Independent Lifeboats: Government Support

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate and thank the hon. Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) for bringing this debate to the House. It is extremely important to highlight the role of our dedicated lifeboat services, which seek to rescue any persons in distress or difficulty around our coast. It is important that we continue to celebrate these lifesaving services and recognise their contribution to search and rescue services across the United Kingdom search and rescue region. I welcome this opportunity to pay tribute to the brave volunteers who are a critical part of the UK’s maritime search and rescue provision.

I am very happy to join all those hon. Members here today who have highlighted the volunteers on their own independent lifeboats and, indeed, RNLI lifeboats. The hon. Member for Havant (Alan Mak) highlighted Hayling Island lifeboat station; my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) highlighted the Pett Level independent rescue boat; the hon. Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) drew our attention to Lyme Regis and its independent rescue boat; my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume) referred to the boat at Runswick Bay; my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) referred to the Ferryside and Loughor boats; the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) referred to the Gosport and Fareham inshore rescue service; the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) highlighted independent lifeboats on Strangford lough, Lough Neagh and the Lagan; and my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Anna Gelderd) highlighted the RNLI in her area—I have witnessed its work myself while on holiday, and obviously the RNLI’s headquarters are in Poole.

We heard from the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Alison Griffiths) about the lifeboat service in her constituency; the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) talked about the lifeboats at Sea Palling and Mundesley; and we heard about the lifeboat at Caister from the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew). I apologise if I missed anyone and I know that there are many other independent lifeboats around the country that I have not mentioned. I feel somewhat guilty for not having done so, but I know that they will be doing incredible work too, and they similarly deserve our thanks.

I am sure that all hon. Members across the House will be aware of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution—a charity that provides lifeboat and lifeguard services across the UK, Ireland and the Crown dependencies—and the role that its brave volunteers undertake, but this debate is a welcome opportunity to call attention to our independent lifeboats, which are not part of the RNLI but provide vital lifeboat and lifesaving services in their local communities.

We are very lucky also to have volunteer life brigades, volunteer lifeguards and His Majesty’s Coastguard volunteers, all of whom regularly risk their own lives to save others at sea and around our beautiful but sometimes treacherous coastline. Those volunteers undertake search operations and water, mud and cliff rescue 24 hours a day, sometimes in the most terrible circumstances and conditions. Indeed, the conditions in which they deploy to save and protect others are often challenging and potentially life-threatening. We recognise and greatly appreciate their service, and I know that all Members of the House will join me in thanking them.

Our volunteer lifeboat services in the UK have a long and proud history spanning more than 200 years. The saving of lives at sea and on the coast, and the volunteer ethos of these services, is a cornerstone of British society. While the RNLI is recognised as a world leader in lifeboat services and operations, the UK is also very proud to have approximately 40 independent lifeboats declared to His Majesty’s Coastguard—and others besides, as we have heard. Those organisations provide lifesaving services around the clock in support of our maritime and coastal emergency service. His Majesty’s Coastguard’s own volunteer coastguard rescue officers are also proud to maintain the traditions of voluntary lifesaving and have worked alongside their colleagues in the lifeboat services for over 200 years.

My hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) spoke about the issues in his constituency and the potential interest in establishing a rescue service on the River Thames. His Majesty’s Coastguard is responsible for search and rescue on the lower River Thames to Teddington. Beyond that, inland water safety is the responsibility of the police. However, should small boat operators want to form a rescue service, His Majesty’s Coastguard can provide advice and guidance, and the rescue boat code is a good benchmark for the formation of rescue boats. I am sure that the responsible Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Keir Mather)—would be happy to provide my hon. Friend with further information should he so wish.

My hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central also asked about the safety of boaters, who take part in an increasingly popular activity. Inland search and rescue is the responsibility of the police, but the fire services have water rescue capability and His Majesty’s Coastguard search and rescue helicopters can also be asked to support those services.

The work undertaken by our independent lifeboats is often not fully recognised. Each is run by dedicated volunteers who provide a vital lifesaving capability to offer assistance to any person who may be in difficulty around our coasts and countryside. As we have heard, independent lifeboats operate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, both on the coast and inland.

The hon. Member for Hamble Valley rightly highlighted the challenges our independent lifeboats face. In common with all search and rescue services, they are responding to an increasing number of call-outs. As so many hon. Members highlighted, they also face significant challenges to maintain their operations. We know that volunteers not only crew the lifeboats but undertake magnificent fundraising efforts to provide the resources they need. They of course require our recognition and support, and a number of bodies and initiatives work to support them.

In September 2022, the National Independent Lifeboat Association was formally launched, with support from Members of Parliament, the Department for Transport and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. NILA was founded with the intention of supporting our independent lifeboats and providing a cohesive voice for those smaller but vital organisations. His Majesty’s Coastguard continues to help, support and guide the development of the association, which aims to provide ongoing support to the individual charities through the provision of a national voice, including by representing them in the United Kingdom Search and Rescue Operators Group.

UKSAR is the representative organisation for search and rescue in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is an amalgam of Government Departments, the emergency services and a number of search and rescue charities and voluntary organisations. Those authorities and organisations are committed to a cohesive and co-operative partnership in support of an effective, cost-efficient national SAR capability. UKSAR is chaired by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on behalf of the Department for Transport and it has various workstreams that look to support all volunteer SAR groups, including independent lifeboats and many others, such as mountain rescue and lowland rescue, which I had the pleasure of meeting recently. The workstreams cover a broad spectrum, including interoperability, national operating guidance, medical response, volunteer support and recognition of SAR organisations.

As we heard, NILA is currently a probationary member of the UK Search and Rescue Operators Group, while it continues to establish and move to full membership. Importantly, probationary status does not limit NILA’s access or influence, or the benefits it receives as part of UK Search and Rescue. NILA has done fantastic work representing independent lifeboats since its founding only a few years ago, and it must be commended for that work. HM Coastguard and UKSAR will continue to support NILA as it moves towards full membership. I understand that following discussions between NILA trustees and its sponsor, HM Coastguard, NILA concluded that remaining a probationary member at this stage was in its best interests, but it is clearly on a journey towards full membership.

UKSAR has worked with the DFT to ensure that all SAR responders, including independent lifeboats, will be recognised in ongoing work, including the revision of section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 to allow the appropriate use of emergency warning devices. It will also support wider workstreams, including, as the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) highlighted, allowing potential vehicle excise duty exemptions—I assure him that that work is in hand.

The hon. Member for Hamble Valley and a number of others raised the issue of the rescue boat grant fund. As we heard, the fund provided grants to inshore and inland rescue boat charities to support major capital purchases. The Department was able to subsequently extend the fund with a further £1 million for an additional round in 2019-20. But at the end of that period, the then Government closed the fund because its specific objective of enhancing capacity was considered to have been met.

While the Department does not currently have any plans to reintroduce the rescue boat grant fund, the Government regularly make new grants available to charities, and the process of identifying suitable opportunities, checking eligibility and making applications has been simplified through a single online portal. His Majesty’s Coastguard provides guidance and support to all its declared independent lifeboats through its local management teams and declared facility officers. Since April 2015, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has allowed search and rescue charities, including independent lifeboats, to recover VAT on the purchase of goods and services used for their non-business activities.

Earlier this year, the all-party parliamentary group for volunteer rescue services was established, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton)—a constituency that is quite challenging to say. My hon. Friend could not be in the debate today, but I know the APPG is supported by many MPs. The aim of the group is to advocate for legislation and policies that support and strengthen the volunteer rescue sector, ensuring that volunteers are equipped, protected and empowered to carry out their lifesaving work effectively across the UK in all emergency and disaster response situations. I am sure that we all look forward to a further opportunity to debate and discuss those issues in the House.

The hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) rightly spoke about the reduction in charitable and corporate giving. As I am sure she will appreciate, this issue falls outside my portfolio, but I will ensure that the concerns she expressed today are heard by the Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock). The hon. Member is right to raise the importance of addressing what we can do as a Government to support the growth of charitable giving and philanthropy.

I am very proud to be speaking on behalf of the Department responsible for maritime search and rescue, and I am very proud of the volunteers, and their supporting organisations, who form such an important part of that provision. I pay tribute to those organisations and the individuals who work both in response and behind the scenes to provide lifesaving services in whatever circumstances, to whoever needs them. I hope I have managed to answer the questions and concerns of hon. Members, but if not, I know that the Minister for Maritime and Aviation will be reading our exchanges—I am afraid he is visiting another part of the UK today—and will reflect on them. I am sure that he would happy to respond to any questions in writing, if I have not covered them.

I finish by thanking the hon. Member for Hamble Valley for raising this important issue and providing the opportunity for us to debate and celebrate the contribution of our lifeboat services to search and rescue.

Community Helipads: Rural Access

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I offer my congratulations and thanks to the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald) for bringing this debate to the House and allowing what has been a very useful discussion.

I begin by acknowledging the vital role played by air ambulances and search-and-rescue helicopters in saving lives. Across the United Kingdom there are 21 air ambulance charities, covering all regions of the country by air and also, often, by land in rapid response vehicles. In Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service, funded by the Scottish Government, helps to convey patients to hospital from some of the most remote areas of the United Kingdom. Some of those areas are represented here this morning.

As the hon. Member highlighted from his own family’s experiences—I hope his wife is recovering—these dedicated teams serve communities across the UK day and night and often in really challenging conditions, providing lifesaving care when it is needed most and delivering patients directly to major trauma centres and other specialist medical facilities. It is not only air ambulances that save lives. Bristow Helicopters operates a dedicated fleet of search-and-rescue helicopters on behalf of His Majesty’s Coastguard. From 10 bases, stretching from Newquay in the south-west to Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, these crews stand ready to respond in order to save lives at sea and on land. When capacity allows, they also support the NHS to ensure that patients receive lifesaving care when air ambulances are unable to operate—for example, in particularly bad weather. I thank all members of our air ambulance and search-and-rescue teams for their continuing commitment to saving lives.

In more remote regions, such as the highlands and islands of Scotland, air ambulance aircraft play a crucial role in transferring patients from smaller hospitals to specialist centres. These operations may be supported by HM Coastguard search-and-rescue air assets when capacity allows and when air ambulances are unavailable or where conditions are beyond the capabilities of smaller air ambulances. Working hand in hand with NHS colleagues, these teams ensure that patients receive the highest standards of care swiftly and efficiently, no matter the distance or challenge.

However, this vital service depends on the availability of helicopter landing sites that helicopter operators are able and willing to use. These landing sites range from helipads and airfields to community spaces, playing fields and car parks, most of which require patients to be transported to and from them by land ambulance. Currently, the CAA does not formally regulate any of these helipads or landing sites. Although the CAA has best practice guidance—as the hon. Member highlighted—for hospital helipads, known as CAP 1264, it is not mandatory guidance. Helicopter operators can face unique challenges at these sites, including questions about legal responsibility for site safety and ensuring that there are no obstructions or bystanders who could be harmed by the powerful winds or downdraughts generated by a helicopter landing or taking off. As the hon. Member set out, that was made evident in 2022, when the downdraught produced by a search-and-rescue helicopter fatally injured one bystander, and seriously injured another, while it was arriving at Derriford hospital in Plymouth.

Following that incident, HM Coastguard helicopters took the decision that they will transfer patients using helipads only where there is clear responsibility and accountability for safety at the site, as well as a helicopter operations manual that manages known risks. When those safety requirements are satisfied, ultimately it is still the decision of the pilot in command of a helicopter to make a dynamic risk assessment of landing at a particular site, based on the company’s standard operating procedures, safety management systems, weather conditions, and the situation on the ground on the day—these are professionals who can make such judgments.

The Department for Transport continues to work with NHS Scotland, His Majesty’s Coastguard and helicopter operators to encourage all parties to work together to ensure safety at landing sites. I completely understand the frustration of the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire on behalf of his constituent; he described the situation where his constituent had to be transported to a boggy field rather than a helipad. I understand why he has asked about the role of the Health and Safety Executive, which is investigating the Derriford situation.

It would not be right for me to comment on or seek to intervene in a live investigation—the HSE is not responsible to the Department for Transport in any case—but my officials are working closely with the coastguard, the CAA, the NHS, and HEMS operators, as well as consulting with HSE to understand the concerns and ensure that operators can continue to fly into hospital helipads safely. But the decision about whether to land at any particular site is always at the discretion of the pilot in command.

As the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire set out, at the moment coastguard helicopters are not landing at Portree because they will only land at sites where they know who is responsible and accountable for safety, and where there is a helicopter operations manual to help ensure safe operations. If someone from Portree and Braes Community Trust or NHS Scotland is willing to take responsibility for the site and produce a helicopter operations manual, the coastguard and the helicopter operator will consider landing at the site. I appreciate that this sounds like a huge undertaking, but it is worth saying that the site at Portree is not wholly dissimilar to the site at Arran, where the helicopter operating manual, which sounds like it might be a weighty tome, is only four pages long. It sets out a responsible person and the operations. The manuals can be 60 pages long—it depends on the complexity of the site and how busy it is. There is potentially a way forward, and the hon. Member knows that the Department will work with him and others to help find a solution.

The Government recognise the crucial role that helicopter landing sites in rural areas, especially in the far north of Scotland, play in ensuring that local residents and visitors can access the highest possible standards of healthcare in an emergency. We are also cognisant of the potential risks to bystanders, ground staff and aircraft crew and patients when such sites are not properly managed and lack sufficient oversight.

Since the Derriford incident, the Government have taken on a collaborative role with the blue-light aviation sector, and we remain committed to working together with all parties as one team to explore solutions that are capable of both advancing safety and safeguarding the provision of this lifeline service. I am sure that the Department and ministerial colleagues will be happy to work with the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire to look at the detail of this particular case and see if we can assist.

[Sarah Dyke]

I also want to celebrate and thank all ambulance crews, as well as everybody working in the NHS, for the brilliant work they do providing this service. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Since its first mission in 2000, the team has responded to 29,000 missions—an average of eight missions a day— and each mission costs around £3,500.

As well as celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, does the Minister recognise the vital service our air ambulances provide, as well as the work they do to provide rural services? Will she help me to secure and protect those services for the future?

[Lilian Greenwood]

The hon. Member is absolutely right to highlight the work of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. I add my congratulations on their 25-year anniversary. It is clear that they have made a huge impact not just on the local community, but for the many visitors to that area. I am sure we all want to see the continuation of these vital services, which matter to so many people across this country and share a commitment to work together, where there are any issues, to ensure those services can continue. I have enjoyed today’s debate, and look forward to continuing these discussions on another occasion.

Question put and agreed to.

Budget Resolutions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

The Chancellor’s final Budget has confirmed what the British public and my constituents in Nottingham South have long known: we are all paying a heavy price for 14 years of Tory failure. That is failure to grow our economy, failure to raise living standards and appalling failure to deliver the quality public services that people need and deserve. We have all been left living in a lost decade because of a succession of chaotic Conservative ideological projects that have harmed economic growth, scared off private investment and widened inequalities across our nation, from austerity to a no-plan Brexit and the kamikaze mini-Budget of September 2022.

The Chancellor and the Prime Minister claim that our country has turned a corner. Perhaps we have, but it turns out that around that corner was yet another Tory recession and the highest tax burden for 70 years. Households in my constituency of Nottingham South will be on average a further £870 worse off because of the Budget and other recent economic announcements from this rudderless Government. For every £10 that the Government are taking from our hard-working families in higher tax, they are giving back only £5. Forget robbing Peter to pay Paul—the Tories are giving with one hand and taking twice as much with the other, while expecting us to thank them for the privilege.

Many of my constituents were already having to make daily difficult decisions to make ends meet because of the sky-high inflation and rocketing rents and mortgage payments unleashed by the last Prime Minister’s irresponsible and economically illiterate mini-Budget. Now, because of the failure of this Prime Minister and his Chancellor to get our economy growing again, raise living standards or actually cut the tax burden, my constituents will have to try to make do with even fewer pounds in their pocket.

The Conservatives are inflicting yet further pain on my constituents, because the combination of £1 billion-worth of cuts to Nottingham City Council, the failure to fix the crisis in social care and spiralling homelessness has pushed our council over the edge. To fill that black hole made in Westminster, the council has been forced to agree devastating cuts to local services, including the arts, culture, libraries, community protection, youth services and more. This ill treatment comes as no surprise to us in Nottingham, because successive Tory Governments have failed to make the important investments needed to help our great city grow, cancelling first midland main line electrification and then phase 2 of High Speed 2, and refusing to invest in the Broadmarsh project to regenerate our city centre and create more than 6,000 much-needed jobs. We in Nottingham have been a target for Tory cuts since 2010, but I am proud that I and others stood up to the Government to force them to deliver on the extensions to Nottingham’s tram network, the upgrading of the A453 and the scheme to insulate and retrofit thousands of homes across Nottingham South.

Unlike for the Conservatives, sound public finances and economic stability are non-negotiable for the Labour party. A future Labour Government will not play fast and loose with our economy by carrying out ideological Frankenstein experiments like the Prime Minister’s £46 billion unfunded plan to abolish national insurance. Instead, we will stick to our tough fiscal rules. Our spending plans will be fully costed and fully funded, including a loophole-free windfall tax on the extraordinary profits of oil and gas multinational giants. We will root out waste, corruption and those abusing taxpayers’ money by setting up a new office for value for money, halving Government consultancy spending, and appointing a covid corruption commissioner, to ensure that all of our taxpayers’ hard-earned money is spent wisely.

A future Labour Government would end Tory short-termism and instead work with private business to encourage stability, investment and reform to build the world-leading industries of the future in Britain. We would reform our sclerotic planning system, support our working people to develop the skills they need to thrive, and make work finally pay with a genuine living wage and a new deal for working people.

The Conservative Government have broken their promises to the British people. We are all paying more and getting less because of repeated Tory failures. If this was a private contract, the Government would have been taken to court for misrepresentation under the Trade Descriptions Act long ago. Instead, the Prime Minister, who lost his last election test to his predecessor and her snake-oil economics, is steadfastly refusing to let the British public have a say on his and his party’s record of chaos and national decline. He should do the right thing and call a general election for 2 May to let the people of Nottingham South and Britain elect a Government who will put them first.

Economy Update

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend speaks with experience on this matter, given his previous roles.

I will give a couple of examples. One we have touched on, which is energy supply and making sure that we can improve it, but there is also the labour market, which we know is tight. That is why it is important that we move people off welfare and into work and reform high-skill migration. Beyond that, we will go after all opportunities across all sectors where we can deregulate and improve our productive capacity.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

On the Chancellor’s watch, we have had 15 tax rises, and this year the UK is the only G7 country to be raising taxes on working people. He has known for months that our constituents are going hungry, sitting in the cold, worried sick about their bills and facing the biggest fall in their living standards since the 1950s. Why did it take the Prime Minister’s boozy lawbreaking being all over the news for him to finally impose a windfall tax on the bumper profits of energy companies?

[Rishi Sunak]

Well, we did act, and that is why there is already £21 billion of support to help people with the cost of living this year. We are adding £15 billion to that today, after having more certainty about what energy bills will be in the autumn, and that is why we have acted now.

Financial Statement

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

That is exactly what we are doing. The increase in the personal tax threshold in July was brought in far quicker than these things normally are, but we wanted to do it as quickly as possible. This will put £330 in the pockets of 30 million people up and down the country.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

This year, the Chancellor is delivering the largest fall in living standards since Office for National Statistics records began in 1956-57. Will he tell us how many more people will fall into poverty as a result of his failure to ensure that increases in social security match inflation?

[Rishi Sunak]

The hon. Lady is describing the impact of inflation on people’s incomes. Of course that will have an impact; we have been very clear and honest about that. That is not just happening here; it is happening everywhere across the world as we grapple with higher inflation, but the measures we are taking today will make a significant difference to support working families in weathering some of the challenges ahead. Again, for those who are most vulnerable, we started this journey in autumn with a tax cut to universal credit, and we are doubling the household support fund today to £1 billion.

Covid-19: Government Support for Business

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I recognise that, which is why I have set out today the engagement that we are having to try to determine exactly what we need to do.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

For more than a week, hospitality businesses and workers in Nottingham have been contacting me desperately worried about falling custom at what should be their busiest time of year. I have also heard from hair and beauty salons in my constituency that are facing cancellations and wondering how on earth they will get by on a reduced income when they are already struggling to pay back the loans that they took out to survive lockdown. Why do the Government not seem to understand the urgency of the situation and what will the Minister now do to help?

[John Glen]

What I will do is ensure that the hon. Lady’s point is passed to the Chancellor. I will also ensure that the engagement is as broad as possible across Treasury Ministers, so that the full impact of the evolving circumstances is reflected in our response.

Downing Street Christmas Parties Investigation

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Thursday 9th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

My condolences to the hon. Gentleman’s constituent. The Prime Minister has said, as I have said from this Dispatch Box, that disciplinary action will be taken if appropriate. I hope that the hon. Gentleman’s constituent can be reassured by that. As to the course of action the police choose to take, if any, that is a matter entirely independent of Her Majesty’s Government; it will be up to the police as they are operationally independent. We have said that the Cabinet Secretary will involve the police if, during the course of his investigation, he uncovers any criminality.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has repeatedly told this House that all covid rules were followed in Downing Street. Will the Minister publish the covid risk assessments undertaken prior to any parties, social events or gatherings that took place on Government premises in November and December last year?

[Michael Ellis]

I have noted what the hon. Lady says. That will be a matter for the Cabinet Secretary, and he will be free to seek any documents he needs during the course of his investigation.

Working People’s Finances: Government Policy

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Tuesday 21st September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Western]

I absolutely agree—it is such a key point. There are so many schemes that could be introduced, and there is some excellent practice across Europe; I think it is currently beyond the wit of the Government, but as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for council housing I am certainly keen that we should push for it.

On energy costs, I go back to the point about heavy manufacturing. I am passionate about our manufacturing sector—not just the automotive sector, which I have talked about often, but chemicals, aerospace and steel. We have heard the comments that my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) made about the impact on steel, but the impact will be felt throughout our manufacturing: steel goes into the food and drink sector as much as into automotive and elsewhere.

The reality is that the price varies for energy. For gas in the UK, I think that I am right in saying that there is a 40% premium against the average in Europe, which is making us uncompetitive in comparison and will have an impact on future investment and, ultimately, on jobs.

Food prices are another big driver of inflation. The price of food and drink in shops and supermarkets has risen by more than 1% in August, the highest growth since 2008. Food commodity prices have increased by 17% since the start of the year. The Food and Drink Federation says that the cost per household of food and drink shopping will increase by more than £160 per year because of Government policies—that is the federation speaking, not me.

Various hon. Members have mentioned the supply chain disruption, which will lead to higher prices. We have heard about the shortages of heavy goods vehicle drivers, but there are also shortages of refrigerants and carbon dioxide, and of course there is the additional complexity of delays at borders and ports.

I turn to travel. I asked the Minister about the price of petrol, but in July petrol prices hit their highest level in almost eight years. It now costs £74.26 to fill a 55-litre family car with petrol, a 17% increase—17% seems to be a repeating figure—since the start of the year, by the Government’s own data. Diesel, by comparison, has risen by just 14%.

Rail fares are not faring any better. The Government are planning fare rises of 4.8% next year, way ahead of inflation. The average commuter faces paying £3,300 for an annual season ticket, 50% more than in 2010. An annual season ticket from Leamington to London, incidentally, now costs £8,700, a significant amount of money.

As for housing, rents have risen at their fastest rate since 2008, at a time when we are seeing declining home ownership, and the vulnerability that confronts so many people as more and more are living in the private rental sector. Rents in the west midlands are now £1,192 higher than they were in 2011, and incomes have certainly not kept pace with that.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. I think those who are listening will appreciate that for some families the combination of rising prices, rising rents and rising costs of travel to work will lead to absolute desperation—and, of course, this does not just have an impact on individuals and families; it has a wider societal impact. If people are unable to pay their rent, if they are made homeless and if that affects their mental health, an enormous strain will be placed on our public services and on society more broadly. Measures such as the cut in universal credit are complete madness, because the longer-term costs for the Government will be even higher than the costs of maintaining the uplift.

[Matt Western]

My hon. Friend is spot on. Short-term thinking often costs much more in the long term, and impacts of that kind will have very long-term consequences on people. We all know about the impact on mental health and how that can then affect people’s home lives, social lives and family lives, but it can also affect their working lives, which can have an economic consequence too, as well as increasing costs in the national health service and elsewhere.

We need to build more social housing for rent. Just 21 social rent council homes have been built in the Warwick district since 2010.

Let me now turn to the unimaginable and, I think, inadmissible cut in universal credit. It just underlines how out of touch this Government are that they are cutting the £20 uplift. Reversing that decision would prevent families from experiencing an even sharper hit during this cost of living crisis. I think it shameful that the very workers who got us through the crisis are now in the firing line for a £1,000 cut in their income every year. I think about the carers, the shop workers and the delivery drivers—all the people who kept the wheels of the economy turning through such difficult times. Data from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that in Warwick and Leamington, which I think many people would assume to be a prosperous area, 13% of working-age families—6,300—and 29% of working-age families with children will be affected by the cut. This really is a poverty policy.

We have heard a great many claims about levelling up, but the one area in which the Government seem to be succeeding is levelling up on taxes which are more regressive than ever. We may think back to the increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20%; now we are seeing a rise in national insurance and rises in council tax across our local authorities. The average band D council tax set by authorities in England in 2021-22 is just under £1,900, a 4.4% increase on the 2020-21 figure. These are real costs to people. As we have heard, the national insurance increase is the biggest tax rise for families—the most significant change—in 50 years. Graduates now face a marginal tax rate of nearly 50%: that, surely, is a tax on aspiration.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Kemi Badenoch)]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is a doughty champion for his region and he should know that we remain focused on the commitment we made at Budget 2020 to have 750 roles across the economic campus by the end of the Parliament. The Treasury is still considering a range of location options for the new campus. We want to ensure that the chosen location supports our wider levelling up agenda, but we will certainly take his comments and representations into account.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab) [V]]

The Government claim that their central economic mission is to level up. Can the Chancellor assure me that his Government will deliver HS2 in full, including the whole of the eastern leg, because this will be the litmus test of their real commitment to levelling up?

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the commitment the Government have made to infrastructure, including in the forthcoming integration infrastructure plan, but the levelling up is not just about rail, as the Chancellor said; it is also about the £4 billion levelling up fund and, most importantly, about the review of the Green Book. As Lord O’Neill and others have commented, that ensures that a whole range of projects better address the levelling up alongside the significant investment in rail and other transport infrastructure.

Financial Reward for Government Workers and Key Workers

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2020 Westminster Hall

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) on her powerful and eloquent opening speech. I am not sure that I will add anything unique to the debate, but some points bear repetition.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the people who have been delivering our public services during the coronavirus pandemic. Some of them are in public-facing roles that simply cannot be done from home, including social care workers, refuse collectors, firefighters and border control staff. They have been working hard, day in, day out. They have exposed themselves and their families to additional risks to help to keep us safe, secure and well.

Others who have been working just as hard are often invisible. They are among the unsung heroes of the crisis. I am thinking of the staff working at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to administer the job retention scheme, or those in the Department for Work and Pensions coping with a huge influx of new universal credit claims. Their work has been just as essential in helping to protect jobs and livelihoods. They were often unprepared and under-resourced to deal with that new sudden demand, but they stepped up. Of course, there are many others. Their reward for that work is to be handed a real-terms pay cut. The Chancellor might try to use softer language, with talk of a pay pause rather than a freeze, but soft language does not pay the bills. Prices are set to rise by 1.4% next year, and many people will be even more shocked when they realise that their council tax bill will go up by 5%. Thousands of public sector workers will be worse off, including every single police officer, every single teacher and 90% of armed forces personnel based in England. As many hon. Members have said, for many of those workers, that is just the latest kick in the teeth, because public sector staff have already endured a decade of cuts in the value of their wages, with many seeing their buying power cut by almost a fifth between 2010 and 2020.

Government Ministers want to pit public sector workers against private sector workers, but it is all smoke and mirrors. Private sector wage growth has fallen behind this year primarily as a result of furlough, having previously run ahead. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, once we adjust for the different profile of public sector workers in terms of experience, education and other factors, there is no difference in hourly pay rates compared with the private sector. The truth is that such divisive language helps no one. We all lose as a result of the proposals. It is noticeable that not a single Back-Bench Conservative MP has dared to turn up and defend them.

In Nottingham, 23% of all employees work in the public sector, which is significantly higher than the average for the east midlands or Britain, although of course there are parts of the country where it is far higher still. When the pay of those workers is cut, they have less to spend in local shops and with local businesses. Freezing their pay harms the local economy and risks the jobs of the private sector workers employed in those shops and businesses. At a time when our local high streets are suffering real damage and small businesses do not know whether they will survive the pandemic, this pay policy delivers a further blow to confidence and risks further weakening a weak recovery.

The Minister should think again. We need action to save jobs, rebuild businesses and get the economy back on its feet. Instead of cutting real wages, the Government should be boosting them, particularly for the lowest paid. That is the right thing to do ethically and economically.

[Graham Stringer (in the Chair)]

Unusually, there have been no interventions and some Members have not turned up, so I will increase the time limit for Back-Bench speakers to five minutes.