Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 25th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I do recognise the benefits, which is why—even if we wanted to, which we do not—we are not proposing to get rid of it altogether. All we are saying is that it should be in accordance with the law and the obligations that the statute places on us as employers. I am the first to recognise that there are often advantages in being able to resolve disputes quickly and locally before they escalate, which is why some facility time will continue to be available.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

2. What recent progress he has made on the Government’s efficiency agenda.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

5. What progress he has made on his programme of savings through efficiency and reform of central Government.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)]

On 10 June, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and I announced savings through efficiency reform of central Government of £14.3 billion for 2013-14, against a 2009-10 baseline. Those savings are both recurring and non-recurring items, and include £5.4 billion from procurement and commercial savings, £3.3 billion in project savings and £4.7 billion from work force reform and pension savings.

[Nick Smith]

The Government have said that they want to move jobs out of Whitehall and into areas such as south Wales, but in August 1,000 jobs could be offshored, perhaps to India, from the Ministry of Justice shared services centre in Newport. Will the Minister look at this again?

[Mr Maude]

Earlier this week, the MOJ announced its plans to take forward the agreed plans on shared services, which were first put forward under the Labour Government in 2004 but did not begin to be implemented until 2012. There are major efficiency savings to be made. I am sure that SSCL—Shared Services Connected Ltd—the shared service company the MOJ proposes to use, will look carefully at all the facilities and will want to concentrate activity at the most effective and efficient ones, and I see absolutely no reason why Newport’s should not be among those.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Crabb]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he does campaigning for those on the lowest incomes. Decisions on national insurance contributions are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but I share my hon. Friend’s objective. We are determined to return more money to the pockets of hard-working people by taking them out of income tax.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Train fares are high and electrification of the valleys lines is crucial for south Wales. What is the Minister doing to make sure that the Government are making sure that the 2019 electrification timetable will be met?

[Stephen Crabb]

Improving the rail network in the valleys is an important way of our connecting people in those communities, where unemployment is higher than average, with the new jobs that are being created in Cardiff and Newport. As the hon. Gentleman knows, discussions about electrification of the valleys lines are part of the discussions we are having with colleagues in the Welsh Government and colleagues at the Department for Transport about how we finance that major package of infrastructure improvements for south Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Villiers]

The hon. Gentleman is right. Resolving these issues or finding an agreed way forward will enable further efforts and energies to be concentrated on pensions, the economy and so on. There is a real opportunity here. A lot of good work was done under the auspices of Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan, not least by the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) as part of the negotiations under Richard Haass.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

11. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of any need for legislation to implement any possible agreement on Haass?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I pay tribute to him because he is the founder and chair of the all-party group on air ambulances. He has campaigned tirelessly on this issue, and he led a debate in the House in 2012. I am delighted about the result that was achieved in the Budget. As he says, it will lead to an expansion of the service. He is also right that you can only make these decisions if you look after the nation’s resources, control public spending, and get the deficit down—in short, if you have a long-term economic plan.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Why has it taken four years to recruit just 41 teachers into the £10 million Troops to Teachers programme?

[The Prime Minister]

We support the Troops to Teachers programme. I will look very carefully at what the hon. Gentleman says, because it is a good idea and a good proposal, and I want to make sure it is working.

European Council

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We want to see these association agreements proceed. As I said in answer to an earlier question, the EU has different instruments for having friendly relations with neighbours and other nearby countries. It is right to pursue those and to offer such agreements, so on all those cases we should see progress. As was the case with Ukraine, we should not sign these agreements without thinking carefully about the steps that we expect the countries to take at the same time.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Given that OSCE observers have been prevented from crossing into Crimea by armed men, what steps is the Prime Minister taking to persuade President Putin to agree the mandate for the OSCE’s monitoring mission?

[The Prime Minister]

I spoke to President Putin most recently on Sunday morning. One of the points I made to him was the importance of ensuring that the OSCE is properly handled and allowed to continue its missions. This is part of the argument we need to have with the Russians about how to get off the track that they are on and to get on a diplomatic, political and talks track. The OSCE, which is an organisation they respect, should be part of that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for what she says. There is a vibrant economy right across the Thames valley, including in Buckinghamshire, and that is going to be based on sticking to our long-term economic plan. What is particularly important for the companies that she has mentioned is to keep our rates of corporate tax low so that we attract businesses into the country and ensure that companies want to have their headquarters here. That is the right answer, rather than the answer of the Labour party, which is to put up corporation tax and to put a “Closed” sign over the British economy.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Q9. A year ago, the Prime Minister said that he would make “damn sure” that foreign companies paid higher taxes, but in the Financial Times at the weekend, it was shown that companies such as Apple and eBay were now paying even less. Why is the Prime Minister’s tough talk not adding up to very much?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is being a little unfair; I think we are making progress on this very difficult issue. At the G8, we raised the importance of having international rules on tax reporting and of more countries working together on that. Huge progress has been made, not least in the European Union, where countries such as Luxembourg and Austria, which have always held out against this exchange of information, are now taking part for the first time. The OECD work is also going ahead apace, and that is partly because Britain has put its full efforts behind this vital work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

The Deputy Prime Minister was asked—

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

1. What measures are in place to prevent a fall in the number of people registered to vote after the introduction of individual voter registration.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

4. What measures are in place to prevent a fall in the number of people registered to vote after the introduction of individual voter registration.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)]

A happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to colleagues.

There are three ways in which the Government are ensuring that the electoral register under individual registration is complete and accurate: first, using data matching so that the majority of voters are automatically registered; secondly, phasing in the transition over two years so that people who are not individually registered can nevertheless vote in the 2015 general election; and, thirdly, providing additional resources above what is usually spent at a national and local level to fund activities to boost the completeness and accuracy of the register.

[Nick Smith]

I thank the Minister for that answer. What are the Government doing to ensure that when members of the public come into contact with Government agencies such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency or the UK Passport Service, that is used to promote electoral registration?

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. One of the features of the transition that we are putting in place is to use Government databases automatically to register those whose details are held. In the test of this, well over three quarters were automatically registered; in fact, in his constituency the figure was 84%. We are continuing to make use of those sources.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I absolutely take the point that my right hon. Friend makes. It is very well made. I know that the new joint venture company will look very carefully at all the implications. It will want to be able to do the work effectively and to create a new provider in the marketplace that has the opportunity to create more jobs rather than lose jobs. I know that he will talk to the new company and that it will want to hear his views.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

3. What recent progress he has made on the Government ICT Strategy.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr Nick Hurd)]

We have created a world-class Government web presence. We believe that we saved £500 million in 2012-13 through better IT spend controls, and our digital by default strategy is transforming 25 of the most significant Government transactions by making them easier for users and cheaper for taxpayers.

[Nick Smith]

Meanwhile, in the real world, the new Army recruitment contract with Capita is a shambles. Why did the Government not plan the ICT better so that the new recruitment processes and Ministry of Defence systems worked better?

[Mr Hurd]

I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that the real world we inherited was an absolute shambles in terms of how Government managed IT transactions. His is the party that gave us tax credits and the NHS IT system. What we have done is to put in proper controls and create the conditions in which smaller and leaner organisations can come in and offer better value.

Commonwealth Meeting and the Philippines

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. What is required is peace and reconciliation and proper rights for everyone who lives in Sri Lanka. As I said, the fact that the world is going to be watching how this reconciliation takes place is very important.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Given the defiant tone of President Rajapaksa after the summit, does the Prime Minister really believe that progress on human rights by March next year is possible?

[The Prime Minister]

That decision rests with the Sri Lankan Government. I do not think it is fair to say that they have done nothing in response to the need for action or, indeed, international pressure. As I said, the fact that an election has taken place in the Northern Province and a new Chief Minister has been elected who is part of the Tamil National Alliance is a very positive step forward. We will not get anywhere if we do not point to the positive things that are happening as well as being very tough and firm about where further action is needed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Absolutely; in designing the system of individual voter registration that we are introducing, we looked very carefully at the strengths and weaknesses of the experience in Northern Ireland. The most important innovation on which we have embarked is the one I explained earlier, which is matching the very large databases that we already have with information on the electoral register and, in effect, automatically enrolling millions of people on the individual voter registration system.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

9. What will be the Electoral Commission’s budget for raising awareness of the introduction of individual electoral registration?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman on the specific figure, but of course we work very closely with the Electoral Commission to ensure that we pull in the same direction to raise awareness of the changes to the new system, and we have allocated just over £4 million to various groups locally working with us and the Electoral Commission to raise awareness among those groups where under-registration has historically been a problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 9th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

My hon. Friend is right. Wales is largely a country of small and medium-sized enterprises, and if more SMEs were to export at the European rate, that would wipe out the trade deficit altogether. I strongly encourage Welsh companies to engage closely with UKTI, as it has global reach and is able to maximise opportunities throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

What impact does the Secretary of State think that uncertainty over the UK’s role in the European Union—uncertainty created by his Government—will have on exports from Wales?

[Mr Jones]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman engages closely with his constituents and will know there is general dissatisfaction with the current settlement in Europe. We think our position in Europe should be renegotiated, and it is right to take sufficient time over that negotiation. At the end of that period, by 2017, we will put the issue of whether Britain should be a member of the European Union to the people of this country in an in/out referendum.