Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con) [V]]

This is a welcome Budget statement and offers much for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. For example, I welcome the commitments to apprenticeships. I have personally employed three apprentices under a Conservative Government. Getting the right match between apprentices and jobs will mean a great and much needed route to skilled, well-paid jobs in construction of new homes, which we badly need, in retrofitting existing homes, which will lead to healthier, greener, warmer and cheaper homes for many, in renewable energy and nature recovery—massive areas of growth, not just here in west Cornwall but across the country—and in engineering, food and farming: all areas that are essential to this green, resilient recovery from covid.

There are also welcome measures in the Budget for our high streets. The grants to get pubs, restaurants and tourism going again, business rate holidays, the tapered return and the 5% VAT rate—for which I have argued for many years, and which I hope the Treasury will see as critical and agree should remain for hospitality and tourism—are all critical for west Cornwall and Scilly and our recovery, as well as home buyers. I am personally sure that the stamp duty cut will have helped in many parts of the UK. However, will the Treasury consider the impact on areas such as Cornwall and Scilly, where the housing market was already strong, but where house prices have not helped many local families, despite the stamp duty cuts? The 95% mortgage guarantee is very helpful for these families, but it relies on house building to get closer to the demand for it to be a true success. Will the Government ensure that all unnecessary barriers to homes built for local needs housing are removed so that local families can benefit from a home and from the 95% mortgage guarantee?

The support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Budget is also welcome, and it is critical for west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Here across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, SMEs are where most of the jobs are—about 85% of people are employed in such businesses—and they are where the recovery will be if it is to be sustainable and lasting.

I welcome this Budget. There are many helpful things in it, and there are certainly areas that will help us to deliver a green, resilient recovery in a low-carbon economy. That is absolutely what our constituents want, and this Budget really gives us the tools and the springboard to allow that to happen. I will watch with close interest how effective it is on the ground in providing the well-paid jobs that all our constituents need.