Lord Moynihan of Chelsea (Con)

I thank noble Lords for their patience in enduring at this late hour this somewhat arcane discussion. The noble Lord, Lord Goddard, emphasised the importance of consultation and, indeed, the essential nature of it, and said how vulnerable employees are. But they are not vulnerable in this particular circumstance; they have priority as creditors above all other creditors. If there is money, they will get it. If there is no money, they will get it from the Redundancy Payments Service. But why, having got their full amount of redundancy money, should they then scoop the pot and get three times as much because of a flaw in the law that will leave, for example, small trade creditors not receiving anything and possibly facing bankruptcy? That is not to mention the fact that a lot of this money will usually come from the taxpayer—ultimately, the source of funds for these penalty payments—via HMRC, where the Redundancy Payments Service is, thus increasing the deficit. It would create a mini black hole, if I could be so foolish as to mention that. My noble friend Lord Hunt of Wirral ably reinforced the need for this amendment. The Minister emphasised the importance of consultation. I understand that, but I believe Hansard will show that I have already dealt with most of the items in his response. I will not delay noble Lords any longer by going over that ground again, except to say once again that when he asks why employees should suffer, the answer is that they will not suffer. I hoped I had explained that. I am chagrined to understand that I have not. They have total priority above all other creditors in receiving their full redundancy payments. All I ask is, why should they, as a result of a glitch in the law, receive in total three times that much as a so-called penalty payment? They will not be paid by the employer because the employer will be long gone. They will not be paid by the insolvency practitioner, in facing the impossible task of obeying both laws at the same time. They will be paid mostly by us, first through HMRC and through it the taxpayer. The hour is late and so, if only on compassionate grounds, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.