subcontractor supplier. However, it can operate unfairly against smaller suppliers who can feel unable to question or to challenge how the practice is applied. A retention clause allows the employer to deduct and retain a proportion of the value of the contract otherwise owed to the supplier until particular contractual conditions are met. Typically, 3% to 5% is held over the duration of the project and for a period post completion. The use of retention clauses in construction contracts can be particularly problematic to the supply chain due to late, partial or non-payment of retentions, or these being permanently lost through upstream insolvencies. There has been an attempt to deal with this issue. Not everything the previous Government did was entirely wrong. This is one of those rare exceptions where the Government recognised that there was a problem in this space and were intending to introduce this regulation until the general election was called. Recognising the good intent behind this particular proposal, we have sought to lay it before the House again, and this is the result. What is not in the existing regulations, as they stand at the moment, is the requirement for specific reporting relating to retentions that are held under construction contracts, and this SI seeks to put that right. It will bring greater transparency in relation to the retention policies, practices, and performance of larger businesses that have construction contracts. In the first instance, reporting will require a statement on whether the company's payment practices and policies include or do not include retention clause. Where a company makes a statement that retention clauses are included in its construction contracts, further information must be submitted. Details will be required on whether retention clauses are included in all its construction contracts, whether the company’s standard payment terms include retention clauses, or whether retention clauses are used only in specific circumstances, which it would need to describe. Details would also be required on whether there is a contract value under which no retention clause is included, and that value, whether there is a standard rate of retention applied and that rate, whether there is a practice of using retention clauses that is no more onerous than those that businesses upstream are subject to, and whether there is a description on the process for the release of the retentions that are held. Two specific metrics will also be required: the percentage ratio of the amount of retention that is withheld from the company by its clients, which the company holds back from its suppliers, and the percentage ratio of the amount of retention that the company withheld from the total value of payments made to suppliers as a proportion of the amount paid to suppliers during the reporting period. Those metrics will help to provide smaller firms with better information about a large business’s retention payment practices, and by doing so, incentivise large businesses to improve those practices. In conclusion, this is a measure that will provide small firms in the construction supply chain with information that will enable them to take decisions about entering into contracts and to understand how to ensure that retentions owed to them are paid. It will also create a clear incentive for firms to improve their payment performance in relation in relation to retentions. The Government are looking at the whole practice of late payment in in general terms. We have announced our intention to consult more broadly on what further measures we can bring in to tackle the problems around late payment, but this SI stands alone as a useful measure, and I commend it to the Committee.