Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)]

At the start of topical questions before Christmas, may I wish everyone a very happy Christmas across the country?

Since our last oral questions, the spending review has announced the biggest affordable house building programme by a Government since the 1970s, delivering at least 400,000 affordable homes, and has confirmed that resources available to local government will be maintained in cash terms until 2020. We have agreed devolution deals with Liverpool and the west midlands. We have completed the Committee stage of the Housing and Planning Bill and Third Reading of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill. We will continue to develop new devolution deals with communities in order to devolve more power and resources right across the country.

[Oliver Colvile]

As my right hon. Friend might know, I am running a campaign to try to save the hedgehog. Will he ask his Department to provide guidance to local authorities on how to make gardens in new-builds more hedgehog-friendly and ensure that we can have a hedgehog superhighway?

[Greg Clark]

I know that this is a prickly issue for my hon. Friend, so let me come straight to the point. I will not be issuing guidance on the protection of hedgehogs, but I draw Members’ attention to the excellent publications of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. I recommend its guide to looking after hedgehogs to any hon. Member who wishes to curl up this Christmas and read it.

Housing and Planning Bill

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Monday 2nd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I will indeed. I have been clear about the constructive approach we intend to take, as exemplified in our dealings with housing associations. I think it is incumbent on all councils, including Labour councils, to play their part. This is an imperative for all of us in positions of political leadership to do what is needed to provide homes for the next generation.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Oliver Colvile]

We are talking about aspiration, but does my right hon. Friend recall that Herbert Morrison, the Housing Minister and Peter Mandelson’s grandfather, said in 1945 that his Labour Government would end up trying to

“build the Tories out of London”?

[Greg Clark]

He did indeed say that. Our approach is to make sure that our period of government is associated with one of the successes that every successful Conservative Government achieve, which is to house the people of our country for generations to come.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Tuesday 6th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The benefits of growth deals go beyond their particular location and help improve the economic prospects of the whole area. The hon. Gentleman is fortunate in Wiltshire in having the rail Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), as an important advocate for such schemes. The important point is that they are bottom-up and they are proposed by local people.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to devolve power to cities and metropolitan areas.

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

Cities and their surrounding counties and districts prosper together, which is why I am delighted that the Plymouth city deal, signed last year, also includes businesses and councils in Devon and Cornwall. By opening up South Yard in Devonport to create a commercial marine engineering centre, high-quality jobs will be created not only in Plymouth, but across the south-west.

[Oliver Colvile]

I thank my right hon. Friend for coming down to Plymouth to sign our city deal this time last year. Plans for a maritime industrial campus are at a good stage, and we would very much welcome his coming down to have a look at them. To give an extra boost to that city deal proposal, I urge him also to speak with the Treasury about ensuring that we have an enterprise zone in that part of the dockyard.

[Greg Clark]

I am keen to see South Yard be a success—I am certain that it will be. Many of the advantages of an enterprise zone are already available to councils, through simplified planning rules and discounts on business rates, but I will of course study my hon. Friend’s proposal in detail.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point. One of the sadnesses of the tendency to suck power away from our great cities to Westminster and Whitehall is that it reduces the authority and the influence of the leaders of the cities, towns and counties. Empowering the cities and getting them to enjoy their renaissance is a powerful incentive for people to come forward with the ambition and aspiration to lead them, and that is what we are doing.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

12. My right hon. Friend very kindly gave a city deal to Plymouth earlier this year. Does he agree that, in order to maximise it, we have to make sure that we have good transport links down into the south-west?

[Greg Clark]

I agree. It was a delight to be at the Devonport dockyard to sign the Plymouth city deal in the company of my hon. Friend. Of course, the south-west relies on good transport connections. He will know that the south-west growth deal included a lot of investment in roads. He was kind enough to come to Exeter for the signing of that deal. I encourage him to work with his local enterprise partnership to put forward the best new projects for what I hope will be the next round of growth deals.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Thursday 11th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to increase access to higher education.

[The Minister for Universities, Science and Cities (Greg Clark)]

Last year, the Chancellor announced that we would remove the cap on the number of university places in 2015-16 so that no bright person who wants to study at a higher level should be turned away. The Government have also put in place a new framework placing more responsibility on higher education institutions to widen access, and that approach is paying off, with more young people admitted to university this year than ever before and a big increase in the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

[Oliver Colvile]

Earlier this year, the Government announced plans to create a further education college for nuclear engineering. As my right hon. Friend will know, not only is Devonport home to an engineering university technical college, but its dockyard deals with the refitting and refuelling of nuclear submarines. As he might also know, it faces a real challenge with Hinkley C. What progress is he making in introducing either higher or further education for engineers?

[Greg Clark]

From the work we did on the Plymouth city deal, I know that my hon. Friend is fully apprised of the need to invest in skills in Plymouth. The Government are working with the Nuclear Industry Council to determine the remit and location of a national nuclear college, and we hope to announce some progress later in the year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Colvile and Greg Clark

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

That is precisely what the local growth deal provides the opportunity to do. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), for their assiduity in making sure that AstraZeneca in particular has maintained its commitment to Cheshire and to the north-west, securing 300 jobs just in recent weeks. I expect this to be at the heart of the deal that is proposed by the LEP.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

2. What powers might be devolved to Plymouth as part of his city deals scheme.

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

Negotiations to conclude the Plymouth city deal continue to progress well. The proposals seek to bring into use new employment space for Plymouth’s growing marine sector, to deliver tailored business support to small businesses and to get young people into the jobs that will result. Negotiations are at an advanced stage, and I am hopeful that we will be able to agree this important city deal in the near future.

[Oliver Colvile]

Is my right hon. Friend also aware that in awarding Plymouth city deal status, along with £10 million to decontaminate part of the South Yard in the Devonport dockyard, the Government will not only be helping to create a marine energy park but in turn be helping to deliver 10,000 new jobs?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is right, and he has been a formidable champion for the proposed city deal. All the members of the LEP and the local authorities, including across the Tamar in Cornwall, came to make an impressive pitch on 31 October, and my hon. Friend has been to see me. It is an exciting proposal that builds on the strengths that we know exist in Plymouth and the whole of the south-west peninsula to serve a globally growing sector of marine engineering. I certainly wish it well, and I hope that we will have good news before very long.