SMEs (South of England)

Debate between Gordon Henderson and Gary Streeter

Wednesday 15th June 2011 Westminster Hall

[Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)]

I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Caroline Dinenage). The debate gives me an opportunity to explain something of what we are doing in my constituency. We have set up the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Link 2 Business, which has its own website that offers local businesses direct access to my office and a range of other services. We set that up because, during my term as MP, one of my top priorities is to help local companies get through the tough economic challenge that our country faces.

As and when the economy improves, I want those businesses to be better placed to expand and provide the extra jobs that my constituents need. At 8.7%, my constituency has one of the highest unemployment rates in Kent. I am determined to do everything I can to help bring that figure down. I am lucky that Swale borough council and Kent county council are two local authorities that recognise the importance of private enterprise to wealth creation. They are both doing all they can to attract more investment into our area. Of course, much of the future prosperity in my constituency is dependent on those companies that already do business in the area, which is why helping them is so high on my priority list.

One way in which I can achieve my goal is to ensure that local business men and women have easy access to advice and are able to get quick answers to any questions they might have about Government policy. The Sittingbourne and Sheppey Link 2 Business provides that service. We hold monthly business breakfasts at which local business people can share with me their concerns and problems. I have been running those breakfasts for a year and the three gripes that are continually raised are the burden of red tape, the lack of a skilled work force locally and the difficulty of accessing Government grants because we happen to be in the south-east of England. As a number of hon. Members have pointed out, we actually have areas of deep deprivation in the south-east. In my constituency, two of my council wards are in the top 10 most deprived nationally.

It is for the people living in those areas that I would like to issue my plea to the Government for help. Swale borough council, Kent county council and I are working together to do all we can to encourage investment into our area. As the Minister will know, Kent took a hard hit recently when Pfizer decided to pull out of Sandwich, with the loss of 2,500 jobs. On the plus side, Vestas is seriously considering setting up a wind turbine factory in Sheerness to create another 2,000 jobs. I am sure that we could seal that deal if there was some access to Government aid. Bringing in such investment would give a huge boost to small and medium-sized businesses in my constituency. Losing that investment would be a tragedy.

I know that the Government’s aid policy is pitched towards regions where there is a need to rebalance economies that have become over-reliant on the public sector. As a business man, however, I know that when times are tough the way to create growth is to invest in those areas of the business that have a proven record of success, rather than those that have been a drain on company profits. The same should apply to Government investment, and I urge Ministers to rethink regional aid policy. The country needs more private sector jobs. In Kent, we are doing all we can to help our local businesses create those jobs, and I am sure the same goes for other southern counties. We need Government help, however. We need financial help. Give us that help and we, in the south and south-east, will help kick-start Britain’s economic recovery.

[Mr Gary Streeter (in the Chair)]

I thank all colleagues for co-operating on timing. The winding-up speeches now begin. I call Chi Onwurah.