Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Diana Johnson and Ian Mearns

Wednesday 19th March 2014 Commons Chamber

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

Following on from the comments of the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns), may I gently remind him that we have had three wasted years before the recovery kicked in? I am sorry if he thinks that is a partisan or a party political point, but it is factually correct. The majority of my constituents in Hull North are certainly not feeling better off under this recovery, and I think the Budget will do very little to make them feel that things are going to get better for them and their families.

Few people in Hull will be taken in by the Tories rebranding themselves as the “workers’ party.” Some changes, such as the cut to bingo tax, are very welcome after some of the shambolic proposals we had in previous Budgets, like the caravan tax and the pasty tax in the infamous omnishambles Budget.

I listened very carefully to what the Chancellor said about building a resilient economy and delivering security for people in this country. Hull and the Humber should be at the forefront of fighting many of the challenges facing this country, such as climate change, generating green energy and developing the science of flood prevention. I believe we could turn issues that are seen as problems and costs into a positive opportunity for growth in the economy, but looking at this Budget in relation to Hull and the Humber, my constituents will be asking the following questions. Does this Budget help the real wealth creators and invest in the modern public services an efficient, growing economy needs? Does it help, for example, the part-time women workers I recently met in a Tesco in Hull who told me about the problems they were having in getting extra hours to make ends meet and pay their bills?

Hull has the 19th highest unemployment level in the country. Will this Budget help the 4,265 people still out of work in Hull North, according to today’s figures? Will it do anything for the long-term young unemployed in particular? Will it deal with the problem of those not in education, employment or training? It will not do any of those things. As the TUC said today, this is a

“short-term Budget…to shrink the state and help the rich.”

Thanks to the coalition’s confusion over energy policy, we are still awaiting good news from Siemens. If Siemens does not come to Hull, the jobs building wind turbines will in effect be exported out of the UK. Climate change deniers in UKIP might welcome that, but it would be a disaster for the economic regeneration of my city. The Budget also failed to announce rail electrification to Hull, but I hope that the Government will have some good news for us shortly.

We heard in the autumn statement that London is to get two new tube stations and a garden bridge, and there is talk of rebuilding Euston station. However, some bright civil servant thought it a good idea, when announcing the electrification of the trans-Pennine route, to stop in Selby, 20 miles short of the end of the line, which is Hull. Yet again, the people of Hull have said, “If the Government aren’t going to help us, we will help ourselves.” A proposal has been put together to bring in private sector money to electrify the line. If the Government put in some £2 million of public money, it will unlock approximately £96 million of private investment. I hope they will make that announcement shortly, and certainly in time for 2017, when Hull will be the city of culture.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is highlighting a very important point about Government investment in electrification programmes in the north of England. I recently attended a meeting of the all-party group on rail in the north, and the map of the investment programme we were looking at had a line heading north-east that said “York”, and then an arrow saying “to Scotland”. The north-east of England was not mentioned at all.

[Diana Johnson]

My hon. Friend makes his point very well. If the Government are serious about rebalancing the economy, they need to invest in northern rail.

It is interesting to note that, because of recent events, the coalition has now realised that flooding is a major economic problem. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that the Thames valley was affected and the playing fields of Eton were flooded. I am pleased that the Chancellor announced additional money for flood defence work, but of course that should be seen in the context of the Government’s slashing the flood defence budget in previous years. As those in any area that has been flooded know, spending £1 on flood defences saves £8 in the cost of clearing up after a flood, so such investment makes sense.

On flood insurance, I note that the Chancellor is extending the Help to Buy scheme. Advertisements encouraging people to buy are plastered everywhere in places like Kingswood, in Hull North. However, it is a shame that other parts of the Government do not seem to think that houses should be built in areas like Kingswood, because they will not be able to participate in the flood insurance scheme that the Government have negotiated with the insurance industry. I should also point out that the new garden city at Ebbsfleet will be in a flood-risk area, and the owners of the houses built there will not get flood insurance under the Government’s scheme. It seems that one part of the Government does not know what the other part is doing. Small businesses are guaranteed access to flood insurance under the Government’s current scheme, but they will be excluded from the new scheme. The Government need to look at that problem.

On the cost of living crisis, which many people in my constituency face, there has been much fanfare about raising the personal allowance, but we know that 5 million of the poorest workers gain nothing from that increase. Many of those will be women. We know that the Government wanted to give the 8,000 millionaires their £40,000 windfall from the cut in the 50p rate of tax, but it is interesting to note who is bearing the brunt of the coalition’s austerity. The majority of those now falling into poverty and ending up at food banks are actually in work. That shows that the Government are not making work pay: being in work is no longer a guarantee of escaping poverty. FareShare in Hull said this week that demand for its help is up 53%, and the Trussell Trust reported a trebling of food bank use in a year.

Hospital Services (North-East)

Debate between Diana Johnson and Ian Mearns

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Westminster Hall

[Diana R. Johnson]

I apologise to my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead for not mentioning him; I know that he takes a particular interest in the issue.

I hope that the Minister will explain the rationale for the decision that was made about the hospital, and whether the cost-benefit analysis included the savings that would come about from a healthier population with better access to health services. I am sure that he will explain it. My hon. Friend the Member for Easington also mentioned health inequalities. It is important to ensure that patients and communities have access to high-quality in-patient facilities when they need them.

My hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield argued compellingly on business grounds that the hospital could help lead the regeneration of the area. He described the hospital as an anchor tenant that could attract up to 12,500 private sector jobs, a telling point for an area of the country that wants to attract private sector business and stand on its own two feet. He made a compelling case. My hon. Friend also said how good the care that he and his family had received from the local NHS was.

[Ian Mearns]

It is important that the Minister has now clarified that the figure is not £11,000, as he stated earlier, but £11 million. I am sorry, but the difference between the figures that he gave was in fact £11,000, and I hope that the record will show that. That said, we now know that the figure is £11 million over 35 years, or £314,000 a year, the lack of which will deprive the people in those five constituencies of a brand spanking new hospital facility that could add significant value over that period to detract from the additional cost.

[Diana R. Johnson]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the cost over 35 years.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North, who I understand is a former non-executive director of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, spoke clearly about the need for a new hospital. I know that he also tabled early-day motion 273, which attracted a great deal of support, to request a review of the coalition decision about the hospital. He, too, made an important case about health inequalities and why the hospital is needed. He also pointed out that structural upheaval in the NHS at a time when we are facing such financial problems is a recipe for chaos. What is the future for the people represented by him and our hon. Friends? Again, I look to the Minister to explain the coalition Government’s thinking about what will happen to the needs of communities in the north-east.

I do not wish to rehearse the history of this £464 million hospital project—my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State made it clear that it was a top priority for the NHS, and agreed in March this year that it should go ahead—but it had been in planning for a long time. It was not just signed off close to a general election. As we have heard, the coalition Government decided to cancel the hospital project within the first few weeks of taking up their position in Government. It is clear that the Treasury and other Departments reviewed every significant spending decision made between 1 January and the general election on 6 May. The proposal for the new hospital scheme, which received Government approval only in March, was considered properly during that review, but there are questions about why that particular hospital project was cancelled and others were allowed to proceed when my right hon. Friend had made it clear that the hospital was a top priority for the NHS.