Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey]

I am not really sure where the hon. Lady has got her figures from. I have the figures in front of me and the one in 10 would refer to the number of employment and support allowance new claimants who found lasting work—that compares to a figure of one in 25 when they first joined and is well above the expected average, which would have been about one in 14. But we must remember that these people are some of the most difficult and hardest to help into work, which is why we have put this in place to support them. [Laughter.]

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

When the Minister joins me on Wednesday in my constituency for her meeting with employers at my jobs fair, she will learn that many of them have started and wish to continue apprenticeships for the over-50s. Does she see a role for the Government in extending the programme to over-50s, with sufficient demand?

[Esther McVey]

I do indeed, and what my hon. Friend is doing there is incredible, supporting people of all ages through job fairs. As there were peals of laughter from Opposition Members, they obviously do not understand how the Work programme works and who goes on it, because it is there specifically to help those who are the hardest to help into work and to give them extra help and support.

Compulsory Jobs Guarantee

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms]

I will make a little more progress and then I will gladly give way again.

The Government would cover the costs to employers of paying national minimum wage and national insurance for a 25-hour week plus £500 per employee to help businesses with training, admin and set-up costs. In return, employers would be expected to provide training and development for those taking part and show how the jobs were additional—not replacing existing jobs and not leading to somebody else losing their job or seeing a reduction in hours.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Given the right hon. Gentleman’s faith in the private sector in rallying to his scheme, is he not perturbed by the Institute of Directors saying that it

“does not bear much scrutiny”?

It continued:

“Wage subsidies for employers are not the source of sustainable jobs.”

With that in mind, will he place in the Library or share with the House how many companies have come forward to express their delight at the scheme?

[Stephen Timms]

I can answer that very directly: 5,000 employers are taking part in the Jobs Growth Wales scheme. The Federation of Small Businesses in Wales is a champion. I simply contrast the quote given by the hon. Gentleman with the experience of those on the ground, including the FSB.

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[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

With some skilful editing, I shall proceed, Mr Deputy Speaker, and it is a pleasure to proceed after the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford).

I would like quickly to set the scene in Enfield North, where, I am pleased to say, we have seen unemployment down by 42% and youth unemployment down by 53%. We are even making progress among the over-50 cohort, where unemployment is down by 18%. It is worth highlighting something that has not been sufficiently talked about in this debate—that the number of VAT and PAYE businesses registered in Enfield North has grown by 15% since 2010, while we have had a massive change across the borough of Enfield in start-ups. That is something that will play an ever-increasing role in dealing with the continuing challenge of unemployment.

Having set the scene and speaking as an employer who started out with a great idea in a pub that turned into a business for over 25 years, let me say that we have been bandying statistics across the Floor of the House pretty much all day and that I have had the pleasure of employing people, but also been through the difficulties—frankly, the agonies—for the employer and still more for the employee of having to let people go in difficult times. We should always remember that unemployment is never a price worth paying; it is an extremely difficult situation.

I think there is a difference between the parties on dealing with unemployment. I do not believe it is the role of Governments to create jobs, but it is the role of Governments to create and set the conditions for employment to thrive. That is perhaps where we divide in many respects. Any employer is unlikely to be wooed by a bit of a sub for someone on a job for a period of time. The employer wants to take people on so that his organisation or sector can profit, and wants jobs to be sustainable in a sustainable business. Employers look to the Government to set those macro-economic conditions.

Where should the Government’s emphasis be in trying to help deliver the conditions for employment? Frankly, it should be focused on the area of reducing tax. One of the absurdities I felt we got away with at the beginning of this Parliament was the jobs tax—in many ways, one of the most hideous of taxes. It taxed an employer for wanting to employ someone, when the Government are there to help, not hinder, employing people.

We must understand the massive role we have in welfare reform. Welfare reform is not about cutting costs as much as it is about leveraging and helping people back into work. That is why making work pay is a philosophy with which an employer and an employee would agree—as, I am sure, would Government accountants. Fundamentally, employers know there is a skills gap at the moment in the UK, and this partly explains some of the stubborn youth unemployment figures. We have to remember that these are crucial and must be dealt with. We have to deal with that problem and the soft skills. By creating the right conditions, we will see employment go down even further

In my last 40 seconds, I can draw the Minister’s attention to 26 February, when my fourth jobs fair will take place. It has a special focus on the over-50s for the first time. We are being supported by companies that want people to come and work in sustainable jobs. Crossrail, TFL, Ardmore Construction, Barclay and local successes such as Kelvin Hughes, Risual and even Stansted Airport are coming because they want to employ people on a long-term sustainable basis—not through artificial subsidies that, however well-intentioned, are set to fail in terms of long-term delivery.

Housing Benefit (Abolition of Social Sector Size Criteria)

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Dawn Primarolo)]

Have you got something to say, Mr de Bois? [Interruption.] No, you have not.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

I will have plenty to say later.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

In that case, you should stand up and indicate at the normal time, rather than shouting from a sedentary position.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 8th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that point. We work closely with charity groups such as Gingerbread to ensure that the hours that lone parents have to work and the commitments they have to live up to fit around their lives and the children they look after. That is key to offering the right support for lone parents.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Many unemployed people have been helped back to work by the Government’s excellent apprenticeships scheme. Will the Minister consider extending the scheme to include people who are over 50 so that we can help older people as well?

[Esther McVey]

We will be offering more support to the over-50s. I know how much work my hon. Friend does in this area, not only on jobs fairs, but especially to help people who are over 50. We are supporting people through our fuller working lives initiative and are looking at things such as sector-based work academies and work experience to give returners the extra skills they need to go into a second or third career.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

That allegation is without foundation. The jobcentres in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and all the others will give every bit of support to every Labour Member and any other Member, nationalist or otherwise, to get their job fairs going. I recommend that Labour Members do more to create job fairs in their own constituencies, to help people get back to work.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

T9. Ministers will be aware that another first for this side of the House is the launch of the Enfield over-50s jobs forum, helping to break down the barriers of getting older people back into work. Will Ministers meet me and support the vast number of local and national companies that have got behind it and fully support it?

[Esther McVey]

I will indeed meet my hon. Friend. I congratulate him on all the work he is doing, not just on job fairs in general but in supporting people over 50. He has developed something unique to help people have fuller working lives. I would be delighted to take forward what he is doing. In fact, I have looked at it, the Department now has a hold of it, and we are going to spread it right across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Steve Webb]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. In a world where people will be of working age for potentially 50 years, assuming that they will do a single job for their whole life is increasingly unrealistic. We need to do a great deal more to enable people to transition into less physically demanding jobs. We have recently piloted something called the mid-life career review, which starts people thinking much earlier about what they might be able to do later in life and other courses of action that might be open to them. We also need to challenge employer attitudes, which we are doing.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Although unemployment in my constituency is down a welcome 35% and youth unemployment is down by 40%, unemployment among those over 50 has stubbornly not reduced by the same rate. Will the Minister therefore endorse and welcome Enfield North’s first online older employees forum, which we have set up, along with our older employees forum and jobs fair on 26 October?

[Steve Webb]

I am very pleased to hear about the activity in which my hon. Friend is engaged. We are not asking for charity as regards employing older workers, and we often find when we talk to employers that many of them get it already. They realise that recruiting and retaining older workers benefits both young and old in the work force, and we want to see a lot more of that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mary Macleod (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)]

3. What assessment he has made of recent trends in employment figures.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

8. What assessment he has made of recent trends in employment figures.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

16. What assessment he has made of recent trends in employment figures.

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[Esther McVey]

I would indeed invite as many people as possible to go along to my hon. Friend’s job fair—her third one. She does so much to help her young people to get into work, and she works to support women into work, which must be acknowledged, particularly as we are now seeing record rates of women in work.

[Nick de Bois]

In my constituency, there have been 60 new enterprise allowance take-ups, and there have been 200 across the borough of Enfield. Will the Minister update me on her plans for continuing that scheme? Will she also update the House on the scheme’s progress across the country?

[Esther McVey]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. The new enterprise allowance has been a huge success. The latest figures, which came out last week, show that 40,000 people have set up businesses in that way. It is now running at 2,000 new businesses a month. That is because we support those businesses financially, but it is also because we support them with strong mentoring. Equally, at the very beginning, they must have a good business plan. New enterprise allowances are here, and they are staying.

amendment of the law

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

Again, I say to the hon. Gentleman that he really needs to address his question to those who were governing, because, as I said earlier, GDP fell by 7.5% under the previous Government during the recession. What does he think forced those economics for individuals and working households to fall? It was the fact that there was a massive recession—the biggest for 100 years —on Labour’s watch.

I want to make some progress. The latest labour market statistics are remarkable. The Work programme that we brought in is now helping long-term unemployed people dramatically: half a million people under the programme have started a job; 252,000 have now gone into sustained work; and 10 times as many people have achieved job outcomes now compared with the end of the first year.

Compared with the flexible new deal, one of Labour’s great flagship programmes, under the Work programme, twice as many people have gone into a job, and it costs £5,000 less per place according to all the estimates. So, too, with the work experience programme that we brought in, allowing young people to take a work experience placement for up to two months while still keeping their benefit. That has helped 50% of participants off benefits and into work. It has the same success rate as the future jobs fund, but at a 20th of the cost—£325 as opposed to £6,500 of wasted money. What is more, the majority of places are in the private sector, whereas the future jobs fund created jobs almost exclusively in the public sector.

This Budget has been very good for jobs but it is very good for apprenticeships as well. The Government have already committed to a quarter of a million more apprenticeships than Labour ever planned, with 1.6 million starts since 2010. The Budget announced £170 million more for another 100,000 apprenticeship grants and for developing new degree-level apprenticeships as well. It is important that the Government are not only finding and helping to find people work, but helping to shape their skills and experience.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

In the Secretary of State’s list of successes, rightly attributed to the businesses in this country and the Government’s policies, will he also make reference to those that are now being supported by the enterprise allowance and the start-up schemes? As we saw at my recent jobs fair, more people are seeking self-employment as well.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I pay tribute to my neighbour and hon. Friend for his phenomenal work on the jobs fairs, on all the creation he has done and on the work he has done with local unemployed people. He is absolutely right: the new enterprise allowance has been a phenomenal success. Thousands of people have started their own businesses under it. It is one of the big success stories of this Government. It is going to grow and we are going to ensure that many more people, particularly young people who are more and more keen to start their own businesses, get the kind of support they want.

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[Rachel Reeves]

He continues to do so now. If three years later and £130 million down the drain is on time and on budget, that says more about the Secretary of State’s grasp of mathematics than anything else.

The truth is that from Easterhouse—where the Secretary of State had his epiphany—to the Vatican, people are queuing up to tell the realities of this Government’s reforms. Rosemary Dixon, the chief executive of a charity on the Easterhouse estate in Glasgow—the Secretary of State might remember her—has said that the simple truth is that “things are going backwards.” A letter from 27 bishops stated that

“we must, as a society, face up to the fact that over half of people using foodbanks have been put in that situation by cut backs to and failures in the benefit system, whether it be payment delays or punitive sanctions.”

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has said that

“the role of food banks has been crucial to so many people in Britain today and for a country of our affluence, that quite frankly is a disgrace.”

The Secretary of State says that he is on a moral crusade. The people affected by his policies know what sorts of morals he has.

[Nick de Bois]

The hon. Lady may regret bringing the bishops and the moral case they were arguing into this. Perhaps she would like to reflect on what the position was of the bishops, and what Labour’s position was, when her Government kept people on benefits at a 95% marginal tax rate? Those people could not afford to take a job and Labour did nothing but trap them in a life on benefits.

[Rachel Reeves]

The employment rate reached a record high under the previous Labour Government and it has not risen to that level today. I believe that work did pay under the previous Government, and a flagship reform to make work pay under this Government has failed. The national minimum wage did more than anything under the previous Labour Government to make work pay, but that policy was opposed by the hon. Gentleman and his party.

If the Secretary of State really wants to get the welfare bill down, he must tackle the low wages and zero-hours contracts that leave too many people reliant on in-work benefits. If he really wants to get the social security bill down, he needs to build 200,000 extra homes a year to control the cost of the rising housing benefit bill. If he really wants to get a grip on the social security bill, he should introduce a basic skills test to help those who are unemployed to find and stay in work. If he really wants to control the cost of social security, he should introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee to get the young and the long-term unemployed back into work. The Budget failed to do those things. If we did them, however, we would gain control of social security. For those reasons, we will support the Government when we vote on the welfare cap tomorrow.

However, Labour would make different choices. We would get a grip on the failing programmes, such as universal credit and the Work programme, and focus on the cost of living crisis. We would scrap the bedroom tax, which is cruel and costs more money than it saves. We would take tough decisions, such as scrapping winter fuel allowance for the richest pensioners. We would get more people into work on decent wages that they can afford to live on. Different parties, different values, different priorities. Our priority would be to control the cost of social security; under the Tories, it continues to rise.

On pensions, I think that we can all agree that people need more help to save for their retirement. That is why I am pleased that the Labour Government legislated for automatic enrolment and that this Government have taken forward that Labour policy, based on the Turner consensus. We support greater flexibility so that people can get a better deal from the pensions market when they retire. We will continue to support reforms in the annuities market, which we have campaigned for and which the Leader of the Opposition called for in 2012.

The Government should go further than they did last week. Their figures show that savers are losing up to £230,000 from the value of their pension pots because of excessive fees and charges when they save. The Government should bring forward a meaningful cap on fees and charges to ensure that people’s pension pots are not drained by insurance companies. They should ensure that there is full disclosure of fund manager charges alongside that cap. They should ensure that, for those who want to turn a lifetime of savings into a secure and decent stream of income with an annuity, that is not made harder, and that brokerage is not just offered, but is taken up, so that people get the support they need to make the decisions that are right for them. We must not risk another Tory mis-selling crisis like the one that followed the personal pensions revolution of the 1980s.

To ensure that the Government get the reforms right, we will hold them to account with three tests. First, is there robust advice for people who are saving for their retirement? Secondly, is the system fair to those on middle and lower incomes who want a secure retirement income? Thirdly, are the Government sure that the changes will not result in extra costs to the state, either through social care or by increasing housing benefit bills? We will continue to push for the reform of pensions, but it must be reform that works for people who have saved all their lives, who deserve security and confidence in retirement.

We must be clear that the Office for Budget Responsibility has delivered a damning verdict on the Government’s record of getting people saving. The proportion of income that people are saving has fallen from 7.2% in 2012 to 4.1% this year, and it will fall to 3.2% by the end of the forecast period. More needs to be done to ensure that people have the confidence and the ability to save.

To conclude, whether you are a young person looking for work, a couple looking to buy your first home, a mum and dad trying to pay the bills and get decent child care, a pensioner struggling with rising energy bills or a business trying to access finance, you are worse off under the Tories. They have had four years to deal with the cost of living crisis and they have failed. They have had four years to help young people and the long-term unemployed, and they have failed. They have had four years to help those who are disabled and vulnerable, and they have failed.

There is a tax cut for millionaires, and beer and bingo for the working classes. George Orwell wrote of his nightmare vision of the world in 1984 that

“beer, and above all, gambling, filled up the horizon of their minds.”

Thirty years on in 2014, it seems that the Chancellor thinks that all he needs to do is to cut taxes on beer and bingo, and they will be happy. It is them and us, Mr Speaker—how patronising, how out of touch, how very Tory. The Tories cannot deal with the cost of living crisis; only Labour will.

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[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

I am pleased to follow the right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth). I tried to follow his argument, but felt some confusion, because his constituency, notwithstanding the barriers there, has seen a drop in youth unemployment from a terrible high of 17% to 10%, so clearly some progress is being made. [Hon. Members: “Well, that is all right then.”] Before he attempts to misinterpret my words, he should read Hansard to see exactly how I phrased my thoughts.

In the Budget, the Chancellor demonstrated that he has the ideas to continue his drive to rebalance and rebuild the economy on a sustainable platform, rather than on the platform we inherited after 13 years of the previous Government, where our over-dependency on one sector and a bloated welfare state led to many of the problems we are dealing with today.

I talk about ideas. Opposition Members would do well to remember—those who are old enough to remember—what James Callaghan said after the election defeat of 1979. He said that he knew he had lost the election because his Government had run out of ideas. Frankly, it seems that Labour has nothing new to offer judging by the responses of its leader and the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. It has chosen to move off the historic centre ground of British politics. Nothing illustrates that more than the contemptible speech that we heard in response to the Budget. It was full of class war rhetoric and it lacked ideas. The intellectual pulse of the Labour party is not there; the party is flatlining and, as I have said, it would do well to remember the words of its former Prime Minister.

It seems that Labour, having nothing new to offer, have returned to the past. Yesterday, the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) talked about returning to widespread union-brokered collective bargaining and direct action. Labour is now officially wedded to the unions. It also remains married to the discredited politics of borrow and spend and has no ideas for the future.

Unsurprisingly, the Chancellor and his team present a stark contrast to the Labour team. They understand not only the scale of the challenge but how to bring forward ideas to help sustain the economy. They have recognised that there is a massive transfer of economic power from the west to the east. Conservatives understand that nobody owes us a living. We have to create the conditions and the mentality to go out and earn our way.

The Budget is about developing building blocks to rebalance the economy and to sustain the growth that we need. Above all else, the Conservatives trust individuals to spend their money far better than the Government. Individuals recognise that tax is not the Government’s money but the taxpayer’s money, and that if they do the right thing, this Government will be on their side.

The platform for growth may have been laid down in this and other Budgets, but it is the aspiration of the British people that will see us exporting more and getting on in life. It is they who will deliver the competitive business environment and stable public finances. However, to achieve that we must look beyond economics to education and the welfare system. There are people in this country who are trapped in worklessness. They leave school at the age of 16 ready to compete in the world. The shame of the Opposition was that they stifled ambition and strangled aspiration for so many people and trapped them on benefits. There were 1 million households in which people had not worked for more than 10 years. This Government are reducing the numbers of workless households. Fewer children are growing up in workless households, employment is increasing, youth unemployment is reducing—in my own constituency the number is down by 32% since the election. It is our deep understanding of making work pay that drives our reforms. We want to rid this nation of the appalling high marginal tax rates. The fact that someone could pay a 95% marginal tax rate if they came off benefits into work provided no incentive to work, which is why we inherited a legacy of high long-term unemployment and youth unemployment.

The Government have proved that financial measures alone are not enough. By tapping into the natural aspirational instincts of the British public we can change behaviour and improve lives for ever. Nothing illustrates that more than the measures we have taken to trust people with their own money—albeit in savings or in reducing the tax burden. We have shown trust in companies to invest in their people and their businesses by lowering corporation tax. That has been done within the difficult, demanding financial constraints that we inherited and are having to deal with. These are the issues that will drive greater growth and more employment and will change lives for the future. The tax-free allowance has gone up to £10,500. It represents a 66% rise in the amount that a person may earn before tax, which is a good thing. The pensions policy, which allows a person to use their own money as they wish, is indicative of a Conservative Chancellor who uses Conservative values in a Conservative Budget and who trusts the people.

Inherited Social Housing Tenancies

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey]

Unfortunately, the thing that Opposition Members never did was to look at this issue in the round, in the full 360°, including looking at those living in overcrowded accommodation and those on waiting lists. Yes, there are people who want to remain in their houses, and that is why discretionary housing payments have been made. Equally, there is support for people to move and to house swap. Many people have said to me, “Actually, downsizing is something that we should have done a lot earlier. We never did that, and by downsizing we have a house in which our bills are cheaper and the cost of keeping it tidy is cheaper. In fact, everything is cheaper. We can now live within our means, which is something that we never did before.” We can help people in many different ways.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that it is ironic that on the day that the Opposition claim that they want to cap welfare spending, they are yet again in this House demanding to spend more and borrow more?

[Esther McVey]

If there is one thing that is clear, it is the sheer deficiency of the Opposition. They really do not know what to do with any of the benefit changes. Each time I pick up a newspaper, I read about something that they are doing or not doing, were thinking of doing or of reversing. If they have spent that tax once, they have spent it 20 times.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. We support co-production across the world and have signed many co-production treaties over the past three years. I am not quite clear how those treaties are inhibiting the creation of British films; I rather thought they were supporting them. If he wants to write to me in greater detail, I will respond more fully.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

T8. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Following the Minister’s January meeting with the Tourism Alliance, she was keen to secure a cross-Departmental council with the aim of boosting Government action to boost tourism growth. Will she advise the House on what progress has been made in setting up that council?

[Mrs Grant]

I remain keen to set up a tourism council at the earliest possible opportunity. A large amount of work has been done and I have asked my officials to work with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to consider how best to achieve that.