Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grahame Morris and Mark Hoban

Monday 11th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

I think the hon. Lady should raise issues about training in Scotland with the Scottish Government, who are responsible for it. They will not allow people on the Work programme to go on Scottish Government-funded courses, and I suspect that that is where the problem lies.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking to tackle the increased use of pension liberation schemes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grahame Morris and Mark Hoban

Monday 28th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

9. What estimate he has made of trends in the number of people in Easington constituency claiming jobseeker’s allowance in 2013.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Mr Mark Hoban)]

About 3,400 people in Easington are currently claiming jobseeker’s allowance, which is up 340 on the year, but last week we saw a fall in the number of people in the north-east claiming JSA. Since the general election, there has been an increase of 35,000 in the number of people in work in the north-east.

[Grahame M. Morris]

The Government have stopped publishing the number of unemployed people in each constituency chasing each vacancy. As I have impressed on Ministers before, and I will say it again, the issue for us in Easington, unlike in Lichfield, is joblessness—a lack of jobs. Will the Minister give consideration to publishing those data, which would be useful to potential employers and inward investors?

[Mr Hoban]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I was born and brought up in his constituency, so I well understand the challenges that Easington faces. We do want to encourage more people to invest in the area, and that is why I am keen to commend the work that has been done with the East Durham area partnership to encourage more people into work in Easington. We will look at how we can recommence publication of vacancy statistics shortly.

Northern Rock

Debate between Grahame Morris and Mark Hoban

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

I have always taken the view—I think my hon. Friend will agree with me on this occasion—that these things are better run in the private sector than in the state sector. I think we will see good management and good leadership from Virgin Money, which will provide a long-term foundation for a credible competitor in the retail financial services sector.

[Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

My question is about the timing and sustainability of this deal. I wonder whether the Minister will answer a question that my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) asked earlier about the reported recapitalisation—what we would refer to as “an asset strip”—whereby almost a third of the purchase price is reportedly coming from the bank’s current capital base. Does the Minister not feel that this would put the bank at greater risk in the future if the capital base is not quickly rebuilt?

[Mr Hoban]

This transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Financial Services Authority, which will carefully examine a range of issues, including the capital position of Virgin Money. I have made the following point before, but it is worth repeating. Virgin Money’s core tier 1 capital ratio is about 15%, whereas most of the UK high street banks are operating at about 10%, so is strongly capitalised. This deal is subject to regulatory approval, and that should give all of us confidence in the future of Northern Rock.