Kevin Hollinrake: It is a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood). My comments relate to the small and medium-sized enterprises that he was talking about so passionately. The sage of Omaha, the great Warren Buffett, once said that what we learn from history is that we do not learn from history. I particularly want to look at what happened to the SMEs after the last...
Kevin Hollinrake: May I add another point to my hon. Friend’s list of positives? Lots of the money spent because of the super deduction will be spent in the supply chain, thereby helping SMEs.
Kevin Hollinrake: My hon. Friend makes a very good point about regional economies. On engines for growth, does he think that regional mutual banks might be part of the solution? They are very effective in places such as Germany and the US, focusing on regions, making sure that SMEs get lending into the productive parts of our economy. Would he look at that as part of his remit on regulatory reform?
Kevin Hollinrake: I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we need to level the playing field between high street businesses and online businesses. That is a very tricky thing to do, particularly when talking about business rates. What is his solution to that?
Kevin Hollinrake: rose—
Kevin Hollinrake: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Kevin Hollinrake: If we can put to one side the blatant political opportunism here, there is a scandal behind this. Greensill failed because it overextended itself to GFG Alliance. That was signed off by Grant Thornton, GFG’s auditors, effectively on a business model that included borrowing hundreds of millions of pounds based on the security of a very insecure, possibly non-existent order book. Will my hon....
Kevin Hollinrake: It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Mrs Miller. I wish to speak about neurofibromatosis, which for obvious reasons is more commonly known as NF1. As far as rare diseases go, it is pretty common. It affects one in 2,700 people born today, and it is more common than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular atrophy and Huntingdon’s disease put together. I particularly want to echo the...
Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the increase in (a) temporary closures and (b) part-time opening of post offices on communities and community access to essential services across the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Kevin Hollinrake: What steps his Department is taking to increase renewable energy production.
Kevin Hollinrake: I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The first thing to say is that I agree with many of the comments that have been made. It simply cannot be right that leaseholders are faced with bills of tens of thousands of pounds. Nevertheless, I cannot support the amendment because I do not think it is effective, for a number of reasons. First,...
Kevin Hollinrake: I do not think I should, because of the timescales, but as my hon. Friend is an author of the amendment, I will.
Kevin Hollinrake: After the previous debate, I offered my hon. Friend the opportunity to sit down and look at an amendment that might work, in concert with the Government. The other difficulty with the amendment is that it would put the onus back on a building’s freeholders. Many people would say that that is fine—that it is better than the leaseholders having that responsibility—but I do not think it...
Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether indoor play centres and other children’s activities in venues for that purpose can commence from 12 April 2021 as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Kevin Hollinrake: The Minister is doing a fantastic job on this issue, which is one of the biggest issues that faces us. If this is not going to be a blank cheque for the taxpayer or for the recipient of the care, does the Minister agree, as I think the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) did, that there has to be a pooled solution, perhaps like the German-style system of social...
Kevin Hollinrake: I agree with virtually everything the hon. Lady has said. A funding solution is key, because in order to expand capacity there has to be more money. Does she have a funding solution for that? Would she consider a German-style system, which has cross-party support, or would she at least be willing to sit down with a number of people who support that system to engage with the idea?
Kevin Hollinrake: I am delighted to be so. It is a pleasure to speak in the debate with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I am going to speak, not for the first time, in favour of a German-style adult social care premium. All the speakers today have made good points about the need to resolve the problem, but we must address it with money. The need can be supported only by a financial solution. There are three elements...
Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the Digital Services Tax to goods provided directly from Amazon.
Kevin Hollinrake: I welcome my hon. Friend the Minister to his place on the Front Bench. He has made a great start. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the levelling-up fund will welcome applications from rural areas, such as Ryedale in my constituency, which may look prosperous from the outside but whose average earnings are below the regional average, partly because of a past lack of infrastructure investment?...
Kevin Hollinrake: I would like to speak to new clause 1. First, I am grateful to the Financial Secretary for putting the record straight. It was a reflection of the fact that there was no Opposition Minister on duty. It is suboptimal to have an Opposition Minister speaking by video link: Members have no opportunity to challenge some of his statements, many of which I thought were absolutely out of order. You...