Jo Stevens MP: speeches 2024

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Speeches

6 Nov 2024 · Support for the Steel Industry · Hansard source
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In my first week as Welsh Secretary, I discovered that the £80 million promised by the previous Conservative Government for the transition board was part of the £22 billion of unfunded promises they had made. That shocking dereliction of duty threatened to leave workers and businesses high and dry without the support they needed. I have therefore made it my mission to fight tooth and nail for that money on behalf of our steel communities, and I would not have left them unsupported. I am pleased to be able to confirm that under this Labour Government the transition board is fully funded, and we are getting on with the delivery.
6 Nov 2024 · Support for the Steel Industry · Hansard source
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If an apology is due, it is to the people of Port Talbot for promising £80 million for a transition board that operated for nine months under the previous Secretary of State for Wales, and delivered not a single penny to the people of Port Talbot, and now we know why: the £80 million did not exist.
6 Nov 2024 · Support for the Steel Industry · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman will know from both the Budget and the international investment summit that significant investments are being made in Wales as a result of this Government’s work: £63 billion was announced at the investment summit, £1 billion to Shotton Mill in north Wales—the biggest investment in Wales for decades. That will secure 300 jobs and mean that we will have the largest UK paper manufacturing site in the whole United Kingdom. We are growing the economy, creating jobs and delivering significant investment. I will write to him about the rail project.
6 Nov 2024 · Support for the Steel Industry · Hansard source
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I welcome the hon. Lady to her place and join her in her comments about her former private office secretary. I think the hon. Lady needs to read the deal reached by the Government. The £1.25 billion transformation project at Port Talbot will deliver a state-of-the-art electric furnace, the contract for which has just been signed. In just under 10 weeks, without providing any additional funding beyond the £500 million previously announced, we delivered a better deal that secures the immediate future of Port Talbot and lays the foundations for future investment, as well as enhanced protections for the workforce in Port Talbot, Llanwern, Trostre and Shotton.
6 Nov 2024 · Healthcare Collaboration · Hansard source
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Both Governments are working collaboratively to make the NHS fit for the future. We provided a £1.75 billion boost for the Welsh Government to spend on public services such as the NHS, and the Welsh Government have just announced £28 million to cut NHS waiting times. Both Governments are sharing best practice and will consider more cross-border arrangements where capacity allows. The Welsh Government’s ministerial advisory group on NHS performance and productivity has been established to support improvements and bring down long waiting lists.
6 Nov 2024 · Healthcare Collaboration · Hansard source
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I know that the Health and Social Care Secretary wants to ensure that the national health service across all of our four nations is fit for the future.
6 Nov 2024 · Healthcare Collaboration · Hansard source
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Cutting waiting lists is a top priority for both this Government and the Welsh Government. Last week’s spending review provided the Welsh Government with the largest real-terms settlement since devolution, including an additional £1.7 billion for 2025-26, enabling them to spend more on public services such as the NHS. I continue to collaborate with ministerial colleagues in both Governments, with the aim of driving down waiting lists.
6 Nov 2024 · Healthcare Collaboration · Hansard source
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We are not threatening GP surgeries. If the right hon. Lady does not think that the £1.7 billion additional funding to spend on the NHS in Wales as a result of the Budget is a great idea, she needs to say what she would do instead.
6 Nov 2024 · Impact of the Budget · Hansard source
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I was very pleased that the Budget was able to protect the current farming budget for the next financial year, despite the difficult decisions that we had to make because the Conservative party had trashed our economy. [Interruption.]
6 Nov 2024 · Impact of the Budget · Hansard source
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The Budget provides the biggest ever settlement in real terms since the dawn of devolution, a protected £80 million for steelworkers and businesses, £88 million for city and growth deals, £320 million for funding through investment zones, £25 million for coal tips and a protected £440 million for local communities— I could go on. It was a great deal for Wales.
6 Nov 2024 · Impact of the Budget · Hansard source
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Thank you, Mr Speaker. Obviously, farming is devolved in Wales, and the decision on how to spend that budget will be up to the Welsh Government.
6 Nov 2024 · Impact of the Budget · Hansard source
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I have regular discussions with the First Minister of Wales on a range of topics, including, of course, the autumn Budget. This Budget has delivered for Wales for the first time in a generation. The Welsh Government are receiving the largest settlement in real terms since devolution, to support public services such as the NHS. More than 100,000 workers in Wales benefit from increases in the national minimum wage and the national living wage each year.
6 Nov 2024 · Impact of the Budget · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a wonderful advocate for her constituency and for the Burns commission’s recommendations for her constituency, and I would be very happy to meet her to discuss them.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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The previous Conservative Government ran roughshod over the devolution settlement, including by legislating in devolved areas without consent on numerous occasions. This Government will respect the devolution settlement and work in partnership with all devolved Governments. We will honour our manifesto commitment to do that by strengthening the Sewel convention, including a new memorandum of understanding between our Governments, ensuring that the petty squabbles of the past are confined to history and we can focus on delivering for the people of Wales.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to my previous answer about the resetting of the relationship with the Welsh Government, and about working together and respecting the devolution settlement with all devolved Governments.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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Our Budget delivered for Wales for the first time in a generation, because the £21 billion settlement announced last week is the largest settlement in real terms since the dawn of devolution. It will provide a record boost for the Welsh Government to support vital public services in Wales, such as the NHS. It includes £25 million to maintain work to keep coal tips safe, and £320 million for investment zones in north and south Wales to power our sector strengths, which include the creative industries, life sciences and advanced manufacturing—for example, our world-leading compound semiconductor cluster. That shows the difference of Labour Governments working together.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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We are having ongoing discussions with the Welsh Government about funding flexibilities and their fiscal framework. We will deliver our manifesto commitment to work with the Welsh Government to address the outdated fiscal framework. As the right hon. Lady knows, heavy rail infrastructure is not devolved in Wales as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the Department for Transport settlement provides a £1.1 billion cash increase to total budgets in 2025-26 compared to 2024-25.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman has ever been to Anglesey—or Ynys Môn, as he describes it. I am eager to see new nuclear developments in north Wales that will provide high-quality jobs across the region and drive economic growth. We recognise that a nuclear future at Wylfa could help to deliver several of our strategic objectives, achieving net zero energy independence and restoring economic prosperity across our nations and regions. Great British Nuclear completed the purchase of the site in June this year, and we will make further announcements about it very soon.
6 Nov 2024 · Strengthening the Union · Hansard source
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We have reset our relationship with the Welsh Government. Our approach is based on trust and mutual respect, and is spearheaded by the new Council of the Nations and Regions, which met for the first time last month. My regular meetings with the First Minister of Wales are also driving forward our new partnership, which is already delivering for Wales. That was evident in the biggest ever real-terms Budget settlement delivered for the Welsh Government last week.
6 Nov 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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I would be delighted to go back to Wrexham and visit the university with my hon. Friend. Welsh universities will benefit from record levels of investment in research and development, which will be worth over £20 billion next year. The Budget confirmed £160 million of funding for the Wrexham and Flintshire investment zone, which was chosen due to the presence of world-renowned research institutions such as Wrexham University and Bangor University.
6 Nov 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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This Government continue to provide significant tax relief for farmers. For example, farming parents are able to pass up to £3 million to their children free of tax. They then pay half of the normal inheritance tax rates on anything over £3 million, and they have up to 10 years to pay it. The vast majority of farms will be unaffected by the changes in the Budget and will continue not to pay inheritance tax.
6 Nov 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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The growth mission is the central priority for this Government. Our new industrial strategy and national wealth fund will boost economic growth across Wales, creating jobs and driving up living standards. Working alongside ministerial colleagues, I was pleased to confirm £320 million of funding for two investment zones in Wales, the green light on the freeport in the Celtic sea and protection for local community growth funding across Wales.
11 Sept 2024 · Transport Infrastructure · Hansard source
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I welcome my hon. Friend to the House and congratulate him on his election. In my meeting with the Transport Secretary last week, we discussed a range of issues, including connections between Wales and Merseyside. I recognise the importance of cross-border travel for people across the region. The UK and Welsh Governments are committed to strengthening those connections, which are vital to unlocking economic growth and employment opportunities for people and businesses. I know that rail enhancements are required to improve services on the Wrexham to Bidston line, and will work across Government to drive progress.
11 Sept 2024 · Transport Infrastructure · Hansard source
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I was pleased to meet with the Transport Secretary last week to discuss our approach to rail in Wales. She is reviewing the previous Government’s transport infrastructure commitments and will report in the autumn. We will deliver rail improvements that will make the services more accountable to the people who use them through the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, which completed its Commons stages last week, and Great British Railways, which was launched in shadow form earlier this month.
11 Sept 2024 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source
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More people in Wales have been told that they do not have cancer than ever before, and that is good news. Performance increased against the 62-day target for treatment in June compared with the previous month, and over the past two years, the number of patients waiting longer than two years has reduced. Average waits for treatment remain steady.

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