Covid-19 Update

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I hear the hon. Lady’s point, which many other colleagues have made today. I am glad the numbers are going up, but her Front Benchers do not agree with her. They agree with the policy, as far as I understand their position. I repeat that I think it is the duty of healthcare professionals to get vaccinated.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

I am absolutely delighted with my right hon. Friend’s announcement that children will no longer be required to wear a mask in school. This is a welcome and evidence-based return to prioritising the interests of our children, who have suffered greatly during the pandemic.

My right hon. Friend knows I have not always been a supporter of restrictions, but does he agree that under a Labour Government, far from being the freest country in Europe, we would have had longer, harder lockdowns and school closures, causing immeasurably more harm to the poorest, the youngest and the most vulnerable in our society?

[The Prime Minister]

I see the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) shaking his head on the Opposition Front Bench. He was cruelly exposed last week as having repeatedly called for lockdowns. The reality is that the Opposition would have kept us in lockdown in July, and their response to omicron was to call for a road map back into lockdown. My hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) is totally right.

Oral Answers to Questions

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I just want to remind the Scottish nationalist party that they are there to represent the people of Scotland and to deliver better services—better transport and better healthcare. The hon. Gentleman talks about transport, so I will tell him what I said to the leader of the SNP in Westminster: what we are delivering is the first thoroughgoing review of Union connectivity, so that we look properly at all those roads, the A75, the A77 and the A1—all those vital connections for the people of Scotland that have been neglected by the SNP and that this Government are going to fix.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

I am absolutely delighted with the half a billion-pounds Start4Life funding that was announced in the Budget. My right hon. Friend knows from personal experience how important those early years are, whether we are talking about parenting advice, access to healthcare or age-appropriate theme parks. Does he agree that rolling out family hubs to 75 local authority areas is a great start? Will he confirm that it if it a successful programme, the Government’s aim is to roll it out across the whole country?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend very much and she is totally right in what she says about Start4Life. I am just looking to see whether my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom) is still in her place. She has vanished, but I want to thank her because she has championed this for many, many years. My hon. Friend is right to say that investment in kids’ early years is absolutely crucial. That is why this Government have begun Start4Life and, yes, if it works, we will roll it out across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Of course. The right hon. Gentleman represents a party that is so devoid of imagination that they cannot come up with any workable solutions to help the people of Scotland improve their education, improve the fight against crime, or cut taxes in Scotland, where they are the highest in the whole of the UK. They are so devoid of imagination that they are a one-track record—all they can talk about is a referendum to break up the United Kingdom. That is their song. I am amazed, actually, that it is twice he has not mentioned it—maybe he is getting nervous of singing that particular song. It is rather curious. He is not coming back now, is he, but next week, or after Easter, let us see if he mentions it again.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

As my right hon. Friend has already said, the steel industry is fundamental to our future in the UK, and we cannot reach our net zero commitments or our infrastructure targets without steel. Liberty Speciality Steel in my constituency has an uncertain future because of the funding challenges faced by Liberty Steel Group. The Stocksbridge works is a strategic asset of national importance. So what assurances can my right hon. Friend give my constituents that the Government will do what it takes to safeguard jobs and livelihoods and secure the future of steelmaking in the UK?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a passionate and successful advocate for her constituents and for steelmaking in this country, in which this Government passionately believe. That is why, as I said to the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), we are supporting the UK steel industry with more than £500 million of relief, and also with huge investments to make our steelmaking greener and more competitive. We will do everything we can to ensure that we continue with British jobs in producing British steel with the infrastructure investments that I have mentioned and directing procurement at British jobs in the way that we now can.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

There can have been few more difficult times in living memory to deliver a Budget, so I want to commend and thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for his steadfast commitment to serving the British people through such challenging economic circumstances. This pandemic has not finished with us yet, so I welcome the additional support measures announced today, giving hope to many people in my constituency and security to businesses that are still struggling to hold on. The fiscal support provided by this Government is greater than that of almost any other country in the world, and it has disproportionately benefited those on the lowest incomes. That is the kind of one-nation Conservative Government that so many people voted for back in 2019.

I also welcome the Chancellor’s courage in facing up to the fact that we must have a plan for returning our finances to a sustainable footing, to maintain confidence in the UK economy, and to take responsibility for our future, rather than burying our heads in the sand. The modest rise in corporation tax for the largest businesses is a fair way to increase revenues. It is a tax on profits, after all, so those businesses that have been unable to make a profit will not pay. While many companies have had a very tough year, others have seen their takings soar as a result of the pandemic, and it is right that some of those profits should be returned to the taxpayer.

This Budget offers security and responsibility, but it also offers opportunity. I welcome the exciting proposals laid out by my right hon. Friend to set the UK economy on the path to becoming the best place in the world for innovative, high-growth and green investment. However, the proceeds of this growth must be shared evenly across the country, so I was delighted by today’s announcement of £24 million for our Stocksbridge town deal. For decades, towns such as Stocksbridge have been left behind, and previous Governments have failed to solve the problem of how to return opportunity, pride and aspiration to the communities whose sweat and toil have built the prosperity of our great nation.



The launch of the towns fund, back in 2019, in many ways marked the birth of the movement we call levelling up, and the Government have reaffirmed their commitment to that movement today. The £24 million will see improvements to our high street, local transport links revolutionised, a post-16 hub and new jobs and opportunities created for the whole community. The towns fund offers the targeted investment that Stocksbridge so desperately needs, upskilling our workforce, providing conditions for growth and reviving our local economy. There are difficult times ahead, but here we have a plan that offers security, responsibility and opportunity.

On behalf of the people of Penistone and Stocksbridge, I welcome this Budget statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

What steps the Government are taking to increase opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

What steps the Government are taking to increase opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts.

[Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to reform Government procurement to boost (a) local growth and (b) the small and medium-sized enterprises sector.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julia Lopez]

I agree with my hon. Friend that the opportunities in this space are huge, and we think that our reforms will play a huge role in our post-covid recovery. For too long, complex and opaque procurement rules have benefited bigger and less innovative firms. Our reforms will simplify the current framework of over 350 regulations into one uniform set of rules, and move from seven procurement procedures to three. Our free-to-use digital platform, Contracts Finder, should make it easier for businesses in his constituency to find relevant opportunities. We want to make supply registration far simpler, so that data has to be submitted only once to qualify for any public sector procurement.

[Miriam Cates [V]]

Small businesses in my constituency would like the opportunity to bid for more Government and council contracts, but the current procurement rules are too complex and inevitably favour big firms. Can my hon. Friend assure me that we will be using our new freedom from EU procurement rules to deliver more commercial opportunities to innovative, dynamic SMEs in Penistone and Stocksbridge?

[Julia Lopez]

Absolutely. I know that my hon. Friend, as someone who has run a business herself, understands the bureaucratic frustrations that too many of her constituency businesses come up against. We want public buyers to divide contracts into more accessible lots and allow them to reserve contracts under a certain threshold for small, innovative firms. We are also pushing ambitious targets on prompt payment, and we aim to simplify the bidding process so that it does not favour big firms, which inevitably have greater resources to devote to form-filling and box-ticking.

EU Withdrawal Agreement

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his words. We will do everything we possibly can to get a deal, but it cannot be a deal at any price. As for his point about my career ending in failure, my career has, I am afraid, been marked by failure consistently in so many ways. Often in politics I am reminded of the words of Winston Churchill, who said that success means going from failure to failure with undiminished enthusiasm. That is what I hope to do.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and careers advice. I warmly welcome the news of this significant progress, but can he reassure the House that while the Government have said they will withdraw clauses 44, 45 and 47 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, the rest of the Bill will remain in place, so we can ensure that goods can move seamlessly across the UK, benefiting businesses and consumers across all four nations?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill is a critical piece of legislation which safeguards the rights of producers and consumers across the UK. The clauses she mentions excited controversy, but I think they were necessary. In any case, that controversy can now pass because they are being withdrawn. I hope the Bill will pass as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

[Christian Wakeford (Bury South) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

I strongly agree with my right hon. Friend. White British children who receive free school meals perform worse at GCSE than equivalent black and Asian children. We need to ensure that children from all backgrounds are succeeding in modern Britain, and that is going to be a major focus for the Equality Department, working with the Department for Education.

[Miriam Cates]

Social mobility should not mean having to leave your community to go in search of opportunity: we need to spread opportunities across our towns and villages, including those in my constituency. The digital revolution should provide an opportunity to make this more achievable, but sadly, many adults, even in my constituency, do not have the digital work skills needed to take advantage of this. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the digital skills boot camps being established across the country, alongside the fantastic work of civil society organisations such as the Good Things Foundation in Sheffield, are vital to opening up the jobs of the future to people in all communities?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We know that digital skills are vital in the modern economy. We also know that this is a huge opportunity for us to level up our country. We know that take-up is particularly low among girls in areas such as computing, and that is why the digital skills boot camps are vital. They are being rolled out across the country in spring 2021 to ensure that everybody has the skills they need to succeed.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is right to call attention to the difficulties many people are facing because of the EWS1 form, and I sympathise very much with them. Mortgage companies should realise that they are not necessary for buildings of under 18 metres; it is absolutely vital that they understand that while we get on with the work of removing cladding from all the buildings we can, and that is what this Government are continuing to do.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

  If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 November. I welcome the plans for a green industrial revolution, particularly the commitments to public transport. Delivering sustainable rural bus services has always been a challenge, but in my constituency South Pennine Community Transport is trialling a new low-cost, low-carbon bus service that we believe could be a model for transformed rural bus services across the UK. So will my right hon. Friend meet me and South Pennine director, Kevin Carr, to discuss this model and look at how some of the Government’s £5 billion commitment to buses can be used to transform rural services?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend asks an excellent question, and we are developing a national bus strategy that will look at the needs and how to get more people to use our buses. In addition to championing green zero-carbon or low-carbon buses, we are providing £20 million for a rural mobility fund to support demand in rural areas.

Covid-19 Update

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think I have answered that point about four times already. We need a combination of both national and local.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

Parents in my constituency rely on friends and family for informal childcare, and even under the new three-tier restrictions I believe that informal, pre-arranged childcare can continue. As a new parent himself, I am sure my right hon. Friend understands that sometimes circumstances dictate that parents need emergency childcare. That is happening more and more with childminders or nursery staff having to isolate. Will the Prime Minister confirm that emergency informal childcare can still be used to assist parents, even under the three-tier system?

[The Prime Minister]

Tell me about it, Mr Speaker! My hon. Friend makes an important point, and there are obviously provisions for 30 hours of free childcare. Her point about emergency childcare is well made. That is why we need to keep the economy moving in the way that we are.

Covid-19 Update

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed—although, as my hon. Friend already knows, we are doing a massive amount to support businesses of all kinds, particularly by getting rid of business rates for the whole of next year. One thing that I would say, respectfully, to all those who represent tourist areas of this country, is that now is perhaps the time to send out a welcoming signal to those from other parts of our country and to roll out the welcome mat, rather than the “Not welcome here” sign. That is something that we could do together.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s announcement will be welcome to hospitality businesses in Penistone and Stocksbridge, which are keen to reopen after a difficult period, but many workers and business owners are parents as well and cannot return to work until their children are back at school. Does my right hon. Friend agree that in order for those businesses to recover, we need all children to be back at school in September? Also, will he confirm that this announcement means that in the meantime people can start to ask friends and family for help with childcare?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, it does mean that, but we are also committed, as my hon. Friend knows, to getting all our schools back in September. I do believe it that will be possible, if we stick to the plan and the guidance, to do so in a safe way.

Transport Infrastructure

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The road to Hull is paved with good intentions, and we intend to build it. We will make sure that we have Hull fully as part of our vision for High Speed North, and I am sure that the hon. Lady’s contribution will be warmly welcomed.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his announcement, and I agree that we need both buses and trains to connect our communities. However, can he reassure my constituents in Penistone and Stocksbridge, which has many rural areas, that investment in buses will benefit our rural towns and villages, not just our big cities?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is indeed the point of the investment in buses. Everyone knows from talking to their constituents that a decent, reliable bus route can be absolutely transformative of their lives and of their kids’ prospects, so we will do that across the country.