Tag: William Wragg

  • William Wragg – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    William Wragg – 2023 Speech on the Budget

    The speech made by William Wragg, the Conservative MP for Hazel Grove, in the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

    On the earlier theme, it is important that I declare that I do not have a science degree, but it would impress the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), to know that my degree, being as it is, does indeed come from the University of Manchester.

    I put in to speak in the debate less on the allocated subject matter and more in the forlorn belief that the best time to speak in a Budget debate is after a set of Sunday newspapers, because they often allow the detail to percolate through. To the credit of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, very little seems to have come up in them to trip him up.

    We have had all sorts of talk this afternoon of macroeconomic forces, my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) spoke of banking crises across the world, and we have heard a great deal about artificial intelligence—presuming that is what “AI” stands for—but, in the age-old Back-Bench tradition, I want to talk about very parochial matters.

    I know that the House will have noted with great enthusiasm and interest, on page 72 of the magnificent Budget document, the announcement of a new community hub in Stockport—the Marple leisure hub. There was some bashfulness at the talk of swimming pools during the speech by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I am not fussed about swimming pools in Richmond, Yorkshire, or indeed about general donations from the Treasury to keep the pool temperature in different leisure centres toasty warm; what I am concerned about is the success—finally—in securing the Marple leisure hub.

    The hub will be a magnificent boost for Marple and surrounding districts in my constituency. It will deliver a gym, a fitness studio, a new library, a community space and a five-lane swimming pool. When I saw the artist’s plan at an earlier stage, I noted that there were only four lanes, but we have achieved five—a massive 25% productivity increase, delivered overnight by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I am absolutely enthused. The artist’s impression even has an inflatable flamingo. What could go wrong?

    In all seriousness, I am very pleased that that levelling-up bid was successful for my constituency. I should pay credit—those on the Opposition Benches may enjoy this—to the then Labour minority-led Stockport Council, which agreed with me that that was the right bid for the Hazel Grove constituency. It will not surprise the House—I cannot spot any Liberal Democrats in the Chamber—that a few more have claimed credit for it who had, it is fair to say, very little to do with it. I will tone down my language for the sake of Hansard, but success has many parents and failure has fewer—let us put it that way.

    I have been quite cheerful so far—those on the Treasury Bench must think, “What on earth has happened?”—but in the time remaining to me I will speak briefly about something else that lurks in the Budget document: Greater Manchester devolution. I am a contrarian. I can see many colleagues from Greater Manchester on the Opposition Benches. They must rejoice when the Mayor is given further powers and the ability to exercise them—

    Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)

    Hallelujah!

    Mr Wragg

    Indeed, indeed. Whether he exercises them wisely is a matter for debate—I think even some Opposition Members would concede that point.

    All I ask is that the Government pay attention to those of us who have the great honour to represent parts of Greater Manchester. Having been to a so-called briefing meeting with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up and whatever else it is called these days, I was somewhat perturbed and worried that I was, in the words of his WhatsApp message to the former Health Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matt Hancock), simply in a therapy session, whereby our concerns would be heard but no action would be forthcoming.

    In the spirit of cheerfulness, I simply say to the Government that if I and my colleagues from Greater Manchester are simply to be subjected to therapy sessions, then I shall make sure that I turn up at Delegated Legislation Committees in the same cheerful vein to argue against aspects of this so-called deal. I urge the Government to pay attention to Greater Manchester Conservative MPs—indeed, to any Member of Parliament from Greater Manchester—when they bring forward this tranche of powers that have no legitimacy and very little demand.

  • William Wragg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    William Wragg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2015-11-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the level of provision of eye clinic liaison officers is in eye clinics and hospitals in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Hazel Grove constituency.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not collected centrally.

    Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to maximise engagement of children and young people in the arts.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Culture White Paper published last month makes clear that this Government is committed to ensuring that the arts should be an essential part of every child’s education both in and out of school. This includes working with the Department for Education on a range of music and cultural education programmes since 2012, supporting the Arts Council’s Cultural Education Challenge to create a network of cultural education partnerships and a new Cultural Citizens programme which will be piloted in three areas to support the engagement of disadvantaged young people with arts and culture in their local community.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of adult social care in the Stockport local authority area.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is providing a package of support – worth up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019-20 – to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents. This includes an extra £1.5 billion through the improved Better Care Fund, which will continue to bring together funding and services across health and social care to support the provision of integrated care for older and vulnerable people. Councils will also have the additional freedom to introduce a social care precept onto council tax bills, which will raise up to £2 billion. This year alone, Stockport will raise an additional £2,534,000 through the social care precept and receive £21,276,000 through the Better Care Fund.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will place in the Library copies of all letters, leaflets and other material from her Department circulated to (a) stakeholders and (b) members of the public on the EU referendum; what the costs of the production and distribution of that material has been since 1 January 2016; and what she estimates the cost of any further production and distribution of such material will be between 6 May 2016 and 23 June 2016.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Copies of the Government’s published documents on the Referendum are available in the Libraries of both Houses. It is not normal practice to publish letters to members of the public and stakeholders. Costs relating to the Referendum will be accounted for in the usual way in Annual Report and Accounts.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pilot areas his Department plans for the HPV vaccination for men who have sex with men; where his Department plans for those pilots to take place; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    It is estimated that up to 40,000 men who have sex with men (MSM) who attend genitourinary medicine (GUM) and HIV clinics will be offered the human papillomavirus vaccination.

    There has been a positive response from those invited to participate, and confidence that the pilot will include a good geographical spread of providers, including those with the highest populations of MSM, as well as in rural areas with smaller MSM populations. Public Health England is currently completing the selection of the GUM and HIV clinics that will take part in the pilot.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-07-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Terrence Higgins Trust’s report Shh.No Talking, published in July 2016, what steps she is taking to ensure that sufficient resources are given to local authorities and schools to ensure that sex and relationships education lessons are properly resourced and teachers are trained.

    Edward Timpson

    High quality sex and relationship education is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain. It should also help young people to make informed choices, stay safe and learn to respect themselves and others.

    Our statutory Sex and Relationship Guidance is clear that young people, whatever their developing sexuality or identity, should feel that sex and relationship education is relevant to them and sensitive to their needs.

    Sex and relationship education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and many primary schools also teach it in an age appropriate manner. Decisions relating to resources and teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they best know the needs of their staff and pupils.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-01-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that small and micro-employers are able to comply with automatic enrolment for workplace pensions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    5.81 million people have already been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by 78,789 employers

    We are focused on making compliance with automatic enrolment duties as straightforward as possible –especially for small and micro employers, to continue to build on this success.

    As part of this, the Pensions Regulator has launched a new, simplified and much shorter ‘Step by Step’ guide on their website. This interactive Step by Step guide will help employers easily find out what they will need to do to comply by way of an easier to navigate, personalised journey. The number of steps an employer now has to take has reduced from 11 to just 5. This is designed to meet the specific needs of smaller employers who may well not have pensions experience, including those with just one or two staff. In addition, The Regulator provides online content for business advisers who play an important role in supporting smaller employers to meet their legal duties.

    The Regulator has simplified and tailored all letters and guides to ensure that their guidance is easy for small employers to follow; and is working with the key providers in the automatic enrolment market to ensure that employers are offered a consistent automatic enrolment journey.

    The Regulator’s website also provides guidance on what to consider when choosing a scheme and includes the list of independently audited, high quality ‘master trusts’ pension schemes. This will make scheme choice (one of the biggest challenges for small employers) easier.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for the Middle East peace process.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain focused on steps which will secure progress towards a two-state solution. We continue to believe that the best way to achieve this is through negotiations. We are in close consultation with international partners about what kind of renewed process might lead to progress.

  • William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    William Wragg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish details of all the correspondence between his Department and the Britain Stronger in Europe Campaign since 1 September 2015.

    Mr David Lidington

    A search for any such correspondence since 1 September 2015 could only take place at disproportionate cost. The Cabinet Secretary issued clear guidance on 23 February that civil servants should not work directly with or for the campaign groups.