Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Rotheram and Tom Blenkinsop

Thursday 15th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

1. What assessment his Department has made of the ability of British-based train manufacturers to win contracts for rolling stock.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

2. What assessment his Department has made of the ability of British-based train manufacturers to win contracts for rolling stock.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Philip Hammond)]

Since privatisation, Bombardier, as the only current UK-based train manufacturer, has supplied the majority of new trains across the UK main line rail and London underground networks, with a combined total of over 4,500 new carriages ordered since 1996. Going forward, there are a number of contracts that the Department would expect Bombardier to bid for, including the Crossrail project for the supply of around 600 carriages, and it is already a pre-qualified bidder. The tender for this contract is due to be issued in 2012. There are also potential future orders for the London Underground deep tube lines.

Local Government Funding

Debate between Steve Rotheram and Tom Blenkinsop

Monday 6th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Steve Rotheram]

I would say that it is not just about one specific funding stream; it is about an overall package. Liverpool benefited greatly under the Labour Government —so much so that the hon. Gentleman’s friends on the Liberal Democrat Front Benches used to say that the Lib-Dem controlled Liverpool city council was a flagship council because it had got so much money from the Labour Government. Don’t try to give me lessons about what happened in Liverpool, mate!

In June, the Department for Communities and Local Government wrote about the immediate front-loaded and ongoing savings to be made by local authorities that

“the Government is satisfied that it has adopted a fair approach to making the necessary reductions.”

In the comprehensive spending review, the coalition promised to

“limit as far as possible the impact of reductions…on the most vulnerable in society, and on those regions…dependent on the public sector”.

The Government never tire of reminding us that we are all in this together, in the new age of austerity, and insist that their belt-tightening is fair and progressive. So much for the rhetoric. The reality is that the proposed one-size-fits-all local government finance settlement, with its removal of ring-fenced funding for poorer regions and its top-slicing of the formula grant, is set to hit the poorest councils the hardest—none more so, unfortunately, than Liverpool city council.

Whether the Secretary of State likes SIGOMA or not—he did question its findings—its research shows that of the 20 worst-hit local authorities financially, all but two are in the top 20% of most deprived areas in the country. Conversely, of the 20 councils that do best out of the comprehensive spending review, all but two are in the top 10% of wealthiest local authorities. The SIGOMA report concluded:

“The current finance settlement perpetuates inequality rather than allowing areas to operate on an equal footing.”

SIGOMA is not alone in its findings. Following its own analysis, the TUC has affirmed that the Government’s budgetary policy

“will risk the recovery, increase inequality and threaten social cohesion”.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Some interesting facts came out today from the construction industry. The Construction Products Association said that it was going to slip back into recession and the Engineering Employers Federation said that it would not be able to pick up the slack from public sector cuts as the Government have said it would.

[Steve Rotheram]

I thank my hon. Friend for those comments. Having been a bricklayer and an apprentice, I know the construction sector all too well. I once described myself as the only bricklayer in Parliament; unfortunately, one of my colleagues, who is not present, also did an apprenticeship but he was not indentured, so I can still legitimately claim to be the only indentured bricklayer in the House of Commons.

In addition to the statistics I have quoted and the bodies I have mentioned, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies has noted that the areas most at risk are those with relatively few private sector jobs, high levels of unemployment, poor transport links and high vulnerability to national public sector job losses.