Oral Answers to Questions

James Grundy Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; it is critical that we maintain capital investment, use that money efficiently, focus on outputs and outcomes, and ensure that we set the conditions for growth in the economy.

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

3. What recent steps his Department has taken to support families with the cost of energy bills.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

6. What recent steps his Department has taken to support families with the cost of energy bills.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

The Government have taken decisive action to support millions of households with the energy price guarantee, which caps the cost of energy at £2,500 for the average household. We are also spending £37 billion to support millions of low-income households.

[James Grundy]

Will my right hon. Friend tell me what the average household energy bill would have been if the Government had not intervened to help hard-working families across Britain?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his informative question, because it allows me to say that with the energy price guarantee at £2,500, the average saving for consumers across the country—including his constituents in Leigh, for whom he is a formidable advocate—is £700.

North of England: Infrastructure Spending

James Grundy Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Damien Moore) for securing the debate.

Investment in new infrastructure is a key issue in my constituency. Indeed, it comes up at every election, local and national, and has done since the 1960s. The first issue, and the one that my constituents raise most often, is reconnecting Leigh to the national rail network. From the moment it lost its station in 1969, local people have campaigned vociferously for a new one, as have the people of Golborne, who lost the second of their two stations in 1967—the first was closed in 1952. I am pleased to say that two bids are currently under consideration as part of the Government’s Restoring your Railway programme. One is for the west coast main line serving Golborne, and one is on the Liverpool to Manchester line, at the old Kenyon Junction site just south of Pennington in my constituency, which would act as a new station serving Leigh itself.

Access to the national rail network, through investing in reopening those two stations, will generate massive economic opportunities for my constituency, meaning that jobs in both Liverpool and Manchester will be accessible by a train journey of approximately 20 minutes in each direction, rather than the two hours and 17 minutes that it currently takes to reach Liverpool, and the hour it takes to reach Manchester, by bus. In the long term, the investment will pay for itself in economic returns.

The second major issue to do with infrastructure investment in Leigh is the need to complete the Atherleigh Way bypass, which has lain unfinished for nearly 35 years. Currently only the middle section has been constructed, and the northern section to Chequerbent roundabout in Bolton and the southern section to junction 22 of the M6 are in desperate need of completion.

Both Leigh and the surrounding communities are beset by congestion and the associated air quality issues. Air quality is poorer in some parts of my constituency than it is in central London, with regard to nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate levels. The latter problem will only increase with the introduction of heavier batteries in electric vehicles, adding to the wear on tyres and roads. That congestion also dissuades new businesses from setting up in the constituency and considerably increases journey times for commuters. In 1966, Golborne Urban District Council, a predecessor authority to Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, our current local authority, wrote to the Government of the day that the construction of the bypass was an urgent priority. I assure Members that the situation has grown no less urgent in the intervening 54 years.

The final issue I want to raise is that of connecting Leigh to Greater Manchester’s Metrolink system. In the fullness of time I hope that the Leigh guided busway system can be upgraded to a light rail link. Evidence provided to me by the all-party parliamentary group on light rail shows that buses persuade between 4% and 6.5% of car users to switch to public transport. Light rail, by contrast, persuades nearly 27% of car users to make the switch. If we are to meet our ambitious environmental targets, a new generation of hydrogen fuel-powered light rail serving suburban communities will be critical, and we need to start undertaking feasibility studies as soon as possible.

For too long, northern constituencies such as Leigh have been left behind in terms of infrastructure investment. We have been talking about these issues for the better part of 60 years. It is time for the talking to stop. It is now time to deliver for towns such as Leigh across the north.

North of England: Economic Support

James Grundy Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Let me first address the key and core issue of the debate: the economy in the north of England. With or without covid, we are discussing a curate’s egg of sorts. It is good and bad in parts, given “the north of England” describes an area that is both vast and varied, encompassing seats as different as Richmond in Yorkshire—the seat of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is largely rural and wealthy—and my own seat of Leigh.

Although Leigh shares the designation of county constituency with the Chancellor’s seat, it is largely urban and poor. Indeed, measuring it by the yardstick of the super output area, it falls in the top 20% of most deprived constituencies in the country. We struggle with the legacy issues of the mining industry, in economic and health terms. Infrastructure in my constituency has suffered from under-investment for decades, and the town centres of its communities are in dire need of regeneration, although I am happy to report that recently the town of Tyldesley received a £1.5 million grant to begin the process of regeneration, so there is hope.

The other difference, of course, is that the Chancellor’s seat lies in historic Yorkshire, whereas Leigh lies in historic Lancashire, so we have one advantage at least. [Laughter.] All jokes aside, it is fair to say that in discussing the economy of the north of England we are discussing two economies—that of the wealthy part of the north of England, and that of the poor part. The contrast is often stark and visible. It is to the poor part of the north of England that we must devote our efforts, and in that I follow in the footsteps of my predecessor Richard Assheton Cross. He was the Member of Parliament for Leigh, and Home Secretary in the Government of Benjamin Disraeli, who first articulated the need to address these issues more than 170 years ago when he spoke of the country being divided into two nations.

Today I want to focus on infrastructure and the impact it has had on the economy of my constituency. Businesses are dissuaded from setting up in the town by a permanent snarl of heavy traffic. The associated economic and health costs resulting from poor air quality are significant. Air quality in some parts of the constituency is worse than that in central London. Since the mid-1960s, local residents and businesses have been campaigning for the completion of the Atherleigh Way bypass, to ease congestion, and for the reopening of the town’s rail links to Liverpool and Manchester, so that we will have access to jobs in the two major cities that our town lies halfway between. With that investment, Leigh could be transformed from a poor post-industrial community into a wealthy commuter community.

I have faith in the Government’s promise to invest in and level up the north, so that we can share in and help to build up the wealth of our nation. We must now deliver on the promises we made during the election.

Additional Covid-19 Restrictions: Fair Economic Support

James Grundy Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

First, since so many colleagues wish to speak on this subject and the time available is so limited, I hope the House will understand if I do not take interventions. Secondly, I declare an interest as a sitting member of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council since it has been a party to the negotiations regarding Greater Manchester moving to tier 3 yesterday.

I regret deeply the fact that negotiations collapsed yesterday in Greater Manchester, but it is imperative that negotiations continue even if one of the local leaders has left the negotiating table. I am glad to hear that the Government share this view and that negotiations are ongoing with other local leaders. My understanding is that, as well as the base grant of £22 million, the additional £60 million is still on the table for a total settlement of £82 million. I hope the Minister and other right hon. Friends will meet me, other Greater Manchester MPs and council leaders to achieve a settlement as soon as possible, given the urgency of the situation.

Concerns very much remain about support for those on the minimum wage and the self-employed. I know the Minister referred to this, but I do hope a mechanism can be found so that we can address this. I am keen to see those concerns resolved. I am also keen to keep sectors open that might consist of only a single business in my constituency—such as the Treetops soft play facility in Golborne or BJ’s Bingo hall in Leigh—which I believe may still be able to operate in a covid-secure manner. It is vital that those businesses assessed as safe to remain open are allowed to do so. The fewer businesses that close, the more generous we can be to those that have no choice but to close. I would refer to the example of how Lancashire successfully negotiated to keep gym facilities open.

Additionally, I would like to ask that the Government offer some hope to my constituents with regard to tier 3. Should infection rates fall by a suitable level after the initial 28-day period has expired, I would ask that the Government consider lifting the tier 3 restrictions.

Finally, we know that a vaccine appears to be on the horizon. I hope the Government will prioritise those areas suffering from the burden of tier 3 restrictions for the roll-out of any such a vaccine so that our lives can, at last, begin to return to normal.

Covid-19: Future UK-EU Relationship

James Grundy Excerpts

Wednesday 15th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

I intend to be brief, so I hope the House will forgive me if I do not take interventions.

I wish to speak today on behalf of places that many Members will never have heard of, and whose voices have too rarely been heard. In the referendum, almost two-thirds of my constituency of Leigh voted to leave the EU, but in many of its local communities the vote to leave was more than 70%—in some cases, more than 75%. Communities such as Siddow Common, Hope Carr, Higher Folds, West Leigh, Shakerley, Mosley Common, Derby Road, and Kings Avenue in the Oaklands and Meadows estate, voted most overwhelmingly to leave the EU. In fact, every single polling district in my constituency voted to leave the EU, from those who live in the bungalows and semi-detached houses of Pennington to those in the red-brick terraced streets of southern Atherton and those who live in the new-build houses of Astley.

Not too long ago, in many of those places, we would have been more likely to find the Loch Ness monster than a Conservative voter. I am stood here today because huge numbers of my constituents broke with the political habits of a lifetime to send me here to end the political chaos that had been crippling the country since the EU referendum; and that referendum seems, does it not, like a lifetime ago?

I will not betray the trust of my constituents by supporting the SNP’s motion tonight; it would be wrong to do so. Extending the transition period with the EU will only prolong the political turmoil that this country has faced and damage businesses that have tried repeatedly to prepare for Brexit over the past few years, only to face endless frustrating delay. They have been given the certainty of a final deadline to work towards after four years, and now here we are, with some people trying to disrupt the Brexit process yet again.

I have nothing more to say on this matter. This subject has been done to death. My constituents are sick of it. The public are sick of it. Let us get on with it: let us put this matter to bed once and for all.