Speeches by Reeves.

“Thank you. I was underselling what we are doing. It is forecast to be 2.7% earlier in the Parliament and 2.4% in the last year, rather than the 1.6% that we inherited. In addition, the national wealth fund is leveraging in private sector money. Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England and now Prime Minis…”

“I think you can tell how keen I am to make sure that we invest in our infrastructure. That is also why we are using means such as the national wealth fund to leverage in private sector investment. Capital spending is 2.4% of GDP in the final year of the forecast, and actually higher in some other years.”

“Yes. Let me first give you the numbers in pounds, and then I will say a bit about percentage of GDP. The fiscal rules that we are using as a Government are: first, a stability rule, so we have to pay for day-to-day spending through tax receipts; and secondly, the need to bring down debt and public sector net financial …”

“There are some measurement issues on RHDI per head, but we are determined to ensure that that growth benefits all parts of the country. Will, do you want to say anything more about that? William Macfarlane expressed dissent.”

“Thank you very much for that question. We want to see economic growth. It is important for the competitiveness of our country and for improving living standards. Economic growth is also crucial to provide the money we need for our public services, as well as for reforming them. There is no better proof of that than the…”

“May I say something first? It is the mayor of Merseyside, Steve Rotheram, who has mentioned this to me more than anyone else, both when we were in opposition and since we were elected to Government last year. I recognise from conversations that I have had with many of our mayors that the tyranny of the BCR does have a …”

“We have committed to technical excellence colleges, one in each region of England, because we want to be building homes in all parts of the country. We have ambitious targets: 1.5 million new homes built in England during the course of this Parliament. We were really pleased to see that, in their forecast, the OBR scor…”

“Yes. That is why my colleague Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has announced reforms to the apprenticeship programmes, for example. She has relaxed the requirements around maths and English at GCSE for foundational apprenticeships, to expand the number of apprenticeships that we are able to offer. It is why…”

“It is absolutely crucial. Achieving strong economic growth is not just about lines on a graph; it is about the money that people have in their pockets. We want to see economic growth and the benefits it brings felt in all parts of the country. That is why at the Budget last year we put significant investment, for examp…”

“No, I do not feel that. The OBR incorporated the latest economic news from financial markets and we updated our plans on that basis. We could have chosen to say that we would address issues of headroom at the Budget, but I did think it was important to show how importantly we take fiscal sustainability and fiscal stabi…”

“It is really important that we have just one major fiscal event a year, because families and businesses do crave stability. In the last Parliament, there were a huge number of fiscal events, mini and otherwise, and that constant chopping and changing of tax rates and thresholds contributed to the economic uncertainty a…”

“Obviously, a number of people do forecasts that we look at and take seriously, including the Bank of England, who publish a forecast four times a year, and that is very useful. The IMF, the OECD and many independent institutions provide forecasts. So it is not the only forecast available. But what is important is that …”

“Yes, we have received a letter from Richard Hughes. We will be responding to that and, of course, you will be the first people to know about that, as is right and proper. We have been really focused on the spring statement in the last few weeks, but we will respond in the proper way. I want to take this opportunity to …”

“Let me have a look at that idea. But hopefully you, Chair, and Committee members have already seen how seriously we take the scrutiny process of Select Committees.”

“Yes, absolutely, because things happen in the preceding time. That is also why we are setting the spending review a longer trajectory for capital spending, because those decisions are often over a number of years. Obviously, we will make sure that evidence is given to the Committee after the spending review, and also s…”

“The point is a really important one, because one of the reasons we have had some of the challenges we have faced as an incoming Government is that there had not been a spending review for a number of years. Obviously, in that time, inflation had been very high, so the cost of delivering public services had increased, a…”

“I have huge respect for Select Committees, as does the Chief Secretary, both of us having previously chaired Select Committees. I know you have written to the Chief Secretary, and we will look at that invitation. But we always want to be transparent and give information to Select Committees. Can I also say that it will…”

“Can I just also say, Chair, if it is okay, that we have reduced significantly the number of people who are on circulation lists ahead of fiscal events, because of concerns that we had last year about information appearing in the public domain before I delivered the Budget? So, ahead of the spring statement, we did curt…”

“Yes.”

“Yes. It is slightly different because it is the council of economic advisers, and he is chair of the council of economic advisers for me.”