Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Lee]

I warmly welcome the announcement that my right hon. Friend has just made. I am sure the fact that a fairer share of tax is being paid will also be warmly welcomed by my constituents in Erewash. Does my right hon. Friend agree that another important aspect of private sector job creation is the role of apprenticeships? Companies such as Derwent Analytics and TecQuipment in my constituency have an important role and are enriching young people with opportunity and skills for the future.

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right, and I am glad she welcomes the deal we have struck with Switzerland—a deal, by the way, rejected by the previous Government. Apprenticeships are vital in helping to create that skilled work force. More than 1 million people have started apprenticeships since 2010 and in her constituency alone there has been a 42% increase. I am delighted that successful businesses in her constituency are helping to train the work force of tomorrow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We will be consulting on that policy very, very shortly, alongside the new credits for animation and high-end television production. The video games industry is important in Scotland—for example, in Dundee there is a particular centre of excellence—but it is important across the entire UK, and the video game tax credit will help, alongside animation and high-end TV production.

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

T4. In order to help small businesses and those seeking new opportunities, will my right hon. Friend endorse the jobs fair that I am hosting in Erewash on 5 September? Will he further set out what the Government are doing to support small businesses, which remain the real engine of the British economy?

[Mr Osborne]

I certainly support my hon. Friend and congratulate her on organising the jobs fair. As the most recent unemployment figure showed, not only is unemployment falling but 200,000 private sector jobs have been created in the last few months in our economy. When it comes specifically to small businesses, as I set out to the House earlier, the national loan guarantee scheme has already helped more than 10,000 businesses with loans, we have cut the small companies corporation tax from the rate we inherited from the last Government, and the freeze in fuel duty will also help small businesses.

Jobs and Growth

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree that austerity alone is not enough, and that is why I have just been explaining how we have cut business taxes, set up enterprise zones, set up the national loan guarantee scheme and reformed the labour market. We have done all these things so that car companies expand their production and investment in Britain and choose Britain as a place to do business. Of course those countries in Europe need to undertake structural reforms to go alongside their efforts to get their public finances under control, but we have to ask ourselves this question: if you are running a high budget deficit in a single currency zone, and you do not have the support of loose monetary policy, you do need support from the core of the eurozone but to abandon a commitment to austerity will expose you to even greater pressure on the international money markets than those countries are already exposed to.

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

Is not another facet to this recovery very much the investment in apprenticeships that this Government have made, with 177,000 new apprenticeship places taken up in the last year, including ones in my constituency of Erewash?

[Mr Osborne]

First, my hon. Friend is absolutely right that one of the successes that we have had is the apprenticeship scheme, which is now working across all constituencies and supporting many hundreds of thousands of people. We will see what the facts are after the debate, but the information that we have just had says that what the shadow Chancellor was alleging in his intervention on me a few minutes ago is not true. The number of hours worked in this country has actually gone up over the last two years—up by 20 million hours. So on that note, there is a difference—

Banking Commission Report

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one key conclusion of the report is about customers’ ability to move their accounts more cheaply and easily? That will be well received by people in Erewash and elsewhere. Banks are there to provide a service, and that is the type of measure that will significantly increase competition and aid this country’s recovery.

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right, and she speaks up well for her constituents, who want greater choice on the high street. They want to be able to switch their bank accounts easily, and there are significant proposals in the report to help them do that within seven days and without having to chase up all the direct debits and the like, which will be done for them at no charge. That will be a practical benefit of the Vickers report and the Government’s implementation of it.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We have introduced, for the first time, an entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to get 15 hours of free nursery care. Such a policy was never introduced in the 13 years of a Labour Government. We have increased the figure to 40% of all children of that age and the cost is just shy of £500 million by the end of the period.

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

Erewash is at the heart of the manufacturing base in the east midlands. I therefore welcome the commitment to improving the infrastructure in the UK. To maximise that opportunity, reopening the train station at Ilkeston would really help us in Erewash, assisting businesses and commuters. Would my right hon. Friend or a colleague from the Treasury kindly meet me to discuss how the project can form part of the Government’s plans?

[Mr Osborne]

The Transport Secretary sitting next to me has just genuinely volunteered to meet my hon. Friend. We will look at improvements to Ilkeston train station. I did not set it all out in detail today, but there is scope for further smaller investments in rail stations and pinch points on our road network—we have set aside considerable sums of money for that. I will ensure that my hon. Friend meets the Transport Secretary soon to put her case.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

May I welcome the recent visit by the entire Cabinet, including of course my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, to the city of Derby, near my constituency? Manufacturers and wealth creators have been waiting for a long time for some support in the east midlands, and I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could set out what plans are in place to assist that important area.

[Mr Osborne]

At that meeting at Rolls-Royce, John Rose made a very compelling case for how little we had done as a country to support our manufacturing sector. We will set out policies tomorrow to assist, and we have already, as I said, put in place four annual reductions in the corporation tax. More broadly, we have to get away from a model of growth that was pursued over the last decade—based on excessive debt, and growth in one sector, the City of London, in one corner of the country, the south-east. We must have more balanced and sustainable growth in the future.

Autumn Forecast

Debate between George Osborne and Jessica Lee

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The support for Ireland had to be a co-ordinated international effort with the IMF and other European member states, and we have taken our part in that. I do not think that coming up with our own unilateral package would have been particularly easy when, as I said, the IMF was organising this international effort. I have already said in reply to an earlier question that of course we will want to look at the impact of the banking reorganisation in Ireland on some of the assets that are managed in the UK, and I will keep the House informed about that.

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, particularly on the investment of GlaxoSmithKline in a new facility at the university of Nottingham near Erewash. Does he agree that ring-fencing the science budget, bolstered by his coming to this House today and presenting figures of growth and stability for the UK economy, sends out a clear message to the rest of the world that the UK, particularly the east midlands, is an excellent place in which to invest and build?

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend, who has been a powerful champion of the east midlands and of her constituency in the few months since her election. I know that she will welcome the announcement by Glaxo, which is because of the decisions that we have taken. Of course, the support for job creation in the east midlands and across the country would not be there if we had a fundamentally unstable economy of the kind that this Government inherited in May.