---

Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2010

My Lords, naturally I concur with the Minister’s splendid analysis. She talked about the importance of agency working and flexibility and we do not demur from that. However, in applying the European directive, we need to enhance the rights of agency workers and address past discrepancies. I was also pleased to note that her analysis of the regulatory burden concurred with ours. The previous Government sought not to add to the regulatory burden. There is no such thing as a perfect piece of legislation. Nevertheless, I agree with the Minister’s analysis that the measure seeks to deal with an area where a large amount of exploitation arises. That is not to say that there are no reputable agencies; there are. Unfortunately, however, young people who wish to embark on a modelling career often pay ridiculous sums of money up front on the promise of employment that never arises. I understand the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord James, but one hopes that parental responsibility will be exercised where these vulnerable young people are concerned. That area may not be covered by the instrument. I do not know whether that was raised with us beforehand. We were addressing what was commonly observed to be an area of significant exploitation. The statutory instrument addresses that and we welcome the Government’s decision to introduce it.