Andy MacNae
MP for Rossendale and Darwen · Labour · United Kingdom
“My right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) has made it clear that reindustrialisation will be a key priority for this Government, but in order to be meaningful this must be done with true ambition, delivering good jobs, hope and opportunity in every part of the country, including the small towns of Rossendale and Darwen…”
“I have long been a proponent of the principles of LGR, which Lancashire and my constituents have desperately needed for a long time. It is a chance to reinvent local government.”
“We are good at making the best of things, so I ask the Secretary of State to work with me and us to bring in the much more significant capacity and capability funding that we need to reverse that deprivation and catch up with neighbouring places, such as Manchester.”
“There is the 70-year-old lady with spinal cancer who was stuck there for 72 hours; the young woman who was a historical sexual assault victim, physically shaking with fear at being left in a corridor surrounded by men; or the 90-year-old with dementia and double incontinence, reliant on her daughter to change and clean her, and desperate…”
“The investment in prevention and in repairing the massive damage done by the previous Government to our valued health system is crucial and fundamental. We are finally seeing progress in Blackburn, and that is because of additional resources and support from NHS England and the Government’s getting it right first time initiative.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for securing this debate and all my esteemed colleagues for covering the issue so brilliantly and with such expertise. You will be glad to hear, Madam Deputy Speaker, that that allows me to be brief and to focus on Blackburn A&E.”
The complete record
Every one of 389 lines we hold for Andy MacNae, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 8.
“The hon. Gentleman is making a wonderful point about the value of outdoor education within the education system. Does he agree that the Ofsted assessment mechanism is a great tool for encouraging greater use of the outdoors and of sport and activity per se? Would he suggest that we look to make sure that any outstanding school must provide great access to the outdoors?”
“I wholeheartedly welcome this statement. It is a true Labour package that backs Britain and reverses years of declinism under parties on the Opposition Benches who seem to have given up on Britain. I particularly welcome the results of the Green Book review, which will get investment into the places that need it most. In that regard, does the Chancellor agree with me that, while big projects and city schemes will get the headlines, it is vital that the full benefits of renewal are felt in small towns like those that make up my constituency of Rossendale and Darwen, and that these previously left behind places must be at the forefront of our thinking as we develop local transport and infrastructure delivery plans?”
“My hon. Friend is making a tremendous speech. Does she recognise that some of our most deprived communities are right next to areas where we are seeing rapid growth? It is vital that a test of our £113 billion investment—a once-in-a-generation opportunity for infrastructure—must be its impact on our most deprived communities.”
“I hugely welcome these investments, which will free up the great potential of the north, or at least a part of it. The Green Book review will of course create the conditions that allow us to release the rest of the potential in left-behind areas and small towns, including those in Rossendale and Darwen. As a colleague said, we want similar investment in non-mayoral authorities. What assurance can the Minister give the people of Lancashire that we will see similar benefits to those that city regions enjoy?”
“Will the Prime Minister reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that people such as Ben, who have lifelong conditions and who cannot work, will be protected from those damaging reassessments and given the support they need to live with dignity?”
“Q10. It is National Epilepsy Week and we are joined in the Public Gallery by England rugby player Tommy Freeman, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at 19 but who, through effective treatment, has gone on to be selected for the British and Irish Lions. I hope the Prime Minister will join me in congratulating him on that great achievement. For a third of epilepsy sufferers, however, seizures cannot be controlled by medication, as in the case of my constituent Ben Lacey, who suffers multiple seizures every single day. Ben will never be able to work, yet he has been subject to the stress and uncertainty of multiple PIP reassessments.”
“The hon. Gentleman suggests that there was no damage done to businesses, yet I have been chairing business roundtables recently with industry representatives—people who run billion-pound businesses; significant businesses—and every single business recognises the impacts of Brexit as a principal drag on their profitability and growth.”
“It is only by targeting investment where it is needed most that we can ensure that every community feels the benefit of the growth that this Government will bring.”
“I thank the Chancellor for that answer—the Government’s commitment to the north is absolutely clear. We very much enjoyed our visit to Darwen market. At the same time, however, history tells us that small towns, like those that make up Rossendale and Darwen, can far too easily get left behind and not feel the benefits of major infrastructure investment, despite being the very communities that need to see and feel change the most. Does the Chancellor agree that as we implement our investment and growth strategy, and deliver the review of the Green Book, we must put our left-behind communities first? As part of every major investment decision, we should ask the question: what does this do for our most deprived and left-behind neighbourhoods?”
“Clearly not much yet, given the kicking we got in the local elections. These small towns and coastal communities are the places where productivity is lowest.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of rebalancing regional economies. It is a true pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. This Government have rightly prioritised growth, devolution and the need for growth to be seen in all regions and nations. Last year’s Budget and this year’s spring statement freed up £113 billion of infrastructure investment. Huge amounts of work are being done to develop industrial strategies that will drive forward key sectors. We have new trade deals, and have seen the corporate world commit record levels of investment in renewable energy, artificial intelligence and many more sectors. Brilliant stuff—but what does it actually mean to the people of Rossendale and Darwen, Blackpool, Winsford, Macclesfield, or Cornwall?”
“It must mean that our towns feel clean and safe, and that people have the houses they need. It must mean that our small and medium-sized businesses thrive and put more money in people’s pockets. It must mean that our roads, buses and rail systems actually connect to where people need to go. I think we all get that—I certainly know the Minister does—but what worries me is that, when it comes to actual decision making, too often the investment planning defaults to big cities and existing growth areas, with the role of small towns seemingly reduced to just feeding people into the great city machine. Indeed, it can often be a presumption that the answer for small towns is nothing more than better transport into a city. Such thinking totally misses the point.”
“Absolutely. That is the essence of growth for all. It is about going beyond location and beyond geography as a determinant, and getting the right outcomes for everyone. Our small towns and coastal communities are where productivity is lowest, and where the cost of living and housing crises have hit hardest. They have been left out and let down for so long that it is no wonder trust and expectation are so low—but those are the places where the next election will be won or lost, and where this Government must deliver for our communities if we are to live up to our promises. To mean something to Rossendale and Darwen, and to places like it, growth must translate into real and tangible change in every neighbourhood. It must mean good jobs and accessible opportunities for young people where they live.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Indeed, that movement out into the regions is vital; a thrust throughout this debate is the understanding of regional and local realities. That movement can only be welcomed, and it should be as broad as it possibly can be.”
“I agree 100% with my hon. Friend. It is the pride that we have in our towns that really matters. Good things should happen in our towns, not just in some distant city that only a tiny proportion of people in a town might be lucky enough to be able to travel to. That includes pride in our neighbourhoods; neighbourhoods are important to their residents. Having said that, I do not deny for a moment that cities are our economic engines and that we desperately need to address the productivity gap between our regional centres and London—but, as we have said, this process cannot just be about the cities and the big towns. It matters little to the people of Bacup how well Manchester is doing. Instead, we need to see the good things happening in Manchester mirrored in places such as Bacup.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. That is largely the point: we must rebalance our economies by bridging the productivity gap between our cities, including our northern cities, and the rest of the country. At the same time, though, we must make sure that that growth in cities such as Manchester, which in many ways is doing great, is felt in Lancashire and other places at the same time.”
“I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, the requirement for bespoke interventions is the thrust of the latter parts of my speech. Whether places such as Bacup feel the benefit of Government interventions is a test for whether we are delivering growth for all. The last Government failed spectacularly in this challenge and, if we are to avoid the same fate, we must do things differently.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—I remember that brilliant report very well, and that process of devolution is a crucial element of getting this right. What are the underlying issues and what can we do about them? It is perfectly understandable that, in looking for growth, we go first to places where it can be achieved most easily at scale and at the lowest cost. That is an instinct backed-up by long-established practices. We see it manifest in announcements around the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, the lower Thames crossing, Heathrow and Old Trafford.”
“That is the rub: as things stand, too often we do not fully value these benefits, either quantitatively or qualitatively. Ministers make decisions and advisers advise. The Government guidance for investment is the Green Book, which sets out how decisions on major investment projects are appraised. It was last reviewed in 2020 and is subject to another review now. Despite a clear intent for that guidance to support regional rebalancing, it is clear that embedded practices too often default to over-reliance on simplistic and short-term cost-benefit ratios.”
“Indeed; part of the thrust of my argument is that these growth corridors must extend into the areas that need them most, and I am sure that Swindon very much needs to be part of that mix. The focus on those easier areas is perfectly reasonable, but if we continue in this vein of only doing the big and easy things, all the money will be gone before we get anywhere near the likes of Rossendale and Darwen. In places such as my home, delivering growth is not easy—it is complex and bespoke and needs sustained focus. There is rarely a silver bullet and, if there was one, it would be tough to deliver. But, if properly valued, the long-term benefits of doing the hard yards are huge not just in economic terms, but in terms of health, crime, housing, environment and general wellbeing.”
“Our decision-making process has compounded that and left our communities behind. We must change the game. Our new default must be to put our left-behind neighbourhoods first. We must learn the lessons of the past and not allow established orthodoxies and a desire for easy wins to stand in the way. In the end, we simply cannot afford to fail those communities that need us most.”
“Too often programmes would retreat into doing the same easy thing over and over again, lose strategic focus and just deliver a lot of nice-to-haves or be pulled back into spending orthodoxies by risk-averse oversight. As Gordon Brown reflected—I will not do a Scottish accent: “The frustration is that we haven’t made enough progress. Given the deindustrialisation of Britain, we haven’t managed to find a way to generate the kind of growth and wealth in the areas of the country that were at the heart of the first Industrial Revolution.” This Government, who were elected by those very areas, must again take up that challenge. For too long, geography has meant destiny. Small towns such as Bacup, Whitworth, Rawtenstall and Darwen have been at the back of the queue and left behind, as others shout louder and seemingly offer easier solutions.”
“It would require a fully place-based appraisal mechanism, flexible funding and long-term delivery capability. It should also be expected to bring in other agencies such as Homes England, Active Travel England and Historic England to provide additional leverage. By insisting on such an holistic approach, we could get something far more impactful, and bigger than the sum of its parts. We have tried all this before with regional development agencies, housing market renewal, the single regeneration budget, the new deal for communities programme, local enterprise growth initiatives, local enterprise partnerships and so on. Many of these things were great, but they never quite got there.”
“However, if I ask, “What does this do for Rossendale and Darwen, or any small town on or near the route?”, the answer is, “Frankly, not much—all it does is take trains past us a bit quicker.” Would we not rather think about the rail upgrade as one part of a wider project that enables a growth corridor, and in which we make a positive impact on small towns and rural areas in that corridor a fundamental requirement of the investment, for instance by insisting on local procurement, associated recruitment and skills programmes, investment and startup incentives, brownfield remediation, housing renewal, local transport improvements, public realm investment and so on? Such an approach could be delivered through a partnership of Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire authorities, with mayors sharing accountability.”
“We must also do the hard bit: such progress must be in parallel with targeted investment in deprived towns outside the immediate economic envelope of the city, in line with original strategy and founded on the principle of growth for all that cuts across devolved areas. That strategy must be supported by flexible funding and delivery capacity to respond to specific challenges and opportunities. We cannot continue to justify Government investment flowing into the likes of Manchester while the towns of Lancashire do not even appear in the picture. As a practical example, take the TransPennine route upgrade—a major project that will transform connectivity between cities and major towns across the Pennines. It has been presented, in some quarters, as a transformational project for our region.”
“The question “What does this do for our most deprived and left-behind neighbourhoods?” should be embedded in every investment strategy and decision process. We should develop tests that seek to answer that question and by which we can judge investments. By insisting on truly holistic, place-based approaches designed to benefit all, we can deliver much more meaningful impact. In delivering that sort of approach, devolution and local leadership could and should play a vital role—but only if we do it right. It has been well argued that to close national productivity gaps we need to focus investment through integrated settlements towards the cities and devolved authorities. With developed institutions and the greatest ability to get things done, I agree with that, but that is the relatively easy bit.”
“Green Book best practice must be updated to ensure that project funding is primarily based on strategic objectives, which may include aspects that cannot be valued quantitatively, rather than arbitrary forecasts. That must include ending all arbitrary benefit-cost ratio thresholds based on limited economic forecasting, replacing them with strengthened and broadened place-based systems of evaluation, with public transparency about the calculations. Appraisals must recognise the long-term and interlinked nature of key interventions extending over the period by which the benefits are valued, and address the excessive discounting of long-term impacts. More fundamentally, our strategies must insist on doing the hard yards, while giving the fiscal flexibility, regulatory framework and sustained leadership to deliver effectively.”
“The problem has historically been compounded by a failure to join up investment thinking across Departments and geographical footprints—for instance, local regeneration funding not being linked to regional transport or housing strategy. The great failure of the last Government’s levelling-up programme was to abandon any sort of strategic approach and simply rely on bidding competitions and piecemeal sticking-plaster interventions determined by the likelihood of a good headline. If we are really to see the benefits of growth in places such as Rossendale and Darwen, we need to address all that head-on. The Green Book and appraisal practice must change to properly value all impacts of investment in our small towns. We must ensure that all appraisal processes, including departmental models, follow the intent of that guidance.”
“I agree 100% with the hon. Lady. It is a huge opportunity, and I will come to the specifics around it very shortly. Some Departments still require projects to surpass a certain benefit-cost threshold before the investment decision gets anywhere near a Minister’s desk. It is a statement of fact to say that that reliance on benefit-cost ratios favours better-off areas and quick wins, contributing to regional and sub-regional imbalance over many years. That issue does not stop with the Green Book—it is broader than that; I would argue that it can be summed up as the simple human temptation to take the quicker and easier option.”
“This is all wonderful stuff, and obviously we are massively behind these plans, but does the Minister agree that in order to make the most of the plan for neighbourhoods, we must address the infrastructure constraints within the sub-regions—constraints that have traditionally held back our areas? In the case of Rawtenstall and many areas, it is the rail links. There is also the transport grid. There are so many aspects of this. We will only get the value for money out of our plan for neighbourhoods if we address the infrastructure around our areas, too.”
“Given how oversubscribed Westminster Hall and Adjournment debates on this subject have been, will she agree to a debate in Government time?”
“To get to school, William Cartwright, who is in year 6 at Thorn primary school in Bacup, has to cross the very busy Burnley Road at a point where there is no lollipop service, 20 mph zone or zebra crossing. That is his daily experience. He said: “Cars travel very fast. We often run across the road, and I’ve nearly been hit several times.” William has launched a petition calling for Lancashire county council to install a safe crossing. He says: “We should not have to wait for an accident to happen before something is done.” I could tell a similar story about the safety of roads around almost every other primary school in Rossendale and Darwen. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating William on his initiative?”
“If that happens alongside all the other measures that we will hear about today, we can make active travel, with all the benefits it brings, a genuine option for our schoolchildren.”
“That sort of response, which dismisses community concerns, flies in the face of common sense. As William says, we should not have to wait for an accident to happen before something is done. Across Rossendale and Darwen, parents and children are telling us that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed near our schools. We must do better and listen to our communities. Local authorities should draw on all available data to assess risk, adding in community feedback and lived experience, and actually prevent harm. That, of course, is exactly what happens elsewhere in Europe and in forward-looking authorities in the UK. The Government’s new road safety strategy must ensure that the very best risk-based practices are followed throughout the country.”
“Pupils and parents do not feel safe making the crossing and so drive to school, which in turn leads to congestion, pavement parking and close calls on the roads immediately around the school. Such is the concern that pupils at Thorn have started road safety campaigns calling for action. For instance, William Cartwright, a year 6 pupil, came to one of my surgeries to push the case. He has to cross Burnley Road every day with his two younger brothers and friends. He says: “Cars travel very fast. We often have to run across the road and I’ve nearly been hit several times.” He has just started a petition, which already has 350 signatures. However, when I asked Lancashire County Council to explore options for a crossing point, I was told that historical casualty figures for that particular section of road did not justify an intervention.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mrs Hobhouse, and I thank the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) for securing this very important date, for which we do not have nearly enough time. I have talked before about Burnley Road in Bacup several times in debates, both here in Westminster Hall and in the main Chamber. There have been serious injuries and fatalities at various points on this main road and speeding is endemic. One house has been hit three times by out-of-control cars. Residents cite numerous close calls and the fear that that generates. Thorn primary school is set back to the east of the road, with many of its pupils living to the west. If those pupils wish to walk to school, they must cross the busy road at a point where there is no lollipop service, 20 mph zone or zebra crossing.”
“We cannot be left behind as our cities forge ahead. Truly integrated transport could connect our futures, and I believe that the Government and our empowered communities can grasp that opportunity.”
“We have seen what innovative transport thinking can do in Manchester, so let us imagine what could be achieved across the north with a fully devolved regional transport budget and mayors working together to unlock our potential. I find that possibility hugely exciting, but I also worry that opportunistic and self-interested local politicians may try to derail the process. For instance, the Reform candidates in the Lancashire county council elections are standing on a platform opposing devolution. They are defending a status quo that may be in their own interests, but it manifestly does not meet the interests of residents of Lancashire—what madness! We need to reject such pessimism and put the north-west back in the fast lane. It is in small towns such as Rossendale and Darwen that the next election will be won and lost.”
“We also need to ensure that the social wellbeing and enabling aspects of projects are properly valued. Indeed, why not bias projects towards deprived areas? We also need to recognise that guidelines are just guidelines, and that there are entrenched cultures within appraisal mechanisms that, regardless of what the guidelines say, will tend to default to outdated benefit-cost ratio metrics. That review is a huge opportunity that we must grasp and I am really glad that the north-west is speaking with one voice on the issue. Of course, our other great opportunity is devolution. The north-west could be the first region in England to have a full set of elected mayors with devolved budgets. That would give us the chance to join up our transport investment across the north.”
“The previous Government and the systems that they put in place manifestly failed to do that, but I believe we have two big opportunities under the new Government to do things differently and to deliver the change that the north-west needs. As my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper) eloquently—indeed, brilliantly—put it, the Green Book is a massive issue that has resulted in a sustained long-term bias towards wealthier areas. We have to change that. The Treasury review is a huge opportunity for us, and we must ensure that it is carried out with true ambition, rather than just tweaking the rules. The existing bias must be removed and the long-term strategic impacts of investment fully recognised, as opposed to overvaluing short-term returns.”
“Time does not allow for a full explanation of all those issues, and it would clearly be unnecessary, as this debate shows that the picture is shared and understood by hon. Members. I am sure that the Minister recognises it too. We are all too familiar with cut-off small towns and villages with so much unmet potential, yet the investment never seems to come our way. We know the problems and the legacy that we have been left with, and we know the massive benefits that true transport connectivity can deliver, but we also know the solutions. The Government have made a start by investing in rural bus services and pothole repair, while committing to act on some long-standing regional rail priorities. However, the question remains as to how we make sure that left-behind towns get the connectivity they need to unleash their full potential.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) on securing this important debate. I had originally prepared a lengthy speech that laid out in great and eloquent detail the huge number of issues that we have in Rossendale and Darwen around transport. Those issues include the challenge of simply walking or cycling to school or work; our patchy bus services and isolated villages; the congested, unsafe and potholed roads; and of course our railway connections—or lack of them. Darwen’s transport could generously be described as wildly unreliable, while Rossendale is the only local authority area in the north with no commuter links at all. I therefore look with envy at my hon. Friends with merely unreliable services.”
“Can I be clear in my mind that what the right hon. Lady is saying is that at a tough time, the then Government took some tough decisions, and that resulted in the pension level being £560 lower now than if they had not made that decision—a difference far greater than the winter fuel payment amount? That Government made tough decisions at a tough time that are costing pensioners money today.”
“The right hon. Lady is making an eloquent point about how important every pound is for a pensioner, and £300 is a lot of money for a pensioner. But is £560 more or less than £300, because that is what decisions taken by the previous Government in 2021 have cost pensioners this year?”
“This Bill levels the playing field. Good employers can keep on doing what they do, knowing that their competitors can no longer undercut them by, for instance, employing a majority of their staff on zero-hours contracts, not giving holiday pay, firing and rehiring or just underpaying. This Bill is good for good businesses and good for workers. It is good for growth and for society. It will put more money in people’s pockets and deliver real, tangible benefits for working people, and I am very pleased to support it.”
“We support our people when they are sick, and we know that taking holidays is vital to maintain performance. We do not unfairly dismiss, whether someone has been with us for one day or for many years. We have rigorous recruitment processes, and we make it clear that employees must show they meet requirements for a job during the probationary period. We pay as well as we can, knowing that employees who feel valued will deliver for our businesses. Up until now, good employers have always felt the risk of being undercut by unscrupulous and short-term disruptors looking to make a quick buck. This is a real and serious issue—I have experienced it in business, and many other business owners have raised it with me. Businesses doing the right thing should not be disadvantaged, yet weak and outdated employment legislation has left them exposed.”
“Throughout that time, it was always clear in my mind that whatever the business, the critical success factor is always the skills, drive and quality of the people that the business employs or contracts. To succeed, any business must attract the best possible people. That is why I have always felt that the selection and recruitment process was my key role in any organisation that I led. I will always argue that great businesses, by which I mean those with sustained success, will always be good employers. When I look at the measures in this Bill, all I see are the things that good employers are already doing. We know that support for employees when they have children pays off in the long term. We know that giving employees job security increases their commitment and productivity.”
“I am a member of Unite the union, but I rise to make my remarks from the perspective of a business owner and employer, in response to comments made by Conservative Members, who have now wandered off, about small and medium-sized businesses. These are personal comments and I will give my personal perspective, but I know many businesses, large and small, that share this point of view. Before coming to this place, I was running businesses of various shapes and sizes for well over 20 years. I did my MBA at Manchester Business School, I have started and led several businesses, and I have served on the board of many others, so I have been about a bit.”
“On Friday, I met with the headteachers of all the secondary schools in Rossendale. They face many challenges, but they were unanimous that the single biggest issue they face is a lack of capacity in special schools and alternative provision in our area. Rossendale has no places, children’s complex needs are not being met and huge additional pressures are being placed on our mainstream schools. That is the legacy of 14 years of neglect. What steps will this Government take to address special school and alternative provision in areas such as Rossendale and Darwen?”
“This is on flooding again, I am afraid. My constituency has suffered greatly from flooding in recent years. Our steep valleys and wide moorland catchments make us particularly vulnerable. I massively welcome the Government’s commitment to a record £2.65 billion of funding for flood defences. We have a number of key schemes in Rossendale and Darwen that urgently need that funding, and I am in communication with the Department about that. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate in Government time on flood resilience and support for communities affected so badly by flooding?”