Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill

Debate between John McDonnell and Danny Alexander

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I am going to make some progress; I will come back to the hon. Gentleman later.

It could be used to support investment in utilities, transport, other infrastructure for the provision of economic and social public services or housing.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Danny Alexander]

No. I am going to make some progress.

The Bill does not affect any existing authority to incur expenditure that might already have been conferred on a Secretary of State; nor will it cover expenditure by a Secretary of State that can properly rest on the authority of annual supply legislation, without requiring specific statutory authority.

Where costs connected to the guarantee are incurred by the Exchequer that cannot reasonably be absorbed by the funds already provided by Parliament and where it is not possible to seek authorisation of Parliament for the additional expenditure—for example, because the House is not sitting—the Bill allows provision to be made from the Consolidated Fund. This is to cover the commercial reality of situations in which payments need to be made very quickly following an unforeseen obligation. Without this provision, any guarantee could lack commercial viability.

[John McDonnell]

rose—

[Danny Alexander]

I am going to make some progress; I shall take some more interventions later.

The Government intend to offer assistance in the form of guarantees, although the Bill makes provision for other forms of assistance that we intend to use only where unforeseen urgent provisions are required. We believe that up to £40 billion of investment in infrastructure could be brought forward or accelerated under the UK guarantee scheme, using the powers in the Bill. That will help to deliver core infrastructure that supports growth, to improve the UK’s energy, transport, water, waste and telecommunications, and it includes about £6 billion-worth of public-private partnership projects delivering essential public service infrastructure. We will issue guidelines and scrutinise proposals to ensure that any proposal that receives an infrastructure guarantee is nationally significant, financially credible, good value for the taxpayer, requires a guarantee to get under way and is ready to start within a year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Danny Alexander]

It is not an omission from the Bill, which puts in place broad and permanent powers to issue guarantees for infrastructure projects. The Government expect that under the UK guarantee scheme, which will be the first manifestation and use of the Bill’s powers, nationally significant projects will be the sorts of projects able to apply. That means projects listed in the national infrastructure plan or other such projects as may come forward, but the Bill gives a broader authority to the Treasury to issue guarantees in other circumstances. What I am describing is how the Government intend to use the powers in the Bill.

[John McDonnell]

rose—

[Danny Alexander]

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, who has not intervened in the debate so far.

[John McDonnell]

On that specific point, I hope that the right hon. Gentleman is going to deal with clause 1(2)(b), which is one of the provisions defining the range of facilities that will be funded in this way. It refers to

“railway facilities (including rolling stock), roads or other transport facilities”.

Will he clarify whether those “other transport facilities” include airport expansion and runways? Although the third runway at Heathrow, or perhaps elsewhere, is not listed in the national programme and will not be brought forward in the next 12 months, there are no sunset clauses, so this Bill could be used to that effect.

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman is right: there is no sunset clause. That is because we think that it is important to introduce these powers, not just for now but for the future. By circumscribing the financial limit of the extent of the powers and also by establishing strong requirements for reports to be made to Parliament, we can ensure that Members continue to be informed on how they are used. As the hon. Gentleman says, no such proposals are on the table at present, but in principle, should a major infrastructure scheme arise in the transport sector but be unable to attract the necessary finance because of conditions in the funding markets, it could be eligible in the future. However, that would be a decision for the Government of the day.

Public Service Pensions

Debate between John McDonnell and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I hesitate to enter into any specific diplomatic disagreements of recent weeks, but my hon. Friend makes an essential point. The ability to negotiate such changes strengthens our fiscal credibility as a country, as well as the long-term sustainability of our public finances. To those who want to see that this Government are capable of making changes that reassure the markets and build confidence—not just in the short term, but in the medium term—this agreement is an essential building block. It is one that other European countries have not always been able to achieve—and again, it goes to show that this Government are making the right decisions in the national interest.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

Is not the truth of the matter that even with this settlement, public sector workers will pay more, work longer and receive less, that the Government have bullied into submission a number of trade unions, and that those that refused to submit have not walked away from the talks but have been refused access to them? Does the Chief Secretary not accept that his role in all this is to destroy the industrial relations climate in this country, possibly for a generation?

Public Service Pensions

Debate between John McDonnell and Danny Alexander

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to celebrate Lord Hutton’s independence in this matter. It is a measure of the Opposition’s lack of interest in the subject that they have not even asked for the statement to be repeated in the House of Lords, so that Members there can hear directly from Lord Hutton. He did not recommend a level of adequacy, but he did say that the floor threshold should be the adequacy rates set out by Adair Turner. The offer that I am announcing today is 40% more generous than those floor adequacy rates.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

Is it not true that the vast majority of public servants will still be paying more and working longer, and that a significant number will still lose out? The protections for the lower-paid will not affect trained firefighters, trained teachers or trained doctors, or many other public servants. The accrued rights that the right hon. Gentleman has offered are actually a legal duty, and he will exacerbate the industrial relations climate by making an offer, but at the same time threatening to take it off the table.

[Danny Alexander]

I know that the hon. Gentleman has taken a long interest in these matters, but he is wrong in his characterisation. He is of course right that we are asking public sector workers to work longer, to set the normal pension age in line with the state pension age, but frankly that is happening to every single person in this country. Public sector workers cannot be immune from that trend any more than anyone else. He mentioned firefighters. Let me say that good discussions are taking place on the firefighters’ pension scheme. We have delayed setting a cost ceiling to take account of all the factors in the firefighters’ pension scheme, particularly the double accrual.