Private Equity (Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment) Bill

My understanding is that when the Government gave information to the Select Committee, they covered the position that I set out—the difference between an employer changing hands and a share transfer under TUPE. As I say, consultation rights are important, but the Bill goes beyond those rights, and beyond TUPE, on the issues of the five-year period after the transfer and recourse to the High Court. The Bill would compel the employer, the transferee and the transferor to provide information on a number of topics. Some of those requirements are reflected in other regulations such as the European works directive, but the situation as regards that directive is not quite the same. It is about ongoing consultation on the overall position of an enterprise, and not about providing a snapshot of the moment at which an equity transfer is taking place. The consultation process defined in clause 4(5) is more prescriptive and detailed than that in TUPE. It would take some time for the back-and-forth exchanges envisaged to take place; indeed, it could take many months, when there was a prospective transfer. For the reasons that I have set out, which have to do with share transfer and the respects in which the Bill goes beyond TUPE, the Government cannot support the Bill. However, I would not want my hon. Friend or other hon. Members to think that we were unconcerned about the issue of the exploitation of employees. We are alive to such issues on a number of fronts. We have put significant resources into enforcement of existing employee rights, and rightly so. To refer back to debate a couple of weeks ago, we have given agency workers new rights to withdraw from tied accommodation and transport, without any detriment to themselves. Our Employment Bill, which will improve rights in relation to the minimum wage, will have its parliamentary stages this Session. The TUPE regulations were reviewed and service contract transfers were included; that reflected our concern about the issues. We know that the TUPE provisions are necessary to protect a group of employees in a specific situation—not share transfer—and at a time of significant uncertainty. We are aware that Britain has benefited enormously over the past 10 years from a flexible business environment. The Bill's provisions go further than TUPE and would apply to a much wider group of companies, and we do not think that that is necessary, so we cannot support the Bill. However, I accept that my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, East genuinely wishes to ensure proper protection for people at work. He was kind enough to thank me for the positive, constructive dialogue that we have enjoyed on the issue in recent weeks, and I am certainly happy to maintain a dialogue with him on the subject. He knows that a voluntary code of practice, to which I referred, has been developed by private equity firms. I am pleased to tell him that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is happy to facilitate a round-table discussion on the issues involving my hon. Friend, representatives of private equity companies and trade unions. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley said that we should be discussing such issues with interested parties, and, as I say, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is happy to facilitate a round-table discussions on these issues. My hon. Friend will also be aware that the Treasury Committee looked into the matter of private equity and issued an interim report last year. My understanding is that the Committee intends to return to the issue at some point, and I am sure that it will be interested in receiving representations from my hon. Friend, the industry and external supporters of the Bill when it does so. For the reasons that I have set out, I do not believe that the Bill is the right vehicle for dealing with the issues that have been raised. However, in view of the dialogue with my hon. Friend that I have offered, including the round-table facility, I hope that he will consider withdrawing the Bill and pursuing the issues that he has raised today in the manner that I have suggested.