Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Spencer and Michael Fallon

Monday 8th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

This House voted on the renewal of Trident with an overwhelming majority back in January—I think the largest majority for some years. I am very happy to set out in the House the details of the current expenditure. I think about £3 billion has been earmarked so far. I think, from memory, about £1.5 billion has been spent so far, but if I am wrong I will write to the hon. Gentleman.

[Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

T10. What military assistance is being provided by the Department in the Mediterranean and north Africa to help with humanitarian disasters?

[Michael Fallon]

HMS Bulwark and three Merlin helicopters are conducting search and rescue in the Mediterranean. To date, they have rescued 2,909 migrants from the sea. I hope the whole House will pay tribute to the professionalism and bravery of those involved in this extraordinarily large rescue mission. As well as rescuing those at sea, we now need to address this problem further back by tackling the trafficking gangs who are making money out of this misery, and discouraging people from leaving their countries to make this long and very dangerous journey.

Falkland Islands Defence Review

Debate between Mark Spencer and Michael Fallon

Tuesday 24th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

Absolutely; it need not. I know that my hon. Friend has a connection with the Patagonian region of the Argentine. We want to have a warmer and closer relationship with the people of the Argentine and their Government. Nothing in what I have announced today should make that any more difficult. As I have made clear again and again, we have to respect the right of the islanders to determine their own future. They determined it in the referendum, and it is our duty to defend the islands.

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the economy of the Falkland Islands would benefit from foreign investment, and that foreign investment will be forthcoming only if we deliver a safe and secure long-term state?

[Michael Fallon]

I agree with my hon. Friend. The islands welcome and are receiving foreign investment, and I hope that the future of the islands is clear beyond doubt, as well as the ability and commitment of our Government to defend them from any threat that might materialise. That is the basis, I hope, for a more stable future for the islands in which a more diversified economy can flourish, including the development of the oil and gas sector.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Spencer and Michael Fallon

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)]

T3. The Minister will be aware that I represent Thoresby colliery in my constituency, one of the most efficient and profitable pits in the country. Is he optimistic for the future of coal mining in Nottinghamshire, and does he remember my invitation to visit?

[Michael Fallon]

I would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. He will know that deep-mine coal in this country has suffered a number of setbacks this year, including the serious fire at Daw Mill colliery. I assure him that my officials continue to work with the company to do our best to ensure its continued viability. We are also in touch with the situation in Scotland to ensure that everything possible can be done to replace some of the jobs that were lost when the company there went into liquidation.

Manufacturing (East Midlands)

Debate between Mark Spencer and Michael Fallon

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[Michael Fallon]

I will not.

I had the pleasure of visiting Toyota’s factory at Burnaston near Derby last week, and I saw for myself how a world-class work force in a cutting-edge facility can produce workmanship that is second to none. Earlier last week, I also met Rolls-Royce to hear its plans for the future. To kick-start the recovery, the first thing we had to do was to tackle the deficit, but we have not focused only on that. We have taken a wholly proactive approach to unlocking growth, reducing the red tape that holds back business and creating a competitive tax system so that businesses choose to locate and grow here.

In the autumn statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced multiple measures to encourage greater investment in manufacturing. There will be a significant temporary increase in the annual investment allowance from £25,000 to £250,000. An additional £210 million will be added to the £2.4 billion regional growth fund until March 2015. There will also be an extra £120 million for the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative. Let me reassure colleagues that the Government have never been clearer in our commitment to manufacturing, which we see as an essential building block of a more resilient, innovative economy.

A greater proportion of the east midland’s economic output comes from manufacturing than in any other English region or part of the UK. Some 12.3% of the work force are employed in manufacturing, compared with 8% across the UK. The region has a positive balance of trade in manufactured goods, and the latest figures are expected to show that it achieved its highest annual level of exports in 2012, worth some £18 billion. The iconic names that are at the heart of the region’s manufacturing base—Rolls-Royce, Siemens, JCB and Toyota, to name just a few—employ thousands of people directly, and are at the centre of the network of hundreds of smaller businesses that make up their supply chains across the region. As we have heard, the region has a thriving sector of small and medium-sized enterprises working in the advanced manufacturing supply chain, and in the automotive and aerospace supply chains in particular.

Last week, I met the private sector chairs of the region’s local enterprise partnerships and some council leaders from the east midlands. I was impressed by the common sense of purpose across the public and private sectors, across political divides and even across traditional geographic rivalries. I saw for myself the determination to ensure a strong recovery for all parts of the east midlands and to tackle some of the barriers and bottlenecks that they have identified.

[Mr Spencer]

Will the Minister commit to coming to Sherwood to see some of those small and medium-sized enterprises, so that he can stand on the factory floors and hear the concerns at first hand?

[Michael Fallon]

I will certainly try to work that into my diary, and I look forward to such a visit.

Let me turn to a couple of points mentioned. The regional growth fund is distributed not by ministerial allocation, but by competition. It is a competitive fund, as indeed is the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative. The fund is already helping to rebalance the economy, particularly by assisting areas that have been over-dependent on the public sector, and it is already unlocking private sector investment in the local economy.

The east midlands has had some strong successes under the fund. Derby city council’s £40 million business support scheme, which has been approved, will provide funds to support the growth of enterprises in Derby, creating nearly 1,000 direct jobs by 2015, to fund a global technology cluster and to enable redevelopment of the Derby railway technical centre. The Northamptonshire, Leicester, Leicestershire and D2N2 LEPs and Nottingham city council have all had conditional offers of support for programmes that will address local needs under the regional growth fund.

On the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative, we need strong manufacturing supply chains if we are to have more major manufacturers investing in the east midlands. We have invested in that initiative to bolster supply chain capacity, and the scheme has attracted bids involving major companies from across the country, including the east midlands. There was high demand in rounds 1 and 2; there were more than 70 bids with a total funding ask in excess of £300 million. That is why we announced, in the autumn statement, additional funding of £120 million for a further two rounds of the initiative. That further investment in advanced manufacturing supply chains underscores our ongoing efforts to create the right conditions for UK suppliers to grow and remain competitive on the world stage. It will be based around a single national funding pot that will be open to supply chain companies from across manufacturing sectors, including in the east midlands.

The Government have announced other recent investments to support economic growth in the east midlands, including £500 million to electrify the midlands main line north of Bedford; £160 million to dual the A453 in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, a key route between Nottingham and the M1, which businesses told us could simply not cope as a single-track road; and £22 million towards the work, which is now well under way, to provide a new dual carriageway linking Kettering and Corby. We have increased the numbers of apprentices, which have grown from 21,000 in 2009-10 to 39,610 in the east midlands, a rise of almost 90%. Significantly, apprenticeship starts in the engineering and manufacturing sectors have grown by 156% over the same period.

In conclusion, the Government are working hard to encourage and support British manufacturers, and to create the environment in which they can thrive and compete in a global marketplace. We want manufacturers in the east midlands to be our partners in achieving that economic transformation and in fulfilling a strategy that places world-class manufacturing at the heart of a healthy and rebalanced economy across the United Kingdom.