Greg Hands
Main Page: Greg Hands (Conservative - Chelsea and Fulham)Department Debates - View all Greg Hands's debates with the HM Treasury
(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)
4. What progress has been made on implementing the charter for budget responsibility.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Greg Hands)
As part of our long-term economic plan, the Government’s charter for budget responsibility was approved by Parliament on 15 October 2015. The charter sets a path to this country’s long-term financial health and to a surplus. Unlike other parties in this House, we will be strong and consistent in our support for the charter. The Budget is on 16 March.
Mark Garnier
In 2010, the budget deficit stood at 11.1% of GDP. This year, it is set to be down by two thirds at 3.9% of GDP, which is a remarkable achievement given the economic headwinds coming from outside the UK. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what discussions he is having with other parties, in particular those on the shadow Front Bench, about how to reduce the budget deficit and turn it into a surplus, and are they proving to be helpful?
Greg Hands
I thank my hon. Friend for his support for our budget reduction efforts. I have had no such discussions so far, nor any submissions from those on the Opposition Front Bench. I have, however, received a submission from Ed Balls’s former head of policy, Karim Palant, who said of the shadow Chancellor’s changing position on the charter:
“This kind of chaos less than a month into the job is the kind of blow even significant political figures struggle to recover from.”
Rachel Reeves (Leeds West) (Lab)
I agree that we need to reduce the debt and the deficit, but with interest rates at record lows and the International Monetary Fund forecasting that public and private investment will fall from 30th to 31st in the OECD league table, should we not be taking advantage of low interest rates to invest in our creaking infrastructure, airport capacity, road and rail, and flood defences?
Greg Hands
I welcome the hon. Lady’s support for deficit reduction. It is good to have her back. I must remind her, however, that in the last Parliament she voted against virtually every single deficit reduction measure the Government took. We have a big programme of infrastructure investment worth £100 billion over the course of this Parliament, which includes transport infrastructure and other measures that will help her constituents and people across the country.
Jeremy Quin (Horsham) (Con)
As the IMF has just been mentioned, does the Chief Secretary agree that its statement last week that we have
“delivered robust growth, record high employment, a significant reduction in fiscal deficits, and increased financial sector resilience”
is all good news that we should be welcoming? There is more to be done and I wonder whether he is looking forward to the pearls of wisdom that might come from the Opposition, now that they have the benefit of Mr Varoufakis.
Greg Hands
The IMF has been clear in its endorsement of the charter for budget responsibility:
“The transparency of the new rule—with a focus on headline balances and a simple and well-defined escape clause in the event of very low growth—is welcome.”
It goes on to commend us on having the “appropriate level of flexibility” in the charter. In respect of any external advisers that are taken on by the Labour party, it would appear from The Sun this morning that Labour MPs are extremely unhappy—
Mr Speaker
Order. Sit down. It is a terrible waste of time—long-winded, boring and unnecessary.
Mr Speaker
Thank you. We need a question mark. [Interruption.] Order, order. I said what I said because Ministers are responsible for answering for Government policy, not that of the Opposition. People who ask questions, be they from the Front or the Back Bench, must do so pithily. A pithy reply, Chief Secretary.
Greg Hands
All forecasts at the moment still show the UK performing extremely well, with strong rates of growth compared with other G7 countries. The Chancellor was right to say over the weekend that we may need to undertake further reductions in spending because this country can afford only what it can afford. He went on to say:
“I’m absolutely determined that first and foremost in this uncertain time we have economic security. That’s what people rely on.”
I am equally clear that it would be a fundamental disaster for this country if we pursued the policies that the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) has been promoting in the six months that he has been shadow Chancellor.
John McDonnell
Can we address one of the domestic threats to our economy? This week the former Governor of the Bank of England warned that bankers have not learned the lessons from 2008, and without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain. Will the Chancellor take responsibility for the domestic vulnerabilities within our economy that have built up under his watch? Will he withdraw his proposals to water down the regulatory regime for senior bankers?
Greg Hands
I remind the shadow Chancellor that, over the past five and a half years, this Government have been fixing the problems in our banking system, after the poor regulation and tripartite regime that we inherited from the previous Government. We have been taking action. On economic policy, I just have to look around at the Labour party and see what kind of reactions there are.
Mr Speaker
Sit down. This is about Government policy, and progress is slower than at previous Treasury questions. The Minister should try to stick to Government policy, upon which briefly he can, and should, speak.
Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)
8. What assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of employment.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Greg Hands)
The employment level stands at 31.4 million, which represents more people in work in the UK than ever before. In the past year, employment growth has been driven by full-time workers and by high and medium-skilled occupations. That demonstrates that we are now moving into the next phase of our recovery, with high-quality employment helping to boost productivity and raise living standards across the country.
Alex Chalk
The number of people in my constituency relying on key out-of-work benefits has fallen by more than 70% since 2010. Does the Minister agree that continuing to invest in GCHQ is key to safeguarding that progress, as it supports the high value cyber-jobs in the state sector and, crucially, the civilian sector?
Greg Hands
The Chancellor announced in the spending review that we would be investing more in cyber and that Cheltenham would see those benefits. My hon. Friend is right to praise the employment picture and performance in Cheltenham. It has seen more than 4,000 people get into work, as well as 3,000 fewer people in unemployment. Across the UK as a whole, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast an increase in employment of 1.1 million over the course of the Parliament.
Dawn Butler (Brent Central) (Lab)
15. Christians Against Poverty has found that 72% of people on prepayment meters, who are often working, fall behind in their council tax and other bills. What assessment has been made of the impact of this kind of tariff on household debt?
Greg Hands
We monitor household debt on an ongoing basis. If the hon. Lady has specific cases she would like to show me, I am sure we could look at them and pass them on to the Department for Work and Pensions and others. I have to say, however, that overall the employment picture remains extremely strong. We have an employment rate of 74.1%. Since the first quarter of 2010, the UK employment rate has grown more than in any other G7 country.
Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)
What more support, pension-wise, can the Chancellor give to the self-employed? Recent trends suggest that in five years’ time 4.7 million British people will be self-employed and will not benefit from auto-enrolment.
Greg Hands
My hon. Friend raises a very interesting point. Helping the self-employed is one of the Government’s key priorities. We will have to see what is in the Budget on 16 March.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Is the Minister aware that I, like many Members, represent a university town? The university is one of the best and biggest employers in my constituency. Universities up and down the country are terrified of our leaving the EU. Our universities receive the most money for research and collaboration of any country in the EU. They will be destroyed by leaving the EU.
Greg Hands
I join the hon. Gentleman in campaigning for the UK to remain a member of the EU. That is the right thing for us to do both for the public finances overall and for the future of the UK economy, as the G20 communiqué made clear over the weekend. It may well have an impact on the university sector, too. I am sure that that will be one of the questions featured in the forthcoming debate leading into the referendum.
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
9. If he will reopen the compensation scheme for Equitable Life policyholders.
John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)
14. What steps he is taking to improve productivity in the UK.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Greg Hands)
The Government have published their productivity plan, “Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation”. This plan outlines the steps we are taking to encourage further investment in the drivers of productivity growth, including science, education, skills and infrastructure. It also sets out the way in which the Government are promoting a dynamic economy through reforming planning laws, boosting competition and creating a northern powerhouse.
John Mc Nally
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, UK productivity measured by output per hour is now 18 percentage points below the average of the rest of the G7 economies—the widest gap since records began. Why is productivity deteriorating under this Chancellor?
Greg Hands
I do not accept that. We accept that productivity is a problem, but productivity output per hour is now 0.7% higher than its pre-crisis peak. Productivity is improving at the moment. Clearly, we need to do more, which is why we have laid out a national productivity plan with a set of key targets in key areas such as research infrastructure by creating the National Infrastructure Commission, cutting corporation tax and doing a lot more besides.
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.