Oral Answers to Questions
David Williams Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)
David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)
Rachel Reeves
I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she has put into this proposal and for her commitment to delivering growth in her constituency of Stoke. On a recent visit, I had the opportunity to meet JCB in the region and see its important work, particularly on the use of hydrogen. I encourage my hon. Friend to meet the Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports—I am happy to set up that meeting—whose portfolio includes local growth. The Government are committed to driving growth in the midlands, which is why I confirmed funding for the west midlands investment zone at the autumn Budget and also confirmed an extension of the UK shared prosperity fund.
David Williams
I warmly welcome the recent investment of an extra £20 million for our buses and an extra £11 million to fix our broken roads across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Does the Chancellor agree that continuing to invest in our roads and public transport is an excellent way to keep our communities connected and to increase job opportunities to boost our local economy?
Rachel Reeves
It is great to see two strong advocates for Stoke in the Chamber today. A number of local authorities and, indeed, Labour mayors have raised with me bus procurement and the importance of buses for the local economy. I look forward to working with them, particularly David Skaith in York and North Yorkshire and Steve Rotheram in Liverpool, to boost bus services in communities, and particularly rural communities, to support jobs in the UK. At the Budget, I allocated more than £1 billion for local bus services, and that includes £712 million for local authorities to support and improve bus services in the next financial year.
Oral Answers to Questions
David Williams Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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James Murray
The Liberal Democrat spokesperson began her question by saying that we all want public services; the problem is that not all of us in this Chamber are prepared to pay for them. That is exactly why we have to take difficult decisions to ensure that we can fund our ambitious plans for the NHS, education and indeed housing. The impact of the impact assessment is published in the tax information and impact note, which is published alongside the legislation, which I am sure the hon. Lady will have seen. It comes down to the basic point that we have to make tough decisions on taxation if we want to fund those public services.
David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves)
At the Budget, the Government announced major steps towards delivering a once-in-a-generation increase in social housing, including a £500 million boost to the affordable homes programme, increasing annual spend to £3.1 billion. The Government will set out future grant investment beyond the current affordable homes programme at phase 2 of the spending review.
David Williams
In Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove there are many historic buildings that are lying dormant, and they have done so for a very long time. What steps will the Chancellor take to help to bring these beautiful buildings back into use as affordable homes for local people?
Rachel Reeves
Stoke-on-Trent has a proud industrial history and some beautiful buildings. My hon. Friend makes an important point—I will raise it with colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The £500 million boost to the affordable homes programme also allows up to 10% of that delivery to come from acquiring existing homes. Social landlords, including some local authorities, can bid for funding to bring empty homes back into use for social housing.