Kevin Hollinrake
MP for Thirsk and Malton · Conservative · United Kingdom
“That issue is one of the many things that the people who signed the petition are concerned about, Dr Huq. One of the big things that the Government promised, which I agree with them about, is the need to encourage faster growth in our economy. Of course that is right, but look at where that growth is.”
“The UK economy went through many challenges, of course, some of them caused by Brexit; the reality is that a change like that was bound to have a short-term effect—but only a short-term effect. The country grew faster than Germany and France during that period of time.”
“As I said before, governing is not easy; we had many challenges ourselves, and we did not get everything right, but what we did during that difficult period of time—those 14 years—was get 1.2 million more people employed in our economy. Unemployment was halved during our time in office.”
“Of course, many Government Members supported his leadership challenge. We are here now, looking forward to a general election coming down the track. We are ready for a general election when the Government are, because, unlike them, we have a strong leader—against their weak leader.”
“I was, absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) for his excellent opening speech. He made so many good points, not least about the level of support for this petition.”
“Members on the Government side of the House also feel betrayed and angry with their own leadership, for marching them up to the top of the hill and marching them back down again on many of these issues, but they do not feel as betrayed as the businesspeople in this country in particular.”
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“I did find what happened yesterday unedifying, but that was about one person; everybody else who gave evidence yesterday was clear that there was no sense ever of trying to slow down compensation. Neither do I think the hon. Lady is right to say that postmasters are further away from getting compensation; it is quite the opposite. To imply that and so raise questions about the compensation scheme could lead to people not coming forward. We welcome the fact that 1,000 more people have come forward since the ITV series. People are closer to compensation, not further away, and the actions we are taking, through the compensation advisory board, the overturning of convictions, the Horizon shortfall scheme, which is nearly completed, and the GLO scheme are all moving on.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his work on the Select Committee. He is a doughty champion in this area and many others relating to the Committee’s work. There are some lessons we need to learn; the Post Office certainly requires the right kind of skills and the right kind of person to turn it around. That is clearly a work in progress and I do not think people will be confident that that is happening until it has actually happened. Words are no longer enough; we need actions, be it on the turnaround of the Post Office or on the compensation schemes.”
“As the CEO confirmed to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne) yesterday, I meet him every month, and we speak about the need to accelerate compensation every single time. We have targets for when to pay the compensation by: August for GLO cases, and for all cases ideally by the end of the year. As we heard yesterday, 1,000 new claimants have come forward since the ITV series, which makes it difficult to put deadlines on payment. I am aware that the right hon. Gentleman wants a legally binding target. I am happy to discuss that with him, but we have just removed one legally binding target because not everything within the process is within our gift.”
“Every compensation scheme I have dealt with, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland global restructuring group scheme and the Lloyds-HBOS scheme, has been too slow, because of some of the complexity involved. We heard some good suggestions yesterday about how we might remove some of that complexity, which I am very keen to do. We heard some positive remarks from the individuals concerned, for example, from some of the solicitors, and from the Post Office on the fixed-sum awards—the £650,000 for the overturned convictions and the £75,000 for the GLO scheme. We heard how that was reducing the amount of disclosure that was required—that is one of the limiting factors. This should mean that the timescales that some people put on the table of one to two years should be rapidly reduced, and I am very keen to build on that work.”
“I do think the chaos was caused by one individual. I sat through the whole session; for the bit I was not in the room with the right hon. Gentleman, I was watching on television. It is right for people to be able to say that they are not satisfied with the speed of compensation. I have said that time and time again from this Dispatch Box, and we are keen to accelerate the process and make sure it is fast and fair. We are aware of the recommendations from the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) on an appeals mechanism for some of the schemes where people feel the compensation is too low. We are looking and will continue to look at that.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his work on this issue as one of my predecessors; I know that he was as keen as I am to ensure that full and fair compensation is paid to all individuals. As I said, there is no limit to the amount of compensation that we will set aside to ensure that people are compensated properly for this horrendous scandal.”
“Gentleman and others would be calling us to account for why we did not act when somebody had tried to suspend or interfere with an investigation into his own conduct. I am aware of the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments’ position on legislation. Of course we will continue to discuss that with them. There are some separate devolved issues around the judicial systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland. That is the reason we have done it differently. We are happy to continue our dialogue on it.”
“To be clear, we terminated Mr Staunton’s role as chair of the Post Office not because of bullying accusations. There was an 80-page report, which he referred to yesterday, and which I have not read. He freely admitted in yesterday’s evidence session that he was named in that report. To what extent, I do not— [ Interruption. ] Well, that is what Mr Staunton said; he said that it was to a very minor extent. I do not know that, I do not think the hon. Gentleman knows that, and I think we should wait for the investigation to conclude before we make a judgment on that. The point was not about the allegation itself; the point was that, as Mr Staunton admitted yesterday, he interfered with the investigation. That is unacceptable, and if we had not acted in the way that we did, I think that the hon.”
“I think on two occasions Mr Staunton lobbied for a pay increase for Mr Read. He sought to double the overall package of Mr Read on those occasions.”
“These are businesses in their own right, of course, but there is a hardship fund for certain postmasters in certain situations.”
“First, may I correct the record? In response to the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne), I said that the fixed sum award was £650,000; it is £600,000. It would be wrong to disclose an investigation into somebody’s conduct before that investigation had concluded. It would be extraordinary to do that in any work context, be it in the public or private sector. I am happy to have a conversation with the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) about the hardship fund. If he is talking about the Post Office paying salaries to postmasters, most postmasters are self-employed, not paid a salary directly, and have a number of different streams of income into their business.”
“On the last point, my right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right; he clearly understands these situations very well. They should of course be kept confidential, which is why it was highly unprofessional of Mr Staunton to say what he said yesterday. On my right hon. and learned Friend’s first point—I cannot remember what it was now.”
“We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we have the resources available to settle compensation claims quickly. Certainly, a file note that I took away from yesterday’s session was about the number of individuals looking after compensation from Addleshaw Goddard’s end, although it is turning around the offers increasingly quickly. Responses to full claims now happen within 40 days in 85% of cases. There has been an improvement. We are keen to ensure that every part of the process has the resources it needs to pay the compensation fairly and quickly.”
“We are looking at it, but I reassure him that all three schemes have independence in them: an independent panel in the HSS; an independent panel and a reviewer, Sir Ross Cranston, on the GLO scheme; and the independence on the overturned convictions in Sir Gary Hickinbottom. Both latter people are retired High Court judges, which should give claimants and the right hon. Gentleman, I hope, some confidence that the schemes will operate properly.”
“I think what we actually heard and saw was a dysfunctional former chair of the Post Office; that is what we saw. Interestingly, to the right hon. Gentleman’s point about compensation schemes, the former chair said at one point during his evidence that he had no concerns about the speed of delivery of the HSS—which was extraordinary, because I have many concerns about it. I hear loud and clear calls from across the House about the role that the Post Office is playing in compensation schemes. These are sensitive matters, because people in the Post Office are employed to manage and administer the compensation schemes. I hear the point made by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) loud and clear.”
“Thankfully, not me. I have nothing against Mr Staunton personally. He had a strong track record as the chair of various large organisations, as he said yesterday. I think we would all agree that the Post Office is a specific organisation with specific challenges. Yesterday’s evidence from Ben Tidswell, the senior independent director, was interesting. He felt that Mr Staunton’s behaviour changed in November last year and became far more “erratic”—his word. I do not know the reasons for that specifically, although Mr Tidswell suggested some yesterday. Whatever the reason, Mr Staunton’s recent conduct is not consistent with remaining chair of the Post Office. That is why we decided to act.”
“I have to say for the record that Mr Read has never tendered his resignation to me or to the Secretary of State. Others would be better than me to comment on the nature of those conversations, but I do not think that it was right for Mr Staunton to comment at all. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the Secretary of State has given me 100% support in everything I have done in trying to address these matters. I accept what Neil Hudgell said—I spoke to him afterwards, and we have spoken before about the schemes being over-engineered—and he suggested some ways to try to accelerate compensation. We are of course looking at those to see what the best way is to ensure that they are not over-engineered, but deliver rapid and fair outcomes as quickly as possible.”
“I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman’s final point, and a number of the points he made. It is fair to say that on the compensation schemes, we could use the old phrase, “If you were going there, you wouldn’t start from here.” I think that Sir Wyn Williams has said that, but the best way now is to say, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” We have to improve the schemes we have got. The hon. Gentleman made an interesting point about the Post Office, and he will have heard what I said earlier. I think the fixed-sum awards do take the Post Office out of the schemes completely, because no disclosure is required for them. On tendering resignation—again, I thought it was extraordinary that a chair would disclose confidential and private conversations that he has had with the chief executive.”
“I will be very pleased to ensure that that happens. I met the Northern Ireland Justice Minister virtually a few days ago to discuss these matters. I know that the Northern Ireland Administration’s preference is for UK-wide legislation; we do not think that is the right approach, but we will continue to work with the Administration to ensure that they can deliver the right legislation or process to make sure that the compensation is paid. Clearly, once convictions are overturned anywhere in the United Kingdom, people enter exactly the same compensation scheme—they can get rapid compensation through the fixed-sum award of £600,000, or go through the full assessment process. We are determined to make the process quicker, easier and fairer. I am happy to work with the hon. Gentleman to ensure that that is the case.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for her question and for representing her constituents so effectively. I am keen to have continued conversation with her. All the schemes that have been established thus far require a contractual relationship between the Post Office and the individual, and I know that was not the case for her constituent. A number of Members of this House have addressed the issue, and we will continue to look at it.”
“We are keen to support its efforts to ensure that the future is bright for all postmasters.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for making that point and for representing her constituents so well. Yes, absolutely, we understand that this is distracting, or could distract, from work to ensure not just that we make right the wrongs of the past, but that the Post Office has a strong future, as she put it. I totally agree. We think that the Post Office does have a strong future. Revenue streams have been affected by changes in how and where people acquire certain things or access certain services, but the banking framework—we encourage the Post Office to be more ambitious in its negotiations with the banks on the remuneration that flows from the framework to postmasters—and the parcel hubs are an opportunity for the future. We believe that the Post Office has a strong brand and strong future.”
“I am very happy to come to the Dispatch Box any time I am required to, or feel that there is a need to, which, as the right hon. Gentleman says, is quite often at the moment. I was aware of the investigation relating to Mr Read and Mr Staunton. That was not the reason why the Secretary of State decided to part company with the chair; that was about interfering with the investigation. The right hon. Gentleman asks about the HR director. I do not know about those matters, but I am happy to look into them and come back to him.”
“The fact that 1,000 people have come forward for compensation since the ITV series indicates that people do have confidence that they will be compensated fairly, but I absolutely understand that we have work to do to ensure that people feel that way across the board.”
“Yes, of course I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady and her constituent. Given what the hon. Lady has said, the place for her constituent to go is the Horizon shortfall scheme, which will be happy to look at that particular situation. Of the 2,417 people who applied to the original scheme, 100% have had offers and 84% have accepted those offers, so she can be assured that there will be fairness. We are looking to ensure that the scheme is fair and is seen to be fair. The other schemes are also delivering outcomes more quickly than they were. There were 106 claims in the group litigation order scheme; 80 offers have been accepted, and compensation for overturned convictions is a fixed-sum award of £600,000.”
“It will take evidence in public, so that the public can see what is happening, and will conclude by the end of this year and report next year. We will then have a lot more answers to the hon. Gentleman’s question, as well as accountability not just for Post Office executives in future, but for Post Office executives of previous years.”
“As ever, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. On the point about Government funds, I guess that he is referring to executives in the Post Office. Clearly, that is the Government’s responsibility as the single shareholder. We have a representative on the board in Lorna Gratton from UKGI, in whom I have a great deal of confidence. I think it fair to say that my Department and its officials have learned a lot from the process and from what has gone on, and that is right. We should be clear that mistakes have happened, and apologise for the way that they have contributed to the scandal. I am very keen to ensure that there is continued accountability. We have, at significant expense to the taxpayer, set up the public inquiry, which was called for by Members across the House.”
“That will ensure that parents no longer find themselves in the incredibly difficult position of having to choose between risking their job and spending time with their baby during such a stressful time. I commend the regulations to the Committee.”
“From 6 April, employees will be able to request flexible working from their first day of employment, and the new entitlement of carer’s leave will give unpaid carers one week of leave from work from their first day in a job. That can be used to provide care or to make arrangements for the provision of care for a dependant with a long-term care need. We are also introducing new leave and pay entitlements for parents with children who spend time in neonatal care. That will give each eligible employed parent up to 12 weeks of additional paid leave on top of their existing entitlements if their baby is admitted to neonatal care in its first month of life.”
“For families who would prefer a father or partner to take a longer period of leave, shared parental leave may be available. This entitlement allows eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks’ leave and up to 37 weeks of pay between them. Parents can choose whether to take time off together or to stagger their leave and pay. The Government are also introducing new entitlements to enhance the current provision for working parents, including additional protections against redundancy, which will be available from 6 April for pregnant women and parents who are returning to work after a period of eligible parental leave. There are also improvements in flexible working.”
“The new regulations will require an employee to give only four weeks’ notice prior to each period of leave, instead of 14 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. This means that a parent can decide when to take their leave at shorter notice to accommodate the changing needs of their families. This will apply to parents in birth and surrogacy scenarios, as the notification rules are different for adopters. It will also allow fathers and partners to change the number and dates of blocks of leave they plan to take. Responses to the “Good Work Plan” consultation show that both employer and employee groups considered that to be a fair and practical option. The Government have in place a range of leave and pay entitlements to support parents to balance their work and family responsibilities in a way that works best for them.”
“Our second change will allow fathers and partners to take their leave and pay at any point in the first year after the birth or placement for adoption of their child. This represents a big increase from the eight weeks in which parents currently have to take their leave following birth or adoption. This change gives parents more flexibility to take their paternity leave at a time that works best for their family. For example, this change could enable a father or partner to take time off work to be the primary care giver when the mother returns to work. This is important, as evidence shows that fathers who spend time solo parenting are more likely to play a greater role in caring for their children in later years. Our third change will shorten the notice period required for each period of leave.”
“Currently, only one block of leave can be taken, which can be either one or two weeks. Our change will remove that barrier by enabling parents to take two non-consecutive weeks of leave. We hope that providing fathers and partners with the flexibility to take their two weeks of leave non-consecutively means that they will find it easier to use their full entitlement. For some parents, taking two weeks of leave in one go is challenging due to pressures of work or other reasons. Enabling parents to take their leave non-consecutively means that they can take it at a time that works best for them and could lead to an increase in parents taking their second week of paternity leave.”
“The regulations recognise the importance of fathers and partners spending valuable time with their children in the first year following birth or adoption and will make it easier for parents to take their full paternity entitlement. Some 64% of respondents to the 2019 consultation, “Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families”, wanted greater flexibility in when and how paternity leave could be taken. Allowing fathers and partners to take their leave up to a year following birth or adoption was the most commonly suggested measure to accomplish that. Our changes will provide that much-needed flexibility and will fulfil our 2019 manifesto commitment to make paternity leave easier to take. Our first change will allow fathers and partners to take their leave in non-consecutive blocks.”
“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Hosie. The draft regulations were laid on 10 January 2024. I am pleased to be here today to debate these measures, which will benefit families by working alongside the paternity pay regulations to provide valuable additional flexibility to paternity leave, effectively making it easier and more useful for parents while putting minimal burdens on businesses. Currently, eligible employed fathers and partners are entitled to one or two consecutive weeks of statutory paternity leave and pay to care for their baby or to support the mother. This must be taken within eight weeks of birth or placement for adoption.”
“I thank hon. Members for their contributions and I commend the regulations to the Committee. Question put and agreed to.”
“Under our Government, however, we want to keep taxes low. Where there are those kinds of measures, they have to be paid for by somebody, and inevitably that is the taxpayer. We therefore think we should tread carefully. We support the regulations, which deliver on our manifesto commitment. We want the UK to be one of the best places to work and to start and grow a business. We want to build skills, increase productivity and move to a high-wage economy that delivers this ambition. We will continue to prioritise labour-market policies, such as these changes to paternity leave, which have the potential to benefit the most people, the most firms and the most jobs while at the same time ensuring we balance burdens on business and taxpayers. The changes to paternity leave brought forth today will advance our progress towards those objectives.”
“We have to guard against that. On delays, we would have liked to introduce the regulations more quickly, but it is fair to say that we have been dealing with covid and its aftermath. That is not just about the administration of some of the measures but the impacts on business, and we have to tread carefully in that regard. The SNP spokesman, the hon. Member for Gordon, made some interesting points, and asked why we cannot go much further on parental leave, citing Norway and Sweden. Looking at work by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the average tax take in Norway and Sweden is 43% of GDP. In comparison, it was 32% of GDP in the UK in 2021. The hon. Member may want to go 13% higher with our taxing of businesses and people; we do not and that is very clear. It is clearly the direction of travel in Scotland under the SNP.”
“A strong labour market is in workers’ as well as employers’ interests, so it is about striking a balance. In addition to these regulations and others, we have brought in measures that create extra burdens for businesses, such as flexible working, day-one rights, carer’s leave and neonatal care. Those are on top of other burdens that businesses face, such as cost of living pressures and the rise in the national living wage, which has increased by historic amounts. We believe that we have struck the right balance. The Opposition may differ and set out, as they have, to go much further if they are ever in government. I am interested in their intention to have a day-one right to unfair dismissal. Employers should look carefully at that as it might upset the delicate balance between workers and employers, to the detriment of workers.”
“Before I respond to hon. Members, may I apologise for the late change in Committee attendance? The hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow made an interesting point and I welcome her challenge. She mentioned pregnancy and maternity discrimination. As I said in my speech, we have recently legislated for that, to provide more protections in pregnancy and on return to work. On the take-up of shared parental leave, those are very much a floor and not a ceiling, and many employers go much further in both the private and the public sector. Take-up of shared parental leave is in line with expectations and, indeed, has doubled in recent years. There are obvious reasons for not going further. We tread carefully when placing extra burdens on business and we are clear about that.”
“It establishes a process to underpin cases in which the registrar believes it is necessary and appropriate to act immediately to change a company address, alongside the procedures to be followed when a company should be afforded the opportunity to object to a proposed change.”
“Although a process to rectify the situation for victims of address hijacking already exists, it unavoidably takes time and requires a degree of effort on the part of those who have been wronged. Through the 2023 Act, the registrar’s existing powers to prevent and combat this practice are to be strengthened by tightening the requirements around what constitutes an appropriate registered office address, streamlining and expanding upon the existing avenues of redress for victims, introducing criminal sanctions for companies that fail to take corrective action, and ultimately providing an ability to strike from the register those companies that persist in offending. The instrument provides a flexible framework within which the registrar can act to combat abuse.”
“We anticipate that in total we will bring forward some 50 statutory instruments over this year and next to implement ECCTA reforms. The group of regulations that I commend to the Committee today represents the first substantive tranche. I will begin, if I may, by presenting the draft Registered Office Address (Rectification of Register) Regulations 2024. I know that a number of colleagues have been contacted by constituents who are alarmed and surprised to find that a company with which they have no involvement has misappropriated their address, claiming that it is that of the registered office they are required by law to file with the registrar of companies. Not only is this distressing and inconvenient for householders, but it can be indicative of criminal intent on the part of the company in question.”
“The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023—the ECCTA for short—truly is a landmark piece of legislation, which will reform the way in which the registrar of companies and Companies House operate, and will radically enhance the faith we can all have that companies and other corporate entities established here are working in the interests of the UK economy, rather than against it. The ECCTA’s entry into the statute book was, of course, a first step in the process of realising reform. It is backed up by an enormous amount of work to design, construct and operationalise new processes and procedures at Companies House, many of which are codified through a substantial programme of secondary legislation that we are working hard to develop.”
“The regulations were laid before the House on 18 December 2023. Given my long-standing interest in the Government’s efforts to expose and combat economic crime, it was a privilege that, when I was first made a Minister, one of my first tasks was to guide the passage through this House of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. I was delighted in particular to champion legislation that enjoyed such widespread support from across the House, and to find that, through a collegiate and co-operative approach with Members here and in the other place, it emerged all the stronger in its final form.”
“The four sets of regulations work both to ensure consistency in our application of reforms as between companies and LLPs and, more specifically, to strengthen the safeguards and remedies around the hijacking of addresses, in whatever form that presents itself. I conclude by emphasising that the measures in the regulations are crucial to the ECCTA’s effective implementation. I hope that Members will support them and their objectives, and I commend them to the Committee.”
“As well as all the provisions related to addresses that I have described, the provisions include: the establishment of additional controls around the name that an entity chooses to register, and that under which it conducts business; an obligation annually to confirm that the entity acts with a lawful purpose; matters around dissolution and restoration to the register; and, perhaps most importantly, the registrar’s new objectives under the 2023 Act to strive, within the parameters of her functions, to ensure the integrity and accuracy of register information and to prevent companies and others from carrying out illegal activities.”
“For the moment, the instrument on LLPs serves to transpose the provisions of the ECCTA that commenced on Royal Assent in October 2023 or in January 2024 and, most significantly, those that are planned to commence on 4 March, by means of regulations that will be laid before Parliament this very week. That date represents a particular landmark in the delivery of reform, as it will be the point from which many of the registrar’s new powers will commence, and from which significant new requirements will apply to companies and, by virtue of this instrument, to LLPs.”
“Although on the face of it the ECCTA focused on the reform of company and limited partnership law, it has long been the policy to apply changes in company law to the context of LLPs. It is an inherent and often-used feature of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 that it provides a regulation-making power to transpose Companies Act 2006 changes to LLPs, modifying their application as appropriate. We will seek to exercise that power through further instruments, as necessary, to ensure that ECCTA provisions apply coherently as between companies and LLPs. That will include key areas of reform such as the introduction of identity-verification requirements.”
“The combined effect of the three instruments I have introduced so far will be to provide a more robust and comprehensive safeguard against abuse, allowing the scope to deal with, for example, circumstances in which an address has been misappropriated for multiple abuses within one company. In all cases, they support the registrar’s enhanced discretionary ability to take corrective action immediately and, where appropriate, without the need for an application on the part of the victim or an obligation to notify the offending company in advance. Finally, the draft Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Company Law) Regulations 2024 represent the first step towards ensuring consistency in the application of ECCTA reforms as between companies and limited liability partnerships.”