Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Alan Mak(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)
By 2019-20, we will be spending £2.5 billion on apprenticeships in England every year through the apprenticeship levy. In this Budget, we have given employers more flexibility to deploy it as they see best.
Alan Mak
Greater investment in STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—skills is key to boosting employment in our growing digital economy. What support can the Chief Secretary give to ensure more training is available to our next generation of scientists, engineers and tech entrepreneurs?
Elizabeth Truss
My hon. Friend is right. We know that people with STEM skills have higher earnings. That is why we put more money into the maths premium last year to encourage more students to study that subject from 16 to 18. This year, we have launched a new programme to enable the better retention of maths and physics teachers in our schools.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Alan Mak(6 years, 9 months ago)
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Elizabeth Truss
We do take notice of what the independent pay review bodies say. We have just approved the recommendations of the teachers pay review body and of the nurses pay review body. Listening to their recommendations, the pay review body for the NHS said:
“We do not see significant short-term nationwide recruitment and retention issues that are linked to pay.”
We followed that advice and gave the pay accordingly.
Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)
Increases in the tax-free personal allowance since 2010 have put £1,000 into the pocket of each basic rate taxpayer, including those who work across the public sector. Will the Chief Secretary continue to help public sector workers to keep the money they earn, through lower taxes?
Elizabeth Truss
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The worst thing that we could do is to support the Labour party’s policies, which would, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, lead to the highest levels of taxation in peacetime history.