Pat McFadden
MP for Wolverhampton South East · Labour · United Kingdom
“In his review Alan Milburn considered that issue and said that, “the UK’s NEET crisis is much more long-term and deep-seated than any decisions taken in the last few years.” As I said earlier, 400,000 more people are in work this year than last year, and the number of young people in employment is up since the election.”
“Since our last DWP questions, both Alan Milburn and the Pensions Commission have published their respective interim reports on young people and on the current state of saving for retirement. I look forward to receiving their final reports later in the year.”
“As Alan Milburn pointed out in his recent report, the UK’s NEET crisis is much more long-term and deep-seated than any decisions taken in the last few years. There are 400,000 more people in work than last year. The number of young people in employment is up by 74,000 since the election.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman and send him commiserations for whatever has left him reliant on his crutches today. I am happy to congratulate the businesses he mentioned in his constituency. He raises a serious point: it is important not only to come up with the right policy, but to make it simple for businesses to use.”
“My hon. Friend is right, and I thank Cardiff football club for being a partner. We are supporting nearly 1 million young people and creating up to half a million opportunities for jobs and training.”
“We are making strong progress on expanding youth hubs, with around 130 already in operation across Great Britain. In March, I announced the locations that we want to open in this year, and I have just announced a further 180 locations for the following two years.”
The complete record
Every one of 5,181 lines we hold for Pat McFadden, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 67 of 104.
“That is why we have tabled this motion today and that is why we raise these issues today. I commend this motion to the House.”
“The new Government have shown much about how they see things by making inaccurate statements about the amount of money that we spent on support for business, the speed at which the decisions were taken and the political motivation behind them—as I say, it had nothing to do with who represents the constituencies in which our manufacturing is located. The country and the economy deserve better than that. We are clear about the Government’s role in shaping the economy of the future. We have an opportunity before us, because we stand on the brink of a second industrial revolution as we move from a high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy. We should be ambitious about seizing the opportunities that that represents, and that requires an active role for Government and a proper plan for growth.”
“As an MP who represents a manufacturing constituency, I also think that we should be ambitious to ensure that Britain makes things as well as provides excellent services. The Government are fond of talking about manufacturing in terms of decline. The truth is that the output and value of manufacturing have remained constant over the last decade up to the period of the recession, which is a tremendous achievement for our manufacturers as it was achieved in the face of the greatest wave of globalisation that the world economy has ever seen. We are in a stronger position than the Government make out.”
“Of course the situation we face is challenging—I do not deny that—but we do not believe that Britain is broken. We believe that we can have a strong industrial future if we have a clear plan for growth alongside the plan for deficit reduction. Austerity alone will not shape our economic future. The Government should see their role as being ambitious for Britain, as well as one of managing public expectation about the cuts with which they have seemed to be obsessed in recent weeks. The Government should be ambitious to make the most of the transition to low carbon; to make the most of our excellence in creative industries and the information economy; and to build on what we have done in education and science and ensure that our economy benefits from it.”
“When we were in government we brought apprenticeships back from the near-death state that they were in and made them once more a mainstream part of the labour market. They are valuable, and we increased the number available many times in our time in government. I agree that they are very important in providing opportunities for young people. We sought this debate because we believe that while it is right to cut the deficit, it is not possible to go forward, as we come out of the recession, on the basis of tax and spending plans alone. Since the election, the Government have been determined to paint a picture of unremitting doom and gloom about the next few years in an effort to manage public expectations about the cuts that they are planning.”
“I genuinely seek clarification because I am confused by what the Secretary of State is saying. A few minutes ago, he said that the RDAs would be replaced, yet in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson), he seemed to say that it was a kind of maybe rather than a certainty. This is a really important issue to get clear. Is it true that all RDAs will be replaced, or could that be affected by the consultation that the right hon. Gentleman talks about? To take the example of One NorthEast, if it were the view of business and local authorities—I would like to hear how that will be determined—to retain that RDA, would the Government accept that? It is important to clarify this matter.”
“Does not my hon. Friend agree, however, that the delay involved in this case should serve as a warning of the damage that can be caused by needlessly calling a halt to important industrial projects? It is little use the Government coming along today and saying that they have approved the loan guarantee, on the very day that the company in question has run out of patience.”
“Is it not the case that the specific feature of these cuts and his plans for replacing RDAs is that they will impact on our capacity to secure the very growth that is necessary to make deficit reduction a success?”
“I welcome the Secretary of State and his ministerial team to their post and wish them well. The Secretary of State and I have something in common: we both used to work for the late John Smith in times past, but that of course was before the Secretary of State fell in with the wrong crowd—and now he has fallen in with an even worse crowd. The Secretary of State has said several times in recent weeks that his Department will be the Department for growth. I am not going to begin these exchanges by denying that whoever won the election, there would have been difficult decisions to take on deficit reduction, but does he accept that the £300 million of cuts to RDA budgets this year are not efficiency savings? They will mean real cuts in real business support, with less private investment leveraged in and cuts to important regeneration projects.”
“Let me assure the House that the Sheffield Forgemasters project was not agreed in a hurry. Does the Secretary of State understand that the decision of the last Government to provide a loan, not a grant, to that company was about not just support for one company but our ambition to secure a national capability for the United Kingdom in making key components for the nuclear supply chain that is set to grow throughout the world in the coming years? Does he also accept that if the damaging uncertainty not only about this but about other important projects, such as the electric car at Nissan and the automotive assistance to Ford, is not resolved soon, all the Government’s talk about supporting a lower-carbon economy will be seen as nothing more than rhetoric, with their actions going in entirely the opposite direction?”
“The Government are committed to maintaining the one-price-goes-anywhere universal postal service. In the UK, the universal service provides a six-day-a-week letter service and a five-day-a-week parcel service. This goes beyond the minimum requirement in the relevant EU Directive and we have no plans to change the universal service obligation.”
“As I said, we are determined to keep the universal service. It is an important part of the social glue of the nation, and it is particularly valued in constituencies such as the hon. Gentleman’s, which is one of the most beautiful and remote parts of the UK. He referred to competition, but most of the competition developed in mail so far has been in upstream access and not door-to-door delivery. The vast majority of letters—I think around 98 or 99 per cent.—are still delivered every day by the Royal Mail. We express our gratitude to the hard-working postmen and postwomen who do it.”
“I agree that banking and financial services are already a very important source of revenue for the Post Office, which has some 2 million financial services customers. We recently issued a consultation document asking the public about the extra services that they would like, and also about things such as current accounts, weekly budgeting accounts, children’s savings accounts, and so on. Like my hon. Friend, I think that such services offer huge potential for Post Office revenues. Traditionally, people went along to the post office every week to claim their pensions or benefits, but those claimant patterns have been in decline in recent years. That decline is probably likely to continue.”
“I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for my premature and—at the moment—fictional promotion, but I will stick to the job that I have. The most important thing for the future of Royal Mail is a comprehensive modernisation package that covers the introduction of new technology into the network as well as the number of mail centres, delivery offices and so on. The package should also cover the working practices that will need to alter to accommodate those changes. For the past couple of months, these very matters have been the subject of intense negotiations chaired by Mr. Roger Poole, the former deputy general secretary of Unison. I am hopeful that a comprehensive modernisation agreement will be reached. If it is, that will be in the interests of Royal Mail, its staff, and the public.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising a very good point. We have been talking to the banks about this, particularly in the light of consultation on post office banking. Members of the public may not be aware that some 20 million high street bank accounts are currently accessible through the post office, but I agree that we want that number to rise. We want more banks to allow people to access their accounts through the post office network.”
“We are taking a number of measures to encourage businesses to offer apprenticeships. The National Apprenticeship Service promotes and expands apprenticeships. Spending has gone up from £832 million in 2007-08 to a planned £1.2 billion next year. In December, we announced an apprenticeship grant for employers that offer £2,500 to employers who offer apprenticeship places to unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds. In the west midlands, the area which my hon. Friend represents, 790 employers have committed to recruiting young people, including 31 employers in Coventry.”
“We want to promote apprenticeships in many sectors. We are making a particular effort to promote apprenticeships among unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds; that is why we recently announced the apprenticeship grant for employers, which offers £2,500 to employers who offer an apprenticeship. It is urgent that, in the difficult economic times that we have had, we avoid what happened in previous recessions, when young people were unable to find work and then sometimes spent years, or decades, never having a job. We are determined to ensure that that does not happen this time. That is why we are putting so much effort into ensuring that young people have opportunities, and that if they are out of work, that does not turn into long-term and sustained unemployment.”
“We want to work with all parts of the economy to make this work for people, including employers and those parts of the education system that participate. I think that this has worked well for the education system. I simply contrast the numbers: a decade ago, we had about 60,000 apprenticeships; last year, we had some 240,000 apprenticeship starts. The truth is that we have brought back apprenticeships as a mainstream part of the labour market. They were in the intensive care ward when the Conservatives were in power, but they are now alive and well, and we are determined to support them in the future.”
“My hon. Friend makes a good point. Our constituencies neighbour each other and are very similar: they both have many high-quality engineering companies. He is right that despite the fact that these are good jobs, and often quite well-paid jobs, young people are sometimes not attracted to them. One of the things that we have done is to work with the Engineering Employers Federation to set up Manufacturing Insight, whose important job is to go into schools to ensure that engineering is seen as an attractive occupation. Alongside our policies on apprenticeships, I am sure that we can attract more young people to take up careers in manufacturing, because it is critical to the UK economy and represents significant opportunities for them.”
“Our Department’s key task is to work with business to help secure recovery from the global recession. To do that we have put in place a strategic investment fund designed to support key areas such as low-carbon industries, the digital economy and advanced manufacturing; strong regional development agencies, working with business in the regions; and tax support for industry in the form of capital allowances to support investment. We are not about to withdraw £3.5 billion of support for industry through reforms to capital allowances, as advanced by the Conservative party.”
“We have an online service to match employers with young people seeking apprenticeships, and as I said a few minutes ago, in December we announced a programme of grants of £2,500 for employers to take on unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds. I agree with the hon. Gentleman: we do not want young people to become completely distant from the labour market because of the economic troubles that we have been going through in the past couple of years. That is why apprenticeships are important, why the numbers have increased and why we have put in place the new grant specifically for unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds.”
“The negotiations have been taking place on an intense level since the turn of the year. They are chaired by Mr. Roger Poole, the former deputy general secretary of the Unison union, and I believe that he has the trust of both sides. The aim of the negotiations is to reach a comprehensive agreement governing all the modernisation and change that needs to take place to put Royal Mail on to a healthier footing. We are not yet at the point of agreement, but I hope that we will be, and I very much hope that the talks will be successful, because that will be in the interests of Royal Mail, its staff and, most importantly, the public who depend on the postal service.”
“That is not what we want at the moment; we should support industry through the investment allowances and through strong RDAs working with—”
“I regret the Ineos decision, but I must point out that our corporation taxes are lower now than when we came into office; they are the lowest in the G7. The right hon. and learned Gentleman asked me whether I would approach the Chancellor and ask him to support the policy that his party has advocated. Just a few days ago, his colleague, the shadow Chancellor, said that that policy would involve the withdrawal of £3.5 billion of support for investment allowances for manufacturing industry. That is absolutely not what our industry needs at the moment, and, combined with the Conservatives’ policy to abolish the regional development agencies and to attack the strategic investment fund, it would represent a real threat to British industry.”
“We have outlined the support that we have put in place. Some 160,000 businesses have been helped by the time to pay initiative, which has allowed businesses large and small to delay payment of a total of £5 billion in tax, to help them through the recession. Some 8,000 businesses have been helped through the enterprise finance guarantee scheme. I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that small businesses in his constituency would not be helped by his shadow Chancellor’s policy to abolish the £50,000 investment allowance that exists under this Government.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right to stress that prompt payment is important. The Government should be a good customer and the Prime Minister has placed a great emphasis on that. As the Under-Secretary, my right hon. Friend for East Ham (Mr. Timms) said in response to an earlier question, the vast majority—more than 90 per cent., I think—of the bills in my Department are paid within the target date. That is important because small businesses rely on prompt payment. That is why we have taken it seriously during the recession.”
“Some years ago, there was a campaign called Save British Science. It is no longer necessary because we have invested so much extra in science. We value the contribution that science can make. We are a world leader: we have 1 per cent. of the world’s population, but 12 per cent. of the world’s scientific citations. That is a testament to the success of British science, which the Government have strongly supported. My hon. Friend is absolutely right not only that pure science is good in itself, but that the potential for spin-offs between the scientific research councils, higher education and companies is now enormous. We are seeing increasing success in this.”
“The assurance I give the hon. Gentleman is that I will make sure that his point is relayed to the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Treasury. It would probably be wise for me not to comment in any more detail on his question at this point.”
“My hon. Friend draws attention to the UK’s strength in aerospace—not only in her constituency, but in many others, too. Aerospace is one sector that has been strongly supported by the strategic investment fund that we have set up. Sadly, that support has been described as disgraceful by Conservative Members, but we believe that it is valuable and important.”
“Traditional English market towns are very important for the economy. A couple of years ago, when the west midlands suffered floods, the regional development agency’s marketing of the area was important in saying that we were open for business. That is why the hon. Gentleman’s party’s policy of abolishing RDAs would be so damaging to the market towns that he supports.”
“My hon. Friend raises a similar point to that raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz) a few minutes ago. He is right that accessibility for account holders of other banks is important to the future of the Post Office. Some banks have stepped up to the plate and ensured that, and some 20 million accounts are available in that way. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, North-West (John Robertson) that more should do the same, and I assure him that we are working on that with other banks.”
“I share entirely the hon. Gentleman’s support for manufacturing. With my constituency being Wolverhampton, South-East, I see the value of manufacturing day in, day out. It is therefore important to support investment in manufacturing through the tax system. I hope that he will make representations to those on his Front Bench that they should desist from their policy of withdrawing £3.5 billion of tax support for investment in manufacturing—”
“I have made this confession before: I am a cheque user. I do not know whether that makes me a luddite, but I believe that cheques still provide people with a valuable payment mechanism, and I hope that the banks will think long and hard before abolishing them.”
“Whenever a postman or woman receives a helmet, they are also reminded through briefings and notices of the requirement to wear it while cycling. I, like some of the hon. Gentleman’s correspondents at Royal Mail, do not really wish to comment on individual cases, because I cannot be sure of the full facts, but there is a clear policy on wearing cycle helmets that goes back a few years. Any disciplinary action under that policy is for the company to deal with under its existing disciplinary procedures. Since 2003, cycle helmets have been supplied by Royal Mail as part of the personal protective equipment for staff using cycles, and high-visibility jackets and protective shoes are also issued to staff.”
“Dave Joyce, the national health, safety and environment officer, said a few years ago: “Conscious of the fact that five members had died in cycle accidents from head injuries in a three year period, the Union and Royal Mail agreed that action was needed to improve Cycle safety standards in order to reduce the risk of serious and fatal injuries amongst our delivery workforce. CWU Conference subsequently debated the issue and voted in favour of compulsory Cycle Helmet introduction.” Following that vote, the first code of practice was agreed and introduced back in 2003. Royal Mail’s policies on cycle helmets have been refined since then, and the current document states that it is mandatory for all postmen and women to wear a high-visibility waistcoat and cycle helmet when riding a Royal Mail cycle.”
“There are appeals procedures if things go wrong and, ultimately, the sanction of the employment tribunals, which is the legal process through which individuals can raise grievances. In particular, the hon. Gentleman referred to the issue of cycling helmets. I am an occasional cyclist, and I am familiar with the general debate on them. Unlike seat belts in cars, they are not required by law, although they are advisable, and most reputable cycle shops would advise anyone taking up cycling to wear one. In Royal Mail, more than 24,000 cycles are used by postmen and women.”
“An agreement is important, because it is in everyone’s interests, including staff, management and the public—this goes to the core of some of the issues that the hon. Gentleman has raised—to get away from the damaging pattern of disputes that have characterised too much of Royal Mail’s operations in recent years. The hon. Gentleman raised a number of specific points about disciplinary action and so on. Let me set out clearly what the relationship is. Ever since the Postal Services Act 2000, Royal Mail has been run by its board and management. It is for them, together with the trade unions involved, to come to agreements on procedures and practices in the workplace.”
“We all saw just how important and valuable that service was during the recent very cold weather, when we had a lot of snow. I pay tribute to the hard-working staff of Royal Mail, who kept up a service in the vast majority of the country in that period. Talks are currently taking place to try to secure a long-term agreement between the management and the unions on change in Royal Mail. They are being mediated by Mr. Roger Poole, a former Unison official and former chairman of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission—he is a man who knows something about conflict and compromise. I have kept in close touch with him in recent weeks. I do not want to go into the detail of those talks, and it is probably right that I do not do so, but both parties are working hard to reach an agreement.”
“Royal Mail faces a lot of difficult change for a number of reasons, including competition from new technologies, a decline in letter volumes—parcel volumes have increased, but not enough to replace that—and a long-term programme to introduce new technology and make a number of other changes, for which the Government have lent the company £1.2 billion. Whatever level of mechanisation is introduced, Royal Mail will still depend on its staff to deliver the postal service that we enjoy, the core of which is the universal service—the one-price letter that can go anywhere in the country, from Cornwall to the highlands, six days a week. The delivery of that universal service depends on the army of thousands of postmen and women who, as the hon. Gentleman has pointed out, deliver in all weathers and all areas, rural and urban.”
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Southport (Dr. Pugh) on securing the debate, and my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Ms Clark) and the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr. Timpson) on their contributions to it. Royal Mail issues always arouse debate in the House, and tonight we have specifically focused on industrial relations within the company. The fact is that Royal Mail has a poor industrial relations record. That was shown clearly in the Hooper report, to which the hon. Member for Southport has referred. In the past two and a half years, there have been two national strikes, other threatened strikes in between and a number of localised and unofficial disputes.”
“It is in everyone’s interests for the current talks to reach not an agreement that unravels in its implantation, but a long-term agreement that secures shared ownership of Royal Mail’s long-term goals, because as I have said—sometimes perhaps without any great acceptance in the House—the technological challenge is not going away. The capacity to communicate by means other than mail will only increase, which means that the pressure for change will increase. What I hope will emerge from the negotiations is a long-term agreement whereby we can get away from that pattern of disputes and from the mistrust, to which the hon. Gentleman has referred, in the Hooper report—we all acknowledge that it is there—and get industrial relations on to a better long-term footing for the future.”
“Since then, we have not tried to second-guess management every step of the way or on everything that happens inside local offices. The company’s board and its managers are there to run the company. The management and unions must work together to ensure that the proper procedures are in place. As I have said, the CWU, the main union in the Royal Mail, has been involved in the preparation of such policies, including on cycle helmets. More broadly, and to return to the current negotiations, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that there has been a pattern of local disputes in Royal Mail, whether in his local office or other local offices. It has held the organisation back, resulted in other disputes whereby custom is lost to other mail operators and affected morale in the organisation.”
“Royal Mail told my officials that that delivery office is one of the largest users of cycles in the UK and that failure to wear cycle helmets has been an issue in the past in the area. Locally, the issue was debated at an area forum in 2008 and a new approach was adopted, under which non-wearing of cycle helmets was deemed a serious breach of instructions. Royal Mail has told my officials that employees were briefed about that and the consequences of the failure to comply. I understand that it is open to hon. Members to raise any issue with me in these debates, but the broader point is that under the reforms put in place in the Postal Services Act 2000, we gave Royal Mail greater commercial freedom and established a clear distinction between ownership of the company and the day-to-day running of the company.”
“If issues arise from the policy, they have to be dealt with by Royal Mail under its disciplinary procedures. If employees still have a grievance, they have recourse to the tribunal. I am saying that the issue has been debated for some time within Royal Mail, and there is a clear policy on it. The hon. Gentleman raises the issue of consistency between areas. Royal Mail is a large organisation, and it is not inconceivable that there are inconsistencies. I suspect that not everything in Royal Mail is done in exactly the same way in every delivery office or sorting office. Before the debate, I asked my officials to contact Royal Mail to see whether there are particular issues in the hon. Gentleman’s local office.”
“I certainly agree that we have an interest in Royal Mail working well. As I have set out, I am not going to get into second-guessing the disciplinary procedures inside individual sorting offices. If there are things that the hon. Gentleman wants to write to me about so that I can pass them on to Royal Mail, I will be happy to do that. However, I want to be honest with the House and honest with the hon. Gentleman: it is for Royal Mail and its work force to work through the issues, because they are responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. I have nothing more to add at this point, but I agree with him that it is in all our long-term interests for industrial relations to be on a better footing in future than they have been in recent years. Question put and agreed to.”
“During the dispute before Christmas, we kept in touch with both sides, encouraging an agreement on the modernisation of Royal Mail. Those talks are continuing, and I believe that in the context of falling mail volumes and the greater use of new technology, both Royal Mail and representatives of the work force understand that there are likely to be fewer people working for Royal Mail in the future.”
“We have certainly helped Royal Mail and its work force by putting considerable finance, on behalf of the taxpayer, into it over the past decade. Just three years ago, we lent the company £1.2 billion to finance its much-needed modernisation. The mediator in the talks taking place now is Roger Poole, with whom I regularly keep in touch. The important thing is that both the work force and management reach an agreement to carry forward the modernisation. My hon. Friend also mentioned the pension deficit. That is an issue for Royal Mail. We put forward a proposal to deal with it, as part of the Postal Services Bill, but I am afraid that many people were opposed to that package, although we made it clear that it was a package, and not something from which items could be picked out one by one.”
“We do not plan to separate out the regulation part of the postal services package that we proposed, as is the case with the pension proposals, which I just mentioned. The priority for Royal Mail now is that the talks succeed in reaching an agreement on the much-needed modernisation, because mail volumes are falling around the world and new technology is not going to go away. That is definitely in the interests of Royal Mail, its work force and the general public.”
“I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the valiant work that postmen and women do. They underpin the universal service at the heart of our postal system, and we are determined to preserve that for the future. However, I am afraid that I cannot agree with him that the regulatory system is in limbo. It is true that we had plans to change the regulatory system, but Postcomm is in place, it is the established regulator, it has a job to do, and it should continue to do it.”
“We did not proceed with the Postal Services Bill because the market conditions did not allow us to get the best value for money for the taxpayer. The hon. Gentleman spoke about his plans, but the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) has been clear about those: the Conservatives would privatise the Royal Mail. That is not our proposal and it was not our proposal in the past.”