This Conservative Government believe in the virtue of work, and that is why last week’s Budget set out to remove barriers for long-term sick and disabled, for jobseekers, for older people with our pension tax reforms, and for parents with the biggest expansion of childcare in memory.
With Orbital O2 in Orkney and MeyGen—the largest tidal stream site in the world—Scotland leads the way in tidal stream generation. That industry is at a stage where it needs to expand and scale up, but to do so, it needs a bigger ringfenced budget. In the renewables auction announced last week, the Government propose to halve the budget for tidal stream instead of increasing it. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss the impact and the opportunities for business?
We are interested in giving support to all forms of renewable energy, and the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss those issues further.
T5. Delaying the lower Thames crossing will have a detrimental impact on Dartford’s economy and on its traffic problems, so does the Chancellor of the Exchequer agree that the completion of the lower Thames crossing is vital if we are to promote economic growth, not just in Dartford but throughout the south-east of the country?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has met me on a number of occasions to make the case for the Dartford crossing. Obviously, in the current difficult circumstances with inflationary pressures, we have had to make some tough choices, but I want to be very clear with my hon. Friend: we remain committed to delivering it. This is a two-year delay on construction, not a cancellation, and I will continue to update him in due course.
Confidence has been shaken by the recent bank failures and stock market falls across the world. Is the Chancellor confident that our ringfencing regime is adequate to protect taxpayers and depositors, when we have seen how fast these problems can spread? Can the Chancellor reassure the House that there are no other UK banks or subsidiaries that are vulnerable, and in light of recent developments, is he confident about the Financial Stability Board, or does it need to widen the number of banks regarded as systemically important?
I thank the shadow Chancellor for her question. The Government recognise that there is some volatility in the market, but we believe the UK financial system is fundamentally strong and UK banks are well capitalised. They now have core capital ratios that are three times higher than before the 2008 global financial crisis, but we continue to monitor the situation carefully.
I thank the Chancellor for that response, and am pleased that he continues to monitor the situation carefully, but the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK shows how our vibrant start-up sector—particularly in life sciences and tech—had become reliant on a single financial institution. The impact of these bank failures may be that other banks become more risk averse, restricting lending and raising interest rates, resulting in a credit squeeze, possibly even beyond the start-up sector. That would damage an already weak economy, so how will the Chancellor monitor the situation there and ensure that businesses have access to the long-term capital that they need to grow and to thrive?
The right hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise that issue. I said in the Budget that I would return with a full solution to those issues in the autumn statement, but ahead of that we will be making announcements on: pension industry reform, because we want to unlock the £5 trillion of assets in the pension industry; reforms to help companies scale up, so that they do not feel they have to move to other countries when they want to list; and, reforms to green finance so that people can access the capital they need. All those things will be a part of a comprehensive solution that we will be announcing shortly.
Gary Sambrook (Birmingham, Northfield) (Con)
T7. For quite some time, GPs and consultants in Birmingham tab="yes" have expressed their frustration and concern with the pension lifetime allowance cap. I welcome the measures in the Budget last week to abolish it altogether, which will mean that we will see more GPs and consultants practising. Does my hon. Friend agree that it will also mean we will see more teachers and headteachers in the classroom and more police officers on the beat?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The measure will help public servants, hospital consultants, prison governors, headteachers and senior police leaders, which is why I agree with the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) when he said that removing the cap would save lives and that he himself would scrap the “crazy” cap.
T2. The Resolution Foundation recently found that if wage growth had continued on the same trajectory as pre-2008, the average UK worker would be £11,000 a year better off. Does the Minister accept that hard-working households can no longer afford to lose £11,000 a year as a result of this Government’s perpetual mismanagement of the economy?
I welcome the universal credit reforms we have made, and also the fact that under this Government, by raising the basic income tax threshold, we have taken up to 3 million workers out of income tax altogether.
Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)
T8. I warmly welcome the Chancellor’s big decision to invest in childcare and the early years in this Budget. One witness to the Education Committee—a long-standing campaigner on these issues—said they were elated to see the commitment the Chancellor made. Going forward, may I encourage him to continue to listen to the concerns of the independent and voluntary sector, which is crucial to the success of reforms in this space? I know he is a fan of workforce plans, so may I encourage him to consider the case for an early years workforce plan?
I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning on this issue. He has long been a voice for reforms to childcare. He is absolutely right that this is one of the biggest sets of childcare reforms we have ever seen. That is why we are taking two and a half years to scale it up. We want to make sure that parents who want to take advantage of the new free hours offer can get the supply of childcare they need, and we will listen very carefully to what the Select Committee says.