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Does my Right Honourable Friend agree that what the steel industry, including in the Black Country, needs above all else is a long-term strategy, with a pipeline of projects that can create good opportunities for those who work in the sector?
Greg Clark The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
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Mike Wood: What steps his Department is taking to deliver economic growth through the Midlands Engine.
James Brokenshire The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
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What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the blue badge scheme for people with hidden disabilities.
Michael Ellis Minister of State (Department for Transport)
From 30 August 2019, the blue badge scheme will include non-visible as well as visible disabilities. This change will be assessed 12 months after implementation, using feedback form the public, stakeholders and local authorities who administer the scheme. We will be tracking how many badges are awarded under the new criteria.
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Mike Wood: Rebalancing the economy is not just about north and south or the different nations of the United Kingdom. Will the Minister ensure that the shared prosperity fund is distributed using a range of indicators, such as gross value added, the regional human poverty index and disposable income, so that areas in the West Midlands in need receive their fair share?
Robert Jenrick The Exchequer Secretary
Absolutely—those are exactly the kinds of questions that we dealt with in the consultation.
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I apologise to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller), for not being able to be present at the start of her speech. I was able to catch up with her remarks, and I think that she spoke on behalf of all of us in the House.
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Mike Wood: How many people in the West Midlands are benefitting from recent increases to the personal allowance and the higher-rate threshold?
Philip Hammond The Chancellor of the Exchequer
The answer is lots. Had I known my hon. Friend was going to ask me that, I would have been able to give him a precise answer. I will write to him.
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Mike Wood: I thank the shadow Minister for giving way. His point is entirely bogus, because as the Minister made clear, and as he knows, the Bill concerns purely employers’, and not employees’, contributions, so it does not tax anybody’s redundancy payment.
Peter Dowd Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
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Surely the hon. Lady acknowledges the Low Pay Commission’s conclusion:
“In light of this evidence we concluded when thinking about the pay floor for this age group, that it could not currently be set to the same level as the national living wage without risks to employment.”
Alison Thewliss
(Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Treasury), Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Housing, Communities and Local Government))
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Mike Wood: Will my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the £1.7 billion announced in the Budget to increase work allowances for families with children, which will mean that 2.4 million families will be better off?
Alok Sharma (The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions)
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Mike Wood: Reductions in business rates will help thousands of small and medium-sized shops, restaurants and pubs in our town centres. Will the Prime Minister commit to continuing to work for fundamental reform of local business taxation so that local shops and businesses of all sorts can compete fairly with the online giants?
Theresa May The Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party
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Mike Wood: Although I originally studied law and was called to the Bar, I never practised, so I hope I may speak in the debate without being tied to any particular interest. This debate is increasingly showing a division between those on the side of personal injury practitioners, and those on the side of the overwhelming majority of our constituents who face the costs arising from an ever-escalating number of claims, of escalating value, for relatively minor injuries. My right hon.
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Mike Wood: What steps he is taking to ensure that public broadcasters reflect and provide for the whole of the UK.
Jeremy Wright The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
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Mike Wood: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the key human right in this case is access to a full and fair trial, and that the UK Government must do everything they can to make sure that is possible? If UK agencies and authorities were to withhold evidence they have in their possession, it would put that fundamentally at risk?
Ben Wallace Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
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Mike Wood: Given my hon. Friend’s personal interest in this matter, will he join me in supporting the Government’s “Share the joy” campaign to encourage greater take-up of shared parental leave?
Andrew Griffiths (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy))
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Mike Wood: Does my hon. Friend recognise that condition B would still leave 85% of local newspapers covered by the costs-shifting provisions, directly threatening their ability to conduct the investigative journalism that so many of them do so well?
Bill Wiggin Chair, Committee of Selection, Chair, Selection Committee
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Mike Wood: Mandatory reporting requirements are an important step in eliminating the gender pay gap, but does my hon. Friend agree that it will be key for shareholders and customers, as well as employees, to hold businesses to account on those reports?
Victoria Atkins The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, Minister for Women
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Mike Wood: What sanctions are available if companies fail to meet their legal obligations to help to close the gender pay gap?
Amber Rudd (The Secretary of State for the Home Department, Minister for Women and Equalities)
What is the law is that gender pay gap reporting takes place. The EHRC has the ability to take measures that can end up with fines and further sanctions. In terms of proposals for companies to actually close the gap themselves, we encourage them to put forward their own plans.
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Mike Wood: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate on the closure of the offices in my constituency, which will affect many of his constituents. Does he agree that the success of the surge and rapid response team at the Waterfront demonstrates exactly the kind of modern capabilities that would add so much to delivering universal credit, and that the redeployment should be reconsidered, whether with DWP or with other bodies, to make use of the existing staff and skills at the Waterfront?
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Mike Wood: I intend to speak only briefly, as this is a strong Bill that will empower people to take control of their data. I am pleased to see such broad support for it receiving its Second Reading, but I am not able to support the provisions in the Bill that would implement section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
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Sandy Martin Labour, Ipswich
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Mike Wood: Under this Government, the UK is leading international efforts to tackle tax avoidance. Can we have a debate on the impact that tax avoidance has on our vital public services and on what more can be done to make sure that everybody pays their fair share?
Andrea Leadsom Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
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