Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Monday 6th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Under the new national funding formula, West Sussex schools are set to have a funding increase of 10.7%. However, the county has been historically one of the lowest funded. Are there any other measures that can be brought forward to ensure that that historical underfunding is righted?

[Justine Greening]

As my hon. Friend says, the national funding formula aims to address the inequity that has been baked into our funding system for many, many years. That sits alongside the pupil premium investment and the work that increasingly takes place in our schools to make sure that they operate in a way that maximises the educational impact that they get for every single pound. That means a focus on efficiency.

Schools Update

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Monday 17th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I do not agree with the hon. Lady. I can confirm that we are making the additional funding available, including to schools in her community. If any of them get less, that will be the result of a decision by her local authority, which I am sure she will want to follow up. More broadly, we need to recognise that, over time, several different pools of money are rightly directed towards improving schools across our country, and I want to see those working more efficiently. We also need to ensure that parts of my Department are being run efficiently, and the prize for doing that better will be to have more money to channel to frontline schools. That is precisely what I plan to do.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Under the outgoing system, introduced by the previous Labour Administration, schools in West Sussex were among the lowest funded in the country, so I very much welcome the new national funding formula, which will result in a significant enhancement for schools in Crawley. May I seek an assurance, however, that capital funding for projects such as the necessary rebuilding work at Holy Trinity School in my constituency will not be affected as a result of this new revenue coming forward?

[Justine Greening]

I can assure my hon. Friend that there will be a substantial capital budget, not only to deliver the additional school places that we need but to invest in improving our school estate. As I have set out today, some of the additional money that we had expected from the sugar drinks industry levy can indeed be retained and converted into revenue to go to schools on the frontline. On capital, this Government have invested in the school estate and will continue to do so.

Humanitarian Crisis: Greece

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Wednesday 2nd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

As ever, we will continue to make sure that the support we give to all the countries affected by the crisis is at a level that we think is sensible. As I have set out, Britain has, frankly, done as much as any in helping refugees who are arriving in Europe. That is why a significant proportion of what we provide has been given to countries such as Greece where the refugees have arrived. I do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman’s second point about our approach to relocation. I think our approach is the sensible approach, one that is increasingly recognised across Europe as sensible and pragmatic.

My final point to the right hon. Gentleman is that the people we are able to relocate are the most vulnerable people from the region, those identified by agencies like the UNHCR as needing to be removed from the region in order to get back on with their lives and receive the support they need to do so. I think we are right to focus on the most vulnerable people affected by this crisis; that will continue to be our approach.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State and the Government for the leadership they have shown in making us the biggest donor of humanitarian support in region, after the United States. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the refugees from the middle east are the victims of terrorists and traffickers, so taking into the United Kingdom the refugees who have already reached the safety of Europe is simply playing into the hands of those evil traffickers who are exploiting people so appallingly?

[Justine Greening]

I think my hon. Friend is right. In the end, there is no getting away from the fact that overwhelmingly people want to stay in the region where they had their home and grew up—the area with which they are most familiar and where their closest family is likely to be based. I think the failure of the international community to do enough is what has led to the sorts of flows that we are now seeing. That is why the London conference a month ago was so important. It is also why we need to see more countries doing more in the region. We should not lose sight of the need for more international leadership, matching that of Britain, in the region so that refugees can be supported in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. They have been generous, but they are saying that this is an extremely difficult situation for them to cope with. Let us not lose sight of that.

Syria Crisis: UK Response

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The No Lost Generation initiative was set up with UNICEF, which has done an amazing job in allowing us to scale up this work. Of course, it is now essentially owned by the Governments in Lebanon and Jordan. I have had the privilege to work alongside their Education Ministers to put together the plans that are enabling us to scale up this work to ensure that all children in those countries can get into school. The best suggestion I can make is that those NGOs get in touch with DFID to understand what role they can play in the plans that the Governments of Jordan and Lebanon have to get children back into school.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I commend my right hon. Friend and the Government not only for convening the Syria donor conference but for the significant in-region humanitarian support we are providing. In recent times, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have contemplated military action in Syria. Will she say what those countries and similar countries in the region are doing with regard to humanitarian aid?

[Justine Greening]

One big step forward at the conference was the stepping up of the region to provide the resourcing for humanitarian supplies to get through to people. Of course, the last three donor conferences were in the region, in Kuwait. We chose to host the conference this year, but it had substantial and significant support from the region. That is one reason we were able to reach such a record-breaking pledge.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue. One of the challenges has been that many of the people displaced within Gaza went to schools that were empty because of the school holidays. I recently spoke to the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency about how we can ensure we create the homes and the refuges for people to leave the schools so that the children can get back to school. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right; we need to make sure that they do not lose their education.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T6. What are the British Government’s plans for development goals as part of the UN General Assembly later this month?

[Justine Greening]

We will be pushing our vision for a compelling new set of development goals in relation to post-2015, and in our August presidency of the UN Security Council, we have been focusing on conflict prevention.

UK’s Development Work (Girls and Women)

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Raising my daughter over the last 10 years has been one of the most important roles I will ever carry out. I seek assurances from my right hon. Friend that when it comes to DFID projects, fathers and responsible male role models are, wherever possible, made part of the upbringing of disadvantaged girls?

[Justine Greening]

I can give my hon. Friend those assurances. We are funding programmes in Nigeria, for example, which do just that. Part of the research that we are conducting on violence against girls and women and how it can be tackled relates to how we can change attitudes and involve boys and men in the eradication of such violence.

UK Aid (Uganda and Rwanda)

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State say a little more about the context of when this country ceased giving aid to the Ugandan Prime Minister’s office in relation to some of the other donor nations that were providing aid?

[Justine Greening]

We took steps to stop our money going to the office of the Prime Minister before we had any evidence of a problem per se, particularly in relation to our own money. Other donors took steps once it became clear that there had been fraud and corruption with their money, so I like to think that we acted pre-emptively. The forensic audit that is currently under way will give us the information we need to understand what has happened with UK taxpayers’ money and what steps we may be able to take should any money prove not to have been disbursed in the way we wanted.

Afghanistan

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I do not have those precise statistics with me, but clearly improving health care is critical. For example, we have moved from a position where very few children under the age of one had any kind of vaccine to one where a quarter are now vaccinated. There is now also much more support for women to ensure fewer deaths in childbirth. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman, and I thank him for the kind note he sent me on taking up this role. This is an area that I hope we can all focus on together.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I, too, warmly welcome my right hon. Friend to her new role. What steps can the Government take to ensure that those nations that committed to supporting the future of Afghanistan, in Tokyo and in Chicago, stick to that commitment?

[Justine Greening]

We can make sure that we review progress against the Tokyo mutual accountability framework. The progress review will happen regularly. There are already a number of countries that, alongside Britain, have made clear financial commitments to continue to support Afghanistan, while a number of others are yet to confirm exactly what their contributions will be. We secured an overall agreement that £16 billion would be made available to support the Afghanistan Government as they go through their period of reform, and that is just between now and 2016. That is a substantial investment. There was also clear support for the sense that the next decade needs to be one in which Afghanistan will be truly transformed. I am sure that there will be further discussions about the funding needed beyond 2016 to support that.

Rail Investment

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. It is a relevant question. The Welsh Government have not raised that issue with me directly, but it is something that I am interested in considering. Perhaps he will forgive me if I reflect and get back to him as my thinking on HS2 develops.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the reported contention of the Opposition that this significant rail investment will not create jobs is completely absurd?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T10. Will my right hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to the staff of Virgin Atlantic, Gatwick Airport Ltd and the South East Coast ambulance service for their professionalism when assisting passengers following the emergency landing of flight VS27 earlier this week?

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I will. I echo my hon. Friend’s thanks and praise for the staff of both companies and members of the emergency services who responded to the emergency landing at Gatwick on Monday. It is obviously too early to speculate on what exactly caused the incident, but it is now being investigated by the Department’s air accidents investigation branch.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Last week, a consortium of regional airports called for a congestion tax on London airports such as Gatwick in my constituency. Will the Treasury rule out such an absurd and, frankly, anti-free trade measure?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is right to refer to the importance of the aviation sector. As he will know, the consultation on reform of air passenger duty closed last Friday, and we have received a number of different representations from stakeholders. He will be aware that this is partly about looking at what we can do to support regional airports, but we certainly do not want to do that at the expense of our other key airports in the south-east.

Court of Auditors 2009 Report

Debate between Justine Greening and Henry Smith

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend echoes a sentiment that many people in the country will feel. Clearly, we have a legal obligation in terms of our payments to the EU budget, but the challenge is sorting out the underlying problem and even doing what he suggests would not do that. We have to address the underlying problem now, and there are ways in which we can do that.

If I can make a little progress, I shall provide some context and talk about the steps that we are taking and are planning to take. It is important to have this debate, because the views of Members across the House and their constituents on the budget are key in pointing out how important this matter is not only for the UK Government but to represent in Europe, which we plan to do. To give some background, the European Court of Auditors report on the 2009 EU budget was published on 9 November 2010. As hon. Members will know, at that time the Government were taking extremely tough decisions domestically, having just published the spending review that was our plan to deal with the largest peacetime deficit in British history. At home, we are taking the steps needed to cut the deficit and start tackling our debt. Actually, the experience is the same for most people and most countries across Europe—member states bringing their deficits under control by cutting spending.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I do not doubt the determination of the UK Government to bring down the deficit—nor do I doubt the determination of many other countries in the EU to bring down their deficits—but is it not telling that great countries trying to work together to bring down deficits do not seem to be able to make an impact on the EU, because it is so remote from the peoples of Europe, particularly the people of this country?

[Justine Greening]

That remoteness—the lack of the ability, day to day, rigorously to monitor how spend is going on—is one reason why we have reached this stage today. Also, it is fair to recognise that 80% of the spending happens at member state level. Therefore, there is some challenging complexity for any system in ensuring that that spend across those disparate member states, some of them new, is effective.

In spite of that, we have to get a grip. Our Government in the UK are getting a grip on departmental spending and the EU needs to do the same. I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) that I think that there is now an appetite across member states to start to address the issue. There is more of a common agenda—perhaps at the EU and member state level—to address financial management. I welcome that development, but I am also determined to harness it while it is there to get change for the better.

As I was saying, the Court of Auditors report was published at the same time as the EU-level negotiations were taking place on the 2011 annual budget.