The loss of the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry has had a detrimental impact on our high street, with businesses reporting a fall in footfall. Will the Minister meet me to advise on any potential capital revenue grants that could unlock growth in this area and the wider Thames estuary?

I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. The high street is a really important part of ensuring that we have economic growth across the whole of the United Kingdom, rather than just in some parts of it. One of the things we have been looking at is the fact that when a high street has a cinema, that often makes it a place that people want to go to, and it gives a sense of pride in place. That is why the Pride in Place investment that we have made is so important.

Supporting small business is a crucial part of our industrial strategy. The Government are investing in the Thames Gateway, including through the local growth fund and the new lower Thames crossing. We will continue to work with industry and local authorities in the Thames Gateway to create the conditions for all businesses to thrive.

No, that is manifestly out of order. The hon. Gentleman, I think, was more interested in what he had to say to the Minister than in anything the Minister might have said to him.

What steps he is taking to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in the Thames Gateway.

The lower Thames crossing is due to open in 2025. In the meantime, local growth hubs will continue to deliver support services to help businesses in the area to grow over that period. In addition, almost half of the South East local enterprise partnership funding of £274 million is directly supporting growth in north Kent and south Essex by improving transport infrastructure, addressing skills needs and creating new business spaces.

The lack of connectivity between Kent and Essex frustrates commerce between those two counties. The lower Thames crossing will help with that, but it will take some years for it to be built. Will the Minister use that time to work with local businesses in the area to unlock its huge potential, which has yet to be fully realised?

Having travelled around the country talking to many businesses over the past year, I acknowledge those concerns in the Thames Gateway area. However, I was reassured—I hope the right hon. Gentleman was,

too—by the Prime Minister’s opening contribution to the negotiations last week and the reassurance she offered many hundreds of thousands of EU citizens currently residing in the UK, including those working in the right hon. Gentleman’s area.

The Minister will know that one of the strengths of the Thames Gateway is the closeness of connections elsewhere in Europe, and one of the worries that small and medium-sized businesses have is whether they will be able to continue to recruit staff from other EU countries after Brexit. Will she acknowledge the strength of concerns of firms in the Thames Gateway, and can she offer them any reassurance about the prospects after Brexit?

The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework, published on 27 March 2012, sets out that it is the purpose of planning to enable sustainable development. The Framework must be taken into account in both developing Local Plans and taking planning decisions, including in the Thames Gateway. Planning guidance, published on 6 March 2014, set out further advice on delivering planning for sustainable development.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The Thames Gateway is a long term national priority for growth and the Government is firmly committed to working with local partners to help them deliver its potential.

The Government has worked closely with investors across a range of projects, for example we have helped to secure £1.5 billion investment into the London Gateway Port by working hard with the Highways Agency to ensure that road capacity was not a barrier to the Dubai Ports World investment. London Paramount is another major potential investment which could bring up to 15 million visitors a year to the area. I am delighted to hear that Lafarge Tarmac has now agreed a deal with London Resort Company Holdings to sell their land in the Swancombe Peninsula in north Kent, which is needed for the creation of this entertainment resort.

In addition to encouraging investors, Government is itself providing funding for a number of major projects in the area. These are set out in the attached document.

The information is not centrally held in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I would note that many of the local authorities in the Thames Gateway cover an area larger than just the Thames Gateway, and do not split their published expenditure between inside and outside the Thames Gateway.

The information is not centrally held in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I would note that many of the local authorities in the Thames Gateway cover an area larger than just the Thames Gateway, and do not split their published expenditure between inside and outside the Thames Gateway.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership has set out its plans for investment in the Thames Gateway up to 2021 as part of its Strategic Economic Plan that was submitted to Government at the end of March. In July we will make decisions on the Local Growth Fund allocations associated with that plan.

In addition, the Department is committed to providing a new Lower Thames crossing as well as improving traffic flows at the existing Dartford crossing.

We have also been working closely with colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure that the major road improvement schemes on the A2 at Bean and Ebbsfleet are progressed to support delivery of the Ebbsfleet Garden City.

The Government has committed to funding a series of rail investments during the period 2014-19. This includes electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking

route; electrification of the Tilbury docks branch; increased capacity on the Great Eastern main line; upgrades to the power and signalling systems across the Kent route and the lengthening of services between London and Gravesend.