Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Kemi Badenoch)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that the Government will need to ensure that revenue from motoring taxes keeps pace with the change away from petrol and diesel vehicles so that we can continue to fund infrastructure such as the A3, which she mentions. I am sure that colleagues in the Department for Transport can speak about her petition specifically, but I would like to reassure her and her constituents that this Government will continue to focus on record, unprecedented investment in the strategic roads network over this Parliament, through the £27.5 billion road investment strategy, which will deliver about 70 major upgrades.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab) [V]]

Does the Chancellor have confidence in the Financial Conduct Authority’s ability to appropriately regulate and sanction companies that defraud their investors? Furthermore, does he believe that if it is found that the regulator has failed to prevent this fraudulent activity, the Government have a duty to compensate?

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

It is absolutely clear that there are significant lessons for the FCA to learn from the Gloster review, and I have regular conversations, including just last week, with the new chief executive on the transformation programme. He has employed five new senior executives to drive that programme forward urgently, and I look forward to seeing the results of that intervention.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ms Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

What fiscal steps he is taking to tackle unemployment as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

What fiscal steps he is taking to support people unable to return to work as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak)]

Through the coronavirus job retention scheme and the self-employment income support scheme, the Government have protected 9.4 million jobs and supported the incomes of 2.7 million self-employed. I remain committed to helping the unemployed return to work and supporting those who are most vulnerable to job loss. We will continue to monitor economic conditions to ensure our labour market policy response is both appropriate and effective.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rishi Sunak]

The interventions in France and Germany related to specific companies, so it obviously would not be appropriate for me to comment on those in this place at this time. The support put in place in the US was primarily to support domestic connectivity. This Government have done that by subsidising considerably our bus network and our rail network to make sure that intra-Union connectivity remains through this crisis.

[Rosie Cooper [V]]

Will the Government abandon their one-size-fits-all wind-down of the furlough and self-employed schemes and adopt a targeted strategy that acknowledges that hotel workers, chefs and self-employed lighting technicians cannot and should not be treated in the same way as workers in sectors that are already back at full capacity?

[Rishi Sunak]

The most important thing for all these sectors is for them to be safely reopened. That is why I am delighted that last weekend we were able to meet the target set out in our reopening plan. The Prime Minister has spoken about reopening our remaining closed sectors in the coming weeks, which is welcome news. The hon. Lady is right that these sectors have faced hardship. That is why, as I said, they have received considerable extra support from the Government in the form of business rates holidays and cash grants.

Covid-19: Economic Package

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We go over to the wonder of Lancashire, with Rosie Cooper.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab) [V]]

As a result of the loss of income through both fundraising and small service charges, many small and local charities will be struggling financially despite being heavily involved and active in the covid-19 response and in supporting constituents. When will the Chancellor issue guidance to local authorities on providing grants to charities that are in receipt of local charitable rate relief but have up to now been excluded from securing the £10,000 grants from the small business grants fund?

[Rishi Sunak]

Just over a week or so ago, we outlined plans for a top-up fund for local authorities worth more than £600 million nationally so that they could distribute further rate relief to the businesses that they thought were appropriate. Indeed, it would be up to those local authorities to make the decisions and they could well use the money for that purpose if they so wished.



We also unveiled a £750 million package to support charities through this crisis. They are an important part of the social fabric of our country. Charities are impacted in the same way that businesses and the rest of us are, and it is important that we maintain them through this crisis, not least for the valuable work that they do on the front line, but also for the contribution they make to our civic society as we come out of this.

Public Sector Pay Cap

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I see that the Father of the House is leaving the Chamber, but I hope that the calm and serenity that he brought to the Chamber will linger with us for some time to come.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

This issue is also about fairness—a word I have heard repeatedly. Liverpool clinical commissioning group paid themselves increases of between 15% and 81%, with a non-executive getting £105,000. An NHS investigation has confirmed that that is far outside the rules, yet the accountable officer and governing body have not been held to account. Does that send a message from the Government to the NHS that people can do what they want, that anarchy rules and that the pay cap will be applied selectively and is not fair?

[Elizabeth Truss]

It is very important that all public sector bodies stick within the rules.

Finance (No. 2) Bill

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

May I just say that we are raising a matter where a Member is being discussed? I presume that they are aware that this matter was going to be raised as a point of order.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Like my hon. Friends, I think that we, as members of the Health Committee, need the advice of your good self as to how we can address the distorted report of events at the private sitting of the Committee without falling foul of the very convention that prevents this. Conservative members of the Health Committee have previously been referred to the Liaison Committee by a vote in the Committee, and here we have it again. How do we defend ourselves?

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Does anyone else want to speak on this matter?

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2015 Commons Chamber

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked—

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

1. What recent estimate Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has made of the amount of uncollected tax in the UK.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

4. What recent estimate Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has made of the amount of uncollected tax in the UK.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

HMRC published its latest tax gap estimates on 16 October 2014. In 2012-13, the tax gap was estimated at £34 billion, 6.8% of total tax due.

[Rosie Cooper]

I thank the Minister for those figures. Will he confirm that HMRC’s own figures show that under this Government the amount of uncollected tax has risen by £3 billion?

[Mr Gauke]

The number I quoted a moment ago, 6.8%, is a lower percentage of tax due than was achieved in any year under the previous Government.

Fuel Prices

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

More than 100,000 people have added their names to an e-petition, and they and many millions more want to know whether the Government are prepared to listen to them and take the necessary action to ease the burden on hard-working families and businesses and, indeed, on our struggling economy. Out of that desire for action, and to support people in my constituency, I added my name to the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (Mr Watts) that called on the Government to reverse their VAT increase and, in doing so,

“cut 3p off a litre of petrol”.

[Nick Smith]

Very shortly, the Chancellor will give his autumn statement, so does my hon. Friend agree that that is a terrific opportunity for the Government to signal a temporary cut in VAT that will both help drivers and boost our economy?

[Rosie Cooper]

I do indeed, because the general public are simply not interested in any more words, any more knockabout, or any more “he said, she said”. They have signed up in their thousands for action to reduce the cost of fuel and its impact on families and businesses. Study after study shows that transport is integral to an individual’s ability to access employment opportunities and to take part in social and cultural activities. For many people, access to transport is the difference between social exclusion and social inclusion. I could give examples from my West Lancashire constituency that illustrate that the cost of fuel has a significant impact on people, whether they live in urban or rural areas.

The sixties town of Skelmersdale was designed with the car as king. There is no railway station or pavement system to allow people to walk across town, and public transport services are limited. That means that residents rely on their car to get to work and to get around. In many cases, workers are forced to use taxis to travel to work, and if fuel costs increase, residents in those hard-pressed areas must decide whether travelling to work is financially viable.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Is my hon. Friend concerned, as I am, that the policy of the Department for Work and Pensions of forcing unemployed people to look for work within a radius of 90 miles might be undermined by the fact that fuel costs are so high?

[Rosie Cooper]

In my constituency, to be forced to look for work within 9 miles is darn near impossible because there is no transport infrastructure.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I think that the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) meant to say that it was 90 minutes, rather than 90 miles, which is quite a significant difference.

[Rosie Cooper]

Fine: my answer remains the same.

There are many rural communities in West Lancashire, and in those areas, public transport is almost non-existent. The main services in villages have closed down, so people have to travel to the main towns to shop, to go to the doctors or to go to work. They rely on their car to get about or, in the case of some older people, on the kindness of a friend to give them a lift. Yet again, if people cannot run their car because of costs, that has a negative effect on all aspects of their life. I am concerned about the impact on both the young and older people in rural communities, as they may become ever more isolated, making them more vulnerable. How do pensioners on a fixed income that has been stretched to the limit find the extra money to cope with further fuel increases?

Some people argue that a reduction in fuel duty and thus fuel prices would mean an increase in the number of journeys and carbon emissions. I absolutely understand that argument, which reflects the fact that there is a difficult balance between our desire to tackle climate change and enabling people to go about their daily business, go to work, support their family, and run their company. Simply pricing people out of their car is not a real solution, especially in areas such as West Lancashire, where there is no real alternative in place.

It strikes me that with a flatlining economy, rising unemployment and businesses unwilling to invest because of the current uncertainty, now is exactly the time for flexibility and common sense. People like those living in West Lancashire—hard-working families and local businesses employing people—are looking to the Government to help them out just a little. They want help to ease that burden, and it is probably the least they are owed, after broken promises to introduce a fuel duty stabiliser, a failure to scrap the planned fuel duty increase and a decision to increase VAT. It is time for social justice and fairness. It is time for the Government to listen and to act. People want them to do it, and to do it now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Miss Smith]

I know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is looking into exactly this and we shall be reporting back on it.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

9. How many firms have participated in the national insurance holiday for new businesses.

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

As of 25 October 2011, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs had received 8,761 successful applications for the national insurance contributions holiday. A breakdown of information by constituency on the amounts claimed and jobs supported for the first year of the scheme will be published shortly in a factsheet in the House of Commons Library.

[Rosie Cooper]

Could the Minister tell the House how much of the £1 billion allocated for the national insurance holiday has actually been given to businesses?

[Mr Gauke]

As I say, we will be updating the House with all those details shortly, but there are 1,600 or so businesses in the north-west region that are benefiting from it. I visited one of them not far from her constituency a few weeks ago which was very appreciative of the scheme. Where the scheme is available, I encourage hon. Members to highlight it to their constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 8th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vernon Coaker (Gedling) (Lab)]

7. What objectives he has set for the outcome of his discussions to limit the bonuses paid to bankers.

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

13. What objectives he has set for the outcome of his discussions to limit the bonuses paid to bankers.

[Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)]

15. What objectives he has set for the outcome of his discussions to limit the bonuses paid to bankers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hoban]

The hon. Gentleman should remember the words of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who said that the bank payroll tax did not work. Labour Members went into the last election ruling out a bank levy; they would not take the action that we have taken to ensure that banks pay a fair contribution to the costs they pose to the economy.

[Rosie Cooper]

My constituents are appalled that the general attitude of the Government seems to be to withstand all criticism and not to deal with the real problem by making bankers accountable for what they are doing and pay their fair share. We are not all in it together.

[Mr Hoban]

I find that quite rich coming from Labour—the party that gave Fred Goodwin his knighthood. The reality is that under our bank levy the banking sector will pay more every year than it paid in one year under the bank payroll tax. That is the action that this Government have taken to ensure that banks pay their fair contribution towards the Exchequer.