Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]

My right hon. Friend pre-empts my remarks intended for later when the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) speaks to her amendments that deal with the pay-when-paid arrangements. No doubt the Minister will also make some comments about them. If we are talking about "real help now", to use a hackneyed phrase of this Government, we certainly need it now to secure the future of these small companies. We do not want to fetter the discretion of either party to the contract, as we want them to have a mutually beneficial and trusting contractual relationship to get the job done and get paid. We know that in the real world—with cash-flow problems and our friendly bank managers on the case—that does not always happen, which is why we need to safeguard the vital contribution of SMEs to the industry. I do not generally pray in aid the right hon. Member for Salford (Hazel Blears), but she did say on Second Reading:""I think that it is very important that small businesses in the construction supply chain, in particular, have as much protection as they can."—[Official Report, 1 June 2009; Vol. 493, c. 37.]" I think that we would all agree with that.