Work and Families Bill

Yes. A very limited benefit will apply to only the very smallest employers. As my hon. Friend rightly says, many employers in the category caught by the new clause, who would benefit from the right to transfer responsibility back to the Government, will get no assistance in covering NI contributions and only 92 per cent. of statutory maternity pay back from the Government. If the Government are not prepared to go down the route that we suggest, they should consider whether they are prepared to increase the percentage repaid to employers. I am not sure whether HMRC’s assessment adequately takes into account the cash-flow benefits for small employers in not having to make the payment in the first place. At the moment, every week, they must pay the woman on maternity leave or the man on paternity leave. If the responsibility were transferred to the Government, those payments would not come from small employers’ systems at all. I am not sure of the repayment time at the moment—it would be helpful if the Minister could confirm it—but a cash-flow burden is imposed on businesses for the period that the money is out of their systems. Those businesses would be assisted if the Government took over responsibility for making the payments. I do not think that the assessment made by HMRC adequately takes that into account. HMRC’s calculation takes account of the fact that many employers have complex remuneration packages because of pension contributions and so on. It says that all those burdens remain with the employer, but the remuneration packages of most small employers are much simpler than those of large employers, so the burdens would not be relevant if they were not part of the remuneration package in the first place. The Government’s response is to try to solve everything by handing out a CD-ROM to employers—that is their get-out-of-jail card. They will also provide employers with a ““teach yourself”” package that will give them everything that they need to administer the system. However, the Government do not understand that the voluminous guidance that comes out of the Department of Trade and Industry in itself puts an administrative and regulatory burden on employers. In my previous life as an employment lawyer, I was constantly aware that employers were swamped by ““teach yourself”” guides and guidance notes on how to interpret regulations, such as the working time directive. Small companies are struggling to maintain their businesses, let alone do all the administration that goes with that, but the Government want to give them yet another ““teach yourself”” guide and burden. The proposal is not the panacea that the Government think that it is. I have outlined the thinking behind new clause 1. I realise that the Government have stated an intent to help businesses, especially small businesses, to deal with the new burdens on them. However, we have seen little action to back it up that intent. The Minister looks distressed by what I say, but it is the truth. Little has been done through the Bill to ease the burden on employers. In a nutshell, the assessment by HMRC understates the costs for employers. If we had the opt-in system about which we are talking, the cost to the Government would be significantly less. I know that the Minister is a reasonable man, so I hope that he will accept our arguments and that there will be no need to divide the House.