Nuclear Power: Toshiba

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Monday 12th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My view is that we should have a mix of energy sources. It is true that storage, and the progress being made in storage, plus renewables is increasing the possible contribution to our electricity generating system, but, as I say, we are always wise to have a diversity of sources, which is why nuclear has an important role to play.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

When NuGen hands back the Moorside site to the NDA in January, will it be the taxpayer who pays for the clean-up, or—I hope— its preparation for a new tenant?

GKN

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

On the hon. Gentleman’s first point, I have said to many colleagues in the House that when it comes to shareholdings, every purchaser in the latter stages has bought from a longer-term shareholder, who has in effect expressed a judgment on the company. This Government, previous Governments and this House have looked carefully at the rights of different classes of owners and have concluded that the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion would not be the right reform. However, he knows me well and I will of course consider the assessment of the conduct of this bid, but it would be wrong to mislead him by saying that I have formed a different view. I will take an objective view of the conduct of the bid, as will others in the House. The grounds for intervention are specified in the Enterprise Act 2002, which reflects the requirements across the European Union that every member state must apply.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

The old management was British, the new management is British, and the Secretary of State appears to have secured guarantees from the new management that it will do certain things that the old management had not guaranteed. Does that not imply that those who are working for the new GKN should sleep slightly more soundly in their beds?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend puts it well and succinctly. Any takeover bid will obviously involve some anxiety for employees with long service, but whether or not the bid had succeeded, this was always going to be a period of change for GKN employees. As a result of the commitments that have been given, they can have more certainty about a confident future than would otherwise have been the case.

International Investment

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Tuesday 17th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his questions, although I am surprised that he did not want to welcome the investment decision in Bombardier. In response to his—perfectly reasonable—question, “Why now?”, it is right to upgrade our systems for scrutiny periodically. A national security risk assessment was carried out recently, which correctly pointed out that smaller companies have the potential to pose a threat to national security, and these measures respond to that. We are publishing a Green Paper; Parliament is being invited to scrutinise it, as the essence of a Green Paper is that it is published for Parliament, as well as people in the outside world, to examine. On military technology and the scrutiny of arms sales, I think the hon. Gentleman should know that that is already subject to a licensing procedure.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm to the House that robust due diligence is always carried out on foreign investment when it might afford other Governments control of systems that are closely linked to national security, such as the grid?

[Greg Clark]

That is the essence of the proposals, and it is necessary to update them from time to time in line with the recommendations that arose from the national security risk assessment. It is very important—it is the first duty of Government—to make sure that we are protected from hostile threats.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Attracting businesses to locate in an area is a sure-fire way of making sure that the resources available to councils continue to grow. I am grateful to him for his question, and I can confirm that Nottinghamshire will receive transitional grant funding of around £2 million next year, which I think will be welcomed across the county.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

It was not me who had a cosy little chat with “ConservativeHome” this morning—if, indeed, it was a Conservative MP who did so. However, the idea of some councils having to gnaw on the bone is absolutely accurate, and I refer, of course, to my own council of Bromley, which has been gnawing on the bone, because of its efficiency and competence in providing services. Therefore, I am grateful to the wonderful Secretary of State for visiting Bromley and for agreeing to transitional arrangements for it. Could I ask what they are, sir?

[Greg Clark]

It is always a pleasure to come to Bromley, and I hope I will be able to do so again with my hon. Friend in the future. We will make sure that Bromley benefits from around £2 million in transitional grants for each of the next two years. I know from looking at the representations that have been made by London boroughs that that will be a big help in helping them to manage the more difficult first two years of the settlement.

Financial Transaction Tax and Economic and Monetary Union

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is right. This runs contrary to the whole direction of the reform that we have been promoting and think it essential for the EU to promote, namely movement towards a single market in which operating across borders becomes progressively easier and more transparent. I do not think it sensible to do what the hon. Member for Nottingham East would prefer to do, which is make a global financial transaction tax a greater priority than what we are achieving in terms of tax policy, at a time when we are making great progress.

Nor would it be right to leave out of the motion the reference to the UK’s legal challenge to the current proposed FTT, which it is widely acknowledged would hit British pensioners—we know the Opposition have them in their sights at the moment—and which is the whole basis of this Committee’s scrutiny of the proposal.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

If an FTT were imposed on us, where would the money be sent? Would it be sent to the EU, a country or some quango? Where would the money go?

[Greg Clark]

It would go to the country which was liable for the transaction tax that fell due there, but it would not go to this country, despite the fact that we would incur the costs of enforcing it and collecting the money. There would be no benefit whatever to the UK taxpayer. It would be unfortunate if at a time when we should be enhancing Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ ability to collect taxes, we were, in effect, requiring extra resources to be expended on something that was of no benefit whatever to UK taxpayers.

Cyprus

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Monday 18th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am scandalised that the situation in Cyprus was allowed to happen in this way. It should not have happened in terms of the supervision of the banking system or the country’s fiscal performance. We will not be able to make an assessment of our guarantee to the armed services until we see the final shape of the negotiations, but when we do I will make sure that the House knows about it.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

Further to the question asked by the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), it is undoubtedly true that the Ministry of Defence has funding in the Bank of Cyprus for operational expenses on our bases, including pay. Are we likely to be scalped? In other words, is it likely that our Government will bail out the Government of Cyprus?

[Greg Clark]

It is too early to make that assessment, but we should know in the next few days and I will, of course, update the House when the situation is clear.

National Planning Policy Framework

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Tuesday 27th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The requirement for a plan is that it be a real plan. It should assess the needs of the authority in the future and allocate the relevant land. It is an important test of the soundness of a plan that it has a five-year land supply. We have said that if that is demonstrated, that is the end of the matter, but if a five-year land supply is not in place, a buffer will be needed to reflect that shortfall.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

Will the NPPF give local people a better chance of getting rid of illegal Traveller sites when they appear in, for example, my constituency?

[Greg Clark]

The changes in the Localism Act 2011 dealing with enforcement provide greater powers for local authorities to act on the unlawful occupation of sites by any resident or applicant.

Localism Bill

Debate between Bob Stewart and Greg Clark

Tuesday 17th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Of course, Madam Deputy Speaker. I certainly intended no discourtesy to you or anyone else in the Chamber.

We do not want to be too prescriptive in the rules for neighbourhood forums, because we want as many people to participate as possible. Nevertheless, we have specified the requirement in the examination that they should be open to all. Part of the test that the examiner will make is whether there are sufficient efforts to involve all sections of the community, including businesses and definitely residents. Various types of residents must also be included, because it is important that the whole community is represented. We have also clarified that councillors have a right to be involved in the neighbourhood forum, even if they do not reside in the ward that they represent, as is sometimes the case. I hope that Government amendments 161 and 162 cover the point made by the hon. Lady. If they need strengthening, we are happy to look at them again. I think that they make it clear that forums need to reflect the community and should not allow any narrow interests to dominate. That is one of the most important tests.

Good points were made in Committee by the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) and the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr Raynsford) about cross-border arrangements. I recollect that they share a border in Blackheath. It is important that Blackheath is able to have a neighbourhood plan, and I very much hope that it will. Government amendments, in particular amendment 168, will make that possible, and will ensure that there will be only one plan for the area. It would be wrong for competitive plans for Blackheath to be promoted from the Lewisham side and the Greenwich side. It is important that they work together.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

Do the provisions of the Bill apply to urban and metropolitan open spaces in the same way as they do to green belt development?

[Greg Clark]

If residents so desire, the provisions of a neighbourhood plan can designate spaces that residents want to keep as green space.

The right hon. Gentleman said in Committee that it should be possible for the examiners of plans to be planning inspectors or local authority officers. We perhaps erred too much on the side of reassuring residents that they had the right to promote their plan in the face of a recalcitrant local authority, and therefore excluded local authority officers and planning inspectors from being involved. We actually found, to our delight, that there is a great deal of enthusiasm on the part of many local authorities. Where a community and its local authority can happily work together, its officers should not be excluded from being involved.

We have also addressed, in Government amendments 171 and 172, the need for the development of neighbourhood plans to be properly funded, recognising that the capacity of communities varies from place to place. Those amendments give the Secretary of State the power to arrange for payments to be made in support of neighbourhood planning, or for services such as training to be provided.