Business and the Economy

Danny Alexander Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

This has been a good debate, with many contributions from all parts of the House. I would particularly single out the contributions of my hon. Friends the Members for Solihull (Lorely Burt) and for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith), and of the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field), who I see in his place.

Towards the end of the debate, the hon. Member for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) said how difficult it was to prepare his speech in the light of the fluctuating lengths of speeches allowed for Back Benchers. It is perhaps a bit like dealing with a fluctuating economic forecast. Nevertheless, the hon. Gentleman made some important points, and I would like to respond to a couple of them. In particular, he spoke about the need for enterprise zones in Northumberland. As his hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell), who is sitting next to him, already knows, if a strong case can be made to include a particular area such as the land around the port of Blyth in the north-east local enterprise partnership, as it was at the time of last year’s autumn statement—it should be noted that some enhanced capital allowances might also be available—it should be made, and we will listen very carefully to it. The hon. Member for Wansbeck was right to say that these enterprise zones can play a role in helping to support economic development in places affected by the sort of job losses that he described in his constituency. I urge him to work with the LEP to make that case.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell]

I am led to believe that a scheme from the port of Blyth has been put forward to the Minister. I hope he now has it on his desk.

[Danny Alexander]

Not only has a scheme from the port of Blyth been put forward, but the inclusion of several areas of land around the port in the enterprise zone was referred to at the time of the autumn statement. I gather that a discussion is going on within the north-east local enterprise partnership about the sites on which it would like to see the enhanced capital allowances deployed. I think the hon. Member for Wansbeck had a view about an additional site that he would like to be included in the enterprise zone. I encourage him to work with the LEP to make that case, as I said. I hope he will take the opportunity to present that argument to the Government in due course.

The hon. Member for Blyth Valley also expressed support for the green investment bank, whose establishment is one of the key measures in the Queen’s Speech that could play a part in boosting the economy. I do not know whether he did so in song, because I was not present for his speech. Given the potential importance of the renewables sector to his part of the world, I hope he agrees that the bank could contribute to the investment that it needs, and that the substantial £3 billion capitalisation that we provided for it in the spending review will enable it to invest in precisely the sectors that he mentioned. Those sectors were also mentioned by many Government Members who recognised that the green investment bank was an important initiative, as, indeed, is the regional growth fund.

Listening to the shadow Business Secretary talk about the regional growth fund, I concluded that he had picked up the wrong end of the stick, although I must add in fairness that his tone was not reflected in speeches on the subject from other Members on both sides of the House. The National Audit Office report made it clear that the fund had created or protected some 328,000 jobs, which is a good use of public funds. What is more, as the hon. Gentleman will see from the evidence that has been provided, for every pound that we are spending on the regional growth fund, some £6 of private investment is being unlocked. In many cases in which public money has not yet started to flow, private investment is already taking place because businesses know that they have access to the fund. I think that that is a great success story about support for investments throughout the country. Certainly we on the Government Benches are very proud of what the fund is achieving, which is why we chose to give it additional resources last year.

[Catherine McKinnell]

I thank the Chief Secretary for giving way, and also for his generosity in addressing some of the concerns expressed by Members representing constituencies in the north-east. The regional growth fund would also be useful in providing access to European regional development funding. Has the Chief Secretary an update for north-eastern Members on the £120 million that is yet to be drawn down?

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady has made an important point about the use of European regional development funding, which we have been considering in connection with the regional growth fund. I am afraid that I cannot give her an update on funds for the north-east, but I will ensure that the Minister responsible for such matters writes to her with one.

[Mr Umunna]

The facts that I gave earlier about the regional growth fund came straight out of the National Audit Office report. Am I right in saying that the Chief Secretary has denied that the report said that only about 41,000 jobs could be created under the scheme? Was I also wrong in stating that the report was very clear about the fact that, in some cases, the cost of each job would be up to £200,000?

[Danny Alexander]

On the second point, the hon. Gentleman is clearly wrong.

[Mr Umunna]

That is what the report said.

[Danny Alexander]

If the hon. Gentleman will stop heckling from a sedentary position and listen to the answer for once, I will do my best to deal with his question.

In the individual case in which the £200,000 figure was given, it was given before the due diligence phase, as a Member whom I could not identify has just pointed out from a sedentary position. If the project reaches its final stages, it will involve a cost per job much closer to the average. The 41,000 figure was a mechanical estimate for which a model was used, whereas the 328,000 figure that I gave is based precisely on information provided by successful applicants on the number of jobs that will be created and safeguarded by the regional growth fund. I think that, rather than sneering at the fund, the hon. Gentleman should recognise the important contribution that it is making, and the important contribution to economic recovery that is being made by the private sector businesses that it is supporting.

[Mr Umunna]

Will the Chief Secretary give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Danny Alexander]

I will give way once more, but then I must make some progress.

[Mr Umunna]

Following the first two rounds, what percentage of the successful bidders are still awaiting their moneys?

[Danny Alexander]

I do not have that information to hand. However, the point I made earlier, which he ignores, is that in many cases where the regional growth fund has been awarded, the private investment takes place well in advance of the public funds being needed. The measure he seeks to use of who has received public funds is therefore not necessarily the best measure of the investment that has taken place, quickly stimulated by the award of regional growth funds. If he looks around the country, he will see many examples of private sector businesses that have been awarded moneys from the regional growth fund and have started their investments well in advance of public funding arriving, because that is how their projects have been planned. If he were doing his job properly, he would understand that that is the way in which many businesses operate.

We have also heard a number of comments about the banking Bill. Indeed, strong support for that Bill was expressed on both sides of the House, and there was support, too, for the strong recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking.

[Mr Redwood]

Has the Chief Secretary noticed the latest forecast, which says total City bonuses are likely to be only £2.3 billion this year, as opposed to £11.5 billion at the peak, under the Labour Government? Will he consider representations in favour of a bankers’ bonus tax in the light of how little revenue it will raise compared with the original forecast?

[Danny Alexander]

I was about to come on to the mess that the Labour party made of our economy, but the right hon. Gentleman’s question causes me to bring those remarks forward. One of the most calamitous failures of the last Labour Government was the complete failure to regulate the financial sector and to control the excesses that built up in the banking system, and the figures he gave are just one example of that. The banking Bill will implement the reforms that are necessary to deal with some of the excesses and, more importantly, to protect the taxpayer and the British economy from the sorts of problems that previously arose. It was very striking that in neither Labour Front-Bench speech did we hear any apology for the previous Government’s failure to regulate the banks properly, just as we heard no apology for the mess they made of our public finances and the many other mistakes they made, too.

[Rachel Reeves]

Will the Chief Secretary give way?

[Danny Alexander]

No. I have given way to the hon. Lady’s Front-Bench colleague three times, and I am now going to press on. I have only two minutes left, and she used up plenty of time.

There were a number of speeches about the groceries code adjudicator, including by the hon. Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley) and my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George), who played an important role in promoting the idea of the GCA and rightly welcomed the fact that the Government will take that forward. A number of comments were made, especially by Opposition Members but also from the Government Benches, on the enterprise and regulatory reform Bill. By and large, its measures on directors’ pay were welcomed, although concerns were expressed, particularly by Labour Members, about the proposals on employment law. The hon. Member for Bolton West (Julie Hilling) made that a key point in her speech, although I noticed that she welcomed the substance of the measures in the Bill, which are to do with providing more options before a tribunal is reached to enable complainants to resolve their case without the need to go through what she rightly describes as an often painful and expensive process. It is important that those measures are carried forward, and they will make a difference for many small businesses.

The economic context was an important theme in this debate, and Members on the Government Benches are fully aware that addressing the key issues is no easy task in the current economic climate, not least because of the crippling legacy the last Government left to us: a decade of unbalanced growth that left the UK one of the most indebted countries in the world; a decade that resulted in our having the most highly leveraged financial system of any major economy; and a decade that meant the UK entered the economic crisis with the highest structural deficit in the G7. All that meant that the UK was one of the hardest hit countries in the world when the crisis came.

Our recession was among the deepest and our deficit among the largest, which means that our challenge to deliver a sustainable recovery is among the greatest. Let me remind the House that when this Government came into office we inherited the largest peacetime Budget deficit this country has ever faced and the largest forecast deficit in the G20—larger than those of many of the countries mired in the sovereign debt storm in the euro area. It is only because of the decisive and immediate action we took that we have sheltered the UK from the worst of that debt storm.

The measures in the Queen’s Speech represent part of a bold and wide-ranging programme of economic reform: a strategy to rid the economy of the debt burden left by the previous Government; a strategy to secure our stability at a time of global instability; and a strategy that puts private sector enterprise, ambition and innovation at the heart of our recovery. It is the right recipe to clean up the mess that the Labour party left us and to bring this country back to sustainable prosperity.