BBC

Debate between Mark Pritchard and Maria Miller

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman puts his finger on it when he says that the important issue that comes out of this is that people who have suffered abuse do not in any way feel impeded in coming forward for fear of being part of what has become a media circus. We have to make sure that people have the confidence to be able to do that, and he is right to make sure that we focus on it. Perhaps he will contribute to tomorrow’s Back-Bench debate as well.

[Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)]

May I assure Labour Members that many Members of Parliament on the Government Benches think that the BBC is a great and fantastic global news organisation? Indeed, I love the BBC, not least BBC Radio Shropshire. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is absolutely vital that the new director-general is the right person for the job and that the Trust does not, in a panic and in a crisis, rush to judgment about putting someone in but ensures that we get the right person to lead this wonderful organisation forward into the rest of the century?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend is right to pay tribute to the work of local BBC stations and organisations; we all know that they do a fantastic job of work in our constituencies. He is also right to say that we need to ensure that we have in the new director-general somebody who is able to deal with the real structural changes that are required in the organisation, as already outlined by the chairman of the Trust.

Living Standards (Telford)

Debate between Mark Pritchard and Maria Miller

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

I commend the hon. Member for Telford (David Wright) on securing this debate, which I am sure is important for his constituents. He covered a wide range of issues, and I hope that I can set out some of the action that the Government are taking. I absolutely understand his concern about the challenges that families face. I am sure that he welcomes the swift action that the Government have taken to address many of those underlying concerns. As my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) said, if we are to provide the long-term stability that families need, the first thing that we must do is secure the public finances. The truth is that the Government inherited from Labour—the party that the hon. Member for Telford represents—the largest public budget deficit in peacetime history: it was some £156 billion, which is more than the deficit in many other developed countries, and it accounts for around 11% of our country’s annual income.

[Mark Pritchard]

The hon. Member for Telford (David Wright) set out five points for growth, but he could have had a sixth point: stop taxpayers’ money being used to fund unions in local authorities. Most people in Telford and Wrekin would rather see their taxpayers’ money spent on a weekly bin collection than on full-time union officials who will possibly campaign in local elections.

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Councils have a real challenge in ensuring that they are using their money most efficiently. An important recent report by Scope showed a huge divergence in how councils are approaching their budget challenges. By making decisions on what is most important for our constituents and local residents, we can ensure that the money goes where it is needed most. I have great sympathy for his point about weekly bin collections. Ensuring that public finances are secure is at the heart of what our Government are all about.

Let me set out for the constituents of the hon. Member for Telford some practical ways in which the Government are taking account of the pressure on families’ finances. The cut in fuel duty made by the coalition counters some of the measures of the previous Administration. Rather than recognising the problems faced by families, the previous Government put this country on an ever-increasing fuel duty escalator, creating some of the problems that we are dealing with. Rather than continuing on that escalator, the Government decided not to implement Labour’s planned increase of 5p per litre in April this year and, in the Budget, announced a further 1p cut as well, recognising the real challenges faced by families.

The other important issue that the Government have taken into account is the real financial problem that council tax causes families. A council tax freeze recognises the financial challenges that the hon. Gentleman rightly outlined. Our measures recognise those challenges and try to help families to make ends meet in these difficult times.

As a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions, I very much feel that employment is the way out for many of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, and would enable them to achieve the standard of living that I know he wants them to enjoy.