Contributions
735 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLevelling-up FundI thank the hon. Gentleman for his reminder, but I need no reminder of the importance on the need for levelling up. That is indeed why my colleagues and I were elected in 2019,…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundThe hon. Gentleman makes a passionate case for this project, which obviously needs to be considered in the round, including by my colleagues in the Department for Transport. We…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundThis is a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for all his work in this Department. He is a fantastic champion of not only levelling up but the Union as…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundI can certainly give my right hon. Friend that assurance. Not least thanks to his efforts, there will never be any chance of his part of the world being ignored.17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsFond as I am of the hon. Lady, who is an excellent parliamentarian, I am afraid that she is wrong on this point. The report in question set out that councils across the north-east…17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsThis Government’s mission is to deliver economic growth to make every part of our country more prosperous and successful. Levelling up is central to that mission, and our…17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Lady for her welcome to the Dispatch Box. I am really proud, as someone who represents a classic community that needs to benefit from levelling up, to be in this…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundThe levelling-up agenda is broad and wide, but it does not take account of the levers that sit with the hon. Lady’s parent Government in Holyrood. Whether on welfare, drugs or…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundI can absolutely defend our record on levelling up. There is a £4.8 billion levelling-up fund, which is transforming opportunities across this country. The hon. Member need only…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundMy hon. Friend is exactly right: levelling up is all about pockets of need, wherever they occur in this country. I know that there are many pockets in the south of England that…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundRound 1 of the levelling-up fund saw a total £1.7 billion awarded to 85 lead applicants across 105 bids from the UK. Of this, my Department has awarded £1.24 billion, with £187…17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Gentleman makes a powerful case on this issue and I commit the Department to meeting to discuss it.17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsFracking will take place only where there is community consent.17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for her question. We are looking at all the measures that can be used to drive forward and accelerate housing growth, but as I said in response to the right…17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am very fortunate to have had two such able predecessors in my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge…17 Oct 2022HANSARDLevelling-up FundI am afraid I will neither do that nor accept the premise. With regard to these seven adverts, we have apologised. They all bore the HMG logo very clearly and were marked as…17 Oct 2022HANSARDInvestment ZonesI am terribly fond of the hon. Gentleman, as I hope he knows, but I am afraid he is just wrong in that summary of investment zones. There is no diminution of workers’ rights or…17 Oct 2022HANSARDInvestment ZonesMy hon. Friend and his colleagues from north Wales have already been absolutely passionate advocates of the potential of investment zones to benefit their region. He is quite…17 Oct 2022HANSARDInvestment ZonesI am a convinced believer in the merits of freeports. Clearly, the final Government approval for some of those will go into place this autumn, and many are already operational. We…17 Oct 2022HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Lady is asking me to evaluate the impact of bids that we received only on Friday, so I am afraid that her logic is back to front. We are proposing investment zones…17 Oct 2022