Economy: Spring Statement

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman (Con)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to those expressed earlier to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln on his most excellent speech. I speak for the Back Benches and for many of my colleagues when I say that he is most welcome.

I want to devote my brief remarks to one issue that I feel very strongly about, and of which I know the Chancellor is well aware: the need to improve productivity in our economy. Improvements there will, in turn, improve the living standards of our population. That is why, for the first time in my memory, a Chancellor has devoted a significant part of an important speech to dealing with the issue of productivity.

The Chancellor rightly referred to our UK companies being in the vanguard of the technological revolution. That is the key to improving productivity. He also emphasised that our industrial and commercial productivity could be and should be improved. My noble friend Lord Hodgson referred to the importance of productivity improvements for generating more wealth for our community and, most importantly, for the efficiency of our businesses. The Chancellor outlined certain initiatives that have already been introduced and new additional initiatives which I believe will be most welcome. For example, there has been a big increase in research and development expenditure over the past four decades, under both parties. That has contributed to some improvement in productivity, particularly industrial productivity.

Expenditure alone, however, will not be sufficient. People must have the skills to capitalise on new technologies. How can we improve those skills across the board? Technical education is one of the key means by which we can improve productivity, and I am pleased that the Government have committed more than £500 million per year to improving technology levels for schoolchildren over the age of 16 and those going on to higher education. I am led to believe that, next month, £50 million will be available to help employers prepare for the rollout of T-levels—for those who do not realise what that means, it means technical-level—and to help them prepare those who are working for a placement for training. Also to be fully introduced, at a cost of some £25 million, is a construction skills fund for 30 construction skills training centres around the country. I look forward to their being named, and I am extremely pleased about the announcement.

The Department for Education has lead responsibility for the skills revolution, especially technical education, and T-level training in digital and construction skills has already been introduced. However, I hope that this initiative—perhaps the Minister will have an opportunity to comment briefly on this—will be expanded much more widely and as soon as possible. It has been supported by companies, including Rolls-Royce and Fujitsu in particular. These skills will be taught from 2020 across the country.

This week the Chancellor stated that the Government will launch a call for evidence to understand how best they can help the UK’s least productive businesses learn from and catch up with the most productive. He also said that £31 billion was going to fund infrastructure, R&D and housing through the national productivity investment fund. That is warmly to be welcomed.

I strongly support these initiatives and congratulate the Chancellor—which I hope my noble friend on the Front Bench will communicate to him—on his strong support and guidance. When these programmes are implemented, productivity certainly should, and will, improve.

Water: Developing Countries

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 24th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman (Con)]

My Lords, I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, on securing this important debate. I will take the opportunity to pay tribute to my noble friend Lord McColl, who has shown over many years a real interest in the impoverished and in those suffering illness in countries all over the world. I have travelled with him twice, including to Sierra Leone, and have seen for myself the contribution he makes not only in the visit but in following it up later. So I am very pleased to follow him and I stand, literally, in his stead.

I will speak briefly about an important private trust, the Busoga Trust—Busoga being a province in Uganda. It was formed in 1982, and I pay tribute to those in the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom who founded it to raise money specifically to ameliorate the tremendous hardship that families experience—particularly in Uganda but obviously in sub-Saharan Africa generally—in accessing clean water. It has been a great success over many years. I had the honour of serving as chairman of the trust for 10 years—no longer, but I am very anxious to support it.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the group of clerics and members of the congregation of Saint Michael’s Church, Chester Square, for launching the most excellent initiative of trying to provide clean water supplies in Uganda. I will say a few words about what effect that has had. I pay tribute to Bishop Cyprian, who not only saw the blindingly obvious need but gave religious support and, more importantly, money and help on the ground. It has been a tremendous success.

The first bore-hole for clean water was drilled in 1984—so the charity has been around for some considerable time. Those who have visited sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular Uganda, will know that a bore-hole drilled and then bricked is one of the many ways in which very clean water can be delivered to remote villages in the countryside. It takes technical effort to drill down to create a bore-hole and then to maintain it. Children walk miles to a water hole from remote villages and then carry the water back on either their head or their shoulders. I have seen that happen many times. I appreciate the importance for them of not only this charity and many other charities like it but of clean water. You often see these wells next to a dirty mudhole where cattle have been drinking, so it is heartening to see for the first time a well with clean water, which is then carried back perhaps many miles to families who will not suffer irreparable damage from illness. So the impact on local life in sub-Saharan Africa—not just in Uganda—of providing clean water is extremely important.

I pay tribute and put on record my thanks and, I know, the thanks of the other trustees, particularly the director, to Johnson and Josephine. Incidentally, I say to my noble friend the Minister, who is a great champion of trying to bring relief to Africa in particular but also to many other countries—he has travelled widely—that I hope he will find time to drop in on a reception that I am hosting in the House of Lords. I have asked Johnson, our Africa manager, to come, and I am sure that he would appreciate just a few minutes of the Minister’s time in order to explain what he is doing.

In 2000, 100 wells were dug by the Busoga Trust. There are now 2,500 wells—90% of them working, I am glad to say—and 50 locally recruited staff. However, a change came about a number of years ago when DfID decided to make grants directly to the Government of Uganda, rather than make specific grants to charities. I make no complaint about that; I just note that now the Government are directly responsible for commissioning wells, and the role of trusts such as the Busoga Trust and other charities is to maintain them.

Maintaining these wells is as important as the original construction. If you do not maintain them, the water does not remain purified and can create and prolong illnesses. Therefore, although DfID no longer provides grants directly to charities such as the Busoga Trust and the Government in Uganda are paying for the construction of the wells, their maintenance to guarantee the provision of fresh water is just as important as the original construction. Our charity continues to pay staff to travel round on motorbikes to the 2,000-odd wells that it has been responsible for creating over many years. That maintenance is so important because, if the wells are not maintained, illness inevitably follows.

Therefore, I hope very much that the Minister will take up my invitation to meet the member of staff who is coming over from Uganda so that he can pass on fresh information about the work of this trust in what is still, in many ways, a very distressed part of sub-Saharan Africa.

Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [HL]

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 6th December 2017 Lords Chamber

Some researchers have information on who owns what in London, and what their previous jobs were. I have a copy of the register that shows that apartments 138A and 138B in Whitehall Court were sold for £11,400,000 to Sova Real Estate, which is incorporated in Russia. I also have a copy of the Russian register of interests which shows that the beneficial owner of that company is a former Minister. There is no way that his salary could have provided the money to buy those flats; that is impossible. They are above the Farmers Club, if anyone wants to know where I am talking about. It is absolutely astonishing that bags of information are available on this issue but nothing seems to happen. The one thing that would shake things up would be if this amendment were approved. We would then find out what is happening and end the damage building up in our country. That is why I support the amendment.

[Lord Freeman (Con)]

My Lords, I very much support the comments of my noble friend Lord Hodgson. As the Minister knows, at Second Reading I very much supported the sentiments which have been expressed so clearly by my noble friend. Indeed, I believe that the proposed new clause in this amendment is very much in line with government policy. If there is a meeting, I hope that I might be included in it along with other colleagues.

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, everything that can be said has been said brilliantly. I hope that we will get an update from the Government which convinces us that this issue is back on track.

Budget Statement

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman (Con)]

My Lords, I shall concentrate my remarks on the problems faced by private sector pension schemes in this country, something that the Chancellor is very well aware of. I am greatly indebted to him and his staff for monitoring the situation, which is growing to alarming proportions. The financial position of private sector pension schemes—10 million people in this country are covered by such schemes—is in difficulty at present. I declare my past interest as a chairman of one of the large pension schemes in this country. The problems are that the liabilities of the pension schemes are growing, and the promised increase in the final payment made in the private sector to those who retire looking forward to a decent pension is coming under great pressure for the simple reason that interest rates have been extremely low for a number of years now. That means that gilt rates, in particular, are so small that provision for pensions is not growing as fast as demand.

The Department for Work and Pensions reported in February 2017, identifying this as a major problem for the private sector in industry and commerce—and, indeed, in the Civil Service—but did not provide any solutions. I have every confidence that the Chancellor will be addressing this. He has referred indirectly to an understanding of the growing problem, and I very much look forward to his and the department’s comments in due course.

The aggregate deficit of private sector pension schemes in January 2017, the beginning of this year, was £20 billion, and it has grown. It has been caused by very low gilt rates, which I am sure are a tremendous advantage and much appreciated by large sections of industry and commerce, but these low rates have been coupled with the growing obligations of industry in this country to provide a decent pension depending on length of service, and to augment that pension when unions and companies agree to increases. I know that the Chancellor is well aware of these problems. I keep a close connection with the Treasury, and know that he will continue to monitor the situation.

I touch briefly on two other problems. First, I very much welcome the Chancellor’s decision that foreign buyers of commercial properties in the United Kingdom must pay capital gains tax. This has been a problem for many years, and the decision is warmly welcomed not only by the property industry but, more importantly, by the community and electorate as a whole. Also, overseas purchasers of house properties in the United Kingdom—I am now talking about individuals—should have their ownership fully revealed. That is not the case at present. In London, in particular, unknown owners of recently acquired properties are escaping the full vigour of examination not only by the tax authorities but in terms of their proper maintenance. This matter has been debated in your Lordships’ House, and I believe that transparent ownership records will ensure that tax is fully paid. I know that the Chancellor is interested in this issue, and I ask the Treasury to continue to follow it up.

I welcome the tone and content of the Budget very much, and have confidence that the Chancellor will continue to monitor not only the pension fund problems to which I just referred but the well-being of our economy.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman]

My Lords, I shall speak briefly about a rather narrow but important issue: the expansion of our Reserve Forces. There was reference in the gracious Speech to this, but, so far, the response from not only colleagues in both Houses of Parliament but also in the press has been rather muted. I can assure my noble friend on the Front Bench that I am not expecting any reply this evening; I seek simply to place on record my strong support and admiration for what the Minister has achieved already in supporting the Reserve Forces.

My very modest qualification for contributing to this debate is having been the Minister responsible for the Reserve Forces in the United Kingdom and recently, during the past decade, president of the Reserve Forces Association. I commence by paying tribute to the 29 Territorial Army soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan in recent years.

The Government have a very ambitious target—the gracious Speech referred very briefly to this—of increasing the number of the Reserve Forces to 30,000 by 2018 from a current base of about half that, and half that, frankly, is not as well trained as would have been the case 10, 20 or 30 years ago. The challenge is significant and represents the most radical reform over the past 50 years.

The advantage of recruiting men and women into our Reserve Forces is that they often have very special skills; for example, as engineers, doctors, linguists et cetera. There is also greater geographical cover and therefore a relationship between our Armed Forces and the community which is now becoming either limited or non-existent as our Regular Forces fall in number and are concentrated in fewer bases.

According to exchanges that I have had with the Ministry of Defence, a White Paper on precisely how we are going to recruit 30,000 reserves is due very soon. It will set out the challenges. In my judgment, a sensible notice period has to be given to employers, particularly small employers, about when a reservist is likely to be called up. That has been one of the biggest problems that the Territorial Army has faced during the past 20 or 30 years. We also need to increase employer awareness of the requirements. This is particularly important for small firms. If you employ only five or six people, it is extremely important that you know how long the notice period will be before someone is called up, how long they will be away and when they will be back. There must be an opportunity for young men and women who join the reserves as officers to command. During the past 10 or 20 years when we have sent troops to Afghanistan and other theatres of conflict, we have sent regular soldiers and reservist soldiers but not the young officers who need to get experience in command. We need to deploy units of the Reserve Forces together with the Regular Forces so that they can train together in this country and serve together.

A distinguished previous Black Rod in this House and I worked on post-traumatic stress, which is extremely important as other Ministers who have served in the Ministry of Defence know. It affects far too many of our returning regular soldiers. We have to make sure that services are available also for our reservists. It is a hidden and very worrying problem for many in civilian society.

To double the size of our Reserve Forces from about 15,000—I would not claim that all of them were properly or fully trained—to 30,000 by 2018 is a bold objective, but I congratulate not only the Minister but the Ministry of Defence and the senior military staff there on making sure that we are going to meet that challenge. I am sure that it will be in the interests of service to the country, and I hope that we will see and debate the White Paper very soon.

Transport: HS2

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Tuesday 26th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman]

My Lords, I am sure your Lordships are grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Truscott, for the opportunity to debate briefly the merits of high-speed rail. I am a strong supporter of high-speed rail and a strong supporter of HS2. My brief contribution this evening is based on my experience as Railways Minister between 1990 and 1994—it seems like an awfully long time ago—when I was responsible for dealing with HS1 and also on lessons learnt from that initiative which are relevant to HS2.

I want to make four brief points. First, the understandable concerns about noise and physical intrusion expressed by the people who may be affected by the construction of the line and its operation can, and must, be rationally and generously allayed in a planned and sensible financial compensation scheme. When I was responsible for the work on the line, the Government spent a lot of time listening to complaints from Members, from this House and the other place, and I hope met many of their concerns. After initial concerns on HS1, I believe that the final route was generally accepted. I know that present Transport Ministers will follow that example.

Secondly, the original HS1 route was changed to terminate at St Pancras rather than Waterloo. There was a strong argument in favour of that from my noble friend Lord Heseltine. The two main reasons were to revitalise parts of east London and to provide a link directly through to the Midlands and the north. That is provided for in a link for some trains to join HS2 from HS1, just north of St Pancras.

Finally, high-speed services will be popular, particularly with the business community; it is easier to work and discuss with other colleagues on high-speed trains because of the nature of their design. It is also easier than flying in many ways because of the congestion and difficulties in getting landing slots for short-haul flights. There should therefore be more capacity left for freight on the railways. I commend support for HS2 to this House.

International Development: Universal Primary Education

Lord Freeman Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freeman]

My Lords, I and my colleagues on these Benches warmly welcome my noble friend Lady Verma to her new position. We wish her well. I am sure that all your Lordships will agree that her speech was full of assurance, with a comprehensive and attractive style.

I want to concentrate on the benefits of primary education, particularly in Africa, and the consequences for health. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Liverpool put his finger on one of the most important issues in education in Africa—reaching women, girls and, in particular, mothers, because they provide the leadership and encouragement for children to learn the importance of health and proper nutrition. In rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa, there remains a major problem with the supply of clean water. Unclean water can lead to not only high child mortality but a sense of depression—a circular depression—in terms of trying to improve the living standards of the communities.

I declare an interest; for the past 10 years, I have been chairman of a Christian charity, the Busoga Trust, which operates principally in Uganda, but offers advice in Kenya and Tanzania. It was the Bishop of Busoga, when he came to preach to a rather affluent community in one of the Kensington churches 25 years ago, who called for a more coherent effort in dealing with sanitation and water supply in Africa. It is a great tribute to him that 25 years later we have built more than 1,000 wells, principally in Uganda. We teach to women and children the importance of using clean water.

Perhaps I may paint a pen picture for your Lordships. In northern Uganda, next to the border with Sudan and the Congo, in many rural areas where there are no towns but small villages, children are still walking between three and five miles a day with jerry cans on their heads to collect impure water. The problem with impure water, when it comes from a well used by cattle, is that you get malaria from mosquitoes, and many other diseases that are often fatal. Child mortality falls where clean water has been introduced as a result of building a well and by providing education about proper sanitation and the use of that clean water. Typically, compared with the situation 10 years ago in the north of Uganda, when a clean well is constructed, the mortality rate falls; the women need to produce fewer children because more of them survive. It is as brutal as that.

I am glad that there is all-party support for what my noble friend outlined in terms of the importance of education. I must say also that there is all-party support for the 0.7 per cent target for international aid. It took some courage from both the previous Administration and the coalition to stick to that, because all the opinion polls were telling us that that was one departmental budget that should not be sacred. I am glad that it is.

I sense that there is all-party support, so I am sure that noble Lords will allow me to compliment colleagues in my party on an excellent document, One World Conservatism, which is available in the Library. It is not a party-political document. On page 38, it states that,

“60 per cent of Africans do not have proper access to sanitation … Moreover, safe drinking water is the development priority of poor people”.

This is bound up with what my noble friend on the Front Bench talked about, namely better primary education.

The coalition document, which noble Lords will have read, is also impressive. Page 22 deals with international development. The first of the two paragraphs that I will quote states:

“We will support actions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, we will prioritise aid spending on programmes to ensure that everyone has access to clean water, sanitation, health care and education; to reduce maternal and infant mortality; and to restrict the spread of major diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria”.

We all support those aims. The document goes on to state:

“We will support innovative and effective smaller British non-governmental organisations that are committed to tackling poverty”.

Perhaps I might conclude by making a special plea to the Minister to convey to her colleague the Secretary of State the wisdom of turning back the clock. I make no criticism of the previous Labour Administration for the amount of aid that was distributed. However, there is one small aspect of policy that we need to change. Clare Short in her wisdom decided to withdraw the direct grant to non-governmental organisations, principally charities, of 5 per cent of total aid spent, and to spend 100 per cent through the Government. That may seem a modest change, but it had a dramatic effect on charities such as the Busoga Trust. The aim of the coalition to support innovative and effective smaller British NGOs is wise because it can be cost-effective. I very much support auditing how aid is spent. The coalition document and my noble friend on the Front Bench are absolutely right: we must have value for money. That means checking that money is spent correctly, without corruption and in the most effective fashion.

I conclude by paying tribute to DfID staff. Many noble Lords who travel, principally in Africa, have met many of them. It is often a very hard and unrewarding job that is not fully appreciated by politicians who travel from the United Kingdom. DfID staff are at the sharp end and I am sure that all noble Lords will join me in thanking them, and all Ministers, for their hard work.