Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

The hon. Lady is right to highlight the seriousness of these issues. However, as has been said in this question session, the statistics show that child poverty in this country has come down and is coming down under the coalition Government. It is precisely because of these issues that we are introducing the policy of universal free school meals. The evidence shows that it increases take-up among low-income families, who do not always take up free school meals, and ensures that children get a square meal at school each day. I hope that she will join me in welcoming that.

[Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) (Con)]

T3. The appalling congestion in Abingdon makes life miserable for families and commuters and inhibits local economic growth. With 600 new and needed houses planned on Dunmore road, will the Chancellor meet met to discuss why investing in a diamond junction on Lodge hill on the A34 is the answer not only to making that development sustainable, but to unlocking growth in the wider region?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 10th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

It is noteworthy that no one from the Labour Benches wanted to comment on cutting fuel duty in remote and rural areas. I wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend, and by the end of this Parliament, motorists will be paying 20p a litre less every time they fill up their tank than they would have paid had Labour’s fuel duty escalator been allowed to go forward.

[Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) (Con)]

4. What steps he has taken to increase infrastructure investment.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

6. What steps he has taken to increase infrastructure investment.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

Average annual investment in infrastructure has risen to £45 billion per year under this Government, compared with just £41 billion during the last five years of the previous Government. Last week we published an updated national infrastructure plan that set out our long-term plan for meeting those ambitions for the next decade and beyond. That included a pipeline of £375 billion-worth of projects, building on the announcements we made in June.

[Nicola Blackwood]

I thank the Chief Secretary for his answer. Does he agree that investing in strategic roads such as the A34 in my constituency can be key to unlocking vital growth and inward investment in priority sectors? Will he investigate the economic case for urgent investment in the A34?

[Danny Alexander]

I agree about the importance of the A34, which is why, through the national pinch-point programme announced in the 2011 autumn statement, we committed to a scheme to improve links between the A34 and the M40. Work on that scheme will start in March, and I am sure the hon. Lady will agree that it will make a significant difference to the economy in her part of the country.