Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Davies and Greg Clark

Tuesday 13th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The discussions we have had with the steel sector emphasise the importance of energy costs, and our commitment is to work with the sector to bring them down.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

T8. Skills have been removed from the Department’s portfolio, yet for many businesses in the Bradford district access to talent remains a key challenge. So how will the Secretary of State ensure that education policy dovetails with his Department’s priorities to ensure that businesses have access to the skills they need?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Philip Davies and Greg Clark

Monday 9th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

1. What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the planned reorganisation of fire station provision in Shipley constituency.

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)]

Decisions on the cost of reorganising fire stations are a matter for local fire and rescue authorities. Needless to say, I would expect any such reorganisations to save public money, rather than cost more.

[Philip Davies]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that answer. West Yorkshire fire authority has given up two fire station properties to hand over to a social housing provider in exchange for one less valuable piece of land to build a new fire station on. There is a lot of concern, not least from firefighters, that at a time of budgetary pressures, the fire authority is tossing away literally tens of thousands of pounds. Does the Secretary of State have any powers to intervene to ensure the taxpayer gets good value for money, or at least to make sure we know the valuation of these lands so that we can see for ourselves what the impact is on local taxpayers?

[Greg Clark]

Before answering my hon. Friend’s question, may I pay tribute to all firefighters for their hard work on bonfire night last Thursday and over the weekend, and may I say how proud I was to meet firefighters and other members of the civilian services on parade at the Cenotaph yesterday? In the 75th anniversary of the battle of Britain we remember the 800 firefighters who were killed and the 7,000 injured defending us during the last war.

I am very concerned about what my hon. Friend says, and I will ask the chief fire and rescue adviser, who has the powers of an inspector, to meet him to understand his concerns and advise me on next steps.