Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will indeed. Along with my hon. Friend the Life Sciences Minister I was with the chancellor of the university of Manchester yesterday. I congratulate the vice-chancellor, Nancy Rothwell, and all responsible on securing a huge coup for this country. Having a Nobel prize-winning piece of research located for the future in the UK and in the north-west is a cause for great celebration.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

7. What steps the Government are taking to ensure the value of the minimum wage keeps pace with inflation and encourage firms to pay a living wage.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

Since 2010, the national minimum wage has increased faster than average earnings. From 1 October, the adult rate will rise above inflation to £6.50, giving more than 1 million workers the biggest cash increase in their take-home pay since 2008. Last year, I asked the Low Pay Commission to look at the conditions needed for faster increases. It concluded that we are in a new phase of year on year, faster real increases in the national minimum wage.

[Diana Johnson]

Since 2010 there have been only three prosecutions for breaches of the national minimum wage law. If the Secretary of State agrees, as I think he will, that more needs to be done to enforce the minimum wage, why in January did Liberal Democrat Members vote down Labour’s proposals for tougher enforcement, including additional powers for local authorities to take enforcement action?

[Vince Cable]

Both sides of the coalition will be introducing and supporting tougher enforcement measures in the small business Bill. The hon. Lady will already know that, adding to the enforcement regime we inherited, we have introduced not just the naming and shaming procedure but the prospect of significantly tougher penalties and much larger fines.

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[Vince Cable]

Indeed, and the world competitiveness report acknowledged that Britain ranked number four in the world in overall attractiveness in labour markets. My hon. Friend is right that the reforms we have introduced are certainly one factor in that we have had a growth of 2 million in private sector jobs since May 2010. One factor that has not been noted, and certainly has not been noted by Opposition Members, is the very large number of cases now being dealt with by ACAS that would otherwise have gone through an expensive and frustrating legal procedure.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T2. In asking my question, I want to make it clear that I want the Scots to remain our countrymen and women and not to become our competitors. The Government set up the UK Green Investment Bank in 2012 to boost investment in green technology and enterprise across the United Kingdom. With Hull and the Humber area emerging as a major UK centre for green energy and renewables, we would have extended a very warm welcome to having the bank in Hull. However, as we all know, its main headquarters is in Edinburgh, so can the Secretary of State just confirm that the UK Green Investment Bank can only be located within the United Kingdom?

[Vince Cable]

I think we all share the views that have been expressed across the House: that the United Kingdom is better together for a whole variety of reasons. The green investment bank is functioning very successfully with its current headquarters and operations. I think it has disbursed approaching £1 billion in a wide variety of projects from offshore wind to street lighting systems in Glasgow. It is a very successful initiative of this Government and I trust it will remain so.

Industrial Action Update

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 10th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

My hon. Friend is completely right. About £12 billion will have been saved as a result of pay restraint in the current spending round period, which is equivalent to the cost of employing 65,000 teachers or 71,000 nurses over that time. The 5% pay claim made by PCS for the civil service would cost £500 million every year, which is equivalent to further civil servant work force reductions of 18,000. Every increase in pay means fewer jobs.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The Electoral Commission report on the police and crime commissioner elections in November 2012 stated that the turnout of 15.1% was

“the lowest recorded level of participation at a peacetime non-local government election in the UK.”

Does that mean that the Government’s flagship policy of police and crime commissioners and those who have been elected lack any legitimacy?

[Mr Maude]

I point out to the hon. Lady that what the police do locally affects every single resident in the area, and every single resident over the age of 18 has the right to vote in those elections. When unions call strikes that affect local residents, parents and vulnerable people who depend on public services, such people are not consulted. It is not asking very much to require a union, when it calls its members out on strike in ways that damage the public, to have to rely on a vote of substantive quantity, with a majority behind it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman, and I am delighted that so many Members are as excited as I am about the fact that the growth deals mark such a dramatic break from the past. Now, finally, people can take their economic destiny into their own hands, rather than having everything dictated to them from Whitehall.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T15. I represent a city that introduced free hot, healthy meals for all primary school pupils, which were then scrapped by an incoming Liberal Democrat council. Is it not the case that one in five infants will be in receipt of cold sandwiches from September onwards? Have we not seen enough of these half-baked promises from the Liberal Democrats? [Hon. Members: “Half-baked!”] The Deputy Prime Minister has got this wrong, and he needs to rethink it.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

My head is swimming with the idea of a half-baked cold sandwich.

As the hon. Lady knows, the local Liberal Democrats objected to some of the plans of her local party because it was stealing from Peter to give to Paul. It was taking money away from low-income children in Hull to pay for that particular policy. We are giving schools far more time to deliver the free school meal commitment to children in the first three years of primary school than they were given by the pilot projects that were conducted by the hon. Lady’s party in government. We are providing an unprecedented amount of support. We have set aside a huge amount of money, and we are working intensively in schools. Instead of seeking to denigrate such a big, progressive policy, she should support it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor-General]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. There needs to be a very strong effort to ensure that the victims of trafficking are treated as such in cases where it is possible that they should be prosecuted, if they are victims rather than the main perpetrators. All the resources of the sort she mentions, and others, are to be looked at. I think she will be pleased when she sees the Modern Slavery Bill in its new form.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

What does the Solicitor-General think about extending the period of reflection from the 45 days that are currently allocated to a longer period to ensure that there is full support for victims of trafficking who may then be more willing to be witnesses in any prosecutions?

[The Solicitor-General]

The hon. Lady will appreciate that that is not a decision for the Law Officers. It is important, however, that all support for victims should be considered within the inter-ministerial group, and I will certainly ensure that it is fully considered. In other terms, I cannot go much further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will certainly do that. Having been in Coventry yesterday to sign the Coventry and Warwickshire city deal, which focuses precisely on advanced manufacturing, I know that there is great recognition that the whole of the west midlands has a big opportunity to come together to ensure that the order books that are filling up can be supported by companies in the supply chain. I will take my hon. Friend’s representations on board as we negotiate the growth deals during the weeks ahead.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

5. What devolved regeneration funding will be available to areas recently granted city deals.

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg)]

I would first like to say how delighted I am that Siemens has now confirmed its £160 million investment in wind turbine facilities at Green Port in Hull and at Paull in the East Riding. Together with an additional £150 million investment by its port partner, Associated British Ports, that development will support 1,000 new jobs in the area and demonstrates the huge economic potential of the green industry. I was delighted that the hon. Lady was able to attend the signing of the Hull and Humber city deal on 13 December, along with the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark). As she knows, through the city deal the Government agreed an additional £9.2 million of funding to support the growth of Hull and Humber’s economy.

[Diana Johnson]

I think that we all agree that cities are best placed to make decisions about regeneration funding and what is best for their local populations. As the Deputy Prime Minister rightly points out, a great example of that is the announcement this morning of Siemens’s investment in renewables, which means that Hull will be not only the city of culture, but the city of energy. Given that that success was made in Hull, will he congratulate, in particular, the Hull business community and Hull’s Labour council, because without them this would not have happened? Finally, does he agree that if we had listened to the climate change-denying UK Independence party, those jobs would be going abroad?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly agree with the hon. Lady’s latter point. There is absolutely no way that a multinational such as Siemens would invest that amount of money if we were on the brink of pulling out of the European Union single market. I have been in several discussions with Siemens board members, as have many members of the Government, to persuade them to make that decision, and I am delighted that they have finally done so. She is quite right that Hull city council and the councils in the area—it is a triumph not only for Hull, but for the Humber area more generally—have worked together, and it has been a cross-party approach. None of that would have been successful if we had been on the brink of pulling out of the single market. That is why Siemens has continued to invest in our country.

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[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I know my hon. Friend feels strongly about that, but I hope she is also aware that there are a number of eligibility requirements when seeking to access funds from the EU solidarity fund. We have compared the damage today with the 2007 floods, and following contact with the European Commission, our assessment is that we have not met those conditions. Of course, that does not mean that there are not other avenues that we can explore. As I think she knows, we are having discussions with EU institutions such as the European Investment Bank to support the existing package of UK Government assistance, which includes £130 million for flood recovery in the south-west.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T13. May I ask the Deputy Prime Minister about another of his pledges—universal free school meals for infants from September, which were pioneered in Hull but scrapped by the Liberal Democrat council when it came to power? Will he confirm whether they will be hot school meals or cold packed lunches?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

They need to be healthy meals that are provided to all toddlers and young children in the first three years at primary school. The hon. Lady is right that that has been piloted across the country, not only in her constituency but in Durham, Newham and elsewhere, and it has been shown to provide dramatic educational benefits. Of course the majority of the meals will be hot, but we are not going to prescribe, in the centralising way that I know her party is so fond of, that they are going to be hot in every single location across 24,000 schools in our country, but they do need to be healthy, hot and freely available. That will benefit families to the tune of hundreds of pounds and boost social mobility across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As my hon. Friend will know, we made an announcement some months ago on the back of the recommendations from Lord Heseltine to establish local growth deals that will be accessible to all parts of the country to do exactly what my hon. Friend describes—to allow local areas, which can often make far better decisions about skills, training, transport and business investment, to take those decisions with greater freedom and greater resources available to them.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T11. Some of the top universities are lobbying for an increase in the cap on tuition fees to £16,000 a year. Will the Deputy Prime Minister give an assurance —one of his firm pledges—that while the Liberal Democrats are in government he will not allow that to happen?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I know that the hon. Lady’s party advocated no upper limit to fees, because it was the Labour Government who commissioned the Lord Brown review—never mind £9,000, it said there should be no upper limit. We have no plans to change the upper limit at the present time.

Apprenticeships and Skills (Public Procurement Contracts) Bill

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Friday 1st November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

That is a fair question. The point of the Bill is that there is still the misconception—as we have heard today—that public bodies cannot do this because of European Union procurement rules. My Bill makes it clear to all that if they want to include apprenticeships in their tendering processes, they can do so. It also aims to drive up standards through the key provision that apprenticeships could be required to be at the higher or advanced level.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the Bill. Does it not also signal to employers that they will be expected to provide training for our youngsters? Not only will employers benefit from a skilled work force, but the Bill will benefit the community by creating better jobs, making businesses more competitive, and increasing the number of people who wish to use the services provided by those businesses. It is a win-win situation.

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I hope that Members in all parts of the House will support the Bill, because it sends the message that we should be upskilling our work force, that we have confidence in the young people in our country, that we expect their future to be our country’s future, and that we should therefore invest in them through public procurement.

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[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I commend the superb initiative in Birmingham. He is absolutely right that we must ensure that those who are the hardest to reach and who most need such opportunities have access to them. My Bill requires that those opportunities be advertised in the local jobcentre, because that is the only way to ensure that those hard-to-reach groups have the opportunities to access their way out of poverty, and to develop the skills and education that so far, sadly, they have missed. I am extremely pleased that my hon. Friend is here today to support these measures, because they will have a big impact, in cities like Birmingham, in driving up the ambitions and the skills of young people.

The hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) asked why, if this work is already taking place, there is any need for the Bill. In my discussions with a variety of public bodies, local councils, companies large and small, and training organisations, they have said that for all the good practice that exists, far too many public bodies still do not regard public procurement as a way to drive up skills. Perhaps that is because they do not have the ambition to do that, or because they have unfounded fears that some bogeyman in Brussels will say that it is not permissible. If the hon. Members for Bury North and for Shipley are fearful that my Bill might fall foul of Brussels, I invite them to join us in the Aye Lobby later, because I know that they both love nothing more than a scrap with those bogeymen in the Berlaymont.

I do not believe that Brussels is a problem, but others are looking to Government to provide them with the certainty that they need, so that local authorities, public bodies and Government Departments may require certain public procurement contracts to include a commitment to skills training.

[Diana Johnson]

I wonder whether my hon. Friend, with his vast experience and knowledge of the national health service, feels that the NHS and the new structures that have been created by the coalition are playing their part in providing apprenticeships and training for our young people.

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, because while there was some good practice in the national health service, this is one area where we have witnessed in recent months the rolling back of skills training. I do not know whether that is because the new NHS bodies have been so fixated on reorganisation that they rather neglected skills training, or whether it is purely because some of the new bodies do not realise that they have the power when commissioning services—as clinical commissioning groups have, as providers of public services—to ask some of the people bidding for those contracts to provide apprenticeships. My Bill would make it quite clear that public bodies—my definition would encompass clinical commissioning groups—would be able, as part of their contracting process, to ask companies that bid for those contracts to provide adequate skills training.

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[Barbara Keeley]

It very much is, and I really do agree with my hon. Friend.

I agreed with the point my hon. Friend made earlier about long-term unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, being high in Salford and my constituency, as it is in his. In my constituency—only a part of Salford—we have almost 3,000 jobseekers, of whom 900 are unemployed young people and 390 are over-25s who have been unemployed for two years or more. In fact, the number of people who have been unemployed for two years or more has risen this summer by 34%. I hear from young people, week in, week out—as I am sure do other hon. Members—about how over one or two years of unemployment they can start to lose hope. I get some really desperate appeals for help and support from them.

The previous Labour Government’s offer was that by 2015 there would be an apprenticeship for every 16 or 17-year-old who wanted one and was suitably qualified. We should keep that in our minds, because obviously, with the economic difficulties in recent years, we do not want 16 and 17-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training to lose hope, and I think they could do so. Worryingly, the number of apprenticeship starts for under-19s has fallen by 20,000 from 132,000, in 2010-11, to 112,000 last year. That is a dismal record. Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, yet the number of apprenticeship starts for that age group have fallen. That is pathetic.

Government Members, in particular, have spoken about the difficulties of small employers taking on apprentices. You might be aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, that I took on an apprentice in my constituency some years ago. She was a 17-year-old who had started her business administration apprenticeship in a bakery, but was interested in working in an MP’s office. She was an excellent staff member and completed her apprenticeship, becoming one of the highest-achieving apprentices the college had ever worked with. In her early 20s, she is now a county councillor serving part of your constituency, Mr Deputy Speaker. We can, therefore, support apprenticeships. It is an interesting development that not only did she train in business administration, but she has gone into local government and I am sure is doing an excellent job.

[Diana Johnson]

I am listening carefully to my hon. Friend. I, too, took on an apprentice in my office—a young person who had been made redundant part way through his apprenticeship—and he was such an excellent employee that I kept him on and found him a job. MPs showing how apprentices can bring added value to even a small office is a good example of the value of apprenticeships.

[Barbara Keeley]

Indeed, it is. I should say—I am sure it was the same for my hon. Friend—that that excellent experience was partly due to the training supervised by my office manager, to whom I give credit. As employers, we have to remember that we can play our part. Like all employers, we must offer training. What is more, having a 17-year-old working with us really revitalised my office. I was invited to a 21st birthday party—the first I have been to in a long time!

Apprenticeships.org is the website of the National Apprenticeships Service. In May, we were worried that only 37 apprenticeships in Salford were available on the website, and now there are still only 44, so the situation is not improving. There are other websites, but that is the national one. Salford city council is doing an excellent job providing support for apprentices and apprenticeships through Salford Futures, an employment initiative that has been running since April 2012. It, like the earlier example from Tameside, provides support to unemployed Salford residents through the provision of work experience placements and pre-employment training and support. It also encourages local employers to create and develop employment opportunities through the provision of grants, funding and wider business support. I have managed to link up employers who contacted me with that business support, and I know it is excellent.

Salford Futures is being delivered with the support of the Greater Manchester combined authority, not just individual authorities. The hon. Member for Shipley talked about his local authority perhaps not excelling in procurement, but local authorities can work together on this, and that might be a solution for any authority that feels it does not have the skills to do it. It is supported by the Greater Manchester combined authority and co-funded through the Greater Manchester commitment to youth employment scheme. There are some excellent partnerships in areas such as Greater Manchester, which are committed to ensuring that we tackle the scourge of youth unemployment. The package of support for employers includes

“Access to a 13-week wage subsidy, paid at national minimum wage, for any employer that recruits an eligible Salford resident into an apprenticeship or job with accredited training for a minimum period of six months…Brokerage and dedicated recruitment support…Information and advice on accessing additional funding opportunities, including the National Apprenticeship Service’s…initiative…Wider business support from Salford City Council's business team”.

I commend the business team. I put an employer who was interested in taking on apprentices in touch with them, and I know that they gave that employer a great deal of support.

The Bill would ensure that suppliers who won major public contracts began to offer apprenticeship opportunities if those contracts were at a certain level. We have just had a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about the circumstances, but the Bill actually follows on from “Apprenticeships”, the fifth report from the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. Having looked into it, the Committee recommended that approach, and suggested that at least one new apprenticeship could be provided for every £1 million of procurement spending.

I have described what Salford city council has been doing, but there is also good news from Salix Homes. Our housing associations are really showing the way ahead. Salix Homes was recently named by Salford council as the chosen landlord to take ownership of the 8,500 council homes in Salford in a proposed stock transfer, although that is, of course, open to consultation. It has worked to secure a commitment from its contractors—or subcontractors—to recruit two apprentices for every £1 million invested in homes and communities throughout Salford. That amounts to more apprenticeships than the number recommended by the Select Committee, and it shows what can be done. Salix Homes has promised that if the stock transfer goes ahead, it will invest a further £700 million over the next 30 years, which it says

“could generate more than 1,000 new apprenticeships for…young people.”

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[Lyn Brown]

I am not very good at icing cakes either.

[Diana Johnson]

I went to the Hull training awards last Friday in my constituency. The overall winner, the apprentice of the year, was a woman engineer, which I was delighted to see because we are missing out on a huge pool of talent among young women, who do not think engineering is for them. They make some of the very best engineers in this country.

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[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The speech by my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) was a tour de force. She talks with great passion about an issue that is very much in her heart—the future opportunities of young people who live in and around her constituency. Many other hon. Members will be very concerned about the shockingly high rates of youth unemployment in this country.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) on introducing this Bill. To be honest, it is a no-brainer: why would anyone not want to support it? It is short but very focused and clear in what it wants to do. My hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) clearly set out the advantages that local authorities and housing associations can gain in making a commitment to apprenticeships and how positive that is a for a local area. My hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) spoke about the situation in Liverpool, which is very similar to the one I find in Hull. Hull has twice the national average of young people not in education, employment or training, and every Hull MP has been grappling with this issue for some time: how can we ensure that our young people get the opportunities they so richly deserve? If we can squeeze money out of the public purse without adding any additional costs and in a way that benefits our youngsters, that is the way to go.

[Andrew Gwynne]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for contributing to this debate. Her points about Hull are pertinent. She will be aware that our parliamentary neighbour, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Alan Johnson), is a sponsor of the Bill. When I approached him, he made precisely the same points: if we cannot procure, through public procurement, extra job opportunities for local people in Hull, when can we?

[Diana Johnson]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend puts the point so well. My right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Alan Johnson) has always been a strong champion of ensuring that young people have the opportunities that they should have. Any Member who has read his book about his early life, which tells of his disadvantaged background and lack of opportunities, will understand why he wants to stand up and fight for young people.

I want to talk about the Bill from a business perspective. When I was growing up, my dad was an electrician and he had a small business. He trained as an electrician during the second world war and when he left the forces, he set up a small business with his sister, my Auntie Betty. My dad took the view throughout all his life in business that it was incumbent on him to train the next generation of electricians. I remember growing up in my household and hearing my dad say that he wanted to give a chance to young lads leaving school. He used to say that it was outrageous that some of the other, bigger businesses in the area—his was a very small business—did not train apprentices, and yet when a young person finished their apprenticeship, those businesses would go straight in to try to poach them to work for them without going through all the hard work that my dad did to train them.

I knew from a very early age how important it was to give young people those opportunities, and how good people in business—small businesses and others as well—who had a local commitment to their area and communities understood that they were there not only to provide services, but to make sure that young folk had an opportunity to train and get the skills they needed.

[Lyn Brown]

Given the example that my hon. Friend has just given, would it not be the right thing to do to ensure that supply chains from public procurement reward people like her dad who do the right thing? Those firms would get the subcontract from big procurement contracts and I think that would be the right way to go.

[Diana Johnson]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend puts the point very well.

My dad’s business carried on for many years because he was a good business man who did the right thing, and my brother, who was an apprentice electrician and did his training, now runs the business. He is doing exactly what my dad said he should do—training apprentices and the electricians of the future—but whenever I see him, he tells me about issues with public procurement. For example, if a school needs to be rewired and the local authority is putting the contracts out to tender, some local authorities take into account whether local firms have apprentices, and that is a good thing, but they do not all do that. It is really frustrating for local businesses that are doing the right thing to feel that they are not being rewarded in the way that they should be because other companies that are cutting corners and are out to make a fast buck do not invest in local people and local communities.

[Nic Dakin]

My hon. Friend is making a good point. Does she agree that there is greater value for money if funds from the public purse benefit local businesses and young people in the way that she is describing?

[Diana Johnson]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend has been a champion of ensuring that youngsters have those opportunities and that businesses provide the apprenticeships that they should provide.

[Barbara Keeley]

It was pointed out to me last week that the Care Bill, which I hope will return to this place in a few weeks, makes commitments on health education. Health education costs £4.9 billion. Caring for older people in our communities is a vital job, which now takes place mainly in the private sector, but there is no reward of the sort that we are discussing for the few employers who bother to train people. This is a new area that is opening up as we integrate health and social care. We cannot spend a huge amount—£4.9 billion—on the health side of the equation and not train people, for example through apprenticeships, to take up a valued career in social care.

[Diana Johnson]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend has a great deal of experience of social care and carers. Earlier in the debate, I raised with my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) the issue of how the NHS is spending its money and whether it takes into account whether businesses offer apprenticeships. Given all the reorganisations and changes in the NHS, we need to ask whether clinical commissioning groups are doing everything they should be doing to ensure that their contractors are providing training and apprenticeships. My hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) makes the important point that we need to focus on training people in the care sector. There have been scandals in many parts of the country because people have not had the skills that are needed to care for the elderly.

I want to mention again the Hull training awards, which I attended last Friday. A number of businesses in the city have supported apprenticeships for many years. I have been going to the awards for about five years. The number of businesses is growing year on year, but many employers still do not offer apprenticeships and do not feel that it is something that they want to do.

According to surveys, more than 80% of those who employ apprentices agree that they make the workplace more productive and 81% of consumers would favour a company that takes on apprentices. More than 200 types of apprenticeship are available, offering more than 1,200 job roles. Among employers who employ apprentices, 92% believe that apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce, and 83% rely on their apprenticeship programme to provide the skilled workers they need for the future of the company. One in five employers is hiring more apprentices to help them through the tough economic climate.

I started by saying that offering apprenticeships was a no-brainer. Why would a business not choose to do it? The facts and figures suggest that every employer should at least consider hiring an apprentice. Money from the public purse should be spent on companies that provide more than just the service or the widget by investing in communities and young people.

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend is making the case for smarter public procurement. It is not just the cost of the contract that must be considered, but the wider impact on the community. Does that not demonstrate why the Bill is right to insist that local job opportunities should be promoted in the local area?

[Diana Johnson]

That is absolutely right.

Research shows that, on average, an apprentice earns more than £100,000 more throughout their lifetime than other employees. We need to get such facts out there. Given the decimation of the careers service, we need to get the message across to youngsters about what an apprenticeship can mean and how it can enhance people’s opportunities. Of course we want young people to go to university if that is what is most appropriate for them, but apprenticeships are also valuable qualifications.

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend is making another pertinent point. No doubt in her constituency, as in mine, the vast majority of young people will not have the opportunity to go to university or a higher education institution. The best way in which those people can get a higher education level qualification, as well as on-the-job training, is by doing a higher or advanced apprenticeship.

[Diana Johnson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right.

Before I finish, I pay tribute to Mark Walker, whom I took on as an apprentice in my office several years ago and who has proved all the points that I have just made. He has added value to the office, made it more productive and made it a more motivated and satisfying place to work. I have experience of apprentices in my constituency office, and I also have the experience of my dad, which says it all for me—if he thought apprentices were worth investing in, it is absolutely the right thing to do.

I am really pleased to be here today to support my hon. Friend’s Bill, and I hope that the Front Benchers will give it a fair wind so that we can move on to Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr Nick Hurd)]

I have already told my hon. Friend that we will not. I understand that there is a lot of concern on both sides of the House about the Plymouth Brethren case, on which we are all united in wanting to see a quick and speedy resolution to that issue.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T5. The coalition agreement pledged to limit the number of SpAds—special advisers. Given that the number has risen to 97, what limit do the Government actually want?

EU Council

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I try to keep up with all EU legislation, but I am afraid that that one has passed me by, which I am particularly sad about because I am very proud of my vegetable patch and of the investment that I make in seeds every year, even though it does not always pay off in the form of good results. I will look carefully at the issue that my hon. Friend has raised.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Having gone some way towards reforming parliamentary scrutiny of the intelligence services through the Intelligence and Security Committee, does the Prime Minister think that it is now time for some parliamentary scrutiny of the intelligence commissioners?

[The Prime Minister]

We have just done a major piece of work to see how best we can strengthen the ISC, and put those proposals in front of the House. I think we should let those settle down before we consider other changes.

G20

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do not believe that the conflict has had that big an impact on oil prices so far. We look at the situation that people are facing at the petrol pump all the time. Under my hon. Friend’s perpetual, aggressive and entirely correct lobbying, we have taken action to keep prices down. We will obviously keep that issue under review.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I am very proud that the UK is taking a lead on humanitarian aid. Will the Prime Minister say whether Russia is contributing its fair share of humanitarian aid?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. Looking at the donor table, the EU is the largest contributor, Britain and America are the two largest country contributors, and the rest of the top 10 reads Saudi Arabia, Germany, Canada, Qatar, Japan, Australia, Italy and France. I cannot see Russia on the table, but perhaps I could write to her when I get hold of the number.