Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Gemmell Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

10. What steps she is taking to increase long-term investment in the economy.

[Alan Gemmell (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to increase long-term investment in the economy.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

15. What steps she is taking to increase long-term investment in the economy.

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[Rachel Reeves]

It was a pleasure to go to my hon. Friend’s constituency in June to see the port and the wealth creation and jobs that it is bringing to Southampton. As I set out in the autumn Budget, as well as focusing on the national wealth fund’s capital investment in ports, we are committed to accelerating grid connections and ensuring that new network infrastructure is built at pace to unlock investment and growth opportunities. We are particularly focused on driving network build, including by completing the strategic planning of the energy system needed for 2030, to ensure that projects such as those my hon. Friend has mentioned in Southampton make the progress that they need to.

[Alan Gemmell]

New green businesses such as XLCC in Ayrshire, a sub-sea cable manufacturer, are seeking long-term investment to create jobs. Recently, my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) and I visited its training academy in Irvine. What more will my right hon. Friend the Chancellor do to help Scottish businesses such as XLCC to secure long-term investment, and might she visit Ayrshire to see it in action?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for the invitation. In October, the Government launched the national wealth fund to mobilise billions of pounds of investment into world-leading clean energy and growth industries. I am pleased that the national wealth fund already announced a £20 million investment in XLCC to support it in moving towards a construction phase. This will support 900 jobs, as well as making a contribution to the UK being a clean energy superpower by strengthening the home-grown energy suppliers that are fundamental to achieving our energy independence.

VAT: Independent Schools

Alan Gemmell Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alan Gemmell (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)]

Fourteen years of Tory neglect have left many of our schools on their knees. The situation is no better in Scotland. After 17 years of the SNP, Scotland’s once world-beating reputation for education has been tarnished. I regularly meet and hear from teachers whose passion and dedication is palpable, including Mrs Boyd and Miss McKay, the primary 6 teachers at Struthers primary school in Troon. Some 21 of their pupils have sent me individual letters asking me to join the fair trade campaign to “Be the Change”. However, over a quarter of children in north Ayrshire now live in poverty. That means that 6,234 children are held back, even before the school day begins. Conservative Members have forgotten about the effects of austerity on constituencies such as mine. They and the SNP are living in their own fantasies.

Having squandered reserves through financial incompetence, SNP-run North Ayrshire council faces £12.6 million of cuts in its upcoming budget. The situation has only been worsened by the council tax freeze imposed by the SNP in Holyrood. The council now proposes cutting 90 teaching posts between 2025 and 2027, and removing a total of 230 hours of pupil support assistance, equivalent to eight full-time staff; all school crossing patrols; one full-time post from the music service; and one full-time educational psychologist. That will be a travesty for children in north Ayrshire, and casts further shame on the SNP’s education record in Scotland.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that this VAT policy will raise more than £1 billion, and will see significant additional education spend in England, which means significant Barnett consequentials for Scotland, and for the young people in my constituency. Today’s generation of young people deserve no less, after suffering year after year of excuses. This Government are not prepared to settle for more of the same.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Gemmell Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)]

3. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage inward investment.

[Alan Gemmell (Central Ayrshire) (Lab)]

8. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage inward investment.

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[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend makes an important contribution on behalf of her constituents, based on her background of working in science and technology before entering this House. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that the north-east has huge potential to grow the economy through sectors including advanced manufacturing, health, technology and our creative industries, and this Government will work with our local mayors, including Kim McGuiness, to develop ambitious, long-term local growth plans that reflect the north-east’s strengths. We will look to address some of the barriers to growth and support delivery of our national industrial strategy, as well as narrowing some of the inequalities that have persisted for far too long.

[Alan Gemmell]

International investment is important for the aviation and aerospace sectors, and aviation and aerospace are important for my constituents in Central Ayrshire, with 55% of aerospace jobs based in Prestwick. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what more the Government will do to ensure continued international investment in these sectors?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I know that his experience as His Majesty’s trade commissioner in India means that he understands the importance of global trade and investment to the UK economy, including the Scottish economy. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland and see at first hand the excellent work that is going on to promote innovation in a whole range of sectors, including aerospace and satellite technology. The UK already produces around half of the world’s large civil aircraft wings and engines, and the aerospace sector added £11 billion to the UK economy last year. The Government are putting investment at the heart of our growth strategy, including by supporting advanced manufacturing in Scotland, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend on this endeavour.