Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Tuesday 23rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I am sorry to hear about the hon. Lady’s constituent, and of course a Minister will meet her.

[Sir Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

T10. I refer to my interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on stroke and as the husband of a stroke survivor.Mechanical thrombectomy can be a game-changer for sufferers of strokes, greatly reducing the levels of disability they are left with. NHS England committed itself to a full roll-out of mechanical thrombectomy availability by 2022, but we are lagging seriously behind. Where are the plan and the investment to bring the programme back up to date and on track?

Economy and Jobs

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Monday 20th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

Yes—I am pleased that my hon. Friend has asked me that. We are absolutely committed to that deal; indeed, we want to go further. The automotive sector is one of our most important sectors, responsible for much of the growth and many of the jobs in our economy. It will certainly get the Government’s strong support.

Let me briefly address an important question for the future of our economy: our future relationship with the EU. We are leaving the EU, its single market and the customs union. We are seeking an ambitious, Canada-style free trade agreement. In doing so, we will be a sovereign and independent country, not a rule taker, so yes, some things will change. It is a new chapter. We are ambitious for British businesses, through a close relationship not only with the EU but with other partners. Some 90% of global growth is expected to come from outside the EU over the next decade, so there are real opportunities for the UK. We will maintain high standards not because we are told to, but because that is what the British people want. Above all, we will be driven by British interests.

[Sir Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I welcome what my right hon. Friend is saying, but will he bear in mind in particular the need to protect the interests of the financial services sector, as Britain is a world leader in financial services? It is right that so large a sector would not necessarily be a rule taker, but does he recognise that we need better than the current equivalence regime, to make sure that we maximise access for our world-leading financial services?

[Sajid Javid]

I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend and will come to that topic in just a moment.

The foundation of our new economic plan is fiscal responsibility. It has taken a decade of hard work by the British people to turn our public finances around. The deficit has fallen from 10% of GDP in 2010 to just 1.8% today. We are not going to throw that away. We were elected on a platform to manage the public finances responsibly, so it is a matter of trust, as well as economic credibility, that we deliver on that promise to the British people. We will be bound by a credible new fiscal framework that will keep our borrowing and debt under control while allowing for new investment in levelling up and spreading opportunity throughout the country. At the Budget, I will publish a new charter for budget responsibility that will give effect to those rules, and the Office for Budget Responsibility will scrutinise our performance against them.

Thanks to the hard work of the British people, we have got that deficit down, and debt is under control. We can now afford to invest more in levelling up and spreading opportunity right across our country. The first step will be our national infrastructure strategy. Better infrastructure can boost people’s earning power by making it easier to find work. It can help businesses access new markets. It can help us thrive and grow. It can boost communities and places and improve standards of living. It is simply not good enough that we have fallen behind so many other countries on infrastructure, and the Government are going to fix that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Monday 3rd December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

As I said earlier, the White Paper will be published soon, but it is important for people to keep in mind that this is the biggest change to our immigration system in 45 years, and it is important that we get the detail right; then we can evaluate it together, properly.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

For many victims of burglary, the intrusion into their home, personal space and life is tantamount to an assault. Is it not time that steps were taken to ensure that domestic burglaries are effectively treated as crimes of violence, in terms of police resourcing and priority, and sentencing?

National Planning Policy Framework

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Monday 5th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I have to disagree with the hon. Lady in that this is not all about more Government money. First, Government money for affordable housing has increased: we increased the budget last year from £7 billion to £9 billion. Government money of course has a role to play, but I hope she will agree that the only way to get houses that are truly affordable in this country—whether in Manchester or elsewhere—is to increase supply and make sure that it is increased at a sustainable level.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s confirmation to our right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) that these reforms will not diminish the national policy protection for back gardens. Perhaps he will remind the Mayor of London that any amendments he proposes to the London plan are subject to that national policy.

Local Government Finance Settlement

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. Will he confirm that it is particularly important for councils with a long history of efficient financing and a low cost base, such as the London Borough of Bromley, that the review of relative costs and needs ensures that financial efficiency is properly incentivised within the local government finance system?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend speaks with experience as a former Minister in this Department, and I thank him for his comment. I can confirm that. This is all about efficiency and ensuring that local authorities have the right incentives, which is why our business rates retention plan, for example, will help to deliver just that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Monday 30th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

That would have been done sooner if the previous Labour Government had taken the private rented sector more seriously, which they refused to do. I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman welcomes our consultation.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Given the understandable short postponement of the business rates retention scheme, will the Secretary of State meet me to consider the particular funding pressures that changing demographics are placing on outer-London boroughs?

[Sajid Javid]

Yes.

Local Housing Need

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Thursday 14th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I agree that having a new, proper way to assess housing need will not in itself solve our housing problems, but it is an essential step. Alongside it, many others are required. For example, one hon. Member mentioned a delivery test. A number of such steps are set out in the housing White Paper. The hon. Lady asked specifically about the borrowing cap on housing revenue accounts. There is currently over £4 billion of headroom for borrowing, so local councils collectively can borrow more if they wish and if they have prudent, sensible plans. I have been clear that where local authorities believe that the borrowing cap is in the way of their ambitions to build more, they should come and talk to us because we want to do deals with them.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Secretary of State is right to recognise the importance of infrastructure in underpinning the delivery of housing—not just local infrastructure, which is referred to in the statement, but major transport infrastructure unlocking brownfield housing land. The classic case is Crossrail 2 in London, which has the ability to deliver some 200,000 homes, overwhelmingly on brownfield land, in London and the wider south-east. Will he stress the importance to his colleagues the Transport Secretary and the Chancellor of an early commitment to pressing ahead with that infrastructure project to deliver homes, in accordance with these proposals?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend speaks with considerable experience, and I thank him for all the work he did when he was Minister with responsibility for planning to enable more homes to be built. He rightly points out another major issue. He is absolutely right that this relates to all kinds of infrastructure—not just the local GP surgery or a new school, but major types of infrastructure such as transport. I reassure him that I am working very closely with my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary. We are considering how every major decision we make can be used to enable us to build more homes.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

There has been a reset for Lancashire, so it should not lose anything. If the hon. Gentleman wants to provide me with any further information that he thinks we may not be aware of, I will be happy to take a look at it.

The authorities that I have just mentioned will be able to keep more of the growth in their business rates income with no impact on the rest of local government. We plan to undertake further pilots in 2018-19 in areas without the devolution deal, including two-tier council areas.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I very much welcome the roll-out of these pilots right across the country; it is entirely the right approach to take. The Secretary of State’s immediate predecessor came to Bromley to meet the leader and chief executive of our council when they expressed an interest in Bromley becoming a pilot. Will he take it from me that that offer and that interest still stands, and perhaps he might like to come to Bromley to discuss it with us?

[Sajid Javid]

I know that my hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience when it comes to matters of local government. I am more than happy to meet the leader of Bromley Council, and I hope that my hon. Friend will join me in such a meeting.

We plan to undertake further pilots for the two-tier authorities, and I welcome applications from any council waiting to take part in this second trial. The nationwide roll-out of 100% business rates retention will take place across England in 2019-20. Earlier this month, my Department published a consultation seeking views on exactly how the system should look.

[Sajid Javid]

Well, there is not much to work out. That ridiculous claim was demolished on the day that it was made.

[Robert Neill]

If the Secretary of State looks at page 34 of the local government finance report, he will see the Surrey-Croydon business rates pool set out in the statement.

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my hon. Friend for that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sajid Javid]

I will come to the point made by the Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee in a moment, but first I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill).

[Robert Neill]

I hope that the Secretary of State will not think me discourteous if I disappear to chair my Select Committee in a moment. I welcome his statement and the tone in which it was made. Many of us have raised concerns about the issues that he touches on, and particularly about the fact that land values are high in areas such as mine—but that is no consolation to the independent trader on the high street. Will he undertake to meet me and other London and south-east Conservative MPs who have done some detailed work on this, to see how we can best find a constructive way forward?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about the challenges that businesses, particularly those on the high street, will face in areas such as Bromley. I would be more than happy to meet the leader of his council and other local representatives to learn more about those challenges.

Property-based business taxes have been around in one form or another for many decades—centuries, even. Nobody would argue that the current system is perfect, and it is right to ask whether the time has come for some kind of reform. The Treasury’s 2015 consultation showed little appetite for replacing the whole business rate system. It remains a vital part of the local government finance settlement, and its importance will only increase with the introduction of business rate retention. However, with underlying concerns about globalisation, international tax structures and the struggle between the high street and the virtual world, there is clearly room for improvement. We will look closely at all possible steps to make the system fairer and more sustainable in the short and long term.

Neighbourhood Planning Bill

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

2nd reading: House of Commons & Money resolution: House of Commons
Monday 10th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Gentleman will know that once a neighbourhood plan is adopted, it becomes statutory and is taken into account when planning decisions are made. It is not a question of a local authority overruling a neighbourhood plan; once it is adopted, it is part of the local plan, so they are part of the same package, when it comes to making those decisions. Local authorities do not have the right to overrule a plan once it has been adopted.

Local and neighbourhood plans are vital tools for delivering new planning permissions. If we are to tackle the housing deficit, it is crucial that shovels hit the ground as soon as possible once permission has been granted for a development. There are a number of reasons why that does not always happen. One is because too many planning authorities impose too many pre-commencement conditions that unreasonably hold up the start of construction.

Of course, conditions can play a vital role. They ensure that important issues such as flood mitigation and archaeological investigation are undertaken at the right time. That is not going to change, but pre-commencement conditions should not be allowed to become unreasonable barriers to building. Not only do they delay the delivery of much-needed houses, but they create cash-flow issues for builders—something that is particularly problematic for smaller builders and new entrants to the market. To tackle this, the Bill reflects best practice by stopping pre-commencement conditions being imposed without the written agreement of the applicant. It will also create a power to restrict the use of certain other types of planning conditions that do not meet the well-established policy tests in the national planning policy framework. We are currently seeking views on both measures in a consultation paper published by my Department last month.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for taking a short lawyer’s intervention. When he is consulting on planning obligations, will he also consult on the option that was considered in the Housing and Planning Act 2016: the ability for local authorities to buy their own land with planning obligations, as the local planning authority? That would greatly speed up the redevelopment process in urban areas.

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend speaks with great experience on this subject, and it is something that I will consider.

Devolution and Growth across Britain

Debate between Sajid Javid and Robert Neill

Wednesday 3rd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I welcome my right hon. Friend back to the House. She is absolutely right that having the right infrastructure is hugely important to maintaining growth and the fall in unemployment. In her constituency, I think she has seen a record fall of 67% in unemployment over the last five years. We intend to continue that, and I am sure that infrastructure will have a big role to play.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I, too, welcome my right hon. Friend to his post. Those of us who know his business background will be delighted by the appointment. Will he consider whether more can be done to encourage the use of tax increment financing for significant infrastructure projects? We have one in London, promoted by the Mayor, but there is scope for more, with a genuinely free market approach to infrastructure provision.

[Sajid Javid]

I welcome my hon. Friend back to the House, and he again makes a very good point. I will help him to promote that. It is part of some of the city deals, but I think we can benefit from it a lot more.

I was talking about our commitment to 2 million jobs and 3 million more apprenticeships during the lifetime of this Parliament. These are not mere targets; the dignity of a job and the security of a pay packet are the foundations of our individual freedoms—freedoms powered by economic growth, through British business. Equally, British voters have shown their unwillingness to forgive the party responsible for plunging us into a generation-defining crisis—a party that has defined itself by seeking to punish, demonise and destroy business—but this anti-business approach from the Opposition was not a shock. Ultimately, Labour does not understand business; it does not understand enterprise. It never has and it never will.

The task ahead now is to cement Britain’s position as the best place in Europe to start and grow a business. The enterprise Bill is resolutely, unashamedly pro-business. It builds on the clear achievements of the past five years, when we cut red tape and slashed the cost of doing business by £10 billion. We made audits simpler for small businesses, removed pointless hurdles for house builders and exempted thousands of businesses from needless health and safety inspections. As a result, we now have the lowest burden of regulation among G7 nations.