Budget Resolutions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I have to respectfully disagree with the hon. Lady. In my time as vaccines Minister, I saw the social care sector rise to the challenge and deliver. I opened my remarks by reminding the House of that and thanking the workers on the frontline. Of course, money does make a difference, including the £500 million announced to make sure that we retain and inspire the social care workforce.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for giving way; he is being very generous with his time. He talks about the investment in social care, but does he not agree that there will still be a gaping hole of over £500 million in disabled children’s social care support?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I will return to children’s social care later in my speech. Mr Speaker, you will, I hope, recognise that I have given way several times. I would now like to make some headway in my speech and return to my theme, which hon. Members will hear from me and my team and from across Government: skills, schools and families.

World-class public services demand world-class skills, and in this country we are entering a new era—the era of the skills economy. We are investing over £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament in further education and skills to make sure that people have access to the kind of high-quality training and education that will open the doors to good jobs, which in turn will boost productivity and support levelling up. For too long, employers have complained that young people just do not have the skills that their businesses need, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths. For too long, students have studied subjects that will not result in a meaningful or satisfying career. That mismatch is not just bad for students; it is bad for business and it is catastrophic for our economy, especially as we try to rebuild after the pandemic.

We need people with the skills for tomorrow’s industries, so we are making the largest investment in skills in a decade, and it is going to deliver the technical education our economy needs. Our skills economy will power innovation and growth, and we will all feel the benefit.

--- Later in debate ---

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

Last week’s Budget shows just how out of touch this Government are with reality. They are completely out of step with the needs of the British people, our public services and our planet. The decisions made by this Government have let shortages and prices go out of control: gas bills are up, petrol prices are up and food costs are up. There is no doubt that many people across the country will be beginning to feel the pinch. By 2026-27, households will pay £3,000 more tax than when the right hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) became Prime Minister.

The Chancellor has repeatedly compared his Budget investment to that of the last decade, but no amount of levelling up or building back better can disguise the reality. While 6 million families were hit by the cut to universal credit, including 8,500 families in Battersea, less than a third will benefit from the taper reduction, leaving millions of people, including families with children and disabled people, without support and risking them being pushed further into poverty.

After 11 years of cuts and underinvestment in early years services, and the closure of over 1,000 children’s centres, the announcement of family hubs is a far cry from what is needed and does not match the offer of the Sure Start centres under the last Labour Government. The investment in youth services is a fraction of the cuts of the past decade. According to the National Youth Agency, an estimated £1 billion less is being spent on our youth services. I pay tribute to some of the amazing youth organisations in my constituency, such as Providence House, FAST, Devas Club, Caius House and Carney’s Community, who are doing a formidable thing by providing vital support to our young people in Battersea.

This Budget does nothing to address the £573 million gap in funding for disabled children’s social care services. Why is that? Hidden in the small print of the Budget is the revelation that the health and disability Green Paper will cut £70 million in funding for disability support by 2024-25. The Budget failed to mention the level of capital funding for the disabled facilities grant. Given that this grant plays such a vital role in helping disabled people to adapt their homes to live independently, will the Minister say why that is the case? I can only conclude that, yet again, this Budget is a missed opportunity for disabled people. It failed to address the shortfall in social care funding, to invest in disabled people’s economic opportunities or to ensure that the social security system works as it should—as a safety net for those people who need it. So much for the Government’s so-called vision for transforming the everyday lives of disabled people: I think not.

The Government have dragged their feet in addressing the cladding crisis. The new 4% levy on developers’ profits to help to fund cladding removal will still leave thousands of blameless leaseholders to foot a large majority of the costs. The levy charged on developers making over £25 billion in profit is not a viable solution. We need action, now. We need the Government to get serious about tackling this crisis, now.

Ultimately this Budget failed to invest in tackling the issues that matter: structural inequalities, a supply chain crisis, unsafe homes, in-work poverty, a cost of living crisis and a climate emergency that is inching closer and closer towards the doorstep of each and every one of us—and No. 10 will not be spared. The Chancellor said he wanted to build a new economy coming out of this crisis, but if he was serious about that, we would have a Budget that prioritised people, prioritised our public services, and looked after the planet for generations to come.