I strongly agree with the Chancellor’s speech when he said “High taxes directly affect the incentives which determine decisions by entrepreneurs, investors or larger companies about  whether to pursue their ambitions in Britain”. This was in tune with his own support for a 15% Corporation tax rate when running for Leader last summer. The UK does need to  be tax competitive, and has just lost its better place in the table of national tax levels with large recent hikes to Corporation Tax, windfall taxes, IR 35 toughening and other measures.

The Chancellor did not reinforce the PM’s wish to end the illegal migrants by boat, though that would of course help control spending where the figures are running away on escalating hotel bills. I am sure he supports the PM, and needs to help him bring it about as quickly as possible. Nor did  he reinforce the aim of getting Health waiting lists down. Again with his wish to control spending so  taxes can be lowered he needs to take an interest in the 3,500 extra managers and 115,000 extra  non medical staff recruited in under 3 years mentioned on this site.

He did reinforce the PM’s wish to halve inflation, and spent the rest of the talk discussing the fifth aim, restoring growth. He proposed better education, adding literacy to the PM’s stressing of maths. He rightly took up the  case of why 1.4 million people say they wish to work yet they cannot get some of the 1m plus job  vacancies and we still hear employers wanting to invite more migrants instead. More people already living here getting jobs would be a huge win all round and I wish him and the rest of the government all speed and success with the improved programmes to get more people into work.

He wants the prosperity and jobs to spread everywhere, which is a great ambition. He said he backs the full cost HS 2 project just hours after it had been suggested the government was considering cutting back on the very expensive last few miles in central London. One of the problems is London has enjoyed large capital investment only recently in the Elizabeth line, and many feel railway investment should now do more for the North. It is ironic that a so called levelling up large spend on HS 2 is wholly concentrated in London and the south for this Parliament for a line which will not reach the North this decade.

Above all he backs enterprise, remembering his own success setting up and growing a company before becoming a Minister. He will find this much easier if he does cut taxes on business and investment in what is now a  very competitive world to attract footloose money and talent.

I will look in a future blog at the inbuilt pessimism in Treasury, Bank and OBR figures which is being used to discourage him from cutting taxes,.

The answers below show the government is offering substantial support for the energy using industries, but some of this support is a strange money go round to pay the higher taxes and carbon prices in the UK than competitors face. Surely it would be cheaper and better to cut the collection of taxes and the distribution of subsidies?

 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123845):

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reduce the cost of carbon for large energy using industries to ease cost pressures for domestic production. (123845)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Graham Stuart:

The Government recognises that UK industrial electricity prices are higher than those of other countries and will act to address this.

The Government has already extended the Energy Intensive Industry Compensation Scheme for a further 3 years through to 2025, and doubled the budget for the scheme in the process.

The Government is also actively considering other measures to support business, including increasing the renewable obligation exemption to 100%.

This builds upon extensive support that the Government has provided in recent years including more than £2 billion to help with the costs of electricity and to protect jobs.

The answer was submitted on 24 Jan 2023 at 12:04.

 

 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123844):

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he make a comparative assessment of average (a) energy and (b) carbon costs in the (i) steel, (ii) ceramics and (iii) building materials industries in (A) the UK and (B) other comparable countries in the latest period for which data is available. (123844)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Ms Nusrat Ghani:

This Government will always be on the side of business and is providing an unprecedented £18 billion of support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The newly announced Energy Bills Discount Scheme will continue support for a further year from April 2023 and includes additional support for eligible energy and trade intensive industries, including the Steel sector.
Furthermore, this Government is determined to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries for the long term. We have provided extensive support, including more than £2 billion to help with the costs of electricity and to protect jobs.

The answer was submitted on 24 Jan 2023 at 12:05.

 

 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123843):

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his forecast is for UK steel output in 2023. (123843)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Ms Nusrat Ghani:

The Government does not publish or produce forecasts for UK steel output.

The answer was submitted on 24 Jan 2023 at 12:07.

We voted for Brexit because we once again wanted to live in an independent country. We want our laws and taxes settled in Parliament by MPs that we can vote out of office if they do not please. Elections empower voters to get change. A sovereign Parliament can do what it takes to promote the freedoms and prosperity of the British people.

 

In 2019 we had to vote again to get Brexit through owing to the obstructions of all too many MPs. The voters showed they knew the way to get their will done by removing many of the MPs who were thwarting Brexit. Now we are legally out of the EU the government needs to do more to exercise the Brexit freedoms we have gained.

 

There have already been some good wins from exit. We  no longer have to make large contributions to the EU. As promised NHS spending has increased, by  more than the savings from Brexit so far. We no longer have to accept the accumulating debts and liabilities of the EU. Since we left the EU has started to borrow large sums in its own name to spend mainly in the financially stressed  countries of the Union. All that debt becomes a burden on the taxpayers of all  the member states, the only source of money to pay for it.

 

Out of the EU we were able to pursue our own vaccine and covid strategy, getting to a vaccine earlier than the EU and allowing us to get out of lockdown before many continental countries. We are pressing ahead with different approaches to the regulation of science and medical advance, to assist in the development of UK excellence in those fields like gene editing. Faced with a shortage of drivers over lockdowns, we were able to flex our regulations temporarily  to help solve the problems. We cancelled VAT on female hygiene products and suspended it on green investments for five years. 

 

The wild pessimism of Remain forecasts for the economy did not come true when we voted to leave. We did not see a rise in unemployment, a fall in house prices, a rise in interest rates in 2016 on the vote nor in 2020 on departing. Our trade with non EU countries is expanding, and we have completed a series of new trade deals with non EU countries. We may well soon join the  very large Trans Pacific Trade Partnership,something we could not do as members of the EU.

 

We have been able to rebuild old valued friendships and alliances. The UK damaged important ties with Australia, New Zealand and Canada on joining the EEC. Today we are building a wider relationship on the back of our 5 Eyes Intelligence grouping and with new trade and investment links  possible.

 

Many of us are far happier now we are out. We are impatient to show more Brexit wins by changing laws and repealing taxes the EU imposed. Our happiness resides in the knowledge that our Parliament can  now make the right decisions and laws for us if it wishes, and we can change the Parliament if it refuses.

 

 

 

This is a non answer

 

The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123842):

Question:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what main criteria are considered when hiring NHS medical staff other than their medical qualifications. (123842)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Will Quince:

Local National Health Service trusts are responsible for managing their own staffing levels, making recruitment decisions and recruiting the number of health professionals with the appropriate skills and qualifications required to meet local service need.

The answer was submitted on 23 Jan 2023 at 17:55.

This Answer is not very informative at a time when there are issues over how much record keeping and form filling is needed.

 

The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123840):

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the administration and record keeping hospital doctors need to do to ease their jobs whilst recording important information. (123840)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Will Quince:

Administration and record keeping are overlapping but slightly separate matters. Some hospitals employ doctors’ assistants to help with administrative work, especially for doctors working on wards. There are varying practices across different National Health Service organisations regarding who records information in records. The Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2021 is a guide to the practice of managing records. All health and care employees are responsible for managing records appropriately. Records must be managed in accordance with the law and each organisation should have a designated member of staff who leads on records management.

The answer was submitted on 23 Jan 2023 at 17:59.

This answer also reveals substantial numbers of additional managers. This big build up coincides with a large rise in waiting lists and a recent deterioration in staff relations. How do they intend to improve their management?

The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123839):

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many managers have been appointed in the NHS since the end of 2019. (123839)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Will Quince:

The following table shows number and the change in full-time equivalent managers working in the National Health Service trusts and commissioning bodies from the end of 2019 to the most recent month that the data is available.

	December 2019	October 2022	Change
Senior Managers	10,981	12,698	1,717 (15.6%)
Managers	22,137	23,966	1,829 (8.3%)
Total of managers	33,118	36,664	3,546 (10.7%)

Source: NHS Digital Workforce Statistics

The answer was submitted on 23 Jan 2023 at 17:58.

This question reveals a large build up in staff over the last three years. I will ask for more detail of who they are and what they are doing:

 

The Department of Health and Social Care has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (123838):

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional non-medical staff have been recruited to the NHS since the end of 2019. (123838)

Tabled on: 16 January 2023

Answer:
Will Quince:

The following table shows the increase in number of full-time equivalent non-medical staff, by staff group, working in National Health Service trusts and commissioning bodies from the end of 2019 to the latest month that the data is available.

Staff group	December 2019	October 2022	Change
Non-medical professionally qualified clinical staff	479,815	527,280	47,465 (9.9%)
Support to clinical staff	341,992	385,084	43,092 (12.6%)
NHS infrastructure support staff	180,540	205,321	24,781 (13.7%)
Total non-medical staff	1,002,347	1,117,685	115,338 (11.5%)

The answer was submitted on 23 Jan 2023 at 17:57.

The UK needs more self employed people. It needs more self employed people who can go on to employ others and to set up small businesses. More self employment  brings more choice, more innovation., more local service . Out of a swelling host of self employed more larger businesses will emerge when someone’s idea and dedication to service takes off.

The covid lockdowns damaged a lot of small businesses and hit many self employed hard. An older  generation of self employed took a look at early retirement and some went for it, frustrated by the bans on their activities and the limitations placed on their customers by covid rules. Meanwhile changes to the rules of IR 35 in 2017 and 2021 made it more difficult for some to set up as self employed or to maintain that status even though they were genuinely on their own and searching for a range of customers and clients.

The government as it ponders how to encourage more people back into work at a time of more jobs than applicants should regard promotion of self employment as part of the answer. It should revisit tax rules to make sure they do not penalise those who are  independent and not enjoying employee benefits from a single “client” whilst in practise just working for one company. Some setting up in business may well start with just one client or customer, but are open for others and trying to win others. They do not enjoy employee rights with their first customer, but are desperate to diversity their customer base.

I would welcome an update from the government on their response to the public sector strikes.

At the beginning the line was there was no point in talks between Ministers and staff where they are covered by a Pay Review body. The government had met this year’s recommendations in full and would now concentrate on next year’s evidence to the Pay Review bodies, as should the Unions. In the case of the railways the Unions should negotiate with management, not with Ministers, whether in Network  Rail or the private companies.

Then Ministers shifted to saying they would talk about pay and conditions more generally, though not for the current year, and would attend some of the rail talks.

More recently there have been briefings suggesting backdated pay might be included in next year’s settlement, with speculation for health over a one off cost of living payment this year.

Ministers should start by recognising the different background and issues in the different activities. The railway is hopelessly short of fare paying passengers to meet its current high costs. Government needs to get the extraordinary high subsidy levels of the covid period down. The challenge should be to the industry to award higher pay based on improved working practises and on selling more tickets.

Health is different. There is a bursting order book  and many thousands of unfilled vacancies. There are problems retaining existing  staff including some higher paid doctors. There are also low paid staff who are squeezed by the sharp rises in food and energy prices.

The Health service needs its promised workforce plan to secure enough staff overall, to ensure appropriate grading and pay bands, and to meet reasonable employee expectations about living with high inflation. If the PM and Treasury are against additional money for NHS budgets then the cost of medical staff pay has to be met from other savings within the large health budget.

 

I do not get invited to Davos. Reading about what the guests say and do, I can hear all the same things in the Commons from Labour, The Lib Dems and SNP. There is nothing secret in the Davos remedies. Those who get reported at Davos tell us what most western governments and political parties are already saying. The  business people who go want to win and keep government business.

Their main preoccupation is climate change. They regard this as the biggest task facing mankind, as they think man made CO 2 is the only driver of climate change and will transport  us to too warm a world. They wish to transform what we eat, how we heat, how and if we travel, how business produces things by ending the use of fossil fuels. They still have not worked out what mixture  to go for in green hydrogen, or renewable electricity with batteries, or restricted use of heating and travel. They are regularly criticised for failing to lead by example as they fly around in private jets, ride in chauffeured cars and stay in air conditioned hotels.

They dress this up as good for green jobs, without answering questions about how much this huge transition will cost, how much capital in present energy and industry will need to be written off and how many jobs will be lost as factories, mines, oil and gas wells and traditional processes are closed.

They also favour open borders and free movement of people. They speak of diversity and tolerance, though they are often intolerant of different opinions to their own. They like every type of diversity save diversity of thought.

The disappointment about Davos is twofold. They do not invite people who will challenge the governing consensus. They fail to engage with the important difficult questions like Who and what caused the inflation? How can we boost real incomes?  Why did President Biden deliver Afghanistan to the Taliban? How do we stop Russia blowing up Ukrainian cities?

The world has too many globe trotting conferences to repeat the doctrines and policies which have failed. It needs some new thinking.