Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill

Whether or not such a regime would have an adverse effect on employment would depend on the issues that I have just mentioned. It would depend on how the comparators were measured, on what the qualifying period or periods might be, and on precisely how the regime would operate. On the wider agenda of preventing abuses at work, we are working closely with trade unions, business and the enforcement agencies. I appreciate the genuine concerns of my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston and the supporters of the Bill who are present today. However, given the Government's proposals that I have set out today on how we wish to take this issue forward, and our reservations about some of the specifics in the Bill, the Government cannot support it on Second Reading. However, we are happy to maintain a dialogue with my hon. Friend about these issues and we will not oppose his Bill at this stage. We will work actively to take forward the proposal for a commission on agency workers that I have outlined. We believe that that represents a positive way forward on what has been a difficult issue. I hope that hon. Members on both sides of the House will be united in the aims of stamping out abuse of vulnerable workers—whether directly employed or agency workers—maintaining opportunity and choice for employees to get work, and ensuring that the British economy remains flexible and successful, not just today but well into the future.