Work and Families Bill

That reaffirms my concern because of the difference between an apparent benefit of £1 million to employers, who can clearly run the scheme for that sum, and £50 million, which the Government have to spend on running it instead. Even if we put aside the £75 million of set-up costs, we are still considering an extraordinary difference in efficiency. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham said, that tells us an enormous amount about either the extraordinary efficiency of the private sector and why we should support it or the extraordinary inefficiency of the Government. Or perhaps it tells us something else: that the Government do not wish to engage in the process, are embarrassed by the promise that they appear to have made and therefore accentuate a difference that is not quite what the Minister claims. I am interested in the Minister’s explanation of the illogic of a position whereby one organisation can spend £50 million on administering something that many other organisations, which, one would assume, would be a little less efficient because there are many of them, can do for only £1 million. That is illogical and I hope that the Minister can enlighten us about that in his usual fashion. My final point, which is of especial concern to business representatives, is to ask why the Government have reneged on what businesses regard as a promise. In all my talks with various business organisations—the Forum of Private Business, the Federation of Small Businesses or the CBI—they were crystal clear months ago about the fact that they had an agreement with the Government. Their phraseology was that the Bill was ““part of a package”” and they were willing to support it on that basis. They have changed their position because it appears that the package is no longer available. They perceive that the Government have reneged on it. We have seen what was written in the Labour party manifesto. Business has been given some assurances and now we find a different settlement. When the Minister responds, will he tell us exactly what he or the Secretary of State agreed with business representatives, especially the CBI, so that we can better understand why they feel so aggrieved? Fairness is at the heart of the new clause, which tries to ensure that we can allow families who work for small businesses to have a sensible balance in their lives, with the quid pro quo of ensuring that the smallest businesses that are run by people who have families can have some of the burden lifted. People in business believed that the Government were making that promise. The purpose of the new clause is to fulfil it.