Oral Answers to Questions

David Mundell Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking to incentivise employers in Scotland to pay the living wage.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (David Mundell)]

The Government support businesses that choose to pay the living wage, where it is affordable and does not cost jobs.

[Ann McKechin]

The Minister will be aware that many people in Scotland have started the holiday season and packed their bags, and many will be visiting the beautiful islands of Scotland, but last week the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers reported that foreign-resident seafarers who are working on the ferries are being paid as little as £2.35 an hour. That is a disgrace to Scotland, and I urge the Minister to use his offices to work with the Scottish Government to persuade the ferry companies to pay not only the minimum wage but a living wage to every single one of their workers.

[David Mundell]

I most certainly take on board what the hon. Lady says and I will make representations in that regard. I am sure she welcomes the fact that earlier this month the UK Government published a list of employers who had not paid the minimum wage. Unfortunately, two of them were in Scotland.

[Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Mr Speaker, I know that you will be happy to hear that in May I employed an apprentice in business administration in my office and committed to paying her the living wage. Does the Minister agree with me that all MPs’ offices and Government Departments should set an example and move as quickly as possible to being accredited living wage employers?

[David Mundell]

The hon. Gentleman sets a good example, and certainly in apprenticeship schemes offered by Members of Parliament, I support the action he has taken.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

14. Seven out of 10 young people in Scotland who are unemployed are applying for benefit for the second time. Is that not testament to the fact that there are simply not enough secure jobs for them that pay the living wage? Why will this Government and their equally bad counterparts in Edinburgh not use the public procurement powers available to them to ensure that every Scottish young person gets the living wage?

[David Mundell]

I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman would welcome the fact that the number of those in the 16 to 19-year-old category in Scotland who are out of work has fallen by 4,000. Work is the way out of poverty, and that is what this Government are encouraging.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend not agree that the best way to achieve the living wage in Scotland and elsewhere in the country is by continuing to take millions of low earners out of paying income tax altogether?

[David Mundell]

I absolutely agree. Tens of thousands of Scots have benefited from the fact that we have raised the personal allowance. Roughly two thirds of those on the minimum wage are now paying significantly less tax than they were when this Government came to power.

[Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)]

I know the Minister recognises that payment of the living wage will ease the pressures of the cost of living that many households experience, but in view of his recent admission to the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee that his Government’s benefits sanctions and welfare reforms have contributed to the increase in the number of food bank users, will he now apologise?

[David Mundell]

What I think politicians should apologise for is making the poor and most vulnerable into political footballs. Poverty is a scourge in our country, not an opportunity for a press release.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. In case the House is not aware, I can inform colleagues that the House of Commons has received its accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)]

4. What assessment his Department has made of the effect of the regional air connectivity fund on Scotland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (David Mundell)]

The regional air connectivity fund was announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last year and was doubled to £20 million in the Budget. It has already been successful in securing the air link between Dundee and London, a vital support for economic growth in the hon. Gentleman’s great city.

[Jim McGovern]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Some £2.8 million came from the UK Government to retain the air link between London and Dundee. Is that not just one more example, albeit a crucial one for Dundee, of why Scotland is stronger as part of the UK?

[David Mundell]

I absolutely agree. The air connectivity fund is a good example of the UK Government working to support economic development across all the nations and regions of our United Kingdom.

[Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)]

May I ask the Minister, on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll and Bute (Mr Reid) and myself—this is not just a parliamentary pincer movement; it is close to the Secretary of State’s heart, and I am assured that he does have a heart, at least on Wednesdays—about Islay airport and Broadford airport on the Isle of Skye? They could both benefit if that excellent scheme were extended in conjunction with the Scottish Government: in the case of Islay, because it lacks a public service obligation and wants more commercialism; and in the case of Broadford, by re-establishing passenger links. Will he give that his full support?

[David Mundell]

I will most certainly take on board what the right hon. Gentleman says on his behalf and that of his colleagues. I am sure that everybody would welcome the opportunity to fly over the sea to Skye.

[Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Minister agree that those who are using that fund to fly from London to Dundee later this week in order to see the launch of the aircraft carrier will be able in two different ways to see the strength of the United Kingdom?

[David Mundell]

Absolutely. The hon. Gentleman will have heard the Secretary of State highlight the importance of the flotation of the aircraft carrier on Friday, which will be a very important moment not only for Scotland, but for our whole United Kingdom.

[David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)]

5. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of Scottish independence on energy flows between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Michael McCann (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (Lab)]

7. What assessment he has made of the effects of the distribution of housing benefit in Scotland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (David Mundell)]

In recent months, I have met every local authority in Scotland to discuss a wide range of issues, including housing benefit.

[Mr McCann]

A report by my trade union, the GMB, shows that huge sums of housing benefit are paid to company landlords in Scotland. Bearing in mind the Secretary of State’s earlier answer, will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can bring together the UK, Scottish and local governments to ensure that we get best value for housing benefit and that we can create new houses and new jobs, rather than fill the pockets of company landlords?

[David Mundell]

I would certainly be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, with a view to convening such a meeting.

[Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)]

I want to thank the Government for recognising the extra costs of living in remote rural areas and giving councils such as Argyll and Bute extra money to give discretionary housing payments to their tenants. I hope the Government will continue to give extra money to such councils in future years.

[David Mundell]

The hon. Gentleman will know that I wrote to the Deputy First Minister of Scotland with an offer to executively devolve the power to Scottish Ministers to set the statutory cap on discretionary housing payments in Scotland. That offer has been accepted and we are working constructively with the Scottish Government to take it forward in relation not just to rural areas, but to all councils in Scotland.

[Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab)]

Will the Minister intervene with the Department for Work and Pensions so that we can have a system where someone who is sanctioned and taken off benefits when they have an appeal does not lose their housing benefit until the appeal is heard? Once the appeal is heard, they get their money back, but they then have the problem of finding that they are in debt to the local council. Can we not have a system that is sensible and fair to people who are sanctioned by the DWP?

[David Mundell]

I certainly take note of what the hon. Gentleman says, and I would be happy to meet him to discuss it further.

The Prime Minister was asked—