Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Jones Excerpts
Tuesday 1st October 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Sajid Javid Portrait Sajid Javid
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I share the hon. Gentleman’s desire to ensure that all parts of our great country are benefiting from our strong economy. We have seen a jobs boom since 2010, after the deepest recession in our peacetime history under the previous Labour Government. Of the 3.7 million jobs that have been created, 65% are outside London and the south-east, which will be benefiting his communities and so many more.

Andrew Jones Portrait Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)
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One of the ingredients of economic growth—we have talked about boosting small businesses—is improving the productivity within the economy. What are the ministerial team doing to boost productivity?

Simon Clarke Portrait The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Simon Clarke)
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I thank my hon. Friend for his question; he was obviously responsible for this when he was Exchequer Secretary. Last week I met Charlie Mayfield for a very good discussion about the Be the Business fund that the Government have set up to support business-led movement to improve small business productivity. This includes running pilots in Cornwall to support the hospitality sector and in the north-west to support family businesses. There are other schemes, such as Made Smarter, which is a good pilot, in addition to a £31 million package announced at conference 2018 to improve SME management through peer-to-peer networks.