Economy: Quantitative Easing

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Monday 12th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, first, since the noble Lord talks about the state of the economy, we should recognise that employment is at a record high; inflation, for which the MPC has responsibility, has come down very significantly; the trade deficit is down; and the economy is growing again. We really do not need too much unreasonable doom and gloom. I could cite many other recent quotes from the Bank of England, which has made its position completely clear. In October 2012, the governor said that the MPC stands,

“ready to inject more money into the economy”.

As, when and if it thinks the assessment is right, it is free and able to do it.

[Lord Low of Dalston]

My Lords, what is the Government’s latest estimate of the reduction they have achieved in the deficit since taking office? Is it still a quarter? Will the noble Lord assure the House that that is more than would have been achieved at this point by the previous Government’s deficit reduction strategy, as evidenced by the Office for Budget Responsibility’s pre-Budget forecast in June 2010?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, we are straying a bit from the effect of quantitative easing and on to the Government’s fiscal policy, for which the Bank of England is not responsible. However, the fiscal deficit that we inherited has been cut by over a quarter. We are on track. As to what would have happened under a Labour Government at this point, the independent research shows that the country would have been left with an additional £200 billion of debt on top of the present Government’s plans.

Economic Policies

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Wednesday 4th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Low of Dalston]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the success of their economic policies.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, returning the UK to sustainable, balanced economic growth is the Government’s overriding priority. Although considerable external risks remain, the Government’s actions to reduce the deficit and rebuild the economy have secured stability and positioned the UK as a relatively safe haven, with interest rates near record lows benefiting families, businesses and the taxpayer.

[Lord Low of Dalston]

I am glad that we are no longer expected to thank Ministers for their replies. I am becoming increasingly concerned about the gap between what Ministers say about the economy and what is actually the case. In the debate on the Queen’s Speech, the Minister told the noble Lord, Lord Skidelsky, that sustainable recovery was underway. When I asked him on 29 May how he squared that with the fact that we were in double-dip recession, he palmed me off with references to the success of the private sector in generating jobs and exports. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than manufacturing output plummeted. It is up a bit in June, but yesterday we learnt that activity in the construction sector had fallen at the fastest rate for two and a half years. We are probably heading towards a third-quarter recession.

[Lord Low of Dalston]

What has the Minister to say about all of that; and can we believe a word of what he says when he has said it?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, I will try to make the answer shorter than the question.

Economy: Deficit Reduction

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Thursday 28th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Low of Dalston]

My Lords, the Minister has referred to the reduction of the deficit from 11% to 8% of GDP. However, is it not the case that the deficit on current spending has hardly changed over the course of the last year and that almost all the reduction in the total deficit has come from cuts in investment spending?

[Lord Sassoon]

No, my Lords, that is not correct. Last year, Government departments came in with underspends of some £6 billion—and that was certainly not all capital spending. What my right honourable friend the Chancellor was able to do this week by cutting fuel duty, putting £550 million back into the pockets of hard-working families, illustrates how we are able to use underspends and put them to very good use where they are most valuable to our people.

Debt

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Tuesday 29th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Higgins]

My Lords—

[Lord Low of Dalston]

In the debate on the Queen’s Speech, the noble Lord assured the noble Lord, Lord Skidelsky, that sustainable recovery was already under way, as he has again said this morning in response to the noble Lord, Lord Barnett. How does he reconcile that with the fact that we are actually plunging deeper into recession? Is this recession denial?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, if one looks, for example, at job creation over the two years since the election, the private sector has created more than 600,000 jobs at a time when some 400,000 public sector jobs have been lost. The latest figures show that unemployment is at a seven-month low. Of course we would like to see growth sustained and at a higher level, but we should not run down the very considerable achievements of the private sector in generating jobs and exports in the economy.

Child Trust Fund

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Monday 28th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

I am grateful to my noble friend, because we are working on that. We have been talking, for example, to potential junior ISA providers. They have been showing some interest, I am pleased to say, in contributing to a scheme in that way. We need to continue to work on that, but if any financial institutions, charities or other groups are interested in being part of that, we would be very pleased to discuss it with them.

[Lord Low of Dalston]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Low of Dalston]

The Minister will be aware of local authorities’ inconsistent fulfilment of their duties under the Children (Leaving Care) Act and the inconsistent provision, particularly as regards accommodation, made for children and young people leaving care. What will the Government now do to make good the deficiency in provision for that particularly vulnerable group, whose vulnerability is at its greatest at the point of leaving local authority care?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, we are straying a bit from the Question and from my area of responsibility, but I appreciate that difficult issues are involved with those who are leaving care, which is why additional funding in the “children in care” line of the new local government formula is there to encourage local authorities to use the staying-put models of practice. From April 2011, we will be implementing provision in the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 that allows young people to resume entitlements to leaving care support up to the age of 25, where they take up education or training.

Economy: Spending Cuts

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Low of Dalston

Wednesday 6th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

I thank my noble friend for that question, which allows me to clarify that the Equality Act 2010 does not apply to decisions in the spending review, because the relevant provisions in this area are not expected to take effect until 2011. For the avoidance of doubt, the Acts which impact now are the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. On the question of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is the regulator in this area, like all sensitive regulators it has a range of ways of dealing with situations, from private conversations to seek clarification through to the more formal routes of issuing compliance notices and, ultimately, legal proceedings. I am of course not encouraging or discouraging the commission from doing anything that it believes appropriate, but I do not anticipate that anything such as compliance notices or legal proceedings should be necessary.

[Lord Low of Dalston]

My Lords, can the Minister assure us that the Government will put in place procedures for keeping the impact of the measures that are announced in the comprehensive spending review under ongoing review, so that the continuing impact on women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities can be assessed and remedial action taken, if necessary?

[Lord Sassoon]

Government departments will of course fully comply with their obligations, which are to have due regard of the impact of their policies and of the way in which they deliver their services. That implies an ongoing responsibility.