UK Energy Costs

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I have already given way on a number of occasions. I will give way later, and ask Members to hold off a bit longer.

This is the moment to be bold. We are facing a global energy crisis and there are no cost-free options. There will be a cost to this intervention.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I strongly welcome this package, which is a marked contrast to the meagre scraps offered by the Opposition. I also welcome my right hon. Friend’s confirmation that schools and colleges will be helped with their energy bills, as colleges face increases of 300%. Will she continue to bear down on fuel duty, because we know that motorists face extortionate bills when they fill up their car at the pumps?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his point. I am sure that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is listening intently to his point ahead of the fiscal statement later this month.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Tuesday 29th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

8. What plans the Government have to make capital funding available for new hospitals.

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

We have committed £3.9 billion of capital investment by 2023 to transform and modernise NHS buildings. We are also increasing the NHS budget by 3.4% a year, while keeping taxes low for working people.

[Robert Halfon]

Despite the hospital having outstanding staff and the extra moneys that have gone to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the building is in a very bad state and not fit for purpose and we desperately need a new hospital. Will my right hon. Friend use the moneys from the excellent £20 billion extra money for the NHS and work with the Health Secretary to make sure that we get a new hospital for Harlow?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. In December, we allocated £9.5 million to the Princess Alexandra Hospital to help to improve the emergency care pathway, but I recognise that there are further issues. Of course we are in discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care and these issues will be looked at in the spending review.

ONS Decisions: Student Loans

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Tuesday 18th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The fiscal impact of the accounting decision—that is what this is; it does not alter the amount of cash going out the door—will come to light at future Budgets, and all these decisions will be taken in the round. As I have said, the Augar review is being conducted independently of that. It is about what is right for students. Of course we look at issues such as cost of living. Other aspects affect cost of living, including housing, and we are building more new homes to make housing more affordable across the board.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

It is fair that students contribute to their higher education—it is fair to the taxpayer and fair to the student—but what is unfair are the high interest rates. Will the Secretary of State for Education and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury look at the huge interest rates on student loans and see whether something can be done?

Public Sector Pay

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

Last year we announced that we were putting £1.3 billion more into schools’ budgets to help them to cope with the issues they were facing. That represents a real-terms increase from 2015. Today we have announced an additional £500 million to support these pay rises for teachers. I say to the hon. Lady: let us look at the school results, such as the fact that our nine-year-olds are now among the best in Europe at reading. It is because of this Government’s reforms that we are seeing better results.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I strongly welcome the extra money for lower-paid teachers. May I ask my right hon. Friend where the £500 million will come from within the Department? The Department has already had to make efficiency savings, given the extra £1.3 billion that has gone to schools.

[Elizabeth Truss]

It is important that schools receive the extra money so they are able to afford those pay rises. The money is coming from central DFE budgets—underspends in central DFE budgets—and it will be allocated to schools. My right hon. Friend the Education Secretary will talk about the allocation in due course.

Exiting the EU: Costs

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have pointed out already, these negotiations are not yet complete—there is not a number that we can disclose to the House. Absolutely, when there is one, and when there is more detail to give, we will come to the House and talk about it.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, following a good Budget, and given the need for good housekeeping and the pressures on public spending, if the impression is given that we have wads of cash when it comes to Europe, that undermines our arguments on the public sector and on the need for good housekeeping, especially since the House of Lords says that we have no legal financial obligations? Does she not also agree that this is not a divorce bill? We are leaving a club, and once someone leaves a club, they no longer have to pay subscriptions.

[Elizabeth Truss]

First, we were able to make sure that we stuck within our fiscal rules at the Budget, making sure that debt is falling as a proportion of GDP for the first time in 13 years, and keeping within our deficit targets. At the same time, we were able to freeze fuel duty to help ordinary working people, who need to keep their living costs down. We were able to do all those things. The reality is that, as we leave the European Union, we will no longer be paying those vast sums in, and that will represent a benefit to the taxpayer.

Public Sector Pay Cap

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I am sure the hon. Lady is aware that all documentation from this year’s pay process will be published. She will be able to see the research the bodies have looked at and the people they have interviewed in coming to their determination. In due course, I will be writing to the pay review bodies for their remit for the following year.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Public sector workers are the guardians of our nation in terms of our security, health, education and infrastructure, so we clearly have to do something, in particular for the lower paid. May I suggest to my right hon. Friend that, given revenue from corporation tax receipts increased by 21% in the past year, can we not have a special redistribution fund to use that increased revenue to at least help the lowest paid public sector workers?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the flexibility we give to pay review bodies is such that they can decide to give higher rises to those on the lowest incomes in the public sector. I would also point out that those on the lowest incomes have benefited most from the raising of the personal allowance. There are various ways of ensuring support for those on the lowest levels of pay.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Elizabeth Truss and Robert Halfon

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I congratulate the students and teachers at the school, and across Southend, on their excellent results. I hope that some of those students will be the upwardly mobile political giants that my hon. Friend wants in the House of Commons in future.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

19. Does my hon. Friend agree that exam results would improve even more in Essex and across the country if further education college students who were eligible for free school meals, got them?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are rightly ensuring that all students who do not achieve a C in English and maths at GCSE continue to study them at FE colleges and beyond, so that they get the results that they need for their future careers.