Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Hannah Bardell and Greg Clark

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is right. The essence of our strategy has to be to support the ability of people to compete and to make life difficult for the incumbents. There are no cosy clubs for the incumbents, and the test of our support in sectors is whether it helps new businesses to emerge. That is extremely important.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

The Federation of Small Businesses reported last year that significant numbers of women are starting small businesses and enterprises. Is the Secretary of State not therefore surprised, as I am sure the rest of the House is, that there is no mention of women in this industrial strategy, no mention of inclusion and very little mention of diversity? Will he undertake to review that?

[Greg Clark]

Throughout this document, we want to close the gaps that mean that we do not achieve our full performance, and that is absolutely the case when it comes to the position of women at the highest levels in science, for example, and in research. As the Minister in the Department, I have been successful in the past in driving the appointments under my gift to increase the proportion of women at the top level. However, the hon. Lady is absolutely right that, when there is under-representation of people of talent, the whole economy suffers, and that should be corrected.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hannah Bardell and Greg Clark

Tuesday 13th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

I welcome the Secretary of State to his place, as I do my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Callum McCaig), who I know will be a doughty champion for his new brief.

A new report from Professor Alex Kemp of Aberdeen University suggests that the re-engineering of the UK continental shelf fiscal regime may be necessary before we can reach the North sea’s full potential. What further support will the Government offer the oil and gas sector in the autumn statement?

[Greg Clark]

I had a productive set of discussions with representatives of the oil and gas sector in Aberdeen in the summer. The industry, which is centred in Aberdeen but involves other places in the country, is very important. We have made big changes to the fiscal regime, as the hon. Lady knows, which have been beneficial, but we will continue to have discussions about that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Hannah Bardell and Greg Clark

Monday 6th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will indeed. My hon. Friend has been a big champion of the Dunsbury Hill Farm link road, which was funded by the LEP. I understand that the business park has its first tenants signed up and is creating 3,500 jobs, which is a further boost to the very successful time already being enjoyed on the Solent and in Havant in particular.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effect of the right-to-buy scheme on the availability of low-cost housing for people on low incomes.