Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) for his passionate speech; I do not agree with many of his points, but I admire his passion. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Mak) for a good speech about the opportunity society, and other hon. Members for the excellent maiden speeches we have heard today, in particular that by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith). I helped him during the campaign and I was thrilled by his victory on 8 May.

At its heart, this Budget is about opportunity, endeavour and responsibility. Those are my core values—the values that make me a Conservative. This Budget is not only about aspiration, but it underpins the truth that the Conservatives are the real party of working people. It aims to create a Britain where everyone has the chance to prosper through earning more, paying less taxation and having free innovation. Those are the kernels of aspiration. The rise in the minimum wage, the increase in the tax-free threshold and the rise in the 40p tax threshold will all contribute to a fairer society, where aspiration is a reality for millions of people. Key to that aspiration, opportunity and growth are productivity and a skilled workforce that are local to the workplace. The need for increased skills will be key to transforming the efficiency and growth in our economy.

My constituency of Fareham on the south coast has an economy of more than £2.5 billion gross value added, 1.3 million people, 50,000 businesses and thriving marine, aviation and aerospace sectors, with high technology and advanced skills and engineering.

[George Kerevan]

The hon. Lady mentions the aerospace industry. Can she name one airliner that this country still builds?

[Suella Fernandes]

I am very proud of the local aviation and aerospace industries. My constituency has Eaton Aerospace and the neighbouring Portsmouth constituency has BAE Systems—key British companies that are exporting and are at the cutting edge of the aviation and aerospace sector, thanks to lots of investment from central Government.

Solent local enterprise partnership, which I met today, benefited from the local growth deal, receiving more than £150 million of Government funding over the last Parliament to boost skills, improve infrastructure and provide better business support. That increase in higher skills has allowed Solent LEP to set a target of increasing GVA by 4%. Key to that target is an increase in the amount of housing. We need houses to accommodate the increase in the workforce and the employment base.

My constituency has a strategic development area called Welborne, which has been controversial. It will consist of 6,000 new homes, create 6,000 new jobs and contain 1 million square feet of employment land, which will enable growth and facilitate enterprise to take flight. It has been approved by the local council and the Planning Inspectorate. It is a huge opportunity for investment. It will be funded by £50 million from the new homes bonus—a great initiative that was brought in by the Conservative-led coalition—and £2 million from Solent LEP. There is currently a £30 million shortfall, but I hope that will be filled by central Government.

The problem with housing is not supply and demand; it is that the market lacks fluidity. Throughout the course of a life, someone might start off in a student flat, want to expand into a family home, get a larger home and then downsize in their old age. We do not currently have that fluidity, but the Budget addresses that.

We need to enable the ownership of housing. Ownership is more than just a name on a contract; it enables people to have a stake in society and, in many cases, something to hand on to their children. A key to that is enabling capital and equity. Those kernels of home ownership, responsibility and a stake in society are at the heart of our robust and bold Budget, which I commend to the House.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—