Public Services

Debate between Anne Main and Priti Patel

Wednesday 16th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady makes a relevant point. Of course, this is not just about what we do through the criminal justice system but about what we do through all our public services—through education and local government—and how we engage with communities. It is therefore vital—I am going to come on to this later in my remarks—that we bring those public duties together, integrating our governance at a local level as well as a national level to absolutely do more to prevent and to protect innocent victims, and also to prevent people from even going into a life of crime.

[Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con)]

I welcome the additional funding in Hertfordshire. May we have a strong focus on rural crime, including fly-tipping and fly-grazing? Farmers suffer hugely as well as people having animal cruelty issues associated with criminality.

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As someone who represents a semi-rural and coastal constituency myself, I know that this is absolutely a problem that we have all experienced. There is no doubt that the new numbers for territorial policing will mean more police officers on the streets of our constituencies who are able to tackle the whole range of issues covering policing, including rural crime.

Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill

Debate between Anne Main and Priti Patel

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Priti Patel)]

It is a pleasure to respond to this efficient debate, and I welcome the consensus on it across the House. The measure has been debated over the past week, so it is not surprising that we have reached a conclusion quickly today. We have had an effective debate today. This is a landmark reform, as my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary has said. The Government announced it in the autumn statement. It is the most radical restructuring of stamp duty we have seen. It cuts stamp duty for 98% of people who pay it. It eliminates damaging distortions in the housing market, where someone buying a house for £250,001 pays three times as much tax as someone buying a house for just £1 less.

[Mrs Main]

Will my hon. Friend clarify whether that is 98% of all transactions or 98% of all domestic transactions?

[Priti Patel]

The reform cuts stamp duty for 98% of people who pay it. That is the point I was making.

The reform reduces the tax bill for first-time buyers. As my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary highlighted, this is about aspiration. Everything about the debate we have had is about supporting home owners, first-time buyers and the principle of aspiration.

In a moment I will move on to the points that have been raised by my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main). The Labour party made a number of points about how many people have benefited from some of the advice that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs provided last week on the transitional support. The Government do not have the current figures on how many home buyers have benefited from the transitional reviews. As with most cases where stamp duty is paid, we get the information only after a transaction has been fully completed. However, we expect that as many as 35,000 transactions will benefit from the transitional rules, which is a substantial number.

My hon. Friend the Member for St Albans and the hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) mentioned stamp duty on commercial properties. They will not be surprised to hear that the Government rightly keep all taxes under review. We have taken swift action on the residential front, as my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary has highlighted, and that was debated in the House last week. That swift action has obviously removed the distortions that acted as a break on aspiration and made it harder for first-time home owners.

The market for commercial property is different and, as I said, we will keep all taxes under review. My hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry) asked about mixed-use buildings. Those are subject to the commercial rules, not the residential rules, as my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary highlighted. The Government keep all taxes under review and will give consideration to mixed-use buildings ahead of future events as part of our normal review process.

My hon. Friend the Member for St Albans touched on Government forecasts. Forecasts of house prices and stamp duty land tax revenues have been verified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. My hon. Friend has been an assiduous campaigner on these issues and had a debate on the subject in the House not long ago. She referred to flipping between commercial and residential rates for avoidance purposes. We are clear that the reform is not an opportunity for avoidance.

NHS

Debate between Anne Main and Priti Patel

Wednesday 5th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

I apologise to both Front Benchers for missing the opening statements due to a commitment I had at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak.

I want to discuss problems with the NHS in my locality. My constituents have been affected by a number of difficulties in the NHS in recent years, predominantly down to the legacy and failings of the previous Labour Government, particularly the deficit of NHS local health care provision. Mid Essex has suffered as a result of the bloated bureaucracy of the primary care trusts and strategic health authority, which took money away from front-line care and patients. That is Labour’s legacy.

To put that in context, between 1997 and 2009 the number of managers and senior managers in the East of England strategic health authority more than doubled from 1,300 to well over 2,700. The number just kept increasing. The worst case involved Mid Essex PCT—I was so thrilled when PCTs were dismantled—and its predecessor trusts, whereby between 2001 and 2009 the number of managers and senior managers soared from 10 to 102, while the proportion of administrative staff working in the PCT itself doubled from 17% to 33%. That money should have gone to front-line patients in Witham and Mid Essex. That is the legacy we are trying to overcome.

When this Government came to office, those two PCTs were spending a combined total of £25 million on management costs alone, which is simply shocking and appalling. That is why the reforms are not just welcome, but vital to Mid Essex and my constituency: money can now be spent on providing care and investing in the health and care services that my constituents and patients desperately need. The actions taken by this Government mean that more of the record levels of spending on the NHS—which the Government are committed to and which the Opposition opposed—will be spent on patients in my constituency, rather than on administrators, managers and bureaucrats.

One of the most damaging aspects of Labour’s legacy in my constituency is the incredible health deficit in Witham town. Witham is a growing town and I am very proud of it—it is incredible. Despite the NHS deficits we have faced, our patients have campaigned and I have worked alongside them. My hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) has been clear and consistent in making the point that this is about campaigning together, on a united front at a local level, to make the case for reform and change.

The town’s population is set to grow by more than 11% over the next decade, yet we have a chronic shortage of GPs and health services. That is well documented and I have raised the issue in the Chamber and in Westminster Hall on a number of occasions.

[Mrs Main]

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that Labour Members have made no apology for the fact that GPs were allowed to opt out of out-of-hours services? That resulted in many more people presenting themselves at A and E simply because they were unaware of where they could go. Surely Labour should have foreseen that that would happen when it made dramatic changes to GP contracts.

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is a challenge we all face, particularly in rural constituencies. That deficit needs to be addressed.

There are about 2,200 patients per GP in Witham town, compared with the national average of 1,500. Patients would also like to see more out-patient services delivered locally in the community, rather than have to travel to Braintree, Chelmsford or Colchester. Colchester and Chelmsford both have hospitals that are undergoing major reviews at present. The challenge we face is to bring in new services to serve our expanding town. The prospects of achieving that objective are enhanced by the fact that this Government are putting record sums into the NHS and by the dialogue at community level between the town council and NHS England. I commend both, but specifically Witham town council for its support, and particularly Andrew Pike of NHS England and his team for working closely with me to examine the options, despite significant pressures and resistance in some quarters.

I know that we can count on the encouragement of Ministers, who have listened and been incredibly supportive. That brings me back to the fundamental point that if the Labour party, when it was in government, had bothered to take the issue seriously, more progress could have been made. The issue is of course about the allocation of resources: we need less on management and bureaucracy, and more on front-line patient care.

Another very significant health care concern for my constituents is that raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal about the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. It has been a disaster, as the Secretary of State and Health Ministers are well aware. My hon. Friend the Minister of State has been part of our campaign. He was assiduous in his support of us all in pushing for and achieving the resignation of board members last year, and in relation to the trust’s poor performance in getting ambulances to patients efficiently and on time, rather than having four-hour waiting times and some deaths. We must not forget that deaths and casualties have resulted from that neglect.

I welcome Ministers’ involvement and support and, by contrast, we have now seen changes. The previous members of the trust’s board, many of whom, including a Labour councillor, were appointed under the previous Labour Government, ought to have provided strategic leadership—this is all about leadership—but they left the trust in an appalling state, under-staffed, poorly resourced and ill-equipped. They did not scrutinise the management of the trust, but left a serious black hole in its finances and a shortage of paramedics and ambulances that has caused my constituents and patients throughout the region to suffer unnecessarily.

As the House has heard, the trust is now led by Dr Anthony Marsh, and it is on a massive recruitment drive to bring in the paramedic numbers it needs to serve my constituents and the rest of the region. I commend him, because he is working incredibly hard: we are climbing Everest to deal with the legacy we were left. Collectively, local MPs are supporting him in his task to repair the damage to the structures left to us, including in relation to the formation of the trust, because in effect we inherited an appalling and devastating legacy.

It is quite clear from our time in government that if such problems had arisen under the previous regime, they would have been swept under the carpet. We have seen with the scandal of Mid Staffs and other trusts, to which the Labour party turned a blind eye, that there is no doubt that Labour closed its eyes and completely ignored the fact that patient care was neglected and the overall cost in lives, which is appalling. I therefore welcome the commitment from our Health Secretary and the Government to support us not only in facing the challenges, but in bringing transparency and shining a light on the NHS, which is vital.

To make one other point, the teams in our ambulance trust have been working so hard. We really commend and praise the front-line teams, because they have had an appalling time. We are now improving services for my constituents, which, frankly, was not possible under the previous Labour Government.

Network Rail

Debate between Anne Main and Priti Patel

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Westminster Hall

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

Thank you for your forbearance, Mr Amess, as I had to remove myself from the debate earlier. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) on securing this debate. I will declare an interest, because I used to live near my hon. Friend’s constituency when I lived in Radlett, which is close to St Albans. When I first started my working career, I used to commute along the line that she referred to, so I know exactly how expensive it was then, as it is now, and I know how unreliable it has become. I am grateful to her for securing this debate today, because in my constituency in Witham and in the county of Essex we have many problems with Network Rail, as well as with our train operating companies, so I welcome the opportunity to discuss the prospect of reform and improvements in relationships with Network Rail. We have heard a vast range of different experiences of Network Rail’s entrenched attitudes and lack of accountability to consumers. I hope that we will see improvements in the next few years, particularly with the change in management at Network Rail.

From a constituency point of view, I am now focused on the new long-term post-2014 franchise agreement for Greater Anglia. That follows the two-year franchise that has just been secured by Abellio, my new train operating company, which will run from this month until 2014. The longer franchising agreement—I hope the Minister will look into it going forward—is of real significance, because we are looking for greater integration, whoever the operator is, and a good relationship with Network Rail. Frankly, the two have been separate for far too long, and there has not been enough accountability and co-operation. National Express had the Greater Anglia franchise until 31 January.

We want improved relationships, partly because commuters in Essex and in my constituency pay a lot of money. My constituents pay more than £4,000 a year for their season ticket into Liverpool street, and £5,000 if it includes zones one to six. The service was appalling under National Express, but we have had much wider issues and challenges because of Network Rail. Our train line goes into Liverpool Street, which means we also go through Stratford. The Minister will be aware that Stratford has been going through significant changes, with welcome improvements in the line over the past few years for the great Olympics, which will be coming to our great capital in the summer. However, my commuters have been disproportionately affected. All the commuters along the Greater Anglia line have been badly affected, and that has to be addressed.

Rail services in Essex, in my constituency and along the Greater Anglia line need improvement to cope with the increase in rail travel as Essex faces a significant growth in population. It is currently 1.4 million and is set to rise by more than 14% over the next 20 years, and yet there has been no investment in our rail infrastructure, in the tracks that go through Essex and Suffolk, all the way up to Norfolk. The Minister will be aware that MPs from along the line have come together to consider how we can work to secure long-term improvements in the relationship with Network Rail and our new franchise holder, and hopefully influence how we can get proper inward investment in our line.

It is fair to say that there are regular delays consistently across the line because of signalling problems, engineering works and congestion, particularly around Stratford and Liverpool Street, as I have already said. For my constituents, these journeys are nightmare journeys. Most of my constituents work in the City of London, so for them delays obviously have an economic effect in terms of their employment and what they contribute to our economy. We have severe issues with overcrowding, lack of seats and poor facilities. With the likes of National Express and Network Rail, the general customer satisfaction rating is abysmal, which is not sustainable. It must change and improve.

[Mrs Main]

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that High Speed 2 is being sold to the public on the grounds that people will be able to work on the train, which will be of benefit to the economy, and yet it sounds as though her constituents, like mine, regularly travel in cattle-truck conditions, and they certainly cannot work on the train? There could be an argument for putting the investment that is going into HS2 into improving our existing railways.

[Priti Patel]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention and for making very valid points. I am all for investment in our railways, which obviously comes at great cost to the public purse. I am also all for getting “bang for buck” for taxpayers—there is no doubt about that—but it seems somewhat disproportionate that we are spending a vast amount of money on one particular project when there are certain lines and services that need investment. They are crying out for investment right now.

In the south-east and in the eastern region of the country, we contribute a hell of a lot to the economy. Our commuters also pay a lot in rail fares and it is now incumbent upon the Government to listen to some of these points from across the wider rail network and to start securing some long-term and strategic investment because, as I say, our constituents contribute a lot to the economy.