National Infrastructure Plan

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Danny Alexander

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I wholeheartedly believe in rebalancing the economy, which is why we are investing in infrastructure: £45 billion a year was invested in infrastructure in the first three years of this Parliament, compared with an average of £41 billion a year in the previous Parliament. Rebalancing the economy is about investing in infrastructure and the skills of our work force, and about supporting vital industries, such as the automotive and aerospace sectors, as we are again doing in this plan. The industrial strategy set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has played a very important role in rebalancing the economy. It will, however, be a long-term job to get away from the very unbalanced economy—all focused on London and the City—left to us by the hon. Lady’s party.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Thousands of houses are being built in and planned for the borough of Kettering, but the town of Kettering will grind to a halt under all the extra traffic unless new junction 10A is built on the A14. The junction would cost £30 million, but it would generate £1 billion of economic benefit to the local area under the Treasury’s Green Book rules. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, and the lobbying of the Departments for Communities and Local Government, for Business, Innovation and Skills and for Transport, the funding has not been forthcoming. Will my right hon. Friend agree to meet me and a delegation from Kettering to see how we can solve the problem?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 14th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady comments on affordable social housing, but I note that during Labour’s 13 years in office the amount of social housing fell by 421,000. This Government’s policies will increase the amount of social housing by 200,000—a record on which she should compliment us. On the mortgage indemnity guarantee, offering support to many households who cannot afford the large deposits now required is a thoroughly good thing, and by involving the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England in a review after three years we also have a guarantee of financial stability.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

The Government’s fiscal and other policies have cut the deficit by one third, helping to keep interest rates low. What would happen to the housing market and domestic mortgage costs were interest rates to rise, even by just 1%?

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and he will know that if mortgage rates increased by 1% it would add more than £10 billion a year to the costs for British households—not a consequence any of us on the Government Benches would welcome.

Public Service Pensions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Members of trade unions do indeed have that right, and it will be for the unions to decide their individual processes. I made clear in my statement that the negotiations on the heads of terms had been completed, that this was the Government’s final position, and that we were proceeding to draft legislation on that basis.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Most of my constituents will never have access to a public sector pension, and if they have any private sector pension provision, it is likely to be neither guaranteed nor linked to inflation. Given that the cost of public sector pensions is now £32 billion a year and has increased by a third over the last 10 years, should not the agreement be warmly welcomed? Without it, we would leave a huge pension liability to be paid off by our children and grandchildren in the future.

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman has described the position precisely. Over the next 20 or 30 years, the agreement will save taxpayers, including his constituents, tens of billions of pounds which it will be possible to use for other purposes. I recognise that many of his constituents in the private sector do not have access to pension provision, and I hope that that problem can be addressed, not least by means of the NEST scheme.

Public Service Pensions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Danny Alexander

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I think that it would be in the national interest to have a proper cross-party consensus on today’s proposals. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the increases in longevity. By linking the normal pension age to the state pension age we can ensure that the taxpayer is protected from that in future, because as longevity increases, the state pension age can be changed. That is the right way to protect pensions, rather than the previous Government’s cap and share arrangement, which would have meant complex negotiations every three years. That would have resulted in both increases in contributions and reductions in benefits every three years. By setting out this scheme now, we have one that can last for 25 years without the need for further negotiation.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

In the private sector, where most people work, getting an annual pension of £10,000 typically requires a pension pot of £200,000, which would buy a very nice house in Kettering. Does the Chief Secretary share my concern that many public sector workers seem to think that private sector provision is far more generous than it actually is?

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman is right about that, and he makes an important point. Part of the reason for setting out some of the information about pension pots today is precisely to widen public understanding of the comparison. That is not to do down public sector workers—in fact, what we are setting out today is a properly positive and generous offer to them—but we are making it clear that there is a wide gulf and we need to raise standards in the private sector too.

Public Spending

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Danny Alexander

Thursday 17th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady will know that it is a foundation trust which is coming to the Government for additional funding. She may not be aware, however, that consent for the project was given on 10 March 2010, so it is within this period. Of course I accept that the decision will be very disappointing for people who have worked on the project for that time—I do not wish to belittle that at all—but in the context of the economic situation that we face and the decisions that we have to make, it is right and proper to judge such projects on the strict value-for-money and affordability grounds that we have applied.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Which factors convinced the Chief Secretary to cancel the local authority business growth incentives scheme?

[Danny Alexander]

It was the fact that there is no substantive evidence that it has had any effect on doing the job that it was supposed to do or set out to do—to encourage local authorities to work with business.