23/03/2017 Business Questions

I thank all colleagues for what they have said and the way they have said

it. Business statement, the Leader of the House, David Livingstone. Mr

Speaker, with permission, before I announced the business, I would just

like to update colleagues on one to practical matters following on from

the terrorist attack yesterday. First of all, as is apparent to us

all, the security checks and the all, the security checks and the

rules on access to the palace remain for the time being, more restrictive

to those to which we have become accustomed. I hope that honourable

members on all sides will accept them with patient compliance, as do

their staff. Secondly, an allusion was made in earlier exchanges to the

possible health needs of staff and others who may have witnessed what

took place yesterday and I would take this opportunity to remind all

colleagues of the Parliamentary health and well-being service based

at seven Millbank which is available to provide that kind of support to

staff as well as members. The books of condolence to PC Keith Palmer are

open in the library, the Royal Gallery and Westminster Hall.

Finally, the chapel will be open all day for any member or a staff member

who wishes to say prayers or reflect and your chaplain will be conducting

short services there are 12:30 p.m., 3pm and six p.m., which anybody is

welcome to attend. The business for next week will be as follows. Monday

the 27th of March, remaining staved -- stages of the bus services bill.

Tuesday the 28th, consideration of Lords amendment to the neighbourhood

planning Bill followed by a debate on our motion on the conflict in

Yemen. That debate having been determined by the backbench business

committee. Whether Steve the 29th, remaining stages of the pension

schemes Bill, Lords, followed by the expect private business to be named

by the Chairman of Ways and Means. Thursday the 30th, debate on a

motion on animal welfare followed by a general debate on matters to be

raised before the forthcoming adjournment. Friday the 31st, the

house will not be sitting. The provisional business for the week

commencing the 17th of April will include Monday the 17th of April,

the house will not be setting. Tuesday the 18th of April, second

reading of the finance number two Bill. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I

thank the Leader of the House for the forthcoming business and for

mentioning where staff and people who work in this House can get some

extra support if they needed. Can I also thank him and his deputy for

the leadership he showed yesterday. It is a sad day because we have lost

her superhero, someone who has kept us safe everyday. His family are

suffering and now they are trying to make sense of his death, but their

life will be utterly changed. We will always remember Keith Palmer.

Can I thank colleagues who were extremely patient yesterday and the

year 12 politics students who were up in the gallery and a primary

school from Birmingham, but also the police and security service and the

emergency services for all they did to protect us and keep us informed

in the usual professional manner, and for the dedication that the show

was public servants day after day, allowing us to go about life safely.

And to the Sergeant at Arms and the magnificent team of doorkeepers, we

all know how good you are every day, but in a situation as we had

yesterday, on behalf of all of us, our very special thank you for your

calm professionalism and kindness. It is a real tribute to the house

service. And the clerk of the house and your team, ensuring decisions

could be made promptly and sensibly. The Prime Minister has said this is

business as usual, so why will proceed to business as usual and ask

the Leader of the House, it is a convention when a statutory

instrument is prayed against that there is a debate. Can I express my

concern that the convention has not been followed into particular EDM

is, the PRP regulations and the 9482 awards. Those in psychological

distress are denied access to additional support under these

registration. Epilepsy action said they were deeply concerned about the

regulations and how it affects people with epilepsy. For the

students, the inflation linked rise representative body of percent

increase. If continued, this could mean the fees rising above ?10,000

in the next few years. The house rose early on Tuesday and the last

opposition day was a month ago. The government seems to be thwarting the

opposition, preventing an effective opposition by controlling the

business in this way, so could we have time for a debate on those two

very important statutory instruments? As article 50 is

triggered next week, there is a vast amount of legislation to be enacted.

Can he ensure there are white papers, draft legislation and an

impact assessment before the pills are published? Could he ensure that

the government to not use secondary legislation to stifle debate, but

allowed parliament to scrutinise the secondary legislation? Could we have

a debate to leave the BBC alone? The backbenchers may have time on their

hands but the letter sent round the many members in this House, they

said that the BBC are focusing on regretful voters. That is absurd. It

had e-mails from some who voted to leave who have regretted it, but

there was not a single piece of evidence in the latter, it was all

opinion. The editor of the today programme used openly support the

Tory candidates for mayor and the current editor of the Evening

Standard is a former Tory Chancellor. More importantly, there

should be no pre-emptive or intimidation strike on a public

broadcaster. Another manifesto promise broken while the

consultation closed yesterday on the new funding formula, the government

promised in their 2050 manifesto a real terms increase in the schools

budget in this Parliament and as the number of pupils increases sold the

amount of money in schools. Nearly half of all schools in the country

would face a in funding. In Walsall South schools face a reduction of

?490 per pupil, so could we have a debate on the impact on the new

funding formula and set out the losers, because every school will be

a loser. They will be bearing the brunt of unfunded rises in pay,

pension and National Insurance contributions. He could amount to

between 6% and 11% for their budgets for the years 2019 to 2020. These

are the last business questions before the Easter recess so can

attack against the clerk of the house, the library, the doorkeepers,

Mr Speaker, you enter deputies venture officers, all who may have

made life easier as Shadow leader, may you all have a happy Easter. Can

I finally say, from every corner of this United Kingdom, from every

corner of the world, bless it are the peacemakers. Can I first thank

the honourable lady for her kind words and associate myself

unreservedly both with her final remarks and with the tributes that

you rightly paid not only to the police, but to the staff of the

house in their various roles and what they did yesterday? I am

intending to be here for a business statement next Thursday. I hope that

her hesitation... I am sorry to lose her across the dispatch box. Perhaps

this is another opposition front bench change. She asked me about a

number of pieces of forthcoming business. I can tell her that the

government will make provision for the debate on the two issues she

expressed concern about. I can't give her a firm date yet but

discussions will continue through the usual channels about the precise

date, but the time will be fine. On the items of European legislation

that would be needed, of course there is going to be ample

opportunity to debate the content and the impact of those pieces of

legislation, and while I would certainly expect, it is the secret

that I would expect the repeal bill to include some secondary

legislative powers, the scope, the definition of those secondary

legislative powers will of course themselves be subject to the full

Parliamentary process, that those definitions, that's group would have

to be agreed by both Houses of Parliament through the normal

process of enacting a bill into law. On her points about education, it is

a fact that more is being spent on schools than ever before, but the

national funding formula to which she made particular objection has

been the subject of the consultation which only closed a couple of days

ago. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education

will not be considering the responses to local authorities,

schools and others to the consultation and coming forward with

the government's proposals in due course. It was for a long time

common ground between political parties that the existing funding

formula was grotesquely unfair and that it provided in some cases for a

child attending school in one authority to receive twice as much,

almost twice as much, as an equivalent child in a comparable

school in a different local authority despite the basic costs

being this same. That is the reason why the government is committed

itself to bring forward and national funding formula. Finally she asks me

about the BBC. I notice she didn't look to the presence of our former

Labour Cabinet minister in a senior role in the BBC at the moment but I

think he has probably been airbrushed out that the current

Labour Party leadership. As long as I have been in this place there have

been robust strongly held and strongly expressed views about the

BBC, for and against voiced by members on all sides. My own feeling

is that if honourable members have since in this respect they spent too

much time watching to the current affairs programmes. And I think of

the BBCi think of the Proms on Radio 3 and I think it enables me to

approach that subject with a degree of serenity. ER urge for it to be

business as usual. It is difficult considering what happened yesterday

because simply we are so horrified and saddened at those events and the

terrible deaths and injuries and we wish everyone well. I would try to

engage in business as usual and ask the Leader of the House this, many

of us are surprised to learn that the apprenticeship levy, which is a

good idea, which has been rightly passed on to local authorities

wrongly has interned being passed on to schools. Schools in my

constituency find that they are paying ?400 but receiving the

benefit from the levy, but having to pay the burden and it wrong. When

will the Leader of the House arrange for us to have a debate on this

outrage? Can I first evolves say that I think it is important that we

remember that while we rightly returned to business as normal as a

demonstration that our democracy and free society will not be disrupted

by terrorism, we need always to remember that for the families of

those who lost their lives yesterday and the families of those who have

been severely injured, the events of yesterday are things that they will

have to live with for the rest of their days on this earth, and we

should have that in mind as well. In response to her question about the

apprenticeship levy, the situation she has described in Nottinghamshire

is not as I understand that the case with every local education authority

in the country. Some local education authorities have decided to deal

with the levy themselves rather than pass it on to schools, but I will

draw her concern to the Secretary of State. Can I thank the Leader of the

House and join him in his tributes to the members of staff who worked

so well yesterday, and the leadership that he should yesterday

in this chamber. They are continuing business just as

normal as we continue our business and we will not be deterred from our

important work on behalf of all the people that we represent. Mr

Speaker, this institution lost one of its own yesterday and I want to

express my heart-felt condolences to the family of Keith Palmer and

others who lost lives. One thing I have noted as a Scottish Member of

Parliament is just the resilience of this great city and its people. It

has been inspiring and it has been determined. I think this morning and

this afternoon, we're all Londoners today. Mr Speaker, perhaps as a

tribute maybe we could consider a debate on the value of our emergency

services to this nation, the risks that they take and the immense

contribution they play in keeping our nation safe. I think that would

be a fitting tribute for us as Members of Parliament to make to the

memory of Keith Palmer. The Scottish Parliament suspended its business

yesterday and a section 30 order so a legal referendum could be held to

determine the future of political arrangements for Scotland. This will

be carried out next Tuesday. The will of the Scottish Parliament will

be expressed and it is upon this House to respond positively to the

democratic voice of the Scottish Parliament there can be no good

reason for Scotland to be ignored. Will the leader of the House tell us

how this place intends to respond and positively to what is agreed in

our national Parliament? Mr Speaker it is beyond pernicious that this

Government will seek to put through the rate clause by clause 3

straument without any debate. I know my honourable friend from Glasgow

attempted to get a debate on this issue. Will the House consider

something as important as this should right I will be debated on

the floor of this House. Article 50 will be triggered but I could see

anything within the statement to say there'll be a statement or some sort

of debate in order to pass the fact this is going to be debated in the

House of Commons. Will the leader of the House confirm there'll be at

least a statement next week to mark this depressing event? As we all go

home, we go home to our friends and our families this afternoon, I think

it is absolutely right to remember one of a number who works in this

House who won't have that same opportunity and that same advantage

as we have today. I thank the honourable gentleman for

his kind remarks. And associate myself with his condolences to the

victims of yesterday's attack and a salute to the emergency services and

others. On the political questions that he raised, of course, when it

was said that the Government will find time for strattry instrument to

the bebaited. It was something which was authorised by the act of

Parliament from which this is delegated legislation. So that power

is something which was debated and approved by this House at the time

that act was taken through. But on the substance of the policy on a

third child for a woman who has been subjected to the ordeal of, and the

Government does recognise this is a very difficult and sensitive issue.

That's why we've adopted a third party model to allow us to make sure

that neither DWP or HMRC staff would question the mother about the

incident. Instead they would simply take the claim and receive the

supporting evidence from a third party professional. That seems to us

to be the right balance between making sure mothers get support they

need within the need for unnecessary intrusive processes and at the same

time providing assurances additional support is going for those whom it

is intended. On his question about Article 50, I am sure that there

will be opportunity for the House to debate Article 50. We have not been

short of opportunities up until now, I have to say. But I am sure there

will be an opportunity before long for that decision to be debated or

for questions to be posed. On the question of the debate in the

Scottish Parliament, I think that my Right Honourable friend, the Prime

Minister, has been very clear about this. We believe that now is not the

time for a second referendum, particularly when the 2014

referendum was supposed to be something that was a once in a

generation opportunity. And that what ought to happen now is for the

United Kingdom Government and all three devolved Governments to work

very closely together to ensure that we get the best possible deal for

all the people of every part of the United Kingdom in the forthcoming

European negotiations. Thank you Mr Speaker. Can I first

commend the leader of the House for his calm and reassuring presence in

the chamber yesterday and Mr Speaker, through you, your deputy,

the Deputy Speaker. They both performed magnificently in

the chamber yesterday. Could we have a timescale for the statement or

debate on the fairer funding formula for schools? Preferably a time when

the Government will scrap its current proposals, which are frankly

unjustifiable. It is taking money from schools in Bradford district,

which is one of the worst performing local authorities in the country to

transfer money to some of the highest performing in the country,

which is absolute madness. Every school in my constituency will be

losing money. It is unjustifiable. Can the leader of the house tell us

how quickly it will take for the Government to realise these

proposals are unjustifiable and unacceptable. Can I thank my

honourable friend for his kind remarks. The Secretary of State will

come forward as soon as possible. But since the consultation on the

draft nation aling funding proposals concluded only this week, I think it

is reasonable that she should have a while in order to consider the very

detailed reputations that have been put forward by a number of different

parties. She will come forward and I can promise my honourable friend

there will be an opportunity for the Government to debate any proposals

that are then submitted. I am very grateful, Mr Speaker. Can

I begin with an apology to members of the House for my absence over

recent weeks. Can I also add my thanks to oh members and staff and

security personnel for their activities yesterday. There is one

group of people we have forgotten about. Members of the public,

hundreds of them who were in this building for dozens of reasons and

meetings yesterday and who, through many hours, actually showed great

compliance, patience, forebearence and fortitude while the situation

was outside the confines of this building. Can I place on record our

thanks to them? Can I thank the leader of the House for the notice

that next Tuesday's debate on the crisis in Yemen will be protected

for 90 minutes. We will have a decent amount of time to discuss the

on-going dreadful situation there. And to the notice we have two

debates next Thursday on animal welfare and of course the prerecess

adjournment debate. Can I ask the leader of the House for early

notice, if at all possible, for any time that willal le kated to the

Backbench Business Committee on the week beginning 18th April and the

week beginning 24th April? Can I point out, I am sure he's aware of

this, of an anomaly on standing orders. When we come back on 18th

April, this House, this chamber will meet at 2. 30pm. But understanding

to be Westminster Hall will commence at 9. 30am, which I think is an

inconvenience to members but also to the staff of this House. I think we

have a Backbench Business Committee debate scheduled for then, which

would be led off by the honourable member for Motherwell who will

aingually have to leave her constituency -- who will actually

have to leave her quifrnltsy on who will have to leave her constituency

on a Monday. Which is a bank holiday.

THE SPEAKER: It is a ples slur to both see him here today and hear his

voice. The leader of the House... It is

good to see the honourable gentleman back in his normal place at these

exchanges on Thursdays. I will do my best to make sure he and his

committee have any notice of allocated time in the weeks

beginning 18thth April. I take his point about the anomaly in standing

orders. And I have already spoken to my Right Honourable friend, the

Chief Whip, to see if we can look for a way in which to make life

easier for him and for the honourable lady.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I am sorry I am such a poor substitute

for the chairman of the backbench committee. I was unsuccessful in the

unshuffle at equality questions. Can I ask the leader of the House for an

early statement on the position of the promised consultation document

on cast discrimination which will allow the Hindu community to put

their perspective on why this unwanted, unnecessary and ill-judged

legislation can be removed from the statute book? My honourable friend

raises a matter which is very important to his constituents and

does so el wantly. I will suggest to the minister concerned that she

writes to my honourable friend about the Government's current position on

this. As he will be aware this particular decision involves not

just a policy commitment, but also the allocation of legislative time,

which is under pressure from many departments at the moment.

Can I welcome the leaders assurances about support for staff after

yesterday's tragic events? And can I thank you, Mr Speaker, for what you

said about the commission itself under your chairmanmanship, looking

at lessons learnted, and particularly perhaps into the issues

of support to staff? Mr Speaker, could we have a debate on the work

of the Taylor Review before it actually completed publication? So

that we can feed in our views around issues of insecurity at work,

particularly the huge growth in zero-hours contracts - the increase

in staff from agencies and also self-employment. If the House itself

had the debate, it would be useful to feed knit that way.

The honourable lady makes a perfectly reasonable point. Although

there is of course nothing to stop individual Right Honourable and

honourable members from making representations to Matthew Taylor. I

think the best advice I could give her would be to seek a backbench

business debate on this. It certainly is good to see the

honourable member back in his place. I am glad it was a back problem

rather than a heart problem. Will my Right Honourable friend find time

for a debate on debates along the Thames Estuary. Last week the North

Thames fishery action group were awarded ?800,000. That will be spent

further on enhancing the culture and the heritage of the Thames Estuary.

My honourable friend is in a great historical tradition. Magna Carta

itself mentions the importance of maintaining fish wires in the River

Thames. -- wiers in the River Thames. The renewal of marine life

and river life in the estuaries of the Thames and other rivers are to

serve the great industrial cities of our city and I hope that the money

that has been announced recently will enable that development to be

taken further forward. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can we have

an early debate on rules of origin documentation? And particularly the

five or seven-fold increase that will be required when this country

leaves the customs union. That is a very important subject. I agree.

It's one that I am sure the honourable gentleman will be

ingenious enough to raise in the course of the numerous debates that

we'll have on European issues in forthcoming months.

This is not the day to labour the point. I don't expect the leader to

reply in any detail, but when we do finally have the long delayed debate

on whether this House should leave this building in the decan't which

is proposed until now, I think we should at least n the light of what

has happened in the last 24 hours, give great consideration to the

symbolism of this place and the security considerations of

dispersing MPs and peers around Parliament Square.

The security of not just members, but of staff, let us never forget

there are something like 14,000 pass holders to the Parliamentary estate,

is at the forefront of the consideration by the Parliamentary

officials who have been leading on this and I can assure my honourable

friend that whatever is finally approved by this House and by the

House of Lords, that, as these works are carried through on whatever

timescale and fashion, security will continue to be at the forefront of

everybody's mind. It was striking this morning to come into this place

and see so many police officers on duty protecting us, and at the same

time mourning their colleague, the hero, PC Keith Palmer. His death in

active service, protecting us here, is a reminder that there are

families of murdered police officers and indeed those who have lost loved

ones serving in the Armed Forces, who have still not got proper

compensation for the rest of their lives. Can we look at this issue

again and ensure any person who dies in active service in the police

force, in our Armed Forces, their families are properly compensated

for the rest of their lives? It would indeed be good to find a way

in particular in which one could spare people the need to go through

long and complex litigation in order to get the compensation they

deserve. This may be something which he is able to raise at Western --

Westminster Hall or three backbench business. Can I support, all thanks

to the staff, they were fantastic yesterday. Coming back to business

as usual, can I anticipate the motion on the restoration and

renewal of the palace. Could I ask it is a full day debate and dead

weight when we would anticipate the house to be as full as it ever it

is, in other words, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but not a Thursday and

obviously not a Friday? We will make a provision and announce a date for

the debate as soon as we can and clearly the point my honourable

friend has made is one of the considerations we will take into

account. I have represented this House for

seven years on the Nato Parliamentary assembly and during

the lockdown yesterday there were messages coming from all over the

Nato Parliamentary family offering solidarity and support including the

headquarters in Brussels, where they had commemorated the attack on

Brussels a year to the day, I wanted to pass that on to the Leader of the

House and members present. Can we have a debate on issues of tolerance

and understanding, that were so stressed during the statement from

the Prime Minister, within the church in Wales? We have many

opportunities to question, by the Church Commissioners statement in

the house, but we have no such opportunity in relation to the

church in Wales. Can we have a debate on how we can make that

possible? First of all, like her, I have been struck by the spontaneous

and stronger expressions of solidarity which honourable members

and the government have received from democracies and elected

representatives around the world. On her point about the Church in Wales,

I can understand her wish for a debate, but I cannot offer one in

government time because the Church in Wales is disestablished, but it

may be that she is successful in securing a Westminster Hall

opportunity. Negative SIs should for

noncontroversial matters so returning to normal, in relation to

the EU, we will have a lot of bills in the next parliament and we will

want to continue with normal business. As the Leader of the House

given thought to extending sitting hours, or sitting on Fridays when we

don't see it for Private Members' Bill? I cannot miss a statement next

week but how we allocate time, given the exceptional pressure that there

will be on legislative time because of that legislation needed for the

exit from the European Union is something I and other business

managers are taking very seriously and we are spending a lot of our

time reflecting on how best this might be achieved. I express my

condolences to the family of PC Keith Palmer, family and friends.

Today more than ever I would like us to think about the innate goodness

and solidarity of people in this country and in that vein I wonder if

we can have a debate on the honours system. There is a lady in Hull,

Jean Bishop, aged 94, who dresses up in a bee costume and has raised

?117,000 for age UK and before her 95th birthday she wants to get to

?200 for the charity. She has been put forward for others before and

has not been in receipt of one. There is a 13-year-old little girl

in Hull who has got a petition going and 3500 said she deserves another.

The honourable lady has put her case eloquently and I think many of us

will know of comparable examples of local heroes and heroines who have

voluntarily given of their time, effort and money, often over many

years, in the service of their fellow citizens. The best advice I

can give is for the honourable lady to present a strongly argued

persuasive case with as many other supporters as she can in Hull to the

secretariat at the Cabinet Office in charge of making initial

recommendations on honours. Can I associate myself and my

constituents with the words of the Prime Minister, the leader and all

other members about yesterday's events? Could I ask for a debate on

the situation in Burundi? More than 1000 refugees a day it is reported

of fleeing into Tanzania and while there is rightly a concentration on

other countries suffering from food, insecurity and famine in part of

Africa, I believe the Randy is being ignored. We need a debate urgently.

I can assure my honourable friend the government is not ignoring the

situation in Burundi. Considerable amounts of humanitarian assistance

are being directed there through the Department for International

Development. Clearly we do have to work both through international

agencies, but also through the existing authorities in Burundi and

that is not always straightforward, but I will highlight to the minister

for Africa the comments made. Yesterday the British Government

announced the intention to build another prison, this time in Port

Talbot. This will lead to surplus places across Wales. Could we have a

debate as to whether provision reflects Welsh requirements? This is

something he will want to take up directly with Justice ministers but

the purpose of the prison building programme is that we should have a

new generation of modern prisons that really are fit for purpose,

that can deliver a regime that is secure all but also because it is

secure, provides greater opportunities for work and education

that are so vital if we are to make a success of rehabilitation

policies. This programme would free up older prisons, usually in city

centres, that we ought to be phasing out now and which could mean a

significant capital return for government which we can then invest

in modern facilities. I too would like to put on record my

thoughts are with the family and friends of PC Palmer and all those

who suffered as a result of yesterday's events. New Wolf Parish

Council in my constituency has written to the Transport Secretary

expressing what they regard as a complete waste of money, a proposal

by North East Lincolnshire Council to install traffic signals at toll

bar roundabout in their parish of New Waltham. This is being carried

out with government money. Could we have a debate on how local

authorities spend the many aliens the government had to them?

One of the important roles both of lower tier authorities like Parish

councils and also of members of Parliament is to hold local

authorities to account for their stewardship of scarce and finite

resources of taxpayers' money. I am in no position to comment in detail

about traffic lights at roundabouts in his constituency, but Caley he

will not let this issue go. The cuts to personal independence

payment explicitly exclude people applying for mobility support if the

problem arises from psychological distress and that is despite the

Prime Minister's commitment to treat mental-health problems on a par with

physical health. I'm grateful we are going to have a debate but could I

pressed him for a date? These cuts have already taken effect and it

sounds as if the debate will be after the Easter recess.

Can he give a firm date? I wanted to reassure him on the design of

personal independence payments. It is at the core of the payments

system that nonphysical conditions should be given the same recognition

as physical and we can already see the working of that in the fact is a

significantly higher proportion of people who have mental health issues

receive the top rates of Pip, which was the case with DLA.

May I also associate myself with all of the tributes that have been made.

I think we have seen the house at its best in the proceedings.

Ultimately our democracy will not be silenced. The Corby urgent care

centre is a vital NHS service and I'm pre-is the local commissioning

group has confirmed the doors will not close. -- I am pleased. Will he

urged the clinical commissioning group to resolve some contractual

issues to give constituents greater reassurance and to ensure we

continue to have the quality of service we expect and of course, can

we have a debate next week? I think he will have to to take his

chance with adjournment debates on this but while decisions about the

configuration of health services are taken possibly in the light of local

circumstance, that commissioning groups do manage their relationships

with contractors effectively so that local people can be assured of the

decent service to which they are entitled.

I want to associate myself with all the remarks and condolences that

have been given so eloquently this morning and I particularly wanted to

mention my colleague from Perth and North Perthshire, who mentioned

going home. I am going home tonight and I am grateful to be doing so.

Unfortunately I will miss a rally that has been raised quickly to

support refugees we are welcoming very soon and against a proposed

Scottish Defence League march in Wishaw against refugees. Could I

also thank the honourable member, the backbench committee convener and

Leader of the House for consideration of the changes to time

in Westminster Hall debates on Tuesday the 18th? My debate is on

the child maintenance service and I have received support from members

across the house and it is important will stop I don't mind travelling on

bank holiday Monday to get here, but I understand the difficulties many

members across this chamber will have to get to this debate at

9:30am, so I appreciate all efforts the Leader of the House has said he

will look to do. We will do our best to accommodate

the problem she has identified. Item three on today's order paper on

the business for the house, there is reference to a motion being tabled

in the name of the Prime Minister relating to exiting the EU and the

environment, and this is not mentioned in the business statement.

I wonder if the Leader of the House could clarify that, and in light of

yesterday's events, could we have a debate on community cohesion and the

prevent strategy? The answer is that yesterday's

business was interrupted for the reasons we all know. That business

on the pensions schemes spill has had to be rescheduled and

conversations through the usual channels agree the slot on the 29th

is the best way to manage this. I was surprised to receive a letter

from the Minister of State for transport this week. My surprise was

because it referred to work improvement on the M25 motorway,

which is some distance from my constituency. I was even more

surprised because I'd just written to the Secretary of State about a

number of serious accidents at Switch Island. With the Leader of

the House please remind the Secretary of State of the need to

respond to my letter? There are serious accidents happening far too

often. My constituents care about Switch Island, not the M25. All

that's happened is a repeat of the idea that investment happens in the

south-east of England at the expense of the North West. My right

honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport takes very

seriously his responsibility to ensure that honourable members

receive accurate and comprehensive replies to points they make about

their constituencies. I will draw to the attention of the Secretary of

State 's office the need for this reply to be sent. May I take this

opportunity of thanking you, your staff and the way he conducted

himself yesterday, and indeed to the Leader of the House and to the

Sergeant of arms. As the chairman of the all-party peer group I would

like to invite you all and your staff perhaps to share a great

British pint and then to carry on at a later date. Place to be confirmed.

Can we have a debate on the contribution of the brewing industry

to the United Kingdom and its culture? I thank my honourable

friend to his kind remarks. I think one of the remarkable things we've

seen in the brewing industry in the last couple of decades has been the

surge in the growth of small-scale Varese. I think it's a real tribute

to the enterprise of the sector that we've seen microbreweries and craft

breweries take-off in this way, and continuing to win new, discerning

drinkers to customers. Can I put on record my thanks to the staff and

all those outside of this House, members of the public, who sent

their kind thoughts and wishes in the past 24 hours. It's been very

touching and I would like to thank them. I'd also like to thank my

voice to the chorus of members who are calling for more time to debate

the government's new funding formula, or as we call it funding

education cuts. I've had head teachers across Norwich and Norfolk

make the unprecedented step of sending letters to the parents of

children, talking to them about the impending budget crisis. At a time

when financial resources, precious financial resources, are being spent

on more free schools and grammar schools, rather than on those

schools that we already have. 25 out of 31 schools will be receiving

funding cuts in my constituency and I would like to see if we could have

more time to debate this. As I've already said today, Mr Speaker, the

Secretary of State will be considering the recently concluded

consultation into the new funding formula. She will be announcing her

proposals in due course, that would be the appropriate time for her to

be questioned offer any debate to take place. Mr Speaker, earlier this

month I was honoured to open two new business premises in my constituency

further data centres and inspiration health care. Also earlier this month

I was pleased to visit two new facilities at Crawley Hospital, a

new clinical assessment unit and a new 26 bed ward. Can we have

consideration of the importance of further engendering economic growth

as this government is doing, so we can afford better public services?

My honourable friend makes a very important point. You cannot

distribute wealth and less business has created it in the first place.

The job of government, and this government's commitment, is to

foster the economic climate in which businessmen in every part of the UK,

men and women in every part of the UK, can help to generate economic

growth and drive the numbers of those in employment up even higher

than the record levels they have now reached. I would like to take this

opportunity to express my happiness to share in the sentiments that have

been expressed today, the condolences we've sent from this

House and my thanks to all the staff yesterday. I've been recently quite

concerned, Mr Speaker, by comments I've seen on social media regarding

a UK Parliamentary petition. Where we have people on social media

boasting they've signed this petition 2000 times. I wondered if

the Leader of the House today can set out for the reassurance of this

House what measures are in place to ensure that signatories of any

Parliamentary petitions are valid, so we can all have confidence that

these petitions have integrity and are signed only once, and only by

those entitled to do so, given that they often influence what MPs debate

in this place. Mr Speaker, there is a system in place to try to check

the risk that there bogus signatories to petitions. Clearly,

given the pace at which information technology moves, both systems need

to be updated from time to time. I know that the petitions committee

and the House authorities are very keen to act on the basis of any

evidence of malpractice such as the honourable lady has described.

Following the horrific events of yesterday, the Prime Minister said

in this House today that she wanted all MPs to learn life-saving first

aid skills. With that in mind, can we revisit the debate on compulsory

first aid education in schools, which was the subject of a private

members Bill and was sadly talked out by members on the government

benches. I think my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in courage

to people to acquire those skills. Whether the best way to do that is

through making it a compulsory part of the school curriculum is a

slightly different question. It's a perfectly reasonable element of the

debate but allocating time to such skills lessons would inevitably mean

either prolonging the school day or taking time away from other

activities. I think the government's general approach is that we would

allow for local schools and head teachers for these things. I'd like

to associate myself and my constituents with everything that's

been said this morning on the horrific attack yesterday. It goes

to show that evil will never prevail. I recently met with a

German national who has lived in Scotland for nine years. She's about

applying for residency due to 2011 changes to the rules on

comprehensive sickness insurance. Can we clarify the situation for EU

nationals like her who are concerned about their future? This is a matter

which the honourable gentleman could raise on behalf of his constituents

in any of the frequent opportunities we have to debate European matters.

But he, I hope, will understand that the government's objective is that

at a very early stage in the forthcoming negotiations we should

seek to ensure agreement with the 27 other members of the EU that each

other's nationals should continue to have rights of residents and other

connected rights, if they have been lawfully established. Could he and

the Environment Secretary consider the need for a debate on the zoo

licensing act of 1981? The alarming inadequacy of which has been exposed

by the South Lakes safari zoo in my constituency, which you may have

seen in the news. There is a catalogue of reasons why this act,

these licensing regulations need to be modernised. It hasn't been

debated for many years. I think the last time was four years ago in the

Other Place. Please can he consider the need for an urgent debate on

this. I did read the newspaper reports about what seems to have

been a pretty appalling case of mismanagement and of the

ill-treatment of a large number of animals at that zoo. There will be

questions on Thursday the 20th of April but I think probably the

honourable gentleman might also want to seek an adjournment debate either

in the chamber or Westminster Hall. The Leader of the House keep saying

people can apply the debates in Westminster Hall, but what's the

point when the minister responses are so woefully short? There seems

to be a problem where the 11am on a Wednesday slot. The average

ministerial response lasts for ten minutes and the debates are

finishing early. I understand ministers need to rush up here for

Prime Minister's Questions but surely these debates, which are

important to our constituents, should a decent response from the

ministers. I think a courteous and decent response can also be pithy

and succinct. I have to say the days when I had to reply to numerous

Westminster Hall debate, we always seemed to need additional time to

accommodate the many speeches. I often found my remaining time at the

end of the debate was squeezed hard including by a spokesman for his

party. Speaker, can I associate myself with the tributes paid

regarding yesterday's tragic events. It should send a strong message to

the Secretary of State for Education when members on this side like

myself are entirely united with the honourable member for Shipley on the

issue of formula funding for education. Can I say to him that

many schools are facing severe deficits and need to be able to plan

ahead urgently. I hear what he says about the consultation only ending

yesterday, can I urge to say to the Secretary of State we need an early

statement so that schools can plan ahead. I know that my right

honourable friend is aware of the need for headteachers and governing

bodies to be able to plan with the honourable gentleman. I will make

sure that she is aware of the opinions that have been expressed

this morning. In light of the Prime Minister's speech last night,

stating the UK sets an example for advancing freedoms including freedom

of religious belief, and further the FCO October conference the freedom

to pursue religious belief, with the Leader of the House agreed to a

statement by the minister responsible to confirm how

FCO and DFID are promoting religious freedoms. I would encourage him to

put those questions to those departments. I can ensure him from

my own fairly recent experience of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

that human rights including religious freedom is something that

is taken very seriously throughout our network of posts abroad and in

London. It is also sometimes the case that persecuted religious

minorities themselves prefer that their plight to be addressed in the

context of the expression of broader concerns about human rights,

precisely because they don't want to be further singled out for

additional persecution. So there is an element of judgment in how we go

about this task but the centrality of that to the FCO and DfID is

something about which I hope I can give him some firm assurance. Last

week the National Institute for clinical excellence issued

guidelines which introduced a financial cup on access to

medicines. Major research charities warn that lives will be lost because

of this new rationing system -- financial cap. Should there not have

been a statement about such an important change of policy? And

could we have a debate in the absence of such a statement? It's

important that decisions about individual medicines are taken by a

body like nice where it is clinical judgment rather than political

pressure or a question of who has the most effective group of

supporters to lobby on their behalf. I've lost the Department of Health

to write to the honourable gentleman.

Can I associate myself with expressions of sympathy today and

appreciation expressed for those who keep us safe, including brain police

officers. I wonder if we can have an urgent debate on the Chennai six,

one of the men forced in incarceration in an Indian mental

hospital and the fact the list are concerned is not able to meet

terrified family members to reassure them? I met the question of the

Chennai six is something that has been raised with the Indian

authorities at the highest political level as well is repeatedly at

official level is. I will ask my honourable friend the member for

Reading West as the minister responsible for policy towards India

to write to the honourable lady. I have a constituent who worked for

the Royal Mail for 28 years and loved his job at 15 years ago he

overcame the adversity of losing his daughter who was diagnosed with

terminal cancer. The Royal Mail manager at that time wanted to sack

him, which is unbelievable. He has since recovered and won postman of

the year a few years later but 15 years later, he was off work due to

muscle injuries and the Royal Mail has forced an ill-health retirement

settlement on him after being off just four months. His appeal process

is ongoing. The Royal Mail has refused to engage with my office but

I am aware the government still has a minister with responsibility is

listed as Royal Mail. Will he make a statement outlining what role that

minister can play and what assistance can be given for a

fantastic employee? I am sure the honourable gentleman

would not expect me to comment on the particular case particularly as

he has said it is subject to an appeal, presumably through an

employment tribunal. I will draw his concerns to the attention of the

minister responsible for Royal Mail, but I think it would not be a tall

usual for government ministers to choose to intervene in individual

employment cases. Royal Mail exists as a corporate entity and they do

have to take management decisions about their personnel without being

second-guessed by ministers. The Leader of the House repeated

claim ministers have made that more people with mental-health problems

are supported by Pip than DLA. The mental health charity Mind made it

clear 55% of people with mental health had awards on DLA. How can I

get the record corrected and push him for a debate on the new

regulations? The pursuit of a debate has