Oral Answers to Questions

James Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston) (Lab/Co-op)]

3. What fiscal steps she is taking to support the community ownership of assets.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

Through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, the Government are introducing a strong, new community right to buy. That will empower communities to take ownership of and protect local assets. Alongside those new powers, the Pride in Place programme will provide up to £5.8 billion over 10 years to support 284 neighbourhoods, enabling local people to choose to fund a range of activities, including developing or restoring important community assets.

[Preet Kaur Gill]

After 14 years of Conservative austerity, many communities like mine have seen the assets that matter most to them hollowed out. I welcome the Government’s community right to buy, because putting local people in control of local assets is simply common sense. In my constituency, Woodgate and Bartley Green will receive £20 million through Pride in Place funding over the next decade thanks to this Government. Does the Minister agree that tackling barriers such as access to finance will help communities to take ownership of local assets and rebuild neighbourhoods?

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Pride in Place funding can be used for communities to take ownership of and support local assets, from youth centres to libraries and cultural venues. I am very glad to hear that the funding will make such a positive difference to her constituents in Woodgate and Bartley Green, and I am proud that this Government are putting people in control of what happens in their local area.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

Across my constituency, there are three things that small villages tend to have: a pub, a church and a village hall. The community asset policy will support community ownership of the pubs, but I am hearing from those who run large faith buildings that they are deeply concerned about the changes to VAT relief on listed buildings. Will the Minister agree to meet me and others who are literally trying to repair the church roof to discuss that uncertainty?

[James Murray]

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, this scheme is operated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, so I am happy to ask colleagues in that Department to come back to him.

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[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

5. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Office for Budget Responsibility's growth projections for 2026 on future departmental spending levels.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

At the spring forecast last week, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor showed that we have the right economic plan. Our plan has lowered inflation, borrowing, debt and debt interest payments. Our approach means that investment is up, helping to create the conditions for growth across the UK. Our firm approach to public spending is helping to keep public finances on a sustainable path.

[John Glen]

Given that the Chancellor has pencilled in 0.3% real-terms growth in public spending in 2029-30, and assuming that health spending is at its historical average, the special educational needs and disabilities spend is as per the proposals, and defence is at 3%, that will leave a 2.5% real-terms cut in unprotected Departments. What plans do the Chancellor and Chief Secretary to the Treasury have to fill that £13 billion gap in the 2029-30 envelope?

[James Murray]

If the right hon. Gentleman looks at the plans that we set out through our spending review, he will be clear that we are increasing spending by £50 billion a year by 2028-29 compared with the previous Government’s plans. At the same time, we are ensuring that taxpayers get value for money. We are making £3.9 billion of efficiency savings by 2029-30, rising to £5 billion by 2030-31.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Richard Fuller (North Bedfordshire) (Con)]

The Government’s spending plans look very, very iffy. The Minister has a chance of fitting in with the Chancellor’s fiscal rules—if there is no further downgrade on economic growth, which seems unlikely; if the Government have the backbone to rein in public spending and to increase taxes in the last years of the Parliament, which seems very unlikely; if the Government do not have to step in with any significant energy support because no money has been set aside; and if the Government can get £4.8 billion in salary sacrifice in 2029-30 revenues, which the industry says is a pipe dream. So here is another “if”. If the Minister’s spending plans start to fall apart, will he prioritise cuts in public spending over tax increases?

[James Murray]

I will give the hon. Gentleman an “if”. If he were honest and remembered his time in Liz Truss’s Government, he might not have the gall to make comments like that across the Dispatch Box—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. All Members are honest. Please think about what you are saying. You cannot individually attack a Member for not being honest. We are all honourable Members, as you well know. I call the honourable Minister.

[James Murray]

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I apologise unreservedly for the implication about the hon. Gentleman: I know that he is a very decent and honourable man, and I withdraw that comment. He may have unintentionally misled the House by failing to declare his part in the Liz Truss Government and the impact that that had on public spending. As he will know, we have stuck to the fiscal rules that this Chancellor introduced at the beginning of this Government in every fiscal event that we have had. Those fiscal rules are ironclad. We have sustainable plans for public spending, and we are ensuring that we are managing the economy in a way that the hon. Gentleman’s party could only dream of.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Friern Barnet) (Lab)]

7. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce the level of use of food banks by families.

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[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

T3. David, who owns the Steam Town Brew Co. in my constituency, tells me that his biggest concerns right now are inflation and the ability to plan ahead. What reassurance can the Minister give him that businesses in my constituency will be supported with the stability and certainty that they need?

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

Businesses in the hon. Lady’s constituency, and indeed across the country, can know that, whatever instability we face in the world in the months and weeks ahead, the Government have done the right thing for the economy by bringing down inflation, interest rates, borrowing, debt and debt costs. All that puts us in the strongest possible position to be resilient going into the future.

[Sam Carling (North West Cambridgeshire) (Lab)]

T9. Young people in North West Cambridgeshire and across the country are struggling to access mortgages and get on to the housing ladder due to thin credit files. Will the Minister explore requiring lettings agents and large landlords, with the consent of tenants, to report rental payment data to credit reference agencies so that a record of paying rent on time can contribute to tenants’ credit histories and help them access mortgages?

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[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

The junction of Surrey Road and Prince of Wales Road; Wimborne Road, between Kinson library and Bear Cross; and Hankinson Road, around Winton rec—these are some of the more than 35 roads in Bournemouth West where residents have told me potholes are out of control. Lib Dem-led Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council has been given £7.5 million to maintain our roads and fix potholes. I will be writing to BCP council later today, but in the meantime, will the Minister join me in urging it to get its act together and finally fix our roads?

[James Murray]

As my hon. Friend makes clear, we need to ensure that our extra funding for local roads maintenance is spent effectively, and that local residents can hold councils like Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to account. The Liberal Democrats have typically not been shy about mentioning potholes in their leaflets; now is their time to deliver.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T8. The Chancellor said that she will meet representatives of the North sea oil industry to see how it can help. The proper question is how she can help it, is it not?

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[Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Two weeks ago, I held an emergency cost of living summit in Blackpool, after record numbers of families, particularly single mums, contacted us in food crisis. They could not access the council’s discretionary fund. Will the Minister outline how the new crisis and resilience fund will ensure that families in my constituency can get the support that they need, especially over the weekend?

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend is right to point to the crisis and resilience fund as an important lifeline for families across this country. We work with local authorities to make sure that the funding gets to the frontline, because local councils best understand where the most acute pressures are in their areas. I am, however, happy to discuss this with him later.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

Heat batteries are the only clean heat technology certified by the microgeneration certification scheme that is excluded from VAT relief under the energy-saving materials framework. This penalises smaller homes and lower-income households that cannot accommodate a heat pump. Will the Chancellor commit to removing that anomaly, and meet me and representatives of the UK heat battery industry to discuss it?

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[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

My constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme are sick and tired of poor-quality, dangerous roads. The county council has resources from this Government, and must stop being missing in action. What message does the Minister have for Staffordshire county council?

[James Murray]

My hon. Friend is right that we need councils across the country to use the extra funding that the Government have made available for local road maintenance to fill those potholes. Councils will have to publish their data online, so that local people can monitor, through a traffic light system available on gov.uk, how their council is performing.