William Bain
Main Page: William Bain (Labour - Glasgow North East)Department Debates - View all William Bain's debates with the HM Treasury
National Infrastructure Plan
William Bain Excerpts(11 years ago)
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Danny Alexander
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend and I pay tribute to him, because he has made a fantastic contribution to making the argument for the project to Ministers, which has led to its inclusion in the infrastructure plan. He is right: road improvements are not just about dealing with congestion for motorists, but about unlocking growth opportunities for the whole country, and I think that is precisely what the A50 investment will do.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
Given the pitiful rate of housing construction in Scotland presided over by the Scottish Government, Scotland faces a shortfall of 160,000 properties by 2035, but is the Chief Secretary able to point to a single announcement in his statement that would help contribute to alleviating a housing crisis across the United Kingdom?
Danny Alexander
Housing is not, of course, directly part of the national infrastructure plan—it never has been—but I can say a word about it. A number of the infrastructure projects will directly unlock housing developments. For example, the investment in the A14 will unlock sites for 10,000 or more new homes in that part of England. That is precisely the sort of project we need to see more of.
Our Help to Buy scheme, which is enabling people who cannot afford large deposits to get a mortgage and to get on the housing ladder, is helping people in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and mine, as well as across England and Wales, to access the housing market. That, in turn, will help to stimulate house construction in Scotland as well as in other parts of the UK.