Manufacturing

Andrew Stephenson Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman]

There could be competition throughout the region. That would not be difficult. Would it not be great if we had some competition among local banks?

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

In Pendle, a local businessman called David Fishwick is trying to do exactly what my hon. Friend suggests. He is trying to create his own bank to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Pendle and Burnley. The regulations are so detailed and engrossing that the FSA has refused to help him, despite his instructing high-flying lawyers. So far, it has even refused to meet him to discuss the creation of a bank that would directly help small and medium-sized manufacturers in Pendle and Burnley.

[Guy Opperman]

I will give way again.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

I am delighted to contribute to the debate and I pay tribute to the hon. Members who helped to secure it. Some very interesting points have been made. I have already spoken to my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) about individuals’ being able to set up their own bank, and I know that we have constituents who share the desire to diversify lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in this country. The debate has already been very productive.

In my maiden speech, I said:

“I am proud to represent a seat with a higher proportion of the work force employed in manufacturing that than in any other constituency in England, and I am delighted that manufacturing is back on the national agenda.”—[Official Report, 17 June 2010; Vol. 511, c. 1108.]

In the short time that I have today, I should like to consider what has been achieved in the 17 months since I made that speech and what more can be done to support manufacturers, particularly in Pendle and east Lancashire.

A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to attend the Lancashire Telegraph business awards. It was a night that helped to highlight the best of manufacturing and engineering in east Lancashire, when the prestigious business of the year award passed from one Barrowford-based company, ACDC Lighting, to another, Merc Engineering, both of which are located in my constituency. I have visited those companies, which are both tremendous examples of fast-growing smaller firms that are constantly innovating, winning new orders and expanding their operations.

In Pendle, those companies are not the exception to an otherwise gloomy manufacturing picture. There are other businesses, such as Protec in Nelson, which has just installed all the fire alarm systems for the Olympic games stadium and venues; Hope Technology in Barnoldswick, which produces top-of-the-range components for bikes used by the best cyclists; and Kirk Environmental in Nelson, which is a leader in green technology. I have enjoyed visiting all those local manufacturers, as such businesses drive the local economy and will get the British economy out of the state it is currently in.

As Pendle’s MP, my No. 1 priority is jobs and supporting our local manufacturers. As someone who ran my own small business until I was elected to the House, I understand the pressures that companies are under in these tough economic times. Last autumn, the Government launched the £1.4 billion regional growth fund, which has directed investment towards many manufacturers in Lancashire and the north of England. Particularly important to Pendle is the £8.8 million to reopen the Todmorden curve—a transport improvement that residents of east Lancashire have been calling for for more than 40 years.

The Government have also agreed to fund the Regenerate Pennine Lancashire bid for an additional £7.5 million in business support. Its Accelerating Business Growth in Lancashire scheme is designed to meet the needs of local manufacturing SMEs by offering them capital investment for expansion projects, including premises, plant and machinery. There was a successful bid from North West Aerospace Alliance, which I shall meet again in a few weeks’ time.

Those regional growth fund announcements came just two weeks after the Government said that they would back the bid from the Visions Learning Trust to open a new £18 million university technical college in east Lancashire—a huge investment in ensuring that our young people have the skills that employers are looking for. That is great news on top of new figures showing that 810 people have taken up apprenticeships in Pendle in the past 12 months—a 70% increase on the number in the last academic year and a bigger proportional increase than in either the north-west or the rest of England.

All this comes on top of policies such as cutting corporation tax and red tape for manufacturers, promoting exports and getting the banks to lend more money, but there are some areas where I believe that Ministers could perhaps go further, a crucial one being support for the aerospace sector. I am delighted to have just been elected as treasurer of the new all-party parliamentary group on aerospace. Aerospace is crucial to Pendle’s manufacturing base. The UK aerospace industry is the second largest in the world. It is worth more than £23 billion and employs thousands of people in Pendle in highly skilled jobs, working for firms such as Rolls-Royce, Euravia or Weston EU. That sector of the economy is vital to Pendle and growing in terms of orders and jobs, but the long-term future of the aerospace industry in the UK cannot be secured without a long-term commitment to research and development. Ministers are already working closely with trade organisations such as ADS on the issue. I hope that the Minister will propose specific policies to help the aerospace sector.

Another issue that I should like to discuss is empty property rate relief—a problem that, of course, stems from the previous Government’s reforms. It has been raised with me time and again by manufacturers in my area. John Getty, the managing director of PDS Engineering and the president of the East Lancashire chamber of commerce, recently singled this out as the biggest concern to many local businessmen. In east Lancashire, industrial unit after industrial unit has been pulled down because owners simply cannot afford the rates on old mills and buildings. The effect, when some of the small and medium-sized enterprises that I mentioned look to expand, is that there will be nowhere left for them to do so. I have written to Ministers on the issue many times. I appreciate that the Government have prioritised rate relief for small businesses for the time being, and that benefits more than 1,000 small businesses in a constituency such as mine. However, on behalf of the east Lancashire manufacturing community, I ask that the issue of empty property rates be looked at again in the near future.

In conclusion, with the exception of the two key issues that I mentioned, the Government have, over the past 18 months, made huge progress in supporting manufacturing, through their approach to investment in infrastructure, grant funding, taxation policy, skills and apprenticeships. Solid foundations for our economic recovery are being laid.