Draft Government of Wales Act 2006 (Devolved Welsh Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2024

John Lamont Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 General Committees

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Vickers. While, as we have heard, this is simply a technical instrument to amend schedule 9A of the Government of Wales Act to remove the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales—which no longer exists—from a list of devolved Welsh authorities, my concern is the Welsh Labour Government’s record on education and that this latest round of reforms will cause further damage to the education of our children in Wales.

Education attainment in Wales is dreadful, as has been clearly highlighted by the latest PISA—programme for international student assessment—results. The results show a large decline in attainment, declining more in Wales than in any other country in 2022. Wales’s performance has fallen to its lowest ever level in maths, reading and science tests taken by 15-year-olds. Wales is at the bottom of the rankings for the whole of the United Kingdom in maths, reading and science. The performance of pupils in Wales has fallen significantly since the last PISA tests in 2019 and it continues to be below the OECD average. For maths, Wales is down by 21 points; for reading, it is down 18; and for science, it is down 15.

But there is absolutely no sign of Labour recognising the problems that it has created or making any attempt to invest in our young people. Labour’s budget last year cut £56 million in cash terms and £140 million in real terms from the education budget. This year’s supplementary budget has resulted in a further £92 million cut in cash terms to the education budget. Those cuts include £930,000 taken away from additional learning needs and £1.2 million taken away from education infrastructure.

There can be no doubt where this failure rests. It rests solely with Labour and its reforms to the education system in Wales. In Wales, the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils is much wider than it is in England and there has been little to no progress in addressing that since 2009. The gulf between pupils in Wales and in England can be explained only by the difference in policy and approach.

While we will not oppose the instrument, we want to record that we recognise the concerns that parents and communities have in Wales about the failure of the Welsh Labour Government to maintain educational standards.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 11th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

I congratulate new Ministers on their appointments.

The last Conservative Government spearheaded various clean energy schemes for Wales, including the Celtic freeport, which has the potential to create more than 10,000 green jobs. Will the Secretary of State join me in recognising that the last Conservative Government led the way in delivering clean energy projects for Wales? Does she recognise that the Welsh Government also have to play their part, and what discussions she has had with them about their own plans to support clean energy projects in Wales?

[Jo Stevens]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. My colleague the Secretary of State for Business and Trade said immediately after the election that we do not intend to make any changes to existing freeport commitments. I am backing the delivery of the two freeports in Wales, and I am very pleased that, with the involvement of the Welsh Government, we have fair work elements in those freeports, which I fully support.

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[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

Today the Government are expected to unveil details of their steel plan for south Wales. From what has been briefed to the press, it seems that the new deal is, at its core, the same deal—worth hundreds of millions of pounds—that was agreed by the last Conservative Government. At the time, the Secretary of State and the Welsh Labour party appeared to rubbish the deal, and suggested that a better one was possible. Does she now regret the Labour party’s previous criticism of the deal?

[Jo Stevens]

I do not recognise that characterisation of the deal on which the Business Secretary will make a statement later. He will make that statement to the House—I do not want to pre-empt it, because we are a party and a Government who will always come to the House first to make major announcements—but I am confident that he will set out a sustainable future for steelmaking in Port Talbot, in Wales and across the UK.

[John Lamont]

The fact remains that key parts of the deal, as it appears in the press, appear to be largely unchanged from what was agreed before, including almost £100 million to help steelworkers who might lose their jobs. In its negotiations with the last Government, Tata Steel was crystal clear that no other deal was possible. Moving forward, it is crucial that funding to help retrain those who will lose their jobs reaches them swiftly, so will the Secretary of State lay out the detail of how and when the money will be sent to those impacted?

[Jo Stevens]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to my previous answer. We had the transition board in place for nearly 10 months under the last Government and not a single penny went out the door to businesses or workers affected. Within weeks of my taking over chairmanship of the transition board, £13.5 million has been released to help supply chain businesses and workers. That is the first tranche, with further funds to come.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 6th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support infrastructure investment in Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Simon Hart)]

This Government are committed to levelling up across Wales. That is why we are investing over £340 million in Welsh rail and £120 million through the levelling-up fund in Wales in round one alone, and Wales will benefit from the UK-wide £5 billion Project Gigabit to connect hard-to-reach premises.

[John Lamont]

It is of the utmost importance that every part of these islands can enjoy investment from this United Kingdom Government. Can the Secretary of State update the House on what he and the rest of the Government are doing to achieve that aim in Wales and across the whole United Kingdom?

[Simon Hart]

I found it quite hard to hear my hon. Friend’s comments, but I can say that we believe there are really positive steps in terms of sustainable job creation in Wales through the various different funding measures, in particular the UK’s shared prosperity fund, which is currently in lift-off. Levelling up is devolution in action. We get a lot of criticism from the Opposition Benches about the Welsh Government’s being bypassed, but we are going to 22 local authorities and stakeholders in a way that has never previously been done.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[David T. C. Davies]

In one breath, the right hon. Lady criticises Margaret Thatcher for closing down coalmines; in the next breath, she says that we must not have coalmines because they are bad for climate change. She will forgive me if I feel there is a certain inconsistency there, but I will look with interest at whatever Bill she has introduced.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government are taking to encourage electric vehicle usage in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (David T. C. Davies)]

The UK Government are committed to supporting electric vehicle usage in Wales, as well as across the rest of the UK, which is why we have introduced a ban on the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and introduced the on-street residential charge point scheme.

[John Lamont]

I welcome the rapid change to electric vehicles but am sure the Minister will agree that we must not let rural areas fall behind. This is an issue for Wales, but it also affects all parts of these islands, including my constituency in the Scottish Borders. What are the Government doing to support the installation of more rapid chargers in rural areas to encourage more people to make the switch to electric vehicles?

[David T. C. Davies]

My hon. Friend will be aware that the UK Government recently granted £187,000 from the UK community renewal fund to help the project in his constituency to provide electric vehicle charging points across the Scottish Borders. The UK Government will continue to support the installation of electric charge points through various schemes, including the £2.5 billion that has been committed to plug-in vehicle grants and charging infrastructure programmes.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Welsh agricultural sector.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Welsh agricultural sector.

--- Later in debate ---

[David T. C. Davies]

As a Government who are committed to the devolved settlement, we obviously will not be telling devolved Governments what they can do with the money; we will simply make sure the money is there. Of course, the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill has been brought forward to make absolutely certain that we do not see a situation where one part of the United Kingdom is able to compete in an unfair fashion with another part of the United Kingdom, and that is why I hope all Members will support that Bill.

[John Lamont]

My constituency in the Scottish borders is the second-highest recipient of common agricultural policy payments in the United Kingdom. Indeed, four of the top five recipients are in the devolved Administrations. How will the Government support the devolved Administrations with these payments in the future?

[David T. C. Davies]

I am sure that my hon. Friend’s constituents, like farmers across the whole United Kingdom, are pleased that the British Government will not implement the 10% cut to agricultural payments, which is being brought about by the European Union. He will be pleased that we have used the most generous exchange rate possible to calculate what those payments will be. If he lived in Wales, he would be pleased to know that the UK Government are providing £1.3 billion of additional funding to the Welsh Government, and we look forward to seeing how much of that will be used on agriculture.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

Given that the SNP Scottish Government have an extra £2 billion to play with, thanks to this Conservative Government’s Budget last month, will the Prime Minister join me in calling on the First Minister of Scotland to rule out higher taxes for hard-working Scots?

[The Prime Minister]

I have to say that I think this is a very real test of the First Minister and the SNP Government in Scotland. In previous weeks we have heard some rather strange claims being made by the Scottish nationalists in this House about the impact on Scotland of decisions taken at UK level. My hon. Friend is absolutely right—there is £2 billion extra going into Scotland—but let us watch very carefully how the SNP Government choose to spend that money.