Oral Answers to Questions

Chloe Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

That is a top priority of this Government and I continue to work with colleagues across the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and other Departments to deliver it.

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

15. What fiscal steps he is taking to help reduce economic inactivity.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

If we had the same economic inactivity rate as Holland, there would be 2.7 million more people in work, filling every vacancy in the economy nearly three times over. That is why we focused on the issue in the Budget.

[Chloe Smith]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer, and for the measures he set out in the Budget. I support the fiscal measures he has taken regarding the pensions lifetime allowance, which doctors in Norwich tell me will enable them to deliver more appointments and more operations. Can I go on to ask him, though, what he expects to see in the forthcoming state pension age review?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I thank my right hon. Friend for asking that question, and for all the work she has done in the Department for Work and Pensions on economic inactivity. As she knows, there is an ongoing statutory Government review of the state pension age, and that review will need to carefully balance important factors, including fiscal sustainability, the economic context, the latest life expectancy data, and fairness to both pensioners and taxpayers.

Oral Answers to Questions

Chloe Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge]

I say it again but, if anyone is a champion of the nuclear sector, it is my hon. Friend, who has consistently championed it. She is right that renewables are crucial but that we need baseload energy. Surely, on both sides of the House, if we have learned anything from the past 12 months and what has happened following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is that we need policy not only on renewables but on overall energy security, to which nuclear is crucial.

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

15. If he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of payroll employees to supporting economic growth.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

Unemployment is at a record low of 3.7%, although we recognise that there are labour shortages due, in part, to a rise in working-age inactivity. Tackling that inactivity and supporting growth remains a priority for the Government, and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is working on a thorough review, which will conclude very shortly.

[Chloe Smith]

I am glad my right hon. Friends have taken up the urgent issue of economic inactivity. Does the Minister agree that support for disability and poor health must be improved to help people to start, to stay and to succeed at work? Will he ensure that spending on Access to Work keeps pace, and will he look at a disability employment endowment fund?

[John Glen]

Absolutely, I will look at that. The Government have already committed £1.3 billion of funding to help those with health conditions or disabilities to get into work and to thrive. This is a complex area with a number of interlocking factors, at which we are looking very carefully at this moment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Griffith]

This Government bow to nobody when it comes to cracking down on tax evasion. It is wrong and illegal, and the Government do not support it.

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

T8. The Chancellor was right to argue last autumn that the NHS needs to help people into work. Will he bring forward more thinking on this as part of his inactivity review or in the Budget?