Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and David Hanson

Tuesday 29th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his article proposing new ideas. He raises one example of some of the exciting prospects for the post-Brexit economy that will help to revive some of the industrial areas throughout Britain.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor of the Exchequer have any plans to meet Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, to discuss his view that no deal will be disastrous for the UK economy?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and David Hanson

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The most important thing is that those young people are in jobs, and under Labour we saw unemployment rise to 20%. Youth unemployment has reduced by 40% since 2010. I recognise that we need to see those young people get better skills. That is why we are investing in IT training, that is why we are developing the maths premium so that more students study science, technology, engineering and maths, and that is why we have developed the apprenticeship levy to get more people into apprenticeships.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

14. What recent estimate the Government have made of the cost to the economy of money laundering and criminal finance in the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and David Hanson

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have announced new policies on reporting the private sector pay gap. The pay gap has come down under this Government and we are now seeing a record number of women in work, and the reason is that we have taken the difficult economic decision to close the deficit and ensured that we have allowed the private sector to flourish.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

17. With inflation at 3% and Government cuts to council tax and police budgets forcing up precepts, why should low-paid workers, who are predominantly women, have an increase of only 1% next year, after four years of 1% already?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and David Hanson

Tuesday 24th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

That is one of the reasons why we need to make sure that we are reducing our debt and reducing our deficit in order to reduce the interest payments that came as a result of the previous Labour Government leaving us with the highest deficit in history. We have an independent Bank of England, and it is very important that as a Government Minister I do not tell it what to do on interest rates.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of public sector pay since 2010.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

In 2010, there was a significant gap between wages in the public and private sectors whereby public sector workers received an average of 5.76% higher pay. Today, wages are comparable, and when we take into account more generous pension benefits, there is an additional 10% pension premium in the public sector.

[David Hanson]

Last week, the rate of inflation was announced at 3%. Public sector pay rises are at 1%. Will the Chief Secretary confirm that that is a pay cut for millions of workers, and will she take this from me as a Budget representation: “Scrap the cap”?

[Elizabeth Truss]

It seems that the right hon. Gentleman cannot take yes for an answer. There is not a public sector pay cap. We have said that individual Secretaries of State will be responsible for making proposals on their workforces dependent on specific circumstances. We are facing very different issues in the NHS and in the armed forces. What is important is that we look at the evidence and make sure that we can recruit and retain the best possible workers in the public sector, but we also need to make sure that we do not price out of the market people working in the private sector.

Public Sector Pay Cap

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and David Hanson

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that doctors and other medical staff do a vital job and have faced real challenges. We are reducing the agency spend in the NHS over time. It is important that we look overall at the affordability for the public sector. That is the remit of the independent pay review bodies. They hear evidence from the experts on the frontline and make their recommendations. We accepted the recommendation for doctors that was put to us. We accepted the recommendation for nurses and other NHS workers as well. We respect that pay review body process.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Put simply, does the Chief Secretary think it fair that the public sector workers who face a cap also face a rise of around 5% to 7% in energy prices when the chief executive of SSE this year had a 72% increase in his pay, taking it to £2.9 million?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The Government are taking action on energy costs. We are also making sure that public sector workers receive increments in addition to the 1% that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned. We are taking action as a Government to raise the tax threshold, so that people on the basic rate are now paying £1,000 less tax. He needs to take account of the whole package; I think that he is cherry-picking some bits.