Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)
It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). One policy proposal in the Chancellor’s statement leapt out at me. It was yet another one praising the efforts of small independent northern neighbours. Just before announcing a range of measures to increase childcare, the Chancellor said:
“Our female participation rate is higher than average for OECD economies, but we trail top performers, such as Denmark and the Netherlands. If we matched Dutch levels of participation, there would be more than 1 million additional women working.”—[Official Report, 15 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 845.]
On the announcement of universal childcare for one and two-year-olds, we could say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, since my preferred candidate to be Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, had already announced his intention to implement that policy in Scotland, based on our Government’s scheme—also copied by the UK Government—for three and four-year-olds. However, it was the choice of countries that the Chancellor used, and being able to delve a little into the reality behind the headline statistic, that intrigued me.
While the Netherlands and Denmark have higher female participation rates, the consequences of both are quite different. While the Dutch Government policy has encouraged more women into working, it has done a very poor job of allowing flexibility within the workplace and with childcare, resulting in the unfortunate scenario whereby Dutch women’s outstanding participation in the labour market paradoxically contrasts with them working the fewest hours of women in any developed country. The University of Utrecht calls that phenomenon the part-time trap, as women seeking to balance childcare and household commitments are forced into working fewer hours. That has a consequence for the economy as a whole, with representation for Dutch women in senior positions lagging behind that in similar states, and the resultant gender pay gap costs the country €10.8 billion annually. On a personal and social level, it means that only 64% of Dutch women are financially independent, compared with 81% of men.
It will be no surprise to those who know my politics to hear me say that increased female participation in the labour market could best be achieved by following the social democratic principles that underpin the Danish childcare system, with the Dutch system—underpinned by the same imperfect patchwork of primarily private providers—rivalling the UK for its cost to families. In Denmark, this system is underpinned by local authorities helping parents to find provision, with central Government helping to subsidise costs. Of course, we all know that the real leader seems to be Finland, which provides universal, local authority-led provision from birth to six years.
The key for me is the local authority-led aspect of this. This increase in Government-funded provision will be of little tangible use if it is fed through a majority of less accountable private providers that have less bargaining power with central Government and will therefore be more vulnerable to the inevitable future squeezes in the per-place fee, passing it on to parents through other costs and making it a less attractive option for those parents who can least afford it.
However, the biggest barrier to public sector involvement in provision for one and two-year-olds will be capital expenditure for new facilities, especially as they face their own pressures—investment that I am willing to bet will not be forthcoming from a Government who are always intent on doing things on the cheap.
Oral Answers to Questions
Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts(2 years, 10 months ago)
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Robert Jenrick
I join the hon. Lady in giving my sympathies, thoughts and prayers to the survivors, the bereaved and the community of north Kensington. We all want to support them to ensure that their quest for justice continues and reaches its conclusion, as a result of the public inquiry and the police investigations. Of course, we will do everything in our power to ensure that it never happens again.
Earlier this year, I set out the next steps in our plan to ensure that homes in this country are safe. We are providing £5.1 billion to ensure that unsafe materials, such as cladding, are removed from people’s homes as quickly as possible. Some 95% of those high-rise flats that have the same ACM cladding as was on Grenfell Tower have either now been remediated or have workers on site as we speak, and the work on 65% of them has been completed. I want to see that work finished by the end of this year and we will do everything we can to ensure that that happens.
We are also working with lenders, insurers and surveyors to ensure that they also play their part and we have a proportionate, sensible approach to risk, so that those who do not need to be trapped because of this issue are not unduly trapped and those who created this situation in the first place—the builders and the developers—pay their fair share. We are currently consulting on an industry levy and we will encourage, as we have done throughout this process, those developers that have not already stepped up to do so, because it is unconscionable that leaseholders are having to pay for the faults of an industry that has profited at their expense.
Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)
The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government (Luke Hall)
The levelling-up fund and the UK shared prosperity fund are core parts of our levelling-up agenda. I regularly speak to my ministerial colleagues about both funds, and those discussions will inform our levelling-up White Paper and the UK shared prosperity fund investment framework, which we plan to publish later this year.
Martin Docherty-Hughes [V]
I thank the Minister for that answer. Like many other Members, I have been involved in discussions with my local authority regarding the levelling-up fund; however, it occurred to me last week that there was something of a democratic deficit in the process. Given that the fund can be used in a number of policy areas that are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, why is there no mechanism for councils to formally consult their Scottish Parliament representatives on the issues? Will the Minister advise what his Government are doing to ensure that projects associated with the fund are realised with as much collaboration as possible with the democratically elected Government of the people of Scotland?
Luke Hall
The hon. Gentleman is clearly working hard on his bid for the levelling-up fund. There is absolutely nothing at all to stop his council consulting with or speaking to the Scottish Government before it submits its bid; it is absolutely welcome to do that. At the heart of these funds is localism. It is about local authorities and communities working directly with the UK Government and building that strong relationship with communities in Scotland, which we think is a key part of this process. We are investing billions of pounds and want to work closely with his community. I absolutely encourage his council to engage with the relevant Government.
Stronger Towns Fund
Martin Docherty-Hughes Excerpts(5 years, 2 months ago)
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James Brokenshire
That is why this is a town-based approach, not a city deal of the kind that we have seen before. I recognise how that has benefited our cities, but we need to ensure that our towns benefit, too. It is why that lies at the heart of the fund’s structure and my hon. Friend should be confident about the towns in his area being able to make those bids. I hope and want to see them succeed.
Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP)
It would be disingenuous of me not to welcome the Minister’s statement, but it would also be disingenuous of me not to say that I am a wee bit concerned that there are no figures at all on what will be given to Scotland and Wales. Will the Minister therefore tell us two things? First, in terms of coming back to the House and informing us about the moneys for Scotland and Wales, will he make sure that the Governments of Scotland and Wales are told first? Secondly, and this is important for Members for English constituencies, last week the Government gave Northern Ireland £140 million outside of the block grant. Will that be replicated in England, Wales and Scotland, and if not, why not?
James Brokenshire
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will be able to ask others about the situation in Northern Ireland. We will ensure, in coming back to the House, that Members of the House are informed about additional funding for Scotland and Wales, and equally, we will communicate that to the devolved Governments.