Oral Answers to Questions Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Largan Excerpts
Thursday 17th December 2020

(4 years ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Craig Whittaker Portrait Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

What progress the Government have made on ensuring regional equality of economic opportunity.

Robert Largan Portrait Robert Largan (High Peak) (Con)
- Hansard - -

What progress the Government have made on ensuring regional equality of economic opportunity.

--- Later in debate ---
Amanda Milling Portrait Amanda Milling
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his question on the importance of employment in the Calder Valley. I am sure that he will be pleased to learn that the Conservative party will be personally boosting employment in West Yorkshire when we open our new headquarters in Leeds next year. More broadly, the Government have announced unprecedented support across the whole of Britain to help unemployed people find a job, including the £2 billion kickstart scheme for young people and the £2.9 billion restart programme to help those unemployed for more than a year. We are doubling the number of work coaches.

Robert Largan Portrait Robert Largan
- Hansard - -

High Peak has a covid case rate lower than the national average yet is in tier 3. This is having a very severe effect on our local hospitality industry, which is so central to our economy. Can the Minister assure me that she is working with colleagues across Government to provide all necessary support to those businesses and to work to get High Peak out of tier 3 as fast as possible?

Amanda Milling Portrait Amanda Milling
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is a very strong voice for his constituents in High Peak. Tier 3 restrictions were introduced based on evidence from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies about what was required to bring the R rate below 1 in a targeted way, thereby bringing transmission under control and reducing pressures on the NHS. Local authorities under tier 3 measures such as those in High Peak also receive additional funding for local public health initiatives to help to contain the spread of the virus and pave the way for local restrictions to be eased.