English Devolution
John Glen Excerpts(2 days, 9 hours ago)
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John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
Fifteen years ago, just before I joined this House, we saw the reorganisation of Wiltshire county council into the unitary Wiltshire council, and the abolition of several district councils. It seems that another reform in the heart of Wessex will be the probable outcome of these proposals for Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. Can the Minister assure the people of Salisbury, who still have some difficulty accepting the abolition of Salisbury district council, that the proposed changes will be positive in terms of the combination of resources for strategic investment in transport and other such services?
Jim McMahon
In any local government reorganisation, there is always a fine balance between trying to create a cohesive new council and respecting the strong local identities that people feel—identities that are unique. When that is done right, the council can be confident in its own standing, because it knows that it is delivering outstanding services; when it is done wrong, it is trying to impose an identity on a place through the form of a council that does not reflect the local identity. For those of us in towns such as Oldham that went through the 1974 reorganisation, that is felt as keenly as in other areas, but that is not about the type of government; it is about culture and approach. When it is done well, it can work.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Glen Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Rushanara Ali
I am very sorry to hear about the experience of my hon. Friend’s constituent. I refer to my previous comments; I am very happy to meet and engage with her on her work to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
If Wiltshire embraces the opportunity to join Dorset and Somerset in an elected mayoral authority, will there be local elections all-out in Wiltshire next spring?
Jim McMahon
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question on devolution. We are absolutely ready to talk to any areas that are keen to take on devolution, particularly a mayoral combined authority. Any decisions on whether elections do or do not take place will be part of future consideration.
Council Tax
John Glen Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Matthew Pennycook
I thank my hon. Friend for that point, and I will relay it to the Local Government Minister. On the general principle, we are determined to rebuild local government from the ground up. That is why we are providing multi-year funding settlements to councils and removing a number of ringfences, and are committed, as I said, to fair funding. On his general point about the Opposition, I completely agree. It reminds me of a phrase my nan used to use: “More front than Harrods,” she used to say. That is what Opposition Members have.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
Will the Minister rule out additional council tax bands being among any changes that the Government make?
Matthew Pennycook
I say to the right hon. Gentleman that we are not talking about council tax bands in this urgent question; we are talking about the thresholds that remain in place. We are committed to those thresholds. As I am sure you would expect, Mr Speaker, we will set out more details about the local government finance settlement at the appropriate point next year, in the usual way.
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
John Glen Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)
What a privilege it is to close this four-day Budget debate on behalf of the Government. I thank the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden) for his remarks—for someone who moved from being the high disciple of Tony Blair to sitting in a Cabinet where there was “no money left”, I think there was a lot of cheek in his remarks.
This Budget takes our collective potential and unleashes it to deliver sustainable long-term growth. We are now able to direct our attention to the future because of the difficult decisions that we took in the autumn, when we cemented stability and the prudent management of the nation’s finances, taking responsible, necessary decisions for the good of the economy—for the vulnerable, for families and for communities up and down this country. Since then, debt-servicing costs are down, mortgage rates are lower and inflation has peaked. We are heading in the right direction. The OBR’s clear assessment is that because of the action taken in the autumn, combined with the actions announced by the Chancellor last week, we are on track to meet all the Prime Minister’s economic pledges.
As has been famously said before, inflation is taxation without legislation. It makes us all poorer. That is why we said that we will halve it this year. Indeed, the OBR says that we will do more than that.
John Glen
No, I will not.
Inflation in the UK will fall from 10.7% in the final quarter of last year to 2.9% by the end of 2023. If debt is left unchecked, it acts as a ceiling on our economic potential. That is why we are bringing it down. Under this Government, we will pay our own way.
On growth—the focus of the Budget—there were those who said that we would fall into recession in 2023, but last week the OBR said that we will not enter a recession this year. Instead, after this year, the UK economy will grow in every single year of the forecast period, including by 2.5% in 2025. As we look to the future, we are now rolling out the biggest employment package ever, we are overhauling incentives to get businesses growing, and we are unleashing our green energy sector while supporting families and businesses with bills in the short term. But, contrary to the characterisation in many Opposition speeches today, there is no complacency from this Government. There will be no let-up in our relentless focus on enabling growth.
The subject of today’s debate is halving inflation, reducing debt and growing the economy. During the course of the debate, we have heard some excellent speeches from right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House, and I would like to respond to some of them now. I will respond first to my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Mr Clarke), one of my predecessors. Although he welcomed many measures in the Budget, he drew attention to the question of corporation tax. Let me draw his attention to the remarks of the Chancellor, who expressed his determination that the full expensing measure will be a permanent intervention of this Government.
I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), my parliamentary neighbour, for his constructive suggestions about the simplification of childcare. I also draw his attention to the fact that this Government have committed £492 million over this year and next to ease the supply for those who will provide our child support.
I also want to refer to the speech from my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Anthony Browne), who gave us a helpful contextualisation of the world economy and pointed out the fact that, contrary to what we heard in many Opposition speeches, since the Conservatives came to power in 2010 we have grown more than major countries such as France, Italy or Japan, and about the same as Europe’s largest economy, Germany. We have halved unemployment, cut inequality and reduced the number of workless households by 1 million. I also want to refer to my hon. Friend’s remarks on the pensions intervention. That was called for by many in the medical profession over many months, but our pension reforms benefit other experienced key workers as well as doctors, including headteachers, police chiefs, armed forces clinicians, senior armed forces personnel, air traffic controllers, prison governors, senior Government scientists, Government-employed vets and, yes, even senior people in the private sector who create jobs, sustaining growth across the economy.
I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), who had a characteristically clear understanding of how economic challenges will be met. He also mentioned the support of his local brain surgeon. Many more people working in the NHS are realising that within two weeks they will be able to continue working, knowing that their pensions are safe.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Jack Lopresti) for his remarks on defence expenditure. I suspect that there will never be enough money for him on defence, but he shows a clear understanding of the extra commitment the Chancellor has made in the Budget to invest in continuing to support our efforts in Ukraine.
There were many other worthwhile contributions from Members on both sides of the House, and I think it is important that we recognise that one of the major themes of this Budget was levelling up across the whole United Kingdom. I welcome the contribution from my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Simon Fell), who drew attention to the value of the announcements on nuclear, particularly Great British Nuclear, and the transformation that will bring to his economy and to the country as a whole.
Alan Brown
On nuclear, and the fact that the Minister is talking about reducing debt, why does he think it is a good thing to sign bill payers up to £35 billion of debt for Sizewell C through the regulated asset model? Surely that is just a burden on all future generations.
John Glen
What is important is that this country knows that we have a Government who will take long-term decisions about energy security for this country.
I would like to address a number of significant themes of this afternoon’s discussions on the cost of living. Support for households with higher bills has been worth £94 billion—on average, £3,300 per household—across 2022-23 and 2023-24. That means that in this coming year more than 8 million households on means-tested benefits will receive three cost of living payments totalling £900; more than 8 million pensioner households will receive a cost of living payment of £300; and more than 6 million people on disability benefits will receive a cost of living payment of £150. Since this Conservative Government came to power in 2010, we have grown more than major countries such as France, Italy or Japan, and we are now on track.
I want to address public sector pay, which was also raised by a number of Opposition Members. Through the efficiency and savings review, Departments have reprioritised and identified further efficiencies, building on the 5% efficiency challenge set at the 2021 spending review.
We have faced a global energy crisis. We have had high global inflation. There has been a global economic downturn. We needed to bring about stability—we did. We needed sound money—we have it. We now need long-term, sustainable, healthy growth—this Budget delivers it. Many Opposition Members have asked who this Budget was for. It was for the families struggling with energy bills, the left-behind communities that will receive record investment, and the entrepreneurs who drive growth. The OBR’s forecasts show that this Budget will deliver improvements in growth and inflation, but this Government will continue to do everything we can to beat those forecasts. It is with humility, focus and determination that we tackle the challenges facing this country. We will deliver a stronger, cleaner economy for the whole of the United Kingdom, and I commend this Budget to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That income tax is charged for the tax year 2023-24.
And it is declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution should have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968.
The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the motions made in the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Standing Order No. 51(3)).