City Deal
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 4 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals in July 2012, with the “core cities” the Government committed to work with a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
I can today inform the House that the Government and business and civic leaders in Plymouth and the area covered by Plymouth city council, Cornwall council, Devon county council, Somerset county council and Torbay council have reached agreement on a city deal.
The Plymouth and the south-west peninsula city deal will build on the area’s strengths in the marine and advanced manufacturing sectors. The Ministry of Defence will work with business and civic leaders to make available an important site—South Yard—that will provide both new employment space for marine sector companies and provide access to deep water, thereby enabling marine research and development and commercialisation activities to be undertaken.
A youth employment scheme will be launched that will work with all young people engaging in employment and skills activities. This scheme will aim to simplify access to employment and skills programmes for businesses.
The city deal will also deliver a business support programme to provide businesses with support and advice to assist their growth. Business and civic leaders in Plymouth and the south-west anticipate that the deal will enable the creation of more than 9,500 jobs by 2030 and will work with 1,500 young people to support a large number into sustained employment.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 4 months ago)
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Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
4. What measures are in place to prevent a fall in the number of people registered to vote after the introduction of individual voter registration.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
A happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and to colleagues.
There are three ways in which the Government are ensuring that the electoral register under individual registration is complete and accurate: first, using data matching so that the majority of voters are automatically registered; secondly, phasing in the transition over two years so that people who are not individually registered can nevertheless vote in the 2015 general election; and, thirdly, providing additional resources above what is usually spent at a national and local level to fund activities to boost the completeness and accuracy of the register.
Nick Smith
I thank the Minister for that answer. What are the Government doing to ensure that when members of the public come into contact with Government agencies such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency or the UK Passport Service, that is used to promote electoral registration?
Greg Clark
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. One of the features of the transition that we are putting in place is to use Government databases automatically to register those whose details are held. In the test of this, well over three quarters were automatically registered; in fact, in his constituency the figure was 84%. We are continuing to make use of those sources.
Paul Blomfield
Ministers will recognise the particular challenge of encouraging young people to engage in the electoral process, so what consideration has been given to having polling stations in sixth-form colleges, further education colleges and universities to encourage 18-year-olds to vote?
Greg Clark
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. Of course, it is in all our interests to ensure that as many young people register as possible, especially in student cities such as his. It is for local authorities to determine polling places, as he knows, but I will take away his suggestion and raise it with the relevant authorities.
David T. C. Davies (Monmouth) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that increasing voter registration and voter participation is absolutely vital, but that we must not do so in any way that increases the incidence of voter fraud?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The purpose of individual electoral registration is to make sure that those who vote are those who are entitled to vote, so the accuracy of the register is important as well. It is not just important, vital though it is, for voting, because identity fraud is often associated with a fraudulent entry on the electoral register. In fact, the Metropolitan police found that nearly half of fraudulent IDs corresponded with a fraudulent entry on the register. That is another good reason why this change is important.
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
Surely the way to stop a decline in individual registration is to make politics interesting. Is it not therefore essential that we continue with the leaders’ debates and that they should include the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the UK Independence party? Does the Minister agree that afterwards it will not be a case of “I agree with Nick” but “I agree with Nige”?
Greg Clark
All I would say is that my hon. Friend is a personal example of someone who makes politics interesting, and there is a good case for his being included in those debates for that reason.
Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)
11. In a debate on a statutory instrument before Christmas, the Minister indicated that where local authorities needed extra resources to make proper efforts to maximise the number of people on the register, those resources would be available to them. How are they going to go about applying for them—what will the process be?
Greg Clark
The process is already under way. There has been an allocation based on the assessed requirement of the local authority, but it has been made very clear that if it produces evidence of why its need is higher, that need will be met. In the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, in Sheffield, £240,000 has been allocated on top of what is usually spent on electoral registration for this purpose. If there are any exceptional circumstances, they are being considered by my officials right now.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) made an extremely good point. Will my right hon. Friend use his considerable influence across all Government Departments to ensure that whenever a member of the public comes into contact with one of those Departments, or a local authority, they are asked, “Are you on the local electoral register”, and if they are not, they are helped to fill out a voter registration form then and there?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend makes a very good point. A public awareness campaign promoting electoral registration will be held during the summer and beyond. My hon. Friend makes a valuable contribution in suggesting that every Department that has contact with the public can play its role.
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab/Co-op)
At a statutory instrument Committee last month, the Minister said that the point of individual electoral registration
“is to drive up registration”.—[Official Report, Third Delegated Legislation Committee, 16 December 2013; c. 12.]
Frankly, most people expect the opposite. How many people would have to fall off the register for the Government to consider using their power to delay implementation of full IER?
Greg Clark
I am surprised by the hon. Gentleman’s question, given that this policy was originated by the Labour party. Everyone agrees that we should modernise our electoral system so that people vote individually. The hon. Gentleman did not oppose the passage of the legislation. We need to proceed with it. The Electoral Commission will monitor it and provide advice as we go.
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
2. What his plans are for reform of the House of Lords.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
In the absence of wider reform—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. There seems to be a problem with the microphone. We will try to have the problem solved, but in the meantime if the Minister speaks up we will all be able to hear him.
Greg Clark
In the absence of wider reform, the Government have said that they will support the private Member’s Bill promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Dan Byles), which proposes changes to the rules governing the membership of the House of Lords, including removing peers who are convicted of a serious offence—bringing the rules into line with those of the House of Commons—and removing peers who do not attend.
Ann McKechin
I am obliged to the Minister for his response. According to the House of Commons Library, the additional costs of running the House of Lords have increased by £42 million since 2010. Will the Minister confirm how much his Government’s policy of stuffing the Lords until it bursts will cost the taxpayer between now and the general election?
Greg Clark
I will raise my voice to make the point that the hon. Lady has some nerve to lecture us on House of Lords reform when the Labour party blocked such reform. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) is right to say that some of my colleagues voted against it, but they did so because they disagreed with it; Labour Members voted against it despite the fact that they said they agreed with it.
Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)
Why is the Deputy Prime Minister not answering this question?
Greg Clark
In the interests of the coalition, the Deputy Prime Minister occasionally allows his coalition partner to answer questions.
Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab)
I am also surprised that the Deputy Prime Minister is not answering the question. [Interruption.] I have been called to stand up and speak, and I will do so.
Over the past three years, the size and cost of the House of Lords has gone up. Does the Minister realise that the more Tory and Lib Dem peers the Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister appoint, the less effective the House of Lords becomes, because they do as the Government Whips say? Does the Minister therefore agree that, over the past three years, the House of Lords has become bigger, more expensive and less effective?
Greg Clark
The right hon. Gentleman does not have a shred of credibility, because Labour voted against the proposals that would have blocked that. Of course, we all know that 408 peers were created under the previous Labour Government.
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend have any idea whether the Deputy Prime Minister has adopted a new year’s resolution to stop blocking the eminently sensible proposal of his own former party leader, Lord Steel, for modest but necessary House of Lords reform?
Greg Clark
I have a post-Christmas gift for my hon. Friend: the Government are indeed supporting—[Hon. Members: “Hurrah!”] Ah, we are back. The Government, including my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, have announced that we will support the very sensible and modest, common-sense proposals in the Bill proposed by our hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire.
Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)
7. What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Heseltine review.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
The Government published its response to Lord Heseltine’s report in March 2013. We accepted its proposition that more funding and powers, currently held centrally, should be available at local level. Some £2 billion a year has been taken from central Government Departments and is available for that purpose. I look forward to assessing proposals during the weeks ahead.
John Howell
Decentralisation, as outlined by my noble predecessor’s review, can help to promote private sector business. In this context, what progress is my right hon. Friend making with the Oxfordshire growth deal?
Greg Clark
I am delighted to say that there has been very good progress. A city deal for the city of Oxford and the surrounding area is being negotiated and we hope to complete it shortly. I will meet the representatives of Oxfordshire to go further than that by devolving more power and resources to the county to further private sector growth.
Nick de Bois
May I press the Minister to confirm that the Government will genuinely look at new ideas that are proposed by local authorities? More importantly, will he confirm that the onus will shift from Whitehall having to approve ideas to it having to disprove their viability?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is precisely the rubric that has been given to local authorities. It is up to Departments to demonstrate why an innovation should not proceed, rather than simply to say, “The computer says no.”
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
May I press the Minister further on this matter? There is a devolved Assembly or Parliament in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and there is a powerful Greater London axis under Boris Johnson that is enormously influential, but we in the regions have nothing—Yorkshire has nothing. We have no focus, no strategy, no leadership. The Heseltine review said that we should take this matter seriously. When will the Minister take it seriously?
Greg Clark
It is taken immensely seriously. The hon. Gentleman does a disservice to the leaders in Leeds and West Yorkshire, who have been extremely effective in producing a plan for a combined authority that puts their resources together. They have been very clear that progress has been made. More progress has been made in the last three years than was made in the 13 years when the Labour party was in power. Lord Heseltine will be travelling to Yorkshire with me to make it clear that the implementation of his report is as serious as the agreement of it.
Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister will be aware that Manchester has made huge progress with its combined authority and that the Manchester city deal, which will devolve £1.2 billion to Manchester, was one of the first such deals to be announced by the Government nearly two years ago. Will he say when that deal will be signed, given the ongoing delay in his Department’s signing the deal?
Electoral Administration
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the debates in Committee of the House of Commons and House of Lords this month to consider the statutory instruments necessary to commence individual electoral registration, the Government confirm their intention to bring individual electoral registration into force as planned on 10 June 2014 in England and Wales and 19 September 2014 in Scotland.
This confirms the intended date for the introduction of individual electoral registration which was envisaged in the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013, and which was set out in the Government’s White Paper, “Individual Electoral Registration”, in 2011.
Confirmation of this timetable follows the advice of the Electoral Commission, who published in October their assessment of readiness for implementation, which advised that there is no reason to delay implementation. The Government agree with this judgment.
Individual electoral registration will provide a secure, modern way to register to vote, replacing the outdated system whereby a “head of household” is responsible for registering to vote all members of the household without a requirement to confirm the identity of those placed on the electoral register.
Instead, people will be individually registered, with their identity being confirmed either automatically, through a check against existing Government databases, or by submitting their date of birth and national insurance number, or if this is not available, other approved evidence. Initial testing has established that over three quarters of voters will automatically be included in the electoral register without any requirement to fill in a form. It will be possible, for the first time, to make an online application to be on the electoral register.
The Government will fully fund the costs of transition to individual electoral registration. All electoral registration officers have been notified of the funding they will receive next year to deliver the change at a local level. This has been welcomed by electoral registration officers, who have also been advised that if local circumstances incur higher costs, they will be reimbursed where they have been credibly established.
This extra funding is in addition to the local resources that are annually devoted by electoral registration officers to meeting their statutory obligation to produce a complete and accurate register. The Government expect local authorities to continue this level of funding. The Government will fund and promote work to maximise registration during the transition to individual electoral registration, at a local and national level.
As a transitional arrangement, eligible electors who appear on the electoral register before the introduction of individual electoral registration will continue to be entitled to vote in elections, including the 2015 general election, whether or not they have registered individually. It remains the Government’s intention to conclude this transitional arrangement in 2015, but the Electoral Registration and Administration Act will allow the next Parliament to make the decision, following the advice and assessment of the Electoral Commission, as to whether the transition should conclude in 2015 or 2016.
City Deals
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals in July 2012, with the “Core Cities” the Government committed to work with a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
I can today inform the House that the Government and business and civic leaders in the Tees Valley and Hull and the Humber have reached agreement on city deals.
The Hull and Humber city deal will build on the area’s strengths in the energy industry. A centre of excellence for energy skills will be established where local businesses will work with training providers to ensure local young people are equipped with the skills they require for careers in the energy sector and a payment-by-results system will be introduced so that skills training providers are properly incentivised for supporting local adults into sustainable employment or education that furthers their careers. To provide confidence to companies wishing to invest in developing key sites around the Humber, while ensuring the area’s environmental assets are protected, the deal commits statutory agencies to working together to provide a single point of contact to potential investors. In addition, the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership and its member local authorities have committed to the production of a 25-year spatial plan to optimise the Humber estuary. The city deal will also deliver a business support programme to provide businesses with the support they require to grow. Hull and the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership predicts that the deal will lead to an expected £460 million of private sector investment in development on the Humber and deliver more than 4,000 jobs, in offshore wind related industries.
The Tees Valley city deal acknowledges the area’s strengths in large-scale production, chemical and process industries. The deal will see the Tees Valley make plans for an industrial carbon capture and storage network, which will identify the best options for an onshore network, explore investment opportunities and develop a business case for investment in industrial carbon capture and storage. In parallel, two waste heat networks will be developed, where waste heat from industry will be used to heat homes, businesses hospitals and local businesses, serving to reduce energy bills in the areas covered. The deal will benefit local businesses through the Tees Valley Business Growth Hub, which will give them a single point of contact for national and local business support. Tees Valley Unlimited Local Enterprise Partnership predict that the city deal will create 3,500 jobs and unlock £44 million of private and public sector investment.
City Deals
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 5 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals with the eight largest English cities outside London in July 2012, the Government invited a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
I can announce today that the Government and business and civic leaders in the black country, Coventry and Warwickshire and Norwich have reached agreement on city deals.
The black country city deal will support the growth of the region’s high-value manufacturing sector by bringing into use key industrial development sites across the black country, backed by a black country investment fund of £30 million from local and national sources. Specialist support will be available to businesses in the sector, and at least 1,500 apprenticeships will be created in high-value manufacturing employers. The city deal includes a programme to work intensively with 2,800 long- term unemployed people to move them into employment. The black country local enterprise partnership estimates that the city deal will lead to around £130 million of private investment and create 5,800 new jobs in manufacturing over the next four years.
The Coventry and Warwickshire city deal is targeted at the area’s advanced manufacturing and engineering sector. Specialist support will be available for companies in the sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises, from a single service bringing together organisations such as UK Trade and Investment, chambers of commerce and finance specialists under one roof. New ways to equip the sector with the skills it needs will be trialled including a shared apprenticeship scheme across small engineering businesses below the scale to have an apprentice scheme individually. The city deal will enable the expansion of the automotive test track and research and development facility at Fen End in Warwickshire, supporting the ability of small firms in the automotive sector to innovate. The Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnership estimates that the city deal will lead to around £66 million of private sector investment and over 8,000 jobs in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.
The Greater Norwich city deal will reinforce the success of the Norwich research park. It makes available business support and early stage finance to commercialise research excellence in life sciences and biotechnology at the Norwich research park, in the digital creative cluster in the city centre and the aviation cluster based around Nonwich international airport. The city deal provides the means for £80 million additional investment in local infrastructure to allow housing growth, including an additional 3,000 homes. A framework will be established to make investment in skills more responsive to the needs of local employers. The new Anglia local enterprise partnership estimates that the city deal will help create 13,000 additional jobs by 2025, support the establishment of 300 new businesses and bringing forward 3,000 additional homes, on top of the 37,000 previously envisaged.
Oral Answers to Questions
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 6 months ago)
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David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)
1. What powers and resources he plans will be devolved from central Government to Macclesfield.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
The Cheshire and Warrington local enterprise partnership, which includes Macclesfield, is developing a proposal for its local growth deal. This deal will enable the area to agree freedoms and flexibilities to support the drive to devolve power and resources, including access to funding from the local growth fund, which is worth at least £12 billion over the next five years.
David Rutley
I welcome the Government’s plans to devolve further powers to LEPs and I welcome the funding, which is vitally important, but what steps are the Government taking to work closely with the Cheshire and Warrington LEP and the taskforce at the AstraZeneca site at Alderley Park to ensure that there is a locally based strategy for the future of life sciences in north-east Cheshire?
Greg Clark
That is precisely what the local growth deal provides the opportunity to do. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), for their assiduity in making sure that AstraZeneca in particular has maintained its commitment to Cheshire and to the north-west, securing 300 jobs just in recent weeks. I expect this to be at the heart of the deal that is proposed by the LEP.
Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)
2. What powers might be devolved to Plymouth as part of his city deals scheme.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Negotiations to conclude the Plymouth city deal continue to progress well. The proposals seek to bring into use new employment space for Plymouth’s growing marine sector, to deliver tailored business support to small businesses and to get young people into the jobs that will result. Negotiations are at an advanced stage, and I am hopeful that we will be able to agree this important city deal in the near future.
Oliver Colvile
Is my right hon. Friend also aware that in awarding Plymouth city deal status, along with £10 million to decontaminate part of the South Yard in the Devonport dockyard, the Government will not only be helping to create a marine energy park but in turn be helping to deliver 10,000 new jobs?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is right, and he has been a formidable champion for the proposed city deal. All the members of the LEP and the local authorities, including across the Tamar in Cornwall, came to make an impressive pitch on 31 October, and my hon. Friend has been to see me. It is an exciting proposal that builds on the strengths that we know exist in Plymouth and the whole of the south-west peninsula to serve a globally growing sector of marine engineering. I certainly wish it well, and I hope that we will have good news before very long.
Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)
6. What steps he has taken to prevent a reduction in those registered to vote as a result of the introduction of individual electoral registration.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
The Government are safeguarding the completeness of the electoral register by using data-matching to confirm the majority of existing electors to ensure that they are all automatically enrolled during the transition to individual electoral registration. We are also phasing in the transition over two years to allow those not individually registered to vote in the 2015 election. We are making registration simpler and more convenient by enabling online registration for the first time. In addition, resources have been provided to maximise voter registration ahead of individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
The hon. Gentleman should know that the tests that have been done and the safeguards that are in place, including carrying over the existing register to the 2015 election, mean that there is every prospect that the number of people able to vote in that election will increase. That is what has led the chair of the Electoral Commission to say:
“We have independently assessed how ready the plans are for this change to the registration system and have concluded that it can proceed”.
Cathy Jamieson
Does the Minister support Labour’s policy of votes for 16 and 17-year-olds, and, in that context, what preparations are being made to learn from the experience of the referendum in Scotland?
Greg Clark
Obviously, an exception has been made for Scotland, but the Government have no plans to extend it to the rest of the United Kingdom.
Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)
We warmly welcome anything that increases the integrity of the electoral register, but is my right hon. Friend aware that although it takes only 10 or 15 seconds for someone to put their name on the register, it can take months, if not years, and considerable expense to remove someone who has inadvertently or illegally put their name on it? What is he going to do about it?
Greg Clark
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Part of the transition is to ensure the integrity of the electoral register and to make sure that electoral registration officers target the accuracy, as well as the completeness, of the register. I was struck by some figures from the Metropolitan police, who disclosed that of 29,000 forged identity documents they had seized, 45% had a corresponding forged entry on the electoral register. That underlines the importance of the changes we are making.
Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)
Students tend to move very regularly, and previously there have been good systems in, for example, the Cambridge colleges to register them all automatically. Under the proposed changes, they will be particularly at risk of falling off the register. What steps is the Minister taking to try to make sure that that problem is reduced?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. He will know that I have allocated funding to electoral registration officers in proportion to the risk of under-registration, and places with a high student population are included in that category. He will find that his electoral registration officer has the funds that are required to target that group of people.
Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
10. If the Electoral Commission determines in any report it may produce before the 2015 election that the current procedure is not fit for purpose, will the Government scrap it?
Greg Clark
The Electoral Commission has given its view, and it says that there is no reason why it should not proceed. The right hon. Gentleman may not be aware of the difference between the procedure for the 2015 general election and the later transition to full individual electoral registration. In the 2015 election, the existing carried-over register and the individual register will both be available. That will provide a safeguard in relation to the concerns that he might otherwise have had.
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab/Co-op)
As has already been said, young people and students are those most likely to fall off the register. May I press the Minister on what more the Government can do, particularly working with universities, sixth-form colleges, schools and further education colleges to maximise the number of young people who will register? I understand that the Electoral Commission has the power to recommend a delay if it feels that the situation is not ready in 2015. If it gives him that recommendation, will he heed its advice?
Greg Clark
As I said, the Electoral Commission has made its assessment and, having independently assessed readiness, has concluded that it can proceed. Of course the hon. Gentleman is right to talk about groups that have historically been under-represented and might be so in future. That is why I have announced £24 million of funding for electoral registration officers to make sure that, in addition to their usual work, they target the groups who may otherwise drop off the register and canvass them properly to make sure that they register.
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)
5. What assessment he has made of the effect of the access to elected office fund to date.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
The access to elected office fund is an initiative from the Government Equalities Office to help candidates to meet disability-related costs when standing for election. The fund has approved 22 applications to date, with another 32 pending. It is a pilot exercise targeted to run until June 2014, when the Government will review its operation.
Roger Williams
I thank the Minister for that reply and for the support that the fund has given to disabled parliamentary candidates in Wales. Will he encourage the Welsh Assembly to consider extending the scheme to include local government candidates as well?
Greg Clark
That is obviously a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government. However, with local elections coming up next year, I encourage all Members to publicise the existence of this fund, which meets the additional costs that anyone with disabilities may incur in standing for election—for example, with difficulties in using public transport. The fund is there to enable them to take up their democratic right to stand for office in a way that does not disadvantage them. I hope that more people will access this fund which is available for that purpose.
Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)
7. What recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on improving social mobility.
City Deals
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 6 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals in July 2012 with the “core cities”, the Government committed to work with a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
Over recent months I have been in negotiation with the Solent local enterprise partnership; Southampton city council; Portsmouth city council; Hampshire county council and local authorities that are members of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (Eastleigh, East Hampshire, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Isle of Wight, New Forest, Test Valley and Winchester).
The Southampton and Portsmouth city deal will maximise the economic strengths of these two coastal cities and the wider Solent area, by supporting further growth in the area’s maritime, marine and advanced manufacturing sectors.
Over its lifetime, by bringing together the efforts and resources of local businesses, local councils and the Government, the Solent local enterprise partnership estimates that the deal will deliver:
Over 4,700 permanent new jobs particularly focused in marine, maritime and advanced manufacturing sectors;
Over 13,000 construction jobs;
Unlock 107,000 square metres of new employment floor space with a focus on supporting growth in the marine, maritime and advanced manufacturing sectors;
Support small and medium enterprises to grow through better business support over the next three years;
Provide £115 million of local and national public sector investment; and
Lever in over £838 million of private sector investment into the area through site development, skills and unemployment schemes; and business support services.
City Deal
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 6 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals in July 2012 with the “core cities”, the Government committed to work with a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
Over recent months I have been in negotiation with the New Anglia local enterprise partnership, Suffolk county council, Ipswich borough council and the Babergh, Suffolk Coastal and Mid Suffolk district councils. The Greater Ipswich city deal aims to address youth unemployment and to increase the skills level of the local work force. By bringing together the efforts and resources of local businesses, local councils, colleges and the Government it will:
Provide opportunities for every young person in the area to be in education, an apprenticeship or work
Ensure that dedicated support is available to match young people with jobs through a youth jobs centre
Expand the number of jobs and apprenticeships in local businesses
Increase local investment in skills training
Over its lifetime, the New Anglia local enterprise partnership estimates that the deal will ensure:
Over 3,500 young people are supported into work
£10 million of new local investment in skills training will be made by employers and local agencies
5,000 new apprenticeships will be created
City Deal
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 6 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
Following the successful completion of the first wave of city deals in July 2012, with the “Core Cities” the Government committed to work with a further 20 cities and their wider areas to negotiate a second wave of city deals in October 2012.
These cities (the next 14 largest cities and the six cities with the highest population growth) are in the process of negotiating the devolution of specific powers, resources and responsibilities required to deliver locally-determined economic priorities.
Over recent months I have been in negotiation with the Reading, Bracknell Forest, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham local authorities and the Thames Valley Berkshire local enterprise partnership (LEP) and I am pleased to inform the House that a number of proposals will take effect as the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership City Deal.
The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership City Deal aims to improve the ability of young people in the area to take up the jobs that are being created by local businesses.
The city deal will:
Bring together local and national investment in order to ensure every young person has the opportunity to undertake the right training, improve their skills, find an apprenticeship or get a job.
In addition the LEP will work with local businesses to develop a joint approach to supporting new and growing businesses.
The LEP expects these arrangements to support new opportunities for 4,500 people in the area.
House of Lords Reform (No. 2) Bill
Greg Clark Excerpts(10 years, 7 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Greg Clark)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Dan Byles) on his luck in coming so high in the ballot and, I daresay, for his pluck in choosing a Bill that has the words “House of Lords” and “Reform” in its title. Lord Hennessy, the noted constitutional expert, said in evidence to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee:
“Lords reform is the Bermuda Triangle of British politics, or one of them. Every generation or so people go into the Bermuda Triangle. Some never reappear; others appear singed, vowing…never to return.”
I hope, at least for my hon. Friend’s sake, that he will make it safely into port, singed or not. Whether he vows to return is quite another matter.
Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire) (Con)
In that spirit, will the Minister say to the House now that he will support the Government’s giving the Bill the proper time and attention to allow it to return from the Bermuda triangle entirely unsinged?
Greg Clark
I was about to say that the Bill contains modest proposals that the Government are prepared to support. Obviously, it needs to be scrutinised closely in Committee. My hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) has ventured into the Bermuda triangle himself on occasion—whether he was singed or not is for him to say, but I am pleased to see him in his place today and look forward to his contribution.
The changes that are set out, as the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett) said, are relatively straightforward and represent common sense. There are those who argue that no change should be made until the wider case for reform, or improvement, as the right hon. Gentleman had it, or change, as other people might have it, can be agreed, but there is a clear consensus, after five attempts in the House of Lords, on the need to describe some arrangements that constitute incremental but nevertheless practical changes. It is only right that this House should listen to that call and take time to scrutinise it.
Mr Nuttall
Bearing in mind that these proposals had already been considered on a number of occasions by the other place before the Government introduced the House of Lords Reform Bill, does the Minister agree that had these measures been introduced in this place at that time, they would now be on the statute book?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend makes an important point. The case for these changes has always been well understood. I guess one of the reflections on recent years is whether the addition of various other measures prevented these measures from being adopted. That is a debate that has passed and my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire is right in seeking to concentrate the House on the particular matters in hand. If the House of Lords is willing to embrace sensible reforms, which it seems to be, and it seems quite anxious to proceed with them, we should provide the opportunity for it to do that.
The Bill allows Members of the House of Lords who are peers to resign, removes peers who do not attend the House of Lords during a Session, and removes peers and Lords Spiritual who are convicted of a serious offence and sentenced to imprisonment for more than a year. These changes would bring the membership rules in the House of Lords closer to those in this House, and in so doing would reassure members of the public that those convicted of serious wrongdoing in particular would be removed from the legislature.
I note that the Select Committee yesterday produced a helpful and timely report which supports the introduction of these three changes. It made some further recommendations, to which the Government will respond in due course in the normal way.
The Government have no desire to rerun through this Bill the debate on wider House of Lords reform. I know that some will argue that these changes are not extensive enough and that the opportunity should be taken to have a wider debate, but I was struck by the speech from my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire, in which he said that that was not his intention and that he wants to keep the Bill very narrow. I know that for some people any change requires careful scrutiny and the limited nature of the Bill will afford it the possibility to have that. The Bill offers a set of proposals on which there may well be the basis of a consensus.
Sir Edward Leigh
We cannot let the Minister off the hook. He is speaking very early in the debate, which surprises me, and he appears to want to avoid any wider debate. We need to know from the Government something about their plans. What are their present attitudes to further reform of the House of Lords? Just to say that this is a very modest Bill and we should support it, giving the House no intimation of the Government’s wider plans, is not good enough.
Mr Speaker
Order. Let me say that the Minister has spoken early because he was keen to do so, and I thought there was nothing disorderly or improper about that in any way. Just in case the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) has any trepidation on this point, I can assure him that there will be very full opportunity for other right hon. and hon. Members who wish to speak to catch the eye of the Chair.
Greg Clark
Of course my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) takes a great interest in these matters and I have the greatest respect for the contributions that he has made on that. My remarks are about the Bill before us. It is not the Government’s Bill; it was presented by my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire, and my comment is on the provisions in the Bill.
I think my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough knows well the Government’s position. There is a commitment in the coalition agreement to bring forward reforms to the House of Lords but it was not possible to make progress with it. I suspect that it was in the light of those developments that my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire introduced these provisions today. Of course, as Mr Speaker says, it is open to hon. Members to air the wider questions, but if the Bill proceeds to Committee, it is to consider the specific measures that my hon. Friend is proposing. The Government are prepared to support the Bill today and to see it go into Committee because it provides for the introduction of some sensible, specific and relatively small scale changes to the House of Lords.
Mr Chope
Will my right hon. Friend explain a little more why the Government think this is such a good Bill? Do they think it is such a good Bill because it would enable the House of Lords to be smaller? If so, why are the Government so busy appointing new Members to the House of Lords?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend will be aware that the coalition agreement makes it clear that the Government, pending further reform of the House of Lords, will continue to take steps to make it reflective of the result of the general election, in terms of the representation of parties. On the measures that have been proposed, there has been a degree of concern that the provisions, for example, on the consequences of criminal convictions, are out of line in the other place with those in this place.
The Select Committee, on which my hon. Friend serves, has reflected on the leave of absence provisions and has noted that they have not been very effective in providing a mechanism for Members to retire. So the support that the Government are willing to give specifically reflects concerns that have been expressed beyond this House, but also by Committees of this House, and this is a way to facilitate the correction of those aspects, if not the wider aspects that we have debated from time to time.
Mr Blunkett
Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would be good enough to reflect to the Prime Minister that it is a bit odd for a Conservative-led Government, irrespective of what is in the coalition agreement, with only 18 months to go till a general election, to allow the minor party to press a point that would undermine the stability and functioning of a Chamber that the majority party in the Government supports and wants to work. Is that not perverse?
Greg Clark
The creation of the coalition was based on a coalition agreement. That was discharged. The Bill was put to the House and the House took a view on it. My hon. Friend’s Bill does not relate to those matters. It relates to some specific reforms that have come from a variety of sources, endorsed by one of the Select Committees of this House, and on that basis I am happy to confirm the Government’s support for it to proceed into Committee, if that is the wish of the House.