Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Lord Hammond of Runnymede

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

T8. In response to a recent written parliamentary question, the Secretary of State for International Development confirmed that she paid her Department’s cleaners the living wage—the London living wage. Sadly, when I asked the same question of the Treasury, the response was that Her Majesty’s Treasury “does not hold” the information. Will the Chancellor take this opportunity to clarify why he and other Front Benchers do not know how much the cleaners who clean their desks every day are paid, and will he promise to introduce the London living wage not just in the Treasury but for every single cleaner who works in Whitehall?

[Mr Philip Hammond]

I imagine the reason is that the provision of these services is contracted out, but I will investigate and write to the hon. Lady.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Lord Hammond of Runnymede

Tuesday 3rd July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I can tell my right hon. Friend that under the last Labour Government, the number of people achieving home ownership fell by 61%. I think Labour’s position is clear. The Leader of the Opposition has described home ownership as a national obsession; for the Government it is a national priority. We are helping hundreds of thousands of people across the country to achieve the dream of owning their own home, and that is why I am proud that, under a Conservative Government, the number of first-time buyers is now at an 11-year high.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

Will the Chancellor tell us what is being done for people who cannot afford their own home, in terms of lifting the borrowing requirement on councils so that they can build more social homes?

[Mr Hammond]

We have a £9 billion affordable homes programme, and we announced a £2 billion uplift in that programme last autumn. We have increased additional flexibilities to allow building for social rent and to relax the housing revenue account caps on local authorities in the highest demand areas. This Government’s programme to deliver the homes this country needs achieved 217,000 net additional dwellings last year and is on track to deliver 300,000 net additional dwellings a year by the middle of the 2020s.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Lord Hammond of Runnymede

Tuesday 28th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

Yes, I absolutely recognise my hon. Friend’s concern. It is for that reason, as well as for reasons connected to the economic sustainability of individual businesses, that we have said that we will look at how best to help those most seriously affected.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

20. Excellent businesses such as Dunn’s Bakery, the Railway Tavern and Elsie Café in high-value areas such as Crouch End and Muswell Hill have made representations. Will the Chancellor please confirm that he will look again at the business rates revaluation?

[Mr Hammond]

What I cannot do is look again at the business rates revaluation, which is an independent statutory exercise undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency. As the hon. Lady will know, if experience is anything to go by, of the 2 million business properties revalued, about 1 million will lodge appeals, so there will be a process of reviewing the way in which the valuations have been conducted. I have said I will look at those small businesses facing the largest increases and see how best to help them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Lord Hammond of Runnymede

Tuesday 12th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

As one of my colleagues said earlier, last week we had all our senior people in London for the annual leadership conference, and I clearly set out to them the challenge to the Foreign Office and its network as we move into this new phase where we will seek to redouble our efforts to build trade relationships around the world beyond the European Union. I can tell my hon. Friend, and the House, that I got the resounding response that they are up for that challenge.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

Earlier today, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled against Chinese claims to territorial rights in the South China sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines. Does the Secretary of State agree that the PCA’s ruling must be respected, and that any non-compliance by the Chinese Government would not only cause severe reputational damage to China but constitute a serious breach of international law?

[Mr Hammond]

The UK’s position has always been, and will remain, that we urge respect for international law and the rules-based international system, and decisions arising from international tribunals. As the hon. Lady will know, the ruling is 501 pages long. It flopped on to my desk just before coming over here to answer questions—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) is obviously super-efficient; I might test her later. We will study the decision carefully. If the hon. Lady can give me any insight into her understanding of page 432, I would be very grateful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Catherine West and Lord Hammond of Runnymede

Tuesday 12th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. We raised this issue with President Xi when he was here in October. We were given a commitment that China intends to address its overproduction of steel. The problem is not only China, of course; this is a global problem. The Chinese said they were going to close some of their more polluting steel plants. I pressed them on that in Beijing last week and emphasised to them that it is through the prism of steel that their claims to be treated as a market economy are likely to be judged in the European Union. If they want a fair hearing on market economy status, they must address the steel issue. It is in their interests to do so.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on the common statement, between the UK and China, on Syria. What action will he take to express concern at recent reports that Chinese police have arrested worker activists in the manufacturing centre of Guangdong? Does he agree that the current crackdown on labour rights NGOs in China does nothing to calm jitters in the context of the current economic downturn?

[Mr Hammond]

Regrettably, such incidents do occur in China, but we have a forum for raising concerns, through a formal human rights dialogue with China. We expect the next human rights summit to be in March or April, and we have a list of issues we will raise with the Chinese, including the question of how they operate around labour activists.