Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Metcalfe and Greg Clark

Tuesday 31st January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

T8. May I again welcome the first two pillars of the proposed industrial strategy: investment in science and developing skills? Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how the work of the Science and Technology Committee can act as a road map in delivering the Government’s aims?

[Greg Clark]

I very much hope that my hon. Friend’s Committee will engage with the consultation. If we are to have a strategy that endures, it is important that it takes into account the views of all those on both sides of the House with an interest in securing our economic prosperity and future scientific excellence.

Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Stephen Metcalfe and Greg Clark

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My responsibilities are broad enough and keeping me busy without my taking my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary’s job. That said, the hon. Gentleman’s question gives me the opportunity to re-emphasise that the strategy is a whole-Government approach, and of course it is important that the brightest and the best can continue to be employed here and to make the contribution they do to the whole UK economy.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

There is obviously much to be welcomed in the strategy, but may I express my particular support for the importance being placed on science investment and developing skills? To that end, will my right hon. Friend, first, seize the moment and make the case across Government for increasing spending on science and technology to 3% of GDP, which many of our competitor nations have done and which the Science and Technology Committee, which I chair, has called for? Secondly, will he please publish the digital strategy as a matter of urgency?

[Greg Clark]

I am grateful to the Chairman of the Select Committee for pushing us in that direction. He will see in the Green Paper that we are clear sighted about the need to invest in science and research, and this is not just Government investment; we want to create the conditions in which the private sector can invest in research and development. On the digital strategy, that is very much part of the programme that this industrial strategy is leading, and he will not have long to wait before he sees it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Metcalfe and Greg Clark

Tuesday 13th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. Like him, I commend Ofgem for the arrangements that it put in place. He raises a reasonable point, and as Chairman of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee he will want to work with me to ensure that the right arrangements are in place.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

T6. Will my hon. Friend ensure that those who benefit from self-employment are aware of the different kinds of national insurance contributions? Will she also ensure that they pay the correct NI class, so that they are able to access the full range of support available to other types of jobseeker in the event that they re-enter the jobs market?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Metcalfe and Greg Clark

Monday 6th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

As I said to the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen), it is very important that these proposals come from the bottom up, and that requires local agreement. Discussions are taking place locally in the south of England, as they are in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, as to what is the right geography of a proposed deal. It is very important that these things are determined locally, rather than by my getting a pen and drawing lines on a map. I hope the hon. Member for Hove (Peter Kyle) will use his good influence to bring people together, so that we can advance what should be a very important and attractive deal.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

T7. Empty homes are a blight on our local communities, with some becoming derelict and dangerous, meaning that not only are local people deprived of somewhere to live, but entire areas can appear run down or unkempt. What is the Minister’s assessment of the number of empty homes and what is his Department doing to improve the situation?