Davey quizzed

• [Mar 31] Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South, Labour): WHAT recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the future levels of Government funding to Citizens Advice; and if he will make a statement.

501)

[10155

Edward Davey (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs), Business, Innovation and Skills; Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat): Last month I met the Minister with responsibility for civil society, the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend Mr Hurd, and other Ministers with an interest in advice services to co-ordinate our national efforts. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has already agreed to protect the core funding for the umbrella organisations Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.

502)

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Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South, Labour): I thank the Minister for that answer, which I did not hear much of. Walkden citizens advice bureau, which is in Salford, serves an area in the 7% most deprived in the country and has done since 1939, but it is now under threat because of uncertainty about funding and because of cuts. Will the Minister call a halt to the cuts in funding for advice services, and will he conduct an urgent review on the future of the funding of those vital organisations?

502)

• Edward Davey: The hon. Lady will know that local citizens advice bureaux are funded by local authorities and that the Government have called on local authorities to play their part, as the national Government are playing their part, and to pass on funding to CAB services. Those services are very important and are valued, and we are looking to all local authorities to play their part.

502)

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Nia Griffith (Llanelli, Labour): At a recent meeting I chaired, representatives from individual CAB and other advice centres from across the country gave the loud and clear message that the current uncertainty about the funding of advice services means that advice service centres are closing their doors, expert advice workers are being made redundant and vulnerable people will soon have nowhere to turn for advice. It is all very well the Minister's blaming the closure of individual CABs on local government decisions, but those decisions are often taken in the light of extreme uncertainty about the future of other funding streams. His Government admits that there is much cause for concern, so why has he not sought an immediate moratorium on all cuts to Government funding streams for advice services for the coming financial year in order to allow time for a longer-term strategy to be developed?

502)

• Edward Davey: I am very surprised that the hon. Lady did not mention the £27 million that the Government announced last month for face-to-face debt advice. That has been strongly welcomed by citizens advice bureaux across the country, and I would have thought that she would have given us credit.

502)

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Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole, Conservative): The CABs in Goole and Scunthorpe provide excellent advice to my constituents on debt-related issues. While I welcome the money that has been announced, is it not time that we tried to achieve a national approach, because CABs have a battle, year in, year out, to secure funding, which clearly does not help our constituents.

502)

• Edward Davey: As I said in my initial response, we are working across government with other Ministers to make sure that we co-ordinate national efforts. We will soon respond to the call for evidence on personal consumer credit and personal insolvency, which will deal with issues such as debt advice.

. . Company Profits (Reporting)

Margaret Curran (Glasgow East, Labour): What discussions he has had with his international counterparts on steps to increase transparency in the reporting of company profits.

507)

• Edward Davey: I, personally, have not had any recent discussions with my international counterparts on the matter, but the Government are committed to greater transparency through corporate reporting. Internationally, the Treasury is leading the Government's efforts with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's task force on tax and development, which is exploring the issues of country-by-country reporting on tax and profits.

507)

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Margaret Curran (Glasgow East, Labour): In the light of his answer, the Minister will be aware of the OECD's recognition that poor countries lose more money each year to corporate tax-dodging than they receive in aid, and Christian Aid estimates that to amount to $160 billion. May I ask him to have a conversation with the Secretary of State? The right hon. Gentleman said in opposition:

"New accounting standards are needed to force multinational companies to declare publicly the profits they make and the taxes they pay in every country in which they operate. That way anomalies will be quickly spotted."

Can I reasonably assume that, in the light of his commitment to the issue, the Government will raise it at the G20 in November?

507)

• Edward Davey: I think that the Government-both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Chancellor-actually have a very good record on the issue. We are contributing to the OECD taskforce, because it is about ensuring not just that UK companies report their profits as they need to, but that we improve corporate performance throughout the world.

507)

[10032

Anne Begg (Aberdeen South, Labour): What guarantees can the Government give for those companies that report their profitability transparently that, at the next Budget, the Treasury will not come along and, completely out of the blue, wallop them with a great windfall tax, as it just has with the offshore oil and gas industry?

507)

• Edward Davey: That was a very good attempt by the hon. Lady, who is obviously trying to champion her constituency, and that is exactly right, but I am sure she will attend the next Treasury questions.

. . Corporate Social Responsibility

Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour): What recent discussions he has had with his G20 counterparts on corporate social responsibility.

511)

• Edward Davey: I have had no such discussions in the context of the G20. However, in January, I met Professor Ruggie, the UN special representative on business and human rights. The Government welcome the guiding principles developed by Professor Ruggie and will work to build consensus for their adoption.

511)

[24709

Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour): I thank the Minister for that answer. In opposition, the Secretary of State was a keen supporter of global action to tackle corporate tax dodging in developing countries, but the Department's recent White Paper did not include a single reference to it. When will the Government put that right?

511)

• Edward Davey: The hon. Lady was not listening to the answer that I gave a few moments ago to her colleague, Margaret Curran. The Government are working hard with the OECD taskforce on tax and development, because we want greater transparency in the reporting of profits and tax.

511)

[10040

John Bercow (Speaker): Liz Kendall. Not here.

. . Groceries Code Adjudicator

Neil Carmichael (Stroud, Conservative): What progress he has made on the implementation of his proposals for a groceries code adjudicator.

512)

• Edward Davey: The groceries code adjudicator Bill is being drafted. I had hoped to publish it before Easter, but now I expect that publication will happen soon after Easter.

512)

[24840

Neil Carmichael (Stroud, Conservative): I thank the Minister for that encouraging reply. Farmers in my constituency are very anxious to see the introduction of an adjudicator. Will it have sufficient powers to impose financial penalties if there is persistent avoidance of the code of practice?

512)

• Edward Davey: When we publish the Bill, the hon. Gentleman will see that we wish to have a reserve power for the adjudicator on penalties, but there is also a real case to be made for the adverse publicity that large supermarkets would face if they breached the groceries supply code of practice.

512)

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Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP): Last week we had a debate in Westminster Hall on the pig industry, and Members indicated clearly that if there was no immediate action to restore the balance between supermarkets' profits and the profitability of farmers, many farmers would go out of business. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that that does not happen?

512)

• Edward Davey: I may have to refer the hon. Gentleman to Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who are obviously responsible for agriculture. We should be clear that the groceries code adjudicator will not be a price regulator-that has never been proposed. It will be there to enforce the groceries supply code of practice. That is very important, because it is in the interests not just of the producers and farmers who supply the large supermarkets but of consumers.

• Full Debate in Parliament