Levelling Up

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Monday 20th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jacob Young]

What an amazing champion for the people of Dewsbury— I am not sure that any Member of Parliament for Dewsbury has ever delivered as much investment as my hon. Friend. I would be delighted to visit his constituency to see some of those projects, and I will do so as soon as I am available.

[Mr Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

Greenfield, around which the Delyn constituency bid was structured, is in the top 10% of areas of deprivation in Wales. As the constituency bid has again been unsuccessful, making a total of seven unsuccessful bids across both Delyn and Alyn and Deeside, which together make up my county council area of Flintshire, can the Minister explain to the people of Greenfield and Flintshire why, just like the Welsh Government, the UK Government do not seem to care about their future prosperity? If they do, will he at least take this opportunity to approve the joint Flintshire and Wrexham investment zone bid?

[Jacob Young]

As I said in my statement, we have delivered more than £1 billion of funding in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland across all three rounds of the levelling-up fund. I am disappointed to hear my hon. Friend’s question, as he knows all too well that this Conservative Government care about the people of Wales.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill: Programme (No. 2)

Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(9)),

That the Order of 17 May 2023 in the last session of Parliament (Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill: Programme) be varied as follows:

(1) Paragraphs (4) and (5) of the Order shall be omitted.

(2) Proceedings on Consideration and Third Reading shall be taken in one day in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

(3) Proceedings on Consideration—

(a) shall be taken in the order shown in the first column of the following Table, and

(b) shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the times specified in the second column of the Table.

Budget Resolutions

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

The Budget and the contents within it for Wales bring together an ambitious programme of renewal that will generate jobs and level up local communities. Going forward, Wales will see a record £18 billion a year, the largest annual funding settlement since devolution began, helping to level up across the whole United Kingdom. Wales will also benefit from UK-wide support for people, businesses and green jobs, and investment to level up all the opportunities before them. There will also be targeted UK funding to support local infrastructure improvements and investment in communities in the form of the £121 million outlined in the allocation of the levelling up fund, with further rounds to follow. I remain hopeful that the Labour-run Flintshire County Council, the local authority area in which Delyn sits, will have prepared a bid for the next round of funding, having decided not to bother with applying for constituency-level funding in this round.

Infrastructure improvements will hopefully include a new train station at Greenfield. That was a key pledge during my election campaign in order to level up the Holywell area of Delyn and would bring constituents there closer to the job opportunities that exist in the wider north Wales and north-west of England economic region. The Chancellor set out a plan to deliver the priorities of the British people by investing in stronger public services, levelling up opportunity, driving business growth and helping working families with the cost of living and owning their own homes.

In calendar year 2019, the average UK constituency built 246 new properties; in Delyn, the figure was 29% lower. In 2020, the average constituency built 189 new properties; in Delyn, the figure was 34% lower. So far in 2021, the average constituency has built 180 new homes; in Delyn, just 74 have been built, which is almost 60% less than the average. The Welsh Government Minister told me that housing is her top priority. With figures demonstrating that it is only getting worse year on year, I hate to think what the details look like for things that are not her top priority. Hopefully, with the Welsh Government having significant new funding available, they will up their game and be as ambitious as the UK Government.

As part of the spending plans, there is on average a 2.6% rise in the Welsh Government’s budget each year. With the Welsh Government set to receive about £120 a head for every £100 of per-person equivalent UK Government spending in England, the old Labour argument that “Westminster does not send us enough money”, which was questionable before, is downright ludicrous now. That is another of Labour’s excuses for poor Government in Wales out the window.

I echo the Chancellor’s sentiments and it is worth quoting them:

“we have a choice: do we want to live in a country where the response to every question is ‘What are the Government going to do about it?’, where every time prices rise, every time a company gets in trouble, every time some new challenge emerges, the answer is always that the taxpayer must pay? Or do we choose to recognise that Government has limits?”—[Official Report, 27 October 2021; Vol. 702, c. 286.]

I could not have been happier to hear that from him.

Given not only the economic challenges of the past 18 months but the ongoing societal challenges, perhaps it is time to revisit the traditional three Rs of education. Of course, we still need reading, writing and arithmetic, but I venture that to build back better from the pandemic both financially and in terms of community coherence, we need a focus on a new set of three Rs: respect, responsibility and resilience. The Budget has the potential to help the people of Delyn and north Wales enormously, and it will undoubtedly help the United Kingdom to build back better as a strong Union of equals.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Monday 19th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

As a son of Wolverhampton, I know the city well and I wish it well. It is absolutely right that we need to build more homes in our town and city centres, and that is what the Government are doing. That is why we brought forward changes to permitted development, why we created the right to demolish and rebuild a building, and why we are bringing forward reforms to modernise the planning system. That is the way we protect the green belt for future generations. From Wolverhampton and the Black Country, one has to drive only a few miles into the most beautiful countryside of Shropshire and south Staffordshire. I want to preserve that, which is exactly what our planning reforms will do.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

I was enthused to hear recently that a positive discussion is ongoing with the Welsh Government about a freeport in Wales. Does the Secretary of State agree that a freeport would be massively beneficial, particularly if it spreads the entire length of north Wales, taking into account its borders at the port of Holyhead, as well as manufacturing centres in Wrexham, Deeside and Delyn, to drive forward economic benefits for our entire region?

[The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government (Luke Hall) [V]]

Yes, we want to establish at least one freeport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as soon as possible, and negotiations with the devolved Administrations are ongoing. Freeports will benefit and regenerate communities across the country. They act as national hubs for international trade, innovation and commerce, bringing together ports, local authorities, businesses, stakeholders and the community, to boost prosperity and opportunity for the region. We want to see progress, and it is in the interests of Welsh businesses and communities to benefit from that policy as quickly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Monday 22nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Luke Hall]

Of course, we are working closely with the Cabinet Office on the delivery of the elections and the census. We have provided extra funds to make sure they can be delivered safely, and we have published guidance alongside that as well. We have also committed, for the coming year, £11 billion directly to councils since the start of the pandemic, of which Cambridge City Council has so far received more than £5.4 million. On top of that, it will have the additional funding to help it deliver elections, and its share of the £1.55 billion that we have announced to help with covid-related pressures next year, including election pressures.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Con)]

  I welcome the upcoming leasehold reform legislation, but I do worry that the provisions may not apply for the benefit of my constituents in Delyn and across Wales. Will my right hon. Friend tell us what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government to assist them in ensuring that my constituents are not left behind by Labour once again?

[Robert Jenrick]

My hon. Friend is right to welcome the landmark reforms that we announced earlier in the year, which will be the biggest changes to English property law for over 40 years. Of course, I would like to see them apply in Wales as well, and we have had conversations with colleagues in the Welsh Government. I strongly encourage them to take the same approach as us, which is to ensure there is always fairness for leaseholders, and that those reforms come into place across the whole of England and Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rob Roberts Excerpts

Monday 15th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

Yes, I can. Well planned, well designed, locally led garden communities play a vital role in helping to meet this country’s housing need well into the future. As we announced at Budget 2020, the Government have demonstrated their support for the Aylesbury garden town through a £170 million housing infrastructure fund award, which should help to unlock its full potential.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Con)]

What plans he has to help support people to buy their own home.

[The Minister for Housing (Christopher Pincher)]

First Homes, our new flagship home ownership programme, will discount homes by at least 30% for local people and first-time buyers, reducing income and deposit requirements. We recently closed our consultation on First Homes, and we will publish our response very soon. This will add to other Government-backed schemes, including Help to Buy, which have supported over 627,000 households since 2010.

[Rob Roberts [V]]

Around this time last year, a friend of mine purchased a property as a first-time buyer. On a purchase price of £275,000, he paid £3,700 in land transaction tax, which is the Welsh equivalent of stamp duty. Had he completed his purchase just eight miles away, across the border in England, he would not have paid any stamp duty at all. I commend my right hon. Friend, along with the Treasury, for this policy to assist first-time buyers, but will he join me in calling on the Welsh Government to raise the threshold for first-time buyers to £300,000 to mirror England so that young people are not incentivised to move out of my beautiful constituency?

[Christopher Pincher]

My hon. Friend is right; Delyn is a beautiful constituency. He is also right to point out that stamp duty or land transaction tax in Wales is a devolved matter. The Welsh Government are not particularly successful at building houses, including social homes. I think they have built fewer than 140 in the last five years, so the message to the Welsh Government is: could do a little better. But I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that in England, stamp duty relief means that 80% of first-time buyers will pay no stamp duty at all, and cuts the price for 95% of those who do pay the tax. This relief has benefited over 500,000 people since its introduction three years ago.