Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Andrew Western

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

I would agree with the hon. Gentleman, but then we would both be wrong. I attended a recent parliamentary event hosted by the Resolution Foundation, chaired by the former Tory Minister Lord Willetts, and the research it had undertaken was clear that cutting taxes was not as effective in delivering opportunities to get young people into work—[Interruption.] It was very clear that the targeting of employment support was much more effective than the approach the hon. Gentleman is suggesting. The shadow Secretary of State was there; she saw that. She may not have agreed with it—maybe that was because she did not stay until the end of the event—but none the less it was very clear that the best way to support young people into work is through employment support schemes, youth hubs and the routes that we are taking.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

Every local area should have a youth hub—the benefits are so very clear. The Minister is promising an expansion of youth hubs, so when can we see one in Bath?

[Andrew Western]

I would be happy to write to the hon. Lady to confirm specific timings in individual localities. We are ahead of projected delivery at the moment, having already hit more than 160 youth hubs, but we have a target of reaching more than 300 in the coming months and years. I will set out to her in writing plans for the youth hub that will serve her local area.

Autumn Statement Resolutions

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Andrew Western

Thursday 23rd November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

The hon. Gentleman has made his own case, but as a keen campaigner on all aspects of our housing crisis, I very much agree with his sentiment.

[Wera Hobhouse]

We have heard from the Government Benches that the taxpayer’s bill for the local housing allowance is about £34 million. If the Government were finally willing to build a great many more social homes, the taxpayer would not have to face that enormous bill.

[Andrew Western]

The hon. Lady is right about social homes. A number of leading organisations working in the housing sector would say that we need 90,000 social homes per annum. However, let me gently point out that it is not just a question of the supply of social homes; the spike in rent that we have seen in recent years is also exacerbated by a broader shortage of housing supply of all types and all tenures. That is why my party has committed itself to a fundamental review of not just of our planning system but, importantly, the supply of land, and I hope that everyone in the Chamber who is serious about considering how we can build the homes that we need will commit themselves to a similar process.

I turn back to the thrust of my contribution. This autumn statement is a damning indictment of the Government, leaving people with a higher tax burden at the end of this Parliament than when they were re-elected in 2019. It is the latest economic failure at the end of 13 tears of national decline. It is time for change: a change away from high taxes, low growth and falling living standards; a change away from dodgy contracts, covid fast lanes and looking after their friends; a change away from the Conservatives.

The Labour party is offering that change, with a plan to cut household bills by £3,000 a year by investing in clean energy, building new homes and insulating the homes we already have; a plan to prevent another catastrophe like last year’s mini-Budget by putting a fiscal lock into law; and a fully funded plan for a healthy society and a healthy economy by investing an additional £1.1 billion a year to deliver 2 million more NHS appointments, scans and operations so that people are genuinely supported back to work. That is Labour’s offer and, if yesterday was the Conservatives firing the starting gun on the election, that day cannot come soon enough.