Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will prioritise local authority children’s services at the next spending review.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Local authorities have access to over £200bn to deliver services, including children’s services, between 2015 and 2020. Local government Core Spending Power will increase in real terms next year.
At Budget 2018 the Government announced an additional £410m in 2019-20 for adults and children’s social care, and £84m to support local authorities to expand programmes for children and families.
Day-to-day departmental budgets for 2020-21 onwards have not yet been set. These are a matter for the Spending Review this year, where the Government will set out our priorities for public spending.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the adequacy of sixth-form funding.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Treasury Ministers regularly engage with Secretaries of State on all aspects of public spending, including Further Education funding. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for National Statistics publication, Labour productivity, UK: July to September 2018, published on 9 January 2019, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the lower and falling productivity defined by nominal GVA per unit of labour 2016-17 in the north of England.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The ONS published the latest estimates of sub-national productivity on February 6th 2019. The data shows that productivity has increased in all the regions of the North of England during 2017 and since 2010.
All regions of North of England have seen faster nominal productivity growth than London and the South East since 2010.
The Government is investing in the North. As such, we are committed to publishing a refreshed Northern Powerhouse Strategy this year, building on the success of the existing strategy in bringing together local stakeholders to address key barriers to productivity in the region.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for National Statistics publication, Labour productivity, UK: July to September 2018, published on 9 January 2019 whether the next Spending Review will allocate funding to tackle the effect of poor health outcomes in the North of England on that region’s levels of productivity.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The ONS published the latest estimates of sub-national productivity on 6 February 2019. The data shows that productivity has increased in all the regions in the North of England during 2017 and since 2010.
All regions in the North of England have seen faster nominal productivity growth than London and the South of England since 2010.
The NHS is the government’s number one spending priority and that is why we have committed to a historic settlement that provides a cash increase of £33.9bn a year by 2023-24. This takes the NHS budget from £114.6bn in 2018-19 to £148.5bn in 2023-24.
The NHS Long Term Plan sets the vision for the NHS over the coming years including what action the NHS plans to take on health inequalities. NHS England has committed to ensuring a higher share of funding goes towards geographies with high health inequalities. This funding is estimated to be worth over £1 billion by 2023/24.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to keep the childcare voucher scheme open after 4 October 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I refer the Honourable member to my statement made on 29 March 2018.
www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statements/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&member=4097
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects there to be an announcement on the extension of the Mersey Gateway free travel scheme to residents and businesses in Cheshire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As announced at the Summer Budget, we have asked the Department for Transport to look at extending the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, as well as looking at help for small businesses. This work is ongoing.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assistance he proposes to provide to small businesses in Halton in relation to the completion of the Mersey Gateway Project.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As announced at the Summer Budget, we have asked the Department for Transport to look at extending the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, as well as looking at help for small businesses. This work is ongoing.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend free use of the (a) Mersey Gateway and (b) Silver Jubilee Bridge to residents and UK firms across Merseyside; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As announced at the Summer Budget, we have asked the Department for Transport to look at extending the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, as well as looking at help for small businesses. This work is ongoing.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timetable is for his Department's forthcoming review of debt administration.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government will make an announcement on next steps in due course.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to implement a statutory scheme for the regulation of debt management services.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government will make an announcement on next steps in due course.