amendment of the law

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock), although he seemed unable to find a single positive thing to say about the Budget, notwithstanding the remarks of his colleagues about the support for energy-intensive industries. That is in complete contrast to the country as a whole because, as the opinion polls published over the weekend indicate, the general public seem quite supportive of what we are doing.

Rugby is the fastest growing area in the west midlands, with a very positive attitude to growth and development. My constituents will benefit substantially from our long-term economic plan. They are keen to look at the measures in the Budget that will contribute to growth, which are very welcome. The British Chambers of Commerce stated:

“Budget 2014 passes the business test.”

The Federation of Small Businesses stated that its measures

“will maintain increasing confidence in the construction sector”.

The Home Builders Federation called it a

“Budget that builds for the future”.

The Federation of Master Builders stated:

“Government intervention to finance small house builders welcomed”.

The Building Societies Association referred to

“welcome proposals to boost house building, especially Help to Buy.”

That sounds to me like a pretty ringing endorsement for the measures the Chancellor announced last week.

Many of my constituents have already benefited from the Help to Buy equity loan scheme and will be pleased to see it being extended to 2020. It was announced today that already 17,000 people have been able to realise the dream of owning their own home. In my constituency 75 loans have already been completed and there are 77 “scheduled out” sales, meaning potential completed loans following the reservation of a property in the scheme. That is the 18th highest level in the country. It is enabling people to start on the housing ladder with a 5% deposit. Many of those buyers would otherwise still be renting.

In Rugby we are proudly building more homes, with 320 completions last year. Work is currently taking place on development sites across my constituency, the largest being Eden park, where 1,400 new homes are coming forward, with outline consent granted in the last couple of months for a sustainable urban extension on the old BT mast site. The continuation of Help to Buy will speed up the site’s development. It will not be built overnight—it is anticipated that it will take over 15 years—but it will reduce the build-out time, as well as providing many of the houses our country needs.

However, the majority of new build is now done by major-volume house builders, as smaller builders were hit hardest by the downturn, so I am rather disappointed that the Chancellor did not accept recommendations to reduce the VAT rate on improvements and extensions, which attract VAT at the standard rate while new build attracts zero VAT. That work is often carried out by smaller, family-owned building companies, which have been hardest hit over the past few years. I was therefore very pleased to see the £500 million builders finance fund, which will enable small builders to deliver 15,000 housing units. The market share of 100-unit builders has halved since 1995, from 30% to 14% of the market. This is a very welcome incentive for that sector.

I was delighted by the proposal for Ebbsfleet, and there is such support within the community there. We heard my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson), who represents Ebbsfleet, speak about the virtues of the development site. The critical difference between that proposal and the previous Government’s eco-towns is that they failed through a lack of local support. In Ebbsfleet the development is being welcomed by local people. It is entirely right for the Government to bring forward incentives for local authorities to consider how garden city proposals, such as those in Letchworth and Welwyn garden city, can be brought forward. At a time when the national planning policy framework sets out the principle that planning is no longer something that people see as being done to them, but something in which they have a real say, it is vital that any proposals for substantial new development have real public support and consensus.

I welcome the pensions reform, which means that pensioners will finally be treated as adults, but there are those who are concerned that use of the pension pot might encourage people to invest in buy-to-let properties or to support the next generation to buy their homes, which will add upward pressure on house prices. Opposition Members talk about a bubble, but we cannot have a bubble when, as today’s BBC report reminds us, 8% of households in the UK are in negative equity, and the figure rises to 16% in the north of England. We would need a very substantial rise in house prices across the country for there to be any form of problem.

I welcome the support that the Government are bringing forward for energy-intensive industries, which of course will support manufacturing, including cement manufacturing, which is so important in my constituency. We have seen a Budget that is good for business, good for development and good for individuals across our country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Long-term youth unemployment was down 25,000 on the quarter. Youth unemployment is down 15% in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, and he ought to welcome that. The fact is that the bonus tax, which the former Chancellor says would not raise any money, is being spent on, I believe, 10 different measures by Labour, showing how fiscally incredible its plans are.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Youth unemployment has shown a welcome national fall, but the situation is even better in my constituency, where youth unemployment has more than halved from 7.6% to 3.1%. Does the Chief Secretary agree that that shows that the Government’s long-term economic plan is working for my young constituents?

[Danny Alexander]

I am delighted to hear about the success in reducing youth unemployment in Rugby, which is a consequence of the coalition Government’s decisions to make sure that we have the right climate for businesses to invest, grow and create jobs, which is in stark contrast to what the Opposition did in office.

Autumn Statement (Coventry)

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Cunningham]

I totally agree with my right hon. Friend. I come back to something that Nicholas Ridley said many years ago—about 25 years ago. He foresaw a time when local councillors would meet once a year and give contracts out to the private sector. If we look at the strategy of this Government and of previous Conservative Governments, we see that they have slowly but surely taken powers away from local authorities. They do so in a number of ways, in particular by slowly but surely cutting budgets and forcing services out to the private sector, and yet the private sector does not always know best.

Also, we have a big issue regarding pensioners, in particular caring for them, that started under the previous Conservative Government and the matter has never been resolved, as far as I can remember. We are still debating changes that should have happened 25 years ago. Instead, 25 years ago local authorities were forced to hand over—or sell, if people want to put it that way—old people’s homes to the private sector. Five or seven years down the road, however, after the private sector had made a profit, the homes closed down. That, too, created a shortage of beds, but more importantly it forced the prices up for care for elderly people.

The whole strategy can be seen. I have always said that this Government think in generations: what the previous Conservative Government leave off, the next Conservative Government pick up. At the end of the day, in local government we will have only one or two little services, while the rest is in the private sector. Mr Ridley’s prophecy is becoming true.

I move on to the impact. Support for Age UK and other local charities will reduce by 22%; there are significant reductions to housing-related support; the housing-with-care scheme in Coventry at Jack Ball house and George Rowley house has ceased; a range of day centres and the in-house, short-term home support service have closed; and charities will no longer get the business rate support that they once had, even though that is meant to be something to do with the Prime Minister’s big society.

If we cut the public sector—the social sector, in particular—we can hand things over to the private sector, or the voluntary sector, but if we hand it over to the voluntary sector, the Government inflict cuts on the voluntary sector. It is an endless cycle of viciousness. If the Government want to get some credibility in local government—even Conservative councils are concerned about what the Government are doing—they need to get a grip and have a good look at what they are doing.

Finally, there is the impact on benefits, such as the local welfare provision grant, which will also end this month—£1.4 million for Coventry, providing emergency funding to those in direct need.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

Many of my constituents in places such as Binley Woods, Bulkington and Brinklow see Coventry as their major city, so what happens in Coventry is important to them. I notice, however, that the hon. Gentleman is not merely restricting himself to the autumn statement; he is having a rather broadsided blast at lots of things that the Government are doing. Does he agree, however, that the steps the Chancellor took in the autumn statement to reduce the burden of business rates on small businesses is beneficial to the prosperity of Coventry, as was the freezing of fuel duty, which means that fuel is now 20p less than it would have been had Labour been in power? Are those things not beneficial to his constituents and mine?

[Mr Cunningham]

I expected the hon. Gentleman to come in on that. That should have been done three and a half years ago, and not left until now. He mentioned that I have had a wide-ranging debate on a lot of subjects, but the Government have had three or four Budgets since coming to power, and each one has had an effect on the areas that I have outlined.

As I said, the Government have to look seriously at the burdens that they are inflicting on local government and, more importantly, on the public. Up to 1,000 more jobs in Coventry, or 1,800 over the past three or four years, will go as a result of the Government’s so-called rebalancing of the economy.

Autumn Statement

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

When we came to office, there was no provision to deal with the large increase in the number of school places that was clearly going to happen because there were more children. Since then, my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary has devoted billions of pounds to dealing with the increase and ensuring that school places are available in Croydon and elsewhere. That is another example of our not only planning for the long term, but clearing up the mess that was bequeathed to us.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

It is clear from today’s statement that although the economy is recovering, there is still much to be done, but it is also clear that this Chancellor will not shy away from the tough decisions that will allow our progress to continue. Does he agree that it is entirely appropriate that the key beneficiaries of the measures that he has announced will be our young people, both through employment incentives and training opportunities from which they can benefit now, and, in particular, through his removal of much of the burden that was left for future generations by the Labour party?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend has campaigned on behalf of his Rugby constituents for more opportunities for young people, and we are providing those opportunities through the abolition of the jobs tax and the steps that we have taken to enable his young constituents to obtain apprenticeships and go to university. Above all, however, we are helping the businesses in his constituency. He in particular campaigned for me to do something about business rates, so he can share the credit: he is part of the Government who have delivered today.

Coventry and Warwickshire City Deal

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Thursday 14th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris White]

I thank my hon. Friend for attending the debate. The main part of my speech addresses those very issues.

The UK economy is diverse and city deals have potential as they can be tailored to the needs of local economies and build on the infrastructure that already exists. We should not be trying to reinvent the wheel or impose a top-down plan for economic growth on the country, and a good city deal will work with the grain of the local economy.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on having secured this important debate. The city deal affects the economy of the constituencies of all of us who have participated thus far. Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the most important aspects of the city deal is that industry and business have worked with local authorities of a variety of political complexions in the best interests of the entire area?

[Chris White]

I do agree.

Secondly, a city deal needs to have wide-ranging private sector support. Too often, we create proposals and then put them to business, and that approach does not generate the best results. A good city deal should be co-produced with small, medium and large local businesses, and should seek to remove their barriers to growth.

Thirdly, a city deal needs to have widespread political buy-in. City deals should try to build as strong a consensus as possible among local authorities, so that businesses get the policy clarity they need and feel the confidence they need to invest in the future.

The Coventry and Warwickshire city deal meets all three criteria, and is an example of how a city deal can make a significant difference to the local economy. The bid focuses on advanced manufacturing and engineering. As co-chair of the associate parliamentary manufacturing group, I am pleased to see this vital part of our local economy recognised and championed.

Coventry and Warwickshire have a great manufacturing heritage, and the area is home to a range of world-beating manufacturing and engineering businesses. Our city deal area has one tenth of all English motor manufacturing jobs and the second highest proportion of employment in advanced manufacturing and digital media by each LEP area. My constituency alone has fantastic companies such as AGA Rangemaster and Dennis Eagle, which are examples of the pioneering businesses to which our area is home. Infrastructure is already in place with our world-class universities, further education colleges such as Warwickshire college and transportation links—and we should use these assets to our best advantage.

We are at the heart of the UK’s manufacturing, and as I and many other hon. Members have said repeatedly in debates in the past, manufacturing has the potential to bring jobs and to rebalance our economy towards a more export-oriented economy. This city deal recognises that the next 10 years are not going to be like the last. That kind of forward thinking is to be applauded. We need proposals that can adapt to the changing economic circumstances—national and international—that we face. I think this city deal does exactly that. The deal has been created in partnership with businesses, and I believe that this shows the thrust of the city deal’s proposals.

We all recognise that the bedrock of a strong manufacturing sector is skills. If we are going to grow advanced manufacturing and engineering in our region, we need to have the skills in place to enable businesses to grow and make the products that are wanted around the world. This city deal cuts right to the heart of this problem, and highlights the skills shortage that is holding back our local economy. According to the latest estimates, there is a shortage of about 18,000 high-level engineers in the west midlands. The Coventry and Warwickshire area is likely to need up to 25,000 level 2 and level 3 engineers to replace our existing work force. If we are not able to meet that demand, businesses will not be able to grow and we will have to spend more income trying to retrain staff or poach them from other businesses, reducing funding for investment, research and development —holding back growth in the long term.

[Mark Pawsey]

I endorse my hon. Friend’s remarks about the work force in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. I visit businesses in my Rugby constituency, many of which are doing well, growing and supporting the developing motor industry. I see workers there operating skilled machinery who are generally of the same generation as myself—there are few younger people there. Businesses tell me that that they have the business to grow and develop, but that they are struggling to find the youngsters with the skills. That is why the Game Changer proposal that is part of this city deal is so important.

[Chris White]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Part of solving a problem is recognising where the gap is. I think that the city deal goes a long way towards solving that particular problem in the local area.

I repeat that the city deal has strong political support from across the region, with Coventry city council, Warwickshire county council, Warwick district council and five other district councils supporting the proposal from across all the political parties. I believe that this will ensure that businesses can feel confident in these proposals and can know that if they invest in skills and training, they will be supported and will find partners in our region if they want to expand and grow their work forces.

The deal has brought various business groups together, such as the local chambers of trade and Coventry and Warwickshire chamber of commerce. In the light of the city deal bid, Coventry and Warwickshire chamber of commerce has today agreed a new partnership with the Manufacturing Advisory Service and EEF, which will provide better services for manufacturers, engineering companies and automated businesses. It is an example of the additional concentration and focus that the bid has been able to provide.

To achieve this, the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP will create a re-engineering skills board, which will bring together businesses, universities, colleges and local authorities to join up supply and demand so that both providers and employers can plan for the future, matching training provision to business cycles rather than fixed academic cycles. The board will work on new courses to meet the specific requirements of local manufacturers, and to build on local successes such as the advanced skills accreditation scheme chaired by Jaguar Land Rover. The proposals sensibly focus on the upskilling of existing engineers and the retraining of unemployed people, which would enable us to use the labour resources currently at our disposal to achieve the maximum impact. All this will come under the heading of the Game Changer skills programme mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey), which will be a brand that both local people and businesses can recognise and understand.

The city deal makes four requests. First, it asks the Government to devolve control of skills and apprenticeship funding to deliver the programme. Secondly, it asks them to allow Coventry and Warwickshire to pilot the new traineeships programme and level 6/7 apprenticeships. Thirdly, it asks for local flexibility that would allow it to adapt the Work programme to the proposal, so that those aged 18 to 24 could attend GAME changer skills programme events. Finally, it asks for capital funding to be realised for the development of an advanced manufacturing apprentice resource at the manufacturing technology centre in Ansty.

I believe that these are targeted, sensible proposals which will ensure that we obtain the maximum value for money and build on the programmes and infrastructure that we already possess, but they must be weighed against the expected benefits. I believe that this city deal bid shows great potential for the future of our area. The aim is to deliver 5,000 new engineers to the workplace over the next two years, and to eliminate the city deal area’s engineering skills shortage by 2020, as well as significantly increasing the number of engineering apprenticeships being delivered at intermediate and higher levels.

On the back of that stronger skills base, the city deal could potentially eliminate the productivity gap in Coventry and Warwickshire, adding billions of pounds to our economy and creating the environment for tens of thousands of new jobs. The bid itself estimates that about 30,000 jobs could be created through its skills programme alone. I believe that those are significant benefits which are in line with the Government’s objectives of reducing unemployment, rebalancing our economy towards manufacturing and exports, and reskilling our economy so that we are able to adapt to future and desperate needs.

I recognise that there is competition for wave 2 of the city deals project, and I know that Ministers will be considering a variety of other bids. However, I believe that the Coventry and Warwickshire city deal has fantastic potential for our region and for communities across the west midlands. There is a shared sense of purpose throughout the public, private and independent sectors as a result of the bid, and we have a unique opportunity to capitalise on the momentum that has been generated by this proposal.

I urge the Government to pick the Coventry and Warwickshire city deal bid, and to invest in the skills of local people in an area which has the infrastructure in place to grow. That will not only enhance our competitiveness but, most important, create tens of thousands of jobs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Greg Clark]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend. That is exactly the point of the city deals programme. It is designed to reflect what is undoubtedly the case, especially with the strength and breadth of the local engagement that this bid demonstrates. Who better to be able to make the decisions and the analysis of what is needed for the Warwickshire economy than the business people, the civic leaders and the leaders of some of the finest universities in the country, who are there? It is important that we build on those strengths.

[Mark Pawsey]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is refreshing that local people and local businesses, having determined what is best to grow the local economy, ask not for infrastructure, roads, buildings or grandiose schemes, but for investment in people and in skills that will enable the economy to grow and prosper?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend accurately reflects the difference between places. In some places the pressing need is for infrastructure because they have a legacy of infrastructure that is not fit for purpose, that has been made redundant and out of date. In other places the need is to supply the skills. That is the beauty of the bid programme.

Let me say a little about the second wave of city deals. Following the success of the eight initial city deals, I was very keen that the programme should be spread to other cities and areas around the country, so we have issued an invitation to 20 more areas to make a proposition to the Government. It is important to emphasise at this stage that these are expressions of interest and will be evaluated as such. It is not the final word. Those that are invited to go forward will be asked to engage intensively with me and my officials so that we can shape a proposition that can then be put to my ministerial colleagues for approval. There will be some way to go in those negotiations. It is right to remind people locally as well as in the Chamber that this is not the last word. It is an important expression of interest, but it has a further way to go.

We have said that there is no limit on the number of city deals that we will be able to conclude. For all those expressions of interest that demonstrate potential, my ambition is that we should be able to take them forward and achieve something important with them. Having spoken in Coventry with the leaders whom my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington mentions, I think it important that we take advantage of the focus on advanced manufacturing and on skills, and the benefit of important institutions such as the Manufacturing Technology Centre and the motor industry research centre being located there.

The prospect that is held out is for 5,000 high quality engineering jobs. I can think of no finer contribution that my hon. Friend, following his advocacy today, could give to his constituents than to inject that into the future of his economy. Without pre-empting the announcement that will be made shortly, I congratulate him on his excellent support for a very encouraging bid.

Question put and agreed to.

Autumn Statement

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I welcome the hon. Lady to the House of Commons and congratulate her on her by-election victory—[Interruption.] I did not find time to visit Manchester Central during the by-election. We are providing a great deal of investment in Manchester. We have the new enterprise zone and we are working with Manchester city council on the northern hub, which will have an enormous impact—in a good sense—on Manchester. We have listened to and worked with the local authority on that. As someone who represents many of the people who go to work in her constituency, I think that over the past couple of years, in working with the local authorities, we have done a great deal to improve Manchester’s prospects.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

The Chancellor has set out clearly how, in order to avoid the next generation having to pay for this generation, the Government are entirely right to continue to get the deficit down. May I welcome his support for wealth-creating private business and particularly the relief on business rates for new commercial property, which will both stimulate the construction sector and improve the availability of premises for growing businesses?

[Mr Osborne]

In my statement, I had to choose just a couple of hon. Members who have brought that issue to my attention, but I should put it on record that my hon. Friend was one of those who came to see me to campaign for action on empty property rate relief to mitigate the damage that it has done to some of our cities and towns since its introduction by the previous Labour Government. The 18-month grace period will help the construction of new commercial premises, and I congratulate him on the work he has done on behalf of his constituents to bring that about.

Beer Duty Escalator

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffiths]

I commend my hon. Friend for supporting CAMRA, but I do not think there are such things as a bad brewer and a good brewer. We need large breweries just as we need micro-breweries, because we need a mixed economy. The problem is that all brewers are being hammered by the escalator.

The figures speak for themselves. In the last quarter alone, beer sales reduced by 5.6%, which is absolutely unsustainable. The Economic Secretary knows the figures better than I do, and he will know that the Treasury’s own projections for the next two years demonstrate clearly that the beer duty escalator will raise absolutely no money. Instead, it will hit the brewing industry and cost jobs and production.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a strong case. He has just spoken about micro-breweries. Does he agree that they provide great diversity in the beer market? We have fantastic micro-breweries such as The Atomic Brewery and Wood Farm Brewery in my constituency, and we need to support the concession necessary to provide the breadth and diversity of product that is now available.

[Andrew Griffiths]

I congratulate my hon. Friend not only on supporting breweries but on managing to get both his local brewers into Hansard in one attempt, which is absolutely fantastic.

VAT on Air Ambulance Fuel Payments

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I join colleagues in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) and the hon. Member for York Central (Hugh Bayley) on securing this debate. I contribute to it as the chairman of the new all-party group on the emergency services. We recently secured a Westminster Hall debate on the interoperability between the emergency services, including the role of the air ambulance, at which my hon. Friend spoke eloquently about his support for the air ambulance, on the basis of the motion before us. I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed by hon. Members and join them in putting on the record my support and thanks for the service that air ambulances provide up and down our country. They supply a crucial and critical service for which we should all be thankful.

Many hon. Members have given accounts of people who support the air ambulance service, and a friend of mine, Gill, was involved in a major road accident on a country lane. She suffered multiple breakages and was airlifted by the air ambulance to the local trauma centre and treated. Having been helped by our air ambulance, she, along with many others in the same position, is an effective and enthusiastic fundraiser for our local air ambulance. She trains as a volunteer, runs stalls, sells Christmas cards and collected funds at a rugby game played on “The Close” at Rugby school. This is a key feature of the air ambulance service: it is funded through donations and with the support of the community. That unique funding method not only encourages local people, but means savings to government.

Although I support the call for a Government review into VAT, I wish to raise one or two concerns about it, as I believe the House should hear them. I do this because of the approach taken by the air ambulance service, whose Warwickshire and Northamptonshire service covers my constituency. It argues that charities, such as air ambulances, should be working closely together and with the Government to make efficiencies within their organisations, and I have one or two suggestions as to how that can be done. In asking for caution, my case is based on the voluntary funding of the air ambulance service, depending, as it does, on the unique feature of donations from local and national companies. That key feature enthuses people to get involved because they know that currently the air ambulance service receives no Government or lottery funding. Most importantly, the Warwickshire service does not seek Government or lottery funding. In fact, it strongly argues that its independence from Government is what enables it to innovate and drive up service delivery standards.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

The London Air Ambulance is based at the Royal London hospital, which is just outside my constituency, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali). People with serious trauma who are taken by air ambulance to the Royal London are much more likely to survive than those who are not. That underlines the point about the quality of service that this charitable money is delivering.

[Mark Pawsey]

That serves to highlight the unique nature of the air ambulance organisations.

On the payment of VAT, or any other tax, let me quote from a representation from Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance:

“Along with the rest of the world, we would welcome any reduction in taxation levels and in an ideal scenario we would pay no VAT on any aspect of our service.”

That is right, of course. In an ideal scenario—when we are enjoying periods of sustained economic growth and there is no pressure on Government finances—many different kinds of concessions can be made, but unfortunately this Government have been left with a structural deficit, so they may not be able to fund all the items of expenditure that we might want. The air ambulance service made this point to me:

“In the current fiscal climate we believe that charities and organisations like ourselves whose sole aim is to benefit our communities, should not seek further strains on the public purse.”

There is a contrary view, therefore, and it is held by the air ambulance service based in my constituency.

[Hugh Bayley]

I imagine that the hon. Gentleman’s points will be considered by the Treasury if the motion is passed tonight, and so they should be. However, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has the VAT exemption, but that does not act as a bar to its raising funds for its services. Is he aware that the Association of Air Ambulances—which represents the 18 air ambulance services in the country, including his—put out a press release calling on the Chancellor

“to introduce a balanced and fair approach to the application of VAT and duty charged on Aviation Fuel where it is used in helicopter emergency medical services”?

Although his points are valid, could they not be considered as part of such a Treasury review if we pass the motion tonight?

[Mark Pawsey]

I shall support the motion, but I am putting to the House the contrary view, which is about the unique nature of our air ambulance services.

On the basis of the quote I have just read out, we should applaud the sense of public duty displayed by the air ambulance that covers the area I represent.

[Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

I warmly applaud the idea that there should be a strong focus on charitable fundraising, but the challenge we in Cumbria face is that the North West Air Ambulance is attempting to fundraise in exactly the same areas as the Great North Air Ambulance. They are both presenting themselves as the sole Cumbrian provider. We therefore have paid fundraisers fighting on the doorsteps, as it were, to get contributions from Cumbria’s very small population of 500,000 people. Does my hon. Friend agree that we will need a more disciplined approach to fundraising if these wonderful institutions are to flourish and survive?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Pawsey]

I accept that point of view. There needs to be some control. We do not want one air ambulance to be competing with another for what we all accept are limited funds. That takes us back to my point about co-operation and interoperability. There may be a case for interoperability not only between air ambulances, but between air ambulances and other emergency services.

Those who support the charitable structure are concerned that it is not very many steps from a grant to offset VAT on fuel to the full nationalisation of the service, and the absorption of air ambulances into the ambulance service more generally. There might be some hon. Members in the Chamber for whom that would be a desirable move, but I believe that it would materially change the unique basis on which the service is delivered. It was interesting that it fell to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) to describe the air ambulance as probably one of the best examples of the big society.

There are other ways besides a VAT exemption in which the air ambulance can effect substantial savings. I argued in the Westminster Hall debate about the need for air ambulances and other emergency services to share assets. Earlier this week, I spoke at a Royal United Services Institute conference on the future operations of blue-light air assets. RUSI has produced research papers drawing attention to the fact that there is no co-ordination of air assets at this stage nationally or across agencies. If we investigate asset sharing we could effect savings that would be significantly in excess of the amount of savings that could be produced by reducing the costs of fuel.

[Rory Stewart]

On that specific point, one challenge we face in Cumbria is that mountain rescue finds it easy to co-ordinate with the police and the RAF, particularly when Sea Kings are involved, but very difficult to co-ordinate with air ambulances. Air ambulances appear to be reluctant to give information to mountain rescue as a standard operating procedure. Interoperability is a challenge, but I would suggest that it is a particular challenge with air ambulances.

[Mark Pawsey]

I certainly accept that point. One of the challenges for us, which is one reason why we have formed the new all-party group, involves trying to make the links that allow such interoperability. There is no point in having unused air ambulance assets dotted around parts of the country when they are badly needed in other areas. The point of an air ambulance is that a helicopter can move quickly between areas and provide such support.

A wide range of figures have been mentioned. The Association of Air Ambulances says that air ambulance charities across the country collectively generate an income of £46 million, with an average spend per helicopter of £843,000 and an average mission cost of £1,229. I accept that all those sums need to be raised through fundraising and that any savings that could be achieved would be welcome, but the cost of VAT on fuel needs to be seen in the context of some of the other significant costs, which put the total amount paid on VAT in perspective.

I fully support the motion’s tribute to our air ambulance services. They are worthy of more praise than they receive and I am glad that we have had the opportunity to pay tribute to them. I hope, however, that I have been able to put the cost of VAT on fuel in perspective and to suggest other, better ways of saving money through more efficient co-ordination of helicopter assets between air ambulance and emergency services. I hope that I have raised the concerns that the granting of a concession such as that asked for in the motion could be the start of a change to the unique method of funding our air ambulance services which involves the enthusiastic and active participation of volunteers up and down our land.

Business and the Economy

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

That sounds like the basis of a speech in the debate. The hon. Gentleman will know that we are pursuing forceful policies in respect of innovation, including the establishment of the catapults across the country—something entirely new and positive in the innovation sphere—without the need for legislative approval.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

In recognising the needs of small businesses in respect of parental leave, will the Secretary of State consider the matter of employees giving as much notice as possible to those businesses in order that they can make allowances for when staff are not going to be present?

[Vince Cable]

That suggestion sounds eminently sensible. I do not know the extent to which it is required to be incorporated in the law, but it seems eminently sensible to pursue it in guidance.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I was pleased to see that the very first sentence of the Queen’s Speech referred explicitly to economic growth, the second sentence referred to the need to reduce the deficit, and the third sentence referred to the need to reduce the burden on business caused by regulation. All those things together show clearly that the Government’s No. 1 priority is to get our economy growing once again, and right now nothing is more important. I recognise that the Government have been in power for two years, and I understand the concern of people out in the country that the economic position remains difficult. However, it is important to remember the magnitude of the task that was faced by this Government when they took office in 2010 and the situation that the previous Government left us with. They had taken Britain to the brink of bankruptcy, with a structural deficit seven years before the recession began—the largest deficit in the developed world. [Interruption.] I know that we have heard all this before, but it is very important that people understand that the severe state of the public finances meant that it was not possible to sort out these problems overnight.

Looking further back, the decade starting in 1999 saw growth coming from the public sector. The public sector alone grew under the previous Government. The downside was that that led to an imbalance in the economy between the public and private sectors, creating a problem. The CBI says that the growth in the public sector in that period led to a crowding out of the private sector as the public sector accounted for a larger share of economic activity and resources. In order to rebalance our economy, it is important to look to the private sector, particularly the manufacturing sector.

As a Member of Parliament based in the west midlands, where there is a tradition of manufacturing, I say that we must recognise just how crucial the manufacturing sector is to our economy. It is worth £120 billion a year to our economy; 55% of the UK’s exports are in manufacturing; and in that sector there are more than 2.5 million jobs. But over a number of years there has been a steady decline in manufacturing.

Manufacturing as a proportion of the economy has almost halved, from 22% in 1997 to 12% in 2011. A key priority of this Government must be to redress that balance. How will we do that through the private sector? First, we must reduce levels of taxation, because doing so provides incentives, as people and businesses work harder to regain a greater proportion of their earnings. The UK will have the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G7 and the fourth lowest in the G20. On personal taxation, my view before the Budget was that now was not the right time to reduce the top rates of tax, and I retain that view, but it is clear that reducing the top rate of tax provides an incentive to high earners to base themselves and their businesses in the UK.

The second method of achieving growth through the private sector is getting rid of red tape. Unnecessary bureaucracy stifles our businesses and distracts business owners from the key tasks in hand: looking after customers, finding better ways of doing things and supporting their employees to do a good job. As someone who ran a business for 25 years before arriving here, I am pleased that the Queen’s Speech will reduce the regulatory burden.

It is true that the Government cannot create growth themselves, but they can create an environment in which businesses can thrive. A key part of the Government’s role will therefore be creating confidence. There is evidence that many companies, both large and small, have on their balance sheets the funds to expand, but are not doing so because right now they do not see a return.

In addition to maintaining consistently low interest rates, the Government can support business in respect of exports. In my business, if we were struggling in one area geographically and we found a market sector that was not doing so well, we looked elsewhere. If the UK economy and businesses are not going to grow because the UK market is flat or our partners in the eurozone are having difficulty, we need to address other markets and look to those that are growing, where often there is great respect for Britain as a brand. The Government can make it easier to export by helping to reduce the risks that companies, particularly small ones, face when trading in overseas markets. In my small business, when I was trading, we would not have given a thought to exporting. We need to change that mindset. There is some evidence that that is already happening; I have heard about that when talking to small businesses in my constituency.

UK Trade & Investment has done some great work. It supported an event on documentation run by the chamber of commerce in my constituency, bringing together advisers, bankers, linguists and others.

I have one concern, which my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) mentioned, about a measure that may hold back growth: the Bill to give flexibility to parents with newborn children. That is welcome for families, but such provisions can be a real headache for small business owners, because when an employee is absent, the job still needs to be done. Temporary staff are expensive, often lack knowledge about the way that a company works and may not have the right skills. I do not want to give the impression that I am against the rights of mums and dads to take much-needed time off with their newborn children, but we must have some regard to the disruption caused to small businesses.

In conclusion, the importance of the private sector, including the manufacturing sector, must not be downplayed. We need to reward success and create confidence, so that the businesses in our country can drive our economy forward.

[Sir Stuart Bell (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker, to be able to speak on the Gracious Speech and to follow the hon. Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey), who made great play about private sector workers, as opposed to public sector workers. The public sector worker, of course, contributes to our society as a consumer and facilitates the private sector. I have never understood why Government Members make a distinction between those who work in the public and private sectors.

[Mark Pawsey]

I was not referring to workers. I was talking about the sectors in the economy as a whole and the need to rebalance the public and private sectors. I made no comment about public sector workers.

[Sir Stuart Bell]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. It would be a fine thing if someone working in the public sector was able to move out of it into the private sector. Unfortunately, under the Government’s policies towards the public sector, 500,000 people will be made unemployed and put on the dole.

The right hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) wished to see an intellectual technology hub in the south-east. My right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr Field) wanted the same in the north-west. Middlesbrough has a leading business driver, DigitalCity Tees Valley, in the heart of the town. It has a games company, a web design company and a digital education company. Young people have embarked on such digital careers enthusiastically. Many of those young people are from far away places such as Canada and France, but some were home educated at Teesside university. That is a great credit to our university. Those people are creating one of the United Kingdom’s most vibrant digital hubs, which includes digital media, digital technology and creative businesses. I, along with others, will do all that I can to encourage and facilitate DigitalCity Business to ensure that it remains a success.

The hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) referred to the business community. Middlesbrough is working to create a business improvement district in the heart of the town, following another 126 other towns and cities that have opted for such a district. We need the votes of the business community. If those votes come, they will provide the town with a stronger retail centre, and with a more vibrant and exciting centre that will attract people from outside the area.

Two weeks ago, the £35-million radiotherapy unit at the James Cook university hospital was opened by Princess Alexandra. The hospital is now described as one of the finest in Europe and is among Europe’s premier cancer treatment institutions.

I am glad to see the hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) in his place because, as he will know, the first vessel has now been loaded up with steel from SSI UK’s Redcar plant for shipment to Thailand, a month after the blast furnace was reopened. The first shipment from Teesside consisted of 48,000 tonnes of steel slabs with a value of £18.5 million.

I am also glad to see my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) in his place, because Tata Steel has been awarded a major contract worth more than £100 million for its 42-inch mill, to provide gas pipelines for the gulf of Mexico. The pipelines will be manufactured and delivered in the second half of the year. Tata Steel employs more than 700 people in Hartlepool and across Teesside it has about 1,500 employees. My hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) referred to what Tata is doing in her constituency. The company has invested £13 million in its Teesside site this year.

I will move on to the points in the Gracious Speech that relate to the European Union and the eurozone. The right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) made an eloquent and passionate speech on the future of the European Union, the eurozone and the euro, which seems like it was a long time ago. I was reminded of a phrase in the play “Julius Caesar”:

“men may construe things after their fashion,

Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.”

With all the dire talk today about the European Union, the eurozone and Greece, we will have to see what happens. The right hon. Gentleman put forward the novel view that a Minister—in this case the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills—can say something privately that he will not say publicly. I doubt whether that is the case with the Secretary of State or with any Minister.

The hon. Members for Solihull (Lorely Burt), for Stone (Mr Cash), and for Stroud and my hon. Friend the Member for Blyth Valley (Mr Campbell), who is no longer in his place, but who entertained the House and will entertain in tomorrow’s Hansard with his language from the north-east, talked about the European Union. The challenge for the European Union is how it can reduce deficits, create growth, and carry democracy with it. Those three elements are extraordinarily difficult.

I raised with the Prime Minister the other day the fact that on 23 May there will be a conference of all the European Union leaders. On the table at that informal conference will be a growth compact to go alongside the fiscal compact. It will be interesting to see whether the Prime Minister signs up to the growth compact, having not signed up to the fiscal compact.

The new President of France, who will be put into his new job tomorrow, talks of job creation and won his election on a programme of growth rather than austerity. It is an interesting thesis, and we will see how it develops in our own country. The EU is based on the stability and growth pact, and there will be a growth compact to go along with the fiscal compact. My prediction is that the EU and the eurozone will survive. The Greeks must make up their own minds—the sphinx must solve its own riddle, and so must the Greeks.

First-time Buyers

Mark Pawsey Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Westminster Hall

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

It gives me great pleasure to follow the passionate remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard). I compliment my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine) on securing the debate. Like him and many other Members present, I am prompted to contribute to it both to represent my constituents and out of concern for the ability of my children’s generation to get on to the housing ladder. I have four children aged between 13 and 26, who will wish to buy their own home and rather sooner, I suspect, than the children of my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester.

The Government can support first-time buyers in two ways: through financial support to enable them to get started, and through support for the development process. We have heard accounts from many hon. Members this morning about why action is needed. There has been some dispute about the average age of first-time buyers—it varies between 33 and 37—but we know for sure that it is much older than it was for my generation and my parents’ generation.

As recently as 2005, 65% of first-time buyers were aged under 30. By 2011, that had fallen to 22%. As a consequence, young people are remaining in rented accommodation for longer, often permanently, against their will. Many remain at home with their parents, as I know from personal experience, and it is leading to a culture change among our younger people. That has happened because, in the first instance, house prices have risen beyond the reach of many people; they are outside the multiple of average earnings—significantly higher than previously. The second issue is about lenders’ deposit requirements, as lenders react to problems caused in earlier years by the granting of high loan-to-value loans. The differential in my constituency is rather smaller than the problems faced by my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Sheryll Murray); in my constituency of Rugby, first-time buyers are looking to find sums of £25,000 as deposits. That is a significant sum for people getting started. It is ironic that the fall in house prices—something that we consider desirable from an affordability perspective—is exactly what has caused lenders to look for larger deposits, as they try to avoid making loans that exceed the value of the properties against which the loans are secured.

It is important to debate the matter because first-time buyers are drivers in the housing market. They enable others at the next stage of life to move on, and the supply of housing is in itself an important driver of economic growth.

Many colleagues have referred to Government initiatives, such as the Firstbuy initiative and the NewBuy guarantee announced only yesterday. There is also local support for first-time buyers provided by local authorities. My council in Rugby is helping first-time buyers. It announced, just a week or so ago, £1 million in its budget for 2012 as part of the local authority mortgage scheme, which will enable 50 first-time buyers in Rugby to make a start on the housing ladder.

I want to focus my remarks on the supply side. We can do whatever we like about supporting demand, but if we do not take action on supply, there will be no point. The Government’s housing strategy told us that in 2009-10, there were 115,000 new build housing completions in England. However, household projections are growing at a rate of 232,000 a year. Therefore, the housing that we are currently building supplies only 50% of the requirement. The cumulative position is worse, because the Chartered Institute of Housing tells us that there is a backlog of something like 1.9 million houses, or a total of 8% of all households, built up over previous years. Therefore, even if we build at the rate of existing household formation of 232,000 a year, we will not go anywhere near providing the number of houses that we need. Development therefore needs to happen quickly.

The Government can and are doing several things to make that happen. The national planning policy framework, which I understand is due to be announced on Budget day, with its presumption in favour of sustainable development, will encourage more land to be made available. We need our local authorities to be progressive and to develop plans that make land available for housing development, working with neighbourhood plans. People often say that local people do not want new housing, but in my opinion, whether existing communities accept new housing depends on the kind of question they are asked. If we ask them, “Do we want to build houses in an area that does not currently have housing on it?”, most people will say no. However, if we ask people whether they want housing that will enable young people to buy their first-time home and allow retirees to downsize, that usually gets the answer yes.

Neighbourhood planning will enable local people to have their say in achieving that. I am delighted that my authority takes a very positive attitude towards development. Work is about to start on a site with 1,300 new homes—the Gateway site by junction 1 of the M6 —and a site with 6,200 new homes in a sustainable urban extension is also being developed in my constituency. I urge Members and local councillors to encourage their councils to take as positive an attitude to new housing development as my local authority.

The Government can do other things to improve supply and they are taking action. There is the build now, pay later scheme, which will free up land for development. The Government objective is for that to deliver 100,000 new homes. Cash flow is an issue for builders, and that scheme will enable builders to buy the land out of the proceeds of a sale. The new homes bonus is a simple yet powerful incentive. It means that local authorities, such as mine, which promote and welcome growth will share in the economic benefits of development and use the funds derived from that to provide communities in which people want to live. The community infrastructure levy encourages a more positive attitude from local authorities to development, because it means that the development itself will pay for the infrastructure that goes along with it and that it will not be a burden on the local council.

A further reason why local authorities should support housing growth is that it can support existing town centres. Recently, the Portas report has dealt with the decline of many town centres. If populations remain stable, town centres will need to shrink as people spend more on the internet and go out of town. An alternative is to defend an existing town centre and allow for additional housing growth. I am delighted that my authority is taking that route.

I know that this is a debate about first-time buyers, Mr Gray, but I want to talk for a moment about people known as second-steppers, who want to move from their first home. It is crucial that those people who have started a family and want to move up from their first to their second home can do so, because if they cannot, it creates a block for first-time buyers. Lloyds Banking Group says that 61% of second-steppers want to move but have been stuck on the property ladder for 12 months. They often have the same problem as first-time buyers in that there is a limited supply on offer to them. However, crucially and often uniquely, they have to cope with the problem of negative equity as prices have fallen over the past couple of years.

In today’s market, many of those second-steppers would have bought close to the peak and, having got on the first rung of the housing ladder, they are finding it increasingly difficult to get off it. People can benefit from Firstbuy if they are moving to a new home, but there is no particular scheme to support second-steppers. I would like the Minister to consider providing some help for that group.

I welcome the Government’s initiative for first-time buyers. Schemes are being introduced that will assist people to get on to the property ladder. I commend my local council for its commitment to both the supply and demand side of support and for ensuring that land is available. I ask the Minister to consider second-steppers who want to move on.