Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I responded to the leader of the Scottish National party earlier in relation to RBS closures, which I think is what the right hon. Lady is referring to. She and others need to accept that people’s behaviour in relation to bank branches has changed over the years and there is less demand, but we have the access to banking standard in place. She referred to the bank levy. Let us be very clear: there is a bank levy, and there is also a corporation tax surcharge for banks. This Government are raising more money from the banks than the Labour Government ever did.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the UK’s community foundations, which have just reached the notable milestone of distributing £1 billion to local communities across the country? Does she agree that community foundations are a perfect example of her shared society, and that funds from dormant assets, once available, should be provided to them to continue their very important work?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to join my hon. Friend in congratulating community foundations across the UK. I was very pleased to be able to have a meeting with the chief executive of the Berkshire Community Foundation just a couple of weeks ago to hear about the excellent work it is undertaking in Berkshire. I know from what my hon. Friend has said that, across communities across the country, these are an important contributor to and an example of the shared society, as he says.

I understand the dormant accounts scheme has already distributed over £362 million for the benefit of good causes. There has been a report on possibly expanding the scheme, which would have the potential to build significantly on the success of the current scheme. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will be looking at this and will respond in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us hear Mr Peter Aldous.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

Q6. High streets across the country, including those in Lowestoft, Beccles and Bungay in my constituency are facing tough trading conditions at present, including the prospect of a 5.6% increase in business rates. Can the Prime Minister outline what the Government are doing to support traders to enable them to grow their businesses and create jobs?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue. There are real concerns about the hollowing out of some of our high streets and the number of empty properties. What we have done is double the small business rate relief scheme, and that has helped an estimated 330,000 small firms. We are also removing legal red tape that requires ratepayers to fill in paperwork to claim that relief, which is something that Labour refused to do when in office. From working with Mary Portas, we have a whole plan for how we can try to help reinvigorate our high streets, which is absolutely vital for our towns and cities across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

Q4. The East Anglian coast has some of the highest levels of deprivation in England and an urgent need for infrastructure development, but it has huge potential for creating jobs in the offshore renewables sector. Will the Prime Minister look again at the exclusion of the East Anglian coast from the £60 million allocated to establish offshore wind manufacturing at port sites, announced under the grant for business investment scheme last week?

[The Prime Minister]

There is a great opportunity for communities, especially coastal communities, to make the most of offshore wind, and I have spoken to several leading industrialists, who are thinking of investing in Britain, to ensure that the grants are there. As my hon. Friend will know, this grant scheme applies only to assisted areas. East Anglia is not an assisted area, but that does not rule out development taking place, and other sources of funding, such as the regional growth fund, can be applied to. I hope that he will look into those as he stands up for his community.