| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Tourism (Social Chapter)
9. Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what meetings she has had with the tourism industry about the social chapter. [12225]
11. Sir Wyn Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment she has made of the effects of imposing the provisions of the social chapter on the tourism industry. [12228]
3 Feb 1997 : Column 668
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: The tourism industry is one of the most dynamic in this country, containing one in 12 of all small businesses and with 20 per cent. growth in employment over the past 10 years. The year 1995 was a record one for the industry and indications are that 1996 will be even better. We must ensure that the industry is not damaged by unnecessary burdens and I have discussed that point with industry leaders.
Mr. Waterson: Does my right hon. Friend recall her excellent visit to Eastbourne pier last summer when she met representatives of the local tourism industry? Does she recall the concerns expressed about the effects of the social chapter and a national minimum wage? Does she agree that the danger of the social chapter is not just some of the provisions that already exist, but the fact that it could be extended limitlessly by the use of qualified majority voting? Would it not all end in tears?
Mrs. Bottomley: Undoubtedly it would all end in tears. I well remember my visit to my hon. Friend's constituency; I was most impressed by all that I saw, especially his pier, which was one of the influences, during the year of the pier, in our trying to modify the lottery rules to ensure that private as well as public owners could receive lottery money. My hon. Friend is entirely right. The tourism industry needs flexibility and the social chapter would be a huge threat and danger to it.
Sir Wyn Roberts: Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is precisely the small business element of the tourism industry, to which she referred, that would suffer most as a result of the introduction of the social chapter, the 48-hour working week and the minimum wage? Will she view with considerable suspicion the tendentious conclusions of the report on employment emanating from Brussels today?
Mrs. Bottomley: My right hon. Friend is precisely right. One in 12 small businesses are involved in tourism and hospitality. The key is to ensure that there is a minimum of regulation, that liberalisation is promoted and that burdens are removed from employers. If one listens to the industry, one finds that that is the message that it gives time and again; that is the message that we have heard. When we set out our further strategy for tourism and hospitality later this week, we shall do so on the basis of working with the industry and not on the basis of imposing our ideology, as the Labour party does.
Mr. Bermingham: Does the right hon. Lady agree that if she made any inquiries in, for example, the Derbyshire peak district, south Lancashire and the Fylde area around Blackpool, about the wages paid there, she would find that they are currently in excess of what is likely to be the minimum wage? [Hon. Members: "How much?"] To continue, is it not reasonable in rural areas, where one of the primary sources of income is the tourism industry, that people who work in that industry should receive a decent living wage, which would protect not only their rights but the rural economy generally?
Mrs. Bottomley: The Labour party never listens and never understands. It has heard representative after representative in the industry make it clear that a statutory minimum wage has an adverse effect on employment.
3 Feb 1997 : Column 669
Most people would rather have jobs than a statutory wage that meant that they were without work. This country has been incredibly successful in terms of having a low level of unemployment; there is more to do. The Labour party threatens a successful industry and the jobs and livelihood of our people.
Mr. Alan Howarth: Is not the right hon. Lady aware that her own Department's document on tourism, "Tourism: Competing with the Best", rightly makes the case for the need for quality and the need for training? Does she not understand that that quality of product will not be achieved on the basis of poverty pay and sweated labour?
Mrs. Bottomley: Nobody wants poverty pay and sweated labour; that is precisely the Labour party's argument. I have said time and again that the industry wants well-motivated, well-rewarded staff with proper training; that is precisely what our work has been setting in hand. Coercion and compulsion are not the way in which to achieve that goal. That has been made clear time and again; people do not do the right thing because they are coerced into it.
Mr. Bernard Jenkin: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on pointing out how destructive the encroaching tide of European legislation can be. May I point out, perhaps with some glee, what an effective recruiting agent to the Conservative cause the Labour party support for the social chapter is, because people realise how many jobs would be destroyed?
Mrs. Bottomley: My hon. Friend identifies one of the most powerful influences in current political debate. Time and again, when people in the tourism and hospitality industry talk about what they most fear, it is the interfering, regulating, domineering approach proposed from Brussels and supported by the Labour party.
Football Safety
10. Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she is taking to ensure the continued implementation of the recommendations of the Taylor report. [12226]
Mr. Sproat: The Government remain committed to delivering essential football ground safety improvements agreed following the Taylor report.
Mrs. Prentice: I thank the Minister for that reply. He is clearly aware of the problems facing the lower league clubs in implementing the safety work at their grounds following the impact of the national lottery on the Football Trust income from pools companies. He will also be aware that the Football Trust has now put a moratorium on any further awards. When he meets the Football Trust, will the Minister take a positive approach to ensure that all possible solutions are examined to ensure that those clubs can implement that important safety work?
Mr. Sproat: The hon. Lady makes an extremely important point. She is certainly accurate in saying that the Football Trust has suffered because of the effect of the lottery on the pools industry. I am meeting
3 Feb 1997 : Column 670
Lord Aberdare of the Football Trust on 5 March. Today the Sports Council is considering whether or not the Football Trust can be helped by the lottery. Above all I hope that all sports--particularly football which will receive some £700 million--that benefit from broadcasting rights will use some of that money to improve safety at sports grounds.LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
County Court Fees
29. Mr. Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what monitoring arrangements he has established to ascertain the effects of the new system of county court fees on low-income tenants seeking to use the judicial system. [12246]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. Gary Streeter): My Department has been collecting information on the number of non-possession housing disputes dealt with by the small claims procedure as part of our monitoring of the effects of the rise in the small claims limit. The information is currently being assessed. The majority of cases dealt with by that route are for less than £1,000 and the fee for those cases has not been increased. Low-income litigants bringing such claims may also have their fee reduced to £10. Moreover, litigants bringing larger claims who are eligible for legal aid will continue to have their court fees paid by the legal aid fund.
Mr. Cohen: Have not citizens advice bureaux expressed dismay at the hike in court fees which they describe as being targeted at those least able to afford them? As the setting down for trial fee will be £150 and it will cost a tenner even to apply for an exemption for a court fee, will it not be easier for bad landlords to harass and evict tenants and harder for tenants to use the law to protect themselves?
Mr. Streeter: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. He will know that we have been moving towards full cost recovery of court fees for a number of years. It is important, however, to protect access to justice for those on modest incomes. We have done so in two ways: first, the Legal Aid Board continues to pay the court fees of those on legal aid and, secondly, those on low incomes who are not eligible for legal aid can apply for reduced fees. We believe that we have got the balance right. However, the hon. Gentleman must take something up with his own Front Bench. If Labour is criticising the increase in court fees, but refusing to say that it would reverse it in the unlikely event of forming a Government, that smacks of hypocrisy.
Mr. Boateng: Is the Minister aware that court fees are not recoverable as disbursements under the green form legal aid and advice scheme? As they are not, will the Minister review the rules and regulations of that scheme to give at least some help to the poorest litigants? We will review the rules. Will he?
Mr. Streeter: The green form scheme has never reimbursed court fees. It is a system for giving people
3 Feb 1997 : Column 671
initial advice not for dealing with litigation, where full legal aid is available. I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman did not know that. I am coming reluctantly to the view expressed by Robert T. J. Brown of Darlington and Parkinson, Solicitors, who wrote to The Guardian on 29 January saying:
- "Paul Boateng displays a shocking combination of ignorance and prejudice."
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |