Knife Crime

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Monday 4th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

First, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support of the multi-agency public health approach. I hope we will have his full support for that when it comes forward in Parliament. He talked about the importance of resources. He said that there is a piecemeal increase in resources, but the increase in police resources is hugely significant—it is up to £970 million, which is almost double what was there the year before and the biggest increase since 2010—and the £220 million on early intervention is a significant increase.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

The hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez) rightly said that we need a step change in response to this national emergency. There are two starting points for the Home Secretary: first, he needs to brief the Health Secretary on what a public health response to this epidemic is, and secondly, he needs to advise the Prime Minister to convene Cobra, so that we can focus properly on this issue.

[Sajid Javid]

If we take all the responses, especially in the last two years and since the adoption of the serious violence strategy, it is a step change. As I said earlier, I really wish that just one single thing could be done, but this requires action on multiple fronts. That is why the public health approach is so important. The Department of Health and Social Care is an important partner in that, and the Health Secretary understands that.

Steel Industry

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Thursday 26th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. The provision of trade credit is a commercial matter for Tata, but I am confident from what I have seen that the company can identify solutions. We are monitoring the situation very closely.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s reassurance that Tata remains committed to being a responsible seller. Will he confirm that Tata has responsibilities in relation to the pension scheme and that we will make sure that it delivers on them, in partnership with other stakeholders, in order to deliver the Secretary of State’s stated aspiration that no pensioner will be worse off after the process is completed?

UK Steel Industry

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Tuesday 12th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman might hear more from the Minister for Defence Procurement in the coming days, but I can tell him that the two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers are being built with almost 100,000 tonnes of British steel, that Crossrail, the biggest construction project in Europe, is using almost exclusively British steel for its 26 miles of tunnels, and that 96% of Network Rail’s spending on steel rail goes directly to British firms. It buys 1,500 miles of steel rail every year from Tata in Scunthorpe. That is enough to build a two-track line from London to Edinburgh.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I certainly agree that Network Rail provides a case study in how to do procurement, and it is to be commended. However, we need to ensure that the DONG energy contract for developing the North sea wind farm, which will be the second biggest in the world, will use UK steel. What progress is the Secretary of State making with his colleagues to ensure that that happens?

[Sajid Javid]

We have had meetings with that particular company and many others in a similar situation. The hon. Gentleman will know that many of them are private companies and therefore not subject to all the rules around procurement, but there are ways of trying to encourage them to invest more in British steel, and that is exactly what is happening.

The question of trade defence instruments was raised earlier, and the hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) mentioned the point as well. We have been working hard on this issue at EU level, and that work began long before this crisis broke. I hear a lot in this House about ideology, but I am just interested in one thing: what actually works. When evidence shows that tariffs against unfair trade will make a difference without harming British businesses or British consumers, I will always support them. That is why last July the UK voted to impose a 16% tariff on wire rod; since those duties were imposed, imports from China have fallen by as much as 90%.

In November, we voted to impose a 28% tariff on seamless pipes; since those duties were imposed, imports from China have gone down 80%. In January, we voted to impose an 11% tariff on rebar, and since then, imports of that particular steel product have fallen by a massive 99%. In February, we voted for a 15% tariff on cold rolled flat products, and that move has already reduced imports from China to almost nothing. This is real action with real tariffs and they are making a difference for British steelworkers.

UK Steel Industry

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Monday 11th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Where jobs are sadly lost in any industry, especially on a large scale, we should look at ways of regenerating the local area. We talked earlier about the sad loss of jobs in Redcar. One of the pieces of work that Lord Heseltine is leading on is how we can attract more inward investment and what tools we can use to regenerate such areas and create more jobs.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

May I pay tribute to all the people who have worked hard in the Scunthorpe area and elsewhere to put in place the sale subject to contract that we have today? I pay particular tribute to the trade unions, the workforce, the management team and the suppliers, in addition to Tata and Greybull—it has taken a lot of hard work over nine months to get to where we are today. In his statement, the Secretary of State referred to “a commercial offer on financing if required”. My understanding is that there are three things subject to contract that need dealing with, and one of those is financing. Will he make it unequivocally clear that the Government will do everything necessary to make sure that that is not a barrier to the deal going ahead, and will he also tackle the other UK-based issue of the caveat that is still in place?

[Sajid Javid]

Let me join the hon. Gentleman in welcoming the news about Tata long products and Scunthorpe; it is very encouraging, and I am sure it will bring some relief to him and his constituents. I also join him in congratulating not only Tata and Greybull on working together to secure a deal, but the unions, the pension trustees and the others involved in making it happen. He asked specifically about financing, and the Government’s involvement in it. As I mentioned earlier, we have been involved in the transaction from day one, and we have put on the table an offer of Government financing on commercial terms. That offer stands; should it need to be drawn down, it is clearly there to help make this deal happen.

UK Steel Industry

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Monday 29th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin]

When the Secretary of State wrote to the Commission and said that it

“should make full and timely use of the full range of EU trade policy instruments to tackle unfair trade, including anti subsidy measures, to ensure a global level playing field”,

did he mean that he was going to take action on behalf of our steel industry?

[Sajid Javid]

That is exactly what I meant. As I speak further, I hope that will become clearer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend is right to talk about SMEs being the lifeblood of the economy in terms of the employment and growth that they produce. We have taken a number of measures, including cuts to tax and to regulation. Later on today, I will be opening the Second Reading debate on the Enterprise Bill, when we will announce a number of new measures.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

T4. The welcome new procurement guidelines for steel are worthless unless they have an impact on procurement practice. What are the Government going to do to ensure that this is delivered properly? How will they ensure that all Departments and government contractors follow these guidelines? How will the Government assess their impact?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Tuesday 15th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Let me commend my hon. Friend on her efforts to encourage businesses in her constituency to export more to China. While exports to China have doubled in the last five years, there is a lot of potential and a lot more that we can do. The recent visit by the Chinese President helped to highlight that, and the effort that my hon. Friend is making with UK Trade & Investment, the China-Britain Business Council and others provides an example to us all.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

What steps has the Secretary of State taken since the steel summit to increase trade opportunities for the UK steel sector?

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. The more we can export of higher-value steel products, the more we can help. We have been discussing this with UKTI and steel producers. We are coming up with a plan, and this will certainly feature in the trade meetings we have in due course.

Steel Industry

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Tuesday 20th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend highlights that there have been some long-running challenges not just for the steel industry but for industries that are large users of electricity. The challenge has happened under successive Governments, but he is absolutely right to raise the question of competitiveness. He will know that £50 million of compensation has already been paid directly to such industries as a result of some of the action we have taken, and once we get EU approval, which I hope will be very soon, we can pay for a lot more compensation and help.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his warm words of support for the steelworkers and their families in my constituency who are coming to grips with this dreadful news today. However, we have been having warm words from this Government for more than four years while we have been saying that action is needed. We need action from the Government now on business rates, on energy costs, as the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) has just pointed out, and on Chinese dumping. Will the Secretary of State act? By requesting urgent action, I mean action before Christmas.

Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill

Debate between Sajid Javid and Nicholas Dakin

Monday 15th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

That is a good point. There will be no limit on the length of the guarantees that the Government can issue to support the schemes because, as the hon. Gentleman rightly points out, many infrastructure projects typically require very long-dated debt which could involve a period of 20 to 30 years. There is a limit on the application time frame whereby all applications under the Bill have to come in by 31 December 2014, but there is no limit on the debt profile that can be guaranteed.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

The Minister has clearly scoped this issue thoroughly. How many projects does he expect to have come forward by the date that he mentioned and what is their value likely to be?

[Sajid Javid]

I think that the hon. Gentleman will know that there is no way I can tell him that. I cannot predict the future; he may be able to do so, but I am not. I can tell him that there have already been expressions of interest from more than 50 project sponsors and that the Government have entered into negotiations with a number of them, but no final decisions have yet been made. He will also know that, in the national infrastructure plan published last year, the Government identified numerous key projects worth more than £200 billion, so there could be a substantial number of projects.