Infant Class Sizes

Debate between Toby Perkins and Baroness Morgan of Cotes

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. Let me begin by paying tribute to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt), because it shows a huge amount of courage for a Labour politician to call a debate on this of all issues. Perhaps I should address the historian in him by comparing him to Lord Cardigan at the battle of Balaclava: brave but leaderless, charging ahead on a kamikaze mission when everything around him was lost. We all remember the record of the previous Government—the hon. Gentleman’s party—and that makes it very brave indeed to raise this issue now.

As we have heard from Government Members, we remember how Labour cut 200,000 primary school places at the very time that this country was facing a dramatic baby boom. We remember how it cut the funding for basic need places by £150 million at the very time it was needed most, and how they penalised those councils with the foresight to refuse to meet their demands. And we remember how Labour made this all so much worse by allowing immigration to spiral out of control, adding further pressure to the system and leading to so many of the concerns we are talking about today.

[Toby Perkins]

The right hon. Lady is comparing the situation now with that under the previous Government. She will be aware that in Leicestershire, the county she represents, there were 2,376 children in infant classes in January 2014, compared with just 1,000 before. The figure has gone up by 121%. Does not that show that, under this Government, things have got significantly worse since 2010?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much indeed for his intervention, but in terms of basic need funding, which is what we are debating today, Leicestershire’s has gone up from £13 million to £51 million, while between 2007 and 2011 Chesterfield got £9.3 million, but now it will be getting £30 million up to 2017.

Midland Main Line

Debate between Toby Perkins and Baroness Morgan of Cotes

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. He is absolutely right; that is why the time for investment in the midland main line has definitely come.

Reducing journey times between our cities and London will help our businesses to access markets and improve the effectiveness of our labour markets. An independent report prepared for East Midlands Councils and the South Yorkshire passenger transport executive estimated that upgrading and electrifying the midland main line would generate £450 million-worth of wider economic benefits in terms of higher business productivity. This, of course, includes the creation of hundreds of jobs through construction activities and the refurbishment works on the trains as well as encouraging more businesses to relocate and invest around the midland main line corridor as journey times reduce. The main constraint on time taken to complete a journey is the speed limits that have to be put in place if the track does not allow trains to travel at their top speeds. We can all appreciate the benefits of saying to employees and customers that a journey from London to Leicester is only 60 minutes rather than well over an hour.

Fourthly, the Government are rightly focused on reducing costs, which ultimately helps us to tackle the deficit and the national debt. Electrification significantly reduces the costs of rolling stock, energy, track access and maintenance. As I have said, the latest estimates suggest that electrifying the line from Bedford to Sheffield would save up to £60 million every year in industry costs. That means that within 10 years of completion the electrification of the line between Bedford and Sheffield will have paid for itself and will continue to reduce the cost of rail to the taxpayer year on year.

Fifthly, as a letter from the Rail Freight Group to my right hon. Friend the Minister said,

“the East Midlands area is a growing hub for logistics activities, and there are a number of active proposals for rail linked distribution along the route...Such facilities are essential for rail freight growth, and also to economic prosperity and job creation in the region.”

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the importance of logistics to the east midlands. Chesterfield and junction 29A—Skinner’s junction as it is known colloquially in the area—plays an important part in making sure that our road network is successful, but our rail network falls behind. My constituents absolutely recognise the economic benefits of improving our logistics capacity through the electrification and upgrade of the midland main line.

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. He and I have often met on East Midlands Trains services so we are personal users of the midland main line and we know how important it is. He is absolutely right about freight and the importance of getting it off the road and on to rail. That is why we need to have the upgrade and electrification works. Network Rail has told me that it estimates that by 2020 freight usage on the line will have increased by 50%.

Electric trains are quieter and emit less carbon dioxide per vehicle mile. It is estimated that electrification of the route from Bedford to Sheffield would slash carbon emissions by up to 12,000 tonnes.