Lorely Burt MP

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer

(1) how many complaints HM Revenue and Customs has received to date from (a) micro, (b) small, (c) medium and (d) large businesses relating to charges for late payment of PAYE in the tax year 2010-11;

(2) what the (a) total and (b) average monetary value was of fines issued to (i) micro, (ii) small, (iii) medium and (iv) large companies for late payment of PAYE in the tax years (A) 2007-08, (B) 2008-09, (C) 2009-10 and (D) 2010-11;

(3) how many (a) micro, (b) small, (c) medium and (d) large companies received fines for late payment of PAYE in the tax years (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09, (iii) 2009-10 and (iv) 2010-11.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists' report on dementia care in hospitals, only one in three staff said that they felt that their training and development in dementia was sufficient. What action is the Minister taking better to equip staff to be able to take care of dementia patients in future?

What steps he is taking to improve the standard of dementia care in hospitals.

I will adhere to that, Mr Turner.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley) on securing this important debate and my hon. Friend the Minister on his elevation; I am sure that he will make a brilliant Minister.

I think that the need for growth is driving every hon. Member in this Chamber. Growth is the engine that will get us out of the financial difficulties that we were left in when we came into coalition government. I attended a Federation of Small Businesses dinner last night at which our Chancellor was speaking. He talked about the importance of exports and the key role of small businesses in driving exports. Small businesses have a pivotal role to play in leading the recovery, because they are flexible and responsive to changing circumstances and to opportunities, which can arise even in difficult times.

I am proud of this coalition Government's approach to international trade. I am told that no Minister is allowed out of the country without a trade brief in his or her briefcase. It is important to recognise the value of emerging markets, not just our traditional European trading partners: in parts of Europe there are a lot of opportunities, but in other parts it is not so good. Colleagues have mentioned China, India and Brazil, which are important areas that we need to exploit.

UKTI provides a wide range of help and services to business. A number of colleagues have mentioned small business help and the need for more of it. On export credit guarantees, I would much prefer to see the help going to small companies rather than to some of our larger companies-perhaps those that are selling quite a

number of arms at the moment. For example, why not extend the supplier credit finance facility to small businesses-the guarantee to a bank for a loan for sums larger than £25,000?

We could do more. The hon. Member for Macclesfield has already mentioned that we do not punch at our weight in respect of exports, compared with other European countries. There are things that we can do. Consider UKTI, for example. The hon. Gentleman talked about getting people out from behind their desks and knocking on the doors of local businesses. I berated the regional development agencies for being far too insular and expecting small business to come to them. The whole emphasis must change. We must be far more outward looking and inclusive.

I was particularly impressed by the hon. Member for South Thanet (Laura Sandys) talking about the internet. It is so obvious, but we do not often talk about that as a mechanism for encouraging and enabling exports, particularly for small businesses.

The hon. Member for Poole (Mr Syms) mentioned speed dating. Why not have business-to-business mentoring? I mean speed dating in the strictly business sense, of course. Perhaps I am just compounding my error. I will change the subject quickly. We can do a lot of things. Our local enterprise partnerships can help as well, as can the chambers of commerce.

Manufacturing is playing and will continue to play a key role in exports and in attracting inward investment, because we have all the tools and abilities in this country. The coalition Government are seeking to rebalance the economy. The west midlands, which is my area, is excellent at high-end, advanced manufacturing. Sadly, manufacturing shrank under the previous Labour Government from 20% to 12% of our gross domestic product. That is shameful.

We have major export opportunities. The hon. Member for Macclesfield mentioned Jaguar Land Rover. Automotive is our No. 1 manufacturing export. Jaguar Land Rover has already expanded its Solihull plant and the i54 plant and it is taking on 1,000 people. There are a great number of things that we can do. We have aerospace, chemicals, agri-food and energy, so it is up to us to have a multifaceted approach to ensure that all of us-Members of Parliament and every facet of Government, as well as employers' bodies-work together to increase that emphasis and ensure that small businesses, particularly, get their fair share of the pie.

I feel like I am in an exports master class, so I am enjoying everything that the hon. Gentleman says. I agree with him about the need for UKTI to get out from behind their desks and knock on some doors, but does he agree that the balance of UKTI's recent work has been very much towards bringing in inward investment, perhaps at the expense of exporting and encouraging outward investment?

I am greatly enjoying the hon. Gentleman's speech. He obviously has great knowledge, so it is with some trepidation that I ask him this question. I understand the points that he is making about the financially driven aspects of some of the Hargreaves report, but would he not welcome other aspects of it, such as the digital copyright exchange, minimum standards for transparency, and extensive collective licensing?

Does my hon. Friend agree that short-term consumer credit, payday lenders and the managing of consumer debt companies will now be much more strongly regulated, as has been called for by Members on both sides of the House?

Will my hon. Friend confirm that the urgent review will also investigate the terms of appointments made by the previous Government?

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is better to force companies to consult all employees, rather than consulting one individual? How would that individual be chosen, especially in a company that might be located in many parts of the world?

The right hon. Gentleman makes an even more persuasive case by referring to Birmingham. He is absolutely right that small businesses are the generator that are dragging us out of this recession, and the ability of small businesses to access Indian markets is vital. He could not have made a more appropriate point.

Can the Minister say whether the Government will reconsider their position on mode 4 services and come back with an improved offer as a means of unlocking the EU-India free trade agreement, hopefully by the end of this year?

My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field) should have no fear about the need to build a Boris island, because we are having our runway extended in Birmingham, in the west midlands, where a great number of members of the Indian subcontinent reside and we will be able to take another 18 million passengers.

The biggest employer in my constituency and a key player in the west midlands in terms of jobs and growth is Jaguar Land Rover. We have heard about corruption, but that company is exemplary. It is a far-sighted company that looks towards the medium and the long term and cares for its employees.

I want to speak briefly about the EU-India free trade agreement. We have already heard about the summit that is due to take place on 10 February. However, despite hopes that negotiations about the agreement will reach a conclusion, it has become clear that the best expected result is a limited agreement on trade in goods. Crucial negotiations on services, investment, public procurement and intellectual property rights will continue. The failure to reach agreement on those areas is a shame, because there are huge benefits for the EU generally in reaching agreement with India. India is a market of more than 1.2 billion people, with a burgeoning middle class and an economy that, according to some statistics, is now growing faster than that of China.

For the UK, trade with India is hugely important. In 2009, it was worth £11.2 billion. Moreover, the UK seems a natural partner for collaboration with India, particularly on education, which has already been mentioned, as well as on low-carbon and energy efficiency development, science and research, and advanced manufacturing, including in the aerospace and defence sectors.

Among the most serious obstacles in the negotiations about the EU-India free trade agreement are the unwillingness of India, first, to include the automotive sector in the agreement and, secondly, to reduce the tariff on car imports, which is currently 100%. India is also unwilling to include wines and spirits in the agreement. For example, our wonderful Scotch whisky receives a tariff of 150% in India. And another obstacle is the reluctance of India to include a sustainable development chapter in the agreement.

I am sorry to say that the EU is also putting in place obstacles to the agreement. They include an obstacle related to mode 4 services, which is a controversial "defensive" interest for the EU. "Mode 4 services" refers to where the EU negotiates the temporary transfer of personnel from a partner country to provide a service within a corporation for a limited period of time. The EU normally only negotiates trade commitments for professionals if they have at least a university degree-level of education. It is a great shame that we cannot allow other people to come into the EU for a limited period when they have skills to bring, including training skills, and when they have a contribution to make to the economy of the EU, including the British economy.

Like the hon. Gentleman, I am focused on the EU-India summit in February. Does he agree that that summit is not likely to achieve the free trade agreement that we all wish to see and that a major block relates to mode 4 services? I am referring to the negotiation of a temporary transfer of personnel from a partner country to provide a service to a corporation. If the UK Government can move on mode 4, we may well be able to move things along much better.

The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point. Does he agree that, as well as introducing regulations in a rigorous way when they are absolutely necessary, we should measure whether they do their job, with a post-examination within a specific period, so that we can sunset those that we do not need and get rid of them?

I was born and brought up in Dudley. Dudley has been somewhat disparaged this evening, but I want to tell colleagues that it used to be the place to go. For me, Cranage's coffee shop was the place to hang out. For my mum, it was Cook's or Beattie's department stores. However, following the closure of a huge local steelworks called Round Oak, Government subsidies were used to create a new shopping centre called Merry Hill on that site-with free car parking, of course. Merry Hill sucked the lifeblood out of Dudley. Cook's was lost, but Beattie's stubbornly hung on for many years. It was a family firm determined to buck the trend and keep the town together.

Today, as the MP for Solihull, I have fought, along with my party and local residents, against an Asda superstore being built on precious parkland on our high street-the Stratford road in Shirley. We lost. The Conservative-led council forced the decision through. We are about to find out whether we are right to believe that the Asda will suck the lifeblood out of the small independent shops on the high street, or whether the

developers are right in saying that it will attract more people who will magically spill out on to the high street and create more footfall.

Now the Conservatives are planning to introduce car parking charges to Shirley for anything longer than a 30-minute stay. That is crazy. It will mean that the hard-working shopkeepers will be starved of business because people will be unwilling to pay the charges, especially when there is free parking down the road at an out-of-centre Sainsbury's and Tesco's. Councils should be looking for ways of encouraging people to use local shops, not discouraging them from doing so. I have big worries that this will be the last straw for Shirley.

That is what is happening now, but what of the future? Do we have to march inexorably down this road? Are the town centre and the high street doomed? Tonight we have heard many facts about the decline in trade and in the number of high street shops, but I do not think that they are doomed. There will always be a need for town centres. They are not just places to get commodities; they are venues in themselves, incorporating restaurants, entertainment and places to meet up with friends, to socialise, to browse and to be seen. Touchwood, in the centre of Solihull, is an excellent example; it demonstrates how a good shopping centre can thrive.

A recent Experian report identified that frustrations with online shopping are driving consumers back to the high street. Deliveries can be slow or even non-existent, and the goods often do not match the online descriptions. When we go shopping, we can see exactly what we are getting, and have the instant gratification of being able, in most cases, to take our purchases home with us.

The high street must respond to changing consumer expectations and offer a great experience to shoppers. On the whole, business improvement districts have done well in concentrating on that, and they can do more. I have been banging on for years about local communities' need for empowerment in relation to the design and character of their shopping centres. Developers who come in with a "we know best" attitude could be in for a fight, as was the case in the Shirley development.

I support the Association of Convenience Stores' sequential test to ensure that all sites close to a town centre are considered before out-of-town developments are allowed. Both the ACS and the Portas review support a presumption in favour of town centre development, and I totally agree we should have a "town centre first" principle in the national planning policy framework.

As for parking charges, out-of-town centres clearly have a competitive advantage, and I support the idea of councils being given new tools to raise revenue specifically to support access to, and the regeneration of, high streets. Given that business rates can now be repatriated to local authorities, I am sure that a way can be found for that to be done. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and we must find a way to even up the playing field so that all retailers have a fair chance to get a fair market share.

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I am grateful for that intervention.

As for the pubcos, those over-relying on the property model have become increasingly unviable and they are being hoist on their own petard. Punch is selling off 2,000 pubs and Enterprise is selling 500. Those that are left will be protected by the code of practice. Why should we wait for two or three years to introduce legislation, given that 98% of the industry has signed up to the code of practice today? The code of practice is stronger and is legally binding. Rents must be based on independent guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and unhappy tenants can appeal easily and cheaply to an independent mediation service and to the courts. On the whole, this is a good deal for landlords and customers. I can support the proposal in the motion for a review to ensure that the voluntary code and other measures are properly implemented and that they work, but I would be happier if a little more time were given to assessing whether they are working properly.

Where I think that we as a Government have failed is in not taking strong enough action against the supermarkets and their pernicious cheap alcohol policies. Several colleagues have mentioned that. I should like to say, "Well done," to my hon. Friend the Minister for the safeguards and changes he has managed to wring from the pubcos, but can he now persuade his right hon. and hon. Friends in the Treasury to substitute for the lily-livered excuse for a minimum charge for alcohol of VAT plus the rate of duty, a proper minimum charge to protect our pub industry and the health of our nation?

Indeed, but the Office of Fair Trading report found that there was not detriment to the consumer in response to the tie. The pubs I go to tend to have all sorts of guest ales as well, so there is still that possibility.

I agree with my hon. Friend to a degree, but the principle of the tie is the same. We need to make sure that the tie operates fairly.

These problems must stop, but should the answer be legally to require companies to offer a free-of-tie option? The balance has indisputably tipped too far towards the landlord, but I think we are tipping the baby out with the bathwater. For the breweries, what would be the point of having their own pubs if they could not impose a tie? Why would they go to the trouble of buying and refurbishing property and recruiting suitable tenants only for those tenants to start in competition against them, selling someone else's beer? Breweries have been anxiously awaiting the Government proposals because they want to invest in the industry, but they will not do that if they cannot keep the tie.

Although several Members have a lot of knowledge of the pub industry, I think I am the only Member who has spoken today who has operated under a tie. Admittedly it was an awfully long time ago, but the experience of operating under a tie is principally the same now as it was when the beer orders came in.

I agree with the hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) that the tie is not the problem. In my view, it represents the symbiotic relationship between the company, which owns the pub, and the tenant, who puts his or her labour, blood, sweat and-often literally-

tears into the equation. Landlords have always complained about the unfairness of the tie-they did it in my day and they do it today-but people should enter into tenancy agreements with their eyes wide open, not with the starry-eyed image of being "mine host" behind the bar obscuring the economic facts. I am glad to see that the new pub advisory services will be established to support would-be tenants and ensure that they understand what they are getting themselves into.

The difference today is that the vast majority of tied pubs are owned not by breweries but by companies whose purpose is not just selling beer but owning properties that they expected to accrue in value. Several changes over the years have made that a less and less attractive business proposition, including changes in drinking habits, drink-drive legislation and so on. The property bubble has now burst and the pubcos can no longer rely on increasing property values to square a decreasing profit circle. To their shame, some pubcos have resorted to imposing increasingly punitive terms on their tenants to make up the difference, including the full repairing and insuring leases that have been mentioned, along with many other examples, by colleagues today.

Given the increasing number of schools offering A-levels, there is an increasing anomaly with VAT, in that schools do not pay it but sixth-form colleges do. The Treasury has rejected requests from the Sixth Form Colleges Forum and others to rectify that. With VAT standing at 20%, may we have a debate to explore ways to equalise the situation and be fairer to sixth-form colleges?