Rail Investment

Debate between Sammy Wilson and Justine Greening

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman will see improvements in services and capacity over the coming years. Many of the improvements that we are announcing on the network today can improve his area, too—not least through the potential to improve stations and see Access for All stations brought to his area. There is also investment in safety at level crossings and the general pots that we put in place to improve passenger experience and the strategic freight network. There is a huge number of different aspects to the investment, and I am sure that many of them will relate to the hon. Gentleman’s community.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Will today’s announcement have any budgetary implications for devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula? What practical measures has the Secretary of State put in the procurement provisions to ensure that her aspiration of jobs for British industry and the UK supply chain is realised by this investment?

[Justine Greening]

On the hon. Gentleman’s point about jobs and growth, I should say that absolutely I have looked not only at what we need on our network and the investment profile but at getting a really clear understanding of how the measures can help support jobs and growth, particularly in the railway industry.

The hon. Gentleman knows that I am keen to make sure that the money that we are spending as a Government benefits not just passengers but the industry, in creating more jobs. We will continue to look at how we can make sure that our procurement processes work effectively and I certainly hope that we can do more to support our industry than the last Government.

Fuel Prices and the Cost of Living

Debate between Sammy Wilson and Justine Greening

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is talking about postponements, because those fuel duty increases eventually came through. That is one reason why in their final months in office—from December 2008 to April 2010—the previous Government increased fuel duty no fewer than four times.

Over the weekend, the shadow Chancellor confidently proposed cutting VAT on fuel.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

The Minister quite rightly highlights in her amendment the previous Government’s fuel duty increases, but the motion recognises that people are feeling pain now, and holds out the hope that the Government will do something about fuel duty. Rather than talk about what the previous Government did, will she tell us what she intends to do to alleviate the hardship for people in places such as Northern Ireland?

[Justine Greening]

I shall not pre-empt next week’s Budget, but the hon. Gentleman knows that both parties in the coalition Government spoke in opposition about the effect of fuel duty on motorists. Conservatives spoke in opposition about how the oil price fed through into fuel prices at the pump, and Liberal Democrats talked about the impact of fuel prices on people living in remote rural areas. The coalition Government are now looking at how to tackle both those problems, but I cannot pre-empt the Budget.