(HC Deb 12 March 1999 vol 327 cc403-5W )
Export Credits
In January the next year, Lib Dem luminary Dr
Vince Cable - now Coalition Business secretary - asked the New Labour
government to publish a list of each
member of the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) Advisory Committee
how much ECGD business had been undertaken in respect of which the member
has a declared financial interest. Responding for the DTI, Richard Caborn -
who later left Government to work as an industry advisor and consultant –
provided the following details.
The
amount of business for which ECGD has provided cover for companies or banks
in which EGAC members have declared a financial interest is as follows:
Member
|
Date of entry
|
Company in which interest held
|
Business since date of entry £
million
|
David Harrison
|
January 1997
|
Lloyds TSB plc
|
1281
|
Liz Airey
|
March 1998
|
LASMO plc
|
None
|
Alan Brown
|
September 1998
|
Barclays plc
|
124
|
Stuart Doughty
|
January 1997
|
Kennedy Construction Ltd.
|
None
|
| |
A-C Mac Ltd.
|
None
|
| |
Paramount Performance
|
None
|
Geoffrey Lynch
|
May 1993
|
Hiscox plc
|
None
|
Member
|
Date of entry
|
Company in which interest held
|
Business since date of entry £
million
|
Peter Mason
|
March 1998
|
AMEC plc
|
20
|
| |
Witchingham Development Ltd.
|
None
|
David
|
December
|
HSBC plc
|
17941
|
McLachlan
|
1998
|
Nat West plc
|
1.3
|
1 The figures are for finance provided by the banks
either as sole lender or member of a lending syndicate (principal amounts
only).
| | | |
(HC
Deb 24 January 2000 vol 343 cc41-3W)
But
HSBC did not only advise on export credits, it has been actively involved in
such financing. Caborn responded to
Vince Cable’s question asking which British (i) banks and (ii) companies are
involved in the following ECGD supported projects: (a) ACESITA
stainless steel strip mill in Timoteo, (b) the nuclear
power project in Qinshan, China, (c) the coal handling
export terminal in Tianjin, China, (d) the coal fired
power station in Manjung, Malaysia, (e) the Janamanjung
Plant in Malaysia, (f) the development loan to the Korean
Development Bank and (g) the seventh Airbus A330-200 to
the United Arab Emirates. , with the
ECGD supported project
|
Name of bank
|
Name of company(1)
|
|
ACESITA stainless steel strip mill in Timoteo, Brazil
|
(a) Annealing and Pickling Line
|
Kleinwort Benson Ltd.
|
VAI (formerly Davy McKee (Poole) Ltd. trading as Davy
International)
|
(b) Hot Mill
|
Lloyds TSB (formerly Lloyds Bank plc)
|
VAI (formerly Davy McKee (Sheffield) Ltd. trading as
(Davy International)
|
|
|
|
The nuclear power project in Qinshan, China
|
|
|
(a) Qinshan Phase II
|
Standard Chartered Bank
|
Weir Pumps Ltd.
|
(b) Qinshan Phase III
|
Midland Bank plc
|
Bechtel Ltd.(2)
|
|
|
|
The Coal handling export terminal in Tianjin, China
|
Midland Bank plc and Bank of China, London
|
ALSTOM Automation International Ltd.
|
|
|
|
The coal fired power station in Manjung Malaysia(3)
|
Midland Bank plc
|
ALSTOM Power Plants Ltd.
|
|
|
|
Line of Credit for Korean Development Bank(4)
|
HSBC Investment
Bank plc
|
Various(5)
|
|
|
|
The seventh Airbus A330-200 to United Arab Emirates(6)
|
HSBC Bank plc
|
BAE Systems (formerly BAE) and Rolls-Royce
|
(1) Companies listed are the known lead contractors but there
will be many sub-contractors involved on which records are not routinely
held by ECGD--for example in the Airbus case typically, some 400 in the BAE
Systems supply chain and some 250 in the Rolls-Royce supply chain.
(2) Bechtel Ltd. is acting as procurement agents to procure
equipment from a number of British firms (including Weir Pumps and ALSTOM)
who have won valuable sub-contract work.
(3) The coal fired power station in Manjung, Malaysia '(d)'
and the Janamanjung Plan in Malaysia '(e)' are one and the same
project.
(4) A Supplier Credit Finance Facility (SCFLOC) to support the
purchase of UK Capital and Semi-Capital UK Goods and UK Services. It is an
export credit loan and not a 'development loan'.
(5) No contracts have yet been placed.
(6) Delivered on 28 January 2000--the seventh of seventeen
aircraft ordered under a Purchase Agreement dated 18 October 1996.
(3 March 2000 : Column: 423W)
And if things went awry, HSBC ensured it got its
money back: the DTI provided this detail of the payments by the UK Government
in respect of loans underwritten through the ECGD to the companies listed.
“Only one of the loans listed has so far given
rise to claims payments, namely the loan made by HSBC to finance the Cairo Waste Water
project in Egypt. On a closer examination of records, it is regretted that
the value of this loan was incorrectly shown as £32.0 million in the answer
provided to my hon Friend's earlier question on 22 June 2000, Official Report, column 236W. The
total value of this loan was, in fact, £142.8 million. Claims including
interest of the value of £190.8 million have been paid to the lending bank
following a series of defaults under this loan of which some £43 million
has been recovered to date. The balance of the debt has been rescheduled
under debt rescheduling arrangements with Egypt.”
(HC Deb 07 July 2000 vol 353 cc319-20W)
Corporate
secondees to New Labour departments
In February 2000, junior trade minister, Dr Kim
Howells published long list of companies from which staff were seconded
from the private sector to his Department from (a) May 1997 to April 1998,
(b) May 1998 to April 1999 and (c) May 1999 to the latest date for which
figures are available, giving a massive insight into the degree to which
industry and the financial services and banking sectors were influencing
and helping to deliver New Labour
policies.
1 May 1997–30 April 1998
Number of secondments—63
Company names
- HSBC Holdings plc
- The
Export Association
- North
Cape (Scotland) Ltd.
- Bank
of Ireland
- Rover
Group Ltd.
- Reyrolle
Projects Ltd.
- Grant
Thornton
- Drinks
Marketing Consortium
- European
Gas Turbines—GEC Alstrom
- Ericsson
Ltd.
- Prince
Associates
- British
Telecom plc (x2)
- Littlejohn
Frazer
- The
Institute of Export (x2)
- Arthur
Andersen (x2)
- Deloitte
and Touche
- NHS
Supplies
- British
Nuclear Fuel plc
- Herbert
Smith
- Mobil
- Hyder
plc
- EPSRC
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
- (x2)ERTL
Europe Ltd.
- BT
International Business
- Nuclear
Electric plc
- Frank
Roberts and Sons Ltd.
- Barclays
Bank plc
- Silver
Altman
- Guinness
Brewing Worldwide Ltd.
- Pricewaterhouse
Coopers
- Anglian
Water International UK
- Hambros
Bank Ltd.
- General
Accident/CGU Insurance
- Beaumont
Colson Ltd.
- AWE
plc
- Epinet
Communications plc
- Matra
Marconi Space
- Barclays
Bank plc
- Reuters
Ltd.
- Lee
and Allen Consulting plc
- CERN
- University
of Greenwich
- Toyoboshi
UK Ltd.
- Westcountry
Development Corporation
- Hydro
Technologies Ltd.
- Crown
Agents Overseas Government and Administration
- ICI
Chemicals and Polymers Ltd.
- Cable
and Wireless plc
- GEC
Marconi Avionics Ltd.
- Cookstown
Enterprise Centre Ltd.
- Sonic
Communications
- Unipart
International
- Natural
Animal Feeds Ltd.
- Russo-British
Chamber of Commerce
- Eschmann
Brothers and Walsh Ltd.
- The
Hosiery Manufacturing Company Ltd.
- Delamore
Associates Ltd.
- Lockstair
Ltd.
1 May 1998–30 April 1999
Number of secondments—55
Company names
- The
British Petroleum Company plc (x2)
- British-Israel
Chamber of Commerce
- Matheson
and Company Ltd.
- Lloyds
TSB Group plc
- The
Hosiery Manufacturing Company Ltd.
- ICL
(x2)
- East
European Trade Council
- British
Aerospace plc
- British
Telecom plc (x2)
- British
Marine Equipment Council Ltd.
- E.
A. Technology Ltd.
- Slaughter
and May
- Glaxo
Wellcome Research and Development
- Knight
Piesold Ltd. (x2)
- AEA
Technology plc (x3)
- EPSRC
- PWR
(Electrical Supplies) Ltd.
- British
Nuclear Fuels plc
- Hewlett-Packard
Ltd.
- East
Europe Trade Council
- Enterprise
Ayrshire
- Herbert
Smith
- British
Consulate General Osaka
- Polish
Social and Cultural Association Ltd
- Moody
Cashmere Ltd.
- Abercairn
of Scotland Ltd.
- Grant
Thornton
- Financial
Service Authority
- GK
Communications Group Ltd.
- British
American Tobacco Company
- Aspen
Waite Chartered Accountants
- ICI
Group
- Masters
International (UK) Ltd.
- GKN
Westland Helicopters
- Gardenex
- British
Aerospace Aviation
- Trade
Development Ltd.
- ACO
Technologies plc
- Independent
Power Corporation plc
- Freeman
Rich Chartered Accountants
- SMMT
Ltd.
- Ernst
and Young Services Ltd.
- Reuters
Ltd.
- Elizabeth
Emanuel Enterprises Ltd.
- East
European Trade Council
- Simmons
and Simmons
- Oracle
Corporation UK Ltd.
- Brown
and Root AOC
- LGC
Ltd.
1 May 1999–8 February 2000
Number of secondments—47
Company names
- Rover
Group Ltd.
- Moy
Park Ltd.
- Robson
Rhodes
- The
Building Centre Ltd.
- Newbrook
Engineering Company Ltd.
- Medical
Research Council
- Mott
MacDonald Group Ltd.
- Darwin
Instruments Ltd.
- MacAlister
Elliott and Partners Ltd.
- The
Beaver Housing Society Ltd.
On the same day the Foreign Office
provided similar details on its own secondees, with Peter Hain, later to
become a Cabinet minister, answering: “ My department has an active
Interchange Programme with the private sector. The Modernising Government
White Paper has committed us to increasing this activity. Details of staff
seconded from the Private Sector to the FCO including British Trade
International are as follows:
(a) May 1997 to April 1998
Number of secondees: 23 Organisations: AMEC; Bank
of England (2); BP Amoco (2); China British Trade Group; Civil Aviation
Authority; European Investment Bank; HSBC; Halcrow, Independent Consultants (2);
Keele University (2); Rolls-Royce; Levit Bernstein Associates, Midland
Bank, National Westminster Bank; Price WaterhouseCoopers; Quantel; Standard
Chartered Bank (2).
(b) May 1998 to April 1999
Number of secondees: 20 Organisations: BBC; BNFL,
Bank of England; BP Amoco (2); Brown and Root; China British Trade Group;
Civil Aviation Authority; Coopers and Lybrand; European Investment Bank;
Gifford and Partners; Greater London Enterprise; Hyder; Independent
Consultant; MTL Instruments Group; Mouchel; Moscow Narodny Bank;
PricewaterhouseCoopers; Standard Chartered Bank; Taylor Woodrow;
(c) May 1999 to date
Number of secondees: 26 Organisations: AEA; Argo
Interactive; BNFL (2); BP Amoco (2); Baker Hughes International; Barrow
International; Barclys; CBI (2); China British Trade Group; Civil Aviation
Authority; Electric Switch; European Investment Bank; Independent
Consultants (4); Linklaters & Alliance, MTL Instruments Group; Ove
Arup; PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Rolls-Royce; Standard Chartered Bank; Wirea
Sussex.
( Deb 11 February 2000 vol 344 cc337-8W)
Staff
Secondments and revolving doors
Later that year, Don Foster, later to become
a Coalition communities department
minister, asked the Treasury how
many staff from his Department were seconded to private sector companies
in(a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999 and (c) May 1999
to April 2000; and if he will list in each case the companies to which
staff were sent, the names and ranks of the staff involved and the duration
of the secondment- to be provided with the following answer: “Secondments and attachments are part
of the Interchange Initiative which promotes the exchange of people and
good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All
sectors of the economy are involved: Voluntary, Education, Health, Public
and Private. Interchange is a key component of the reform agenda. The
Modernising Government White Paper committed us to increasing interchange,
in particular by bringing in more people on secondment and sending more of
our people out.
1 May 1997 to 30 April 1998
|
1 May 1998 to 30 April 1999
|
1 May 1999 to 30 April 2000
|
Numbers and grades:
| | |
Range D x 5
|
Range D x 4
|
Range D x 2
|
Range E x 6
|
Range E x 4
|
Range E x 5
|
Organisations to whom
secondments were made.
| | |
Business Incubators
| | |
Panel
|
Business Incubators Panel
|
UK Business Incubation
|
Price Waterhouse
|
Price Waterhouse
|
SIB (now FSA)
|
PIA (now FSA)
|
PIA (now FSA)
|
Ockham Holdings
|
SIB (now FSA)
|
SIB (now FSA) British
|
Cement Association
|
EBRD
|
Amerada Hess
|
HSBC Holdings
|
| |
Council of Mortgage
|
Amerada Hess
|
Ockham Holdings
|
Lenders
|
Ockham Holdings
|
British Cement Association
|
Granada
|
British Cement Association
| | |
(HC
Deb 5 June 2000 vol 351 c69W )
Education
engagement too
Junior education and employment minister- later to
become Education Secretary, Estelle (later Baroness) Morris, asked to list
the businesses involved in the leadership of each education action zone,
provided the following:
Each EAZ is led by a forum made up of the main
partners in the zone. In all cases this includes business partners.
The following EAZ forums are chaired by business
people: Barnsley (Non-Executive Director for a number of local companies),
Barrow (Furness Building Society), Bedford (Chamber of Commerce), Blackburn
and Darwen (MTM Associates), Brighton (KPMG), Bristol (HSBC), Corby (Grant
Thornton), Dingle, Granby and Toxteth (ICI), Easington and Seaham (Seaward
Electronics), East Cleveland (Cleveland Potash Mining), Grimsby (Tioxide
UK), Hastings and St. Leonards (Marshall Tufflex), Lambeth (Shell), North
East Sheffield (Yorkshire Water), Salford and Trafford (Kellogs),
Wednesbury (Spring), Weston-super-Mare (Ron Fowler Communications), Wigan
(North West Water), Wythenshawe (Manchester Airport). Some of the new EAZs
have not yet elected their Chair.
(HC Deb 21 March 2000 vol 346 c508W )
Tessa Jowell, later to become a Cabinet minister,
later told Parliament “The following companies provided funds via the New
Deal Taskforce to Wildcat Corporation”:
Company
|
Amount(£)
|
Date
|
Microsoft
|
35,000
|
3 July 2000
|
Credit Suisse First Boston
|
20,000
|
28 July 2000
|
KPMG
|
20,000
|
3 August 2000
|
Freshfields
|
20,000
|
3 August 2000
|
The Rockefeller Foundation
|
6,500
|
September 2000
|
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
|
20,000
|
114 September 2000
|
Prudential
|
20,000
|
12 October 2000
|
Deloitte and Touche
|
20,000
|
17 October 2000
|
HSBC
|
20,000
|
13 December 2000
|
Salomon Brothers
|
20.000
|
15 March 2001
|
1Sent directly to Wildcat
| | |
(HC Deb 21 March 2001 vol 365 c261W)
Post
Office and the Universal bank
In November 2000, Steven Byers, the Trade and
Industry Secretary- who would later be suspended from the Parliamentary
Labour Party for his involvement in dodgy lobbying for business before
stepping down from Parliament in 2010 – said in a debate on the Post
Office: “I welcome the announcement by HSBC earlier this week of its broad support
for the concept of a universal bank—a post office-based solution. ..and I
hope that an agreement will be concluded in the not-too-distant future, so
that we can provide banking services through the post office network.
(HC Deb 30 November 2000 vol 357
cc1126-8)
Shortly after, in the Lords, business minister Lord Sainsbury of Turville, told peers: “Agreement
in principle was reached on 20 December 2000 with the following six banks,
Barclays, Lloyds TSB Ltd, RBS/Nat West, HSBC, Abbey National and the
Halifax, to contribute towards universal banking services at the Post
Office. Discussions continue with other banks and building societies to
examine what contributions they can make.” (HL Deb 15 January 2001 vol 620 cc95-6WA)
To ask
the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the United
Kingdom companies that received support from the Export Credits Guarantee
Department in the(a) last and (b) current financial year to date. [145471]
However, Lord Green insisted in an
interview with Sky News, he had "no case to answer" over the
money laundering scandal,” adding “ As and when issues were drawn to our
attention, as we were seeking to grapple with the issues, we took action. I
think we must acknowledge there were some failures of implementation. HSBC
has expressed its regret for that. I share that regret."
In a letter to Chris Leslie, the
shadow Treasury minister, Lord Green added: "With regards to the
bank's efforts to address its AML (anti-money laundering) and OFAC (Office
of Foreign Assets Control) compliance issues, HSBC has expressed its regret
that there were failures of implementation in these areas, and I share that
regret." He added "HSBC have always sought to do the right thing
and, when things go wrong, worked hard to put them right…I have sought to
embody these values in my own work and to react appropriately to emerging
issues both as CEO (chief executive officer) and chairman of HSBC."
Scientific Research too……
In spring 2002, Baroness Warwick of
Undercliffe, told
peers as chief executive of Universities UK. “ Tomorrow, at the
headquarters of HSBC,
Universities UK launches a report which shows how much knowledge transfer
takes place between universities and industry.”
(HL Deb 13 May 2002 vol
635 cc6-9)
Nuclear
nouce
HSBC has also put its financial fingers into the
lucrative nuclear industry pie. Responding to a question by Labour MP Llew
Smith, who asked if the minister responsible would both those bodies which
provided the independent advice on BNFL liabilities and also the contracts
entered into with those advising the Department, the strongly pro-nuclear energy
ministdr, Brian Wilson said: “The
Department received advice on BNFL's liabilities from Andersen, Arthur D
Little, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deloitte and Touche, HSBC, Slaughter and
May and Lane Clark and Peacock. With the exception of the contract entered
into with Arthur D Little, which asked the firm specifically to review the
methods used by BNFL when quantifying its liabilities, the contracts
entered into with the remaining firms sought advice on a number of issues,
including liabilities. These contracts were awarded following best
departmental practice which involved obtaining competitive tenders and,
where applicable, following EU procurement rules.”
(HC Deb 12 February 2002 vol 380 c292W)
Eleven
years on, in autumn 2013, Lord Green, speaking, as a business department minister,
told peers, demonstrating continued love affair with nuclear power, said”
"We also welcome the deal
announced by EDF in respect of Hinkley Point C, which is a good deal for
this country. The entire nuclear industry, irrespective of who is investing
in it and who is building it, needs to be properly regulated, for all the
obvious reasons, but we are committed to the importance of nuclear as part of
the energy mix. We have to invest substantially over the next 10 to 20
years in nuclear rebuild and we should welcome the involvement of foreign
direct investment—including from China—so long as it is properly regulated
and overseen." (Lords Official Report, 7
Nov 2013 : Column 373)
Trains as well…
Railway
Rolling Stock
David Jamieson, a junior transport minister, told
Parliament in December 2002
There are 1,741 Mark 1 railway rolling stock vehicles
leased through 19 leases as follows:
- ROSCO:
Angel Trains
- Number
of vehicles: 600
- Number
of leases: 5
- Allocation
to lessee: South West Trains (0), South Central Trains (324), Connex
South Eastern (276)
- ROSCO:
Portebrook Leasing
- Number
of vehicles: 621
- Number
of leases: 10
- Allocation
to lessee: South West Trains (195), South Central Trains (224), Connex
South Eastern (202)
- ROSCO:
HSBC
- Number
of Vehicles: 520
- Number
of leases: 4
- Allocation
to lessee: South West Trains (380), South Central Trains (60), Connex
South Eastern (80)
But, he admitted, further details were being kept
secret, saying “ The dates to which train operating companies are committed
to leasing the vehicles are commercially confidential. “
(HC Deb 16 December 2002 vol 396 cc658-9W)
It seemed HSBC could do no wrong. Another strong supporter of the nuclear
industry, Labour MP for Glasgow, Anniesland, John Robertson, currently
chair of the All Party Nuclear Energy Group on Parliament, observed in a
debate on funded pension: “I am pleased to have an opportunity to
contribute to this excellent debate. A vast number of companies have closed their final salary schemes to
new employees, citing the aforementioned factors individually or
collectively. BT closed its pension scheme—as a member of that scheme, I
declare an interest—to new employees on 1 April. I do not know whether the
fact that it was April Fool's day was a coincidence. Many others, such as HSBC, Marks and
Spencer, Abbey National and Barclays—all reputable companies—have also closed their
schemes.
(HC Deb 02 July 2002 vol 388 cc90-196)
Later that year, HSBC had become so
influential, it even had its own Act of Parliament, as is evidenced by this
extract from the Parliament’s Official Report for 7 November 2002!
I have to acquaint the House that the House has
been to the House of Peers, where a Commission under the Great Seal was
read, authorising the Royal Assent to the following Acts:
*http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2002/3/contents/enacted
(HC Deb 07 November 2002 vol 392 c480)
10 years later, and HSBC boss Stephen Green, now fêted as Tory
supporter, had now become the grander Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint. Here are
some of his on-the-record views:
24 Sep 2012 : Column WA305
House of
Lords: Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint
Question
Asked by Lord
Hunt of Kings Heath
To ask Her
Majesty’s Government whether Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint is authorised to
speak on all matters relating to his department.[HL2071]
The
Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills &
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint): As
Minister of State for Trade and Investment, I am responsible for the
development and implementation of cross-government strategy for trade and
inward investment. I am Minister of State in both the department of
Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
providing advice on trade and investment to the Foreign Secretary and the
Business Secretary.
I am spokesman for the Government
on trade and investment matters in the House of Lords.
The Minister
of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills & Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint):It is
important that we remain an attractive destination for FDI, which means ensuring that
our tax regime is attractive, that we minimise unnecessary red tape and
that we have a planning regime that is fit for purpose. I know that the
whole House will agree with me when I say that a lot of work needs to be
done, and is in hand, under those three headings. The headline rate of
corporation tax is the most visible sign of how competitive a country is
and we are cutting that to 22% by 2014. That will be the lowest in the G7.
We are supporting innovation through the patent box and R and D tax
credits, and high-growth companies with programmes such as the enterprise
investment scheme.
A crucial area where we need to attract FDI is not
only in productive activity but in the public economic infrastructure. A
number of noble Lords have referred to that issue. The kindest friends of
this country would not accuse it of having a world-class public economic
infrastructure. Infrastructure UK, a body started by the previous
Administration and continued and developed by this one, has been developing
increasingly specific project-based plans for investment in transport,
energy, water and broadband networks which we will need if we are to
compete effectively in the 21st century. It is estimated that around £250
billion of investment will be required between now and 2015, the bulk of
which will, of course, have to come from private sector capital working in
harness with the Government. That capital will come from foreign
institutions, from domestic institutions and also from sovereign wealth
funds. A lot of work is being done on that. This is a long-term programme
that we have to keep at.
Our regulatory environment is another important
signal for overseas investors in this country. We are often, quite rightly,
very critical of ourselves, but actually we have a strong reputation
overseas for transparency, predictability and the rule of law, and we must
never lose this. According to the World Bank, the UK ranks seventh in the
world for the ease of doing business and second only to Denmark in the EU.
The UK has the fewest barriers to entrepreneurship of any country in the
world. It takes 13 days to set up a business here, which is two days fewer
than in Germany and almost a third fewer than the international average and
a fraction of the time that it takes in some of the fastest-growing,
emerging markets around the world.
We have to do much more especially to tackle
bureaucracy that is holding businesses back. I note the point made by a
number of noble Lords that this bears down particularly on SMEs. It is a
continuous challenge. I suspect that if we are standing here in 10 years’
time we will still be pleading for an attack on unnecessary regulatory
bureaucracy on behalf of small businesses. But we are working on it. That
is why we have introduced the Red Tape Challenge and are seeking to
simplify planning procedures—one in, one out on red tape; and the new
National Planning Policy Framework creates a presumption in favour of
sustainable investment, reducing some 1,000 pages of planning guidelines to
just 52.
Moreover, we know that exporting helps companies to grow. We know that
businesses that export do better with the help of UKTI and UKEF. We know
that on average companies that work with UKTI go on to win overseas sales
of over £100,000 within 18 months. We know that this is value for money from the point
of view of the taxpayer.
9 Oct 2012 : Column GC422
Question
for Short Debate
The Minister of State, Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Green of
Hurstpierpoint):I am conscious that my time is running out fast so I
will just say a word on finance. The finance issue is quite complex. It is
about venture capitalists and seed money. The noble Lord’s comments about
the enterprise investment scheme resonated very strongly with me. I will
take them away and we will see what we can do, but we are very clear that
this is an important scheme.
More generally on business
banking, there is a clear need to reinvest properly in business banking. In
some ways I am better placed than many to say this. The banks
have disinvested—unintentionally, but none the less in fact—in their
business banking capabilities over
9 Oct 2012 :
Column GC438
the past 20 years. We need to turn that around. We need to reskill the banks. The good
news is that the CEOs are all very committed to this. The challenge is that
it is going to be a bit like turning around an oil tanker—I am afraid that
it will take some time and we have some work to do on that. But I can assure noble Lords
that I hold regular round tables with the banks, at both CEO and head of
commercial banking level. I and the Secretary of State are on this
case.
I am
very conscious that I have run out of time. I thank the noble Baroness for
introducing this debate and noble Lords for participating. This is a
challenge that I care passionately about, as I hope noble Lords can tell.
We have a great deal to do but I believe that we can be successful as long
as we stick at it.
Businesses: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
5.38 pm
Lord Green
of Hurstpierpoint (Con):
Finally, much, though not all, of exporting requires effective
financial support. The Government have begun over the past couple of years
to rejuvenate UKEF, broaden its project range, make it better known to
SMEs, strengthen its marketing, strengthen its presence around the country,
and provide advice to
banks—I am sorry that it has to provide advice to banks, but it is none the
less there and it does and should do so—and, of course, to its
clients. Anecdotal evidence is that progress is being made but I am sure we
all recognise that there is a long way to go. Again, I ask my noble friend
to comment on progress in developing UKEF’s offering to small businesses up
and down the land.
16 Jan 2014 :
Column GC213
Business:
International Competitiveness
Lord Green
of Hurstpierpoint (Con):
A challenge for both the Government and the business community is to
encourage and support more companies to get into the international arena:
first, because we need it from the balance of payments perspective; and,
secondly, because it is good for their productivity and we thereby
strengthen the backbone of the whole economy.
What
do we need to do to encourage and support this? There is the role of the Government themselves
of course, and we have already talked about the importance of the tax and
regulatory framework. I want to dwell briefly on the role of trade
promotion. I might be regarded as parti pris in so saying, but I think that
the role of UKTI and UKEF is important. The key themes of work in progress
in both cases are obvious to us all—more private sector experience in their
leadership, more ability to operate flexibly and to market their services
to British companies up and down the land, and adequate budgetary
resourcing. Can the Minister assure us that the work that has been put in
hand over the last two to three years will be continued? This is, I might
add, a marathon and not a sprint. We need to continue it, not merely
through the next spending review, but probably for the next 10 to 20 years,
if we are to put this right.
7 Nov 2013 : Column
373
United Kingdom and China
The Minister of
State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills & Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint) (Con):
"We also welcome the
deal announced by EDF in respect of Hinkley Point C, which is a good deal
for this country. The entire nuclear industry, irrespective of who is
investing in it and who is building it, needs to be properly regulated, for
all the obvious reasons, but we are committed to the importance of nuclear
as part of the energy mix. We have to invest substantially over the next 10
to 20 years in nuclear rebuild and we should welcome the involvement of
foreign direct investment—including from China—so long as it is properly regulated
and overseen."
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Finance is quite properly of concern to a number of
noble Lords. The noble Baronesses, Lady Coussins and Lady Drake, made a
detailed analysis of some of the issues that we face. Given my former
career, I am perhaps better placed than many to reflect on the weaknesses
of commercial and business banking in this country. From that experience
and from my experience going round this country in the past two and a half
years and meeting businesses of all shapes and sizes, there is indeed an
issue. It is quite plain that there are circumstances where companies with
legitimate financing requirements cannot get financing because the normal
templates are being required and inadequate imagination is being applied to
the topic.
What I think has happened over not just the past
three or four years of the financial and economic crisis but over the past
20 years is that the
skill base of business banking in high street banks has been deteriorating.
This has happened partly because average career bankers with a reasonable
dose of ambition have wanted to head either for the excitements of
corporate and investment banking or for the sexy end of the retail banking
market and did not see themselves spending the rest of their career in a
relationship management role in, let us say, Rotherham. The central
functions have responded by disempowering those relationship managers, so
we have the result that the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, commented on. If
I have some good news,
it is that all the CEOs with whom I have regular dialogue and the heads of
commercial banking are focused on this and are determined to address the
problem. I hold regular round tables with the banks under the auspices of
the British Bankers’ Association. The general problem, I have described. In
international trade, in particular, there is even more of a problem with
the skill base. They are focused on that. The challenge is that it will
simply take time to turn the supertankers.
In the mean time, we need to be doing two
things—first, to ensure that as it gets going the business bank is able to
challenge them on the way in which business lending is provided and,
secondly, to encourage new challengers. There are some new challengers.
There are a number of new challenger banks, and a number of noble Lords
referred to the various other techniques for financing that are gaining
some traction, although
I do not believe that those other financing sources can ever be an adequate
alternative to, or substitute for, a properly run business banking presence
on our high streets. This is an important issue, and we will
continue working at it.
I find myself saying regularly to my ministerial
colleagues, to my official colleagues, to the media and to anyone who will
listen, that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we have to stick at this
as a national collective effort over at least the next 20 years. The good
news is that we can do it. I mentioned that I travel round this country a
great deal—I visit each English region and the three devolved
Administrations at least twice a year. I have seen businesses from every
sector, of every shape and size—some of them the mid-cap companies—and I
see companies that are taking on the world. As the noble Lord, Lord
Mitchell, said, it is fun to do that. If you are not the kind of person who
finds other countries and cultures fun and interesting, you will never be a
successful exporter. You find these people across the range of the sectors
of our economy. This is not just about high-tech or manufacturing but about
all sectors.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/130626-0003.htm#13062698000054
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