Oral Answers to Questions

Torsten Bell Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

7. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK international investment summit 2024 on levels of foreign investment.

[The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)]

Increasing investment in the UK, both public and private, is the Government’s absolute priority. It is the route to restarting badly needed productivity and wage growth. As the hon. Member will know, at the international investment summit, companies committed to a record-breaking £63 billion-worth of investment, which is set to help to create around 30,000 jobs.

[Lincoln Jopp]

I thank the Minister for that answer. I particularly thank him for saying that investment is the Government’s top priority, because the Government announced on 17 October that they had secured this £63 billion. We have heard from the Chancellor that she is going to act decisively, so I just want to check her track record on that. The Government have had six months and £63 billion. How much money has gone out of the door for those oven-ready projects across the country?

[Torsten Bell]

The hon. Member will be excited to know that the Business Secretary will be announcing in the coming weeks that shovels are already in the ground, or will be going into the ground, for some projects. I am a very good colleague to Ministers, so I am not going to pre-empt that announcement today.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

A recent PWC survey showed that the UK is now the second most attractive investment destination among global chief executives, ahead of countries such as China, Germany and India. That shows that the Government’s careful stewardship of our economy has led to stability within the global landscape. Does the Minister agree that the UK is now open for business after years of Conservative chaos?

[Torsten Bell]

My hon. Friend consistently asks good questions that go to the heart of the matter. If I look back over the past 14 years, I see that British business investment has been the lowest in the G7 year after year. We are going to put that right.

[Sadik Al-Hassan (North Somerset) (Lab)]

8. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase economic growth through new transport infrastructure.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna Sabine (Frome and East Somerset) (LD)]

10. What fiscal steps she is taking to support pensioners with the cost of living.

[The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)]

The Government’s top priorities for pensioners are to raise the state pension and to rescue the NHS. This week more than 12 million pensioners saw their state pensions rise by 4.1%, well ahead of inflation. That is worth an extra £470 a year for someone on the full new state pension, and £360 a year for those on the full basic state pension.

[Anna Sabine]

I have 250 pieces of outstanding casework relating to the winter fuel payment. An elderly constituent emailed me during the winter, enclosing a picture showing that her thermometer was at 15° and saying that she had to remain in bed for as long as possible each day to stay warm. Given that energy bills are now increasing, does the Minister agree that the decision to cut the winter fuel payment has already had serious consequences for the welfare of pensioners throughout the country?

[Torsten Bell]

What the Government are doing is raising the state pension, extending the warm home discount, and ensuring that an extra 50,000 people have had access to pension credit over the last six months. When Members talk about mistakes that have had lasting consequences for pensioners, I look back to the coalition Government’s decision to cut the rate of energy installations by 90%. Pensioners are living with that legacy, in leaky homes, day in day out, but this Government are getting on with insulating homes throughout the country.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The 4.1% increase in the new state pension will make a huge difference to pensioners in my constituency. What more are the Government doing to tackle the cost of living crisis left by the last Government?

[Torsten Bell]

I thank my hon. Friend for being a regular attender at Treasury questions, and indeed, as far as I can work out, at every other departmental questions session. He is right to suggest that we will do more, because we are not just increasing pensions above the rate of inflation this year but doing so throughout the current Parliament, and that should raise the state pension by up to £1,900 by the end of the Parliament.