Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)

My Lords, this has been a good debate and I rise to speak briefly. I listened carefully to the arguments put forward by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for Amendment 2, and I commend the noble Baroness for championing part-time workers, as she has done during the passage of this Bill, much as my noble friend Lord Altrincham has been championing youth employment, which is also so important. She is right to raise the impact that the policy will have on jobs. We know that part-time workers are likely to be more at risk of losing their jobs or missing out on future opportunities as a result of this Bill, particularly as a result of the drop in the threshold, which is one of the proposals. I also support the noble Baroness’s call for more information on the Government’s assessment of the impact of the Bill. I have tabled a review clause, which is in a later group, that goes wider than Amendment 36 and seeks to correct the Government’s failure to produce a proper impact assessment. I should add that I have tabled Amendment 34—it has been put into this group—to increase the employment allowance available to farmers. Our farmers are hurting. “Starmer Farmer Harmer” signs are now a common sight on the country lanes of England, although I doubt many Ministers have seen them, but we will not press that amendment to a Division. We tabled that amendment to call on the Government, once again, to support our farmers and reverse the family farm tax, which is undermining, unfortunately, the long-term viability of British farming.