Jim
Knight: As the hon. and learned Gentleman knows from the
Adjournment debates that he has secured and the questioning that he has
pursued on this issue in the House, there is a review on the funding
formula for schools, which I instigated when I was Minister for Schools
and Learners. That process is ongoing, and hopefully there will be an
announcement about the outcome of the review at an appropriate time
next year. In the current funding settlement for schools, which I
announced as Schools Minister, I included some funding for pockets of
deprivation to try to address some of the issues around rural
deprivation. Unfortunately, Devon did not qualify for that. I know that
that is an issue for the hon. and learned Gentleman, but the process
was the beginning of an acknowledgement that we need to ensure we
tackle deprivation wherever it lies, not just concentrations of
deprivation in urban
areas. Mr.
Gary Streeter (South-West Devon) (Con): Does the Minister
have an estimate of the number of colleges of further education in this
region that have been left devastated by the recent debacle of Learning
and Skills Council funding? Extraordinary decisions have been made and
costs incurred in architects’ fees and in starting to prepare
capital projects all around the region, only for the funding that was
already agreed by the LSC to be removed when projects had already
started. Will the Government reimburse the colleges for that loss, and
will the Minister tell us the cost to the public
purse?
Jim
Knight: It is important to understand the context. Back in
1997 there was no capital budget for further education colleges in this
country and they had suffered a total funding drought for developing
their buildings. That is in sharp contrast to the situation in recent
years. Unfortunately, the events that have been subsequently
investigated by the Foster review have been highly regrettable
for colleges in not just this region, but elsewhere in the country.
There will be a process whereby colleges will submit their audited
accounts in December. Any losses incurred by colleges will then be
assessed, and those colleges will have the first call on the next round
of funds so that we can ensure that any losses unnecessarily caused by
the problems identified in the Foster review can be properly
addressed.
The
Chairman: Order. We must be careful not to wander too far
from the precise question. I allowed that question because some
colleges of further education provide sixth-form facilities for large
parts of the
population. Ministerial
Responsibilities4.
Andrew
George (St. Ives)(LD):
What arrangements are in place to assess the
effectiveness of his function of representing the interests of the
south-west in the formulation of central Government
policy.
[290609] Jim
Knight: As with all Ministers, my effectiveness is
scrutinised by Members of Parliament, the electorate and the Prime
Minister, and I was delighted to accept this exciting challenge from
the Prime Minister following the promotion of my predecessor, my right
hon. Friend the Member for Exeter, when he was appointed a Secretary of
State in
June. Regional
Ministers were introduced in 2007 as part of the “Governance of
Britain” reforms. No doubt in due course the House will consider
the effectiveness of such Ministers alongside other reforms. This
Regional Grand Committee and the Regional Select Committees are of
particular importance in holding me to account.
Andrew
George: I am grateful to the Minister for the Government
zone of the south-west, who will no doubt be aware that thousands of
farmers, growers and other suppliers of the supermarkets welcomed with
open arms the Competition Commission’s report a year ago that
recommended the establishment of a supermarket ombudsman. The
commission has put the ball firmly in the court of the Government, who
need to respond by 4 October on how they are going to
implement that recommendation. In our effort to assess the
Minister’s effectiveness, will he tell us what steps has he
taken to speak to the Business and Environment Secretaries to ensure
that that important and proper recommendation of the Competition
Commission is enforced as quickly as
possible?
Jim
Knight: One of the merits of this Grand Committee is that
it gives people the opportunity to raise issues that have not been
bleeping as brightly as they might on my radar. I will be very happy to
talk to my right hon. Friends, as the hon. Gentleman suggests. I am
sure that the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Wansdyke, who is sitting next to
me, will have an interest in this as well. When he speaks at the end of
our debate, he might want to comment on the issue, if he feels it is
appropriate.
Steve
Webb (Northavon) (LD): I have no doubt that the Minister
is a diligent constituency MP. He is also a Minister in the Department
for Work and Pensions
which, at a time of recession, is an incredibly demanding and important
job. I reckon that I have probably already listed two full-time jobs.
Will he therefore tell us how many hours in a typical week he spends as
a regional Minister? Is that role not what Billy Connolly might once
have called a “pretendee wee Minister”, rather than a
real
role?
Jim
Knight: An interesting balance is being struck. I was
prepared to justify my role as regional Minister by saying that I am
not paid any extra for doing the job, and therefore we are achieving
good value for money in my performing the roles of Employment Minister
and the Minister for the South West.
To some
extent, we have yet to develop a consistent holding pattern for my
time, given that a significant proportion of the period that I have
been regional Minister has been during recess. However, I estimate that
during a five-day week, when I am more active and out and about rather
than doing the paperwork that occupies my time at weekends, I would
spend about 35 to 40 per cent. doing regional Minister work,
and the remainder doing Employment Minister
work.
Mr.
Gray: I know the Minister well enough to know how diligent
he is. In so far as North Wiltshire is part of this region—I
find some difficulty imagining how it can possibly be so—and
given that North Wiltshire is perfectly well represented anyhow by a
perfectly good Member of Parliament, will the Minister lay out what he
has done to help the people there in his role as regional
Minister?
Jim
Knight: I will not dwell on whether the hon. Gentleman is
a great Member of Parliament—his constituents and his
constituency association will make that judgment. I have already been
working hard to look at the effect of the recession on local
businesses. I have visited
Swindon— [Interruption.] I mention Swindon
in the context of the effect that it has on the economy of North
Wiltshire. I know the towns of Wootton Bassett, Malmesbury, Chippenham,
Corsham and Calne extremely well—I am aware that Calne has moved
into the Devizes constituency—and I know that that cluster
around the M4 actively feeds off the Swindon economy. I have looked at
the effect on that part of the region, where unemployment has risen
quite significantly, and looked at the assistance that we are giving to
that area— [Interruption.] I am reminded
that I should congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his marriage two weeks
ago.
Mr.
Cox: Will the Minister enumerate what decisions he has
taken since his appointment as Minister for the South West, how those
decisions have been implemented and what resources have been mustered
to achieve
them?
Jim
Knight: A lot of what I do as regional Minister is
brokering agreement and decisions among other forces in the region. I
have chaired two meetings of the regional economic task group since my
appointment. In the second meeting, we called in the heads of the major
banks from the region to discuss the support that they were giving to
business and whether that was sufficient, especially for small
businesses, given that more than 40 per cent. of our
constituents are employed in them.
We had a useful discussion and, as a result of the discussions that I
led, those banks gave good commitments to have a much closer
relationship with the Federation of Small Businesses and look after
those small businesses’ needs.
I have been
pleased to celebrate—and to influence—the
Government’s announcement that this region will be the first
low-carbon economic area. I have been very pleased to influence Lord
Adonis, the Secretary of State for Transport, to electrify the main
line out of Paddington to Swansea, which serves a number of our
constituents in the north of the region.
Anne
Snelgrove (South Swindon) (Lab): Will my right hon. Friend
confirm that when he visited Swindon, as he has done in his many guises
as an Employment Minister, a Schools Minister and a Rural Affairs
Minister, he has met many people from outside Swindon? Swindon is
indeed the engine of the area, with the highest gross domestic product
per head in the south-west, and it keeps the wonderful villages in the
constituency of the hon. Member for North Wiltshire going, as it does
those in south
Gloucestershire.
Jim
Knight: Certainly, I have met many people from outside
Swindon and I continue to do so. I take very seriously the strategic
role that Swindon plays in the economy of North Wiltshire and, indeed,
south
Gloucestershire. A3036.
Mr.
David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD): What
discussions he has had with the Department for Transport on the role of
future improvements to the A303 in the development of regional
transport priorities in the south-west; and if he will make a
statement.
[290611] Jim
Knight: My predecessor signed off the region’s
funding advice, which sets out its priorities for investment for the
period 2009-19 and beyond. The advice identifies £110 million
for localised improvements to the A303, to be determined through a
study undertaken by the Highways Agency, and the Government accepted
the region’s funding advice on 21 July
2009.
Mr.
Heath: There was a time when the A303 was universally
recognised as the second strategic route to the south-west, but we then
had the so-called south-west regional spatial strategy, which rather
preposterously downgraded it, and we are still waiting for firm plans
for improvements. I have been waiting for a safety improvement between
Sparkford and Illchester that was agreed in 1996, and even a modest
scheme to provide a low-noise surface in the Wincanton area, which was
promised in 2004, is still not in place. Why is the region expected to
accept a wholly substandard strategic route to the south-west
peninsula?
Jim
Knight: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that significant
problems exist around Stonehenge and the improvements to the A303
there. That is one of the most significant reasons why it is difficult
for us to proceed with dualling the whole route in the way that one
would want for a strategic route. I of course recognise
the importance of the A303, having lived near it over a number of years,
although not on it, the hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear. The
regional funding agreement identified £110 million for
improvements to the A303, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will
use his influence with local government—south-west councils have
great influence on the regional funding allocation—and raise the
issue in forums such as this to ensure that the improvements that he
wants in his constituency are part of the work carried out using that
£110 million.
Mr.
Robert Walter (North Dorset) (Con): The Minister will be
aware that my constituents will suffer absolute misery for several
months this winter when large sections of the A303 are closed. There
will be overnight closures and then a total closure for five weeks,
when traffic will be diverted through Shaftesbury and Gillingham,
coming on top of all the other local traffic. The question that my
constituents want answered is when we will get the long-term dual
carriageway improvements that have been promised for so many years. The
Minister referred to the “region’s funding
advice”, but which region is giving that advice? Who are the
people involved? When will the Minister give us the money to upgrade
the road, which is essential to the
south-west?
Jim
Knight: There is a tension when we campaign for
improvements to transport infrastructure: when we get some of those
improvements, we worry about the closures that are necessary to deliver
them. The regional funding advice is put together between the
south-west councils, which I met in this very chamber. They are chaired
by the leader of Dorset county council, whom I am sure that the hon.
Gentleman will be able to influence, given that they are in the same
party. The Government office for the south-west and the South West of
England Regional Development Agency also have a role in agreeing the
regional funding advice that is submitted to the Department for
Transport.
Mr.
David Laws (Yeovil) (LD): Getting rid of a few potholes
and resurfacing do not constitute a fundamental improvement to the
road, as the Minister must know. Will he confirm that only a few years
ago the cost of the planned improvements to the A303 and the A358 up to
the M5 junction was more than £1 billion, with more than
£250 million for the planned A358 improvements alone? Can we
assume from the statement that he made a moment ago in response to the
question from my hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome that
something like 85 to 90 per cent. of that budget has now disappeared?
If he cannot confirm those figures today, will he write to us to give
the latest budget allocation for those two roads over the planning
period for both national and regional
government?
Jim
Knight: The hon. Gentleman will know that decisions on
funding for such roads are made within the region, and it is up to the
region to decide on its priorities. Accountability is delivered through
local councillors and south-west council leaders in respect of those
decisions. If the A303 were a motorway, it would clearly be the
responsibility of the Highways Agency and would compete for funding in
that context. Future funding allocations will be the subject of heated
political debate as we look to the future and at the priorities for
funding. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will engage with that as he
tries to secure the billions of pounds for the A303 that he was talking
about. Swindon-Kemble
Railway
Line7.
Mr.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con):
What discussions he has had with the Department for
Transport on support for the completion of the redoubling of the
Swindon to Kemble railway line.
[290612] Jim
Knight: I am happy to have discussions with the Department
for Transport about the scheme, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary
of State for Transport has previously written to regional partners to
outline his strong support for it. We recognise the value that extra
capacity and improved train performance could create for the
region.
Mr.
Clifton-Brown: While I welcome the Minister’s warm
words of welcome support for the scheme, considering his knowledge of
Swindon, I ask him to pay special attention to it. The scheme is vital
to the region because it is the gateway from the south-west to
Cheltenham, the midlands and beyond. It is a comparatively low-cost
scheme. The Government have recently committed £900,000 towards
a feasibility study, which will be a complete waste of money if the
scheme does not come to pass.
A more
important imperative to which the Minister needs to devote his
attention is the fact that Network Rail is improving the Cotswold line
and has the engineers and the capability to carry out the scheme, but
if the scheme is not introduced when Network Rail finishes the Cotswold
line in 2011, all that engineering capability will be diverted to
larger schemes, such as Crossrail and improvement of the stations at
Reading. The Kemble to Swindon scheme would therefore be unlikely to go
ahead in the next 10 years. The scheme is important to the south-west
and is relatively low cost in relation to the benefits it would bring.
The Minister cannot shuffle the matter off this morning and say that it
is the region’s responsibility, because the regional transport
budget has recently been slashed by the Government. If the scheme is to
take place, it has to happen as a result of central Government diktat.
What will the Minister do to
help?
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