Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Willetts Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to promote advance manufacturing.

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

Advanced manufacturing is crucial to economic growth. That is why the Chancellor announced a further £1.1 billion for our industrial strategy in his Budget. That follows an additional £600 million investment in the autumn statement for eight great technologies.

[Graham Evans]

Will my right hon. Friend commend the vital contribution to the national economy made by advanced manufacturing industries, such as APPH in Runcorn, which manufactures vital parts for the Saab Gripen fighter? The company has recruited four new engineering apprentices from Manchester, Liverpool and Salford universities. Does he agree that it is vital to encourage more young people to take up engineering as a career?

[Mr Willetts]

I agree with my hon. Friend. The aerospace announcement in the Budget, to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just referred, is crucial in supporting those industries. My hon. Friend can be proud of a constituency that has, in Daresbury, an important high-tech centre.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

This week, AstraZeneca announced a deep global restructuring, committing its manufacturing facility to Cheshire, but moving its global R and D to Cambridge, with a £300 million investment and 2,000 staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is a sharp reminder of the deep global restructuring in the pharmaceutical sector and the importance of the life science strategy we put in place 18 months ago? May I congratulate his Department on the speed with which the task force was set up?

[Mr Willetts]

The announcement was obviously disappointing for people at Alderley Park, but we have worked with AstraZeneca in setting up a task force, which I hope will secure a future for the site. Meanwhile, we should celebrate the fact that AstraZeneca decided, having looked around the world, that the UK was the best place to invest in new R and D facilities.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

10. What his policy is on vocational education routes; and if he will make a statement.

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[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

International students provide enormous economic and cultural benefits to the UK. Education exports from further and higher education contribute some £9 billion to the economy. We therefore stated in January that we will place no cap on the number of genuine students coming from across the world to study in this country.

[Richard Fuller]

I thank the Minister for that answer. We all understand the importance of clearing up the chaotic mess of immigration left by the last Government and the attention that the public pay to reducing the total numbers, but many of us would like to see student numbers excluded from our migration statistics. The economic case has been made by Universities UK and the 1994 Group. Will the Minister reassure me that he is sensitive to these representations?

[Mr Willetts]

My hon. Friend is right. The first priority was to eliminate abuse so that people can have confidence that students are legitimate. We have now said that we will disaggregate the statistics so that students are separately identified. The next step is a positive education export strategy, which we will produce before the summer.

[Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Royal Botanic Gardens in my constituency carries out world-leading research that benefits the UK in many ways. International students and interns are an important part of that work, but the gardens’ particular organisational status sometimes makes it difficult to obtain visas for them. If I write to the Minister with the details, will he, perhaps in conjunction with his colleagues in the Home Office, look at this issue to help support its important work?

[Mr Willetts]

I am always happy to work with the Minister for Immigration, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), to iron out such problems, but the general point is very simple: genuine, legitimate students are allowed into this country and there is no limit on the numbers.

[Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)]

The Minister tries to paint a rosy picture, but the facts are that the recent drop in net migration is due to 38,000 fewer international students coming to this country. His policy is choking growth in our seventh-largest export industry, worth billions of pounds, at a time when our economy is flatlining. It is clear that the Minister is too weak to make the case for our world-class universities around the world and too weak to lobby his Government colleagues to change course. Does he agree with me that the one genuine achievement of the net migration pledge has been a net decrease in his own credibility?

[Mr Willetts]

The hon. Lady should understand that we have a clear policy: there is no limit on the number of students. I went with the Prime Minister on his most recent trade mission to India, accompanied by leading vice-chancellors, to communicate clearly and directly to one of our most important markets for overseas students that they are welcome to come and study in the UK.

[Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the development of a new agri-tech centre in Wisbech for regeneration in the fenland region.

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

We announced funding for agri-tech only this week as part of the Chancellor’s excellent Budget. I congratulate my hon. Friend on being the first to bid for some of that funding. I am sure his idea for a new agri-tech centre will be considered carefully, and we will set out our plans in our agri-tech strategy.

[Stephen Barclay]

I welcome the additional funding announced in the Budget yesterday and pay tribute to the excellent work my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) has done on this issue. Will the Minister agree to meet me and the leaders of Cambridgeshire county council and Fenland district council, given the strength of the bid for an area that is located at the heart of the farming fens, in close proximity to the talent centres of Cambridge and Norwich, and adjacent to the College of West Anglia, which is the regional lead for science and technology and is currently building a new £12 million engineering faculty?

[Mr Willetts]

Of course I am happy to meet my hon. Friend. I understand the significance of the wider strategy for his area. East Anglia is one of our national leaders in agri-tech and agri-science, with excellent research institutes across the area.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

15. What progress his Department has made on improving the export performance of UK manufacturers; and if he will make a statement.

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[Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

17. What support his Department is providing to small businesses to compete in global markets.

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

The Government have increased funding to UKTI, with an extra £140 million over the next two years, so that it can double the number of small and medium-sized businesses supported from 25,000 to 50,000 by 2015. We will also help 8,000 small companies attend overseas exhibitions in the next financial year. My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right about the importance of promoting small businesses and export markets.

[Stephen Phillips]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. SMEs in my constituency, such as Destec Engineering, which I recently had the opportunity to visit, are the drivers of both our local and national economies. Does he agree that the measures announced in yesterday’s Budget, particularly the employment allowance and the reduction in corporation tax, will go a long way to helping such businesses grow and compete in the global economy?

[Mr Willetts]

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. We believe that the employment allowance measure, on its own, will ensure that more than 400,000 SMEs no longer have to pay employers’ national insurance contributions, which is the boost they need.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

19. Which measures in the Government’s growth plan his Department has not yet implemented; and if he will make a statement.

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[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

T7. I welcome the appointment of Andrew Witty to lead a review of how universities can support local growth. The university of Worcester has already delivered exciting regeneration projects, including Europe’s first joint university and city library, the Hive, and the new Worcester Arena. As it sets out to look into a new university business park, may I encourage my right hon. Friend to come to Worcester to meet representatives of the university, which has already become a powerful engine of local growth?

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s welcome for the important new review that Andrew Witty will be carrying out and, yes, of course I look forward to visiting the university of Worcester. I have not visited it for several years, but I believe that I shall be there in June, and I look forward to that.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

T5. May I press the Minister on payday lenders? Will the Government really get those companies to make it much easier for consumers to understand the cost of those awful payday loans?

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[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

T9. Lancaster is an excellent university town, and we have a high number of creative and innovative entrepreneurs. What additional help can we get from the Department to provide them with the right marketing, financial and manufacturing advice to help them to get their products to market?

[Mr Willetts]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Among the resources that we do not use enough are the business schools in our universities, which can be a source of expertise and support for local businesses. I hope that this will be among the issues that Andrew Witty addresses in his review.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State is fond of talking about rebalancing the economy. A walk down the high street in any town or city will show that the growth industries are payday loans, betting shops, pawnbrokers and food banks. Is not that a really sad, evil commentary on these three wasted years?