Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Tourism is vital to our economy, particularly in cities like York. Places can already choose to introduce a voluntary levy on overnight stays. Our focus is on supporting industry, including by providing a 40% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties and permanently lowering their rates from next April.

[Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)]

Q9.  Margaret from Stockton is furious. Stockton’s Labour council is axing her weekly bin collections, scrapping free high-street parking and closing her local recycling centre, all the while employing a ridiculous number of people on £100,000 salaries. But she is even more furious because it is taking on another one: behind closed doors—probably in a darkened room—it has created a new interim role for the managing director’s best mate on 900 quid a day. It has never been approved by the council and it has never been advertised as a job. Margaret is right to be angry, isn’t she?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure that Margaret would be pleased to see the incredible investment going into the area and the 4,000 jobs that are growing the economy. The state of our local councils was left completely damaged by the last Government. She knows that, and everybody knows that.