Parliament

Business of the House | Commons debates

Published on 16 May 2013

Has my right hon. Friend seen my early-day motion 103?[That this House notes that the Ministry of Justice fully understands the need for tough sentences regarding those who own dangerous dogs; further notes however that the owner of a dog which inflicted a 5cm flesh wound and a severed artery on a constituent of the hon. Member for Harlow has escaped unpunished whilst the dog’s walker was handed a £250 compensation order; and asks the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider reviewing the legislation on dog attacks in public areas to help put an end to such sentencing.]The early-day motion deals with a dangerous dog attack on my 14-year-old constituent Brandon Elston. Does my right hon. Friend not agree that sentences such as a £250 compensation order for the attack are unacceptable? May we have an urgent statement toreview the sentencing for dangerous dog attacks? Will he write to the Justice Secretary?

Religious Freedom | Oral Answers to Questions - Church Commissioners | Commons debates

Published on 16 May 2013

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Christian Brethren, who carry out many charitable acts that benefit the public, have been discriminated against by the Charities Commission, which has significant implications for religious freedom? They have been refused charitable status, and that has resulted in a lengthy appeals process. Does this not have wider implications for other faith groups?

Religious Freedom | Oral Answers to Questions - Church Commissioners | Commons debates

Published on 16 May 2013

What steps the Church Commissioners are taking to ensure the protection of religious freedom.

Glasshouse Industry | Oral Answers to Questions - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Commons debates

Published on 16 May 2013

Is my hon. Friend aware that my constituency of Harlow—in particular, Roydon and Nazeing—has the highest concentration of cucumber and pepper growers in the United Kingdom? Will he support the excellent Lea Valley Growers Association and suggest how we can help it to expand? Will he also meet me and the association to discuss these matters?

Glasshouse Industry | Oral Answers to Questions - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Commons debates

Published on 16 May 2013

What steps he is taking to support the glasshouse industry; and if he will make a statement.

Petrol Prices | Oral Answers to Questions - Prime Minister | Commons debates

Published on 15 May 2013

Despite the fact that the Government have cut and frozen fuel duty, prices at the pump have gone up by 60% since 2009. Last year a motion for a full OFT inquiry into price fixing by oil companies was passed unanimously in the House. We were approached by a whistleblower who suggested that the things we have seen over the past two days had been going on. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the OFT carried out a limp-wristed, lettuce-like inquiry, when it should have made a full 18-month inquiry into what has been going on? Does he also agree that if proved true, this is a national scandal for the oil companies concerned, and the Government should look at changing the law and put people in prison for fixing oil prices? This has caused misery for millions of motorists up and down the country. Finally, if the accusations are proved, will he impose harsh penalties on all oil companies involved and give the billions of pounds in penalties back to the motorist?

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services | Work and Pensions | Written Answers

Published on 14 May 2013

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the principal access numbers are for those calling the benefits helpline number; which such lines (a) are free to the caller and (b) may incur a charge to the caller; and if he will take steps to ensure that all calls made to these helplines are recorded.

Cost of Living | Commons debates

Published on 14 May 2013

I welcome this debate because I believe that the Government’s record should be welcomed for a number of reasons. First, despite a number of factors outside their control, they have taken measures to help families—for example, with the cost of fuel and utilities. Secondly, the Government have recognised that tax is the biggest brake on the cost of living and have cut tax for low earners. Thirdly, the Government have realised that, besides tax, the best way to reduce the cost of living is to encourage people to move from welfare to work by increasing their skills.Before I look at these things, however, we should look at how Labour has undermined the cost of living. As some Members have commented, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne) has said that the wages of our constituents have fallen by £1,700 a year since the election and that our constituents are getting poorer. But as the Resolution Foundation made clear, median real wages stopped rising in 2003, a full seven years before the coalition came to power. We should not forget that Labour left office with 2.5 million people unemployed.I believe that the Government are listening and I welcome the action they have taken to ease the cost of living, particularly the cost of fuel: they have frozen fuel duty for three years and cut it by 1%. All these measures were opposed by Labour. Yet 800,000 families still lose a quarter of their income at the petrol pump, and the average cost of unleaded petrol has risen by 60% since January 2009. Fuel duty is not just a tax on fuel; it is a tax on everything. It pushes up the cost of public transport and of food. With 71% of us still driving to work, fuel is an essential.It is also right that we should have transparency. I have argued that the Government should make it compulsory for receipts to display how much of what the customer pays for fuel is tax. That would show that, despite the fuel duty freezes and the decrease in the cost of oil internationally, oil companies continue to increase the cost of fuel. News is emerging today to suggest that major oil companies have rigged the oil market. This is being investigated by the European Commission, and if it is true, I believe—I argued this last year in a debate in this House—the Government should not only fine the oil companies but consider imposing a windfall tax on them and passing those tax receipts back to the consumer through lower fuel duty.I am pleased that there is a water Bill in the Queen’s Speech. Water companies are making big profits. In 2011, they paid out £28 million in bonuses, yet for families feeling the squeeze, water bills have risen by 82% over the last 10 years. I asked the Government to take further action to break the monopolies and to increase competition between water companies, which would allow for reinvestment in the water system that would keep bills low in the long term. A windfall tax should also be considered so that money could be handed back to consumers.I welcome the fact that the Government recognise that the biggest brake on the cost of living is taxation. I am pleased that they are making progress in reducing taxation, including taking 3,000 lower earners out of tax altogether in my constituency of Harlow. I have urged the Government to reintroduce the 10p tax band that Labour scrapped in 2008 for those earning up to £12,500, which is the level of the minimum wage. That would give a cash boost to minimum wage workers of £250 a year.One of the biggest problems in meeting the cost of living is the bill for the taxpayer from the welfare state. The average taxpayer on lower earnings pays £1,220 a year on welfare from the tax they pay. The Government are right to build an economy in which those who work are rewarded. It is right that the welfare bill is reduced. The reality of Labour’s policy to increase the welfare bill is that it would increase the tax bills of millions of lower earners across the country.The final way to address the cost of living is to deal with the skills problem. It is no accident that those with the lowest skills are those with the lowest pay. The Government are tackling that by investing in half a million apprentices—the number of apprentices in Harlow has increased by 78% in the past year alone—and the building of 24 university technical colleges. We have also talked about the technical baccalaureate and other measures that the Government are making to improve vocational training. These are all the kind of things that will help with the cost of living in the long term.I end with a quotation from a former Labour Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan, who understood that to reduce the cost of living the deficit had to be brought under control. He said:“We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting Government spending. I tell you in all candour that option no longer exists.”

Cost of Living | Commons debates

Published on 14 May 2013

Will the hon. Lady acknowledge that this Government have taken 3,000 low- income people in Harlow out of tax altogether and cut taxes for 40,000 low-income Harlow residents? Why did she and her party vote against those tax cuts for lower earners?

Workers’ Rights | Commons debates

Published on 10 May 2013

I am particularly grateful to the Speaker for granting me this debate, which relates to the closure of the Tesco distribution centre in Harlow. I appreciate the help I have received from Councillor Jackie Cross, Councillor Phil Weight, David Foreman from Harlow trades council and, in particular, Simon Vincent, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers representative, who has been working day and night to champion Harlow depot workers’ rights. I will concentrate on three issues: equal pay, the treatment of disabled workers, and what the Government can do.In 1919, war veteran Jack Cohen began to sell groceries on a small market stall in the east end. By 1929, he opened his first store in North London, and by 1979 his chain of stores had expanded so much that sales topped more than £1 billion. That success has continued. It now has more than 3,100 stores in the UK, with successful operations across Europe and Asia. It made a pre-tax profit last year of £3.5 billion. Mr Cohen’s market stall has gone on to spawn the global supermarket chain we all know as Tesco. Despite its size, however, Tesco always argues that it is a responsible employer. Its mission statement says that:“We treat people how we like to be treated.”I have seen that demonstrated in my own constituency of Harlow, where Tesco employs 750 staff in its stores alone, and often makes valuable contributions to the local community. Only recently, it generously donated equipment to four schools in Harlow. Indeed, I regularly shop at Tesco myself, and I have to say that the staff are second to none. I have absolutely no grievance with Tesco workers; this is about decisions made by senior people in relation to the workers in Harlow and the distribution centre.It came as a shock to the whole of Harlow when Tesco announced that it would be closing its depot, affecting approximately 800 workers. This has been exacerbated by how Tesco has treated its staff, in particularly in three areas: the notice staff were given, the reduced pay and conditions offered to those able to transfer to an alternative site, and its treatment of disabled workers.When the new Dagenham site was announced, staff in Harlow were assured that the extra distribution site was in addition to the depot in Harlow, to allow further expansion into London, rather than a replacement. The hon. Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Jon Cruddas) also thought that that was the case. Representatives from USDAW were continually reassured, at director level, by Tesco that the Harlow depot would stay open, and those assurances were passed on to workers. That continued to be the case just a week before they announced that the Harlow site would be closed. Naturally, workers feel aggrieved that Tesco was not upfront about its intentions, and they feel that it was making plans to close the site behind the scenes. Harlow workers are particularly upset that their hard work has made the Harlow depot one of the best performing sites in the country. Tesco has chosen to reward that hard work by closing the site and making them redundant.I have raised the issue in letters to the chief executive and UK distribution director of Tesco, but I am disappointed that their response does not appear to address it. Tesco’s “Values & Promises” state that it has created a “great place to work” that is “based on trust”, and that customers receive great service by “motivated staff”. Tesco’s treatment of its workers in Harlow does not do justice to that statement.The dedicated Tesco staff in Harlow, including roughly 100 who have worked there for the whole 24 years that the distribution centre has been open, now feel betrayed, no longer trust the Tesco directors and feel demotivated by their treatment. I recognise the provision Tesco has made to offer alternative employment to some of the workers from the Harlow site. In a letter to me on the 19 April, Tesco restated that, saying that it remains“committed to keeping as many of our colleagues in Harlow in work as possible”.That is the right thing to do, but there remains a serious number of problems. The offer only applies to workers who are employed permanently by Tesco—504 are affected. Tesco’s commitment to allow colleagues to transfer to Dagenham and to help them to find other opportunities within the company does not apply to agency workers or support workers such as catering teams. In an e-mail sent to me by Tesco on 21 March this year, I was told that“it is not possible for the”agency workers“to apply as internal candidates for roles. However, the personnel manager on site is offering them support and they will be able to access the training offered by Seetec and Job Centre Plus”.This brings the total number of people affected by the closure of the Harlow site to more than 800.Tesco’s offer to employees regarding payment if they transfer to the Dagenham site is unjust and, I would argue, unethical, and unacceptable. This is an issue about which I have been in constant contact with USDAW, Tesco management and workers. Despite having to commute to Dagenham each day, and workers having spent years loyally working for Tesco, their pay will be slashed. Tesco disputes that, stating that it has a pay protection policy, which means that colleagues transferring from Harlow to Dagenham will have their pay protected for the first year that they are in their new role. Workers will then be paid 25% less each year over the next four years until they reach the base rate of pay for Dagenham. In a letter to me on 30 April, Tesco tells me that this corporate pay protection policy has been“in place, agreed and developed with USDAW, for 15 years”.Harlow USDAW reps disagree. They point out that that will leave Tesco workers significantly out of pocket, especially as contractual overtime is not included.For example, one worker will lose nearly £10,000. His current salary is £29,500 a year. That will be protected in year one but, because Tesco does not include contractual overtime, he will actually lose £3,500. His pay will then be cut by 25% in year two and continue to decrease over the next two years until it reaches the base rate in Dagenham of £20,844. A drop in pay of such a scale for doing the same work is completely immoral, and we must not forget the extra travel costs. How is it right that local Harlow residents are offered the same jobs with the same hours and are forced to take a substantialwage cut that may leave many with difficulties paying their mortgage, or putting food on the table for their families?The Tesco depot workers feel aggrieved that managers from Harlow will be transferred and allowed to take their pay and conditions with them. Of course, I have no problem with managers transferring with existing pay and conditions. That is the right thing to do. But if it is right for the managers, it should be right for the workers too. Is it fair that Tesco is following a divisive policy of ignoring the hard work and years of service of their workers? Tesco says that its staff work as a team. Its actions suggest otherwise.Tesco claims that“pay rates at each distribution centre are benchmarked against the local market”.Although I understand that, USDAW states that the Tesco Thurrock distribution site, three miles from Dagenham, pays more than £10 an hour for warehouse staff, while the Dagenham rate of pay is £8.72, which is kept low due to the use of agency workers. That is unfair for both agency staff and permanent Tesco workers. Employees have told me that when Livingston staff transferred to a new depot, Tesco allowed them to retain their pay. I simply ask Tesco to allow its Harlow staff to do the same.I have been shocked at Tesco’s treatment of its disabled workers. Let us take John Waters, for example. John is 60 years old and suffers from epilepsy and arthritis. He has worked hard for Tesco over the last 24 years. Tesco has rightly made adjustments at the Harlow depot to allow him to complete a day’s work. However, if John is to transfer to Dagenham, he will not be allowed to take those adjustments with him. Or let us take Richard Waite, who has 17 years’ service with Tesco. He unfortunately suffers from tuberous sclerosis. In Harlow, Tesco has recognised the difficulties he faces by lowering his performance target on its performance indicator.Worryingly, one disabled employee I have spoken to—who does not want to give his name—who has a degenerative back condition has allegedly been threatened by Tesco and told not to continue his grievance with me about taking his adjustments with him to Dagenham. In a recent meeting, he was told by a Tesco manager that if he continued talking to his MP about his case, he would be made redundant, instead of being allowed to transfer to Dagenham. That is unacceptable. It is absolutely outrageous that my constituent should come to talk to me about the problems that staff face and then be threatened by Tesco managers that if he talks to his MP, he might be made redundant. That is not the way that a company such as Tesco, with its rich history, should be behaving.It appears that Tesco is not allowing disabled workers who have received adjustments in Harlow to have them transferred to Dagenham. These are often people who have given years of service to Tesco. They will be expected to hit new performance targets—on a performance indicator of 100—that are often significantly higher than those they have to meet in Harlow, which has a performance indicator of 85, with many disabled people having reduced requirements. The system will be tested during a compulsory eight-week trial period that is compulsory only for workers who are disabled. It isabsolutely unbelievable that this is going on. USDAW estimates that around 30 members of staff from Harlow will be affected. By not being allowed to take their adjustments with them, these workers—people who have worked hard for Tesco for a number of years—will be unable to fulfil a new role in Dagenham and will be left unemployed.Clearly this is a concerning time for those affected. Although I have raised these concerns with Tesco on a number of occasions, I have received nothing that reassures me. It is only right that Tesco acknowledges the anxieties that those workers are feeling—they are deeply worried that they are being forced out of a job—and takes steps to reassure them. I ask Tesco to honour its role as a responsible employer and allow workers to transfer to Dagenham with their current adjustments.There is also a problem with agency workers. In the Harlow depot there are two types of agency workers. Some are contractors who deal with things such as catering. The other agency workers are based in the warehouse in Tesco, doing the same jobs as permanent workers. Tesco says it cannot allow either type of agency worker to transfer to another Tesco site. However, there is an issue about the agency workers who work in the warehouse doing the same work as permanent Tesco employees. There are around 140 such workers, many from eastern Europe, who also work extremely long hours, despite being paid less for doing exactly the same work as permanent Tesco colleagues, many of whom are long-standing Harlow residents. Tesco manages to do that by employing the Swedish derogation of the agency workers regulations. This allows an agency to employ staff on a minimum contract, which means that they continue to be paid between assignments, but also that they waive their rights to equal pay. It is also worth noting the impact that this has on the local economy. In today’s difficult economic climate, is it right that an employer such as Tesco should replace its full-time staff, often with workers from overseas, and use the Swedish derogation to get around offering them equal pay? I believe that Tesco is wrong to do that, as it leads to discrimination against giving jobs to local people.I call on the Government today to look into the Swedish derogation and its effect on employment in Britain as well as its effect on the particular workers concerned. This has to be an issue of fairness. It cannot be right that companies get away with paying agency workers much less for doing exactly the same job, as well as discouraging firms from employing full-time local staff on permanent contracts.It is wrong that Tesco depot employees should be facing such anxiety. I believe that the Government should send a strong message to Tesco that its treatment of Harlow workers is unacceptable and not in the tradition of the company’s values. In some areas, Tesco receives grants from the British Government—for example, in Bolsover, where Tesco received money to set up its distribution factory, which it is now closing, too. Any type of supportive grant should be stopped unless Tesco can guarantee fair treatment for its workers.I mentioned that Tesco’s philosophy states on its value statement that it will“treat people how we like to be treated”.Let me repeat that—to“treat people how we like to be treated”.As MP for Harlow, I, alongside many local residents, feel that Tesco is not living up to those values. We all understand the need for economic efficiency, particularly in the light of Tesco’s commercial failure in the American market, but it is wrong that hard-working Harlow workers who have given years of their lives in service to a multi-billion pound company are paying for Tesco’s corporate mistakes. These are the people who made the Harlow depot one of the most productive distribution centres in England, yet they are being rewarded by either losing their jobs or having their wages slashed.Some people tell me that I am a Conservative so I should support Tesco’s corporate position, but it is precisely because I am a Conservative that I am opposed to how Tesco is treating its workers. Conservatism is never meant to be about big corporations running roughshod over ordinary people. I should say that I am also a proud trade unionist, and I thank God for the work of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. Without USDAW, the Tesco workers would have suffered even more.Although Tesco founder Jack Cohen famously said:“Pile it high, sell it cheap”,I doubt whether he would ever have meant to sell the workers cheap. I ask Tesco to live by its philosophy of treating people how we like to be treated by minimising the number of staff it makes redundant, by allowing workers to transfer on the same pay and conditions as they receive in Harlow, and by allowing disabled workers to take with them any pre-existing adjustments they already receive. That would be a good decision for Tesco, allowing the company to keep motivated and dedicated staff, and good news for their staff and their families who are currently under immense pressure. The people of Harlow have respected Tesco; all I am asking is that Tesco treat the people of Harlow with the same respect. It has deeply damaged our community and needs to repair it as soon as possible.

Debate on the Address - [Ist Day] | Outlawries Bill | Commons debates

Published on 8 May 2013

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He talks about living standards, yet this Government have taken3,000 lower earners from my constituency out of tax altogether, and cut taxes for 40,000 lower earners. Why did he vote against that?

Beef: Horse Meat | Education | Written Answers

Published on 25 April 2013

To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has had any recent updates from the Food Standards Agency on the risk that burgers with horsemeat have been distributed into the supply chain of UK schools; and if he will make a statement.

Business of the House | Commons debates

Published on 25 April 2013

Has my right hon. Friend seen my early-day motion 1310 on the plight of disabled staff working for Tesco?[That this House is concerned by reports from disabled Tesco workers in Harlow, that they may be forced into redundancy because their existing adjustments will not be transferred to the new site at Dagenham; notes reports that one warehouseman, who has been registered disabled and received an adjustment for many years, will be expected to hit new performance targets within an eight-week trial period at the new site; further notes the anxieties of disabled workers that this may make moving to the new site effectively impossible for them, pushing them into unemployment; and therefore urges Tesco’s management to allow Harlow workers to transfer to the new site with their existing pay and their existing terms and conditions, including disability adjustments.]My right hon. Friend will be aware of the closure of the Tesco distribution plant in Harlow, and there are disabled workers at risk of redundancy. One warehouseman has been registered as disabled for six years, yet he has been told that in order to transfer to Dagenham and keep his job, he must lose his disability adjustment and will be expected to hit new performance targets in an eight-week trial period at the new site. That will be impossible for him and could push him on to the dole. Will the Leader of the House urge Tesco to be more compassionate and treat all its workers fairly—disabled or otherwise—and ensure that workers who move to the Dagenham plant get the same pay and conditions for doing the same job?

Apprentices | Oral Answers to Questions - House of Commons Commission | Commons debates

Published on 25 April 2013

Will my hon. Friend give strong support to the apprenticeship scheme started by the senior Clerk of the House, which will give many apprentices across the country the chance to work in the House of Commons? Will he link that scheme with the parliamentary apprenticeship scheme, which I set up with New Deal of the Mind, so that we can all work together on this issue?

Apprentices | Oral Answers to Questions - House of Commons Commission | Commons debates

Published on 25 April 2013

What estimate the Commission has made of the number of apprentices employed in the House of Commons supply chain.

Road Congestion (South Essex) | Oral Answers to Questions - Transport | Commons debates

Published on 25 April 2013

My hon. Friend will be aware that Essex council has made it a top priority to press for an extra M11 junction, 7A, into Harlow. Will my hon. Friend meet me, Essex council and relevant authorities in order that we can make the case for this important junction?

Abu Qatada | Prime Minister | Commons debates

Published on 24 April 2013

All that my constituents see are judges who are ignoring the will of Parliament, ignoring the cost to the taxpayer, and ignoring the victims of terrorism. Is it not time for us to change the law and extricate ourselves from all the human rights legislation, so that this sort of thing never happens again?

Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children Review | Education | Written Answers

Published on 23 April 2013

To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Government will publish its findings from the stocktake on progress on implementation of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood; and if he will make a statement.

Points of Order | Commons debates

Published on 23 April 2013

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. There have been reports that plugs will be installed in the Chamber to help with charging pocket computers and iPads. Could you use your good offices to try to improve the wi-fi in the Chamber, which barely works on most occasions, before we spend a lot of taxpayers’ money putting plugs in the Chamber?

Topical Questions | Oral Answers to Questions - Foreign and Commonwealth Office | Commons debates

Published on 23 April 2013

My hon. Friend will be aware that this year marks the 25th anniversary of Saddam’s mustard gas attack on Halabja. Will he support the principle of a UN inquiry into those many hundreds of western companies that supplied the chemical weapons that enabled Saddam to carry out his attacks?