Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

The Halton curve is, of course, important in that it connects north Wales with the city of Liverpool, which is the most important economic centre in the region. My hon. Friend is also right that we need to make sure that connectivity is improved across the whole of the north of England.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

8. What recent assessment he has made of trends in levels of employment in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Stephen Crabb)]

Our long-term economic plan is working—and it is working in Wales. We are rebalancing the economy to give the private sector confidence to invest and create jobs. In the last year alone, we have seen more than 47,000 new private sector jobs created in Wales.

[Andrew Selous]

Will the Minister update us on what has happened to youth unemployment in Wales under this Government, given that it rose by 75% under the last Government?

[Stephen Crabb]

My hon. Friend is exactly right; he knows a lot about this issue. There was an appalling increase of more than 75% in youth unemployment on the watch of the last Labour Government. I am pleased to say that in the past four years, we have seen youth unemployment fall by 31% in Wales. We are bringing down unemployment among young people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Lady and I share an enthusiasm for directly elected mayors. If we look around the world and at the example of London, and now Liverpool and Bristol, we see that it makes a difference to have someone with a mandate who can speak for the whole city. That is not the current Government’s policy, but various members of the Government have made statements in recent days that might form part of a future Government’s plans.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

7. Is the Minister aware that the devolving of power, which has led to funding the smarter routes to employment project, the Woodside link road and the Leighton-Linslade engineering construction skills centre in my constituency, very much reflects the local priorities to improve skills, create more jobs and spread prosperity as widely as possible?

[Greg Clark]

I agree with my hon. Friend. He elucidates the principle of the deals. It makes no sense for people in Whitehall to claim to know what is needed in a very local sense across the country. It is far better to give local people and local businesses the opportunity to make those decisions and to bring in private investment. You get a bigger bang for your buck that way.

European Council

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady asks an important question. As has happened on some other occasions, asking a potential candidate to see Members on certain Select Committees is something I am absolutely prepared to consider.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

The constituents I listened to over the weekend told me that they were pleased that the Prime Minister had done what he said he would, in the national interest, rather than just going with the flow to the UK’s detriment, for fear of being isolated.

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As I have said, it is important—not least for the future negotiations that this country will need to take part in—to make sure that people know that when we make a stand, we stick to it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I explained to the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), we are operating under the legal framework that was put in place by the Government of whom he was a member. When the hon. Gentleman looks at the record of what was said yesterday, I think he will find that the quotes that he has given are not accurate.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Q6. Does the Prime Minister agree that the building of vital roads, such as the A5-M1 link or the Dunstable northern bypass, will create even more jobs, and that continued infrastructure investment like that is a key part of our long-term economic plan?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree. I have spent some time in my hon. Friend’s constituency, stuck on the A5, and I know how much that remedial work is needed. It is vital for that part of our country. We are investing more in our railways than at any time since Victorian times and more in our roads than at any time since the 1970s. That is key to the success of our long-term economic plan.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The biggest plan we have in this area is to expand the number of people going into higher education by taking the cap off the numbers who can attend. Our plans on fees and repayments are clearly set out. It is encouraging that they have not put people off going to university, nor have they put people from low-income backgrounds off going to university.

I would make this point to the hon. Gentleman. Someone said in June 2010:

“A graduate tax would replace upfront tuition fees…I want to consult widely before publishing detailed plans later this year.”

That was the Leader of the Opposition, in June 2010. I know we are dealing with a blank page and an empty head, but for heaven’s sake, get on with it.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that it is the skills, enterprise and sheer hard work of all the staff at companies such as Honeytop Speciality Foods, that, in conjunction with our long-term economic plan, are driving the economy forward? That company created 200 full-time jobs last year and another 75 this year. It has exported naan bread to India, has created the fastest burger bun line in the whole of Europe and is making Dunstable the crumpet capital of the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 12th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

We will make the announcement on our views of the pay review body’s recommendations shortly, but what we want to do is protect what is now the highest number of nurses employed in the NHS since it was founded. We need to ensure that the NHS continues to employ more clinical staff, rather than fewer, as happened under Labour, to ensure that patients get the best possible treatment under the NHS.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Q9. On Monday, South Korean newspapers said that North Korea was due to execute 33 people for having had contact with a Christian missionary. Given that a quarter of a million people are in North Korean prison camps, will the Deputy Prime Minister urge the BBC World Service to use its existing transmitters to broadcast into North Korea, especially as more and more North Koreans now have access to radios?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises a very important issue. As he knows, our embassy in Pyongyang continues to engage critically with the North Korean regime and tries to ensure that there are as many opportunities for dialogue as possible, including information coming into the country. The BBC World Service is of course operationally, editorially and managerially independent. I understand that at the end of last year it decided, following a review, that it could not continue to offer an effective and affordable Korean language service. That is of course a matter for the BBC World Service itself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to improve commercial skills in the civil service.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

7. What steps he is taking to improve commercial skills in the civil service.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to improve commercial skills in the civil service.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Selous]

When does my right hon. Friend expect that all those in charge of major Government IT contracts will have gone through the programme at Oxford Said business school, and is he satisfied that that is the very best place to send these people?

[Mr Maude]

I am absolutely satisfied with the Major Projects Leadership Academy, which was set up to address what was identified by everybody as a major deficiency in Government and is now approaching its second anniversary. There is a requirement for all major project leaders to be alumni of the academy by the end of 2015, and all of them will have at least started training by the end of the current year. We started with a real deficiency of skills and experience, but we are building those with civil servants, which has been very much welcomed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on the Welsh economy of upgrading the M4 motorway.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

6. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on Wales of upgrading the M4 motorway.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

Upgrading the M4 is a key priority for the Government and for businesses in Wales. That is why we are enabling the Welsh Government to use their existing limited borrowing powers to begin work on upgrading the motorway as soon as possible.

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. That infrastructure improvement has long been called for, particularly by the CBI. An upgrade is grossly overdue. We have given the Welsh Assembly Government the borrowing powers that they need. We hope and expect that they will proceed with the upgrade as quickly as possible.

[Andrew Selous]

Is it the case that although funding to upgrade the M4 around Newport may not have been available in the past, the Government’s recent agreement to increase the borrowing powers of the Welsh Government means that the upgrade can now go ahead?

[Mr Jones]

Yes, indeed. The Welsh Government have already started the consultation process. I repeat that this is a massively important infrastructure improvement and we expect them to proceed with it as quickly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the data-matching tests are a dry run and have exceeded expectations. We think that the use of those central databases, particularly the DWP database, combined with what we do with other databases, should raise the overall figure of automatic enrolment when that finally happens. As he also knows, we have done a considerable amount to ensure that there is a two-year roll-over period, so that people who do not automatically register before the next general election will still have an opportunity to do so, while door-to-door information will be provided to people so that they will know how the new system works. We have put as many belt-and-braces provisions in place as possible, therefore, to ensure that the maximum number of people are on the new IER system.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

3. What his policy is on the level of fees paid to returning officers.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)]

Returning officers are entitled under the Representation of the People Act 1983 to receive payments for administering election polls, as those responsibilities fall outside their local authority duties.

[Andrew Selous]

These are some of the highest paid public servants in the land, sometimes on salaries of about £200,000. How can we continue to justify paying these people extra sums of £30,000 or so just to do another task, for which their salary should be more than enough to compensate them?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and I look forward to meeting him next week to discuss these matters further. Before the previous Government left office they increased the fees to returning officers, allowing fees to be paid uncapped for multiple constituencies. We in this Government froze those fees from that time. I look forward to our discussions and to hearing my hon. Friend’s views, which I know he has thoroughly researched.

Syria and the Use of Chemical Weapons

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Thursday 29th August 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me make a little more progress and then I will give way.

As I have said, I have consulted the Attorney-General and he has confirmed that the use of chemical weapons in Syria constitutes both a war crime and a crime against humanity. I want to be very clear about the process that we follow—the motion is clear about that. The weapons investigators in Damascus must complete their work. They should brief the United Nations Security Council. A genuine attempt should be made at a condemnatory chapter VII resolution, backing all necessary measures. Then, and only then, could we have another vote of this House on British involvement in direct military action. I have explained, again, the legal position and I do not need to repeat it, but I urge colleagues to read this legal advice, which I have put in the Library of the House of Commons. But let me repeat, one more time, that we have not reached that point—we have not made the decision to act—but were there to be a decision to act, this advice proves that it would be legal.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Does the Prime Minister agree that our constituents are concerned about Britain’s becoming involved in another middle eastern conflict, whereas he is focusing specifically on the war-crimes use of chemical weapons, which is a very different matter from Britain’s being involved in a protracted middle eastern war?

[The Prime Minister]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I am fully aware of the deep public scepticism and war-weariness in our country, linked to the difficult economic times people have had to deal with, and that they are asking why Britain has to do so much in the world. I totally understand that, and we should reassure our constituents that this is about chemical weapons, not intervention or getting involved in another middle eastern war.

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Miliband]

I think it is important evidence, but we need to gather further evidence over the coming days. That is part of persuading the international community and people in this country of President Assad’s culpability, and I think that is important. Let me also come to the hon. Gentleman’s earlier point, though, because the Prime Minister raised it too. I am very clear about the fact that we have got to learn the lessons of Iraq. Of course we have got to learn those lessons, and one of the most important lessons was indeed about respect for the United Nations, and that is part of our amendment today.

On the question of the Security Council, I am also clear that it is incumbent on us to try to build the widest support among the 15 members of the Security Council, whatever the intentions of particular countries. The level of international support is vital, should we decide to take military action. It is vital in the eyes of the world. That is why it cannot be seen as some sideshow or some “moment”, but is an essential part of building the case, if intervention takes place.

[Andrew Selous]

rose—

[Mr MacNeil]

rose—