Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The overall programme is about £200 million a year, which is split across a range of activities. Part of it is for basic services like health and education, as I have said; part of it is for economic development; and part of it is to address humanitarian conditions and disaster prevention, readiness and resilience. The final part of the programme is for governance programmes, as I said in my initial answer—these support the Electoral Commission and free and fair elections in Bangladesh—and supporting people so they can access the services and the welfare protection that they deserve.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

2. What steps she is taking to improve the co-ordination of humanitarian support for Syria and the surrounding region.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

Humanitarian actors are working tirelessly throughout the region, dealing with 1.7 million refugees now outside Syria and 4 million internally displaced people still inside Syria. Improving co-ordination and access is absolutely critical, which is why on 3 July I hosted a meeting with donors and key UN agencies in London to map out some steps on how we continue to up our game. Last week I also visited Lebanon.

[Karen Lumley]

Does the Secretary of State agree that an enormous burden is being placed on the countries that neighbour Syria, and that the international community must help them so that they can be fully supported?

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I do. It is projected that Lebanon, a country with a population of 4 million, will have 1 million refugees by the end of the year. If the same proportion of refugees were to arrive in the UK, the figure would be upwards of 15 million. We need to do everything we can to support not only the refugees but the host communities that they are going into.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T2. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, under a Conservative Government. Does the Minister agree that the work it does is extremely valuable in building democracies and is a good use of taxpayers’ money?

[Justine Greening]

I do. The work that the Westminster Foundation for Democracy does is extremely valuable in helping to promote democratic governance around the world. I know that the WFD is also working to strengthen further the value for money it provides to the taxpayer, and to change and modernise, and I fully support that work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

In addition to the measures I just outlined in relation to increasing not only the level of salt we have but our ability to get the most effective winter resilience out of that salt stock, we are investing to make sure that our rail companies are far better able to cope with bad weather. That includes making sure that we have more de-icing trains as well as better technology for existing trains to de-ice as they run. That will be particularly beneficial to my hon. Friend’s constituents.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

9. What discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on metal theft from railways and motorways.

High-speed Rail

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I can. The hon. Gentleman will obviously be aware of the bored tunnel under Ruislip, which will significantly help his area. I would also direct him to look at the document that we have issued today setting out our review of property issues. It talks in very clear terms about the next steps, and what will happen when.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State reassure the residents of Redditch that High Speed 2 will come in on budget, and that it will bring massive economic benefits to constituencies in the west midlands?

[Justine Greening]

I hope that I can provide reassurance. We have certainly developed the calculations on costs in line with Treasury guidance, which is very conservative. Of course I will be aiming, if at all possible, to have the project come in under budget, although I suspect that there will also be others who will have to manage the costs over the coming years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I would say two things to the right hon. Lady. First, I was in contact with Bombardier in my first three days in this role because I recognise the issues raised across the House. She is right that tenders are coming up in which Bombardier could participate, and I have no doubt, and very much hope, that it will want to bid for them. Secondly, I recognise the issues arising from the procurement process within Government, and we are working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to consider how we can take those matters further.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T8. Is the Secretary of State confident that councils in the west midlands have sufficient resources to address adverse weather and avoid the sort of chaos that happened in Redditch last year?

[Justine Greening]

We discovered last year and the year before that winter resilience is incredibly important. We have far more salt in reserve now than we did at this point last year, and we are working with local authorities up and down the country to ensure that many are better prepared and can use the salt more effectively.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justine Greening and Karen Lumley

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effect on GDP of proposals to increase the level of economic growth in the June 2010 Budget.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Justine Greening)]

A key part of the emergency Budget was to make sure that we rebalanced our economy on to a more sustainable, private-led footing with economic growth taking place. As I said, we introduced a range of measures to support business, but we did not stop at that; we now have a second Finance Bill that brings forward further measures. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s analysis following the emergency Budget showed that it is forecasting a sustained recovery in economic output, with employment growing year on year and unemployment falling year on year.

[Karen Lumley]

What would have happened in smaller, mixed-economy areas such as my constituency of Redditch if the Government had refused to take the challenge as they have and face up to the difficult decisions?

[Justine Greening]

Such areas would have faced a jobs tax with higher national insurance, higher corporation tax rates, lower economic confidence and, quite possibly, higher interest rates.