UK Armed Forces (Iraq)

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Monday 15th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Are there any differences between the Secretary of State’s assessment of the training requirements of the Iraqi armed forces and the Iraqi Government’s own assessment of its training needs?

[Michael Fallon]

Broadly, no. All this is being done in close co-operation and discussion with the Iraqi Government. I had discussions with the new Iraqi Defence Minister and his officials in Baghdad, who were fairly open about gaps in their military, their capabilities and their equipment, and about the areas in which they look to the rest of the international community for assistance.

Afghanistan

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 27th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I know that he, too, had close family involved in the campaign. I have been focused on dealing with the draw-down from Afghanistan and ensuring that we have the right remaining balance of force there for 2015-16. I have not had time to look back as to when and where the equipment was provided in the right order. As I said to the House, no decision has yet been taken on the nature of any inquiry, but it is important that where there are military lessons to be learned from the campaign we do learn them, and reasonably quickly.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend rightly said in his statement that the major legacy of our intervention is that terrorists have been prevented from using Afghanistan as a launch pad for attacks on our streets, and all involved are to be hugely commended for that terrific achievement. But what we have not been able to do is prevent the flow of drugs and the poppy growing, which ends up killing young people on our streets in this country. He rightly says that that represents a generational challenge to us, but may I urge him to attach a top priority, now that the security situation is as good as we could possibly have left it in Afghanistan, to concentrate our efforts on tackling the problem of opium production there? It should be made a top priority for both his Department and the Department for International Development.

[Michael Fallon]

I am happy to take on the commitment to relay what my hon. Friend has said to my right hon. Friend the International Development Secretary. My hon. Friend rightly says that the increase in poppy production is a threat, not simply to the stability of Afghanistan, but to the west and to the streets of our own countries. We therefore have every interest in helping the new Government face up to that particular challenge.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

For the 150,000 posties who are now shareholders in Royal Mail, will the Secretary of State or the Post Office Minister tell us what the average value of their individual shareholdings was at flotation and what their average value is now?

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)]

It has undoubtedly increased, and we should all welcome that, particularly the commitment of Royal Mail employees to the future success of the company. Perhaps I shall write to my hon. Friend with the exact information he requests.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

5. How many regulations affecting small businesses the Government have (a) introduced and (b) removed since May 2010.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)]

The statement of new regulation, which we publish every six months, shows that since January 2011 we have introduced 57 regulatory measures, 135 deregulatory measures and 108 measures that have no net cost to business, many of which are deregulatory. That is saving British businesses nearly £1 billion a year. Small businesses, which account for 99% of all businesses, benefit in particular from the one in, one out rule—it is now the one in, two out rule—that drives this deregulation.

[Mr Hollobone]

I congratulate the Minister on his efforts to secure an exemption for micro-businesses from specific EU regulations. That will help small businesses in Kettering and across the country. What further efforts does he intend to make to secure more exemptions from harsh EU rules?

[Michael Fallon]

The EU business taskforce, which I chair, identified 30 regulations that should be repealed. We continue to press the Commission to lighten the rules for small businesses and to exempt the very smallest businesses altogether.

Royal Mail

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

This is not a monopoly market at the moment. There are companies competing in the marketplace, as they have to do under European law. This House has decided that there should be that competition in that particular way and has established Ofcom, for which the hon. Lady used to work, to supervise that competition.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Residents in the borough of Kettering and across Northamptonshire very much value their local post offices. Can the Minister confirm that those post offices will not form part of the Royal Mail privatisation, and indeed will be subject to record additional new investment? Can he also assure the posties who work in the Kettering delivery office that their terms and conditions will not change, and they will be entitled to free shares in up to 10% of Royal Mail?

[Michael Fallon]

I confirm that the Government are committing more than £1.3 billion to modernise the post office network and I can also confirm that all those eligible for Royal Mail shares—those employed by Royal Mail at the time of the statement on 10 July—will be eligible for free shares. More details will be published with the final share offer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 18th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

The regional growth fund makes grants not simply to projects and individual companies, but to programmes organised by local enterprise partnerships and other private sector organisations, many of which focus on improving the level of skills in these particular areas.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Would my right hon. Friend be kind enough to accept an invitation to visit the site of the proposed junction 10A on the A14 near Kettering, which has attracted the interest of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government? An investment of £30 million in the regional growth fund could trigger private sector investment of more than £1 billion.

[Michael Fallon]

Happily, I have not fully finalised my summer plans, so I shall add to them this visit to a motorway junction. [Laughter.] My hon. Friend makes a serious point: there is clearly a bottleneck that needs to be removed. I will see if I can accept my hon. Friend’s invitation.

Manufacturing (East Midlands)

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[Michael Fallon]

I will certainly try to work that into my diary, and I look forward to such a visit.

Let me turn to a couple of points mentioned. The regional growth fund is distributed not by ministerial allocation, but by competition. It is a competitive fund, as indeed is the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative. The fund is already helping to rebalance the economy, particularly by assisting areas that have been over-dependent on the public sector, and it is already unlocking private sector investment in the local economy.

The east midlands has had some strong successes under the fund. Derby city council’s £40 million business support scheme, which has been approved, will provide funds to support the growth of enterprises in Derby, creating nearly 1,000 direct jobs by 2015, to fund a global technology cluster and to enable redevelopment of the Derby railway technical centre. The Northamptonshire, Leicester, Leicestershire and D2N2 LEPs and Nottingham city council have all had conditional offers of support for programmes that will address local needs under the regional growth fund.

On the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative, we need strong manufacturing supply chains if we are to have more major manufacturers investing in the east midlands. We have invested in that initiative to bolster supply chain capacity, and the scheme has attracted bids involving major companies from across the country, including the east midlands. There was high demand in rounds 1 and 2; there were more than 70 bids with a total funding ask in excess of £300 million. That is why we announced, in the autumn statement, additional funding of £120 million for a further two rounds of the initiative. That further investment in advanced manufacturing supply chains underscores our ongoing efforts to create the right conditions for UK suppliers to grow and remain competitive on the world stage. It will be based around a single national funding pot that will be open to supply chain companies from across manufacturing sectors, including in the east midlands.

The Government have announced other recent investments to support economic growth in the east midlands, including £500 million to electrify the midlands main line north of Bedford; £160 million to dual the A453 in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, a key route between Nottingham and the M1, which businesses told us could simply not cope as a single-track road; and £22 million towards the work, which is now well under way, to provide a new dual carriageway linking Kettering and Corby. We have increased the numbers of apprentices, which have grown from 21,000 in 2009-10 to 39,610 in the east midlands, a rise of almost 90%. Significantly, apprenticeship starts in the engineering and manufacturing sectors have grown by 156% over the same period.

In conclusion, the Government are working hard to encourage and support British manufacturers, and to create the environment in which they can thrive and compete in a global marketplace. We want manufacturers in the east midlands to be our partners in achieving that economic transformation and in fulfilling a strategy that places world-class manufacturing at the heart of a healthy and rebalanced economy across the United Kingdom.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

From Wotsits to widgets, we have just about covered it all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Hollobone and Michael Fallon

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

Only the ideologues on the Labour Benches could possibly want to continue to block the access of this company to the private capital markets. Let us be clear: Parliament gave Ofcom a clear statutory duty to secure the provision of the universal service six days a week, and we expect it to carry that out. Ofcom’s consultation on delivery competition has now closed, and it will issue its guidance in the spring, subject to that duty to safeguard the universal service.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

8. What the tobacco industry exports which created 2% of Egypt’s sovereign debt owed to UK Export Finance were used for; when those exports were made; and whether they were to the Government of Egypt or to private companies.