Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 27th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. Not only has unemployment halved in his constituency, but employment has risen by 1,300 since 2010. That is testimony to the work of Liberal Democrats and the Government in creating stability and to his role of supporting and championing local businesses in the north-west of England.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

A striking feature of the recent trends in unemployment is the increase in youth unemployment, which has risen for three months in a row. In the figures that were published last week, it rose by 30,000, which is the biggest jump for almost two years. Why is it that while overall unemployment is coming down, youth unemployment is going up? Why are young people losing out?

[Danny Alexander]

I am sorry to have to correct the right hon. Gentleman, but youth unemployment has come down by 171,000 over the past year and is 175,000 lower than when the Government came to power. In his constituency, it is down 53% since 2010—a fact that I am sure he will join me in welcoming. I would agree with him that we need to continue for a number of years with the successful policies that are reducing unemployment in this country, to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to make the best of their life.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 11th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

It will please my hon. Friend to know that I can confirm that, yes: we will stick to the plan that is getting the recovery going. There is, of course, a vast amount still to do to get our economy back on the right track and to ensure we get more people into work. Nothing would threaten that more than abandoning the economic plan that has got us this far.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Will the Chief Secretary confirm that the number of people on jobseeker’s allowance for more than two years has quadrupled since the Government came into office? Will he accept that we have a serious long-term unemployment problem that requires Government action, beyond what is happening at the moment, to tackle it?

[Danny Alexander]

The most recent set of figures for the quarter show that long-term unemployment has come down, including in the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency. I note, too, that the shadow housing Minister’s flagship programme to build more houses has been cut away by the shadow Chancellor, or is that yet another way they plan to spend their mythical bonus tax?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

On infrastructure investment, there is widespread disquiet—including in the National Audit Office, it seems—about the management of the Government’s broadband investment programme. Does the Chancellor agree that it is essential to harness competition effectively in delivering infrastructure investment?

[Danny Alexander]

Our programme of investment in rural broadband is being delivered in every part of the United Kingdom, and it is on track for delivery. We continue to look at the capability of Government Departments to deliver infrastructure projects effectively. My noble Friend the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury has been undertaking a review of these matters and will set out the conclusions shortly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

3. What recent estimate he has made of the level of economic growth in 2012.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

The Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. In its March economic and fiscal outlook, the OBR forecasted economic growth of 0.8% in 2012, but more recent independent forecasts have been lower, reflecting the fact that the euro-area crisis remains the biggest risk to the UK recovery.

[Stephen Timms]

A worryingly large jump in Government borrowing has been reported today. Why is it that of all the G20 countries, only Britain and Italy are in recession?

[Danny Alexander]

The right hon. Gentleman refers to borrowing, but his Front-Bench team wants us to borrow tens of billions of pounds more, which is not the right response. If he studies the figures carefully, he will see that departmental spending is rising much less than was forecast, but, of course, the automatic stabilisers in the economy are operating. That is precisely the flexibility in our plan, which is tough on the structural deficit but supportive of the economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

In the spending review, we took a number of spending decisions that will support social mobility. We chose to invest in early-years education for disadvantaged two-year-olds—a new investment—and to maintain the 15-hours entitlement for three and four-year-olds, something that was introduced under this Government. We chose to invest in a pupil premium that will give additional support to the most disadvantaged children. In tough financial times, that is the strongest investment in social mobility made by any Government in this country for many a long year.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

The White Paper last week stated that HMRC will be taking on new responsibilities in collecting and processing real-time pay data for the calculation of universal credit. How much has been allocated for the IT to deliver that change?

Finance Bill

Debate between Stephen Timms and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 6th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

No, I have given way nearly 30 times already.

Thirdly, the emergency Budget stands for freedom because it frees businesses to go for growth. A genuine and long-lasting economic recovery must have its foundations in the private sector. That is where jobs will come from, and we will do everything we can to support their creation. That is why the Budget sets out a plan to open Britain for business once more.

We will open Britain for business by creating a more competitive system of corporation tax, reducing the rate from 28% today to just 24% over four years. It will give us the lowest rate of corporation tax of any major western economy, and one of the most competitive rates in the G20.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

Why does the Bill legislate for only one of those changes, not all four?

[Danny Alexander]

It is good to see the right hon. Gentleman in his place; I welcome him back to the House after the experience that he had, for which Members of all parties feel enormous sympathy.

As I understand it, the practice in Finance Bills is to legislate one at a time for the changes that are needed in the following years. The Chancellor’s commitment in the Budget speech was for year-on-year reductions, and we will fulfil it.

[Stephen Timms]

I thank the Chief Secretary for his kind remarks.

I think the precedent was set in 1984, when the now Lord Lawson reduced corporation tax over a series of years, and the Finance Act 1984 legislated for them all. Why is that not being done in this Bill?

[Danny Alexander]

I am grateful for the further intervention and it is interesting to hear the right hon. Gentleman cite Lord Lawson. I am not sure that the Labour party cited that example in its Budgets. There are various technical reasons, which have just been discussed, and which my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary will explain in his closing speech. The basic point is that our method is more business-friendly.

As a first step, clause 1 reduces the main rate of corporation tax from 28% to 27% from 1 April 2011. Consequently, the corporation tax of around 47,000 companies will fall. The Budget also supports Britain’s small businesses by cutting the small companies rate of corporation tax from April 2011, reversing the previous Government’s plans to increase the small companies rate. That will benefit some 850,000 companies. The Budget takes action to stop the previous Government’s job tax by increasing the threshold for employers’ national insurance contributions, thereby lifting 650,000 employees out of that tax. Of course, a separate Bill will deal with that.

Taken together, those measures offer a stable and consistent platform for a private sector recovery.