Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
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Tuesday Volume 589 9 December 2014 No. 77 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 9 December 2014 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2014 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 757 9 DECEMBER 2014 758 Jason McCartney: I very much look forward to the House of Commons northern powerhouse coming over the Pennines to west Yorkshire. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Tuesday 9 December 2014 new bidders for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express rail franchises will commit themselves to getting rid of the antiquated Pacer trains that plague commuters The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock in my constituency on their daily commute? PRAYERS Danny Alexander: My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue, which is raised by Members of Parliament and constituents from across the Northern Rail and [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] TransPennine Express franchise areas. I can confirm that in the autumn statement we set out some changes that we would make to those two franchises. The packages BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS for the new franchises will include a substantial package of upgrades, including new services and modern trains NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE in order to phase out the outdated Pacer trains, which The VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSEHOLD reported to have also been raised with us under the Deputy Prime the House, That the Address, praying that Her Majesty Minister’s Northern Futures programme. will appoint Lord Bichard KCB to the office of Chair of the National Audit Office, was presented to Her Majesty, Mr Spencer: If north Nottinghamshire’s coalfields who was graciously pleased to comply with the request. are to feel the success of HS2, connectivity will be key. Will the Chief Secretary assure the House that once we INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS have pulled together a bid for the Robin Hood extension AUTHORITY to the villages of Ollerton and Edwinstowe, capital will The VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSEHOLD reported to be made available? the House, That the Address, praying that Her Majesty will appoint Professor Sir Ian Kennedy to the office of Danny Alexander: I am well aware of the importance Chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards of this connection to my hon. Friend and to other Authority from the end of his current term until 1 June Members of Parliament in the area. As he will be aware, 2016, was presented to Her Majesty, who was graciously the east midlands has already benefited from investment pleased to comply with the request. of approximately £70 million to improve line speeds on the midland main line up to 125 miles per hour. Further electrification is due to be extended to Nottingham by 2019. A decision on the Robin Hood line is a matter for Oral Answers to Questions the local authority, but we would certainly look on the idea favourably. Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab): The importance TREASURY of infrastructure is surely a sign of the importance of Government investment as a way of growing our economy. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked— Does the Chief Secretary therefore agree that one further way that we could move forward on this is to build at Infrastructure Investment least 200,000 new houses a year to help to build our economy? 1. Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) (Con): What steps he is taking to encourage investment in infrastructure Danny Alexander: I totally agree with the hon. Lady. in west Yorkshire. [906508] It is incredibly important to improve the rate of house building. I would set the figure at closer to 300,000 houses 12. Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con): What fiscal a year across the UK, rather than the 200,000 that she steps he is taking to encourage investment in infrastructure. mentioned. She will know that in the autumn statement [906520] we extended the affordable house building programme for a further two years in order to build 275,000 affordable The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander): homes in the next Parliament. We are taking forward Mr Speaker, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is at an the idea of Government commissioning of housing, ECOFIN council meeting today. which would be a radical departure for this country, at The Government have made huge progress in delivering Northstowe, and looking at it as a solution for the the infrastructure that the UK needs, establishing the whole country. first-ever national infrastructure plan, which now shows that more than 2,500 projects have been completed Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD): I warmly since 2010. West Yorkshire continues to benefit as part welcome the infrastructure announcement, but does my of this plan, which includes the M62 smart motorway right hon. Friend agree that we also need further devolution westward extension—the first new trans-Pennine road to allow the much-needed rail link to Leeds Bradford capacity since 1971. As part of the city deal, a combined airport and the electrification of the Leeds-Harrogate-York west Yorkshire authority is taking forward a package of line? Will he meet me and other interested colleagues investments in transport worth up to £1.6 billion over who represent the area to discuss how we can take 15 years. this forward? 759 Oral Answers9 DECEMBER 2014 Oral Answers 760 Danny Alexander: My hon. Friend is absolutely right 23. [906532] Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con): to say that devolution, city deals and the growth plans Although I welcome the announcements in the we have put in place for every local enterprise partnership autumn statement and the northern powerhouse area are an incredibly important part of delivering initiative, too often in northern Lincolnshire in the infrastructure. He refers to two projects that are very Humber region we feel somewhat remote from important in the city he represents and I would, of the northern powerhouse. Will my right hon. Friend course, be delighted to meet him and any other interested assure me that further initiatives will link the north- colleagues to discuss them. western part of the northern powerhouse to the Yorkshire and the Humber region? Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): One hears the pious words of the Chief Secretary regarding house Danny Alexander: Under this Government, there have building, but has he not presided over the lowest level of been a number of initiatives in the Humber area that house building since the 1920s? have helped to grow the economy, not the least of which is the enormous effort that Ministers in several Departments Danny Alexander: In case the hon. Gentleman does made in attracting the Siemens investment to Hull, not remember, he was present in the last Parliament which is an incredibly important part both of creating when his party was in government and caused the most jobs in that area and of delivering our ambitions for severe economic crash that this country had experienced renewable energy. for very many decades. The housing market, of course, gets affected by the economic cycle, which is precisely Income Tax why this Government have presided over the highest level of affordable house building in this country for 3. Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab): What recent 20 years. Under the hon. Gentleman’s party, the number estimate he has made of how much the reduction in the of affordable houses in this country fell by 421,000; additional rate of income tax to 45% is worth for a under this Government, it has risen by hundreds of person earning £1 million a year. [906510] thousands. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Economic Growth (The Humber) Gauke): The cost of reducing the additional rate of income tax to 45% is estimated at about £100 million a 2. Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con): What steps year. That is set out in table 2.2 of Budget 2013. We the Government are taking to support economic have not broken down the impact by income ranges, growth in the Humber. [906509] because there is a significant behavioural response associated with the additional rate of income tax. That behavioural The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander): response is estimated in aggregate and reflected in the The Government have taken many steps to rebalance costing. the economy and strengthen every part of the United Kingdom. In the case of the Humber, the growth deal Mr McKenzie: Christmas is coming and it is a time was announced in July, building on the success of the for giving, but the truth is that this Government have city deal, which was announced in 2013. We have also been giving to millionaires for some time. The average just announced £80 million for flood defences for the tax cut to millionaires is worth £100,000 a year. Will Humber estuary. I am pleased to see that our investment the Financial Secretary confirm that that figure for the in that part of the country is working. Employment in Government’s tax giveaway to millionaires is correct? Yorkshire and the Humber is now at the highest level on How many of my constituents in Inverclyde have benefited record at 2.51 million. from that reduction in tax? Andrew Percy: Key to economic development in east Mr Gauke: What is a fact is that the proportion of Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire are, of course, our income tax paid by the top 1% for the years since the tidal flood defences, which are so important. Last week 50p rate was cut has in every year been higher than in the Government announced that the Environment Agency any of the years in which the 50p rate was in operation.