Recovering Access to Primary Care

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 9th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

With permission, I would like to make a statement on the primary care recovery plan. For most of us, general practice is our front door to the NHS. In the last six months, over half the UK population has used GP services, and GPs in England carry out around 1 million appointments every single day. They are doing more than ever. General practice is delivering 10% more appointments a month than before the pandemic—the equivalent of the average GP surgery seeing about 20 additional patients every working day. There are more staff than ever, with numbers up by a quarter since 2019, and we are on track to deliver our manifesto target, with an additional 25,000 staff already recruited into primary care. We are investing more than ever, too, with the most recent figures showing that funding was around a fifth higher than five years before, even once inflation is taken into account.

But we know that there is a great deal still to do. Covid-19 presented many challenges across the health service, leaving us with large numbers of people on NHS waiting lists, which need to be tackled. In general practice, patient contacts with GPs have increased between 20% and 40% since before the pandemic. As well as recovering from the pandemic, we face longer-term challenges, too. Since 2010, the number of people in England aged 70 and above has increased by a third, and this group attends five times more GP appointments than young people. Not only that, but advances in technology and treatments mean that people understandably expect more from primary care systems.

Today I can announce our primary care recovery plan, and I pay tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien), for his work on this plan. I have deposited copies of the plan in the Libraries of both Houses. Our plan will enable us to better recover from the pandemic, to cut NHS waiting lists and to make the most of the opportunities ahead by focusing on three key areas: first, tackling the 8 am rush by giving GPs new digital tools; secondly, freeing up GP appointments by funding pharmacists to do more, with a “pharmacy first” approach; and thirdly, providing more GPs’ staff and more appointments. NHS England and my Department have committed to make over £1.2 billion of funding available to support the plan, in addition to the significant real-terms increases in spending on general practice in recent years. Taken together, our plan will make it easier for people to get the help they need.

The plan builds on lots of other important work. Last year, we launched the elective recovery plan, which is making big strides to reduce the backlog brought by covid-19. We eliminated nearly all waits over two years by last July, and 18-month waits have now decreased by over 90% since their peak in September 2021. By contrast, in the NHS in Labour-run Wales, people are twice as likely to be waiting for treatment than in England. They still have over 41,000 people waiting over two years and nearly 80,000 waiting over 18 months. In addition, this January, I came before the House to launch our urgent and emergency care plan, which is focused on how to better manage pressures in emergency departments, with funding to support discharge to improve patient flow in hospitals. Today’s plan is the next important piece of work.

Turning to the detail of the plan, our first aim is to tackle the 8 am rush. We will do that by providing GPs with new and better technology, moving us from an analogue approach to ways of working in the digital age. An average-sized GP practice will get around 100 calls in the first hour of a Monday morning. No team of receptionists, no matter how hard-working, can handle such demand. About half of GPs are still on old analogue phones, meaning that when things get busy, people get engaged tones. We are changing that by investing in modern phone systems for all GPs, including features such as call-back options, and by improving the digital front door for even more patients. In the GP practices that have already adopted those systems, there has been a 30% improvement in patient feedback on their ability to access the appointments they need. That also reflects the fact that online requests can help find the right person within the practice, such as being directed to a pharmacist for a medicine prescription review or to a physio for back pain.

In doing that, we will make the most of the 25,000 more staff we now have in primary care. Today’s plans fund practices without this technology to adopt it, while also providing them with staff cover to help them manage a smooth transition to the technology. Indeed, many small GP practices in particular find it hardest to fund new technology, or to manage the disruption that comes with transitioning to new ways of working, so we are funding locum cover alongside the tech itself. Notwithstanding that, people will always be able to walk in or ring if they prefer; if someone wants to ring up and see someone face to face, these investments will make that easier, too.

We also want to make sure that patients know on the same day that they make contact how their request is going to be handled. Clinically urgent issues will be assessed on the same day, or the next day if raised in the afternoon. If the issue is not urgent, an appointment will be scheduled within two weeks, but crucially, people will not be asked to call back the following day. Instead, they will get their appointment booked on the same day or be signposted to other services.

The second area of the plan is Pharmacy First. As well as giving GPs new technology, I know that we need to take pressure off GPs where possible by making better use of the skills of all clinicians working in primary care. We saw the incredible role that pharmacists played during the pandemic—their capacity to innovate and deliver for the communities that they served, freeing up GP appointments in doing so—so the second part of our plan is to introduce a new NHS service, Pharmacy First, on which we are already consulting with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.

Some 80% of people live within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy, so making it easier for pharmacists to take referrals can have a huge impact. Referrals might be from GPs, NHS 111 or, from next week, urgent and emergency care settings. Community pharmacies already take referrals for a range of minor conditions, such as diarrhoea, vomiting and conjunctivitis, but with our Pharmacy First approach we can go further still. We will invest up to £645 million over the next two years so that pharmacists can supply prescription-only medicines for common conditions, such as ear pain, urinary tract infections and sore throats, without requiring a prescription from a GP.

One of the most significant shifts we are making is on oral contraception. Pharmacists can already manage the supply of contraception prescribed elsewhere; from later this year, they will also be able to start women on courses of oral contraception. This is another way in which, in light of our women’s health strategy, we aim to reduce the barriers to women accessing contraception. Pharmacists will also be able to do more blood pressure checks, which is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Not only will those kinds of steps make it easier for people to get the care they need, we expect them to release up to 10 million appointments a year by 2024-25.

The third part of our plan is about providing more staff and more appointments. We are making huge investments in our primary care workforce, and are on track to meet the manifesto commitment of 26,000 more primary care staff by next March, meaning that we have more pharmacists, physios and paramedics delivering appointments in primary care than ever before. In 2021, we hit our target of 4,000 people accepting GP training places, and our upcoming NHS workforce plan will set out how we will further expand GP training. We are also helping to retain senior GPs by reforming pension rules, lifting 9,000 GPs out of annual tax changes. These are the pension reforms that the British Medical Association welcomed, describing them as “significant” and “decisive” changes and citing them as “transformative for the NHS”.

As well as freeing up more staff time, our plan cuts bureaucracy, too, so that GPs spend less time on paperwork and more time caring for patients. We will remove unnecessary targets, improve communication between GPs and hospitals, and reduce the amount of non-GP work that GPs are being asked to do. For example, patients are often discharged from hospital without fit notes, meaning that they then have to go to their GP to get one. By the end of this year, NHS secondary care services, which understand those patient conditions better, will be able to issue fit notes, and we have streamlined the number of targets on primary care networks from 36 down to just five. Taken together, this work will free up around £37,000 a practice.

Today’s primary care recovery plan funds and empowers our GPs and pharmacists to do more, so that we can prevent ill health, keep cutting NHS waiting lists and improve that vital front door to the NHS for many millions of people. I commend this statement to the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Member started with the message to the public, and the message to the public can be seen by what key figures in the sector say about this recovery plan. Let me just share that with the House. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee says that the plan is

“the most significant investment in community pharmacy in well over a decade”.

The Boots chief executive says that this is

“great news that they’ll be able use their clinical expertise more widely”.

The Company Chemists Association says that it is a

“real vote of confidence for the future profession”.

The message to the public from the industries in this sector is clear that this is a well thought through plan which will have a beneficial impact for patients. I will give one final quote: the chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society says that this plan will be

“a real game-changer for patients”,

and that is what our focus has been.

The hon. Member raised the issue of our delivery against the 18 months target. It is very generous of him to give me the opportunity to share once again with the House the contrast with Wales, but perhaps he missed it first time around. We have reduced the wait for 18 months by over 90%, yet Wales still has vastly more—over 80,000 waiting there—and that is from a much smaller population. Wales still has over 40,000 waiting more than two years, a target that we virtually eliminated as long ago as last summer. Those who want to see what a Labour Government would mean for the NHS can see it with the performance against the two-year waiting list and the 18-month waiting list in Wales, so it is very generous of him to give me the opportunity to share that once again with the House.

The hon. Member talks about what the recovery plan is for. Clearly, the pandemic has placed huge pressure on primary care, and we can see that just from the increased volumes of appointments that primary care faces. Again, I touched in my opening remarks on the fact that GPs and primary care are seeing more than 10% more appointments than before the pandemic—1 million appointments a day. It is clear why we need to invest in new forms of working, online booking technology and cutting bureaucracy: it is so that GPs can focus on the aspects of their role that apply purely to GPs and we can better use the 25,000 additional roles that are being recruited into primary care.

The hon. Gentleman talked about his direct referral policy. We actually announced our policy guidance in December, a month before his announcement, so it is something of a stretch to say that we are following his approach. He again kindly raised the issue of mental health, which gives me the opportunity to remind the House of the increased funding that this Government are making in mental health. That was a key priority when my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) was Prime Minister and a cornerstone of the long-term plan, with an extra £2.3 billion going into mental health. But we did not stop there. At the Budget, the Chancellor further prioritised mental health—for example, mental health digital apps were a cornerstone of the measures for economically inactive people. We are recruiting an additional 25,000 roles into primary care in recognition that specialists are needed, whether physios, pharmacists, paramedics or specialists in mental health support.

The hon. Gentleman spoke about other aspects of primary care such as dentistry. We have said frequently that we have a recovery plan for dentistry that we will announce shortly, so that should not be news. On funding, it is slightly bizarre that, although this plan announces more than £1 billion of new funding for primary care, investment in tech, new ways of working, additional staff and empowering our pharmacists, who bring great clinical expertise that we can better harness, the hon. Gentleman, rather than welcoming that, went back to the hackneyed non-dom funding. We have heard that so much before and it has been spent so many times. We have set out ways of best using the skills of our GPs and of the additional roles, where we are delivering on our manifesto with an extra 25,000 already recruited. Above all, we have set out ways of best using our pharmacists, who are a huge resource that we can better use. That is why we are targeting more than £600 million additional funding into pharmacists, which will allow people to better access the care they need in a timely fashion.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.

Junior Doctors’ Strikes

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Thursday 30th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

The urgent question was on the junior doctors—[Interruption.] I am sure I will quote—[Interruption.] There is a rare point of agreement between us. The hon. Gentleman is chuntering, but let me go through the list of things that he did raise pertaining to the junior doctors’ dispute. He said that the Government should get the junior doctors committee in for talks; we have done so—his third question made reference to the fact that we have. We have had the junior doctors in for discussions—[Interruptions.] I will run through the questions.

The hon. Gentleman questions whether there are preconditions attached to those discussions. I have checked the minutes of the meeting and there was a list of conditions —a pay restoration of 35%, and a range of other factors that were put on the table— that were preconditions that the Government had to commit to. The point is that he has said in the media that he does not support those preconditions. He says that 35% is unaffordable, so what is his position? One minute he says that he supports the junior doctors and that they should not go on strike, yet the next minute he says that he does not actually support the precondition that the junior doctors have said is the requirement for them to enter into discussion.

The reality is that the Government have taken a constructive and meaningful approach to trade union negotiations. That is why we have reached agreement with the “Agenda for Change” trade unions. It is why the Royal College of Nursing, Unison, the GMB and the Royal College of Midwives are all recommending the agreement that has been reached, covering more than 1 million staff across the NHS, to their members. The junior doctors have set a precondition on those talks which the hon. Gentleman does not agree—[Interruption.] That is a precondition. He does not seem to understand the terms the junior doctors—[Interruption.] He asked the question, he is getting the answer and the fact that it points to the contradiction in his own position is one that he seems to be having trouble with. Conservative Members are used to contradictions from those on the Opposition Front Bench. He supports the use of the independent sector, whereas his deputy does not. He wants to nationalise the GP estate, but his shadow Chancellor does not. The Opposition are full of contradictions. The reality is that there is a position in terms of the—[Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) chunters again. There is a position in terms of precondition. The shadow Secretary of State asked me to confirm at the Dispatch Box whether it was a precondition of the junior doctors. Ahead of the urgent question, I checked the minutes—[Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. We cannot have this constant chuntering.

[Steve Barclay]

The Opposition do not seem to like their question being answered. The shadow Secretary of State asked me to confirm the position, for the avoidance of doubt, at the Dispatch Box. That is exactly what I am doing. I have checked the minutes. I have spoken this morning with officials to confirm, before I made the statement to the House, that it was a precondition of the talks. We were told, in terms of the pay erosion of 26.1%, that that needed to be restored at 35%, alongside other things. The reality is that he does not support that. He is facing both ways, wanting to support the junior doctors, but not actually willing to support the pay that they are demanding.

Ambulance Pressures

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Monday 18th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Let me start with the area on which the hon. Lady was correct, which is that I recognise the increased pressure on ambulances and hospitals. That is why we put in place the long-established contingency plans. Since the heatwave in Paris in 2003, it is the case that each year in May, we put in place our heatwave plans. That is what has been activated. Those plans were refreshed as recently as two months ago and sit alongside the work that has been done on urgent and emergency care, including the 10-point action plan that was set out last September.

The hon. Lady is right: the House as a whole will recognise the significant pressure on the system, which is why we are taking the steps from our contingency plans. It is also why we have put in specific funding, such as: the additional £150 million of support targeted at the ambulance service; an additional £50 million for 111 calls to build capacity; and as she said, an additional £30 million for auxiliary ambulances, which is what the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield), was referring to in the House last week.

The Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency went to level 4 on Friday. As you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker, I updated the House on the first available sitting day after that. The irony will not be lost on the House that this issue is seen as so important that the shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has failed to turn up to this statement in the middle of a heatwave. [Interruption.] Well, he is not here, which speaks for itself.

The hon. Lady also suggested that these challenges, which are being faced across Europe as a whole, were in some way due to the overall investment in the NHS. I remind the House that, to take the resource departmental expenditure limit alone, RDEL in 2010 was just under £99 billion and last year it was £150 billion. That is a good indication of the significant funding. We could also come on to capital investment, not least with the 40 hospitals programme, part of a £22 billion package to 2030, which underscores this Government’s commitment to investing in our NHS—an investment that, most recently, the Labour party voted against when we brought it to the House.

The hon. Lady asks about an apology for operational levels of performance. I do not know whether she is asking for that apology from the Welsh Government or just from the English Government. She may want to clarify that, given the performance of the Welsh ambulance service under the Welsh Government.

On the hon. Lady’s point about auxiliary, the Minister of State, Department for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes, said in her statement that we had seen improvements in May. I referred to that as context, but on auxiliary in particular I can clarify for the House that a contract is being procured for auxiliary ambulance services and is expected to be concluded shortly.

Finally, the hon. Lady asked what meetings I have held over the less than two weeks that I have been in post. I am happy to share with the House that I have been on visits to four different hospitals, in Whipps Cross, Hillingdon, King’s Lynn and Bedford; I have been out on two different ambulance shifts, been to three different ambulance centres, been out to see GPs to look at boosting access to their services and been to look at life sciences. I have been engaging, and that sits alongside, for example, the meeting with chief execs of ambulance trusts on Saturday, Cobra on Saturday and other such meetings that I have had in the course of my duties.

Finally, the hon. Lady asked about the Prime Minister’s engagement. Just as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out that he was engaging with the Prime Minister in his role chairing Cobra as Minister for the Cabinet Office, I am happy to confirm to the House that I also engaged with the Prime Minister over the weekend, updating him on the health plans we have put in place. He has been closely engaged on the contingency we have put in place.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Jeremy Hunt.

Public Health

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 14th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

I am not sure whether the hon. Member has been in the Chamber for the whole debate, but throughout the day there has been consensus across the House on the importance of being vaccinated and of boosters; that has been a point of agreement. Obviously, the management of the House is a matter for Mr Speaker, not for me. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman) correctly highlighted, he and our constituents will continue to be able to access all facilities, as before. I point out to the hon. Member for Brent Central (Dawn Butler) that it is still possible to go to nightclubs, just as it is possible to vote, and these measures will not prevent that.

As well as omicron’s transmissibility, we are also beginning to learn more about the effectiveness of our vaccines against it. Boosters were important before omicron, but they are now critical and, as of this evening, we have delivered 24 million across the United Kingdom. Boosters are, without question, the single most effective thing we can do and plan B buys us more time to get more boosters into more arms. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Dr Evans), who, as a GP himself, highlighted the importance of addressing the 15-minute wait period to increase the flow of boosters—a decision that the chief medical officers across the UK have supported. I also concur with my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), who rightly highlighted that the second dose is important alongside the booster.

The early evidence suggests that a booster dose is extremely effective; analysis by the UK Health Security Agency shows that a booster dose is 70% to 75% effective at preventing symptomatic infection. That is particularly important given the speed at which this infection is spreading, which means that the increase will be sharper, and its impact more concentrated, over a shorter period of time.

The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) raised an issue. The Health Secretary flagged up in opening the debate that he intended to remove all 11 remaining countries from England’s red list as of 4 am tomorrow. The Health Secretary has urgently considered the issue of releasing people from managed quarantine before they have completed the 10-day isolation—a point also raised by the right hon. Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) and a number of Members from across the House. The Government’s decision is that we should permit early release of those who went into managed quarantine before the changes to the red list and require them to follow the relevant rules as if they had arrived from a non-red list country. Anyone who has tested positive will need to continue to stay in managed quarantine. That will require changes to regulations. We will look to implement that as quickly as possible and we will set out further specific guidance for affected individuals imminently.

I turn now to the statutory instruments before the House. The weight of scientific evidence shows that face coverings can make a difference, even if, as my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) said—he is a clinician himself—it is the least that we can do to wear these wretched things. Regulation 1400, which extends the use of face coverings, is a simple step to help slow the spread and I welcome the support of Members. Even those with concerns, such as my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine), said that they would not oppose such a measure.

It is vital that we draw on our testing capacity to keep Britain moving. Regulation 1415 enables close contacts of confirmed or suspected covid cases who are fully vaccinated to take lateral flow tests every day for seven days. In response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), the lateral flow tests will be self-reported.

Regulation 1416 regarding entry to venues and events is one I know that hon. Members have given considerable attention. But this is very far from what has been described as a vaccine passport—a point that the Health Secretary made in opening the debate. This measure will mean that a negative lateral flow test is required to get into nightclubs and large events, with an exemption for the double vaccinated. Once all adults have had a reasonable chance to get their booster jab, we intend to change this exemption to require a booster.

Vaccination has been and remains our best line of defence. We have heard many contributions from across the House on making vaccination a condition of deployment for staff in health and wider social care settings. I recognise how emotive this issue is. Whether it is our care homes, our hospitals or other health settings, everyone working in health and social care is there to avoid preventable harm to the people for whom they care. As the chief medical officer has rightly said, people who are looking after other people who are vulnerable have a professional responsibility to get vaccinated, which was a point that another clinician—my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter)—made.

In closing, I am grateful for all the contributions today. The measures before us will help us to buy time and deliver boosters, which will provide the best protection against this variant. Vaccination, which was already so important before omicron, is now doubly important, especially in those settings with some of our most vulnerable people. I commend the regulations to the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. To address the point raised by the hon. Member for Brent Central (Dawn Butler), in the event of Divisions, it is likely that there could be a large number of Members voting in one Lobby this evening, so Mr Speaker has agreed that 12 minutes should be allowed before I call for the doors to be locked. Members should accordingly be aware that they do not need to crowd into the Lobby at the beginning of the vote, as there will be more time to vote than usual.

6.30 pm

The Deputy Speaker put the Question (Order, this day).

Health and Social Care Levy Bill

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

2nd reading
Tuesday 14th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

In the public sector pay agreement that we reached, we accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review body. That is why we decided on 3% and why the NHS was treated differently from other areas of the public sector such as the police and teachers. This recognised the importance of those frontline workers and it was why those under the threshold of £24,000 were carved out. This recognises the point that my right hon. Friend has raised.

In conclusion, this levy will enable the Government to tackle the backlog in the NHS. It will provide a new permanent way to pay for the Government’s reforms to social care and it will allow the Government to fund our vision for the future of health and social care in this country over the long term. I commend the Bill to the House.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Before I call the shadow Minister, I should say that there will be a six-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches to start with. If anybody wishes to speak, they should catch my eye, and to do that it is important to keep standing. If colleagues have not put in to speak but wish to do so, it would be helpful to let me know. They will have to have been here from the beginning of the debate, and they will be expected to be here for the wind-ups, which will start at approximately 4.45. Bearing all that in mind, I now call the shadow Minister, James Murray.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)]

It is a privilege to close this debate on behalf of the Government. In recent days, the House has debated the Budget through the lens of the Government’s response to the pandemic, including the comprehensive efforts we have made to protect jobs and businesses. Today, the focus of the debate has been on looking forward and discussing the ways in which last week’s Budget prepares the country for an investment-led recovery. I thank right hon. and hon. Members from across the House for the very constructive contributions that we have had throughout the debate.

This is a Budget in three parts: first, it protects jobs and livelihoods and provides additional support to get the British people and businesses through the crisis; secondly, it is clear and honest about the need to fix the public finances once we are on the way to recovery; and thirdly, it begins the essential work of building our future economy, including by providing the opportunity to level up across the country.

The Budget announced an additional £65 billion of measures over this year and next to support the economy in response to coronavirus. Taking into account the support in last November’s spending review, that figure for this year and next is £352 billion. Add in measures from the spring Budget last year and the figure rises to £407 billion. In other words, a comprehensive and sustained economic shock has been met with a comprehensive and sustained response.

In fact, thanks to the actions of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, the Office for Budget Responsibility now expects the UK economy to recover to its pre-crisis level six months earlier than originally expected. That means the second rather than the fourth quarter of 2022. Unemployment, meanwhile, is expected to peak at around 6.5% instead of the nearly 12% that was feared last summer. As the Resolution Foundation has observed, this would be by far the lowest unemployment peak in any recent recession, despite this being the deepest downturn for 300 years.

The Budget maintains a number of essential further support measures, including the furlough scheme, which has been extended until the end of September, and support for the self-employed, which will also continue until September. Indeed, anyone who had filled in a tax return before last Wednesday will now be able to claim the fourth and fifth grants that have been made available for the self-employed, supporting more than 600,000 people on top of those already helped.

The Budget also maintains the universal credit uplift of £20 a week for a further six months, provides working tax credit claimants with equivalent support over the same timeframe and reaffirms our commitment to increase the national living wage to £8.91 from April. We announced a restart grant from April to help businesses to reopen and get going again and a new recovery loan scheme to replace our earlier bounce back loans and coronavirus interruption loans. We will continue to deliver a package that is unprecedented in its scope and scale and which reflects the wider strategy for cautiously reopening the economy, as set out in the Government’s road map. Above all, the distribution analysis shows that this is a package of measures that has supported those on the lowest incomes the most.

Over the course of the debate today, we have heard powerful contributions from a wide range of Members, and I want to draw attention to a number in particular. My right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) spoke of the importance of skills, innovation and investing in human capital, which a number of Budget measures set out. My hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mark Menzies) recognised the importance of additional economic support, particularly in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Siobhan Baillie) reinforced the Government’s commitment to a green recovery and reskilling to take advantage of the investment set out in the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan. My right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green) also highlighted the importance of green innovation, which is reflected in the commitment to double the spending on energy innovation, with a new £1 billion net zero innovation portfolio.

My right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) highlighted the key opportunity provided by our leadership of COP26. My hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish) highlighted the value of the super deduction policy. In answer to his question on fishing, I can confirm that fishing boats are within scope either for the super deduction or the related 50% first-year allowance.

My hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Damien Moore) praised my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for the vital support that businesses in his constituency, particularly in the hospitality sector, have received throughout the pandemic. My hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Ben Everitt) praised the Budget as one that looks after jobs and looks after the future, including the new tech campus that will help the next generation in his area.

My hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd South (Simon Baynes) praised the additional funding for the Welsh Government and the investment through the accelerated city deals. My hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) praised the successful freeport bid for Felixstowe and the value of the towns fund, which will make such a difference to the regeneration of his local community.

My hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) praised the expansion of the self-employment income support scheme, which will support a further 600,000 people. My hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) and many other Members praised the super deduction and the great benefits it will have for investment, as UK business leads that investment in our recovery.

My hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) welcomed the skills package, which will help to support our economic recovery from the pandemic. My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken) welcomed the 5% VAT cut extension and rightly drew the House’s attention to the importance of Lord Hill’s listing review and the wider opportunities of the FinTech industry.

My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell) praised the Budget’s focus on levelling up and the towns agenda, and we make no apology for the frequency with which we will talk about our commitment to levelling up. My hon. Friend the Member for Bury South (Christian Wakeford) recognised the package of business support and the stimulus for jobs in his constituency that is offered by the super deduction.

Given the time, I will not run through the wide range of measures that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out or how, in addressing some of the issues raised by those on the Opposition Front Bench, he will boost productivity through schemes such as Help to Grow and Help to Grow: Digital, the plans to ensure that the UK is a scientific superpower, the £400 million annual uplift in science spending, the “future fund: breakthrough” scheme, the lifetime skills guarantee, the kickstart scheme, the restart scheme, the £3,000 for apprenticeships, the tripling of traineeships and the Government’s commitment to skills and investment.

Over the last year, this country has experienced a 10% fall in GDP—the largest fall in 300 years. In response, the Chancellor has presented a plan that will continue to protect jobs and livelihoods, that supports the British people and businesses through this moment of crisis, and that begins to fix the public finances and build our future economy. This is a Budget that, as the Chancellor rightly said, “meets the moment”; I commend it to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That income tax is charged for the tax year 2021-22.

And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.

The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the motions made in the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Standing Order No. 51(3)).

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I am now required under Standing Order No. 51(3) to put successively, without further debate, the Question on each of the Ways and Means motions numbered 2 to 80, on which the Bill is to be brought in. These motions are set out in a separate paper distributed with today’s Order Paper.

2. Income tax (main rates)

Resolved,

That for the tax year 2021-22 the main rates of income tax are as follows—

(a) the basic rate is 20%,

(b) the higher rate is 40%, and

(c) the additional rate is 45%.

And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.

3. Income tax (default and savings rates)

Resolved,

That—

(1) For the tax year 2021-22 the default rates of income tax are as follows—

(a) the default basic rate is 20%,

(b) the default higher rate is 40%, and

(c) the default additional rate is 45%.

(2) For the tax year 2021-22 the savings rates of income tax are as follows—

(a) the savings basic rate is 20%,

(b) the savings higher rate is 40%, and

(c) the savings additional rate is 45%.

And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.

4. Income tax (starting rate limit for savings)

Resolved,

That—

(1) For the tax year 2021-22, the amount specified in section 12(3) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (the starting rate limit for savings) is “£5,000”.

(2) Accordingly, section 21 of that Act (indexation) does not apply in relation to the starting rate limit for savings for that tax year.

And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.

5. Basic rate limit and personal allowance (future years)

Question put,

That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made taking effect in a future year for each of the following amounts to remain at the amount specified for the tax year 2021-22—

(a) the amount specified in section 10(5) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (basic rate limit), and

(b) the amount specified in section 35(1) of that Act (personal allowance).

The Economy

Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Steve Barclay

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Again, this was covered extensively in the earlier debate. First, the furlough is already in place for an extremely long period, until October. That is eight months, and we are only halfway through it. Secondly, other measures are being put in place, including measures to incentivise employers to bring those on furlough back. It is not right that people should stay on furlough for an extended period of time—[Interruption.] Nor have the Opposition set out exactly which sectors they want it extended for, or how that would apply in areas such as the supply chain. We would simply get an indefinite period in which that scheme would be —[Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) has made her point. Yelling at the Minister is probably not quite the way to proceed.

[Steve Barclay]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

We will also ensure that those who have sadly lost their jobs are supported back into work as quickly as possible. We will do that by expanding work search and doubling the number of work coaches, so that jobseekers will benefit from high-quality personalised one-to-one support. We will also invest £32 million of new funding over two years to expand the National Careers Service, and we will prioritise support for young people who have not only had to contend with disruption to their education but must now enter the workforce at an extremely difficult moment. The £2 billion kick-start scheme will create hundreds of thousands of new fully subsidised quality jobs for young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming universal credit and are at the highest risk of long-term unemployment.

There will be new money to invest in schools in England, including tripling the number of sector-based work academy placements and traineeships, and giving all 18 and 19-year-olds the opportunity to study targeted high-value level 2 or 3 courses when no employment opportunities are forthcoming. Furthermore, we will introduce a new youth offer for young people on universal credit, in the form of 13 weeks of intensive support, including referral to work-related training or apprenticeships together with tailored support and coaching for those who need it.

The Government’s immediate focus is on jobs, but our recovery is also an opportunity to renew our commitment to the UK’s long-term prosperity. Six months ago the Government were returned to office by an electorate tired and frustrated by deadlock and delay. Thousands of people in dozens of constituencies lent the Conservative party their vote for the first time because we promised to leave the European Union, unleash the potential of the economy and level up investment and opportunity across the United Kingdom. Those commitments have not changed, and this Government are determined to repay the trust placed in us by bringing about meaningful change to people’s lives.

Last week, the Prime Minister outlined how the United Kingdom could bounce back from this crisis, stronger and better than before, with new jobs and new industries in every region. Together with the plans set out by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor today, this means we will bring forward £8.6 billion of capital investment in infrastructure projects that will support thousands of jobs. That includes more than £1.5 billion for hospital upgrades and maintenance this year, and as the Prime Minister announced last week, we will allocate £1 billion to begin rebuilding schools in England, £142 million to modernise courtrooms and £83 million to invest in the prison estate. Meanwhile, we are working to put in place a new generation of roads, railways and fibre-optic cables to bind the country closer together and unleash the economic potential of the regions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

One of the advantages of coming after the Chancellor has spoken for two and a half hours is that many of the same issues come up a second time. He was asked about this, and he said that we have a commitment and he was not going to pre-empt any future announcement from the Prime Minister. Given that that was the Chancellor’s response, I can say that I am certainly not going to pre-empt anything from the Prime Minister, but we recognise the issue. That is an area on which, as the Chancellor covered earlier, the Prime Minister will make any subsequent announcements.

We have announced today £2 billion of green homes grants, which will save energy and, just as importantly, save households money on their bills. Finally, our £40 million green jobs challenge fund will invest in shovel-ready natural capital projects, such as creating new parks and open spaces, cleaning rivers, restoring peatland and helping to plant many more trees during this Parliament. Taken together, these measures will help to ensure that the future is not only more prosperous but happier, healthier and greener too.

Covid-19 has tested our economy to the extreme. The challenges we face in rebuilding are great, but the opportunities are greater still. We can build back better than before, with stronger public services, a new generation of infrastructure that brings our country together and new jobs and opportunities in every region. It will not be easy—it will take all our ingenuity and commitment—but as the Chancellor said earlier today, it is not this crisis that will define us, but our response. The resilience, compassion and determination shown by the British people has carried us through the hardest months, and now, this same sense of collective purpose will drive our recovery too.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

It will not have escaped anyone’s notice that many Members wish to contribute to the debate, so there will be an immediate four-minute time limit on Back-Bench speeches. I call the shadow Minister, Wes Streeting.