Post Office Closures

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Huw Merriman]

I absolutely agree, and will touch on that when I discuss the effect on my constituents.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. I add my concerns to the others expressed, because the post office in Inkberrow in my constituency is up for consultation. The local shop was keen to have it, but the Post Office could not consult properly with local residents. It would be great if post offices could be sited in community facilities such as pubs.

[Huw Merriman]

I very much take my hon. Friend’s point. One of the challenges we have found has been in trying to find businesses that are willing to take on post office sites. The choice does not seem to be there any longer—at least, not that I can see from the situation in Heathfield.

Air Passenger Duty: Regional Airports

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Julian Knight (Solihull) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered air passenger duty and regional airports.

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I am delighted to have secured this important debate, and I put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen), who has been a champion of regional aviation and has campaigned on many of the issues that I hope to touch on in the debate.

Along with many hon. Members present, I have a regional airport on the edge of my constituency—in my case, Birmingham airport. I will set out the importance of my regional airport to the west midlands and to the wider UK economy, before moving on to the specifics of air passenger duty.

Birmingham airport is the second largest regional airport in England and the third largest regional airport in the UK. York Aviation has calculated that in 2014 the airport’s total economic impact in the west midlands was worth about £1.1 billion. The airport supports about 25,000 jobs.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Does he agree with me that Birmingham international airport is a fantastic airport and, when High Speed 2 is built, some people in London will be able to get to Birmingham quicker than they would be able to get to Gatwick or Heathrow?

[Julian Knight]

My hon. Friend is a strong champion of regional aviation, and many of her constituents in Redditch not only use Birmingham airport and enjoy its facilities but work there.

As I was saying, York Aviation calculated that some 25,000 jobs rely on the airport, which puts it in a similar bracket to developments such as HS2 in driving the regional economy. Passenger numbers at Birmingham airport have grown by 13% over the past five years and in 2014 alone it handled more than 9.7 million passengers, including a 7.2% growth in long haul. Nevertheless, the airport is running well below capacity. It could conceivably accommodate up to 36 million passengers, rather than just under 10 million.

The potential for Birmingham airport, and I am sure for many other hon. Members’ airports, to impact positively on the UK economy is considerable. Genuinely, we have only scratched the surface of what we can achieve. While we take seemingly forever to debate a new runway at Heathrow, jobs and direct investment in the regions are going begging.

The west midlands is in receipt of over a quarter of all foreign direct investment entering the UK and leads the UK in terms of export growth. It is the only part of our country with a positive visible trade balance with the European Union, seeing overall growth of 100% between 2009 and 2014. Birmingham airport is central to that—but more growth and jobs could be had. A major stumbling block is the air passenger duty regime.

Regional airports are at a disadvantage, as rates of APD are calculated on the destination of the flight and the class of travel that a passenger is in. This fee is the same whether someone flies from Heathrow, Birmingham or any other English or Welsh airport: for flights within the European open skies area, the fee is £13 in standard or £26 in a higher class, but jumps dramatically for flights outside that area, to £71 in standard class or £142 in a higher class. APD in the UK is considerably higher than in our neighbouring competitor economies: in Germany, it is £5.70 in the European open skies area and £32 for the rest of the world in standard class; and in France it is cheaper still, at £3.90 in the European open skies area and £8.90 for the rest of the world in standard.

An Airport Operators Association survey found that the APD has had a direct effect on passenger numbers and routes. Bristol airport reportedly said that several domestic services were scrapped as a result. Routes between Southampton, Leeds-Bradford, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Brussels airports had been “adversely affected” by the tax.

Barnett Formula

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Iain Stewart]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. If he bides his time a little, he will see that I will touch on some of those issues later on in my speech.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree, though, that the majority of people in my constituency would think that the Barnett formula is unfair?

[Iain Stewart]

There certainly is that perception. Part of my motivation for securing the debate was to address such issues so that we can have a more informed debate on the fiscal relationship principally between Scotland and England. I am conscious that Members from Wales and Northern Ireland are in the Chamber as well. My comments will be principally about Scotland and England, but the arguments also apply to the rest of the United Kingdom. As I said, there is much ill-informed comment and misunderstanding about what the Barnett formula is and does and that is why I wanted to have this debate.

As well as being misunderstood, the Barnett formula is much maligned. Contradictory simultaneous comments are made that it both penalises Scotland and is too generous to Scotland, but both of those cannot be right. I am reminded of a comment that Lord Foulkes made when he was a Scotland Office Minister about a decade ago:

“If the SNP think that Barnett is too mean and the English Tories think that it is too generous, most sensible people would think that it is just about right”.

For many years, reform of the Barnett formula has been parked in the “too difficult” box.

Financial Conduct Authority Redress Scheme

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy (Guto Bebb) for securing the debate and for his great work.

I want to highlight the situation of the Parsons family from my constituency. I met them in October 2010. They have suffered hugely having run into cash-flow difficulties following the start of interest rate swap payments. The Parsons believe that their bank, HSBC, has bypassed the terms of the FCA’s review into the mis-selling of interest rate swaps to deny their business fair and reasonable consequential loss payments.

The Parsons are a very enterprising family who, as well as running their family business, have done so much great work in my local community, particularly in setting up a community benefit society. Elysia, the Parsons’s family business, was founded in 1994. It is a general partnership between the three siblings, Sebastian, Tabitha and Sophie. It invests and operates businesses that are ethically driven, with a long-term aim to mutualise and invest profits in the community. Elysia has a number of business interests, including a biodynamic farm and a sustainable fair trade clothing company. Until December 2013, it was the sole UK distributor for Dr Hauschka skin care, having held the position for 19 years.

Elysia had a successful relationship with its bank for 15 years. It hesitated to sign up to interest rate swaps, but was persuaded to do so by the bank. Having met the family many times, it is no exaggeration to say that they feel they have been let down and were out of their depth.

HSBC has admitted mis-selling three interest rate swap hedging products to Elysia. The drop in the LIBOR rate led to a £350,000 loss. HSBC put the company into its loan management unit and took property sales to repay its loan. It forced interest rates up, costing Elysia hundreds of thousands of pounds more, and required the company to spend yet more thousands of pounds on advice from accountants. Elysia’s cash starvation impacted on sales so much that stock ran low. In the end, it cost the family their business, because their supplier became tired of the bank being paid in preference.

The Parsons family believe that, throughout that time, HSBC was attempting to coerce them into selling their family firm. I know the family. The massive effect on their health is clear. One of them is unable to work. It is the feeling of the Parsons family that HSBC deprived Elysia of its working capital and remorselessly destroyed it. The family employed an accountant who estimated consequential losses of more than £7 million. Guess what HSBC offered them: £27,000.

The House will be aware of the FCA’s promise to put customers back in the position they should have been in had the regulatory failings not occurred. In the case of my constituents, that has not happened. The inability to pay suppliers has led to a loss of a multimillion pound contract and some 40 UK jobs in my constituency. The Parsons are angry and frightened for the future of their family, as the business they set up to benefit the community is being attacked by bankers. It has been said many times that small business owners are the backbone of this country. We should not allow them to be treated this way. People have really suffered and are still suffering. They are calling out for a body with teeth to give them the redress they deserve. Unfortunately, I am not convinced that we have that with the FCA.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

The hon. Gentleman will know, because he has studied the figures, that mortgage lending has actually been increasing. The point of the funding for lending scheme is precisely to make more funds available. When he studies the detail—I am happy to meet him and go through it with him—he will be able to promote the scheme in his constituency, because his constituents, whether they are businesses or households, can benefit from it.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

The core purpose of the Treasury is to ensure the stability of the economy, promote business and employment, reform banking and manage the public finances so that Britain starts to live within her means. I can also tell the House today that the autumn statement will be on Wednesday 5 December.

[Karen Lumley]

Does the Chancellor think a general strike would be helpful to the UK economy?

[Mr Osborne]

No, I do not. I think it would cost jobs in the British economy and hit prosperity. I hope that all Members of this House, whether they are sponsored by trade unions or not, would condemn all calls on the trade unions to take up a general strike.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

4. What steps he is taking to increase the availability of credit to small businesses.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

Lending to small businesses is a real concern at a time of stress in the financial markets. That is why the Government acted last month by launching the £20 billion national loan guarantee scheme. It is still in its first few weeks, but the signs are that businesses are getting cheaper loans, which will help support recovery.

[Karen Lumley]

Small businesses are obviously the key to the economic recovery. Will the Secretary of State reassure business people in Redditch that the Government will continue to look at funding for SMEs to ensure that finance reaches even the smallest companies?

[Mr Osborne]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance and say to businesses in her constituency and others that the national loan guarantee scheme is now available through most of the high street banks. We are also investing through something called the business finance partnership in non-bank financing of businesses. Some of that money will be for very small businesses, too, through peer-to-peer lending. As everyone accepts, I think, financial markets across the world, particularly in Europe, are stressed. That is why the Government have to step in and help, and that is what the £20 billion of guarantees that we are offering under the scheme will do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend is right. There is a need to balance the desire for a quick service with ensuring that we do not allow fraudulent registrations. Between April and September this year, 57.4% of applications were processed within the target 10 calendar days. There was an improvement in the rate during August and September, when 71.4% and 79.7% of applications were processed within the 10 days.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effect on GDP of proposals to increase the level of economic growth in the June 2010 Budget.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Justine Greening)]

A key part of the emergency Budget was to make sure that we rebalanced our economy on to a more sustainable, private-led footing with economic growth taking place. As I said, we introduced a range of measures to support business, but we did not stop at that; we now have a second Finance Bill that brings forward further measures. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s analysis following the emergency Budget showed that it is forecasting a sustained recovery in economic output, with employment growing year on year and unemployment falling year on year.

[Karen Lumley]

What would have happened in smaller, mixed-economy areas such as my constituency of Redditch if the Government had refused to take the challenge as they have and face up to the difficult decisions?

[Justine Greening]

Such areas would have faced a jobs tax with higher national insurance, higher corporation tax rates, lower economic confidence and, quite possibly, higher interest rates.

Equitable Life (Payments) Bill

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 14th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

I, too, pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) for her maiden speech. I have heard many great maiden speeches since I arrived here, and I shall now be adding Congleton to my long list of places to visit in the UK.

My colleagues have made a great many points today, so I shall be extremely brief. I, too, signed the Equitable Life pledge before the election, because I believed that the Equitable Life policyholders needed to be compensated. I am therefore delighted to see that we are moving towards a swift resolution for them. They had to wait more than 10 years under the previous Administration, when there was money in the pot to pay them, although the will to do so was obviously not there.

Like other hon. Members, I have had many letters from my constituents on this matter, and as a result I had a meeting with them in Redditch on Friday night. Let me tell the House that there was standing room only. Emotions were running high and I have to say that it was a pretty uncomfortable hour. I listened to some heartbreaking stories, including that of a constituent who had put not only his and his wife’s money into Equitable Life but that of his 15 employees too. I just cannot tell the House how bad he felt. I left that meeting feeling angry that my constituents have had to wait more than 10 years for justice, and I think that the previous Government should be ashamed of themselves for not dealing with this matter earlier.

But we are where we are. I want to say to the Minister that those people have suffered enough and, while I am grateful to him for settling the issue as soon as possible, I urge him, during his difficult negotiations in the Treasury regarding the spending review, to look closely at the compensation package that my constituents will receive. In these difficult times, I urge him to remember the pledge that most of us on this side of the House signed.

I will support the Bill tonight, but I hope that the Minister has listened carefully to what Members on both sides of the House have said about the fairness of the compensation scheme. Our constituents will await with interest the outcome of the spending review on 20 October.

Oral Answers to Questions

Karen Lumley Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

6. What recent representations he has received on the level of the budget deficit.

[Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)]

12. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of the budget deficit.

[Mr Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of the budget deficit.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have, of course, seen the IMF report, and the lesson we learned is that you have to fix the roof when the sun is shining. That is what the previous Government completely failed to do. They had 13 years to fix the national finances, and now it is up to us to clear up the mess that they left behind.

[Karen Lumley]

Has the Chancellor received any apologies from the previous Government for the mismanagement of the economy over the past 13 years?

[Mr Osborne]

No, but we did receive a letter from the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne), apologising for the fact that there was no money left. We will discuss this issue in the debate on the Queen’s Speech. I note that the Labour party has tabled a motion, which it is asking us all to vote for, noting

“the need for a clear plan to bring down the deficit”.

I look forward to hearing that clear plan in the shadow Chancellor’s speech.