Budget Resolutions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

From a Waveney, a Suffolk and an East Anglian perspective, this Budget is very much a step in the right direction, but there is a great deal of work that remains outstanding and some anomalies that need to be corrected. Much good work is already under way. In Lowestoft, construction has already begun on two vital infrastructure projects—the Gull Wing bridge and the Lowestoft flood defence scheme—and East Suffolk Council is busy working out the details of the various projects that are included in the successful towns fund bid that was announced in the March Budget.

From a Suffolk perspective, the headline from the Budget was £1.7 billion of new, direct Government funding to enable a large-scale nuclear project to proceed, and they very much have Sizewell C in mind. This funding is linked to the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill, which has its Second Reading on Wednesday. Subject to the development consent order being granted, construction will begin next year on the project, which could bring enormous benefits to Suffolk people and businesses. It is vital that once the 12-year construction period has ended, we leave a lasting legacy of knowledge, skills and infrastructure.

Investment in infrastructure is important, but to achieve meaningful levelling up, we need to invest in people, so that they have the skills to secure the well-paid, exciting jobs that are emerging in the green economy and new technologies. It is welcome that the Government recognise that, are funding the lifetime skills guarantee, and are continuing to provide an education recovery fund. However, I have some concerns. There is no commitment to increasing per-student funding for adults. By the end of 2024-25, it will not have gone up for 14 years. There is also a worry that there is a lack of support for level 1 and 2 qualifications. Level 3 qualifications and T-levels have an important role to play, but we need to put these rungs on the ladder if as many people as possible are to embark on that lifetime learning journey.

In the short time remaining to me, I will briefly highlight two barriers that need to be removed if we are to deliver meaningful, enduring levelling up in the east of England. It was disappointing to learn that the New Anglia local enterprise partnership’s proposal for a regional fund had not been accepted. Along with the south-east and London, from which we are very different, we are now the only area in the UK without such a facility. In the same vein, it is concerning that page 56 of the Red Book explicitly states that the Government will invest in research, development and innovation outside London, the south-east and the east of England. Speaking from an East Anglian perspective, I strongly urge the Government to review that, as Suffolk and Norfolk are very different from London and the home counties. Failure to recognise that will undermine levelling up, particularly in coastal East Anglia, which I represent.