Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. The confidence and morale of the work force in any workplace impacts directly on productivity and, indeed, the profitability of the business. That point is blindingly obvious, but it has been missed by Opposition Members. My hon. Friend has hit on a very important matter: if Britain is to be competitive in the race to the top, we must build greater confidence among the work force by getting employers to work with permanent staff. I accept that they have to use temporary and agency workers when absolutely necessary to deal with peaks in demand and emergencies, but they should use their core work force more productively. I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention.