Energy Policy and Living Standards

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Matthew Hancock]

I have no doubt that the massive expansion of the extraction of shale gas in America has had a downward impact on gas prices. Allied to that is the fact that America did not have many export terminals—it is now building them—which meant that it had a relatively closed market. We are working hard to get shale gas extraction going in the UK, where I think that it has huge potential. The Infrastructure Bill, which is currently before the House, proposes changes to make it easier to get shale gas out of the ground in a carefully regulated and safe way. I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support for that.

The capacity mechanism and the changes to make our energy system more driven by competition are designed to ensure that we get that security of supply as well as the cheapest possible cost. That is best done through a market mechanism, but the market must have a strong framework around it, because we must ensure continuity of supply in order to keep the lights on.

[Robert Halfon]

Will the Minister make a brief comment about the continued problem of the big energy companies charging a premium to vulnerable people who do not pay by direct debit?

[Matthew Hancock]

That is something that I am actively looking into, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to take it forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Thursday 20th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

2. What recent support he has provided to small businesses.

[The Minister for Business and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)]

The British Business Bank is now fully operational and has facilitated a total of £2.3 billion of new lending and investment to more than 21,000 businesses. The growth accelerator scheme supports just under 20,000 firms, and 22,600 start-up loans have been drawn down, totalling more than £199 million. More than that, we support small businesses by delivering on our long-term economic plan.

[Robert Halfon]

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in 2012 research by Experian for the BBC said that Harlow had the highest rate of business growth in the whole of the United Kingdom? I am holding my own business awards to honour some of Harlow’s best businesses. We have had more than 300 nominations and I will be announcing the result on small business Saturday. Will he congratulate the businesses that have been nominated and recognise the incredible contribution they have made to Harlow’s community?

[Matthew Hancock]

I do congratulate the businesses that have been nominated and all the businesses that have contributed to a fall in unemployment in Harlow of more than 40% in the past year. My hon. Friend’s jobs fairs have contributed to that and I have no doubt that his support for small business Saturday, which all Members should support, will help to ensure that businesses can thrive in Harlow and elsewhere.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 16th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

The number of apprentices in Harlow has increased by more than 80% during the past year. Will the Minister look to increase the prestige of apprentices and create a royal society of apprentices, which would improve their status and encourage more people to do apprenticeships?

[Matthew Hancock]

I am delighted that, like many other places in the country, the number of apprentices in Harlow is increasing, and the number of employers taking on apprentices is increasing. During the last year, the increase in those applying for apprenticeships through the apprenticeship vacancy website rose by 50% to 1.5 million, not all of them in Harlow, but many. The culture of apprenticeships is on the rise again in Britain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course, Crossrail, which is the biggest public construction project in Europe, has in it exactly what the hon. Gentleman describes. He will have seen last week that we announced 2,000 new apprentices as part of High Speed 2. I entirely agree about the need to drive up the number of apprentices. We introduced a rule that every apprenticeship had to be a minimum of a year, and the number of apprenticeships for those aged between 16 to 19 lasting a year or more has gone up sharply. We must be careful to consider the reason for the numbers. Apprenticeships of under a year, in many cases without a job attached, are not really apprenticeships at all.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the best ways of increasing the skills of apprenticeships is the creation of pre-apprenticeship schools, otherwise known as university technical colleges? Will he look at expanding the Government’s programme of 24 UTCs, one of which will be in Harlow, so that there is one in every town across the country?

[Matthew Hancock]

I absolutely support my hon. Friend in his enthusiasm for UTCs, not only the one in Harlow, for which, I know, he is a great campaigner, but those across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 6th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course role models can be of either gender, and I am sure that many men can think of women who would be role models for themselves. Under this Government, the number and proportion of applications for apprenticeships in engineering are up, and the number of applications to study engineering at university is up. There is much more to do, but we are moving in the right direction.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that university technical colleges will make a huge difference to apprenticeships? May we have a commitment from the Government that we will have one in every town after the next election?

Start-up Loans

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I encourage links between colleges and local enterprise partnerships, which can be strengthened a great deal by their governors and board members sitting on each other’s boards. There are schools around the country that bring in businesses and entrepreneurs, not only to talk to students, for example through the brilliant Speakers for Schools programme, but to help design the curriculum and motivate children to improve their performance in academic subjects. That is a great success when it is done well and I encourage more schools to do it.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that Harlow has had the highest business growth in the United Kingdom according to a BBC and Experian survey? Will he congratulate Danielle Field, a young mother who from nothing set up an apprentice hairdressing academy with her partner thanks to a James Caan loan? That has been a tremendous success. Is this scheme not an example of the Government helping the lowest-paid to get back into work?

[Matthew Hancock]

I pay tribute to Danielle Field. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend. I did not know that Harlow was the best place in the UK to start a business according to the statistics. That shows just how brilliant Harlow is, almost all of which is down to its brilliant MP.

Pupil Premium

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Westminster Hall

[Matthew Hancock]

The measure my hon. Friend refers to is one measure of poverty; it is not the measure of poverty. Crucially, however, the link between eligibility for free school meals and poverty is changing with the universal credit, as he said, and I shall come on to that in a second.

My hon. Friend set out what I want to put on record: the link between poverty of income, education or aspiration and the prediction of a child’s future life chances. The issue is important because disadvantage remains strongly associated with poor performance throughout school, a fact that provides the central driving mission of the reforms to education under this Government. We wish to close the attainment gap by improving the quality of education through a range of measures, not least the pupil premium; by improving schools through free schools and academies; and by improving the quality of teachers going into the profession, not only in schools in well-off areas but throughout the country. We in this Chamber agree on that central driver and on the many reforms that are taking place in order to achieve it. The link between free school meal eligibility and underachievement is strong. At every national level of educational attainment, pupils eligible for free school meals are at a lower stage than their peers.

[Robert Halfon]

Does my hon. Friend agree that that also applies to sixth-form students in colleges? Three times as many students at colleges are eligible for free school meals as students in maintained sixth forms. If we are serious about levelling the playing field, should we not concentrate our resources on those most in need, in particular those who go to sixth-form colleges?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 4th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Of course, apprenticeships have been a huge success story and the number of 19 to 24-year-olds involved is rising sharply. We must ensure, too, that apprenticeships are rigorous and high quality, so we have taken steps to do that. I hope that the hon. Lady will join me next week, which is apprenticeships week, in celebrating apprenticeships. Every Member of this House has the opportunity to explain to everybody that apprenticeships are good for the apprentices, good for business and good for society as a whole.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

23. Will my hon. Friend support the roll-out of the scheme initiated by the Department for Work and Pensions, which ensures that companies offering procurement contracts must hire apprentices? Will he ensure that the scheme, which has resulted in thousands more apprentices in the DWP, is rolled out across Government Departments?

[Matthew Hancock]

I know the scheme well and it is both simple and effective. It also takes value for money into account. I was talking to a permanent secretary about it only this morning and I shall be doing far more of that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 3rd December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

Not only is the number of engineering apprenticeships up, but a higher proportion of young people are now starting STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—degrees at university. That is going up, rather than down, as it was before. This is an area of huge concern to me and I am working extremely hard to try to put it right.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the university technical colleges, one of which will open in Harlow in 2014, will transform vocational education and provide young people with a conveyor belt to pre-apprenticeships?

[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, I do. I was almost expecting an invitation to visit the UTC in Harlow, which I would love to see. UTCs across the country are about trying to fill the gap that has been left for far too long, and this Government are dealing with it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Thursday 8th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

2. What recent steps he has taken to increase the number of apprenticeships.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills (Matthew Hancock)]

More than a million apprenticeships have been started under this Government, 500,000 of them in the last year. As well as this welcome increase in quantity, we are improving the quality of apprenticeships so they are rigorous and provide value for money while being more rewarding to employer and apprentice alike.

[Robert Halfon]

Since 2011 the Department for Work and Pensions has encouraged its private suppliers through procurement to hire nearly 2,000 apprentices. If this were rolled out across Whitehall, it would create nearly 100,000 new apprenticeships. Will the new Minister with responsibility for apprentices study this pilot scheme to see whether we can make that happen?

[Matthew Hancock]

As my hon. Friend knows, I am hugely supportive of the DWP pilot and will study its outcomes carefully, in particular the value for money that it generates. I pay tribute to his parliamentary apprentice academy. Getting an apprentice through the academy that he supports is extremely easy and I recommend it to all Members of the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I am a great supporter of apprenticeships across the economy. As the economy has changed over the past few decades, apprenticeships are in the service sector and insurance as well as in engineering and high-value areas. I am sure the hon. Gentleman, like me, is looking forward to the review by Doug Richard into the future of apprenticeships, because we must ensure that quality is at the heart of the apprenticeship offer.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that the number of apprenticeships has gone up by 76% in the past year in Harlow? Far from making sandwiches, many of the apprentices have gone on to full-time jobs.

[Matthew Hancock]

I am in favour of sandwiches and in favour of people who learn skills in apprenticeships in all sorts of different sectors. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who held a jobs fair last week. I will be copying what he did in my constituency. I hope he, like me, will go to the meeting on Wednesday to discuss what Members on both sides of the House can do to promote apprenticeships in their area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Halfon and Matt Hancock

Monday 28th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

6. What assessment he has made of the effect of work experience programmes on employment prospects.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

8. What assessment he has made of the effect of work experience programmes on employment prospects.