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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

I have got evidence by asking the business community, of course. The hon. Lady comes from the south-west. If she turns around and speaks to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), I think she will find he would be prepared to point out that Gloucester is nearer the Scottish border than it is to Penzance, and the scale of the south-west region is almost unmanageable. Indeed, it might interest the hon. Lady to know that when I went on a fact-finding mission to the north-east, where, I have always been led to believe, there is the strongest appetite for a regional development agency, I discovered a distinct difference of view in the business community. People in Newcastle are quite fond of their RDA, because it is located in Newcastle, but the business communities in Sunderland and the Tees valley were quick to tell me that they do not see much activity to help them. Geography is important, and I reiterate that economic partnerships that reflect natural economic boundaries and shared interests will serve the community best. Those changes would offer an exciting opportunity to improve how we develop local growth. We have an opportunity to sharpen the tools at our disposal by giving the best support through focused, efficient and accountable enterprise partnerships. We do not have those at the moment; instead, we have a comprise, whereby RDAs are unwieldy, overburdened and unaccountable. The Government's last-gasp affection for them owes more to political scaremongering than to any desire to find the best way to support local economies. That is the old-fashioned politics of division, and it is holding us back. We need the economies in different parts of the country to be performing at the very top of their game. If our country is to stand any chance of catching up with our competitors, we need the engine of our national economy firing on all cylinders, and at the moment it is misfiring. Parts of the country are falling well short of their potential, and we should face up to that fact. We are seeing the impact of that on growth and aspiration. Under this Government, 26,000 fewer new homes a year have been built than under the previous Conservative Government; home ownership is at its lowest for 20 years; the number of first-time buyers is at its lowest since records began; and the rate of new housing—both social and private—is at its lowest since world war two. That is a symptom of our planning system being broken. The system lacks democratic accountability and environmental sustainability, and it is holding back growth and fostering political alienation. Members on both sides of the House will know that from their postbags. We believe that we can do better by reforming the planning system so that it is more accountable and efficient, and far more capable of delivering the new homes that our country so desperately needs.