Torsten Bell MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2025 · Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities etc.) (Amendment) Order 2025 · Hansard source

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  I thank Members for their comments. Let me try to do justice to their questions in turn. The core question raised by my hon. Friend the Member for North East Hertfordshire and both Opposition spokespersons was about merchant-offered credit. First, we do not see huge evidence of that happening. As things stand, we cannot see large providers doing that, and there are good reasons why they would choose not to. Secondly, where large providers look to do that kind of thing, they tend to do it through a separate finance arm. Where that is the case, it will be required to be FCA-authorised, and the wish to avoid that lending sitting on the balance sheet of the retailer is a strong disincentive to the kind of activity that is being discussed. There are risks on the other side, because if we accidentally bring instalment plans or gym memberships into regulation, that would be a significant loss to consumers. We do not see the evidence today, but as I said, the Government will keep this under active review. I can confirm that the wider CCA reforms will look at the question of definitions. The big picture is that when the CCA was created, the FCA did not exist, so primary legislation was very prescriptive about the nature of regulation. However, markets, technology and products have changed significantly, so we do not need the primary legislation to be as specific as it has been in the past, and there is more role for FCA rules to carry out that purpose. In terms of next steps, the first phase of the review is under way. There will be a second consultation covering rights and protections later this year, and then there will be one Bill, bringing together the conclusions of that, to introduce that reform. That is also the answer to the question that the hon. Member for Wyre Forest asked about the unfairness of a 12-month cut-off in terms of the level of regulation we are talking about on the disclosure of information requirements that will apply to buy now, pay later. The lessons from that consultation over the next year will also inform what the future FCA rules might look like for the wider market under CCA reform. I am sure we will keep debating that, and that he will debate it with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the months ahead. The hon. Member for St Albans mentioned the consumer duty. I can confirm that, because these will be FCA-authorised firms, it will apply in the normal way. The question of fees was also raised. I should remind everyone that FCA-authorised firms are already not allowed to impose fees and charges on customers who are in arrears or default beyond the costs required to match their costs. They are not allowed to rack up arrears and fees for people who are already in that situation. That is progress that has been made in recent years. Lastly, I can confirm that the Government will publish their financial inclusion strategy, covering many of the issues that have been raised. It is a chance to pick up the wider questions about financial inclusion that I know are important to all Members. In conclusion, let me stress once again that millions of people are using buy now, pay later products every year. They value that in many cases, but they deserve vital consumer protections, and we must not keep them waiting any longer. That is what this order does, so I hope Members will join me in supporting it. Question put and agreed to.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  That was a powerful and long question, and I am glad that Conservative Members listened to every word of it, because they left us 1 million young people not in education, employment or training—that is what a disgrace looks like. What is happening now? We have seen falling numbers of NEETs over the past quarter and the past year.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  I do not want to try the patience of the House but, as I have said, employment is up by 500,000 under this Government. [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members do not like to talk about that. The hon. Gentleman mentions what British business wants—what British business wants is a Government who are actually fixing the public finances and the public services that mean that when a member of staff gets sick, they do not sit on a waiting list for years, as they did under the previous Government. The Conservatives like to attack the Employment Rights Bill, but stopping good employers being undercut by bad is the pro-business thing to do.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State inherited a labour market that was a mess under the Conservatives, with nearly 1 million young people not in education or training, and 2.8 million too sick to work. Employment is up by 500,000. Economic inactivity— [ Interruption. ] Conservative Members might not like to hear it, but economic inactivity is down by 300,000 under this Government. No one on the Government Benches will take lectures on a good labour market from the Conservatives.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  We all know the importance of work, and since the election we have seen employment rise by 500,000, but Britain is a country that has too few young adults in work or education, and where the post-pandemic employment recovery has taken too long. That is why we will continue our reforms to support more people into work.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady asks about what is going on with the economy. What is going on is that we have had four rate cuts over the past year. What is going on is that we have signed three trade deals over the past year. What is going on is that employment has gone up and inactivity has gone down. I know that the Opposition love to latch on to one month’s data, but let us look at the whole period of this Government: wages have increased by more under this party in the past 10 months than they did in the first 10 years of the Conservative Government.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  I thank everyone in Paisley who has been working on those practices—it is exactly the kind of innovation we like to see. Under the Conservatives, only one in six employers said they bothered to engage with their local jobcentre, which is exactly what we need to change with our reforms to Jobcentre Plus. I thank everyone in Paisley, but there is much more to do right across the UK.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Unemployment Levels · Hansard source

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  A firm footing for economic recovery looks like kicking the Conservative party out of office and growing the economy once again, and that is what we see if we look at the data. The hon. Lady likes to look at one month’s data—well, let us look at it. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that vacancies rose by 27% between April and May. I know the Conservatives want to pretend that everything was wonderful a year ago, but every business and every voter in this country knows that that was not the case.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pensions Policy: Climate and Nature Targets · Hansard source

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  The short answer to that question is yes. The Department is contributing to two consultations that will shortly be published by the Business and Energy Departments. They will invite views on the new UK sustainability reporting standards and transition plans. This will help investors, including pension savers and their schemes, to understand the impact of climate and nature on investments.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pensions Policy: Climate and Nature Targets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has been a powerful campaigner on this issue for some years, and she will know that larger pension schemes are now required to publish annual reports with climate-related disclosures. The evidence shows that around two thirds of pension funds have a net zero commitment in place, and we will be reviewing those regulations over the course of this year.

• 23 Jun 2025 · Pensions Policy: Climate and Nature Targets · Hansard source

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  On the first part of the hon. Member’s question, I do not want to get the balance, because we want to make sure that savers get the absolute best value they can for every buck they save. I completely endorse his sentiment on that part; that is the very purpose of the Pension Schemes Bill that is coming through. On the second part of his question, I also endorse the point that he makes. When we look at those disclosures, we see that they set out a balance of judgments about the requirements on schemes, but they also provide greater transparency so that both individuals and the schemes themselves can take a view about the investments.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We have gone from competing over temperatures to competing over volume of pensioners, but both are important. The point he makes will echo with lots of Members around the House who have had similar conversations with pensioner constituents who are on a higher income and who do not think it makes sense for them to be receiving hundreds of pounds from the Government every year. In future, they will not be, but the vast majority of pensioners—over three quarters—will be receiving support this winter because of today’s decision.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and he is right to say that we should focus on the big changes we are making to support pensioners, which in England are rescuing the NHS and raising the basic and the new state pension.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I absolutely recognise the hon. Member’s question, and I spoke to the Northern Ireland Executive earlier today. We will ensure that the Executive receive the budget adjustments in year in order to provide the same support, in line with the principle of parity under which the social security system in Northern Ireland operates. The answer is yes, that support and funding will be there.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and, in particular, for her hard work to drive take-up of pension credit. Forget winter fuel payments—pension credit is a really important lifeline for low-income pensioners. It is worth an average of £4,000 to those receiving it, and far too many are missing out. I thank my hon. Friend for her work, and I hope that it continues.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I cannot compete with my hon. Friend in making a powerful case that the SNP Government in Edinburgh do need to think again.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I remember discussing exactly that with the hon. Member. All means tests have pros and cons, but by having a much higher threshold—in particular a higher threshold relative to the level of payment, with £100 or £200 being received by individuals—the large unfairness he talks about, where small differences in income led to large differences in outcome, is far reduced.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I obviously thank my hon. Friend for his question, but I have to disagree. I do not deserve any credit for doubling eligibility for the warm home discount; the Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Peckham (Miatta Fahnbulleh), who is here on the Government Front Bench, deserves it. On fuel poverty estimates, over 5 million households should benefit from the warm home discount next year. That will make a real difference to households right across the country.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend knows, we have said clearly that all levers to reduce child poverty are on the table. The child poverty strategy will be published in the autumn, but we are not waiting for that—as I said earlier, we have already seen action on free school meals. It is another reason why we need to see more support for energy bills, and for insulating homes in particular, because it is younger families with children who are struggling most and having to turn off their heating. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue, which is one of the core purposes of this Government. We cannot carry on with a situation in which huge percentages of large families are in poverty.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  My view is that all pensioners are being supported by our higher level of the basic state pension and the new state pension, supported by the difficult decisions that the Government have been able to take. All pensioners will be supported by a functioning NHS, which is what we are putting in place after the disgrace of the last 14 years. To answer the hon. Member’s question directly, we are setting out the system for future years and not for the past.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is always quite right. I spoke to Ministers in the devolved Administrations today to set out in advance the details of this policy and to spell out, for example, to Ministers in Edinburgh that if they want a fairer system that means-tests the winter fuel payment and the equivalent in Scotland for those on the highest incomes, HMRC is ready to support that, but so far they have chosen not to means-test the system—to have a system that is not fair to poorer pensioners.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member, my near neighbour, for that question. No bureaucracy is perfect, but in such cases we do not need an appeals mechanism; we just need to ensure that those people receive the payment as soon as possible. As I have said, we have made this decision to ensure that we can automatically make winter fuel payments to people who are receiving all the benefits that I mentioned, and who also received the payments previously. The success rate of that payment mechanism is strong, which is why I have made this announcement today. However, if any Members have any constituents in that position, I ask them to get in touch with me immediately.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  That is absolutely right. I think every Member of this House will have heard from people on higher incomes who think it makes no sense at all that they receive hundreds of pounds from the Government each year. With the sensible decision to means-test—yes, to the higher threshold—we have brought that to an end.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his question. I have just referred to the progress that needs to be made on reducing child poverty, not just in England and Wales but in Scotland. We will set out that strategy in the coming months, and he is absolutely right to say that we should all want to see very significant progress on that issue in the years ahead. When it comes to the winter fuel payment in England and Wales, the equivalent benefit is obviously devolved in Scotland, so that is a question for Ministers in Edinburgh.

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  I will not adjudicate on which Member has the coldest constituency in England, as my hon. Friend invites me to. She raises an important point that has not yet been made, so I should spell this out: we will bring forward the regulations on the payment of the winter fuel allowance over the summer, and they will set the qualifying week as that of 15 September, as it has been in past years. That means that payments will be made in November and December, as in past years.