Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 8th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I have attended a session in a school in my constituency under the so-called Rock Enrol! programme organised by the Bite the Ballot team, an excellent team with whom I have worked over many years. They are brilliant people who organise motivational schemes for young people who, almost invariably, are much more interested in voting as a result. All of us, as constituency MPs, must play our part in working in partnership with the organisation in schools in our local areas.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

T6. The Government have repeatedly stressed the importance of rail connectivity to economic development, and did so again yesterday in the excellent announcements on local growth deals. May I draw my right hon. Friend’s attention to a proposal in a consultation document from the Department for Transport that suggests the ending of three services between Cleethorpes and Manchester, which could have a detrimental effect on the private sector investment that yesterday’s announcements were aimed to attract?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we are currently considering options for services between Manchester and Cleethorpes in the new TransPennine Express and Northern franchises. So far the analysis of the journeys made by people has found that the majority of passengers from Cleethorpes are only travelling as far as Sheffield, or connecting at Doncaster or Sheffield for onward services. That is why we are considering the case for terminating the current direct services from Manchester at Doncaster, with a replacement service from Sheffield to Cleethorpes, but the consultation runs until August and I encourage him and anyone with an interest in this proposal to share their views through that process.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I remind the hon. Gentleman that it was his party’s monumental mismanagement of the economy that cost every household in this country over £3,000. I read last week that a former Labour adviser said—this is extraordinary—that

“you cannot trust people to spend their own money sensibly”.

I have got news for him: people do not want to trust Labour with their money.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I, too, welcome the news about the Siemens investment in Hull and congratulate the Government on their efforts in achieving that, particularly the Minister with responsibility for cities, the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), for his work on the city deal. Will the Government give an assurance that they will now work hard to conclude the Able development on the south bank?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, I have visited the site with him. It is very important that the Siemens deal, which has finally been confirmed, is not the end of the story and acts as a catalyst for wider regeneration, particularly in the green and renewable technology fields in the whole Humber area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady might have prefaced her question with the observation that food banks increased tenfold in the years in which Labour was in office, but—as with so much else—amnesia settles on the Opposition Benches and they entirely forget their responsibility for the problems we have and many of the errors that we are correcting in government. We should pay tribute to people who work in food banks and make sure that they help the most vulnerable in society, rather than constantly seeking to make opportunistic political points to their cost.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

T13. At a meeting held last week between the chairman of the Humber local enterprise partnership and local MPs, the chairman briefed us on the successful conclusion and signing off of the Humber city deal. The meeting recognised that if the area is to meet its full economic potential, a number of major infrastructure projects will need to be carried forward. Can the Deputy Prime Minister give an assurance that the Government will work across Departments to ensure that that happens?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

While my hon. Friend did not say so, I assume he is referring to the much- anticipated agreement on the Siemens investment in the area and other infrastructure projects. I can certainly reassure him that on the back of the Humber city deal, which was confirmed by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) shortly before Christmas, we are working across all Departments to ensure that where there are steps that we can still take as a Government to ensure that these investment projects are finally given the go-ahead, that should be the case as quickly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As I have said, in the final financial year of this Parliament the amount of money we have provided is actually going up from £2.3 billion to £2.5 billion, and more parents are accessing children’s centres than ever before. There has been a closure of 1.2% of children’s centres across the country, but at the same time we have provided hundreds of millions of pounds of extra support to help small children before they even go to school, providing for the first time ever a universal entitlement of 15 hours of pre-school support to all three and four-year-olds, and 15 hours of pre-school support to two-year-olds from the poorest families in this country. I hoped the hon. Gentleman would have welcomed that.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have articulated their vision for the Humber region, but much will depend on the emerging city deal. Are Ministers satisfied with their progress on that?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am reliably informed that the city deal was the subject of another meeting last week. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the city deals, including that in the Humber area, are reaching a critical phase and we are examining the details on a line-by-line basis. As I said, we are keen to land those city deals—or as many as we can—as rapidly as possibly in the weeks and months to come.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

First, I do not think that it is possible to view one of those figures in isolation. It is not possible to consider the £19 million or the £15 million figure without trying to incorporate it in a cross-party consensus on political party funding, which has eluded us so far. As for individual donations to individual candidates, our Bill increases the limit from £500 to £700.

Secondly, charities and campaign organisations that are not seeking to influence the outcome of an electoral contest in a constituency can spend as much money as they like. They can spend millions and millions of pounds, unregulated, if they are not seeking to enter into the democratic process. If they do seek to enter into the democratic process, why are they not asked to fill in the same paperwork as political parties?

Topical Questions

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg)]

As Deputy Prime Minister, I support the Prime Minister on a full range of Government policies and initiatives. Within Government, I take special responsibility for the Government’s programme of political and constitutional reform.

[Martin Vickers]

When my right hon. Friend visited north-east Lincolnshire recently, he must have observed the tremendous investment that has been made in the offshore renewables sector which is helping to boost the local economy. However, much of north-east Lincolnshire in still in recession. Can my right hon. Friend assure my constituents that the Government will do all that they can to support the area during the present difficult times?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Having visited the area on numerous occasions, I am acutely aware of the importance of the new green offshore wind industry to the long-term economic prospects of my hon. Friend’s constituents and the region. I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is doing a huge amount in trying to secure, for instance, the long-awaited and much discussed investment from Siemens in the Hull area, which will transform the local economy, and I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that those endeavours will continue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 4th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

6. What progress he has made on the implementation of the Heseltine review; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of implementation on the economy of northern Lincolnshire and the Humber.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The Government have confirmed that they will implement Lord Heseltine’s recommendation that economic development spending should be devolved to local areas through a single pot. Alongside the Budget, we published more details on the creation of that single local growth fund and growth deals. The next step is an announcement on the size and content of the fund as part of the spending round. Like all local enterprise partnerships, the Humber’s has the chance to show its ambition by coming up with a strong strategic economic plan to compete with others for that single local growth fund, and attain the wider freedoms and flexibilities available.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. As we clear up the monumental mess left by the Labour party, we are having to rebalance the British economy and, in particular, to rebalance the overreliance on public sector employment in significant parts of our country towards a much more diverse approach in which private sector jobs growth is restored to health as well. That is why I am delighted that we have presided over the creation of one and a quarter million new jobs in the private sector in the past three years.

[Martin Vickers]

I welcome the Government’s initiatives and investment in the Humber region, and in northern Lincolnshire in particular, and the personal involvement of Lord Heseltine. However, our business community, particularly on the south bank, would welcome further opportunities to discuss future potential with Ministers. Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure me that he, or one of his team, will visit to ensure that that happens?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The big difference is that police and crime commissioners do not write parliamentary questions for Government Members, which is what the trade union bosses do for Opposition Members, spoon-feeding them questions while funding 90% of all the Labour party’s financial needs. Police and crime commissioners do not fund either the Conservative or the Liberal Democrat parties. That is quite a difference.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

It is not just national park authorities that are unaccountable; many quangos up and down the country make decisions that affect many of our constituents. Does the Deputy Prime Minister have any plans to ensure that more of those decisions are made by elected representatives, rather than unaccountable bodies?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I think that the general principle that there should be greater legitimacy when people take decisions in the name of the public and which affect the public is an important one, and it is not one that found a great deal of favour across both sides of this House when we debated it as it applied to the House of Lords. We have made considerable efforts to streamline some of the extraordinary blizzard of unaccountable quangos that developed under Labour. I know that various Ministers have made considerable efforts in their Departments to reduce the number of quangos and introduce greater legitimacy in public decision making.

House of Lords Reform Bill

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Monday 3rd September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I knew the question was going to be a nice one. No, I will not. [Interruption.] Let me explain. First, I do not think I would be very welcome in the current House of Lords, given my somewhat undiplomatic descriptions of the illegitimacy of that House. Secondly, I personally will not take up a place in an unreformed House of Lords. Call me old-fashioned—it just sticks in the throat. I have campaigned all my life, and my party has campaigned for decades now, for the simple idea of democracy, and that is what I will continue to do.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

As one of the Government Members who favour an elected upper House, may I express my regret at the Government’s decision? The Deputy Prime Minister spoke of inching forward. Although we will obviously now have to wait until a future Parliament for legislation, I urge him to consider some means of inching forward by way of discussions and so on in this Parliament.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

To be frank, I do not want to hold out to my hon. Friend and other reformers a great deal of hope that we will make progress, even by inches, during the remainder of this Parliament. We have taken the process a considerable distance and I do not think that those of us who are clearly disappointed that we were unable to cross the finishing line during this Parliament—I have always been very grateful for his support for the idea of democratic reform of the other place—should ignore the importance of a very significant majority on Second Reading in favour of a Bill that set out specific provisions for reforming the other place. It was just because of a reluctance to translate that blueprint into something that was legislatively workable that we cannot proceed. I do not think that I or the Government would have been forgiven, whatever one’s views on this, if we had decided, as the right hon. Member for Blackburn has suggested, to soldier on valiantly for months and months, getting into the trenches on this, when there are so many other things to be getting on with. The Prime Minister and I will make some announcements shortly on how we will use the opportunity of an unexpected gap in the legislative timetable to push forward measures that will help to create growth and jobs in our economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am sure I speak on behalf of the whole House in utterly condemning the cowardly pipe bomb attacks in east Belfast, which endangered the lives of all those in the surrounding areas, including those of young children attending school. It was totally reprehensible. I understand that all these attacks are now being investigated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. There is no indication, at present, that these were terrorist attacks, and they therefore fall to the purview of the Northern Ireland Justice Minister.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Q10. The EU is currently consulting on changes to the rules governing state aid in assisted areas. The Government have shown commitment to northern Lincolnshire by establishing an enterprise zone to attract large businesses. The changes will restrict aid only to small and medium-sized enterprises. Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure me that the Government will fight these proposals and look for alternatives?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am delighted that the enterprise zone in north Lincolnshire and the Humber area is now taking shape. It will be a huge boost, not least through investment from such major investors as Siemens in the renewable energy sector in that part of the world. I hear what the hon. Gentleman says about the European Commission reviewing how those rules will be applied for regional aid—from 2014 onwards, I think. We are extremely mindful that we do not want those rules to undermine the excellent work taking place in north Lincolnshire.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

First, I hope that people will be increasingly informed about the details of the youth contract, which will start in April next year—a new billion-pound programme that will provide 250,000 work experience places to any 18 to 24-year-olds who want to take part in a work placement scheme. It will also provide a new subsidy, worth about half the basic wage, to thousands of young people who are seeking employment. The key thing is that from April next year, under the youth contract, every single 18 to 24-year-old who cannot find work will have the opportunity to earn or learn.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

May I return the Deputy Prime Minister to the issue of Lords reform? Like him, I support a 100% elected House. Often, when I read the deliberations of the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform, I am concerned that there is a very negative view coming forward from a variety of Members. Does he have any view on the fact that a consensus is perhaps emerging, which might speed the passage of legislation?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I cannot find my notes on the latest social attitudes survey, which was published recently, but in it, public opinion was very clear: only 6% of the members of the British public surveyed supported the status quo—an unelected House of Lords. The vast majority wanted the House of Lords to be fully elected, partially elected, or even abolished. As for those who say that the issue is a minority distraction, I totally accept that there are many more important things weighing on people’s minds at the moment—not least jobs, unemployment, and growth in our economy, which remains our absolute priority—but the vast majority of people, when they stop and think about it, want a reformed House of Lords.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 11th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

We will see how my colleagues in the other place vote. In fact, the more people have looked at the Bill, the more reassured they are that its purposes are fully in line with many of the reforms to the health service that the previous Government introduced, with less centralisation, less bureaucracy, more control by clinicians and GPs, and a more patient-centred health service, all the while enshrining and protecting the founding principles of the NHS—free at the point of use, and based on need, not on the ability to pay. The hon. Gentleman may feel that the NHS is in no need of reform at all; anyone who knows anything about the NHS and realises that it faces increasing costs accepts that it must be reformed, but of course reformed in the right way.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Those of us who favour reform of the upper House are concerned that there should be no slippage to the timetable. Will Ministers confirm that the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill will indeed report by the end of February?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I am absolutely delighted to see that I have an ally on this issue on the Government Benches, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will communicate his enthusiasm for reform of the other place to all those on the Benches behind and on either side of him. The Committee has indeed been asked to report by the end of February next year; that will allow us then to present the legislation in a timely way. I very much hope that the Committee will be able to meet that timeline.

House of Lords Reform (Draft Bill)

Debate between Martin Vickers and Nick Clegg

Tuesday 17th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Of course we need to get the balance right in seeking to get as much support for these measures as possible. Hon. Members should remember that what we have published today was preceded by several meetings of a cross-party committee where although there was not consensus on everything, there was a considerable degree of consensus. I pay tribute to Members on the Opposition Front Bench who played an active and constructive role in that, but as I said in my opening statement, this is a Government measure and the Government are determined to act.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Like my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), I broadly welcome the proposals, which seem to be a natural extension of the democratic process. However, it is important that electors identify with their representatives and the area they represent. People generally do not identify with the English regions. I urge the Government to rule out election by regions and consider election by our historic counties.

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

We had precisely that discussion in the cross-party committee and, for the exact reason the hon. Gentleman sets out, we believe that the best basis on which to proceed—we will remit the exact details to an independent panel of academics and experts—is to have clusters of counties, because they are, quite literally, a familiar territory and a familiar landscape for millions of voters up and down the country and should be the building blocks of the large constituencies or districts that elected members of a reformed House of Lords would represent.