Budget Resolutions

Debate between Nigel Evans and Seema Malhotra

Wednesday 27th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate and follow many important contributions from Members across the House. It is disappointing that we heard very little that was new, or that was not pre-announced. It is frustrating that Parliament seems to be a sideshow when it comes to the Government making important decisions.

Moving on to the content of the Budget, a test for the Budget is whether it makes life easier or harder for businesses and families across the UK, and whether it takes the steps necessary to tackle the increase in the cost of living which we all know families in our constituencies face. The Chancellor’s choices today will shape how well children can learn; who goes to bed hungry; and how our businesses, which have been on the frontline, can not just survive but can be equipped and prepared for the future.

It is a shame that the Chancellor seems to have chosen a tax cut for bankers that is bigger than the extra funding that he is providing for children to catch up. Even that as a total is a third of what was recommended by the Government tsar. That was not a random figure of £15 billion picked out from a hat; it was based on research and evidence, and on understanding what children across the country needed to get through and catch up because of what they faced and how they were held back during the pandemic. They must continue to be at the front of our minds in this House.

This winter, the country faces a cost of living crisis of historic proportions. Fuel shortages, rising energy prices, the Government’s supply chain crisis and price inflation have hit families across the UK. A recent survey by 38 Degrees in Feltham and Heston found that 90% of respondents were concerned about their current supply of critical food and goods. Sixty-four per cent. of respondents had observed insufficient stock in their supermarket. The price of fruit and vegetables is up, and half of respondents had seen a rise in their energy bills. In the past few weeks, the Office for National Statistics has reported that 8 million Britons have been unable to buy essential food items, while grocery prices are reported to be 1.7% higher than last year.

These changes cannot be denied, and they have been compounded by the Government’s cruel decision—and it was cruel—to cut universal credit for six million families this winter, taking £20 a week from the pockets of families at time when prices are rising. In Feltham and Heston, 18,000 households are worse off as a result of the cut. £18 million has been cut from our local economy. Where was the £20 for universal credit going? It was not going into offshore tax havens; it was being spent by families, on families, in our businesses, in our communities and on our high streets. Returning what appears to be £2 billion through changes to the tapering of universal credit is welcome, and is an important step, but it does not go far enough. It will support some people, but not all, and there will still be millions of families who, just by trying to get through, will end up going into debt, with all the consequent problems that that brings. The Chancellor knows that, food banks know it, and the citizens advice bureau knows it. Everyone who looks at families’ income and the impact of the universal credit cut knows it.

I am glad that the Government have at least taken the advice of the Low Pay Commission to increase the minimum wage. I welcome this, but it needs to go further, and to a minimum of £10; good employers such as Morrisons have already increased wages to a minimum of £10 for all their employees. Many families are still going to struggle, however, even before taking into account the likely rise in gas and electricity prices next year, but there are no measures today to assist householders with rising domestic gas and electricity bills.

Meanwhile, many businesses are approaching what should be their most profitable period of the year yet are in great danger of insolvency, faced with huge debts from the pandemic, soaring energy bills, rising prices, empty shelves and growing shortages. Analysis based on the Office for National Statistics business survey suggests that over 300,000 new businesses, employing some 800,000 people, are at risk of closure in the next few months, yet the Government’s response has been to hit businesses with a new jobs tax as well as weakening their industrial strategy, and to take little more than piecemeal steps to resolve a supply chain crisis made worse by inaction and the lack of forward planning.

This crisis has hit British businesses and families harder than those in other countries. Almost 50 high street shops per day closed in the first six months of this year. Without further targeted action the face of our high streets and communities will be changed beyond recognition. Although today’s changes to business rates are welcome and a step in the right direction, as the Chancellor knows these reforms are in part a response to the stand Labour has taken.

The current business rate system in England is not fit for purpose. It punishes investment and entrepreneurship and hits the high street. Some of the incremental changes announced today, adopting calls for change from the British Retail Consortium, the CBI and others, are the steps that we need to incentivise rather than disincentivise investment, but there is no proper plan for sustained reform and rebuilding our high streets and economy. UK Hospitality has previously said that the biggest cost danger in sight for the sector was the reintroduction of business rates from 2022.

Today’s moves are welcome but also highlight why Labour called on the Government to freeze the business rates multiplier and extend the threshold for small business rates relief. This can be paid for by increasing the sales tax, levelling the playing field between online and bricks and mortar businesses, but this is an area where the Government have inexplicably been dragging their feet. Why, on page 144 of the Red Book, do they say they will

“continue to explore the arguments for and against a UK-wide OST”

and “publish a consultation shortly”? This has been going on for a long time; this is not a new issue. The inequity between online and bricks and mortar businesses is impacting on the prosperity of those on the frontline in our communities, who have served our communities and who have served our country through the pandemic. They are being penalised for being in our communities rather than moving their services online. Reducing the cost burdens so many of our businesses face is essential if they are to survive and grow that necessary employment for the future.

If this Government were genuinely supporting entrepreneurship, I would have liked to see more about that in the Budget, and it would be helpful for the Government to be clear about whether they are still targeting the new enterprise allowance for cuts. Latest statistics show that since its launch in 2011, 268,000 start-ups have been initiated by 249,000 individuals. Those businesses reportedly range from plastering, gardening and removal services to website design, film making and architecture enterprises; they are businesses that are at the heart of our communities and that go on to employ others. This scheme has been supported by the Prince’s Trust and others that do amazing and important work in supporting enterprise and entrepreneurial skills for young people. This is the kind of culture and opportunity we should be looking to enhance; it should be integral, not an add-on. In the work we have been doing in Hounslow, I have consistently been surprised—positively and pleasantly surprised—by how many young people want the skills and opportunities to start their own businesses, and how many people who may lose their jobs want support to do something different and to achieve a dream or grow a passion. Yet we seem to make it harder, not easier.

I grew up in a small business in our community in Hounslow. I have been self-employed. I have an MBA. I have worked in the private sector and the public sector. I know what innovation and entrepreneurship is. I know what it takes; I know the sacrifices that those who are self-employed—those who start up and bear the risk —make. I know what they do.

In the last year, I have co-chaired the development of the west London innovation district, looking to use innovation and create opportunities for research and investment to enable our local aviation hub to become a worldwide Silicon Valley for aviation, working with all parts of our national and international aviation supply chains to take advantage of opportunities in technology and to drive jet zero outcomes. We are working with West London Business and our research institutions— Brunel University, Imperial College and others—because we recognise that a place-based response to innovation is what drives sustainable growth. Part of that is bringing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs into the overall growth programme and having an integrated strategy that helps to deliver that.

I want the UK to be the best place to start and grow a business. We should be improving and upgrading measures such as the new enterprise allowance, as opposed to pulling the rug out from under the feet of new community-based entrepreneurs—not just those in the City but those in the heart of our communities, who deserve opportunities at grassroots level.

With a week to go until COP26, the Government have also failed to match their climate change rhetoric with action, as shown by the Climate Change Committee predictions that the Government are on course to miss future carbon budgets. A recent British Chambers of Commerce survey found that just 11% of small and medium-sized enterprises are aware of how to measure their carbon footprint.

How much of the increased R&D investment, which is so critical to supporting innovative businesses at the cutting edge of the new economy, is going to support small businesses on their transition to net zero, and how is that going to be enabled? How are these announcements going to be delivered and translated to outcomes on the ground that make a difference in the recovery of local communities such as Hounslow—being an aviation community, we were hit very hard by the covid slowdown—with tremendous green growth ambitions?

I cannot see in this Budget the step change in vocational and technical skills that we need, or the less bureaucratic apprenticeship system. I am sure that hon. Members across the House will have seen this in their constituencies, but in north-west London, for example, millions in apprenticeship levy money has gone unspent. It is a scandal that that has been carrying on for years. The Government have been told about it, but we need structural reform to the apprenticeship levy to make it easier to create opportunities for skills to be grown for the future. We need businesses to be able to find the skilled workers that they need, and we need our local communities to have access to those opportunities so that they are equipped for the jobs of the future.

I, too, want an optimistic Budget—we all want an optimistic view for our country—but why did today’s Budget not make a clear, unequivocal commitment, with clear messages about our direction, such as Labour’s call to invest £28 billion every year until 2030 to tackle the climate crisis so that we can protect the planet and secure jobs in the UK? Businesses want to be certain about our vision and direction. They want a clear view of where they should invest. They want to know that if they make an investment today, they will get a return on it in five years’ time, and that there will not be another sudden change of strategy. The Chancellor has been talking to businesses; he will have heard the same message that I have.

Let me mention a few other areas of concern before I close. As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on mortgage prisoners, I find it disappointing that there is nothing in the Budget to help the 250,000 mortgage prisoners trapped paying high interest rates. The Government sold many of them off to mortgage loan sharks, which are charging them hundreds of thousands of pounds extra a year. That is more than seven months after the Chancellor promised Martin Lewis that the Government were looking for workable solutions. Markets are now expecting rises in interest rates, which will have a devastating impact on the finances of mortgage prisoners. The Government need to make sure that all mortgage prisoners can access reasonable fixed rates, so they get a fair deal and are protected against interest rates rises.

On building safety and cladding, I want to make just a brief mention of the challenges leaseholders are facing in blocks below 18 metres. I am not the only MP who is hearing about this from their constituents and the anxiety it is causing families week after week, day after day, with the uncertainty of how the safety measures and remediations will be funded. There needed to be more on that in the Budget and the Government need to tackle the issue urgently.

On children and youth facilities, I must say that I take issue with the portrait of Sure Start centres painted by right hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom). Her experience was not the same as mine. Our Sure Start centres did exactly what she described: they were family hubs, they gave advice and they supported early education. They supported language and literacy for those who were one or two years old. They supported new parents and they brought families together. I pay tribute to Noveen Phillips and others who ran the Bedfont Sure Start centre, which was forced to close as funding ran out. Those cuts affected over 500 Sure Start centres across the country, with children paying the price. On youth services—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. We were suggesting eight minutes; the hon. Lady has now taken 16 minutes.

[Seema Malhotra]

On youth services, No Shame in Running, Project TurnOver and other Hounslow youth services have seen cuts. They are doing an excellent job of trying to support young people.

In conclusion, the Budget should have had a longer-term and better plan for the short-term cost pressures facing businesses and families. We need a more resilient economy and public services. I will be honest: I expected more today. We needed more today. I hope that, in the interests of our country, the Chancellor will take heed of the comments from Members across the House this week.

Grassroots Football: Feltham and Heston

Debate between Nigel Evans and Seema Malhotra

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

I am very grateful to Mr Speaker for granting me this Adjournment debate. Covid-19 has had a serious and detrimental impact on football, from premier league teams all the way down through the pyramid structure of football. The giants of the game have received much media attention recently, and not all for good reason. I joined colleagues on both sides of the House in condemning proposals for a new European super league. It is one of the reasons why I sought this debate.

May I start by sharing our deepest condolences with the family of Jordan Banks, a nine-year-old boy who was killed in a tragic incident last night playing football in Blackpool? Our hearts go out to him and his whole family at this time. That could have been anybody, anywhere. It is a tragic incident, and our thoughts are with them.

Football is so much more than just a sport, and it begins at grassroots level. When we talk about grassroots football, we need to truly appreciate what that means. Grassroots football is about every park and every playing field across the UK. It is about giving every club and every individual of all ages and genders who has the desire to be involved in the game the opportunity to do so. Even in the face of financial pressures and the disappointment of not being able to play due to the covid pandemic, the response from football clubs at all levels has been remarkable. It shows the integral place that clubs have at the heart of our communities, bringing people together and supporting one another on and off the pitch.

The Football Association’s latest report on the social health and economic value of grassroots football found that more than 14 million people play grassroots football in England alone, which equates to a quarter of the population. It contributes more than £10 billion to society each year, while childhood football participation helps with the reduction of more than 60,000 cases of depression and anxiety, and more than 200,000 cases of childhood obesity.

The grassroots game, as we emerge from the pandemic, is uniquely positioned to have a positive impact on not only the nation’s mental and physical health, but our economy. The benefits extend further, with social interactions that will help people to develop confidence, communication and resilience. The comradery, friendship and values of teamwork are all crucial in helping to shape people’s identities, supporting emotional wellbeing and dealing with difficult times, and I will illustrate that through the particular stories of two local clubs.

I thank all involved in grassroots football clubs in Hounslow and across the country, on behalf of myself and my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury). Clubs in our constituencies are supported by the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, which delivered more than 1,000 activity packs to children and families, supported more than 100 young carers who were shielding, ran virtual youth clubs and provided mentoring support. Starting in June, in partnership with Premier League Kicks, there will also be a new football development centre, which will be delivered at Springwest Academy in Feltham for students from local schools currently receiving free school meals and from low-income families. In partnership with Bedfont Sports FC, it also delivers a girls-only weekly training session.

In my constituency, clubs include Bedfont Sports FC, with Bedfont Eagles in the Isthmian League south central division, Hanworth Villa FC and CB Hounslow United FC in the Combined Counties premier division, and Bedfont and Feltham FC and FC Deportivo Galicia in the Combined Counties division one. Collectively they have been able to support thousands of children and young people playing each year. Everyone, from young people all the way up to people in their 60s, is able to join a club and play either on a Saturday or Sunday. At the vast array of clubs in these leagues, we have seen at first hand all ethnicities, ages and religions playing together. We also have the incredible Feltham Bees supporting football for children and young people with disabilities, run by the incredible Ray Coleman at Springwest Academy.

I want to recognise the amazing leadership that comes from within our communities to help grassroots football. I pay tribute to Dave Reader from Bedfont, who sadly passed away with covid in November last year—a legend to whom the community has not yet been able to pay proper tribute. He gave a lifetime of service in grassroots football, from the local Sixth Hounslow Cub Scouts football club in Cranford 35 years ago, to the work with Bedfont Eagles and, over the years, support for other clubs, including Whitton Wanderers and CB Hounslow United.

Last night I spoke to Dave’s son Terry about his father, who had even won a BBC Unsung Hero award. Over 35 years, he helped to build local grassroots football. Dave and Terry worked together, and Terry continues so much of that work today. They have led on the ground and working in partnership with the local authority and others. A lease and a chance are what Hounslow Council gave Dave and Bedfont many years ago.

Since then, through partnership and sheer hard work, love and commitment, they also managed to raise over £3 million in partnership with the Football Foundation and others. About 350 children play each year and about five adult teams see 80 to 100 playing also. The club has had a partnership with Kingston College for a programme for 16 to 19-year-olds, but with the football played at Bedfont. The club now even has dance classes and boxing classes. Over the years, Dave touched a lot of people and has left a huge legacy.

But the issues on the frontline have been devastating post covid. The impact on children has been a lot more than people have seen, with children suffering mental health issues, becoming reclusive, not wanting to be active, or putting on weight. Clubs have described to me the joy of children being able to reunite with their friends and said how brave they have been. The first ask from local clubs is about support to help in dealing with the rise in mental health issues. They say they are learning as they go to support each other and their young people, but they are not trained in mental health and would really appreciate guidance and support on what best to do.

I was told the story of one nine-year-old boy impacted by anxiety and the strain of the pandemic whose mental health deteriorated so much that he was hospitalised. Only recently he came back to the club. The huge impact of a short video from his young team-mates saying how much they needed him gave a massive boost, and they are working together to support his recovery. As Terry described it to me, he tells the coaches, “You are their second dad.”

The second ongoing issue for so many of our clubs is financial support and the financial consequences of the pandemic. Clubs have been able to benefit from grant support that has been hugely welcomed. Hounslow Council’s thriving communities fund has also been vital, and is helped with other bits of support, like that from the Mayor of London’s Laureus project, which have been vital to helping local clubs get through. However, they have raised with me the ongoing impact of having no income for a year. There is facilities upkeep and other costs, and the worry that now lockdown is ending, these challenges may be put aside as everyone thinks that things have returned to normal. For clubs to continue to grow and thrive, ongoing strategy and support is going to be needed.

The third issue is the stability of home grounds and places to play casually. One of my local clubs, started by Frank James and supported daily by Vijay Kumar and other coaches and supporters, has struggled to keep access to its home ground at Green Lane in Hounslow. My hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth has said that she is saddened about the situation having, as a councillor before becoming an MP, helped CB Sports with the lease and subsequent grant application to transform a little-used piece of grass into a fine set of facilities.

The club is supported very closely by Middlesex FA, which has been assisting in efforts to make sure that it has the pitch hire agreement needed to satisfy the conditions of the Combined Counties football league. The lease for the past few years, however, has been with Hounslow Sports Club, run by Mr Stephen Hosmer, which has been continuing to put obstacles in the way of an agreement even though it is a condition of its own lease with Hounslow Council. Hounslow Sports Club under Mr Hosmer has failed to maintain pitches. Shockingly, just two weeks ago, Hounslow Sports Club was prosecuted by Thames Water for offences to which it pleaded guilty relating to using an illegal water connection at the premises and a water fitting that caused or was likely to cause an erroneous measurement of water. It is surely unacceptable for the ability of children to play football and to be in supportive environments to be held back by such behaviour.

I have seen the work of CB Hounslow United. I have met the young footballers. I have spoken to the parents and I have seen the devastating impact the situation has had: the drop-off in players, because they do not know week to week where their next game or training will be; and parents trying to plan their complex lives juggling work and home. How are they going to get their children to and from practice and games? It is a really difficult and challenging situation.

Stability for play is vital to help to build the relationships that hold clubs together, and to build the family connections and wellbeing which so often support young people going through difficult times and give them the space and the support they need. What these stories also show is that local authorities are vital. There is no statutory requirement for local authorities to support grassroots football. Currently, they must provide essential services for their residents. However, sports and recreation facilities, and the delivery of community sport services, are not a requirement.

I may also raise here—I have discussed this previously with the Minister—the side issue of families using local parks for parkruns at the weekend. They have struggled to get parkruns going as lockdown ends. Jon in my constituency raised the issue of the Government’s position on when parkruns will be able to restart, so I would be grateful for the Minister’s response on that.

We must also ask the way to make sure how local authorities can be better supported to help grassroots football thrive. Hounslow Council developed a welcome local football facility plan in 2019 for pitches, changing room pavilions, clubhouses and other priority projects, but that is only deliverable alongside a national strategy and integrated place-based support. We also need a more localised approach to grassroots football that removes barriers to issues such as pitch access for training and fixtures, and engagement in the women’s game.

A localised approach to address the barriers they face should target increased funding into grassroots football and help to ensure that football remains affordable. Football clubs should never have to call off a game because their regular playing field is overbooked, or because they cannot afford the costs of the football pitch. Nor should they need to postpone fixtures due to the pitch not being of adequate quality. The popularity of the grassroots game is not yet matched by the facilities. Only one in three grass pitches is of adequate quality, and about 150,000 matches are called off every season due to poor pitch quality. This is what grassroots football needs to ensure that no one and no club gets left behind.

In March, I was pleased to attend the launch of the Football Association’s new grassroots football strategy. This is an excellent basis on which to address some of the challenges we face. I am pleased to see a commitment to ensure pathways into and through the male and female games, including disability provision, with bespoke participation opportunities as needed. Looking ahead to ensure the game thrives, they emphasise not only encouraging new participation at every age group and from historically underrepresented groups, but harnessing the power of digital to better connect participants to the game they love. It also means ensuring the game is played in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment free from racism and discrimination.

On that point, earlier this month Ian Wright shared a video on social media where he discussed, with Alan Shearer, the racism he receives as a black ex-footballer and football commentator, showing how important it is to foster a more inclusive environment throughout football. I have heard from young people in my constituency about the racism they face which on occasion has forced them out of clubs. I know it is very much a problem that is still live, and there needs to be accountability and action to address it. There needs to be support for those who are victims of racism, so that they are not the ones who have to leave, but those who perpetrate racism. The Premier League’s social media blackout over the bank holiday weekend was a welcome show of solidarity to those suffering from racism, but we need tangible action, not just symbolism, if this issue is to be tackled effectively and I would be grateful for the Minister’s response on this issue, too.

In conclusion, I hope the Minister will join me in celebrating the contribution of grassroots football for millions across our country as the base from which national players are first given the opportunity to play. Volunteers such as Dave and Terry Reader, Ray Coleman, Frank James and Vijay Kumar in my constituency are second to none, but in the challenges that they all face, they need greater support to provide the service that our communities need and to support the volunteers who work with them to do so.

I would be grateful for the Minister’s response on the issues I have raised, particularly on extra support and guidance to train volunteers in helping to deal with mental health issues; on sustained funding and support post-lockdown, because things will not be returning to normal overnight; and on the delivery of an inclusive national grassroots football strategy, free from discrimination, that also supports local authorities in their key role in working with the FA and the Football Foundation in delivering the opportunities for the game on the ground.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

At the beginning of your speech, Seema Malhotra, you mentioned the tragic death of the nine-year-old lad from Lancashire, young Jordan Banks. On behalf of the Speaker and the British Parliament, I should like to send our condolences to his family, to all his team mates at Clifton Rangers junior football club and to all his friends. The hearts of the British Parliament, and our love, go to you all.

Kenyan Civil Service Pensions: Non-payment

Debate between Nigel Evans and Seema Malhotra

Monday 7th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. Before I call Seema Malhotra, I want to remind everybody of one of the more interesting procedures: because the debate started before 10 o’clock, the Adjournment has to be moved again at 10 o’clock, so do not be frightened when I call order at that time.

Aviation Sector

Debate between Nigel Evans and Seema Malhotra

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Seema Malhotra]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. She shows that families will look forward to Christmas with dread, rather than with aspiration and hope for the new year. In six months’ time, we could be seeing children who are preparing for exams after two years of disrupted education being evicted from their homes—that is the scale of what will happen. I request that the Government act quickly to ensure that we get support in place early and that we do not see a wait until November, when it could be too late.

A recent report by Oxford Economics has shown the scale of local jobs around Heathrow: 133,000 jobs are being directly and indirectly supported, including in the Prime Minister’s constituency. Following his response to a parliamentary question about membership of the expert steering group, however, I am concerned that the Minister is not hearing all the voices in aviation. Perhaps he will not mind if I write to him with additional suggestions for under-represented voices and academic voices that could be useful in thinking about the future of aviation.

In summary, I make five recommendations: working with employers, a flexible and targeted continuation of furlough to keep people in work until aviation recovers—other countries are doing it, and so should we. Business rates deferral has been called for by Heathrow—I have written to the Prime Minister about it; Heathrow has not said “waiver”, it has said “deferral”—to help with cashflow, which in turn will help other businesses. Reduced quarantine through increased testing will bring greater confidence to fly. I also recommend a slot waiver review, so that airlines are not penalised next year for being unable to use slots this year. Finally, I recommend investment for growth, including through a new communities fund.

That extension of furlough, however, should also be conditional. For example, Heathrow has issued its own section 188 notice and, on Dnata Catering, many employees have written to me to say that they are being forced to sign a new contract on reduced terms. Instead, those companies should be negotiating with their unions for a solution—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order.