Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kwasi Kwarteng)]

It is a real pleasure for me to open today’s debate on the Budget that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor the Exchequer brought before the House last week. It is a Budget that meets the needs of the moment. It delivers support to all corners of our United Kingdom. It shores up our defences against the ravaging impact of the pandemic while laying a clear path for our journey out of the crisis and into a brighter future. As the Chancellor himself acknowledged last week, it is a path that we are only able to take because of the incredible efforts of our frontline health workers who have vaccinated more than 20 million people across the United Kingdom, and the researchers and manufacturers who have managed to produce effective vaccines in such a short space of time. I am sure I speak on behalf of the entire House when I express the deepest gratitude to everyone involved in this heroic national effort.

[Mrs Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend makes some very important points about our health staff and the vaccination programme, which has been absolutely superb in this country. Does he recognise that the creation of a new vaccine centre and medicines manufacturing centre were part of the life sciences deals that were enabled by the modern industrial strategy? Will he welcome the modern industrial strategy?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I have not come here to defend or rebut any of the wonderful measures that we took under my right hon. Friend’s leadership. I am very conscious of the fact that many people want to take part in this debate, and I am afraid that I have to press on.

The researchers and manufacturers have done an extremely good job, as my right hon. Friend says, in shoring up our response to the crisis. The Budget provides an additional £65 billion of measures in response to covid, designed to support the economy this year. It covers an extension of the furlough scheme, which has already supported 1.3 million employers and more than 11 million jobs, providing vital funds to households and communities throughout our country. It has added to the near £20 billion of support that the Treasury has paid out to support 2.7 million self-employed people.

The Budget presents a dynamic and generous plan to help businesses to get up to speed. We are providing restart grants of up to £18,000 to more than 680,000 business premises. We are also providing further support for hospitality and retail businesses who may be more affected by restrictions when they reopen. While our plan for jobs has been given a £126 million boost supporting 40,000 more traineeships and doubling the cash incentive for firms taking on new apprentices, the Budget ensures that more people are able to access secure, skilled work.

Of course, there can be no denial that the jobs market has changed profoundly over the past year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 14th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

If the hon. Lady looks at what we have been doing for education funding overall, she will see that we have been putting extra money into funding—[Interruption.] Members say, “Not in FE”, but we have invested nearly £7 billion in further education this year to ensure that there is an educational training place for every 16 to 19-year-old who wants one. We are also transforming technical education through T-levels, and £500 million will go into those once they are fully rolled out. By 2020, the funding to support adult participation in further education is planned to be higher than at any time in England’s history.

[Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q14. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to my constituent Dennis Brock, who will celebrate his 100th birthday next week? Uniquely, he has been ringing the bells at St Mary’s church in Sunbury-on-Thames for 87 years, and we confidently believe that he is the oldest bell ringer in the world.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kwasi Kwarteng and Baroness May of Maidenhead

Wednesday 21st March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman raises the issue of school funding. As I said in response to the Leader of the Opposition, the amount of money that we are spending on schools is greater than it has ever been before. What matters is the quality of education provided in schools, which is why I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman did not welcome the fact that over 20,000 children in his area are now at a good or outstanding school; that is 9,000 more than in 2010.

[Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

Q8. I am sure that we all recognise and welcome the employment figures announced today, but given the latest report that there are still unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment among ethnic communities in Britain, will my right hon. Friend explain to the House what the new £90 million fund will do to help young people into work?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. We know these figures because of the race disparity audit that I commissioned when I became Prime Minister. The audit shows that there has been progress, but we need to do more because 16 to 24-year-olds in other ethnic groups are twice as likely as their white peers to be unemployed. The £90 million that I announced will help to tackle those inequalities in youth employment. The initiative will be run by the Big Lottery Fund, and it will identify the barriers to employment for those young people and help them to overcome those barriers. That is incredibly important. I was very pleased to visit Street League in Birmingham, which is already doing excellent work in this area.