Economic Update
Richard Drax Excerpts(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Rishi Sunak
I am happy to hear those suggestions from the hon. Gentleman. He will have noted the comments made by the Chief Secretary earlier in relation to IR35, and HMRC has activated its time to pay service, but if he sends me the details, I will happily look at that.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
I commend my hon. Friend for this raft of packages, although Members on both sides of the House clearly feel that there is still a lot more to do. I shudder at the administrative task ahead of him to ensure that all this money gets to the right people at the right time. Should we not bring back the small bank branches that have closed over the years, particularly in rural communities that simply do not have access to them?
Rishi Sunak
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of rural communities. My right hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has done a sterling job of preserving access to cash for those communities, and we have said that we will legislate to do more, but in the short term, we will keep that under review.
Oral Answers to Questions
Richard Drax Excerpts(4 years, 10 months ago)
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Rishi Sunak
The hon. Lady talks about things a decade ago. A decade ago, this country was borrowing £150 billion—the largest deficit in peacetime history. That is why this Government had to take action to restore our public finances to a place of sanity, and that is why now, because of the careful management of the economy, we are able to invest in 20,000 new police officers and additionally give them the powers they need to keep us all safe.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
We welcome the 50 new police officers for Dorset that we fought so hard to get, and 120 more are planned over the next two years. Can my right hon. Friend please confirm that we will definitely get these extra officers for Dorset?
Rishi Sunak
I am pleased to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. That is why the Chancellor committed in the spending review to specific additional funding of £750 million for the first year, for the first 6,000, and additional funding will follow to ensure that we deliver on the commitment of 20,000 new officers across the country.