Budget Statement (Leeds) (Hansard, 8 February 1996)

§ 3. Mr. Battle
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the impact of his 1995 Budget statement on Leeds. [12674]

§ The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Mrs. Angela Knight)
My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor has received a number of representations since he made his Budget statement in November from all parts of the country, welcoming the measures in the Budget.

§ Mr. Battle
Ministers may be content to reel off average figures, but is the Economic Secretary aware that the pay rates of thousands of workers in Leeds are still the lowest in the country? Some of my constituents earn well below £2.50 an hour and they have been hit hard by Tory tax rises for years. Is it not the case that it is not only the unemployed who are paying a high price for the Government's economic policies but thousands of people in work who are seeing their living standards fall?

§ Mrs. Knight
The hon. Gentleman may care to learn that a family on average earnings is expected to be £4,500, or 40 per cent., better off next year than in 1978–79. When Labour was in power, real take-home pay grew not by 40 per cent. or 30 per cent., but by a miserly 1 per cent. Unemployment has fallen in Leeds in his constituency in the past year, and I hope that he will welcome that.

Several hon. Members
rose—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. It is to be regretted that the Minister widened what was a narrow question by her answer. I call Mr. Marshall, as the question was widened by the Minister.

§ Mr. John Marshall
Will not the Budget lead to a £9 a week increase in real take-home pay and a reduction in unemployment in Leeds and elsewhere in the United 456 Kingdom, as well as faster economic growth in Leeds and elsewhere in the United Kingdom than in other countries in Europe?

§ Mrs. Knight
My hon. Friend is correct. I look forward to the people of Leeds enjoying the benefits of the Conservative Government's economic policies. I only hope that the Labour-controlled local authority in Leeds runs the city rather better in the future than it does at present.

§ Ms Primarolo
What representations has the Minister received about regard the Deputy Prime Minister's endorsement of the late payment of bills, a practice that wreaks havoc on small businesses in Leeds and elsewhere? Will she condemn that practice? When do the Government intend to bring forward legislation to introduce a legal right to interest on late payment? Will the Government continue to string the business community along?

§ Mrs. Knight
This question seems to have become extraordinarily wide. If the hon. Lady had ever run her own business, she would have found that there are both good times and bad times, and sometimes it is harder to pay the bills than others. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Wait a moment.
Regarding interest on the late payment of debt, the organisations that represent small businesses are undecided about the route they wish the Government to pursue. I can assure the hon. Lady that the Government are determined to support small and large businesses, and our economic policies have proven just that.

§ Mr. Pickles
With reference to the low paid in Leeds, has my hon. Friend had an opportunity to look at the statement from Unison on recent pay rises? Has she noticed the number of low-paid people in local authorities, particularly Labour authorities, including Leeds? Given that those authorities—particularly Leeds—support a national minimum wage, does she agree that this is a clear case of Labour saying one thing and doing another?

§ Mrs. Knight
My hon. Friend makes exactly the right point. He may also be interested to know that, in Leeds, the local authority has decided to pass a lot of money into the reserves rather than spending it on services to the benefit of people in the city.