Construction Sector Deal

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington]

I will try not to mention a constituency example here, Mr Speaker.

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Capital is important. It is often spoken about in terms of large fundraising exercises, such as bond issues and initial public offerings, but it is important that small firm financing is also taken into account. The banks are proud of the fact that they are significantly increasing their small business lending, and we intend to monitor that carefully.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

I thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement. I noted with interest that the statement refers to

“a joint £420 million investment from the sector and government”

and

“£600 billion of public and private investment in infrastructure over the next 10 years”.

I was wondering about the split between public and private money. With Carillion in mind, where will the risk lie in such joint ventures? It would be remiss of me not to ask how much of the new money will be given to the Scottish Government to spend, because they have a good track record on major infrastructure builds.

The statement also says that 1.5 million new homes will be built. Will the Minister guarantee that, within the specifications for the new builds, every effort will be made to ensure that buildings are environmentally-friendly to build and energy-efficient to run? There are remarkable examples from around the globe that can be taken on board and copied. The efficiency and longevity of new buildings is crucial.

I welcome the intention to create more apprenticeships, which have been much neglected since the 1980s—hence why a third of the workforce are over 50. The Scottish Government have been leading the way in creating meaningful apprentice schemes, and I am really pleased that this place has decided to follow.

Finally, given that export capability has rightly been identified as so important, will the Minister fight for tariff-free access to European markets at tomorrow’s Cabinet showdown on Brexit?

[Richard Harrington]

I will do best to answer without the global canter that you so politely reprimanded me for using, Mr Speaker. There will be no more cantering, or indeed galloping for that matter. I shall do my best to trot, if that is possible—I promise the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan) that I am not trying to cut my answer down.

The SNP spokesman’s first question was about the mixture of public and private capital, but that depends on the projects that are available. We know what money is in the current spending plans, but we also know about projects that are coming through, such as Heathrow. I cannot give him an exact split, but we are certain that the total amount that was mentioned will come to fruition, and I am conscious of the fact that Scotland must get its share. That point was well put and well noted. I am certain that Scottish Conservative Members—[Interruption.] They are in Scotland. I am sure that all Scottish Members will take me and other Ministers to task if Scotland does not get its fair share.