Patrick Hurley

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Parliament's party history for this member: Labour (4 Jul 2024 – present).

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Latest on this tracker 165

1. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

   It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms McVey. The number of young people not in education, employment or training is one of the biggest challenges facing the country. Contrary to stereotype, though, in my experience most young people desperately want the opportunities that previous generations took for granted. The problem is that those opportunities simply are not there for too many of them. That is partly because we have spent so long over the past few years talking about the cost of welfare, but nowhere near enough time talking about the cost of failing to invest in our young people. I am pleased that the Milburn report will reportedly call for much more investment, because we cannot seriously expect to tackle the problem on the cheap. It is not just about how much we spend; it is about how we spend it. Earlier this year I led a debate in this Chamber on place-based employment support. I made an argument then that I wish to repeat today. The barriers facing a young person in my Southport constituency are not necessarily the same as those facing someone in London or Manchester, so localism matters. We need to give local areas the freedom and resources they need to bring together colleges, employers, jobcentres, health services and community organisations and design support around the people who need it. We need a system that aligns training and education with the types of jobs that might be on offer in the local area. There is no point in training young people for jobs that do not exist locally now, never mind in 10 or 15 years’ time. What we are debating today has to be part of a wider economic strategy that creates decent jobs in our towns and communities, not just in our big cities. My request of the Minister is simple: let us invest properly, trust local communities to deliver, and judge success not just by how much we cut the benefits bill, but by how many young people we help build decent, fulfilling working lives. Making the country a better place for the next generation should be what we are here in this place to do.

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2. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Advanced Manufacturing

   <Question HRSContentId="{1D6EA380-A69B-4B55-91E2-CBCFEDFF7EA3}">T4. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{F2B78CF9-E036-4C02-A91A-44B12EC384A3}" /> Given the recent forecasts around GDP growth in the years to come, does the Chancellor agree that improving living standards requires us to focus on GDP per capita, rather than merely on headline figures? To help that focus, will he consider a review of the personal tax code, looking at the cliff edges and perverse incentives that discourage work and investment, as part of the Government’s commitment to keep growth on track?</Question>

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3. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Budget Resolutions

   I welcome this Budget, and I congratulate the Chancellor on bringing it forward at a time of considerable economic uncertainty. There is much in it that deserves support and colleagues have spoken well over the past few days in that regard. I will use my contribution to make a broader argument, one that concentrates on the interaction between business and trade and prosperity for the country. The biggest economic challenge facing this country is the fact that we have become accustomed to an economy that does not grow quickly enough, does not invest enough, does not produce enough and does not deliver rising living standards for enough of our people. Worse than that, we have constructed an economic system that has learned to accommodate failure. Thanks to the long, dark years of Tory rule, this country has, in effect, institutionalised stagnation. For much of the past 80 years, people in this country could have reasonably expected to have been better off than their parents. Productivity increased, wages rose and living standards improved. However, since 2010 that has changed. The relationship has broken down, real earnings have barely grown by historical standards, productivity growth has been desperately weak and the prospect of building a better life has become increasingly remote for too many people. We need to change that. First, we need to be clear about what we mean by “growth”. Our overriding economic objective should be sustained growth in GDP per capita, driven by higher productivity and accompanied by rising real wages and improving living standards. We should judge our success not just by what happens in some sectors such as financial services, or any other, but by what happens in places such as my Southport constituency, Swindon, Wigan, Bristol or Birkenhead. Secondly, we need to rebuild our productive capacity in this country. For decades we have promoted consumption while allowing production to decline. We have become dependent on importing the things we need, exposed to volatile international energy markets and willing to see promising British innovations commercialised elsewhere. We need to change that, too. We should be ambitious about advanced manufacturing, clean energy, life sciences, digital technology—all those industries of the future. I would like to see us set ourselves a national mission to create 1 million additional jobs in production over the next decade. That requires an industrial strategy with some proper oomph behind it. That proper oomph should be patient capital, affordable industrial energy, skills provision designed around the needs of employers and public procurement that supports domestic productive capacity. It also requires a closer and more practical economic relationship with our European neighbours. The isolationist turn that this country has taken over the past decade needs to come to an end, and not just for the benefit of our country; it has harmed our trading partners and has benefited only those countries that want us to fail. We also need to reform the way we govern the economy itself. I strongly support fiscal responsibility, I believe in independent economic scrutiny, and I have no desire whatsoever to return to the economic recklessness that did such damage in 2022. We should also recognise that fiscal responsibility should be a means to an end, rather than the end itself. The purpose of sound public finances must be to enable a prosperous, productive and resilient population, but that is not what we have ended up with. Too much of our economic policy making is currently dominated by what happens over a relatively short period. Investment that costs money today but only delivers in 20 or 30 years’ time can appear less attractive, so we have become trapped in a vicious circle: weak growth reduces tax revenues; weak tax revenues constrain investment; insufficient investment weakens productivity; and weak productivity leads to weak growth. We need to break that circle, and the way to do that is to look at how our fiscal and monetary policies are implemented. I would encourage Ministers to review those policies to ensure that the future of this country is prosperous.

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4. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Topical Questions

   <Question HRSContentId="{DB55E574-8081-4F3B-A846-D4EFF26DE564}">T4. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{47DA1FF7-50A9-4E86-BDCC-67CA5944CF6C}"></QuestionText>Flooding has caused damage to farmland in my constituency this year, affecting crop yields and threatening food security. The National Farmers’ Union understands that the statutory instrument needed to establish a new internal drainage board will come before the House by the end of this year. Can the Minister confirm a timetable for that and commit to getting this issue resolved?</Question>

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5. 22 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Business of the House

   I add my voice to the bid from my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Chris Webb) for Blackpool to become city of culture, but we must not forget towns of culture. In that spirit, I take this opportunity to commend the teams behind the Southport Music Board and the Southport Creatives collective, both of which were formed after a series of roundtable discussions I held earlier this year. Southport’s arts and culture scene is thriving and, if 2027 is anything like this year, the future is bright. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the importance of arts and culture in order to properly recognise the contributions of our artists and creatives?

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6. 15 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Economic Growth

   <Question HRSContentId="{542DD727-DFAA-4A3C-BCBE-975549A21ACE}">6. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{693D7320-0A98-4E6D-B0C9-4A0DF77F7C44}">What steps his Department is taking to help increase economic growth.</QuestionText> </Question>

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7. 15 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Economic Growth

   I welcome the GDP figures that have been published this morning, but if we are serious about growth, we need to ramp up our manufacturing capacity and ensure that GDP growth is matched with jobs growth. Will the Secretary of State therefore consider setting an ambition of 1 million new manufacturing jobs in the next decade, putting reindustrialisation at the heart of the Government’s growth strategy?

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8. 13 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Energy Costs for Businesses

   <Question HRSContentId="{0D0AA193-1016-4828-8EE0-2C64FBEA5276}">6. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{C54736B7-8C6E-4875-8D66-B8ADD2B5DB39}">What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to help reduce energy costs for businesses.</QuestionText> </Question>

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9. 13 Oct 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

   Energy Costs for Businesses

   I have been investigating the extraordinary differences in domestic electricity standing charges in regions of the country, and I am increasingly <span id="162" class="column-number" data-column-number="162"></span>concerned that the same underlying network charging system may also be imposing substantially higher fixed costs on businesses in Merseyside and north Wales. Will the Minister ask Ofgem to investigate the impact of regional network charging on business competitiveness, as well as household bills?

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10. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Patrick Hurley

    Rough Sleeping

    <Question HRSContentId="{F1807161-9AA7-48B4-83B3-A77A3E70F537}">16. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{DA3E83E7-AC1E-4B69-AB71-0DF6B25427F5}">What progress her Department has made on tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in Southport. </QuestionText></Question>

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2024 General Election: Southport

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