Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Foster and Claire Perry

Tuesday 16th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

I know the hon. Gentleman’s city well and I commend the council there—it is the wrong colour, but it is making many good decisions on such things as solar bins, cycling and walking, which are very possible in a city such as Cambridge. In constituencies such as mine, people have to rely on their vehicles. We know that the cost of living is an issue and it is right that we continue to help people to put some money back in their pockets. On electric vehicles, 13% of new vehicles sold in August this year were ultra-low emission. That market is evolving and the cost of those vehicles is coming down. We have spent half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money subsidising the purchase of those vehicles and my expectation is that the price will continue to fall faster as we see the infrastructure build up.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

11. What progress he has made through the industrial strategy on ensuring that the UK is the best place to start and grow a business.

Vauxhall (Redundancies)

Debate between Kevin Foster and Claire Perry

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

Focusing on today’s announcement, my understanding is that domestic sales of the Astra have been the problem, not sales in Europe. The supply chain to the auto industry—the steel sector—has of course done rather well from the currency move, which has benefited many people working in other areas. We need to focus not on the vagaries of long-term currency movements, but on the long-term support we collectively give to this industry and the investment the Government can make in the technology of the future.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The Minister may be aware that, when I was a councillor in the midlands a decade ago, we faced the challenges affecting Jaguar Land Rover at that time and the potentially dire warnings—[Interruption.] Well, we need only look at where it is today to deal with that heckle. What reassurance will the Minister give me that this company will be supported to move towards the sort of success that Jaguar Land Rover now enjoys, creating thousands of new jobs, despite the scepticism of Opposition Members?

[Claire Perry]

I commend my hon. Friend for his experience. Again, there are frequent, regular and detailed calls about the company’s long-term strategy with regard to the UK and investment in this highly successful and very productive plant and in the people who work there. I also want to point out that the Ellesmere Port enterprise zone and the cluster of businesses around it has been incredibly successful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Foster and Claire Perry

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

I am afraid I dispute the statement that funding has been cut in half. The first phase of the programme—£400 million—was delivered, but I am always keen to look at cost-effective ways to improve access for disabled people and young mothers with buggies, for whom a flight of stairs, as I know, and dads like the hon. Gentleman with his daughter know, can be a real problem. I am happy to meet further to discuss.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Residents in Torbay have welcomed some of the investment that we have seen to improve Torquay station, but Paignton station is a relic of the Beeching era. It is the old goods shed, which was converted into a station. Will she meet me and a delegation from the bay to discuss how we can make Paignton a terminus for the 21st century?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Foster and Claire Perry

Thursday 29th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

13. What progress his Department has made on upgrading and enhancing the railway in the south-west.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)]

We are making significant progress in upgrading and enhancing the railway in the south-west by investing in track and stations, upgrading and delivering new trains to carry more people on faster journeys, and, as we heard earlier, improving resilience to ensure that the region can stay connected.

[Kevin Foster]

The Devon and Cornwall peninsula rail task force recently published its interim report on a 20-year plan for Devon and Cornwall’s railways. Can the Minister confirm that the Government’s primary aim is to secure the resilience of the Great Western main line through south Devon, and that any other options that are considered will be additional measures, not alternatives?

[Claire Perry]

I have the report here, I have read it, and I am happy to confirm that the other options would indeed be alternatives, not replacements.