Wales Bill

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question, and I hope we can cover some of those points later in the debate, but, Madam Deputy Speaker, much will depend on what you determine and interpret as subsidiarity.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State just mentioned Welsh income tax rates. What guarantees is he going to give the House with regard to the Welsh block grant to the National Assembly for Wales over the duration of this Parliament, which is all he can speak for? My worry is that he will cut the block grant and expect the people of Wales to make up the difference from higher income tax rates.

[Alun Cairns]

The right hon. Gentleman will recognise the funding floor introduced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which was a clear commitment and promise delivered by the Government. Of course, the Barnett adjustments need to be considered, and discussions between the Welsh Government and the Treasury and my officials are ongoing. We would like to see progress on those matters as the Bill is scrutinised throughout the parliamentary process. Both Administrations are determined to find a transparent way that will rightly serve the people of Wales and the Welsh and UK taxpayer.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alun Cairns]

I am happy to clarify that matter. The Bill gives provision for who votes rather than for compulsory voting.

The Assembly is a fully fledged legislature, trusted with passing laws that affect the lives of millions of people in Wales. It is right that the legislative framework in which it operates reflects that, and enables the Assembly to decide how it conducts its business.

The Bill also repeals the unnecessary and outdated right of the Secretary of State for Wales to participate in Assembly proceedings. Subject to the Bill’s progress, I hope that my attendance at the Assembly in a few weeks’ time will be the last by a Secretary of State for Wales. I am sure that Members of all parties, both here and in Cardiff Bay, will welcome that—probably for many different reasons. I am sure that it will go down well in all parts of the House. A key feature of a mature legislature is that it raises, through taxation, at least some of the money it spends. With power comes responsibility. The Assembly must become more accountable to those who elect it. It must take responsibility for raising more of the money that it spends. The devolution of stamp duty, land tax and landfill tax, and the full devolution of business rates in April last year, are the first steps towards that, and it is only right that a portion of income tax is devolved too.

In the autumn statement, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced that we will legislate to remove the need for a referendum to introduce Welsh rates of income tax, which means that the Welsh Government can take on more responsibility for how they raise money, and the Welsh Government want that to happen.

There are practical issues—the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) raised some of these—to agree with the Welsh Government, particularly how the Welsh block grant is adjusted to take account of tax devolution. Those discussions are already taking place, and I expect them to progress as the Bill passes through both Houses.

[Mr Hanson]

Will the Secretary of State clarify—I should possibly know the answer to this—on what the tax is based? Is it on residence in Wales or work in Wales?

[Alun Cairns]

It is residence in Wales. There will be further technical issues that we will want to clarify in discussions between the Treasury, the Welsh Government and the Wales Office. Those elements will be considered in further detail as the Bill progresses, and as the adjustments are agreed between all parties involved. The base is focused on residency rather than on where people work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Guto Bebb]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I recently visited Cardiff with the Minister for Employment and it was truly inspiring to hear the team at the Cardiff jobcentre highlight how universal credit and the flexibility it offers is encouraging people back to work.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

The Minister will have seen this week’s Treasury assessment of the impact of withdrawal from the European Union on the UK economy. Could he give us his view of the impact of withdrawal on the Welsh economy?

[Guto Bebb]

The right hon. Gentleman is well aware of my position on this issue. I believe quite passionately that the Welsh economy is stronger for being part of the European Union. Whether for our manufacturing industry, our agriculture industry or our small businesses, I think the stability and certainty of being part of the European Union are good for Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 13th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

As well as seeking to grow the economy across the United Kingdom, all the way to Yorkshire and beyond, we are seeking to move our dependency in Wales from the south-eastern part of the country. Less than two weeks ago, I was in north Wales talking to local authority leaders, businesses and business groups, all of whom were keen to support the north Wales growth deal. It was interesting to note that they called for the deal to take place on a cross-border basis, extending to Cheshire and the Wirral, to ensure that north Wales was plugged into the northern powerhouse.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Given the importance of north Wales, will the Secretary of State press very hard for the establishment of links to Manchester airport and rail links to enable people to benefit from HS2, and would I, as a north Wales MP, be able to vote on such measures?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 24th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Now that it is official Government policy to support membership of the European Union in the referendum, will the Minister and the Secretary of State produce a report that shows the benefit of the European Union to jobs and investment in Wales?

[Alun Cairns]

Our position is clear. The Government support the deal that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has negotiated. Of course, Europe is important to our exporters and businesses, but it is also important because of the money repatriated from Europe to Wales and the United Kingdom through cohesion funding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 13th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work in securing that investment. He championed this project from the outset, and later this year the direct link from north Wales through Cheshire to Liverpool will be operational. That is a tangible demonstration of the northern powerhouse in action.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

12. I, too, welcome the Halton curve and the direct link to Liverpool airport, but does the hon. Gentleman recognise that HS2 coming to Crewe is also important, not just for electrification and the link to north Wales, but to speed up contacts to Manchester airport from north Wales?

[Alun Cairns]

The right hon. Gentleman will be well aware of the rail transport summit that was held in north Wales last year. It talked about how we can best bring forward a bid to modernise the railway infrastructure across north Wales, and we look forward to that bid coming forward. Only last week I spoke to the chair of the north Wales economic ambition board to discuss the progress of that project.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 18th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb]

To paraphrase the famous old man of Pencader, it will be the Welsh people ultimately who determine the direction and pace of Welsh devolution. The draft Wales Bill will give powers to the Welsh Assembly to call itself a Parliament and take on more law-making responsibilities.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

8. What assessment he has made of the effect of changes to tax credits on families in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Alun Cairns)]

Low pay has been a scourge on the Welsh economy for too long. Reforming tax credits is an important part of our plan to transform the whole of the UK to a low tax, low welfare, higher wage economy. The Chancellor will set out details of these reforms in his autumn statement.

[Mr Hanson]

What representations have the Minister and the Department made to the Chancellor about the impact on 44,600 people in north Wales and 200,000 people across Wales of the loss of £1,300 per year as a result of his changes? What has he said to the person who is sitting next to him?

[Alun Cairns]

The Wales Office is in regular dialogue with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and the Treasury. The Chancellor will set out how we plan to achieve the goal of a lower tax, low welfare, higher wage economy in next week’s comprehensive spending review. The right hon. Gentleman needs to recognise that the tax credit changes are part of a wider reform that includes increases to the national living wage, changes to universal credit and help with childcare, on which we hope the Welsh Government will follow suit.

Steel Industry

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb]

That is a useful and constructive point. It is, of course, the model that Celsa Steel uses in Cardiff. At the moment, we are looking at all aspects of the steel industry to identify future growth opportunities.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State talks about what he cannot do, so can he talk about what he can do, which is in the area of procurement? What proposals do the Government have to procure British steel products in the next 12 months to keep this business open and flourishing?

[Stephen Crabb]

I am coming on to exactly those issues. We all have to acknowledge and be honest about the fact that there are limits to what we can do in response to the economic realities facing the steel industry. I see Opposition Members shaking their heads, but I make the point again—they need to step back and be honest about the realities of a global steel crisis that is affecting steel manufacturers across north America and all across Europe.

North Wales Economic Infrastructure

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Sir Roger.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami) for putting this important issue on the agenda today. Like him, I recognise that the north Wales economy is both strong in itself and linked very much to Merseyside, Cheshire and the rest of north-west England. We have businesses such as Airbus, and I echo the condolences that my hon. Friend has expressed following the tragic accident in France yesterday.

We also have Toyota and the companies in the Deeside industrial belt, including the Deeside industrial zone as a whole. Those companies are extremely important, not only for the economy of north Wales but for the economy of north-west England. Potentially as many of my constituents work at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory as work at Toyota’s factory in Deeside, with both sites producing good-quality vehicles.

Large businesses and the commuting population, as well as those engaged in tourism, depend on strong economic infrastructure. I think you will find, Sir Roger, that there will be a great deal of consensus across the House today on some of the key issues on which the next Government—whoever forms that Government—will need to focus in the next five years.

Like my hon. Friend, I will concentrate on three particular areas: rail, broadband, and housing. I will also touch briefly on energy infrastructure.

First, there is rail. There is a compelling case to improve the rail links from north Wales to Merseyside. The right hon. Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones) made a very powerful speech about the need to improve the Wrexham to Bidston line, and the need for the hub at the Deeside industrial park. That is one aspect of rail and the view on it is shared across the House. It is important that we consider pressing the case for those improvements, because they would not only provide a strong commuting link but meet the objective that my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside mentioned, namely taking vehicles off the road. Currently we have congested roads going both into and out of north Wales, particularly at peak times.

It is important that we maximise the benefits to north Wales of High Speed 2 and the link to Crewe. I think that all of us in Westminster Hall today, including my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) who is on the Labour Front Bench, but with the exception of the Minister, met the Mersey Dee Alliance and the North Wales economic ambition board to consider how the next Parliament can maximise the benefits of HS2 for north Wales. The Minister, officials and the Wales Office, working with the Department for Transport and the National Assembly for Wales, need to look at that strategic vision for the next five years, to ensure that we are at the table when key decisions are discussed.

Regarding the link from Crewe, at the moment the Chancellor talks about a northern powerhouse. In my view, north Wales is part of that northern powerhouse, and as north Wales MPs we have to impress upon whoever forms the next Government that they have to engage strongly with proposals to ensure that there is electrification between Crewe and Chester, that there are improvements on the line between Crewe and Chester, and, crucially, that such improvements continue to be made right the way down to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen). That would improve access from Ireland through to Chester and the rest of north-west England, through to London, and across the north to Hull and the markets that access to that port would open up, which is extremely important.

My hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside touched on the issue of the Halton curve, which is a key link to Liverpool. I am pleased that the Government have invested more than £10 million in that link; we have been pressing for that investment for some months. Again, it is part of what we need to focus on. I share the view of both my hon. Friend and the right hon. Member for Clwyd West that we are intrinsically linked with north-west England in terms of our economy, and therefore improving the Halton curve link will improve access not only to Merseyside markets and employment but to Liverpool airport.

We also need to consider how we can maximise the links to Manchester airport. With due respect to my colleagues in the National Assembly, much play is made of Cardiff airport. However, I do not think that anybody from my constituency would ever fly from Cardiff airport, but they will fly from Manchester airport, which is only 40 miles away from where I live in north Wales, and from Liverpool airport, which is only 20 miles from where I live. Currently, the transport infrastructure—apart from my private vehicle—is extremely poor when it comes to accessing both those crucial hubs. We need to build on it. Also, with all these links we need to look not only for tourism benefits but business and commuting benefits.

Let me give one example of a proposal for further infrastructure that would be of great help in five years, on which Network Rail needs to focus. Now, for the first time in the past 12 or 13 years, Flint station has direct links to London, on the north Wales line, through Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains runs several trains an hour that stop at Flint; there is a very strong link. Currently, there are proposals to extend the length of Virgin Trains, to ensure that we can maximise the capacity, linked in to HS2. Flint station will not be big enough to take that extra capacity and in my view we need to press Virgin Trains and Network Rail to extend Flint station, which can be done on platform terms, to ensure that we do not lose out when that extra capacity comes on-stream.

There is a real agenda for rail, which I support and which I think the Government, the DFT, the Wales Office, the National Assembly for Wales, Network Rail and MPs, working on a cross-party basis, need to look at with the MDA and the North Wales economic ambition board.

Rail infrastructure is important but one of the things that we know about the 21st century is that individual businesses, wherever they operate from, depend on good, fast broadband services, and the attendant capacity, to ensure that their businesses grow. Businesses based in north Wales can trade with the world from north Wales if they have good broadband facilities.

Recently, I have received representations from businesses in the north Flintshire part of my constituency, from businesses based in Trelogan and from businesses in Bagillt, which is in the mid-part of my constituency, and they are saying quite clearly that broadband speeds are not up to scratch and need to be faster, and that connections need to be improved. I know that both the National Assembly and the Government have invested in broadband, but it is still the case that only 56% of my constituency has access to broadband and the average download speed is still only 13.1 megabits, which is not sufficient to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy.

Although a number of hubs have been put in place and there have been plans for Caerwys, Flint, Holywell, Mold West, Mostyn, Northop and Pontybodkin, which is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside, to link to the southern part of my constituency, where there are live exchanges, and Halkyn exchange will come on-stream shortly, there are still issues of speed and capacity, and the Government need to focus on them as a matter of urgency. I hope that the Government respond, not just providing figures about broadband, but saying what else is going to be done to increase the capacity and speed and ensure that the businesses in my area have access as a matter of some importance.

My hon. Friend mentioned housing, which might seem to be going off at a tangent in a debate about economic infrastructure, but it is crucial to the development of jobs and prosperity in our area. I join my hon. Friend in expressing great pleasure about Flintshire county council’s investing a record £20 million in the first council housing for many years. Over the next five years it will build 200 homes. The centre of Flint, in my constituency, is currently being redeveloped—200 homes will be put on that site shortly—but there is a need for more. To add a political note, that is why I welcome the national Labour party’s commitment to invest in social housing, if elected in May, with 200,000 homes for rent, because the Assembly will then have the capacity to ensure that Flintshire county council has additional homes to rent. That is an important mechanism to ensure that we have a strong local work force.

Public sector finance going into private sector housing—into social housing for rent—is putting money into the economy through local private sector building firms in north Wales. The firms currently building the properties in Flint are not public sector firms. Private sector firms are growing the economy and building houses, and they will be using bricks, wood, plaster, mortar and equipment made in the private sector in north Wales, which will help generate our economy and add valuable housing stock to make our area attractive and alleviate long housing lists.

Energy infrastructure is equally important. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) will talk about the tidal lagoon in his constituency, which will have a great impact, potentially, on my constituency. I have met individuals in north Wales who want to develop that tidal lagoon off the north Wales coast as part of our investment in energy.

It is also important that we encourage and develop the offshore wind industry in north Wales, although there may be some disagreement on part of this. We have a great ability to engender manufacturing and a strong offshore wind energy industry. As part of the economic infrastructure, we should be looking at how we integrate the energy sector in north Wales. For example, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn, there are developments in nuclear; in that of my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Clwyd, tidal lagoons are being developed; and in my constituency wind farms, both onshore and offshore, are being developed with expertise in our area. Companies such as Kingspan have great expertise in solar panels and the development of that sector. That is all part of a Government partnership to help build, support and develop the alternative energy sector as a whole.

Whoever forms the next Government, there are real issues to consider in respect of rail, broadband and investment in housing, and regarding developing a sustainable alternative energy structure. North Wales is doing well and has a great deal to offer, but it can and should do better. Whoever forms the next Government will have the support of the area’s Members of Parliament, whom I hope will be returned after the election, to ensure that north Wales does better in the next five years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

5. What assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s policies of the Auditor General for Wales’s report on “Managing the Impact of Welfare Reform Changes on Social Housing Tenants in Wales”, published in January 2015.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

6. What recent estimate he has made of the number of households in Wales that have received a reduction in benefits since the introduction of the under-occupancy penalty.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

7. What assessment he has made of the implications for the Government’s policies of the Auditor General for Wales’s report on “Managing the Impact of Welfare Reform Changes on Social Housing Tenants in Wales”, published in January 2015.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alun Cairns]

The report that the right hon. Lady mentions is an important contribution to the debate, but it focuses on only one element of Government policy. It does not take into account the wider package of welfare reform—something that the previous Administration, sadly, shied away from. This Administration will not do so, because of the important need to tackle Government finances.

[Mr Hanson]

The 1,500 people in Flintshire who are impacted by the bedroom tax face no choice but to cut their incomes, which are already low, because there are no properties available. Will the Minister tell me how many two-bedroom and one-bedroom properties are available in Flintshire today?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Hanson of Flint Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his persistent interest in these sorts of matters in Wales. This is an important issue, not only for the Wales Office but for the Department for Transport. It is a subject in which the Welsh Government will also want to show an interest.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

In all of this, things seem to have gone a little bit quiet on the issue of north Wales electrification. Will the Minister update the House on his plans to ensure that it is an objective that he will seek to achieve?

[Alun Cairns]

On the contrary, things have not gone quiet on north Wales electrification. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales was in north-east and north-west Wales last week, championing the need for business to grow and make its case, so that when the Secretary of State for Transport makes his final judgments on the next round of investment, north Wales is at the forefront of his mind.