Work and Families Bill

I wish that I were surprised, but I suspect that on closer examination—when the Committee gets its teeth into the matter—we will find further omissions. My hon. Friend makes a sensible point. I have repeatedly raised the question of the cost of the Bill during the debate. Hon. Members might not have noticed this, but apparently the Government expect to spend £369 million more each year, as an employer, as a direct result of the Bill. It is thus expected that during the next Parliament, there will be a £1.8 billion increase in the cost of employing the same people who are employed today, although I suspect that there will be no noticeable change in the delivery of public services. There are costs for private employers, too. The cost will be £208 million in the first year, and that will rise to £284 million in each and every year following that. As the mathematicians among us will realise, that represents £1.3 billion over the course of the next full Parliament, which is a substantial sum. Given the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff) has just made, our earlier exchanges with the Secretary of State and the omissions that we have clearly identified, I am worried that the Bill will lead to substantial costs. I have identified £3.1 billion of costs to begin with that do not seem to have been fully considered during the deliberations on the Bill. However, I know that the Minister is a reasonable man and will want to make sure that we have such information, so I look forward to receiving it. I have had insufficient time to consider many of the Bill’s positive aspects. I make no bones about that because it is important that we try to tease out the weaknesses of legislation during our scrutiny. I fully accept that there is a need to balance our work and family lives, but we need to make sure that that balance extends to all families, especially those involved in small business and those of entrepreneurs. The Secretary of State promised us in his opening remarks that the Bill would be good for business and good for families. Conservative Members agree with those sentiments, so we intend to ensure that he keeps his word.