David Gauke
Main Page: David Gauke (Independent - South West Hertfordshire)Department Debates - View all David Gauke's debates with the HM Treasury
(12 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)
11. What recent estimate he has made of the level of central Government debt.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)
The Office for National Statistics publishes central Government debt figures monthly. The latest figures released on 21 October gave central Government gross debt as £1.2 trillion or 77.6% of GDP in September. The Government use public sector net debt for their fiscal targets. That figure is also published by the ONS, and it was £966 billion or 62.6% of GDP last month.
Jesse Norman
I thank my hon. Friend for that response. This country continues to bear a huge burden of private finance initiative debt. The Government have made important progress in improving the cost and operation of PFI over the past 18 months. Does he share my view, and that of many of my colleagues, that more can be done to secure a fair deal on PFI, while securing investment in our infrastructure?
Mr Speaker
It would help if the Chair could actually hear the question being asked.
Mr Gauke
My hon. Friend has campaigned tirelessly on this matter. As he knows, the Government have improved the assurance and approval arrangements for PFI, and the transparency. We are seeking to obtain £1.5 billion of savings on existing stock of PFI contracts, and we will of course continue to work hard to improve the situation.
Mr Buckland
With gilt yields at their lowest for 60 years, does this situation not show that the international markets have huge faith in the UK’s debt reduction strategy?
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)
In 1945, Britain had higher Government debt than now and the Government of that time did not impose cuts but ran a full-employment economy and there was rapid growth. Is it not time that the Government took a leaf out of Labour’s book in relation to running the economy?
Mr Gauke
May I just make the point about the 1945 Government that they were running surpluses from 1948 onwards? If memory serves, the debt in 1945 was 232% of GDP and by 1951 it was 178% of GDP, so they brought debt down. That is not a bad thing to do and this Government want to do it, whereas the Labour party wants to put debt up.
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)
Given the increase in debt caused by the lower growth rates and the impact that that is likely to have on the Government’s deficit reduction plan, what impact does the Minister believe that will have on the United Kingdom’s credit rating? Does he believe that steps need to be taken to inject growth into the economy?
Mr Gauke
It is worth pointing out what Standard & Poor said recently when it confirmed our triple A credit rating. It said that if we abandoned our fiscal plans—if we borrowed more—that credit rating would be at risk. The best way of keeping our triple A rating is by sticking to the plan.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
8. What plans he has to bring forward fiscal measures to support green growth.
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)
9. How many firms have participated in the national insurance holiday for new businesses.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)
As of 25 October 2011, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs had received 8,761 successful applications for the national insurance contributions holiday. A breakdown of information by constituency on the amounts claimed and jobs supported for the first year of the scheme will be published shortly in a factsheet in the House of Commons Library.
Rosie Cooper
Could the Minister tell the House how much of the £1 billion allocated for the national insurance holiday has actually been given to businesses?
Mr Gauke
As I say, we will be updating the House with all those details shortly, but there are 1,600 or so businesses in the north-west region that are benefiting from it. I visited one of them not far from her constituency a few weeks ago which was very appreciative of the scheme. Where the scheme is available, I encourage hon. Members to highlight it to their constituents.
Julian Smith
May I urge the Minister to reconsider auto-enrolling new businesses on to the scheme, so that rather than their having to apply for it they are placed on it automatically?
Mr Gauke
We looked at auto-enrolment but one of the difficulties was the fact that it would have been years before we could have put it fully in place and we wanted to move quickly to have the scheme in operation. It is important that we highlight the scheme and make sure that publicity is available and that businesses are aware of it. The businesses that I have met that have taken up the scheme are very appreciative of it and it helps them in those difficult first few months.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
10. What assessment he has made of the level of economic growth in (a) the UK and (b) other EU members states in the last 12 months.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)
The 2011 Budget announced a £200 million package of support, including 100,000 work experience opportunities for young people, skills training, guaranteed interviews and progression into apprenticeships. This is in addition to the £7.6 billion that we are investing in education and training for 16 to 19-year-olds this year and the £1.4 billion that we are investing in apprenticeships. Young people will also benefit from priority access to the Work programme, which started in June.
Mrs Riordan
What my constituents want is action rather than words, especially on youth unemployment, which stands at nearly 10% in Halifax. When will the Government take real measures to get young people into work and contributing to the economy and society in a positive way?
Mr Gauke
As I said in my answer, we are introducing more apprenticeships, and young people will have priority in the Work programme. The hon. Lady highlights youth unemployment in Halifax. The last estimate showed that it increased by 0.6% from June 2010 to March 2011—but I also have to point out that from 2004 to 2010, youth unemployment increased by 8.5% in Halifax.
Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)
Does the Minister share my concern that even during the boom years youth unemployment rose? Will he join me in commending the work placement scheme in Haverhill in my constituency? The work programme and the new flexibility at the jobcentre means that young people can be put into work placements, and more than half of those put in placements end up getting a permanent job.
John Howell (Henley) (Con)
14. What recent representations he has received from the IMF and the OECD on UK economic policy.
Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
T5. Is my right hon. Friend aware of the TaxPayers Alliance’s excellent report published last week on abolishing national insurance and merging national insurance with income tax? Does he believe that the merger of national insurance and income tax would be a good way to simplify tax in the way that he promised, and will he make it happen?
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)
My hon. Friend will be aware that the Government are looking into merging the operation of national insurance contributions and income tax. We are actively looking at ways in which we can make the tax system more transparent and simpler to understand, and we will be saying more on that subject shortly.
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
T8. What does the Chancellor say to the Federation of Small Businesses, which describes his policies as too timid, and out of touch with the sluggishness of the UK’s economy?