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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Dunne), who is an assiduous scrutineer of Government policy. More needs to be done to help the millions of families throughout the country. Under this Government, the gap between rich and poor has increased, and social mobility has decreased. Never before have so many young people faced what can only be described as a bleak future—carrying the burden of the national debt, failing academic standards, increased demand for higher education places and a job market that causes only despair. Thousands of families cannot afford child care. In a YouGov survey, 28 per cent. of parents with children under 18 and a net income of under £15,000 said that they had been unable to get a job or continue with an existing job because the cost of child care was too great. The Government herald each opening of a Sure Start centre—which, incidentally, the Opposition fully support, contrary to what is sometimes reported in this place—but, as Ofsted says, half of all Sure Start centres are not reaching out to the most vulnerable families. Conservatives support Sure Start children's centres and believe that they will play a crucial role in making Britain one of the most family-friendly countries in Europe. Child care is deteriorating in poorer areas, however. In Britain's poorest neighbourhoods, the proportion of nurseries that inspectors judge inadequate increased by more than one quarter in 2008, from 8.5 to 10.8 per cent. Why is so little being done to help those who need it most? We have already announced how a Conservative Government will strengthen Sure Start through a universal Sure Start health visitor service, which will be funded with money from health and from extra money that the Government have already set aside to strengthen outreach work to vulnerable families. The UK has more broken homes than almost anywhere in Europe, by far the highest proportion of lone parents in Europe and one of the highest rates of family breakdown. We have also become a country that penalises people who want to stay together and provide a loving and stable environment for their children. Of course we must help single parents, who undoubtedly have one of the toughest jobs in the world, particularly given that many are alone through no decision or fault of their own, but that should not be at the expense of, or instead of, married couples or cohabiting couples. A Conservative Government will recognise marriage in the tax system. Taxes and benefits should encourage families to stay together, unlike the current system, which encourages couples to live apart. We would also help parents by introducing flexible working for all parents with children under 18. That would be achieved via secondary legislation so as not to overburden businesses with more complex regulation. Flexible working means not only flexible or part-time hours, but a raft of ways to improve the work-life balance of parents, including compressed hours, flexitime, term-time working, working from home, job-sharing or changes to shift patterns or work location. We must ensure that parents are available to drop off and collect their children from school if they wish—an essential choice that they should have. More should be done to help grandparents, who, in today's society, are taking on a greater role. They are often the unpaid childminder, cook or taxi driver, being the only available resource left for parents who cannot find affordable child care. There are also the hundreds of thousands of people who act as carers, without whom the state and the NHS could not cope. The Conservative party has already announced several measures in support of carers that we will implement when we reach government. First, we shall ensure that every person who cares for someone else has the right to request flexible working so that they can manage their career and caring responsibilities in the best way possible. We have also outlined our plans to encourage regular, planned respite care. We will ensure that everyone who wishes to have an individual budget and direct payments can do so to ensure that they can get the support and assistance that they need and want instead of being forced to fit around the provision of the local authority. Thirteen years ago, this Government were elected on the promise, ““Education, education, education””. Thirteen years on, more than 50 per cent. of pupils are still not obtaining five good GCSEs including English and maths. Given that those pupils have only ever been educated under a Labour Government, will the Government accept that their policies have failed, and that head teachers and teachers must be given the trust and freedom to raise standards? This year's key stage 2 results were the clearest indication yet that the Government's policies for primary education have not only stalled but failed. Only 61 per cent. of pupils managed to reach the required standard in their key stage 2 tests in English, maths and reading, and 39 per cent. of pupils could not pass all three subjects to an adequate level. Only in the past week, figures have been published showing that truancy has risen by an incredible 44 per cent. since 1997, despite the Government's having spent more than £1 billion on combating it. One child in 10 misses at least four weeks' school a year. Pupils on free school meals are three times as likely to be persistent truants, and truancy is six times higher in poor areas than rich. It is essential that we address the underlying causes of that. The Conservative party is committed to improving behaviour in schools and giving teachers the powers that they need to deal with disruptive pupils. We also need schools to insist on enforceable home-school contracts so that parents play their part in ensuring that their children go to school. It is so important for the health and the future of this country that we support the family unit. As you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have taken a decision to put my family before my career. This has been a very difficult and painful couple of years for my wife and her health issues. It has put enormous pressure on my family, my children and me. At this time, they need my love and support, and I have decided not to stand at the next election. It has been a privilege and an honour to serve the people of South-West Norfolk in the House. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and your office for the faith that you put in me to serve on the Chairmen's Panel. I would also like to thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack), under whom I serve on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. Finally, I would like to say to my colleagues from across the House a heartfelt thanks for the encouragement and support that they have given me, and the messages of good will and well-being for my wife that they have sent. I would also like to put on record my gratitude for the work that the staff of the House do to serve us in this Chamber. Without them, this place would not function. Without us debating difficult issues involving our priorities, be it in a Budget debate or any other debate, this country would not function properly either. At a very difficult time for me and for any other Member of Parliament who is leaving, I would like to put on record my gratitude for the time I have spent here, and I thank you.