South-west England (Long-term Economic Plan)
Debate between Ian Liddell-Grainger and Marcus Jones
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Marcus Jones)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) on securing this important debate. I welcome the interest from hon. Friends across the south-west. There is a slight show of strength from the region here tonight—probably the only constituency not represented is Exeter. I very much feel that I have been on a tour of the south-west. I am sure that colleagues in the Department for Transport and the Treasury—the Chancellor’s Parliamentary Private Secretary is here—will read Hansard intently to see what my right hon. Friend and other colleagues have said. I will try to answer as many of his points as possible in the short time remaining.
The Government’s economic ambition is to create a fairer and more balanced economy by supporting policies that grow the economy and generate new jobs and higher wages for everybody. In our election manifesto, we said that by attracting growth and new businesses we will improve connections to the south-west, with major investment in the road network and electrification of the Great Western main line, bringing new fast trains on to the route. We will increase the number of overseas visits to the south-west each year by investing in tourism. We will ensure that the world-class defence assets and cyber-security industries of the south-west benefit the local economy. We will focus on job creation by supporting business and investing in skills.
Employment in the south-west is up by 163,000 since the 2010 election; unemployment is down by 42% over the same period; and some 99,000 new businesses have been started in the south-west during that time. As my right hon. Friend has said, the Chancellor set out an ambitious six-point plan for the south-west earlier this year. It includes £7.2 billion of investment in the transport connections of the south-west, over £4 billion of investment in the electrification of the Great Western main line and a £10 million package of support for coastal towns across the south-west.
The south-west has an average annual growth rate of 4.17%, which is below the UK average of 4.23%. It is a small difference, but over time it leads to a significant difference in prosperity. It is driven by a gap in productivity; although the south-west accounts for 8.4% of the UK’s population, it accounts for only 7.5% of total output, as my right hon. Friend pointed out. It is that productivity gap that the Government want to address.
Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)
We are about start the largest infrastructure project in Europe: Hinkley Point C. The Minister and the Government have been very helpful in that. One of the most important things we have realised is that “learning and skills” is not synonymous with Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire or anywhere else in the south-west. Surely, we should be spending more in further and tertiary education and in universities in the south-west to encourage people to stay and work in some of our excellent industries. Does he agree?