Economic Update

Claire Hanna Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I pay tribute to the work my hon. Friend does in this area. She is absolutely right that we must tackle corruption and fraud in procurement. It costs billions, if not tens of billions, of pounds; that is money lost to the Exchequer that we can use to fund public services, and it also means that our local authorities in particular do not get the quality of services that they need to provide for their residents. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to focus on this, and I very much look forward to hearing what proposals she might have for us to take forward.

[Claire Hanna (Belfast South) (SDLP) [V]]

I thank the Chancellor for advancing some very important mechanisms, although I share the concerns of others about those who have fallen through the cracks, such as new freelancers and those on precarious contracts. Given the need to protect confidence in spending, and given the opportunity that historically low interest base rates hold, will the Chancellor consider speaking to the banks, particularly those in which the Government have a majority stake, about offering temporary lower-cost mortgage products, as that could save hundreds of pounds for the average household? Will he be open to meeting me to discuss this idea?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend the Economic Secretary is in close contact with the banking sector and deserves enormous credit for the measures he has put in place to provide forbearance to people during this difficult time, and he will be very happy to meet the hon. Lady. He put in place a scheme that provided mortgage holidays to people, and I think about one in six mortgages was able to benefit from that. Millions of people will therefore have welcomed that relief, and I pay tribute to him for the excellent work he has done.