As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor said some moments ago, we will continue to provide fiscal support during 2010-11, alongside the monetary policy action being taken by the Bank of England.
My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that when I met representatives of 3M Health Care in my constituency, it said that it was quite clear that expenditure in the health service over the last 12 months had meant the difference between keeping the company going and it possibly folding. Will he ensure that moneys spent recognise the impact of such expenditure on the private sector as well as on the public sector? Those 600 company jobs in Loughborough are thanks to the excellent work of investing in the national health service.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of public procurement in supporting private sector jobs in this country. The figures show that more than 95 per cent. of Government spending on procurement goes to UK firms. I am sure that we all appreciate that. There is a direct link between Government spending, public procurement and jobs in the UK economy. We need to ensure that we get good value for money while at the same time supporting UK firms.
Would the Minister not accept that this country’s elderly can also help to maintain demand in the economy? Bearing in mind that many of them rely on their savings, on which they getting a negative return because of inflation and taxation, is it not time that the taxation system enabled the elderly, who rely upon savings, to get some meaningful return for their responsibility?
I know the hon. Gentleman has always raised the issue of pensioners and is a champion of them. He will be aware, however, that this Government have taken many pensioners out of poverty through the measures we have introduced—for example, by increasing the limits on individual savings accounts in the 2009 Budget and by providing an opportunity for tax-free savings for the over-50s, including pensioners, which is to be extended to all savers from April this year. Those are welcome measures, and as a Government we will always want to acknowledge the vital role pensioners play in contributing to our economy—just because people are retired, it does not mean that they are not economically active citizens and are not contributing to our society.