Speeches by Reeves.

“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.”

“Professor John Van Reenen, who is chair of the council of economic advisers, attended meetings with the Office for Budget Responsibility. He also attended some of the technical meetings, where he provided evidence to the OBR on the different measures that the Government are taking forward. I feel very fortunate to have…”

“Yes, I do. I do not condone leaks. There is always going to be speculation ahead of things like a spring statement, or a Budget, about the different measures. Some people who say that they are a source close to one Department or another are not always as close as they say they are, so sometimes those leaks are more spe…”

“I am not going to write another four years’ worth of Budgets—that would not be responsible—but I can assure the Committee that I will not need to repeat a Budget on that scale because we have now wiped the slate clean and put our public finances on a firm footing. Indeed, in the spending review in two-and-a-bit months’…”

“We know that there are hundreds of thousands of people with a disability who want to work, and there are many people with disabilities who already do work. We want to give them more support, whether that is adjustments in the workplace or training, for more of them to fulfil their potential. I do not want to write peop…”

“I do not want to pre-empt the work that is now going to take place in assessing that, but I am confident that those impact assessments do not reflect what will happen, because it is inconceivable that you put £1 billion into targeted, personalised support and it makes no difference. In fact, all the evidence, under the…”

“Yes. This is not the only thing that we are doing, remember. We are beginning to roll out the free breakfast clubs—”

“Yes, that is what they are going to provide, but this is not the only thing that we are doing. This £1 billion back-to-work package is just one of a number of measures that we are doing to help people into work—apprenticeships, which we have already had a conversation about, the increases in the national minimum wage a…”

“I am absolutely confident that the system we inherited is not working and has to be reformed. I think everybody agrees that the current system is not working. There is plenty of evidence from past programmes that we can do more to support people into work. If you look at the international evidence, you do not see such …”

“We have been working on these for quite some time.”

“We have been in government for nine months, so since the election we have been working on the sorts of reforms that we need, and we set them out a couple of weeks ago.”