Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Greg Clark and Bill Wiggin

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Steel is a very important sector, and it needs to compete in the world in which we find ourselves. The discussions that I have been having with the steel industry are based around a strategy that it is pulling together to make British steel competitive in the years ahead.

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

The New Model in Technology and Engineering, or Hereford University as it should properly be known, has received tremendous support from the Secretary of State’s Department, but will the £170 million that he has promised in this statement be too late for Herefordshire, as we only have until 28 January to apply for new funding?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is right to point out the prescience of his friends and neighbours in Herefordshire in making their proposal. This is a very good example of precisely the sort of reform that we need, and I think that its prospects are pretty bright.

Exiting the EU and Workers’ Rights

Debate between Greg Clark and Bill Wiggin

Monday 7th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Yes, the intention is that all workers’ rights that derive from the EU will be brought into British law.

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

I am listening carefully to the Secretary of State. It would appear that Opposition Members believe that everything that Europe does is marvellous for workers, but that is not right, is it? Will he comment on the Uber cases, in which the EU has singularly failed to protect self-employed people?

Local Government Finance

Debate between Greg Clark and Bill Wiggin

Thursday 17th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

Of course I will, and when we have that conversation, the right hon. Lady will make the case for Birmingham. As I have said, it is important to recognise the need to help with social care pressures, and that is what we have done in the settlement.

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

I welcome this excellent statement on behalf of the people of Herefordshire, but may I ask the Secretary of State to keep a watching brief? I know that he has set four-year budgets, but each county faces specific challenges.

[Greg Clark]

I will certainly consider the case that my hon. Friend has made. However, one of the advantages of a four-year settlement is that local authorities can prepare for the future and manage their resources well, rather than being subject to occasional year-to-year variations in the national Government income. It gives them a greater proof against the uncertainty that they have experienced for a long time about what is coming each year.