Russian Oil Import Ban

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I will have a go, and I will be very clear. Funnily enough, I was a Minister at the time when the written ministerial statement on hydraulic fracturing was made. The Government have always been clear that we will take a precautionary approach and support shale gas exploration if it can be done in a safe and sustainable way. That remains our position, and we will be evidence-led. That is what we wrote and said in 2019, and we are still committed to that.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. On oil prices, he will know that prices at the pumps are reaching £1.60 a litre. Hard-pressed motorists are paying over £16 more than a year ago and hauliers are paying more than £120 every time they fill up at the pumps, which is literally unaffordable for most people around the country. I recognise that the Government have done a lot with the fuel duty freeze, but the Irish Government have today announced a rebate of 20 cents on petrol and 15 cents on diesel. We must do the same. He must make the case to the Treasury, so he should not just fob me off. Will he introduce PumpWatch, as recommended by FairFuelUK, which would monitor prices from the big oil companies to ensure that motorists are not ripped off at the pumps when the petrol pump price rockets as the oil price goes high but goes down like a feather when the oil price lowers?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

No right hon. or hon. Member has done more for motorists over the last 12 years than my right hon. Friend. I completely hear his imploring the Treasury to help consumers. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor provided a wide range of measures that offer some support, but we are always happy to talk to him to see how we can improve the offer.

Gas Prices and Energy Suppliers

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Thursday 23rd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

The right hon. Member will know that, in 2020, 48% of our natural gas came from the UK continental shelf, so that is clearly a strong, sustainable source of gas to this country. However, I suggest to him that gas is a transition fuel: in our pursuit of net zero by 2050, we want to transition away from it. That is why we are developing carbon capture and hydrogen, as he knows very well.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Further to the question that my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) asked, surely the Conservative answer—I raised this the other day—is to reduce VAT on energy bills, as was pledged by those who supported Brexit in the EU referendum. I know that the Secretary of State will say that it is up to the Treasury to decide, but he is very persuasive. He is a tax-cutting Conservative—he believes in tax cuts—and I know that, if he went to see the Chancellor, he would ensure that we got a VAT cut on energy bills.

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I see the Chancellor on a regular basis, as my right hon. Friend knows, and I am delighted to inform him that those conversations tend to be confidential.

UK Gas Market

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 20th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I do not really follow the hon. Gentleman’s question. On the one hand, he is saying that I am a free marketeer, but then he is asking me whether I think there should be a state-owned energy company. I think I would avoid the latter outcome, in so far as I can, but as I always say in these things, we are looking at all options. I think that there are market-based solutions. I think that the industry will come together and that, with the Government and Ofgem, we can plot a course through this.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Alongside the increasing gas prices, consumers are facing a double whammy through increasing petrol prices, which, as FairFuelUK has pointed out, have gone up by 9-to-10p over the past six months. Will my right hon. Friend maintain the fuel duty freeze, which is vital for motorists and businesses? Will he also look at reducing VAT on energy bills, which is something that was indicated during the Brexit referendum debate? That would make a big difference to hard-pressed consumers.

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I would like to thank my right hon. Friend, but he has been in the House long enough to know that VAT and the fuel duty freeze are beyond my remit. However, as I have said many times, I speak to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor about these issues on a regular basis.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The right hon. Gentleman makes a vital point. It is not enough that we just look at our own behaviour here in the United Kingdom, where we are determined to meet our net-zero ambitions; we should also do all we can to lead the world in tackling the climate emergency. In our plans in the run-up to COP26, we have set out some really ambitious ideas for how we can not only work at home to decarbonise but help the rest of the world in their efforts to solve their own problems and behave better in the way they travel.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Hard-working Harlow binmen and women have been harassed and bullied in a pretty shocking way by Veolia management over many months. Will my hon. Friend launch an inquiry into what has been going on and ensure that guidance is given to local councils throughout the country to stop any new contracts with Veolia until it stops bullying and harassing its workforce?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. I am happy to meet him to hear more details on that matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Claire Perry]

It is news to me that the Labour party’s policy is to be anti the oil and gas industry that employs so many hundreds of thousands of people. And when it comes to rhetoric, the hon. Gentleman should just go and practise in front of the bathroom mirror. I am happy to share the facts with him again—[Interruption.] Perhaps he is going to ask me to get on my knees next, Mr Speaker. [Interruption.] What we do on the Government side of the House is focus on facts—[Interruption.] You know, Mr Speaker, the hon. Gentleman was very clear that he was not a misogynist bully boy; I think his activities and behaviour today suggests quite the opposite. If he would like me to answer the question——[Interruption.] The answer to the question is this: we have not slashed support for renewable energy. We are now moving to a point where renewable energy no longer requires subsidy to deploy. If the hon. Gentleman could just stop equating Government spending with success and look at the results, he will see that we do not subsidise things that we do not have to, which means we can focus on bringing other technologies to market.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

15. What assessment he has made of the potential role of new hospital projects in the industrial strategy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Richard Harrington)]

On the question of whether hospital projects should be part of the industrial strategy, I absolutely agree. They are part of an industry in an area—health campuses, science, research and development, and, not least, modular construction and everything in our construction sector deal.

[Robert Halfon]

Together with the £400 million move of Public Health England to Harlow by 2024, a brand-new healthcare hospital campus would make Harlow the health science capital of the UK. Will my hon. Friend work with the Treasury to support capital funding for the desperately needed new hospital in Harlow?

Good Work Plan

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Gentleman will know that the Scottish Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the future of working practices in Scotland was warm in its endorsement of the Taylor report’s key recommendations that we are implementing today. I therefore hope that he will continue to support it.

The hon. Gentleman mentions zero-hours contracts, which were the subject of one of Matthew Taylor’s central pieces of analysis. On the basis of rigorous and extensive research across all parts of the United Kingdom, he concluded:

“To ban zero hours contracts in their totality would negatively impact many more people than it helped.”

If we commission an independent report that has authority and depth of research and it makes such a clear recommendation, we ought to act on it. That is what we are doing in our response. The hon. Gentleman also mentioned the national living wage, but he did not refer to the fact that 117,000 people in Scotland have gained over £2,750 since its introduction. However, I note of course that the Scottish Government’s decision to increase taxes on working people has meant that over a million Scots are actually receiving less in take-home pay than they otherwise might. If we are looking at the welfare of workers in Scotland, we need to look at what they pay in tax as well.

It gives me no pleasure to point out to the hon. Gentleman that Scotland under the SNP has had the slowest rate of job growth of all the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. Indeed, if Scotland had matched the UK’s rate of job growth, nearly 200,000 more Scots would have a job. It is right to build on Matthew Taylor’s analysis of how to build on the success while extending protections. I look forward to working with Derek Mackay and the Scottish Government, because many aspects of the report, such as education policy, are relevant to people’s ability to earn more. Through our industrial strategy, we will work together, but a little more humility from the hon. Gentleman in his criticisms might be appropriate.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Amid all the Brexit fog, I have to say that this is the best news I have heard from the Government for weeks. This is an example of the Conservatives truly being the workers’ party of the United Kingdom, and I strongly welcome what the Secretary of State said about agency workers, because many constituents have suffered as a result of the Swedish derogation.

Turning to apprentices, a fifth of apprentice at levels 2 and 3 were not paid the apprentice minimum wage, which was highlighted by the Education Committee in our report on apprentices. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has prosecuted fewer than five employers, and Sir David Metcalf, the director of labour market enforcement, said that we should increase fines and seek more criminal prosecutions against the companies involved. On top of the excellent work that Sir David has done, will the Secretary of State ensure that apprentices’ rights are first and foremost in his work?

Leaving the EU: Airbus Risk Assessment

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 25th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The company has good relations with the trade unions and meets them regularly, as indeed do I. The hon. Lady should reflect that when the country took the decision to leave the European Union, there was always going to be a period before the negotiations were concluded when anxieties would be felt. Our purpose and determination is that those negotiations should be concluded so that there will be confidence to invest in the future and we can create many more jobs for her constituents.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Given what my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) said, and given Boeing’s £40 million investment, is it not important that we listen to all voices in this argument, rather than concentrating on one voice, which may have a different view about Brexit, disproportionately more than others?

[Greg Clark]

Companies in the aerospace sector—big and small—report very similar requirements: we should avoid frictions and tariffs. That is consistent with many other employers who create valuable jobs in this country. It is important that we listen to not just one voice but them all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are running late, but I am very keen to hear the voices of Harlow and of Washington and Sunderland West. We will begin with Harlow—I call Mr Robert Halfon.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

21. What plans his Department has to develop innovative projects through public-private partnerships.

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

The Department has no current plans to develop projects through public-private partnerships. There are a number of areas where the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy co-funds projects with businesses, including in the areas of innovation and skills.

[Robert Halfon]

Does my hon. Friend not agree that the public-private partnership between Harlow College and Stansted airport in building a skills academy is exactly the kind of public-private partnership that we should be following? Harlow will now be the skills capital of the east of England. Will he use the Harlow example for the rest of the country?

[Mr Gyimah]

My right hon. Friend is right: Harlow often leads the way in a number of areas, and I wish to congratulate him on the opening of the Stansted Airport College. The new apprenticeships build on the 1.3 million apprenticeship starts since May 2015.

Sainsbury and Asda Merger

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffiths]

The right hon. Gentleman will understand that any merger will be designed to improve efficiency, productivity and value for money for shareholders. So far, we have been given reassurances by Asda and Sainsbury’s that there will be no store closures and no job losses in stores. I cannot confirm to him as yet the impact that the merger will have on the head offices, other than to repeat the confirmation that we have been given that both head offices will be kept open. However, this is a decision for the CMA. I urge the right hon. Gentleman and other right hon. and hon. Members to bear in mind that the CMA will make a decision based on the evidence. If right hon. and hon. Members have evidence to contribute, they should make their case to the CMA to ensure that it considers all this on the facts.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his statement. In Harlow, we have an Asda and a Sainsbury’s, and many hundreds of local jobs depend on those supermarkets. Although the companies say today that there will be no job losses, my concern is that in a year or so’s time, when this has all been forgotten about, hundreds of jobs will suddenly be lost not just in stores, but in logistics centres, distribution centres and so on. We need guarantees that those jobs will not be lost.

[Andrew Griffiths]

My right hon. Friend is a doughty fighter for his constituents, and I understand that he will be lobbying hard to ensure that there are no job losses. I reassure him that some 330,000 people are employed by this joint, merged organisation. It is a huge employer. It has given us very strong reassurances about jobs in stores. I urge him to engage not only with the CMA in relation to this investigation, but with both Asda and Sainsbury’s to make those points strongly and forcefully, as he always does.

Higher Education

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

As we heard from the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), the Education Committee has been conducting an inquiry into value for money in higher education, which has included an investigation of the role of the Office for Students.

I support the OfS as the new regulator, and I will support the Government tonight. I have confidence in Sir Michael Barber, especially in the light of his appearance before the Committee. Members on both sides of the House who are present this evening will have heard what he said then. I was pleased to hear him speak so positively about the increase in the number of degree apprenticeships—two of my favourite words in the English language—but I am concerned about the lack of further education representatives on the board. I find it incredibly disappointing that that important part of our education sector is being neglected yet again. Further education and apprenticeships play a vital role in access to higher education for the most disadvantaged and are crucial to building the skills base and productivity of our country, but they are so often excluded from bodies of this kind.

[Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)]

The hon. Gentleman has made an important point about further education. Does he also recognise that a post-Brexit environment in which we are not absolutely committed to driving up skills in this country is not compatible with a determination to reduce immigration? For that reason as well as all the others, I am surprised that further education is not represented.

[Robert Halfon]

The right hon. Gentleman has also made an important point. Pre-Brexit or post-Brexit, skills must be the No. 1 priority for our country. We know that about 30% of young people’s jobs will be lost to automation by 2030.

When Sir Michael Barber appeared before the Education Committee on 27 March, we asked him whether he would like to

“give consideration to the lack of people with direct experience of FE and apprenticeship backgrounds on the board”.

On 5 April, we received a letter from him, in which he said:

“I recognise and agree with the clear message that was delivered on the importance of representation from the further education sector in our operations.”

He also said that the OfS would

“welcome high-quality applications from people with experience of the further education sector when the DfE launch their recruitment campaign for the current ‘ordinary member’ board vacancy.”

Our Committee was so concerned by the process of appointments to the board that we received a private briefing from the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Mr Peter Riddell, which laid bare some of the problems. I would welcome the appointment of a panel of apprentices alongside the OfS student panel to inform the work and ensure that the views of apprentices are properly listened to. Many further education students study for higher degrees and FE will take a leading role in degree apprenticeships. It is not right to say that students are involved only in traditional degrees and traditional higher education. Given the rapidly changing nature of higher education and the increase in the number of degree apprenticeships, it is crucial for the OfS board to be as diverse and representative as possible. The OfS should be leading the whole sector in its approach to embracing different models of higher education.

As I said, I shall support the Government this evening but I urge them to make it a priority to recruit a serious representative from further education, from the Association of Colleges or elsewhere, into the vacant position on the board.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do what it means when we talk about further education. For example, in Coventry there have been 27% cuts to further education budgets. What impact does that have on apprenticeships? More importantly, if we take that further and look at university education, UCU is in dispute with the Coventry University because it cannot get recognition. To come back to the point, it cannot get recognition in further education or in university education.

[Robert Halfon]

It is true that for a number of years FE funding was neglected. It has been stabilised, and I welcome the £500 million extra announced by the Government for the technical education reforms in a recent Budget, but further education needs a lot more funding. People say that it is the Cinderella sector, but I say that Cinderella became a princess and we should banish the ugly sisters of snobbery and intolerance.

[Neil O'Brien (Harborough) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is making a typically powerful and passionate speech. Does he agree with the small businesses that I met in my constituency last Friday, which say that as they use the new money in the apprenticeship levy for apprenticeships, they encounter problems with getting what they want out of FE colleges? Does he agree that, for that reason, it is very important that we have representation for them in this new body so that employers can also get what they want out of the new system?

[Robert Halfon]

I agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that one day FE colleges will lead the vast majority of apprentice training in our country. It is good to have some private providers, but further education has an incredibly important role. That is my whole point: skills and apprenticeships should be at the heart of the Office for Students. I sometimes think that the powers that be have a traditionalist approach to higher education and everything has to be about traditional university degrees. They forget further education, skills and apprenticeships.

I congratulate the Minister on his new role. I know that he is a very thoughtful Minister and has been travelling up and down the country; Sam on tour, as I have seen on Twitter. I urge him to take this seriously—Sir Michael Barber is open to it—and put an FE representative on the board, and ensure that we have an apprentice panel too.