North-East Independent Economic Review

Debate between Ian Mearns and Ian Swales

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Rather than going through the normal formalities and congratulations, I shall get straight on with my speech.

The north-east is not such a desolate place; in fact, it is a place of good news. We have heard the very good news this afternoon that Durham county cricket club now sits at the top of the county championship after defeating Sussex by 285 runs at the Riverside stadium. I was delighted to attend the fourth test match at the Riverside a few weeks ago when we had a good result and some excellent entertainment.

I am afraid that the north-east independent economic review was a lost opportunity as there appears to have been a lack of imagination and ambition, and of inspired and innovative ideas to build the north-east economy. The report sets out a north-east vision of “making, trading and exporting”, but I fear that it just encourages more of the same solutions that fell short of transforming our economy in the past.

There are many recommendations in the report, but mostly things that we as a region have been striving to achieve for many years. The problem is that it is a bit like extolling the virtues of apple pie without providing the means—the apples, the sugar, the flour, the heat and the rest of ingredients required—to produce the pie. It is all wishful thinking—

[Ian Swales]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Ian Mearns]

I am afraid that I will not.

There is no targeted support for key sectors such as tourism, advanced manufacturing and green energy, and no clear strategy for growth that recognises the enormous potential of the region and its people. Most importantly, there is no proposal for a co-ordinated strategic authority such as One North East, the former RDA, or for a Minister to lobby at the heart of government.

I completely support the recommendation to encourage foreign students to attend our universities to diversify the region, but it flies in the face of much of the Government’s policy on immigration and learning academies. The Government seem to disregard completely the fact that international students not only attend lectures, write essays and sit exams, but import money into local economies, create new enterprises, support work with local industry, and make vast academic, cultural and financial contributions to regions such as the north-east of England.

Another significant—if not the most significant—aspect of the report is transport. It is essential that the north-east’s links to national and international economies are improved, so I welcome proposals to pool funding from the various authorities to deliver a regional transport strategy, which would hopefully result in improved roads and rail, bus and metro services.

I use the word “hopefully” because funding is essential to achieve those aspirations, but I am not convinced that the Government are willing to put their hands in the coffers for the north-east to the extent that they are for other parts of the country. In response to that assumption, Ministers might say that I am over-sceptical, given the announced improvements to the A1 in my constituency at the Lobley hill pinch point. Although I am delighted by such overdue improvements, the region should not be settling for scraps from the table. We should be demanding the best and most effective transport systems that are on offer for other regions in the country, so let us consider spending per head on transport infrastructure projects by region.

A report published by the Institute for Public Policy Research in June called “Still on the wrong track” highlights the distinct disparities: the north-east receives only £5.01 per head of population whereas Londoners receive £770 a head. When thinking about national funding and taking into account the needs and special requirements of the capital, we might rationally determine that it should get twice, three times or five times the funding of other regions, but should it get 154 times the funding of a region such as the north-east? Such a thing is repeated year on year. If the roles were reversed, the screaming of London Members in the Chamber would be heard in Southend. I wonder how many Ministers have driven up the A1 north of Catterick and realised that it is no longer a motorway because it peters out into a dual carriageway with the occasional crawler lane as part of the motorway system.

Last month we heard about Government proposals to introduce fines for people hogging the middle lane on the motorway—chance would be a fine thing in the north-east of England. There is no middle lane because there are no three-lane roads; it is that bad. North of Newcastle, north of Morpeth, the road peters out into a single lane in each direction between Newcastle and Edinburgh. It is not good enough. The people of the north-east deserve better, not just from this Government, but from every Government.

Then we are being told that we will get investment from High Speed 2. In 20 to 30 years, that will deliver trains that will do the journey from London to Newcastle via Leeds 20 minutes faster than 20 years ago. In 40 to 50 years, we will have achieved a 20-minute decrease in the journey time to London. That is not good enough.

I emphasise that the report lacks ambition. My borough of Gateshead has largely been transformed in economic, environmental, cultural, architectural and educational terms in the last 30 years. How much more could we do if the whole region was given ambition and galvanised to make the sort of improvement that we in Gateshead have made? We need to do more and much more quickly.

Economy (North-East)

Debate between Ian Mearns and Ian Swales

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Westminster Hall

[Ian Swales]

I was trying to redress the balance, Mr Hollobone, because I know that many Opposition Members will speak.

There is a huge amount to do, and I hope that the Minister will respond to four issues. Carbon capture and storage could be a game changer for Teesside, not just in energy generation, but in supporting industrial carbon emitters; we have 18 of the top 30 in the UK in Teesside.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman reflect on what he said about the plight of his constituency’s economy being blamed on Tyne and Wear? His colleagues in local authorities there will greatly regret those sentiments. Frankly, they are misplaced.

[Ian Swales]

I want to correct that impression. I am not blaming the people in Tyne and Wear; I am talking about the balance of the regional development agency’s efforts.

The excellent north-east companies in the Energi Coast consortium have invested £400 million to attract offshore energy generation contracts, and we must ensure that that supply chain happens in the UK. I have lived in the north-east for 34 years, and spent 32 years of those in business, from being on the board of a large global business to running my own small business. I have been here for the past two years. I know what the issues are, and the Government are making an excellent attempt to tackle them. I am optimistic. We have a great region, great people, and not just a great past, but a great future.

Regional Development (North-East)

Debate between Ian Mearns and Ian Swales

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Westminster Hall

[Ian Swales]

Okay. I will be more specific for the hon. Gentleman. Clearly, if a business wants to base itself in the Tees valley and has customers—wherever they are—it should talk to the Tees Valley LEP. If those customers happen to be in the region, that is fine. I do not see a problem with that. As I have said, there is no law that states people cannot talk to each other.

An almost religious adherence to the regions has had some benefits, but it has also created some problems. In 2004, the people of the north-east firmly rejected the idea of regional government. Some of us regretted that more than others, but the decision was absolutely overwhelming—not just from the fringes of the north-east but from the heartlands of Tyneside and Wearside.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s point, but I think that he accepts that if he wanted to put together a worse set of circumstances to get a yes vote, it probably could not be done. Does he agree with that?

[Ian Swales]

Absolutely. One issue was whether central Government were prepared to release enough powers. I remember reading the document and being unimpressed by such statements as the “power to advise Ministers”, which did not strike me as a particularly powerful power, so I agree with that. Regionalisation, however, has had some impacts—I will come on to wider issues in a moment—on the Tees valley. For example, our area, which contains 750,000 people, has been deemed unable to run our own ambulance service, which has been moved out of the area. The fire service was about to be moved, and an attempt was made to try to get the police to merge with another organisation. We need to stand up strongly for what is a very natural, large area of population, and, sadly, regionalisation has not always helped.

[Mr Edward Leigh in the Chair]

I am not a “little Teessider”—my wife comes from Stanley, which is quite a bit further north. My right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) would not let me get through this debate without mentioning the dualling of the A1. Just in case hon. Members did not think that was going to happen, it has happened. [Interruption.] Sorry, the dualling has not happened. I have mentioned it on behalf of my right hon. Friend. It would be great if that dualling were to happen. I recognise that the north-east has a lot of coherence, though it seems a long way from the end of my constituency to the north of my right hon. Friend’s constituency.

The north-east has a lot of strengths. In many cases, we can work together. In other cases, it is not appropriate to work together. There are enormous strengths in terms of industrial background and the conversion of people and industries in those historic sectors to doing new things. We have people who are highly skilled, as the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) has said. We already show, particularly through process industries and other manufacturing, that we can make and export things, and I know that the Government are very keen to see that happen.

On rebalancing the economy—yes, the process is redistributive, but as the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) has said, what is it redistributing?—we know that the country has a huge economic problem at the moment. I welcome mechanisms such as the regional growth fund, but we have a massive issue in terms of small and medium-sized enterprises. I hope that the Minister will respond specifically to this point: 97% of the grants given out by One NorthEast were less than £1 million. That £1 million threshold has to be very short-term. If the board of the regional growth fund cannot consider hundreds and hundreds of projects, then we need a programme mechanism beneath that board.

[Ian Mearns]

It has been estimated in some quarters that the potential growth in supply chain jobs from the Hitachi development is as much as 7,000 jobs. There is very little chance, however, of 7,000 supply chain jobs in the north-east of England coming from the SME sector, if there is not much more flexibility in the distribution of the regional growth fund and in grants that are fit for the SME sector. At the moment, such grants are out of reach for many businesses.

[Ian Swales]

I welcome that intervention, which powerfully supports the point that I was just making. I hope that the Minister will respond to that point.

I would just like to mention two other issues that the Minister could perhaps touch on. One issue relates to energy prices.