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PRESS RELEASE : Government sets out strategy to protect NHS from cyber attacks [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 22 March 2023.

The government will provide a plan to promote cyber resilience across the health and care sectors by 2030, protecting both services and patients.
- New strategy sets out five key ways to build cyber resilience in health and care by 2030
- Cyber strategy will protect health and adult social care functions and services, which the whole nation depends on
- Part of government’s commitment to build a stronger, more sustainable NHS for the future
Patients will benefit from bolstered protection to the nation’s health and adult social care services as a new cyber security strategy for England is published today.

The Cyber Security Strategy for Health and Adult Social Care sets out a plan to promote cyber resilience across the sector by 2030, protecting services and the patients they support.

This will ensure services are better protected from cyber threats, further securing sensitive information and ensuring patients can continue accessing care safely as the NHS continues to cut waiting lists.

Technology is transforming how people access health and care services and information. Over 40 million people now have an NHS login, helping them book appointments, track referrals, and order medications online. Over 50% of social care providers now use a digital social care record, helping staff share vital information about the people they care for. As digital systems are adopted to improve health and care services for people across the country, it is vital the health and care sector has the tools it needs to better protect patients’ information.

This new strategy will ensure health and adult social care organisations across England are set up to meet the challenges of the future – from identifying areas in the sector which are most vulnerable, to better utilising resources and expertise across the country to defend against cyber attacks.

Health Minister Lord Markham said:

We’re harnessing the power of technology to deliver better, safer care to people across the country – but at the same time it’s crucial we’re also bolstering the defences of our health and care services.

This new strategy will be instrumental to ensure every organisation in health and adult social care is set up to meet the challenges of the future.

This is an important step to ensure we’re building an NHS which is sustainable and fit for the future, with patients at the centre.

The health and social care sector has made good progress in recent years, by using the increasing number of cyber defence and response tools it has at its disposal. The sector is now much better protected from attacks than it was at the time of the WannaCry cyber attack in 2017.

NHS Trusts now benefit from a direct link to NHS England’s Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC), providing real time protection of any suspicious activity to approximately 1.7 million devices across the NHS network. Around 21 million malicious emails are also blocked every month.

The vision includes five key pillars to minimise the risk of cyber attacks and other cyber security issues, and to improve response and recovery following any incidents across health and social care systems including for adult social care, primary and secondary care. This includes:
- Identifying the areas of the sector where disruption would cause the greatest harm to patients, such as through sensitive information being leaked or critical services being unable to function.
- Uniting the sector so it can take advantage of its scale and benefit from national resources and expertise, enabling faster responses and minimising disruption.
- Building on the current culture to ensure leaders are engaged and the cyber workforce is grown and recognised, and relevant cyber basics training is offered to the general workforce.
- Embedding security into the framework of emerging technology to better protect it against cyber threat.
- Supporting every health and care organisation to minimise the impact and recovery time of a cyber incident.
A full implementation plan will be published in Summer 2023 setting out detailed activities and defining metrics to build and measure resilience over the next two to three years.

National cyber security teams will also work closely with local and regional health and care organisations to achieve the visions and aims of the strategy. This work will include enhancing the NHS England Cyber Security Operations Centre, publishing a comprehensive and data-led landscape review of cyber security in adult social care, and updating the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to empower organisations to own their cyber risk.
22/03/2023
Wayne David – 2023 Speech on the Budget

The speech made by Wayne David, the Labour MP for Caerphilly, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

I think it is fair to say that there are few surprises in the Budget. Many of the announcements were expected, and quite a few of them were borrowed from the Labour party, but a significant rabbit was pulled out of the hat—and it was a really big one. It was announced that there will be a £1 billion tax cut for the richest 1% through changes to tax allowances. Someone with a £2 million pension pot will now get a tax cut of more than a quarter of a million pounds when they take their tax-free lump sum. Moreover, there will be no limit on how much the rich can put into their pension pots tax-free. That is not all: they will be able to pass that on to their heirs tax-free through the creation of a local inheritance law.

I am told that a competition is now under way in my Caerphilly constituency to find out whether anyone at all will benefit from those tax allowance changes. The odds are that not one single individual there will. The justification for that generous tax cut is that it will encourage people into work. Frankly, it is unlikely that that will happen judging by the reaction from a large number of commentators. As has already been said in the debate, if the measure is aimed specifically at doctors, why not have a proposal that is tailor-made for them?

If the Government really want to get people into work, I urge them to tackle economic inactivity effectively. Figures in the 2021 census indicated that of the 10 local authority areas in Wales and England with the highest levels of economic inactivity, five were in the south Wales valleys—because individuals are sick or disabled. Blaenau Gwent has the highest proportion—36.1%—of working-age residents who are economically inactive. Then, there is Merthyr Tydfil and the Caerphilly County Borough Council area, where the figure stands at 34%. The legacy of coalmining and heavy industry generally has much to answer for, but it is fair to say that in those areas there is a chronic lack of well-paid jobs and chronic ill health. The responsibility for that situation lies squarely with central Government.

Unfortunately, the measures in the Budget will do little, if anything at all, to tackle those issues. What they will do is make the rich richer and reinforce the trends that we have seen over the last 13 years. It is worth pointing out, though, that, if anything, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing. There were 147 billionaires in this country in 2020, for example; now, there are 177. At the same time, as the OBR has confirmed, there has been a huge fall in living standards over the last two years—the worst figures since comparable records began.

The crisis in living standards has had a hugely negative impact on my constituents. Like so many people across the country, my constituents are facing huge levels of inflation, as well as significant increases in their energy bills. The real hardship is manifested in a host of different ways, but I will cite just one for the moment: food banks.

Citizens Advice has recorded that between April and September 2020, 23,905 emergency food parcels were distributed in south-east Wales alone, which includes my Caerphilly constituency, and that 34% of those who accessed Citizens Advice and requested a food bank parcel were in work but facing real financial difficulties. This is in-work poverty. Unfortunately, the Government are doing little about it.

My local authority, Caerphilly County Borough Council, through its “Newsline”, is giving clear advice to people on how to claim the benefits they are entitled to and how to relieve the suffering they are going through. For many people, this Budget offers little at all, if anything. My conclusion is unavoidable and straightforward: we need a Labour Government who put people first, and we need that Government as soon as humanly possible.

22/03/2023
David Davis – 2023 Speech on the Budget

The speech made by David Davis, the Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Like two of the previous speakers, I am also a science graduate, although I do not compare myself with the Conservative party’s most famous science graduate. I had intended to make my speech essentially about science and technology, because they are massively important and, as the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) pointed out, we have fantastic competitive advantages in those fields. That will be a major part of growth.

Since last Tuesday, however, dramatic events have unfolded in the banking sector—particularly over the weekend. Back in 2009-10, the then Chair of the Treasury Committee, Lord McFall, asked me to chair the Future of Banking Commission. The last week has, unfortunately, brought back some memories. One of the characteristic problems of the banking sector is its short memory, particularly when it is Wall Street that we are talking about. I hope that the House will indulge me if I remind it of the lessons of the major banking crashes of the past half century.

Back in 1933, after the great depression, the Americans passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated banks out into risky investment banks and straightforward commercial banks. That gave us about seven decades of stability until 1999, when President Clinton—under pressure from unwise and greedy Wall Street lobbyists—essentially removed Glass-Steagall. What followed was the collapse of several banks, including Lehman Brothers—probably precipitated by the new mark-to-market rules—in the great crisis that we saw in 2008.

In 2009, because of the crash, America passed Dodd-Frank, which required banks with more than $50 billion in assets to be subject to tight regulation. Again, under pressure from Wall Street, President Trump relaxed those regulations in 2019. I talk about Wall Street, but the whole world followed. Of course, after that relaxation, banks assumed that they had an infinite period of low interest rates and that they could borrow ad nauseam. When global interest rates sharply increased by three, four or five times, the shock destabilised a number of those banks. One such bank was Silicon Valley Bank, which had been taken out of regulation by the Trump changes.

There is a lesson for us in all that. It has caused an instability in the financial system. Chancellors, central bank governors, financial secretaries in the States and regulators have no chance but to claim that the system is robust. I am not so sure. We will not know for a while whether it is actually robust, because of the complexity of the system. Of the three major banks that have failed so far, each has failed for different reasons, and we have no clear insight into what risks other banks have taken, partly because of the deregulation under Trump and his predecessors. In that respect, we in this country are probably in a better place than either the Americans or the Europeans, but I am keeping my fingers crossed as I say that so as not to tempt fate.

There is one lesson that we should learn. A big issue on which the world is hanging at the moment is whether the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS is a success. I draw people’s minds back to Lloyds taking over HBOS, which was done under pressure from the Government of the day—from Gordon Brown—and Lloyds itself nearly collapsing the very next year. I hope that UBS will not do the same. The point of this story is that we are in a period of extraordinary global financial instability.

I am a low-tax Tory—I would have loved the Chancellor to have had a lower-tax strategy—but I have to say that the events of the past week have demonstrated that a very small-c conservative strategy is wise under these circumstances. The more confident the markets in the Government, the better our prospects for the future. That said, I would be completely unsurprised if we had to have another Budget in the autumn owing to the nature of the transitions and changes that are now happening.

If that happens, I would ask the Chancellor, “Could you please look again at bringing back your super-deduction?” That will attract investment here in a way that will not happen with the 25% rate. I would ask, “Will you look at doing away with IR35 and at other concerns that will improve prospects for small businesses?” In my view, it will be incredibly difficult for the banks to get right the balance between inflation and growth now that their hands are tied by the instability of the banking sector. My one line to the Chancellor is this: please look, for the next Budget, at much more growth.

22/03/2023
Shabana Mahmood – 2023 Speech on the Budget

The speech made by Shabana Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate today, but, while I do not wish to be unkind, it was a little less of a pleasure to listen to the Secretary of State open the debate. I notice that she is leaving the Chamber. Listening to her assertions about economic growth and the record of this Government, I had to wonder what planet she was on.

The reality is that, despite the assertions made from the Dispatch Box by the Secretary of State today and the Chancellor last week, the OBR has downgraded the UK’s long-term growth forecasts, with downgrades in all of the last three years of the forecast period. The OECD has confirmed that we will be the weakest economy in the G7 this year, no other G20 economy other than Russia is forecast to shrink this year, and our economy is still smaller than it was prior to the pandemic.

All that has a huge impact on the finances of families in Birmingham, Ladywood and all over the country. The hit to living standards over the past two years is the largest since comparable records began. Wages are lower in real terms than 13 years ago and real weekly wages are expected to remain below their 2008 levels until at least 2026. I believe that a little more humility was needed at the Dispatch Box today, because the measures taken by this Government over the past 13 years—in particular since the so-called kamikaze Budget last November—have car-crashed the finances of families and households all over our country, with no end in sight.

Given how deeply the cost of living crisis is hitting families all over our country and given the headline rates of economic growth, it is shocking that the only permanent tax cut the Government announced was the £1 billion tax cut for the richest 1% of earners. The pension changes announced by the Chancellor last week mean that for higher earners with a pension pot of £2 million, that tax cut is worth almost £250,000.

That measure is supposed to be about getting people back to work—older doctors in particular. Labour agrees that targeted measures are needed to deal with the NHS crisis and to make sure that doctors are not leaving the profession in the numbers they currently are, but the way the Government have gone about making these changes will cost them £70,000 for every single person returning to the labour market—and that is if the Government even manage to hit the number of people they say will return to the labour market as a result. There have been warnings, including from a former Pensions Minister in the coalition Government, that some people will retire early as a result of those measures, so in fact some people will now leave the labour market who were not originally planning on it.

Labour’s priority would have been to take targeted measures to help doctors, given the acute crisis in the NHS labour market, not the golden

“sledgehammer to crack a very small nut”,

as the IFS calls it, announced by this Government. It is the wrong priority at the wrong time.

The burden of tax must be shared fairly; making a permanent tax change that benefits the 1% with the biggest pension pots is unfair and wrong and, in government, we will reverse it. I also wonder why the Government are still leaving more than £10 billion on the table with the windfall tax. If they closed down the holes and had a proper windfall tax, we could bring in billions of pounds more, which could help ordinary families if that money was put towards easing the pressure of the cost of living crisis.

We heard a lot about the people’s priorities from the Dispatch Box today. The people’s priorities are easing the cost of living crisis and measures that pay for that easing by asking those with the broadest shoulders to pay more and those profiting from the war in Ukraine to give that money back to the taxpayer so that we can help families in our countries. That is what was needed and that is what the Government have singularly failed to deliver.

If I may say something about the west midlands, I noted with interest the trailblazer devolution deals announced for both the Greater Manchester area and the West Midlands Combined Authority. That particular deal is welcome, although I worry about the very asymmetric way the Government have approached devolution in our country. We need a nationwide approach to an economic devolution settlement that has some coherence to it, not a “Hunger Games”-style system where areas fight it out over relatively small pots of money, while other areas that are already a little further ahead get more powers and more money. While the deal is welcome to west midlands MPs such as myself, I do not think it is an approach that helps people all over our country.

While I very much hope that both that deal and the levelling-up zone in the East Birmingham-North Solihull corridor are a success, they must ultimately be judged by whether they turn around the deep-scarring problem of high unemployment in Birmingham, which in the last decade or so has shown no signs of coming down. My constituency has the highest rate of unemployment in the country; Birmingham, Perry Barr is second, Birmingham, Hodge Hill is third, Birmingham, Erdington is fourth, Birmingham, Hall Green is sixth, Birmingham, Yardley is ninth and Birmingham, Northfield is 13th. The trailblazer deal, with all the powers within it and the greater financial devolution it entails, has to result in a step change. It must be a game changer on unemployment rates across Birmingham and the wider west midlands area if it is to be judged a success.

22/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : British High Commission expands to support Bahamian exports [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 March 2023.

A new partnership to increase exports of Bahamian-produced alcohol to the UK.

The British High Commission is pleased to have secured the services of Steve Boon, President of Wine and Spirts Guys https://www.winespiritguys.com, to support The Bahamas ambition to increase exports of Bahamian-produced alcohol to the UK.

Steve Boon, from New Providence, is a member of the UK’s The Worshipful Company of Distillers (the Spirits Guild) and is the youngest Bahamian to have qualified as a wine and spirit lecturer with WSET (at the age of 21). With 40 years in the wine and spirit sector, both locally and internationally, Steve Boon will use his trade knowledge, business acumen, and contacts throughout the world, to support Bahamian exporters wanting to access the UK market.

The UK and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, BCCEC, have also partnered to host an exporters’ web-seminar, on 29th March. As well as Steve Boon’s direct support, this seminar aims to educate Bahamian producers of spirits on the UK’s positive import rules and tariffs.

The British High Commissioner, Thomas Hartley, said:

I am very pleased to have secured Steve’s services. The Bahamas’ Trade Commissioner has asked for the UK’s help in opening up UK markets to Bahamian exports, and Steve’s unrivalled experience and network is a significant first step in bringing the two markets closer together.

I’ve reserved a bottle of John Watlings rum I was gifted, and will only open it when we celebrate seeing it for sale in British shops. I’m also looking forward to promoting London gin, Sottish whisky, and world-leading English sparkling wines at The Bahamas Food and Wine Festival this autumn, as well as a few others surprises this year.

Steve Boon said:

I am absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to be working with the British High commission, promoting Bahamian alcohol brands to the UK market. With such a diverse range of quality products, I don´t think it will be long before Tom is opening his bottle of John Watlings rum!

22/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Foreign Secretary meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 March 2023.

The Foreign Secretary met Israel’s Foreign Minister in London today to sign the 2030 Roadmap for Israel-UK Bilateral Relations. The 2030 Roadmap will deepen cooperation across tech, research and development, security and cyber.

In the year of Israel’s 75th anniversary, the Foreign Secretary welcomed the flourishing bilateral relationship between the UK and Israel. New multi-million-pound programmes announced in the Roadmap, including around £20m of joint funding commitments on technology and innovation, will enable both countries to remain at the forefront of the technological revolution.

Noting the need to de-escalate tensions in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Foreign Ministers agreed on the importance of upholding the historic Status Quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem.

The Foreign Ministers also discussed key regional issues of mutual concern, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. As Ukrainians enter their second year living under relentless and full-scale Russian bombardment, the Foreign Secretary stressed the importance of accelerating efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace.

On Iran, the Foreign Ministers discussed deepening our security and defence co-operation to counter the threat posed by the regime.

21/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Foreign Secretary meets with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 March 2023.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, and Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, met today (21 March 2023) in London. The Ministers reiterated their shared commitment to work intensively to conclude UK-EU negotiations in respect of Gibraltar as soon as possible. A treaty would provide certainty for those living and working in Gibraltar and in neighbouring communities, and secure future prosperity for the whole region.

The Foreign Secretary said:

The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar remains as strong as ever. We continue to work side-by-side to conclude an EU treaty as soon as possible.

Throughout the negotiations we have presented proposals that maintain the careful balance of the December 2020 Political Framework and could unleash economic growth for everyone in the region.

As the UK and EU continue to exchange proposals and work constructively towards an agreement, the Ministers recalled the need to respect the balance achieved by the December 2020 Political Framework.

The Ministers, while committed to the successful conclusion of negotiations, agreed to continue preparations to ensure robust plans are in place for all eventualities, including a no-negotiated outcome.

The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed that the UK remains steadfast in its support for Gibraltar and will not agree to anything that compromises UK sovereignty.

21/03/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Trailblazing devolution deal signed giving Greater Manchester more control over transport, skills and housing [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 21 March 2023.

The Levelling Up Secretary and Mayor Andy Burnham have signed a landmark deeper devolution deal for Greater Manchester putting more cash and power in the hands of local leaders.
- Deal includes regeneration and levelling up package and more local control over transport, regeneration, skills and culture
- Greater Manchester to take control of local spending with new funding settlement alongside local retention of business rates
- Shift of powers and funding from Whitehall to an English region takes devolution to new level
Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, along with the ten local council Leaders, have today (21 March) signed a landmark deeper devolution deal for Greater Manchester, marking a seismic shift in power, funding and responsibility from Whitehall to the region.

The deal puts more cash and power in the hands of local leaders to invest in the priorities that local communities truly care about, such as better bus and train services, skills and housing.

A new long-term funding settlement will enable the Mayor and the Combined Authority to plan for the long term, with certainty, and unlock tangible benefits for almost 3 million people living in the area.

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison said:

I’m proud to have agreed a historic and trailblazing new devolution deal with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, providing the Mayor with more powers, money and an even greater say on how this iconic region is run.

This is the very essence of devolution – leaders taking decisions and being accountable to the communities they serve.

Covering everything from Bee Network buses to affordable home building, this deal will give leaders the opportunity to deliver economic growth, better services and high quality jobs for people in Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said:

I’m really pleased to welcome Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison to Greater Manchester to sign what is the seventh devolution deal for our city-region – but this is by some way the deepest. This Deal takes devolution in the city-region further and faster than ever before, giving us more ability to improve the lives of people who live and work here.

I have always been a passionate believer in the power of devolution, and I’ve been in the privileged position of being able to exercise those powers and make a positive difference to people’s lives.

We’ve worked hard to secure this Deal and have achieved a significant breakthrough by gaining greater control over post-16 technical education, setting us firmly on the path to become the UK’s first technical education city-region; new levers and responsibilities to achieve fully integrated public transport including rail through the Bee Network by 2030; new responsibilities over housing that will allow us to crack down on rogue landlords and control over £150m brownfield funding; and a single block grant that will allow us to go further and faster in growing our economy, reducing inequalities and providing opportunities for all.

With more power comes the need for great accountability and I welcome the strengthened arrangements announced in the Deal.

We will continue to engage with government moving forward on other areas we’d like to see more local control over in the future which will help us to continue to improve life for people in Greater Manchester and those visiting. For now, our focus will be on getting ready to take on the new powers and be held to account on the decisions we will be making on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester. The signing of this deal marks a new era for English devolution.

The deal confirmed today deepens existing powers which have already delivered significant wins for the region. New measures include:
- A new long-term funding settlement, including the right to retain 100% of business rates for 10 years and 25-year business rate retention in designated growth zones.
- A wide-ranging partnership with Homes England, with a commitment to work towards investing £400m in Greater Manchester by 2026.
- Further support for regeneration and infrastructure with £150m of brownfield funding, £3.9 million to eliminate the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families in Greater Manchester and £10 million to support levelling up and growth priorities for Greater Manchester.
- A new rail partnership with Great British Railways to support the delivery of the Bee Network by 2030.
- New ‘pay as you go’ ticketing pilots across the region and better integration of local stations.
- More oversight and control over adult skills funding and more responsibility over developing and delivering careers advice.
- Devolution of funding to retrofit buildings, to bring down energy bills for households across Greater Manchester.
- A new partnership with national arts and culture organisations to harness Greater Manchester’s globally renowned cultural strengths.
- Tools to support the roll-out of high-speed broadband across the region.
Alongside these powers, a new framework will ensure that decision-makers in areas with devolution deals are accountable to their residents and deliver value for money, with a clear ladder of intervention to respond to underperformance.

The milestone comes days after Greater Manchester was announced as one of 12 new Investment Zone areas backed with £80 million over five years including generous tax incentives to drive local growth.
21/03/2023
Tim Loughton – 2023 Speech on the Budget

The speech made by Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

I support the Budget. More importantly, the markets seem to support it as well. Stability and balance are the hallmarks of what the Chancellor has achieved, and I congratulate him on that.

Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden) (Con)

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Tim Loughton

If my right hon. Friend will forgive me, so many other people want to speak that it would be unfair if I took interventions.

With six minutes, and with a Budget containing so many measures, it is difficult to know what to speak about, but I want to speak briefly about children, the environment and booze—not necessarily at the same time. I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s opening remarks and her concentration on the importance of AI. Even though some of us may not fully understand all of its implications, it is absolutely where we need to grow our economy.

The £20 billion of investment in carbon capture is huge and vital. It is a vital component of our target to get to net zero. We cannot get everything not to release carbon, but we can have ways of mitigating emissions to bring us to our net zero target—hopefully sooner than 2050. It is slightly churlish of the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan), who spoke for the SNP, to say that if something is not in Scotland it does not really count. Climate change is no respecter of any border, let alone that between England and Scotland.

I absolutely welcome the Budget’s huge implications for investment in R&D, which is really important. I also absolutely welcome the freezing of fuel duty for the 13th year in a row, which will mean £200 to the average driver.

There are lots of little things in the Budget that will have a big impact, such as the help for swimming pools and leisure centres, which were hit badly during the pandemic and have now been hit by energy costs. That will be a lifeline and it will help the health of our constituents. The measure on energy prepayment meters was long overdue; it was absurd and immoral that those least able to pay should be penalised and pay that much more for using prepayment meters. Thirty million pounds has been allocated for additional veterans’ services, and there is £10 million to help with suicide prevention—a hidden illness that has a huge impact on many of our constituents and their families.

If I may talk briefly about children, I remain concerned —as I would, being a former children’s Minister—that all the emphasis has been on adult social care and not enough has been on children’s social care, where it is estimated there is still a shortfall of some £1.6 billion. We need to do something about that, because over 80% of our interventions on children in the care system and those coming into the care system are late interventions rather than preventive early interventions, which is a big change from what went on some years before.

We need to invest in our social worker workforce. This afternoon, I have been hosting the Social Worker of the Year awards, and some of the most remarkable social workers from around the country have been to Parliament to receive their awards. They are the fourth emergency service and we need much better workforce planning, as we do in the NHS, to make sure that we not only recruit more social workers, but keep them. It is a false economy not to be doing that.

I welcome the many good measures on children, particularly on children in care, but will the Chancellor consider what we can do to provide free bus travel for all care leavers aged between 18 and 25, for whom the cost of a bus fare to get to work or education is prohibitive? Will he also consider a national programme to allow care leavers to access a rent deposit as part of their benefits, since they find it harder than many to access accommodation?

On childcare, which was one of the most significant parts of the Budget, I absolutely support the measures that were announced. As Coram Family and Childcare puts it,

“the introduction of 30 hours childcare for children from 9 months old to three years old…will make a huge difference for families currently struggling with high costs”.

I welcome that, but there are question marks around sufficiency and shortages in the childcare available; currently only half of local authorities have sufficient childcare for children aged under two and less than half have enough childcare for parents working full time. With these generous measures on childcare, there is more we need to do to make sure that people with the appropriate skills are there to provide it.

I welcome the wraparound childcare available through schools from 8 am to 6 pm, which will make a real difference to parents’ ability to go to jobs and make a meaningful contribution. However, there is a problem in that only 25% of local authorities have enough after-school childcare for children aged five to 11 and the figure is even lower for those aged 12 to 14. Again, there are serious question marks about capacity, which I am sure the Chancellor will answer.

There is more I could say about children but, turning to the environment, insulating homes reduces energy waste and keeps people warmer, while lowering bills permanently. We need further public investment in insulating fuel-poor homes, and we need to create new tax incentives for owner-occupiers to do more to improve the energy efficiency of their homes—as is the case in other European countries, where it is reflected in council tax banding and other up-front fees.

Finally, on beer, the Chancellor’s measures to ensure that tax on draught beer sold in pubs does not increase are great and will save the sector around £70 million a year. However, the British Beer and Pub Association, which is already seeing its members hit by an energy crisis and the weight of debt build-up over years, says that there is a 10% increase in the duty on non-draught beers—60% of all beer sales. Can we aim for a level playing field for our beer and pub industry, which has been particularly hit during the energy crisis and the pandemic? What is in the Budget is really good, but we could do a little bit more.

21/03/2023
Carol Monaghan – 2023 Speech on the Budget

The speech made by Carol Monaghan, the SNP MP for Glasgow North West, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

I cannot remember ever speaking in a Budget debate dedicated entirely to science, so it is a real pleasure. Like the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), I have a science degree, although mine is of a different flavour, being in physics. It is nice to speak in this debate as the SNP spokesperson.

A flourishing research and development landscape will produce major economic benefits, so the focus on science should be a positive. The problem is that this Government are not creating an environment conducive to flourishing research and development. First and foremost, they have to convince those working in the sector that they are valued. They have to consider the push and pull factors for a career in science. The Secretary of State talked about financially stable families, but she has to recognise that the wages and job insecurity mean that many cannot afford to stay in the sector, so they leave for other occupations.

I will now digress a little. A number of years ago, I visited a hydroelectric museum in the Alps. It is more than 150 years since we started developing hydroelectric as a means of generating electricity. The museum had an interesting display that said hydroelectric power would have been developed to a far greater extent if not for the discovery of oil. We saw oil stifling innovation, particularly in renewable sources, 150 years ago, and now we have the nuclear revival.

Rather than investing properly in renewable technologies, this Government are happy to throw billions at what they consider to be an easy source of energy. Proper action on decarbonisation would mean revising grid connection charges that see Scottish renewable producers paying, on average, £7.36 per megawatt-hour to access the grid, whereas producers in England pay, on average, 49p per megawatt-hour. Worse still, producers in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg pay absolutely nothing. The Budget was an opportunity to address this inequality, to encourage greater energy innovation and, ultimately, to lower energy bills for my constituents and for constituents across the UK. Instead, we are repeating the mistakes of the past by taking the easy but expensive and environmentally unfriendly route.

Nuclear is environmentally unfriendly. The mining of uranium is a dirty process, as a lot of acid is used to extract it from rocks. There is then the storage of used fuel rods. For the Government to classify nuclear power as environmentally sustainable, with the same investment incentives as renewable energy, is a sinister attempt to pull the wool over the public’s eyes, and it shows a lack of real commitment to renewables.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on photonics and quantum, I am pleased to see a continued focus on quantum technologies. The creation of the quantum hubs in 2014, to which the Secretary of State referred, enabled the UK to place itself at the centre of this technology, and a number of Scottish universities—notably, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt—played a key role. But the sector requires sustained support and proper vision.

I was recently made aware of an ambitious proposal made by a group at Glasgow University, in collaboration with universities across the UK, to secure commercial leadership in the manufacturing of quantum hardware, which is crucial for its penetration into volume applications. A national institute for quantum integration would deliver nano-fabrication facilities for the integration of this hardware. The Secretary of State said, in her statement two weeks ago on the science and technology framework, that she will have

“a ruthlessly outcome-focused approach to this new Department.”—[Official Report, 7 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 182.]

I would love to hear her thoughts on a national institute for quantum integration absolutely focused on outcomes.

With quantum, as with other technologies that are critical to national security, the issue is rarely starting up; it is almost always scaling up. There does not seem to be much commitment at all to supporting the scaling up of small and medium-sized enterprises. To scale up, some companies will potentially need to move out, which means that some are looking to other places around the world in order to develop their technologies. Of course, we are still waiting for the semiconductor strategy, something that would support the development of quantum, photonics and the wider technology sectors. Perhaps the Secretary of State will prioritise that.

It was disappointing to hear, yet again, that investment in carbon capture and storage is not coming to the Scottish Acorn project. We need such clusters across the UK, in every part of it. The Acorn project is perfectly situated and the proposals are mature enough to merit Government funding; this should not be a phase 2, with something in the future, perhaps, if we are lucky.

Dr Evans

It was announced in the Budget that £20 billion would go towards carbon capture. Is that not substantial enough?

Carol Monaghan

That would be substantial if it were coming to Scotland, so when will we see action on the Scottish cluster?

The Chancellor also made a song and dance last week about R&D tax credits. That system has been grossly mismanaged and therefore abused in the past. I would like more detail on how the new system will provide more value for money for both taxpayers and genuine researchers. How will it be managed? What checks and balances will be taking place? We need to make sure, once again, that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

The ambitions of the Secretary of State, and indeed the Prime Minister, in science are laudable. However, they fail to mention the key issue: the people. That issue cannot be solved by cash alone. Supposed commitments to science clash entirely with this Government’s hostile environment on immigration, and the lack of progress on association to Horizon is having a huge impact. While the Secretary of State dithers about whether association represents value for money, researchers are leaving the UK for better opportunities abroad, where they can develop rich collaborations and enjoy freedom of movement.

In response to last week’s Budget, Sir Adrian Smith, president of the Royal Society, said:

“After a prolonged period of uncertainty, the Government urgently needs to deliver on its pledge to associate to Horizon Europe, and set out a longer-term, cross-party plan for science. This is vital to restore confidence among global research talent and investors that they should build their futures in the UK.”

Stephen Phipson, the head of Make UK, said that Horizon had

“always been one of those areas of the EU budget where the UK gets more out than it puts in”.

A number of other notable organisations in the UK —including the CBI, the British Heart Foundation, the Russell Group, the University Alliance and Cancer Research UK—and in EU R&D sectors have signed a joint statement to the UK Government, urging rapid progress on association to EU programmes, including Horizon Europe, Copernicus and Euratom.

However, there were worrying reports last week that the Prime Minister is unconvinced on Horizon, with the Financial Times reporting that “senior colleagues” said the Prime Minister was “sceptical” about the value of Horizon Europe and the cost of participation. Researchers need to know where the UK is headed. Is the dithering on Horizon a deliberate attempt to kick the can down the road? More than anything, Horizon is about people; there is no monetary replacement for this. So will this Government keep blaming the EU while projects and collaborations are lost?

However, there are areas where money is important and where I would have wanted to see action in the Budget. We heard from the Secretary of State about financially stable families. Let us assume that I am a quantum researcher from somewhere in the EU, I am at the top of my field and I have an invitation to join a team at one of the UK quantum hubs. I will, first, have to apply for my global talent visa, at a cost of £623, and that will also cost me £623 for my spouse and for each of my children. I have two children under 18, so my costs are now £2,492. I have to pay the annual health surcharge for myself, my spouse and my children, so that is £624 for myself and my spouse. There is great news, as children get a discount and so it is only £470 for each of them. We are now at £4,680 for me to come here under the global talent scheme, although that assumes that I have only two children—I know the Government like to pretend that people do not have any more than two children, but many of us do.

As an EU researcher, I have many options, so why would I put myself through the hassle of such an immigration regime? That is hardly how we attract the brightest and best. If the Government are serious about science, those fees have to be dropped. It would not be costly and it would have great benefits.

Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)

My hon. Friend is making excellent points about the cost involved in people coming to our city to work and share their talents. Is she as concerned as I am about stories from constituents of mine who have been here already and have been asked to take on a job with a promotion, but who have almost lost that opportunity because of Home Office delays?

Carol Monaghan

I do share those concerns. I have heard stories about individuals who were invited here and who were hoping to come, but the delays meant that that opportunity was lost. These people have been asked to come to the UK because of their particular skills. We are losing talent time and again.

While we are at it, international students seem to be a target again. The return of the post-study work visa took a lot of effort on the part of Members—from both sides of the House, it has to be said—but there is now news that the Home Secretary is talking about cutting it again. Many people who work in science first came here as international students and on the promise of a post-study work visa. There must be no change to the current system.

A commitment to research and development means a commitment to people, to international collaboration and to developing an immigration environment that supports companies, research groups and individuals to contribute. Ultimately, if that cannot happen in the UK, the powers should be given to Scotland. We will develop an immigration system that works for our science sector.

21/03/2023