Trade Bill

Stephen Kinnock Excerpts

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Barry Gardiner]

I was very interested to hear the Secretary of State’s response to my hon. Friend’s question. It was a feat of Dispatch Box prestidigitation such as I have not seen for many years, because the Secretary of State appeared to agree with my hon. Friend while in fact disagreeing. My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. As we saw with the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill, which we debated yesterday—that Bill sets out the role and powers of the Trade Remedies Authority—the Government certainly envisage a key role for not only the lesser duty rule, but such economic impact assessments. Of course we must conduct economic impact assessments—I know my hon. Friend does not disagree with that—and a balanced decision must then be taken, but, again, it is right that the House should scrutinise those things and ensure that they are genuinely in the wider interest. In particular, hon. Members with specific constituency interests—the ceramics industry; the Scotch whisky industry; the steel industry—should have the opportunity, at the appropriate point, for scrutiny.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

While the TRA will clearly play a very important role, does my hon. Friend agree that it cannot take a balanced decision unless it includes a wide range of stakeholders, such as the trade union movement, producers and representatives of the devolved Governments?

[Barry Gardiner]

I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have taken that intervention, Madam Deputy Speaker. Mindful of your strictures on time, as I always am, I had actually excised a paragraph about that from my speech, so I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his well-made point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Kinnock Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

We are putting together the terms of reference for the review. I look forward to the right hon. Gentleman’s comments when the review is put forward.

[Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)]

6. What assessment the Government have made of the potential merits of providing universal superfast broadband coverage.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Matt Hancock)]

We strongly support the roll-out of superfast broadband, which is on track to be available to 95% of premises by the end of the year.

[Stephen Kinnock]

Almost one in three homes in my Aberavon constituency have broadband speeds of below 10 megabits a second. Moreover, I recently conducted a survey of my constituents in which 44% of respondents reported repeated loss of broadband service. Does the Minister agree that the future growth prospects of Aberavon will be severely constrained if this situation continues?

[Matt Hancock]

I will look into the figures that the hon. Gentleman mentions. Thinkbroadband, the independent body that publishes figures on this, thinks that the number of properties in Aberavon to which superfast broadband is available is much higher and, indeed, ahead of the national average. There has been a huge effort to roll out superfast broadband but, of course, there is a difference between something being available and it being taken up. It is important to ensure that people take up broadband when it is available.