Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 30th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am aware of the advice from the committee, which we will consider carefully. My hon. Friend will know that the energy company obligation has been reformed to concentrate on fuel poverty, but we are grateful for the committee’s advice and we will respond shortly.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

T3. I know that the Secretary of State will agree with more than 80 cross-party MPs who came together yesterday to say that to realise the northern powerhouse vision, we need the economic commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2. Will he communicate that to aspirant Members from his party who want to see a race to the bottom in the next Tory leadership race? The north will not tolerate that.

[Greg Clark]

Across the country, it is crucial that we invest in infrastructure. If we want to compete with other nations across the world, we need to make sure that our businesses and our people can count on fast connections, and that includes between our great cities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 12th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

T6. With Government support for the third runway at Heathrow coming on top of Crossrail 2, is this not yet another example of infrastructure spending going to the south-east of England? Will the Secretary of State now up the ante and make sure that we get the infrastructure spend to realise the northern powerhouse?

[Greg Clark]

We are getting on with major infrastructure investments that would be good for the whole United Kingdom and that the previous Government did not take.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 31st January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

14. What steps he is taking to encourage businesses to support local economic growth.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Greg Clark)]

One of our most important reforms has been to devolve power and resources to local areas through city deals, devolution deals and growth deals, in which local businesses can shape the decisions most affecting them. The hon. Lady will have welcomed last week’s announcement that half a billion pounds was devolved to northern local enterprise partnerships, including £130 million to Greater Manchester.

[Lucy Powell]

I welcomed most of the announcements in the industrial strategy last week, but the Secretary of State will appreciate that a local area strategy is required for key infrastructure issues such as skills and childcare. What conversations has he had with colleagues in the Department for Education and across local government about the meaningful devolution of skills, early years and education?

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right that the needs of different places should be reflected in decisions that are made locally. Along with the centrality of skills and training, that is a big theme of the industrial strategy consultation, to which I hope she will respond. I look forward to her contribution.

Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Monday 23rd January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that early pitch. He highlights the important point that we should have throughout the country a better and more reliable ability to provide technical education to those who can benefit from it. Many jobs are available in West Sussex but are not accessible for people who do not have the right skills. Our plan will help to solve that.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the Government finally accepting that we have a skills challenge in this country, particularly with the long tail of under-achievement. How does the Secretary of State square that with the huge cuts faced by further and adult education over the past six and a half years of his Government? Why is there not more emphasis on what can be done to close the productivity gap by investing in childcare and getting more women back to work, which is not even mentioned in his report?

[Greg Clark]

I shall say two things to the hon. Lady. First, as I said to the hon. Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis), the Conservative-led Government’s task in restoring sanity to the public finances was absolutely foundational to a successful industrial strategy. Secondly, she will be aware that this Government have been particularly innovative in extending childcare to many people who previously were not able to access it. That is an important foundation on which we build.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 14th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

LEPs are elected in the sense that every one of them contains the democratically elected leaders of their local councils, but they also contain the business leaders of the area, which is important. For example, in the deal we did with Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the technology director of Rolls-Royce, which the hon. Gentleman will concede is a very important employer in Derbyshire, said that the focus in the LEP strategy on growth and investing in infrastructure is exactly what is needed, and that it aligns with the company’s objectives. Bringing business and the democratically elected council leaders together is the right way to go.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What steps he is taking to improve social mobility.

Local Growth Deals

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Monday 7th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has personal responsibility for that power, since he, with me, piloted the Localism Bill through Committee. The power is available to local authorities and I hope they will take it up.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I first respond to the Minister’s more partisan points before I move on to the less partisan point? People in Manchester will judge his Government on all their policies, including local government cuts 10 times those of other, more prosperous areas and the welfare reform agenda that is hitting my constituents the hardest. On the less partisan point, which is what I had hoped the statement would be about, given the reports by Michael Heseltine and Lord Adonis and today’s statement by Sir Richard Leese, we now really have cross-party consensus for dramatic decentralisation, and I hope the Minister will ensure that it goes further and faster over the coming months.

[Greg Clark]

I had also hoped that this statement would be less partisan, but that was not entirely evident from the earlier exchanges. Greater Manchester has been doing very well in recent years. If we look at the cross-party leadership of Greater Manchester, including Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour leaders, we will see that they get on well together in the interests of Greater Manchester. The hon. Lady should take a leaf out of their book.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Greg Clark and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[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?

[Greg Clark]

There is no such delay. The deal is agreed.