Spring Statement

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Andrew Jones

Tuesday 13th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

Yes, it is, because the figures given by the hon. Lady are not quite right. There are 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty than in 2010. [Interruption.] Absolute poverty is the relevant measure. The crucial point that she simply skirts around is that, after the financial crash during the last Labour Government, we could have gone down a route that many of our continental neighbours went down, which would have seen hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people cast on to the scrapheap of unemployment and left there potentially for decades. We did not go down that route, and we have seen youth unemployment in this country relatively low and falling, and that is a huge benefit to the next generation, who will be able to benefit from their engagement in the workforce and, as they go forward, from rising living standards.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and the balanced approach to the economy he detailed. I particularly welcome the attention on digital and skills, as these are the main issues businesses are raising with me, and I hope Yorkshire will be one of his local full fibre allocations. Will he continue to focus on fibre and digital as critical to boosting our national productivity?

[Mr Hammond]

Yes, if we do not have these enabling network technologies—a good fibre-optic backhaul network, good digital technologies—we will not be able to exploit the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, and we must do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Andrew Jones

Monday 16th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

They will continue to be supported as clinically appropriate, and the phrase “clinically appropriate” is very important. The Genium limb is very beneficial for somebody who is in an active phase of their life and we hope many of these veterans and service people will remain active for long periods of their lives. It would not be appropriate for an older person who was less mobile and wished to be less mobile, however. The point of making the money available is so that the clinicians have the scope to prescribe whatever is most clinically appropriate, even when it is the very costly microprocessor knee solution.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

5. What support local authorities have given to implementation of the community covenant.

McNulty Report and West Coast Rail

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Andrew Jones

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, which allows me to make an important point. Integration in the railway at the level of timetabling, planning and route network operation is important. The hon. Gentleman will not have had a chance to read the report yet, but Sir Roy makes that point clearly. Those things have to be done on an industry-wide basis; they cannot be fragmented when greater autonomy is devolved to network rail route managers or when train operators are given greater flexibility.

The hon. Gentleman also talks about reopening disused lines. I am afraid to tell him that work on the cost base has a little way to go before that becomes a practical reality. However, as I said earlier, I intend to look carefully at the case for devolving responsibility for commissioning services and the budgets with which to do that for regional and local railways later this year. I would expect decisions to reinstate any currently disused lines to be taken at that level.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on this encouraging report. What are the prospects for improved rolling stock on the Leeds-to-York line via Harrogate and Knaresborough? We have rapidly growing numbers of passengers on the route, but the rolling stock is some of the very worst that I have seen in the country.