Browse content similar to 08/02/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Order order. I wish to repeat what is said to the house last Friday. It | :00:25. | :00:33. | |
is with great sadness that I have to report to the house the death from | :00:34. | :00:40. | |
the Honorable member from Sheffield and Hillsboro. He was a researcher | :00:41. | :00:52. | |
for David Plunkett. And as a representative for the union of mine | :00:53. | :01:00. | |
workers. He was also a counsellor on Sheffield City Council for 15 years | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
holding important cabinet responsibilities during that time. | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
And serving as deputy leader from the Council. He held the executive | :01:09. | :01:18. | |
to account on behalf of his constituents. Most recently on the | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
Wednesday the 20th of January he asked the Prime Minister what the | :01:23. | :01:30. | |
support was providing... I must tell the House that Harry informed me a | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
few weeks ago of his circumstances. Noted be recorded that he fought | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
bravely his illness and then bore it with stoicism and fortitude. | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
Continuing to battle on behalf of his constituents. To the very end. | :01:45. | :01:54. | |
Our thoughts are with Harry's wife Jill and his family at this very sad | :01:55. | :02:01. | |
time. Order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Communities | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
and Local Government. Number one please Mr Speaker. Thank you Mr | :02:07. | :02:17. | |
Speaker. May associate myself and my colleagues about Harry and we will | :02:18. | :02:24. | |
all be missing. With permission I would also answer questions one and | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
18 together. The government has always been clear that the most | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
vulnerable will be protected. We will work with the sector to ensure | :02:36. | :02:38. | |
appropriate protections are in place. May associate with myself | :02:39. | :02:47. | |
with the sentiments that have been expressed as well. The review the | :02:48. | :02:59. | |
report in spring. Meanwhile the Secretary of State is still pressing | :03:00. | :03:02. | |
ahead with the cuts before the review comes out. Kenny minister say | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
what is this? I would say to the Honorable Lady that as she may of | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
heard on the debates on this recently. We have already been very | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
clear that the most vulnerable in our society will be protected. We | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
must also make it fair for taxpayers as well. With the Minister | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
acknowledged that while his announcement will be delayed. And | :03:27. | :03:32. | |
his welcome. He does not go far enough and that the proposals should | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
project much-needed stability back into the sector. As I said at the | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
debates recently we are working with the sector and the changes coming in | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
2018, we have been always very clear that the most horrible in our | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
society will be protected. That's vulnerable. I'll be grateful if my | :03:56. | :04:05. | |
Honorable friend could confirm that housing associations will be given | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
urgent clarity as to whether the local housing... If it is not there | :04:11. | :04:18. | |
is a real worry that many will close. And he'll be an unnecessary | :04:19. | :04:27. | |
rise and on homelessness. Preventing youth homeless is a priority for | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
governments where investing in a ?50 million fair chance fund. This is | :04:33. | :04:39. | |
helping 2000 vulnerable you don't homeless people get into | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
accommodation in education and training and employment. We are | :04:44. | :04:46. | |
working closely to provide a long-term solution for this. Thank | :04:47. | :04:55. | |
you Mr Speaker, and I to associate myself and these pitches with big | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
comments that you made Mr Speaker. He will be very missed by the Labour | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
Party, his constituents, and his families and friends. Research from | :05:06. | :05:15. | |
changing lives in Newcastle based specialist housing agency says that | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
they and other housing support providers across the country will | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
lose a huge sum of money from the Chancellor's crude cuts. Meaning the | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
discretionary fund that the government says they must rely on is | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
totally inadequate. What is the Minister going to do? It is vital | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
for many thousands of people for disabilities and other specialist | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
needs remains and is properly funded in the future. We will make sure the | :05:42. | :05:49. | |
most vulnerable in our society are protected. To deliver homes to | :05:50. | :05:59. | |
specialist for the elderly and those with disabilities. We also provide a | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
?3 billion investment in the better care fund. Thank you. Can I | :06:04. | :06:16. | |
associate myself with your sentiments about a former colleague. | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
This government is committed to increase homeownership. About 30,000 | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
households have purchased a home through 2012. Major sponsor | :06:26. | :06:33. | |
programme in London. In the first seven days, 15,000 people have | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
registered. Since April 2010, many homes have been sold. This would | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
give 1.3 million more families the opportunity to do this. This is a | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
major employer in our constituency. We all know that we more small-scale | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
developments in the supply chain to increase the supply of homes. Does | :06:59. | :07:06. | |
my right honourable friend agree that franchising so their plots to | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
ask an EE developers is one way to get small-scale developers into the | :07:12. | :07:19. | |
supply chain? One of the effect of the financial crash... We need to | :07:20. | :07:31. | |
get them back involved. We will use public sector land to carve it up a | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
new small plots so that small builders can take advantage of it. | :07:36. | :07:46. | |
Should have and to excuse his? Busy generation that have no hope of | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
owning their own homes. Isn't it about time we have some bold and | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
Methodist policies. How many new talents, how many new generations of | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
buildings are going on, how many houses are being built, can he | :08:01. | :08:07. | |
answer that? I would say to the honourable gentleman that over the | :08:08. | :08:13. | |
last five years homeownership and in particular house-building, has been | :08:14. | :08:21. | |
revived from the crash. Hear, hear!. He should welcome these. You should | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
welcome the introduction of starter homes to give first-time buyers | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
afoot on the housing ladder. Should welcome the extension of help to buy | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
which is helped so many people achieve their dream of a hell of | :08:35. | :08:44. | |
their own. -- home of their own. Does the Secretary of State agree | :08:45. | :08:47. | |
that affordable housing in rural areas is absolutely key? In | :08:48. | :08:55. | |
providing homes in all communities we need to make sure that we have | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
diversity. Especially in rural areas. The idea to any of these | :09:00. | :09:08. | |
schemes are affordable isn't Orwellian myth. In my constituency | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
do need an income of 70,000 to get into an affordable home. It is going | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
to go up to 90,000. Who is that affordable to. ? I think he does a | :09:20. | :09:29. | |
good service to his constituents, he should know that under the | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
combination of help to buy and shared ownership in London, the | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
deposits that a first-time buyer can acquire is as low of ?4800 on the | :09:39. | :09:48. | |
average price paid... He would do his constituents a service of | :09:49. | :09:56. | |
promoting the schemes to them. I welcome the comments about the | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
importance of small and medium sized building sector. One of the most | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
damaging things that could happen in the involvement of that sector and | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
London would be the provision of a affordable housing target which have | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
no viability and would actually drive developers away from breeding | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
sites forward. This is not a matter of speculation is the matter of | :10:22. | :10:30. | |
facts. Housing in London fell. Want to provide homes for Londoners. The | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
mayor has had an exemplary record of providing homes of all type for | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
Londoners. The ?400 million that is being invested in the 20 housing | :10:42. | :10:48. | |
zones across London. That is a tribute to the tenacity of our | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
Honorable friend. I am pleased to say the hundreds of families in my | :10:54. | :10:59. | |
constituency of Bath and North East Somerset have been helped by this | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
scheme. Don't families are still unable to access it. With victory as | :11:06. | :11:16. | |
they agree with me -- agreed to meet with me and other constituents who | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
have high-value areas their constituencies... I will certainly | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
meet with them. It is vastly essential that we have homes built | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
in every area of the community. So that young people and the rising | :11:33. | :11:35. | |
generations have the chance to continue to be part of the | :11:36. | :11:38. | |
communities in which they were born and raised. Where is the fellow? | :11:39. | :11:56. | |
LAUGHTER With permission I want to answer questions four and five | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
together. All tenants much have a safe place with which to live. They | :12:01. | :12:10. | |
must provide good quality and safe accommodation. According to an | :12:11. | :12:24. | |
inquiry, there were many complaints and only 14,000 were subject to | :12:25. | :12:32. | |
update the assessments, and they only prosecuted one I broken | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
landlord every year. It is irrefutable that local authorities | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
lack the resources and in some cases the will to take action against | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
rogue landlords. Can he resist a modest change against tenets for | :12:48. | :12:54. | |
homes that are not fit for human habitation? Local authorities should | :12:55. | :13:01. | |
be using the powers that got. It is already a requirement for properties | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
to be fit and proper. She might want to welcome the ?5 million of the | :13:07. | :13:14. | |
?6.7 million to help. If she sees the way finds work she will see is | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
beyond anything you've ever seen before. I have to say that much of | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
what the Minister has said is not what I hear. People that speak to me | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
speak of substandard homes. Without any checks. They deal with their | :13:33. | :13:40. | |
landlords due to fears of being evicted? Does he now regrets not | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
supporting Labour agreements of the housing and planning bill. Hear, | :13:47. | :14:01. | |
hear!. I would hope for council tax or duty properly. Which is what will | :14:02. | :14:08. | |
enable local authorities to issue several pen as he is up to ?30,000 | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
and seek repayment orders dropped to 12 months. This gives resources that | :14:14. | :14:22. | |
they've never had before. Sounds of some very heavy breathing going on. | :14:23. | :14:29. | |
While the Honorable lady is right to point out the difference, very | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
offering neighbouring councils with the same resources are enforcing | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
these regulations in radically different ways. Can I encourage the | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
Minister to promote the best practice enforcement and most | :14:43. | :14:45. | |
importantly to challenge those councils are failing to use the | :14:46. | :14:51. | |
powers they have. My Honorable friend who has a wealth of | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
experience in this field speaks with great common sense and logic. The | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
local authorities should be using the powers that got by far. They | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
should be using the powers that got to crack down on the rogue landlords | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
that all of us including good landlords want to see driven out of | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
the system. They commend the government for the toughest action | :15:16. | :15:26. | |
possible on rogue landlords. Will he give continue to work a cross party | :15:27. | :15:33. | |
basis is necessary on a trust which is that a commitment on both parties | :15:34. | :15:41. | |
of years. It's particularly in areas of affordability issues? We are | :15:42. | :15:49. | |
working across government and sins of the institutions that may have | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
come forward. I can tell the House of the states regeneration panel | :15:56. | :16:04. | |
will be meeting tomorrow. 33% of constituents, many of these | :16:05. | :16:12. | |
constituents have been victims of addictions and we estimate that 4000 | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
people were victims of revenge eviction, and 200,000 people across | :16:19. | :16:21. | |
the country and a calendar year suffered from rogue landlords. The | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
minister has a sticky about how much work the government has been doing. | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
That is all supported last year. One impact has that had on a number of | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
evictions across the country? Local authorities must use these powers to | :16:39. | :16:43. | |
crack down on these rogue landlords to ensure they are providing the | :16:44. | :16:51. | |
services. Some of the worst landlords have been prosecuted by | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
the Council and the Department of local government has awarded them a | :16:58. | :17:05. | |
?74,000 grants to keep about work. When councils are proactive there | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
are resources available for them to be more proactive. My honourable | :17:10. | :17:16. | |
friend is right. They are well protected and well served. Use the | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
extra funding we put in. A new ?30,000 civil fines against local | :17:24. | :17:30. | |
authorities will build up of forward. | :17:31. | :17:41. | |
On the 20th of January the government were able to announce the | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
Aberdeen city deal heads of terms. Idea which in terms includes an | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
investment fund which shows the investment going in and Aberdeen | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
across the country as a whole. With the treasury having received over | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
?300 million from rosy revenue of the last four years and knowing of | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
the current low oil price is aggravated by deliberate | :18:13. | :18:14. | |
underpricing and coding from our friends in Saudi Arabia, does the | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
Minister not think that the UK Government should at least match the | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
250 million given by the Scottish Government extended just a 125 | :18:23. | :18:29. | |
million by the UK Government to help the region from a difficult time? I | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
think most people welcomed the deal, a significant investment is going in | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
that demonstrates the British Government and the Scottish | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
Government to drive forward the economy and Aberdeen to face the | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
challenges. It underlines that we are better together. Hear, hear! I | :18:49. | :18:57. | |
would first like to offer the condolences of the SNP to the family | :18:58. | :19:09. | |
and friends of Harry Harper. The deal and the investment of 2.9 | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
billion, that is not much. They only stepped up 125 million for the deal. | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
We're disappointed and let down by the government. When you agree a | :19:21. | :19:28. | |
city deal with ?125 million added to the other money that is going in as | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
wanted wanted by local people, and is something I think should be | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
welcomed and is a that will drive growth. Other areas would be very | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
keen to secure it if they could as well. This government is not | :19:43. | :19:49. | |
providing the 50-50 basis for this deal. The Scottish Government is | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
intruding 379 million to this deal. Was there but respond to calls from | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
the secretary and step up the additional ?200 million the Aberdeen | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
clearly needs? I had hoped that when I saw I was an area of questioning | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
which which would be dealing today that the questions will focus on the | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
great positivity on the announcement that is the characteristic of | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
working together that the terms of this deal have been announced. Is | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
the deal that is only possible from the contribution from the rich | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
government has made a long sigh with the Scottish Government working with | :20:27. | :20:29. | |
local partners, I think it is one that should be welcomed on the | :20:30. | :20:39. | |
benches. As though Mr Speaker to underline the point that I was | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
making other areas like city deals as well. Went to work with them to | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
deliver them. To make sure they're properly thought through but we will | :20:49. | :20:53. | |
continue had those discussions and deliver something which can make a | :20:54. | :20:54. | |
real difference. This city deal was submitted in | :20:55. | :21:05. | |
September with further information to be sent knitted with the UK and | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
Scottish governments. Local government has received the | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
settlements from the UK Government. Despite follow-up we have yet to | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
hear anything back. Kenny minister confirm whether a deal will be in | :21:21. | :21:28. | |
place prior to the elections? And Deborah and Scott went city deal | :21:29. | :21:40. | |
Edinburgh and Scotland city deal. That's a good he opportunities as | :21:41. | :21:48. | |
well as the cost. It is no surprise he is keen to seek a deal for his | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
area as well. If the right you can be reached is something we will | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
deliver on. Government committed ?500 million to the Greater | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
Cambridge city deal. Following the news that only 25% of Aberdeen in | :22:03. | :22:09. | |
Shire's deal. What percentage of the deal with the Minister be | :22:10. | :22:14. | |
committing. Those discussions are ongoing and we will see what | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
conclusion they reached. The recognition across the house of the | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
city deals can make is a real difference. The value that they can | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
bring an aggressive they can generate real continuing his | :22:28. | :22:30. | |
discussions and I hope that we can retake Falluja and that will be | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
welcomed. The deals to the whole of making a real difference and will | :22:37. | :22:44. | |
continue to do so. I will answer questions 89 and together. We have | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
committed to fulfilling a commitment of supporting Brownfield land and to | :22:51. | :22:58. | |
that end recommending a ?2 billion fund. We are determined to make sure | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
that we get 90% of that land by 2020. In my constituency we place | :23:02. | :23:13. | |
great importance that the green belt provides for communities. Can he | :23:14. | :23:22. | |
tell me what support he is providing for more commercial as well as | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
housing development to encompassing green belt. ? We are protecting | :23:27. | :23:39. | |
green belt. This ?2 billion fund will make that land more attractive. | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
To make sure we do everything we can to give those Brownfield areas. | :23:46. | :23:57. | |
Which isn't included in the Derby city councils strategy. The site | :23:58. | :24:08. | |
however say will be ready by 2018. Does my honourable friend agree that | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
the local authorities should be more to utilising these sites, and making | :24:14. | :24:21. | |
ready for development? My honourable friend who is working passionately | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
for her local community to make sure that Brownfield land is | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
appropriately and properly use, it is true to say that the local | :24:32. | :24:35. | |
authorities should be in working with local communities to make sure | :24:36. | :24:38. | |
the programme for land are understanding its availability is to | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
take advantage of the new ?2 billion fund as well. ... Just days ago the | :24:44. | :24:57. | |
head application to build 500 homes in the green belt site, I a shot | :24:58. | :25:05. | |
support of localism but how can the government make councils step up to | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
the challenge of Brownfield development? My honourable friend | :25:10. | :25:18. | |
highlights a very good case. The prison minister she was raped | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
counsel -- positive... The local community and pencil take note what | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
they think it about luck next time around. Harry Harper will probably | :25:34. | :25:41. | |
be the last man alleges House of Commons. Despite a series of this | :25:42. | :25:50. | |
illness. He was still here weeks ago passionately arguing for the workers | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
in Sheffield. Here is a dedicated service for the people of Sheffield | :25:56. | :25:59. | |
including closing of the home was programmed. Can I say to Mr there | :26:00. | :26:09. | |
are many sites in Sheffield where more than a thousand homes to be | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
built up. The land is subject to flooding. The City Council have | :26:15. | :26:22. | |
identified ?40 million to a flood prevention programme. Will he agree | :26:23. | :26:29. | |
to those to find out how we can get a joint approach to make sure this | :26:30. | :26:31. | |
land can be I think he outlines a really good | :26:32. | :26:41. | |
example of where everyone can be working together for the best | :26:42. | :26:43. | |
interests of the community to see more housing built, I am happy to | :26:44. | :26:46. | |
organise that meeting and I will make sure I have that conversation | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
with an local authority with himself and myself. Thank you Mr Speaker, | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
York desperately needs family and social housing and get the Council | :26:55. | :26:57. | |
are planning on building predominantly high-value units on | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
the 72 York Central round field site which will go nowhere in addressing | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
our holding prices. Will the Minister meet with me to discuss a | :27:07. | :27:09. | |
principal of York first, putting the interest of the city ahead of asset | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
housing? Eight I'm sure the honourable lady will appreciate that | :27:16. | :27:18. | |
it is absolutely right, the local communities make local decisions | :27:19. | :27:21. | |
about what is right, and her local authority has the ability to look at | :27:22. | :27:24. | |
their housing meet and make a decision of what is right to debt | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
due for them is what we need to do in York. Thank you Mr Speaker, in | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
2012 the Secretary of State told the House that the new planning policy | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
framework offered clear and unequivocal protection of the green | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
belt, green belt approvals have increased fivefold in the last five | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
years under this government. The new permission and principle powers | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
under Clause 102 will only further undermine the green belt. One will | :27:50. | :27:52. | |
be government put urban regeneration first rather than this? I would say | :27:53. | :27:59. | |
to the honourable gentleman if you look to the national planning policy | :28:00. | :28:02. | |
framework and the guidance that he has come out with a strength of the | :28:03. | :28:05. | |
protection and green belt over what has been there before, I would say | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
if you look at the new planning commission principle, the new | :28:11. | :28:11. | |
requirement for a Brownfield register and the ?2 billion fund, | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
they'll be going further than any government before and make sure that | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
Brownfield is the first. Thank you Mr Speaker, does the Minister agree | :28:21. | :28:23. | |
with me that my Honorable friend for Richmond Park spent to try the | :28:24. | :28:28. | |
London land commission to force local authorities to bring forward | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
unused lines will secure the homes that Londoners need and also protect | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
the environment and give rounded the quality London deserves? I think my | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
Honorable friend outlines an approach and a very productive | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
approach about the next Mayor of London has outlined to make sure we | :28:45. | :28:46. | |
are delivering more housing for London and look forward to working | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
with him as the joint chair of the commission on that issue? Does the | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
Minister understand the plight of the residents of Port in green and | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
urban vintage in my constituency who I have seen under the greater | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
Manchester combine the authorities special framework, every piece of | :29:05. | :29:07. | |
open green space that is left remaining in that area identified | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
for future developments is it about time that we had a planning system | :29:13. | :29:16. | |
that works for the people of Port in green? Well, I think the honourable | :29:17. | :29:21. | |
gentleman's council has represented on that authority, I hope they would | :29:22. | :29:26. | |
have their voice and I am also co-chairing the Manchester | :29:27. | :29:28. | |
commission and respect with the Labor interim chair on that panel as | :29:29. | :29:34. | |
well. Thank you Mr Speaker, having previously failed to sorry don't | :29:35. | :29:44. | |
number ten. It's Monday. LAUGHTER On this occasion I will answer this | :29:45. | :29:50. | |
question so low on his own, ?22 million to enable planning for 2015 | :29:51. | :29:55. | |
to 2018 and provides planning groups with online resources and advice | :29:56. | :30:00. | |
services and brands. And technical support in priority areas, the | :30:01. | :30:03. | |
housing and planning bill I will say will speed up and simplify the | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
planning process further. I think the Minister for that import an | :30:10. | :30:14. | |
answer to the question number ten, having previously failed to deliver | :30:15. | :30:19. | |
the first time, the Lib Dem led the Borough Council not consulting on | :30:20. | :30:22. | |
its new and somewhat controversial local planet to draft documents. As | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
the Minister agree with me the best possible solution for my | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
constituents to have a suitable and properly supported local plan and to | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
back parishes on their community created neighbourhood plans as there | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
are currently none going to referendum in easy. My Honorable | :30:42. | :30:46. | |
friend makes a very good point, I am pleased to be able to say to the | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
House to give her constituents if they go forward with the | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
neighbourhood plan it will have weakened planning law, the local | :30:55. | :30:57. | |
authorities failing to do that duty by locals residents Aaron Weber plan | :30:58. | :31:05. | |
is the best way to do that. A number of neighbourhood plans have failed | :31:06. | :31:09. | |
because of causes including insufficient evidence, unrealistic | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
expectations, and also failing to meet European environmental | :31:15. | :31:20. | |
requirements. How is the department giving those formulating these plans | :31:21. | :31:23. | |
to ensure that they meet the standards set down by the | :31:24. | :31:29. | |
independent examiners? As outlined in my initial answer Mr Speaker, we | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
have not only online resources and services, we have grants of up to | :31:33. | :31:40. | |
?8,000 with a further ?6,000 in particular difficult areas. I will | :31:41. | :31:43. | |
say to the honourable lady we have workshops going out around the | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
country to talk the areas the national Association of local | :31:48. | :31:49. | |
councils also talking to their parish council about how this works. | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
I would say to her that every single neighbour plan has gone to | :31:54. | :31:56. | |
referendum and passed a huge majority. Would it not be a good | :31:57. | :32:06. | |
idea to highlight and example are neighbourhood plan in each shire | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
area which could be specifically rolled out across that Conte to | :32:11. | :32:13. | |
encourage more parish councils in particular to get involved? My | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
Honorable friend, as he often does raises a very good idea, I will be | :32:19. | :32:23. | |
talking to the group who gone out and do this kind of work, sharing | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
best practices around the country, and I think it is a very good idea | :32:28. | :32:30. | |
for local authorities to look at what others have done and will be | :32:31. | :32:32. | |
doing our best to promote that further fullback.... Thank you Mr | :32:33. | :32:42. | |
Speaker, we have provided up to the 5p of funding to meet demographic | :32:43. | :32:45. | |
pressures on social care, this is significantly more than the ?2.9 | :32:46. | :32:49. | |
billion the local Government Association estimates it is needed. | :32:50. | :32:55. | |
20 the government going to set that the problems of social care would | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
only be overcome when there is a comprehensive public and provided | :33:00. | :33:02. | |
system of social care free had the point of need, a national care | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
service exactly parallel to and into Brody National Health Service, each | :33:08. | :33:09. | |
with public service free of privatsation? I think the honourable | :33:10. | :33:15. | |
gentleman for his question, what I would say to him is that this | :33:16. | :33:18. | |
government is absolutely committed to full integration of health and | :33:19. | :33:25. | |
social care by 2020, and we will require all areas will have a clear | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
plan for achieving that by 2017. He will also be interested to know that | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
the spending review does include over ?500 million by the end of the | :33:35. | :33:37. | |
decade for the disabled facilities grants which is more than doubling | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
from this year the amount, this will fund around 85,000 home adaptations | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
by that year, this is expected to prevent 8500 people from meeting to | :33:47. | :33:55. | |
go into a care home by 2019, 20 20. Adult social care is going to be one | :33:56. | :33:58. | |
of the biggest challenges we face over the next several decades, with | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
the Minister agree with me that more needs to be done to integrate health | :34:04. | :34:06. | |
and social care, particularly building on the success of the | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
better care funds to encourage local authorities to work with local | :34:11. | :34:13. | |
health providers to provide innovative solutions for adult | :34:14. | :34:23. | |
social care? I thank him for his questions and he's a real campaigner | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
on this particular issue, as he identifies the particular fund is | :34:28. | :34:33. | |
paying dividends and the icing significant work that in many areas | :34:34. | :34:38. | |
is reducing delayed transfers of care from hospitals for example, we | :34:39. | :34:40. | |
are absolutely intent on spreading the best practice from this around | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
all areas of the country, and where areas are the most challenge we have | :34:46. | :34:48. | |
put plans in place to improve those areas. I'm afraid what we have just | :34:49. | :34:56. | |
heard is nonsense, government funding for social care. Assured of | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
what is needed, directors of adult social services tell us that 4.6 | :35:01. | :35:04. | |
billion has already been cut and that the gap is growing at ?700 | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
million a year. The social care presets will on the ?400 million a | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
year, and the particular fund is the Minister mentioned does not start | :35:14. | :35:15. | |
until next year at 105 million a year. I think we be given what they | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
have got to think about the fact that they are risking the collapse | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
of social care because the funding is too little and too late. Hear, | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
hear! I would say to the honourable lady that the funding that is coming | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
into the particular fund, the one billion is all new money to adult | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
social care and that money is going directly to local authorities. The | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
absolute key here is the integration of health and social care and as I | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
have set out to the colleague in my Honorable friend this government is | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
determined to achieve that integration. Thank you very much Mr | :35:55. | :36:01. | |
Speaker, does the Minister agree with the conserved cons of either | :36:02. | :36:08. | |
through was recently called in the press that inadequate government | :36:09. | :36:11. | |
funding has left his local consuls struggling to provide adult social | :36:12. | :36:16. | |
care services? Hear, hear! Will firstly, I would like to welcome the | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
honourable lady to the dispatch box, I hear what she says about the | :36:21. | :36:27. | |
conservative leader of my local authority, Warwickshire County | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
Council, I speak to my lady that she is referring to at all times. What I | :36:33. | :36:39. | |
would say to her is Warwickshire County Council said a sustainable | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
budget last week and we are able to do that by protecting social care | :36:46. | :36:53. | |
services. Hear, hear! Number 13 Mr Speaker. Resettlement costs for year | :36:54. | :37:04. | |
one half undivided department for developments to the official | :37:05. | :37:06. | |
development assistance budget, I'd be spending review we announced a | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
further ?129 million towards local authorities across years two through | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
five, this was calculated after consulting with the LGA, and also | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
local authorities experiencing to this field as they like because they | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
would incur on being part of our Syrian refugee resettlement | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
programme. I am working up an icon to by refuge of two Syrian families | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
in Redic, with my right honourable friend of relief is the right thing | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
do and reassure people this would not be paid for by local council | :37:39. | :37:47. | |
taxes? The leader of French consul I would like to thank them for their | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
part in the big with the console, as they are aware, we work closely with | :37:53. | :37:55. | |
local authorities to ensure that the capacity is identified as being | :37:56. | :38:01. | |
suitable for that area. I would again like to confirm it to the | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
honourable lady that the funding available to the spending review | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
will go a long way towards funding for the resettlement of the Syrian | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
refugees. Can I come in the Minister for being the first Home Office | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
minister in living memory to have set a target for resettlement and | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
met that targets? However, there are still another 19,000 Syrian refugees | :38:26. | :38:28. | |
to be resettled before the next election. And the number of other | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
asylum-seekers has risen from 9000 to 17,000 people. Where are we going | :38:34. | :38:42. | |
to find this accommodation? This is because, if you would excuse me, but | :38:43. | :38:45. | |
to become permitted by the chairman of the Senate committee does put one | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
off 1's stride. LAUGHTER I would like to remind the right | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
honourable gentleman that the refugee scheme I am responsible for | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
requires very much the good nature of local authorities, that together | :39:02. | :39:04. | |
would be at Saddam programme is very important to us. We work closely | :39:05. | :39:07. | |
with them and I am very pleased to say that we have an equal demand for | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
places for the supply of refugees. I understand the Minister, it is | :39:15. | :39:17. | |
humbling indeed to be praised by someone of the right honourable | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
gentleman exalted status. LAUGHTER 14 Mr Speaker. The average council | :39:24. | :39:32. | |
tax has long been higher in the will areas than urban areas, several | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
consuls and honourable members have pointed out the extra cost of | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
providing services in rural areas, something which I am determined to | :39:42. | :39:47. | |
address. Figures from the rural fair share campaign show that those who | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
live in urban areas received 45% more funding than their rural | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
counterparts. One at the same time those rural residents are paying on | :39:56. | :40:00. | |
average ?81 more in council tax. With the right honourable friend | :40:01. | :40:02. | |
agree with me that my constituents have every right to feel aggrieved | :40:03. | :40:06. | |
in inequality, what steps is the government going to do to address | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
this issue? I been looking very carefully the responses to the | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
consultation on local government finance including that from | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
Leicestershire, which seems to make a perfectly reasonable point that | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
the essential requirement is that the underlying formula should | :40:25. | :40:27. | |
reflect the costs of providing services in different places and if | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
the honourable gentleman is patient and comes back a bit later I will | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
have more to say about that. Isn't it the fact that in practice despite | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
their rhetoric, and the conservative consuls are charging more than they | :40:42. | :40:44. | |
were consuls? That is what the honourable gentleman's question | :40:45. | :40:50. | |
conceals. It is a very long established fact that conservative | :40:51. | :40:53. | |
consuls offer the works council tax the works council tax and Labor | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
consuls is something that is accountable for the success and | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
majority and local government. Could my right honourable friend confirms | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
whether or not to the gap between urban and rural authorities is | :41:07. | :41:11. | |
widening because if it is widening, in favour of urban authorities, will | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
not be council tax payers in rural authorities were going to see their | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
council tax rise considerably over the next two years have to conclude | :41:21. | :41:23. | |
that they are subsidizing higher spending urban authorities? What I | :41:24. | :41:28. | |
will say to my Honorable friend is that they are moving to a world in | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
which consuls are going to be funded by council tax and business rates, | :41:34. | :41:36. | |
it seems to be essential in doing this fact the formula that underpins | :41:37. | :41:44. | |
it is fair to all the types of authority and that has been very | :41:45. | :41:46. | |
clear and representations that he and others have made. The Tory | :41:47. | :41:53. | |
election manifesto promises to keep council tax well, the secretary of | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
state explained to the House why he has just written to town halls up | :41:59. | :42:01. | |
and down the country saying that he expects them to force council tax up | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
by over 20% over the next four years? I have written no such letter | :42:06. | :42:11. | |
letter, what I will remind him is that council tax doubles under the | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
previous government, and that all the forecast we have made it to be | :42:17. | :42:19. | |
lower in real terms than it was at the beginning of the last | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
Parliament. Last but not forgotten. Thank you Mr Speaker, may I | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
associate myself with the comments regarding Harry, he was a dear | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
friend, a decent man, and we will miss him very much indeed. Mr | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
Speaker,... Annexing grateful for what the honourable has said. We are | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
committed to ensure that has she remains at the heart of their | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
community, we have introduced a one billion package of support which | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
includes business rates relief, help for small business, measures to | :42:54. | :42:56. | |
tackle overzealous parking enforcement and practical changes by | :42:57. | :43:02. | |
the planning system. A week before the general election, at the | :43:03. | :43:04. | |
consulate told the report said that within the first 100 days of a Tory | :43:05. | :43:08. | |
government, the comedy added to pride zones in which new businesses | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
with the spirit business rates over the next five years, can he confirm | :43:13. | :43:16. | |
that nine month into a Tory government, there is no enterprise | :43:17. | :43:19. | |
zone in my constituency, local businesses are still painful rates. | :43:20. | :43:31. | |
We offer an apology to the people... I thank the honourable lady for that | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
question, what I would say to her is that we are absolutely committed to | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
supporting high street, the high street bank rates, investment in | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
Heisey property is up by 30%, and where areas are doing the right | :43:48. | :43:49. | |
things, they are seeing a return of people back to their high street, | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
that was seen to the great British high street competition, there are a | :43:56. | :43:57. | |
number of winners from Yorkshire, I am sure those in the constituency | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
will be able to take some of those gives from the people forward so | :44:03. | :44:05. | |
that we can improve their high street. Topical questions Mr Jeffrey | :44:06. | :44:23. | |
Robinson. Topical question number two Mr Speaker. Since the beginning | :44:24. | :44:31. | |
of January, the cities and local government the Venetian bill has | :44:32. | :44:38. | |
been passed its third reading, the right to buy has been launched in | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
five different areas, and direct commissioning of housing has been | :44:42. | :44:44. | |
launched. Mr Speaker can I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
life and work of this is Hazel Pearson who died on Friday at the | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
age of 92, having retired from being a counsellor for the last year at | :44:54. | :44:56. | |
the age of 91. She was a formidable leader of conservatives and achieve | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
much for her town and was greatly respected by all parties and by her | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
community of over 47 years of service, this is because she | :45:06. | :45:08. | |
represented everything that was best in public service. Infield has the | :45:09. | :45:16. | |
fourth highest inflation figure of all London boroughs, and the last | :45:17. | :45:19. | |
census said that we saw a population increase of more than 41% in one | :45:20. | :45:26. | |
decade. This rapid population growth in boroughs is well above the | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
national average and is not reflected in an increased funding | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
settlements, I am grateful to the honourable member who I met with | :45:35. | :45:38. | |
last month on these matters but in the light of that meeting and | :45:39. | :45:41. | |
submissions made, what further measures if the government willing | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
to provide to ensure a more equitable funding mechanism for | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
borrowers in this situation? I understand the point she makes which | :45:53. | :45:55. | |
is a very reasonable point, I think it is important that the funding | :45:56. | :45:59. | |
that local governments receives reflects the very latest information | :46:00. | :46:05. | |
that is available in terms of the population, I have reflected on the | :46:06. | :46:10. | |
presentations that have been made in the consultation and I have more to | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
say about that later. Thank you Mr Speaker, my city of Plymouth local | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
campaign seems to mislead my constituents on the subsidies, | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
something many people see as a fairway of bringing parity between | :46:25. | :46:27. | |
sectors. I commend the government for making funds available for | :46:28. | :46:32. | |
specific cases where it is not appropriate. Could the Minister | :46:33. | :46:36. | |
therefore confirm that Plymouth City Council has chosen to return his | :46:37. | :46:39. | |
housing payment every year to central government and therefore no | :46:40. | :46:42. | |
one should be struggling as a result of this policy. I think my Honorable | :46:43. | :46:48. | |
friend had like a very interesting point that they are sending the | :46:49. | :46:50. | |
subsidy back and claiming that it cannot look after it, that local... | :46:51. | :47:01. | |
Hear, hear! The Secretary of State will know that one of the many proud | :47:02. | :47:07. | |
achievements over the last Labor government was the rise in a number | :47:08. | :47:10. | |
of families able to realise their dream of owning their own home. Up | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
by 1 million over 13 years, can you Secretary of State tell us since | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
conservative ministers took charge since 2010, what has happened to the | :47:22. | :47:28. | |
number of homeowners? I can say to the honourable gentleman, I find it | :47:29. | :47:31. | |
interesting that he raises the question, bearing 90 said he thought | :47:32. | :47:35. | |
a falling homeownership was not a bad thing. I disagree with him on | :47:36. | :47:40. | |
that as I do other things. I think homeownership is something people | :47:41. | :47:43. | |
should aspire to and we should be supporting it. I am proud that a | :47:44. | :47:46. | |
number of first-time buyers has doubled since 2010, and I hope it | :47:47. | :47:50. | |
will take it further and we must go further to support his aspirations. | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
Let me repeat it Mr Speaker, the number of homeowners on their Labor | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
was up by 1 million. Since 20 down -- 2010, it is down by 200,004 young | :48:02. | :48:06. | |
people, it is now in freefall with little or no hope of ever being able | :48:07. | :48:11. | |
to buy their own homes. Never mind if this policy he has no long-term | :48:12. | :48:18. | |
plan for housing in this country. That is why, I have commissioned the | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
independent record review to look at the decline in home ownership. Now, | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
we have welcomed evidence from ministers, will we at least agreed | :48:28. | :48:31. | |
to look at its findings so that five years of failure and homeownership | :48:32. | :48:37. | |
does not turn him -- in two Tanev. Coming from someone who oversaw this | :48:38. | :48:45. | |
since 1923, I saw this interesting is the review is being led by who | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
himself has called for an end to hope to buy, the very product that | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
is helping tens of thousands more people reach homeownership. Maybe | :48:55. | :48:57. | |
he's about to tell us if the Labor partners will and hope to buy. He | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
and his party voted against that and delivered start homes with increased | :49:04. | :49:06. | |
up to buy and extended all of these measures to make sure there are more | :49:07. | :49:09. | |
homes being built for those people working hard, aspiring to own their | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
own homes, being let down by the crush on Labor. What advice does my | :49:14. | :49:21. | |
Honorable friend have for groups like the neighbourhood for room in | :49:22. | :49:24. | |
my constituency, how found himself in the constant fights with the | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
local authority to make progress, it appears to ignore government advice | :49:31. | :49:33. | |
on Brownfield sites without any consequence? I will say to my | :49:34. | :49:37. | |
Honorable friend having met some of these constituents I know he has | :49:38. | :49:42. | |
supported them hard, he should move forward, we are putting funding into | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
support, it does give them that waiting law. It is a really good way | :49:47. | :49:48. | |
of having control. What does the Minister estimates | :49:49. | :50:05. | |
will be the total percentage rise for residents of Birmingham, once | :50:06. | :50:14. | |
the Chancellor's social care tax increase the presets and 1.9% | :50:15. | :50:19. | |
council tax rise are all added together? What I would say to the | :50:20. | :50:26. | |
honourable gentleman is that in due course spending power figures that | :50:27. | :50:29. | |
we released just before Christmas and be have just consulted on, it | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
does not take into account authorities putting their council | :50:35. | :50:37. | |
tax up to the maximum referendum principle, the council tax in | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
Birmingham is a question for Birmingham City Council, my right | :50:42. | :50:43. | |
honourable friend was absolutely right. We should not take any | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
lectures from the party over council tax, they have been in power for 13 | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
years and council tax doubled. My Honorable friend confirms to the | :50:54. | :50:57. | |
House that geeky people of Redic want to be a full member of the | :50:58. | :51:00. | |
combined authority, they will be to take part in the direct election of | :51:01. | :51:07. | |
a Mayor? I know she is a passionate advocate for the people of Redic and | :51:08. | :51:10. | |
she is doing a very good and effective job of explaining and | :51:11. | :51:16. | |
whenever I see her why she has a desire to pursue this matter and | :51:17. | :51:21. | |
ensure her constituents will get a say if it is appropriate at an | :51:22. | :51:25. | |
appropriate time. I can confirm that for a to become a full member then | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
yes they would have a vote in back mirrored election. That would only | :51:30. | :51:33. | |
be done by local agreements, as we have pursued throughout devolution | :51:34. | :51:36. | |
in this government, we want to build consensus and work with local people | :51:37. | :51:39. | |
to find deals and structures that meet their ambitions. Aberdeen has | :51:40. | :51:47. | |
supported oil, with our residents having to put up with the bad and | :51:48. | :51:50. | |
good that comes with this, the UK Government has tried to tell | :51:51. | :51:54. | |
Aberdeen that their investments will inspire hundreds of millions of | :51:55. | :51:59. | |
pounds of investments from Aberdeen businesses. Can the government Tommy | :52:00. | :52:02. | |
what they will be doing to encourage business is in Aberdeen who are | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
suffering along with the rest of us to stump up cash. I thank her for | :52:07. | :52:12. | |
her important question, it ties to these questions we will have to be | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
about the Aberdeen to the deal and the significant amount of money | :52:18. | :52:20. | |
going in from the British Government from West minister and going in with | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
partnership with the Scottish Government am I in partnership with | :52:24. | :52:26. | |
local authority leadership and local leadership of business communities | :52:27. | :52:29. | |
in Aberdeen. We intend to ensure that that deal brings real growth | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
and benefit, we recognise the challenges it faces because of the | :52:34. | :52:36. | |
price of web and the other factors which affect its local economy, we | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
will work with local people who understand what is needed to drive | :52:42. | :52:44. | |
change and do everything we can to support the economy. Under Mayor | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
Livingstone, the number of new housing stock in London, did as a | :52:50. | :52:52. | |
direct result of developers walking away from having an affordable site | :52:53. | :52:58. | |
thing to the 50% affordable housing target. What is my Honorable friend | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
think what happened if the new mayor were to introduce a 50% affordable | :53:05. | :53:10. | |
housing target Islamic State in his questions he outlined the evidence | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
that those kinds of targets if they are not appropriate for the local | :53:15. | :53:22. | |
mayor create things, local areas have got to look at what is right | :53:23. | :53:25. | |
for them and make sure it is viable. I would say that it is my fervent | :53:26. | :53:34. | |
hope that my Honorable friend. Undivided unity speaker, can I ask | :53:35. | :53:41. | |
the Minister the city deal from Highland Council is based on the | :53:42. | :53:44. | |
region for young people, they have over many decades to see Adrian of | :53:45. | :53:47. | |
young people and much work has been done to address this including the | :53:48. | :53:53. | |
campus, more needs to be done to retain young people, a plant such as | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
the one put forward can help to assist the rebalance of population, | :53:58. | :54:01. | |
demographics, does the Minister agree that the aims of the plan and | :54:02. | :54:04. | |
the statement of intent are worthy of support? The Honorable member is | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
diligent in raising this issue we have discussed in the chamber | :54:12. | :54:15. | |
before, he recognises as to why Mr Speaker the value that the sort of | :54:16. | :54:18. | |
US can bring, he recognises the difference they can make, I | :54:19. | :54:21. | |
recognise the comments he makes and the importance he attaches to it as | :54:22. | :54:25. | |
a diligent member and local member of Parliament. I cannot pronounce | :54:26. | :54:31. | |
deals, at this dispatch box here today, we would determine to deliver | :54:32. | :54:34. | |
whether the deal is the right one and his effective advocate the is | :54:35. | :54:45. | |
essential in that objective. They have been taken in by other areas | :54:46. | :54:48. | |
under the voluntary dispersal scheme, with more refugee children | :54:49. | :54:52. | |
coming, could my Honorable friend advise how his department will get | :54:53. | :54:55. | |
local authorities across the country to exact their share of the asylum | :54:56. | :55:02. | |
seeking children already here? We hope dispersal arrangements remain | :55:03. | :55:05. | |
voluntary and are working with the Home Office, Department for | :55:06. | :55:08. | |
Education, local Government Association, and the Association of | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
directive children services on a national dispersal scheme for asylum | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
seeking children. Provisions in the Immigration Bill will underpin | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
dispersal arrangements and if necessary enforce them. I know the | :55:21. | :55:26. | |
Minister will understands the extraordinary high cost of hybrid | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
sector housing in London, does he understand the impact that the | :55:33. | :55:35. | |
changes of the local housing alliance are having on residence in | :55:36. | :55:41. | |
my constituency in Brent North and would he ask his department official | :55:42. | :55:44. | |
to provide data on the impact of those changes? I would say to the | :55:45. | :55:49. | |
honourable gentleman if he looks at the answer I gave earlier on, we | :55:50. | :55:52. | |
have already outlined a one-year delay, we are also looking to these | :55:53. | :55:56. | |
implications before the 2018 into the Treo working closely with the | :55:57. | :56:04. | |
secretary at the moment. Maybe Council are currently working on the | :56:05. | :56:08. | |
local plant, could the Minister give an update on the work of the expert | :56:09. | :56:13. | |
panel which was set up in September to help streamline the local plan | :56:14. | :56:21. | |
process? We are determined to make sure the local areas can have a very | :56:22. | :56:25. | |
clear cut, simple system to deliver local plans to get that working to | :56:26. | :56:29. | |
give control to the local community as it should be locally led and am | :56:30. | :56:32. | |
looking forward to seeing the feedback for the panel in the weeks | :56:33. | :56:39. | |
ahead. Ministers hinted in responses to earlier questions from local | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
government benches on the funding allocations to work areas that they | :56:44. | :56:47. | |
think there is some unfairness in the system. Can I encourage | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
ministers to look again because I agree there is a great deal of | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
unfairness. My borough is seeing its funding decimated and cuts are | :56:56. | :57:01. | |
devastating for local economies similar sized town is seeing its | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
spending power increase over the coming years. This is fundamentally | :57:08. | :57:14. | |
unfair, will he look again? Well, I will be responding to the financial | :57:15. | :57:20. | |
system and shortly. All I would say that it is important for every type | :57:21. | :57:23. | |
of authority that its needs and the cost of providing for that is the | :57:24. | :57:30. | |
object of the government has. My right honourable friend is cheating | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
as an eye on building on Brownfield sites, with the closure of | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
coal-fired power stations and the possible closure of one in my | :57:40. | :57:43. | |
constituency, what are we doing to encourage building on Brownfield | :57:44. | :57:47. | |
sites like that but which include contaminated land? The answer is | :57:48. | :57:55. | |
that the Chancellor in the spending review established a fund to | :57:56. | :57:58. | |
decontaminate Brownfield sites so that they can be made available in | :57:59. | :58:05. | |
the way he recommends. Mr Speaker, the local Government Association is | :58:06. | :58:11. | |
predicting that the proposals be to some 50,000 council tenants needing | :58:12. | :58:14. | |
their homes, had the same time they're saying they do not know how | :58:15. | :58:17. | |
much their attendants earned. Can the Minister to consuls how or why | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
they should be asking their tenants how much they own? I would say to | :58:23. | :58:27. | |
the Honorable gentleman, through the process of the planning bill this | :58:28. | :58:34. | |
would be looking at to bring this in. We are working with them, it is | :58:35. | :58:38. | |
absolutely right that we come up with a deal that is also fair to | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
taxpayers to make sure it they do so anyway that always make sure they | :58:45. | :58:51. | |
will always pay to work. I am soon to minister is aware that the patent | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
is due for adoption this spring. But he gives some reassurance to the | :58:57. | :58:59. | |
planning committee of the council that they cannot start to make | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
decisions in line that plan, save any knowledge of the planning | :59:04. | :59:06. | |
expectorant will not overturn those decisions for protecting the country | :59:07. | :59:09. | |
from speculative development. Hear, hear! I think it is good news, my | :59:10. | :59:15. | |
Honorable friend outlines that at this late stage, I can confirm that | :59:16. | :59:20. | |
as a local planning gets to that stage it takes a more weight and | :59:21. | :59:23. | |
therefore the local authorities should be making plans in line with | :59:24. | :59:27. | |
that local plan as it comes forward and that is the right thing to do | :59:28. | :59:33. | |
for local communities. What assessments of ministers made about | :59:34. | :59:37. | |
consuls who do bring forward the preset increase around social care | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
for those consuls who have a very low council tax base and actually | :59:42. | :59:44. | |
this will not bring forward the required funding to ensure that | :59:45. | :59:48. | |
social care continues at the level it should in areas like this? Part | :59:49. | :59:54. | |
of the settlement that was made in the spending review was to include | :59:55. | :59:57. | |
this new council tax preset lawful in addition to the better care funds | :59:58. | :00:02. | |
so that on top of the resources that consuls already invest, we will be | :00:03. | :00:10. | |
able to invest more than the local Government Association requested for | :00:11. | :00:12. | |
social care in advance of the spending review. | :00:13. | :00:18. | |
Urgent question. Thank you Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State for | :00:19. | :00:28. | |
Health to make a statement on the junior doctors contract | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
negotiations. I'd be delighted to get the house. This government was | :00:33. | :00:39. | |
elected on a mandate to provide for the NHS of the resources that asked | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
for and to Mitch hour and a truly seven-day service. Demand better we | :00:45. | :00:54. | |
can support services, a better seven-day social care services to | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
facilitate begins discharging, and better primary care access. | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
Consistent seven-day services also demand reform for staff contracts | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
including those of junior doctors. Anyway the matches patient demand | :01:13. | :01:15. | |
more evenly across every day of the week. Despite a government asking | :01:16. | :01:23. | |
them to return, did not start talking again and to the end of | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
November last year. It talks facilitated. There are December we | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
made very good progress on a wide range of issues. Regrettably we do | :01:34. | :01:42. | |
not come to an agreement. On many issues including we can pay rates. | :01:43. | :01:52. | |
We supported one of our most respected executives to take | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
negotiations on behalf of the NHS. However despite agreeing to | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
negotiate on the issue we can pay rates we have been advised that they | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
have refused to discuss Saturday pay. As letter to Secretary of | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
State, given that we have made much progress of the last few weeks it is | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
very disappointing that they refuse to negotiate on Saturday payment. | :02:24. | :02:34. | |
Both parties agree to debate on this. The government is clear that | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
our door remains open for further discussion and we urge them to | :02:40. | :02:47. | |
return the cable. Or greatly they are striking for a 24-hour period | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
this Wednesday. They're trying to minimise risk for harm to the | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
public, but I regret to inform the House that latest estimates say that | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
more than 2000 operations have been cancelled. Hope that the members | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
from both of the house or will join me in telling them to call off the | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
strike and work with us to offer patients consistent standards of | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
care every day of the week. Hear, hear! Thank you Mr Speaker. There's | :03:21. | :03:30. | |
so much to be said about this abuse it's hard to know where to begin. | :03:31. | :03:36. | |
Let me ask the Minister for questions one, the Health Secretary | :03:37. | :03:47. | |
says his door is open. Kenny Mr envision a new contract where it | :03:48. | :03:57. | |
only applies to Saturday morning. The second question, will the | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
Minister will out imposing a second contract. Can he not see how harmful | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
it would be to patients given its impact on staff row the risk of a | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
projected period of industrial action and the applications of | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
future recruitment and retention. The third question, can he confirm | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
that pay protection to one in four junior doctors mean that those doing | :04:27. | :04:29. | |
the equivalent jobs in the future will be worse off. Shouldn't we | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
value the junior doctors of tomorrow as much as we value those of today? | :04:35. | :04:42. | |
And finally the fourth question, throughout this dispute ministers | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
have repeatedly conflated the need to reform the junior doctor contract | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
with their manifesto commitment to a seven-day NHS. Kenny Messer name a | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
single chief executive who has told him that the junior doctor contract | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
is the barrier to providing high-quality care 24/7. If junior | :05:03. | :05:11. | |
doctors of the staff group have to change their working powders to | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
deliver this, which other groups of NHS staff will need to have the | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
definition of unsocial hours changed in their contracts in this | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
Parliament? Mr Speaker, in the last year the house secretary had implied | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
that the doctors do not work weekends. He has insinuated that | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
juniors are somehow to blame for deaths among patients admitted on | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
Saturdays and Sundays. He has insulted the profession's | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
intelligence that they had been misled by the AMA. If he was here, I | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
would ask him if he regrets how he has handled this dispute. But he has | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
not got the nerve to turn up. No one is saying that the contract is | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
perfect, but speak to anyone in the NHS and they will tell you that this | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
whole episode has been an exercise in using a sledgehammer to crack a | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
nut. It is time for the governments to do what is right the patients, | :06:12. | :06:13. | |
staff, and the NHS. The Honorable Lady asks where to | :06:14. | :06:29. | |
begin. I will say this to her. Where we begin is a promise of the | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
electorate with the seven-day services so we can make care more | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
consistent throughout the week. And bring down the rates of avoidable | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
death. That is the aim of this government. It is one they have | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
pursued previous Coalition guys in this government for some years. The | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
negotiations that have been going on for some years has been framed | :06:55. | :06:56. | |
probably in that respect during that time. She asks a number of questions | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
which I shall answer directly. She asked was the door is open and | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
whether the Secretary of State is whether to see further talks. They | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
remain open throughout this entire process. In the summer when they | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
made a principal point on not returning to talks with asked them | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
to come back to the negotiating table time and time again. I have | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
done so personally. As is the Secretary of State. The door does | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
remain open and hold those contacts will retain you up until the strike. | :07:34. | :07:41. | |
She asks if there is discussion to be had on Saturdays. The secretary | :07:42. | :07:47. | |
has made plain through this aspect that the contract is open to | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
discussion. What is not up for discussion is the ability of | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
hospitals to be able to Roster clinicians on the consistent basis | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
throughout the reek. The people who are big refusing to negotiate is the | :08:04. | :08:14. | |
British medical Association. Despite their assurances, or their promises, | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
that they wish to discuss this issue have now refused to do precisely | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
that. We are left at an impasse where I am it afraid the one item | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
left to discuss which is Saturdays, they refusing point-blank to open. | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
As they call it on an issue of principle. For us, the principal is | :08:35. | :08:40. | |
patient safety. That is why we will not move. The second point she asked | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
about, was around the introduction of a new contract. At some point the | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
government needs to make a decision. We've extended time and time again | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
at the point which will introduce a new contract. So we can give time | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
for talks to proceed. Even though the BMA refused to discuss this for | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
years. Up until this point. At some point we'll have to make the changes | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
which are necessary in order to get the consistency of service. The | :09:10. | :09:17. | |
weekend. We cannot delay this any longer. No secretary or Minister of | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
health could stand in the face of many academic studies which have | :09:23. | :09:25. | |
shown an avoidable week and effect fact is that nothing should happen. | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
Of course it should be done in concert with other contract changes | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
with changing the availability of diagnostics and pharmacy and other | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
services. It has to be done at some point. That point is fast | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
approaching. She asks whether imposition would be harmful to | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
patients. Ask her to consider whether avoiding changing blustering | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
patterns so that we can eliminate the weekend effect would itself be | :09:58. | :10:03. | |
harmful to patients. She asks around pay protection, pay protection which | :10:04. | :10:12. | |
we have urged the members by the beginning of this process to be | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
clear and they willfully misled their members about the payoff that | :10:16. | :10:22. | |
we put on the table. I would ask are therefore to be careful what she | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
says because this cohort of junior doctors, this is a very good deal. | :10:27. | :10:31. | |
For those coming to the service, they could be ensured a quality of | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
contract with the current cohort had not been able to benefit from. A | :10:37. | :10:48. | |
reduction in the massive number of consecutive... A reduction in the | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
consecutive long late shifts down from 12 to five. A reduction in the | :10:53. | :10:57. | |
massive number of hours and a week from 91 to 72. Improvement in the | :10:58. | :11:03. | |
contract which will protect the safety and working practices of | :11:04. | :11:04. | |
future generations of working doctors. I will remind the Honorable | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
Lady when she wrapped up her remarks. Whether she asked whether | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
we has any regrets about the way this is proceeded, we do have | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
regrets. We have regrets that the BMA willfully misled its members. | :11:22. | :11:29. | |
Hear, hear! Making them believe that there would be a cut hours neither | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
of which was true. The BMA refused to talk to us for months on end when | :11:35. | :11:44. | |
many of these issues... The BMA has gone back on its promise to discuss | :11:45. | :11:51. | |
playing time hours. A promises they have reneged upon. Those matters | :11:52. | :12:02. | |
which are most important to doctors to protect patient safety. That is | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
why in the end we will have to come to a decision on this contract for | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
the betterment of patients in the consistency of clinical standards | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
throughout the week. Under the current contract to many junior | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
doctors are being forced to work excessive hours and are | :12:22. | :12:23. | |
overstretched during the hours that they are working. Could the | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
ministers had a setup of those hours will be reduced could ensure that | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
those measures will be put in place to make sure that managers do not | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
let that slip and we do not return the days of worked junior doctors? | :12:36. | :12:43. | |
She is right to say that new measures have been interested in | :12:44. | :12:52. | |
this contract. They will help protect the hours of junior doctors | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
within individual trust. This is been a point of success in terms of | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
negotiation between the BMA and NHS employers. We have a new fine system | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
not currently in place which will penalise trusts and ensure that the | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
monies that are generated by the finds go toward enhancing the | :13:11. | :13:12. | |
general well-being in training in the doctors of the stress. I'm | :13:13. | :13:22. | |
disappointed that is not the Secretary of State we are speaking | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
to today. The minister does refer again to weaken deaths. They gently | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
point out that if the evidence from Fremantle studied there is actually | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
a lower level of deaths at weekends and maybe we could be a bit more | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
precise over talking about people admitted on weekends who died within | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
the next 30 days. I welcome the commitment to increase diagnostics | :13:47. | :13:48. | |
and social care and I think anyone in the NHS will. Junior doctors | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
already worked seven days in seven nights a week. I do not see how | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
junior doctors can actually be the barrier in this case to the safety | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
of patients. I do think that looking back the Secretary of State, and | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
indeed the Minister may regret how this was handled. From last summer | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
and has been so combative. In October one we debated the junior | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
doctors, the Secretary of State was the refusing to go to the table. | :14:19. | :14:25. | |
This cannot all be put on the BMA. Doctors are not stupid and they are | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
capable of reading what is offered. Many of the junior doctors that have | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
written to me have talked about the fear of hours getting out of | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
control. And the fact that when I was a junior doctor are hours | :14:37. | :14:43. | |
ridiculous, it was the automatic financial and to trust to change | :14:44. | :14:50. | |
things. They should be listened to and not patronized. I think that is | :14:51. | :14:58. | |
aggravated things further. Husband dealt with from beginning to end has | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
been very disappointing. We are facing a second day of strike for | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
the first time in 40 years. What is the Minister feel will be brought to | :15:09. | :15:11. | |
the table by the Department of Health in the next few days to try | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
and get out of this, and try and get a different approach? We do not have | :15:16. | :15:19. | |
junior doctors in the streets in Scotland. You have to ask yourself | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
what you have them in the streets here. You rightly point the fact | :15:24. | :15:34. | |
that vulnerable mortality attributed to weekends is different for Beacon | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
mortality. In public statements he has made, it does exist, that gap. A | :15:39. | :15:47. | |
professor has been clear in his statements that there is an | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
avoidable rate of mortality. Because of the weekend effect. He said he | :15:51. | :15:57. | |
could save lives. We as clinicians said should collectively seek to | :15:58. | :16:06. | |
solve. I have to say to her that the way she characterize the discussions | :16:07. | :16:09. | |
in September and October and November are not quite right. We | :16:10. | :16:17. | |
were employing the BMA to come to talk. They refused to do so. It was | :16:18. | :16:26. | |
only when they came and talked to us and we made substantive progress. | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
She is absolutely right to raise many of the issues, and many of them | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
were around protecting for excess hours. We have a counterpart with | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
him to negotiate. Since we have a counterparty revealed to have a | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
really good series of progress and the result is the starting position | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
and one that she welcomed any other place, and the Guardian will be able | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
to levy fines. It is a process which I hope, and I expect to reduce the | :16:58. | :17:04. | |
excess hours with currently are seen. We need to get away from the | :17:05. | :17:13. | |
perverse incentives, which means that unsafe working hours are | :17:14. | :17:16. | |
perpetuated. Of course we all regret that this has taken a bad course. I | :17:17. | :17:25. | |
would taken this course had the BMA taken a responsible position right | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
from the beginning. If you lie to your members, if you say they're | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
going to have a pay cut and I was raised of course doctors are going | :17:34. | :17:39. | |
to be angry it. The fact is that it is never true. The result is that as | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
inflamed the situation we could have had the counterproductive talks that | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
we have had over the last few weeks, we could've had this back in August | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
or September, having not had any mess beforehand because of | :17:52. | :17:58. | |
untruthful statements by the BMA. The level of support among junior | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
doctors among the pay dispute is in part to you the dissatisfaction of | :18:07. | :18:08. | |
the experience being a junior doctor. Could my Honorable friend | :18:09. | :18:16. | |
advised with the government intends to commission the sort of review? I | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
think my Honorable friend I can confirm that we will be looking at | :18:22. | :18:30. | |
Sir David Dalton's recommendation. The 1995 contract is an imperfect | :18:31. | :18:40. | |
one. That contract and its generality has helped contribute to | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
the lessening of morale and the junior doctor workforce. As has the | :18:46. | :18:53. | |
Secretary of State. The training placements are put on a source of | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
problems of the contract. You very long periods of consecutive nights | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
in dates all of which are brought in the contract. Is the Minister aware | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
that it takes two sides to cause a strike. It cannot happen just | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
because one side of the argument what they strike. This minister, the | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
Secretary of State has been looking for a fight with the doctors ever | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
since he got the job. Does he realise that when I came here 45 | :19:27. | :19:34. | |
years ago I was getting time at the half for all day Saturday and | :19:35. | :19:42. | |
double-time like other minors for Sunday. The doctors, every time the | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
replaced by nurses is costing the government and the taxpayers a small | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
fortune, get the matter centred and be decent for a change! The | :19:55. | :20:02. | |
Honorable gentleman has long prided himself as being a champion of the | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
working people. The current contract and the proposed contract of the BMA | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
that the Honorable Lady I presume supports, before his junior doctors | :20:11. | :20:20. | |
over other jobs giving a better pay rates, a premium rate that could not | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
be enjoyed by lesser paid workers. Under contract because she do but | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
unions that he supports. The final morphing of the Labour Party into a | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
party that prefers professionals over portals. | :20:36. | :20:45. | |
I support the governments stance on June doctors. That's junior doctors. | :20:46. | :21:04. | |
When he agree that the doctors set the tempo? Via said Ray from the | :21:05. | :21:13. | |
beginning that it is the contract that is going to be critical into | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
delivering seven-day services. It is important to make sure the | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
consultants are providing cover over weekends. Not just for the benefit | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
of patients but for juniors. Is it not at the very least odd Mr | :21:26. | :21:40. | |
Speaker, that the Secretary of State yet again chooses to stay away and | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
not come himself to answer questions on this very important subject? I | :21:45. | :21:51. | |
know is a former health minister at the BMA could be difficult. The | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
Secretary of State has become the main obstacle to this crisis. The | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
honourable gentleman will know the previous Labour government had far | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
more scraps with the BMA to the previous Coalition. This is | :22:08. | :22:18. | |
something that is a mark of how secretaries. He will be here | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
tomorrow, since the honourable gentleman asks. Nobody that came | :22:25. | :22:33. | |
into the chamber after the questions started with expect to be called, | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
that would be quite out of keeping with our parliamentary traditions. | :22:39. | :22:49. | |
This view has nothing to do with pay. It has led to a national strike | :22:50. | :23:02. | |
for the first time in 40 years. What is going on here? That is a question | :23:03. | :23:11. | |
I am increasingly asking of the BMA leadership. They have agreed with | :23:12. | :23:17. | |
Sir David Dalton that the issue is around pay. They're now in the end | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
come clean that is not about pay. That is what we're dealing with. | :23:26. | :23:33. | |
They whisper preferred rates -- which for preferred rates. I would | :23:34. | :23:44. | |
say to administer the junior doctors in my constituency are reluctantly | :23:45. | :23:51. | |
taking action on this, but they are supported by my constituents who | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
think it is a disgrace that they enforce to take industrial action. | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
The government is failing to address the concerns being raised by BMA. | :24:01. | :24:07. | |
The minister says his door is open, but can he say he will actually do | :24:08. | :24:15. | |
anything to settle this dispute. The Honorable lady that junior doctors | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
have legitimate concerns, and every single one of them has been | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
answered. Apart from one, and that is the one that the BMA refuses to | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
open negotiations on. Guess our door remains open but they first have to | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
remain open to talk to us which they are refusing to do so. Junior | :24:39. | :24:48. | |
doctors are some of the most dedicated and hard working peoples | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
and our local community. Some have cited information from the BMA | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
suggesting that the government is proposing a pay cut. Any minister | :24:58. | :25:00. | |
make the position crystal clear is that right? No it is not. Does the | :25:01. | :25:10. | |
Minister ever wonder whether he has chosen the wrong target. He bases | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
his entire argument on safety and rightly so. Chairs and chief | :25:15. | :25:23. | |
executives tell me they have no difficulty staffing the hospitals | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
with junior doctors over weekends, but our GP services are under | :25:30. | :25:33. | |
incredible strain across the country, it is threadbare. That is | :25:34. | :25:40. | |
where the real concern lies. The right honourable gentleman will know | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
that we are looking at contract for GPs and consultants and junior | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
doctors. You cannot see one clinical group in isolation. They were | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
together. He he should know that in concluding discussions with doctors | :25:55. | :25:57. | |
and GPs may need to make sure that we give hospitals and primary care | :25:58. | :26:03. | |
is consistently trumps evidence of week. I met with junior doctor | :26:04. | :26:10. | |
colleagues of the last few weeks and months, many of whom are cautious | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
about the new contracts, but strike action is the last resort and they | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
would rather not take it. The operation is going to be cancelled | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
this week thanks to the strike action, is his door still open at | :26:27. | :26:33. | |
this late hour. Would you not also called the Secretary of State to | :26:34. | :26:40. | |
condemn the strike? My Honorable friend points to an interesting fact | :26:41. | :26:47. | |
that despite his many months of discussion we were never had a clear | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
line from the Secretary of State whether they condemn or support the | :26:53. | :26:54. | |
industrial action. Elisa would know whose side they're on. What are they | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
on the side of patients, whether we are trying to illuminate the weekend | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
effect or whether they ought on the side of the BMA. I find it very | :27:05. | :27:15. | |
unfortunate from the tone from the Minister opposite in regards to | :27:16. | :27:18. | |
these doctors if they don't care and don't want to help their patients, I | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
find that really regrettable. In my time as an official, when I used to | :27:25. | :27:31. | |
represent workers in the health care sector, the BMA was highly known as | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
a militant in that organisation. Can I ask the Minister does he really | :27:37. | :27:44. | |
think that this is all the blame of the BMA and the doctors? Doctors | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
care about their patients, that is why they are in this position! Do | :27:49. | :27:54. | |
you not respect -- accept any responsibility? We have questioned | :27:55. | :28:02. | |
the tactics that the leadership of the BMA, and I also agree with her | :28:03. | :28:13. | |
about her previous employer, we disagree often but we agree on many | :28:14. | :28:17. | |
things and we have a very straightforward relationship. They | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
promised to talk about one thing, but refuse to weeks later. They | :28:25. | :28:27. | |
refuse to cut the negotiation table months. The residents of my | :28:28. | :28:42. | |
constituency tell things, secondly just how disappointed they are that | :28:43. | :28:54. | |
we are not united in this house. Is the Minister as disappointed as my | :28:55. | :29:03. | |
residence? The 2800 people who have had cancellations their operations. | :29:04. | :29:11. | |
I wonder whether they think the opposition supports the cancellation | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
or whether they condemn it? As soon as we have an answer to that | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
question it will be easy to know the official position. Yesterday at the | :29:21. | :29:27. | |
Secretary of State for Health accused the BMA a misleading junior | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
doctors. Today the Minister comes to the house and accuses the BMA | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
applying. If you really asking this house to believe that the most | :29:40. | :29:43. | |
intelligent people in the country, the junior doctors, really cannot | :29:44. | :29:46. | |
see what the government is proposing for themselves. Does he feel that | :29:47. | :29:53. | |
this continued abuse that directed at that junior doctors is hindering | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
any possibility of a settlement of this to be at what is damaging to | :29:59. | :30:08. | |
patients? I'll ask her this, if the trusted body like the BMA tells its | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
members that they will have a pay cut to 30% and an increase in hours | :30:14. | :30:19. | |
and that's statement is incorrect, does it constitute a lie? Is the | :30:20. | :30:27. | |
question I would put to her. A number of colleagues met with the | :30:28. | :30:36. | |
parliaments and we were disappointed that they refused to go to the | :30:37. | :30:39. | |
negotiating table. They eventually did and made progress. My | :30:40. | :30:48. | |
constituents want a safe NHS. Is it time to get back to the tables that | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
provide the services that the patients want. That's why we need to | :30:52. | :30:58. | |
move ahead with this in the and the people that will suffer most from | :30:59. | :31:05. | |
not making reforms will be patients. Any | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
The Shadow Health Secretary at the Minister if he could miss the | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
hospitals which do not have a new junior doctors working over the | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
weekend, here is another chance. Would you name them for us now. In | :31:21. | :31:26. | |
evidence given to the doctors peer review body, it is clear that rough | :31:27. | :31:28. | |
terrain was made more difficult by the current playing time terms | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
within the contract, that is why it has been on the table now for | :31:34. | :31:36. | |
several years, it is why it has formed part of the discussions when | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
we had them with the British medical Association, it is why the latest | :31:42. | :31:44. | |
round of talks led by one of the leading chief executives in the | :31:45. | :31:46. | |
country, search Ada Dalton, he has pressed the BMA to come and talk | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
about it particularly this time in general and he refused to speak | :31:52. | :31:56. | |
about both. Whatever the arguments in this case, I can think of no more | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
honourable decent and honest negotiations than my right | :32:01. | :32:02. | |
honourable friend the Secretary of State. The report is that the | :32:03. | :32:07. | |
graduating medical students applying to the foundation in year one and | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
two junior hospital doctors are seeking work in Northern Ireland, | :32:12. | :32:14. | |
Scotland, and will still avoid the new contract. Is this true and if it | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
is, what can be done to stop this train of our best medical students? | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
We do not see any particular evidence at the moment, the best | :32:25. | :32:28. | |
thing we would like to see Virginia's is he the new contract so | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
that we can see it is going to be but therefore there working | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
practices than the current one. It all of our interests, not just | :32:37. | :32:39. | |
humans but also patients to make sure that juniors are working the | :32:40. | :32:42. | |
hours which is why the new contract has got reductions on long days and | :32:43. | :32:46. | |
it is why we want to reduce and eliminate the excessively long hours | :32:47. | :32:52. | |
of the week. I am sure that the ministers have a very good idea and | :32:53. | :32:56. | |
clear idea of how their proposals would affect working practices. Can | :32:57. | :32:59. | |
I the Minister on how many occasions last year did a junior doctor worked | :33:00. | :33:06. | |
91 hours or more a week? Believe that there are about 500 junior | :33:07. | :33:10. | |
doctors treat the cars of last year operating on the been the payment | :33:11. | :33:15. | |
which equates to the payments above the working Time regulations, it is | :33:16. | :33:19. | |
a regularly small number, it is still significant and for those | :33:20. | :33:21. | |
doctors who are working the excessive hours, it is unsafe. We'll | :33:22. | :33:28. | |
be minister join me in thanking those junior doctors who ignore the | :33:29. | :33:32. | |
call for strike last time during the election, and also agree with me | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
that the lack of condemnation from the opposition means that there are | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
putting their supports in front of my constituents and their health | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
care needs Islamic State I completely agree with my Honorable | :33:47. | :33:49. | |
friend, rather like an arsonist poured petrol on a fired in running | :33:50. | :33:53. | |
for hope to put it out, the opposition has done very little to | :33:54. | :33:57. | |
help you get this contract into a place that it needs to be and stop | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
industrial action. I'm afraid that those patients were going to have | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
council operations this week are to suffer because of the opposition's | :34:07. | :34:09. | |
Philly to take a firm stand on this issue. The Minister will be aware | :34:10. | :34:15. | |
that works in hospital has been enormously improved in the quality | :34:16. | :34:18. | |
of care which it gives to its patients. It has done that with the | :34:19. | :34:22. | |
same stuff, but with a leadership which says to the people working in | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
the hospital, they have confidence in them, they share values, and yet | :34:27. | :34:31. | |
this minister is saying that he's the only person who cares about | :34:32. | :34:34. | |
patient safety and suggesting that doctors do not. What does that do | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
for morale and their ability to improve the quality of care? I am | :34:39. | :34:46. | |
not sure how to enter the Honorable Lady's question seeing as he | :34:47. | :34:49. | |
misconstrued what I said, I never once suggested that it is only the | :34:50. | :34:52. | |
government that cares for patient safety. Almost every doctor out | :34:53. | :34:56. | |
there cares for nothing other than patient safety, and patient care. I | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
have to say to her, that if we are going to get consistent levels of | :35:01. | :35:04. | |
care across the weekend, according to the academy and medical colleges | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
of ten clinical standards, part of that is going to be achieved by | :35:09. | :35:14. | |
staff contracts, one of those is the junior doctors. That is why we must | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
press ahead with it. I would like to start by committing my Honorable | :35:21. | :35:23. | |
friend for all the work he is doing to deliver the chilli seven day a | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
week health service that I know, not just members of my constituency will | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
benefit from but each and every one of us in this chamber. I am a little | :35:32. | :35:34. | |
surprised though that the Honorable lady opposite said no one is saying | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
the existing contract is perfect. Would you agree with me that we | :35:40. | :35:41. | |
should all be working together in the interest of our constituents to | :35:42. | :35:47. | |
bring this situation to a successful conclusion? And that band playing | :35:48. | :35:55. | |
political points with it. I agreed my Honorable friend, I am afraid it | :35:56. | :35:58. | |
is a mark of the week the Labour Party has changed, I suspect had | :35:59. | :36:03. | |
there been a Labour Party of a different era, one that was rather | :36:04. | :36:05. | |
more responsible about the way that it dealt with industrial disputes, | :36:06. | :36:08. | |
that they would have seen on whose side they should be acting at this | :36:09. | :36:15. | |
point. Thank you Mr Speaker, it is a conservative government and to have | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
a strike of this sort on a government's watch it a bit grace | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
and a failure, and really listen to the Minister and I like the Minister | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
actually, but he is only ever played the blame elsewhere, Shorty, a | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
government should be evaluating its own performance and saying we can do | :36:36. | :36:38. | |
better than this, we can make sure that this does not happen even at | :36:39. | :36:45. | |
this 11th hour. The honourable gentleman tempt me with kindness, I | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
repaid the compliment, all I can say to him is that having been involved | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
in this process for some months now, I have found it incredibly | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
frustrating, every time we have asked the BMA to, talked up until | :36:59. | :37:01. | |
the end of November, they have refused, despite personal | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
entreaties. When they did talk, they did find that we have no doubt an | :37:06. | :37:08. | |
agreement only to find it soothing of your fingers the next day in | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
front of the media. It has been a hugely frustrating process for | :37:13. | :37:15. | |
everyone concerned, it is White has been such a difficult process, not | :37:16. | :37:19. | |
just for us but for junior doctors who have been left confounded and | :37:20. | :37:26. | |
confused by the whole thing. Thank you Mr Speaker, with the Minister | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
agree with me that junior doctors most of them if not all exceed their | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
contracted hours? And therefore the 72 hour limit is essential and will | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
he acknowledge even after when I hope these negotiations are | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
complete, there will be many junior doctors exceeding their contracted | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
hours? There are some junior doctors who exceed their hours, the arms | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
across the country is 72 hours, some are exceeding eight to 91 which is | :38:01. | :38:03. | |
the currently permitted limit outside the working Time directive. | :38:04. | :38:06. | |
We wish to stop it altogether and bring it down an absolute maximum 70 | :38:07. | :38:10. | |
hours in a week which would equate to a 48 hour average over the period | :38:11. | :38:16. | |
it is looked at, currently six months. The keys to get the number | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
of hours down because when you are working excessive hours it is unsafe | :38:21. | :38:28. | |
for patients and for doctors. The Minister has been keen to establish | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
what he sees as the preferential conditions that junior doctors | :38:33. | :38:38. | |
endure. Yet, sir David Goffin in his interview with the health service | :38:39. | :38:40. | |
Journal said my assessment is that the staff group that will have to | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
contribute the least above that which they are providing at the | :38:45. | :38:47. | |
moment with the outward doctors in training. He says our messaging on | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
this has got muddled, but the Minister agree? Sir David Goffin is | :38:53. | :39:00. | |
clear that we have to reform all contracts, now you can place the | :39:01. | :39:02. | |
balance where you wish, but it is important that we actually perform | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
the juniors and the consultants contracts together so they can fit | :39:08. | :39:11. | |
other pieces within the service. It is wrong for instant to be able to | :39:12. | :39:15. | |
have a junior on duty taking decisions over the weekend, not | :39:16. | :39:17. | |
covered by consultants who are able to supervise and help with that | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
decision and we need to make sure there is consistency through the | :39:24. | :39:26. | |
week and weekend involving both juniors and seniors. Mr Speaker I | :39:27. | :39:34. | |
represent many Junior doctors, I have met them and have tried to | :39:35. | :39:36. | |
represent their views to the government, but I have always taken | :39:37. | :39:39. | |
the view that my primary possibility is to the patient of the NHS, of one | :39:40. | :39:45. | |
of those patients they e-mailed me this weekend to see that one of the | :39:46. | :39:48. | |
consequences of the strike will be the cancellation of his White's | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
biopsied plan for next week with cheap rights without this are the | :39:54. | :39:59. | |
shortened a difficult life will be even shorter. We'll the shadow | :40:00. | :40:02. | |
minister and the whole house join me in condemning the strike, it will | :40:03. | :40:06. | |
achieve nothing, it is a distraction from the negotiations that need to | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
continue, and will put the lives of my constituents and others across | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
the country at risk. Hear, hear! I cannot possibly add to the comment | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
of my Honorable friend, I shall hope the service areas they take note. | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
Strike action is always a last resort, I can say categorically as | :40:28. | :40:34. | |
an ex-NHS worker that no NHS worker wants to go on strike, what we have | :40:35. | :40:40. | |
here is a complete failure of metal Ossetians. The Secretary of State | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
door may be open by the inflammatory and frankly insulting comments he | :40:46. | :40:48. | |
made on the media this weekend do not exactly invite people to cross | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
that threshold and talk to him. Given that he has manifested failed | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
as a negotiator, is it about time he stood by him as he aside, and that a | :41:01. | :41:07. | |
negotiator deal with the BMA and come to an agreement before it is | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
too late? I am not sure the honourable lady has been listening | :41:14. | :41:15. | |
to the statements made in this House and elsewhere. I am not sure she has | :41:16. | :41:19. | |
been missing because she would have heard that the negotiations already | :41:20. | :41:24. | |
have been taken on by beating was she stares from NHS employers and by | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
Sir David Dalton one of the leading executives in the country, | :41:30. | :41:34. | |
significant progress has been made, contrary to what she has thus | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
suggested, negotiations have worked, we have managed to nail down, she | :41:39. | :41:42. | |
shakes her head, but the fact is sir David Dalton has managed to secure | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
on every single point of contention other than the rates for playing | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
time, unsocial hours, and on Saturdays. The kind of results we | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
are going to see across the country on Wednesday would essentially be | :41:59. | :42:02. | |
around the rates on a Saturday for which the BMA wants preferential | :42:03. | :42:05. | |
rates over nurses, porches, cleaners and other workers in the NHS. May I | :42:06. | :42:12. | |
join colleagues in thanking the Minister and the Secretary of State | :42:13. | :42:16. | |
for all their work in negotiating a contract which is obviously quite a | :42:17. | :42:21. | |
tough discussion. On many of my constituents may have sympathized | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
last year with the BMA's case, patients and their families | :42:26. | :42:27. | |
including my own father after a recent heart valve replacement job | :42:28. | :42:30. | |
will be concerned that the BMA is not getting around negotiating | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
negotiating table placing undue stress on the most vulnerable. We | :42:36. | :42:38. | |
agree with me that the BMA should consider those patients as they | :42:39. | :42:45. | |
protect their negotiations? If the BMA were replanting its members they | :42:46. | :42:47. | |
would be thinking about the patient welfare during the strikes, we have | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
heard with great eloquence just now about the effects on individual | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
levels the strikes will cost. The strikes will get us no nearer to a | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
solution. The only way to come to a solution here is by negotiation. | :43:00. | :43:05. | |
This is Speaker, this testament to the progress being made over the | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
course of these negotiations at the BMA has cancelled some strikes and | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
indeed downgraded the one that we are expecting on Wednesday, does my | :43:13. | :43:15. | |
Honorable friend agree with me that one crucial thing that would make | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
the greater difference would be condemnation from the other side of | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
this house? Hear, hear! I think you'd make a significant difference | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
now that the leader for Her Majesty's opposition is sitting on | :43:30. | :43:31. | |
the front bench, he would like to take note. The fact is if you have | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
united response condemning strikes which affect patients and their | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
safety, it helps to bring negotiations to a more profitable | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
and? The infirmary is currently under blackbird, local people have | :43:48. | :43:49. | |
been told not to attend the hospital unless it is a matter of life or | :43:50. | :43:56. | |
death. Can the Minister Tommy how the secretary of state the insults | :43:57. | :43:59. | |
he has been throwing around and insult the Minister has made today | :44:00. | :44:01. | |
about hard-working and dedicated junior doctors, will help people who | :44:02. | :44:07. | |
need a functioning NHS and also improve the morale of those doctors? | :44:08. | :44:11. | |
The honourable lady does dangerous work if she tries to complete the | :44:12. | :44:14. | |
comment that I and others have made about the leadership of the BMA, not | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
of whom I have impugned, the fact is that I recognised the junior doctors | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
worked incredibly hard, they care passionately about their patients, | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
and they have a vocational drive to do the best to the people they care | :44:27. | :44:29. | |
for, it is different from an organisation which refuses to talk, | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
refuses to negotiate, lies to its members, and is very slippery in the | :44:35. | :44:38. | |
statement put out to the press. Hear, hear! The General Hospital is | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
under huge pressure and the Junior doctors at the hospital do a | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
fantastic job, but may I tell the Minister that my constituents would | :44:49. | :44:51. | |
be extremely disturbed to hear him tell the House today that at the | :44:52. | :44:56. | |
talks, the BMA said they would negotiate about that today pay and | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
and are now refusing to do so, and consequence of the strike on | :45:02. | :45:04. | |
Wednesday, my constituents are appalled that 2884 operations have | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
already been cancelled with that number possibly going even higher. | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
The Honorable friend is right, it is one of the number of agreements that | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
we have come to be the BMA over the course of these discussions which | :45:20. | :45:22. | |
have been reneged upon by the organisation. It is why this whole | :45:23. | :45:25. | |
process has been so torturous for everyone involved. Order! The | :45:26. | :45:32. | |
Secretary of State for International Development. Secretary Justine | :45:33. | :45:43. | |
Greening. Thank you Mr Speaker, with permission I should make a statement | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
updating the House on the recent theory a conference which the UK | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
co-hosted with chelate, Norway, Germany, and the United Nations last | :45:53. | :45:56. | |
Thursday. 25 years, the Syrian people have suffered unimaginable | :45:57. | :46:01. | |
horrors at the hands of the Assad regime and more recently Daesh, | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
inside Syria there are 13 and a half million people in desperate need and | :46:08. | :46:10. | |
a further 4.6 million people have become refugees. And indeed as we | :46:11. | :46:16. | |
have seen the past hours alone, the impact of this crisis on the people | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
of the region is terrible and profound. I was in Lebanon last | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
month and Jordan, spoke to refugees, some of whom are now spending their | :46:26. | :46:31. | |
fifth winter under a tent. Their stories are similar. When they left | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
their homes and when they thought that they would be back in weeks or | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
months at most, but for over a the many of them minister not to be | :46:42. | :46:46. | |
years with no end in sight. Syria is now not only the world's biggest and | :46:47. | :46:53. | |
most urgently crisis, a far-reaching consequences are being felt across | :46:54. | :46:55. | |
Europe and touching our lives here in Britain. More than 1 million | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
refugees and migrants risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean | :47:01. | :47:03. | |
last year, and of those around half were fleeing from the bloodbath in | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
Syria. Mr Speaker, since the fighting began. Britain has been at | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria conflict. A | :47:13. | :47:17. | |
firm the UK is already helping to provide food for people inside Syria | :47:18. | :47:22. | |
every month, as well as clean water, and sanitation for hundreds of | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
thousands of refugees across the region. Our work on the Syria crisis | :47:28. | :47:30. | |
is people in the region hope for a better future, and is also firmly in | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
Britain's national interest. In fact, without British aid, hundreds | :47:36. | :47:40. | |
of thousands more refugees could feel they have no alternative but to | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
risk their lives by seeking to get to Europe. But more is needed, the | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
UN Syria appeals for the whole of last year ended up only 54% funded. | :47:51. | :47:56. | |
Other countries needed to follow the UK's lead and to step up to the | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
plate. That is why the UK announced that we would co-host an | :48:02. | :48:04. | |
international conference in London on behalf of Syria and the region. | :48:05. | :48:08. | |
This will build on the successful conferences held in chelate in | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
previous years. Mr Speaker, on Thursday last week we brought | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
together over 60 countries and organizations including 33 heads of | :48:18. | :48:21. | |
states and governments. The stage was set for the international | :48:22. | :48:24. | |
community to deliver real and lasting change for the people | :48:25. | :48:29. | |
affected by this crisis. But, in the end it was going to come down to | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
choices. Could we pledge the record-breaking billions needed | :48:36. | :48:38. | |
going much further than previous conferences? Could be commit to | :48:39. | :48:45. | |
going beyond people's basic needs and delivering viable long-term | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
solutions on jobs and education for Syria's refugees but also for the | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
countries supporting them. At the London conference, the world may be | :48:56. | :48:57. | |
right choices to do all of those things, countries, donors, and | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
businesses all stacked up and read new funds for this crisis to the of | :49:03. | :49:11. | |
over $11 billion. This included five for the 2016 and another $5.4 | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
billion over the period of 2017 to 2020. This is the largest ever | :49:18. | :49:21. | |
amounts committed in a response to a humanitarian crisis in a single day. | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
He means More ace being raised in the first five weeks of this year | :49:28. | :49:30. | |
for the Syria crisis than in the whole of 2015. The UK once again | :49:31. | :49:38. | |
played a part. We announced he would be doubling our commitment, | :49:39. | :49:40. | |
increasing our total pledged to Syria and the region to over ?2.3 | :49:41. | :49:46. | |
billion. Going beyond people's basic needs at the London conference, the | :49:47. | :49:50. | |
world said that there must be no lost generation of Syrian children. | :49:51. | :49:55. | |
Pledging to deliver education to children, inside Syria, and | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
education to at least 1 million refugees and host community children | :50:02. | :50:03. | |
in the region outside Syria who are out of school. This is an essential | :50:04. | :50:10. | |
investment Mr Speaker, not only in these children but in Syria's | :50:11. | :50:14. | |
future. It also gives those countries generously hosting | :50:15. | :50:18. | |
refugees temporarily the investment in their education systems that will | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
benefit them for the longer-term. The London conference also made | :50:23. | :50:26. | |
equivocal choice on supporting jobs for refugees and economic growth in | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
the countries hosting them. We hope that historic commitments for | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan will create at least 1 million jobs in | :50:36. | :50:38. | |
countries neighbouring Syria so that refugees have a livelihood and place | :50:39. | :50:44. | |
to live among this will create jobs for local people and against the | :50:45. | :50:48. | |
legacy this time of economic growth. By making these choices, we are | :50:49. | :50:51. | |
investing in what is overwhelmingly the first choice of Syrian refugees | :50:52. | :50:55. | |
to stay in the region and to stay closer to their home country. And | :50:56. | :51:00. | |
their families that are so often still in it. If we can give Syrians | :51:01. | :51:04. | |
hope for a better future where they are, they are less likely to feel | :51:05. | :51:08. | |
that they have got no other choice left but to make perilous journeys | :51:09. | :51:12. | |
to Europe. Mr Speaker I would like to thank all of those civil servants | :51:13. | :51:16. | |
for my own department from the Cabinet office, from the Foreign | :51:17. | :51:21. | |
Office, and also who worked tirelessly as a team to help us | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
deliver such a successful and vital conference. It is not often that | :51:27. | :51:30. | |
civil servants get the things that I believe they deserve, but in this | :51:31. | :51:32. | |
location I want to put that on record. Mr Speaker, the word has | :51:33. | :51:39. | |
offered by vision of hope affected by those crisis but only piece will | :51:40. | :51:42. | |
give the Syrian people their future back. The establishment of the | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
international serious support group at the end of 2015 was an important | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
step on the path to finding a political settlement to the | :51:51. | :51:54. | |
conflict. The Syrian opposition has come together to form the hired | :51:55. | :51:59. | |
negotiations committee to engage in negotiations on political transition | :52:00. | :52:03. | |
with the regime, and the UN launch proximity talks between the Syrian | :52:04. | :52:08. | |
parties in January. The UN special for Syria to the Division to pause | :52:09. | :52:12. | |
these talks, following an increase in air strikes and violence by the | :52:13. | :52:16. | |
Assad regime, backed by Russia. The UK continued to call on all sides to | :52:17. | :52:23. | |
take steps to create the conditions for peace negotiations to continue. | :52:24. | :52:28. | |
In particular, Russia must use its influence over the regime to put a | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
stop to indiscriminate attacks and the unacceptable violations of | :52:33. | :52:38. | |
international law. Across the area, I thought, and other parties to the | :52:39. | :52:42. | |
conflict are willfully impeding humanitarian access on a day by day | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
basis, it is a brutal, unacceptable, and illegal actions to use | :52:48. | :52:53. | |
starvation as a weapon of war. In London, world leaders demanded an | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
end to these abuses, including the illegal use of siege and abstraction | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
of humanitarian aid. In London conference reviewer sourcing for | :53:03. | :53:04. | |
life-saving humanitarian supports but it was also be allowed to reach | :53:05. | :53:11. | |
those in need as a result of the Syria conflict, irrespective of | :53:12. | :53:15. | |
where they are. I also want to take this opportunity to provide an | :53:16. | :53:18. | |
update on the campaign against Daesh interact and interior. Since my | :53:19. | :53:23. | |
right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary last updated the House in | :53:24. | :53:25. | |
the campaign against Daesh in the area and the rack come at the global | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
Coalition with partner forces has put further pressure on --. Iraqi | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
forces with Coalition support has to be taken large portions of Ramadi, | :53:36. | :53:39. | |
and in Syria, the Coalition has supported the capture of the | :53:40. | :53:46. | |
surrounding villages as well as areas south. The UK is playing our | :53:47. | :53:53. | |
part. As of the 5th of February, arias typhoon, tornado, and aircraft | :53:54. | :53:56. | |
have flown over 2000 combat missions and carried out more than 585 | :53:57. | :54:03. | |
successful air strikes. Across Syria and Iraq. We are also leading | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
efforts to sanction those treating with or in the supporting Daesh. My | :54:08. | :54:11. | |
right honourable friend in agreement at the European Council in December | :54:12. | :54:15. | |
on asset freezes and other restrictive measures. Mr Speaker, in | :54:16. | :54:20. | |
conclusion, since the want of this crisis, the UK has led the way in | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
funding and shaping the international response. We have | :54:26. | :54:28. | |
evolved our responses in this incredibly Compex crisis itself has | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
evolved. There will be no end to the suffering on till a political | :54:35. | :54:37. | |
solution can be found. The Syria conference co-hosted by the UK and | :54:38. | :54:42. | |
held here in London was a pivotal moment to at least respond to how | :54:43. | :54:45. | |
this people affected and those countries affected. We see the | :54:46. | :54:49. | |
chance to offer the Syrian people and their children the hope for a | :54:50. | :54:56. | |
better future. The UK will of off course be making that ambition a | :54:57. | :55:00. | |
reality in keeping the international communities promised to the Syrian | :55:01. | :55:03. | |
people, this is the right thing to do on behalf of those suffering and | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
for the mentally it is also the right thing to do for Britain as | :55:08. | :55:10. | |
well. A committee statement to the House. | :55:11. | :55:17. | |
The Syrian crisis is the most pressing humanitarian challenge | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
facing us at this time. The government is to be commended on | :55:24. | :55:27. | |
co-hosting this important conference, which is raised over $10 | :55:28. | :55:33. | |
billion, for Siri and refugees. And the government is also to be | :55:34. | :55:36. | |
commended on doubling our own commitments to over ?2.3 billion. | :55:37. | :55:43. | |
The emphasis on education and jobs is entirely correct, and we cannot | :55:44. | :55:51. | |
allow a whole generation of Syrian children to be lost. However, they | :55:52. | :55:58. | |
will build whereby it the concern worldwide, that one third of the | :55:59. | :56:04. | |
funds pledged to Syria during 2015 had not been confirmed by December | :56:05. | :56:08. | |
of that year, so is she able to say whether all of the money pledged in | :56:09. | :56:14. | |
2015 has been confirmed now? And that she appreciate the entire | :56:15. | :56:18. | |
house's ropes, that she will get other countries, not just to match | :56:19. | :56:24. | |
our generosity, but actually to hand the money over? But the highly | :56:25. | :56:30. | |
commendable efforts for Siri and refugees in the region belied the | :56:31. | :56:37. | |
government's will for myopia to pledge over half a million refugees | :56:38. | :56:45. | |
who are here in Europe. It is true that the majority of Syrian refugees | :56:46. | :56:52. | |
in the region, and the Syrian refugees -- situation continues to | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
worsen. They are waiting at the border with Turkey, in response to | :56:58. | :57:03. | |
Assad's bombardment of Aleppo. Can they explain how much longer this | :57:04. | :57:07. | |
country and the EU can expect to keep its border with Syria open, | :57:08. | :57:11. | |
while one in the same time, we want to prevent refugees from transiting | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
towards Western Europe? The front desk conference Marais are vital. | :57:19. | :57:24. | |
But surely it is also vital that this country shows a willingness to | :57:25. | :57:31. | |
take its fair share of refugees, including Syrian refugees, currently | :57:32. | :57:36. | |
the UK has agreed to take over five years, fewer refugees, then Germany | :57:37. | :57:42. | |
has taken in one month. We appreciate on this side that this | :57:43. | :57:48. | |
country is not signed up. But that the Secretary of acknowledged State | :57:49. | :57:51. | |
that the fact that we are not signatures to that, does not remove | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
the moral responsibility that falls on us as part of the European family | :57:57. | :58:03. | |
of nations? And because the Secretary of State accept that very | :58:04. | :58:07. | |
many people are surprised and disappointed that the government has | :58:08. | :58:11. | |
rejected the save the children campaign's which is taken just 3000 | :58:12. | :58:17. | |
child refugees? The Secretary of State may well wish that these | :58:18. | :58:20. | |
children had stayed in the region, but the direction in which the | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
children chose to flee does not make them any less vulnerable. These | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
children may not be in the part of the world at the Secretary of State | :58:30. | :58:32. | |
would prefer, but they are still low children at risk of abuse, sex | :58:33. | :58:40. | |
trafficking, and worse. The Secretary of State cannot behave as | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
if there are two classes of child Siri and refugees. Once that he stay | :58:46. | :58:49. | |
in the region, who she is prepared to help, but then another class | :58:50. | :58:56. | |
travel to Europe, on whom she turns her back. The Secretary of State | :58:57. | :59:00. | |
will also have heard reports of the German chancellor's speech in Turkey | :59:01. | :59:05. | |
today. That she agreed with Angela Merkel that the ultimate solution to | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
the current migrant crisis is safe and legal, pathways for refugees? | :59:10. | :59:15. | |
Other political processes, I'm glad to say that on this site, we have | :59:16. | :59:22. | |
very much supported it, to take steps to move forward to sustainable | :59:23. | :59:26. | |
peace negotiations, in particular, Russia must use its influence on the | :59:27. | :59:31. | |
Assad regime, and we entirely agree that it is unacceptable and illegal | :59:32. | :59:37. | |
to use siege, starvation, and the blockage of humanitarian aid as a | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
weapon of war. And we welcome the steps being taken to freeze Daesh | :59:42. | :59:48. | |
assets, and other restrictive measures, such as the opposition | :59:49. | :59:53. | |
have been calling on for some time. In conclusion, let me say this: Of | :59:54. | :00:00. | |
course, most Syrians -- all Syrian refugees, want to return home, and | :00:01. | :00:05. | |
immigrants and refugees, whether they go home or not never lose that | :00:06. | :00:11. | |
hope in their hearts, that they will return to the contrary they were | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
born in. But the fact is, whether the Secretary of State prefers it or | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
not, there are half a million Syrian refugees here draft -- Western | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
Europe. I visited the camp and Calais, and met very many Syrian | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
refugees there. Many of whom would have actually had a legal right to | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
come to this country. But all of whom were living in appalling | :00:37. | :00:43. | |
conditions. When the caravan of these international events have | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
moved on, there are still going to be thousands of Syrians and other | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
refugees including an increasing proportion of women and children, | :00:53. | :00:58. | |
living in appalling conditions in Europe, frightened, terrorised, and | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
at the mercy of people traffickers, and we may all wish... We may all | :01:03. | :01:09. | |
wish that they had not listened to the people traffickers, but this | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
government should be doing more, not just the Syrian refugees in the | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
region, but for the very many suffering Syrian refugees here in | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
Western Europe. Thank you, Mr Speaker. She raises an important | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
point that it is vital that countries came and made promises at | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
last week's conference, and they live up to them, too often at | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
similar meetings in the past countries have wanted to come in and | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
make plans or set out promises that they have not simply lived up to, | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
and the UK will play its role in delivering certain promises that we | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
have in the past, and in the future, but also we will make sure that the | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
transparency there to enable us to ensure that other countries live up | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
to the promises that they made. I think it is wrong of her quite | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
simply to say that we have not played on a roll. Frankly, our | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
strategy has been to tackle the root causes of the crisis that we have | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
seen reaching our own shores, which is actually to make staying close to | :02:16. | :02:24. | |
home, which is overwhelmingly most refugees's first choice, it has been | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
a failure to deliver on those sorts of promises, and those sorts of | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
resources that they need, that has led them over time to steadily give | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
up on that. Indeed, we are absolutely playing a role close to | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
home, here in Europe. It has been the UK that has been working with | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
UNHCR, making sure that newly arrived refugees are effectively | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
registered, although she will understand the challenges of that on | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
occasion, but also making sure that they have the kind of shelter, | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
clothing, blankets, and sustenance that they need, and often making | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
that often fatal journey. She will know that we are resettling 20,000 | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
from the region itself directly, that is not only a safer route for | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
people to be able to get to the UK, if that is where being resettled to | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
come and come and actually enables us also to focus on the most | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
vulnerable people, affected by this crisis, you need to be resettled. | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
People who could not otherwise make the kind of journey we have seen | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
with other refugees, making across Europe, and of course, in more | :03:34. | :03:36. | |
recent days, we have set out that we will be doing helpless children. I'm | :03:37. | :03:43. | |
very proud of the work that the UK has done to put children at the | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
centre of our response to the Syrian crisis. It was the United Kingdom... | :03:49. | :03:57. | |
Has been buried UK helped that Unicef has been able to put safe | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
zones in refugee camps to help link up children who have got separated | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
from their families, and it has been the UK that has been helping to make | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
sure that the kind of psychosocial support that children so often need, | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
having been involved in the sort of crisis is, it has been the UK | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
helping to make sure that support is there for those children, and we | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
will continue to do that. More broadly, she has talked about her | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
condemnation of Russia, which again, is correct, and we can debate on how | :04:35. | :04:44. | |
the UK's support affected by this crisis is working, but I think that | :04:45. | :04:47. | |
we should all be able to agree on is that the routine, flagrant, | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
deliberate breaches, day-to-day of international humanitarian law that | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
we see in relation to this crisis, are totally unacceptable, and a | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
country like Russia should be playing its role in pressing the | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
Assad regime, which it is spending so much time and resources in | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
supporting, to allow the aid that is there, in places like Damascus to | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
get down the road to the people who desperately need it, and I believe | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
that in time, as we look back on this crisis, in the years to come, | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
this breach that we see of international humanitarian law will | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
be one of the most telling aspects that people ask themselves, how | :05:29. | :05:31. | |
could this have been allowed to go on? But I commend my right | :05:32. | :05:38. | |
honourable friend for that very calm, and factual statement that she | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
made about the situation for the Syrian refugees, but I suppose to | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
the rather shadow Secretary of State, she is trying to whip up a | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
motion about these things, and which you agree with me that actually we | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
do need peace and the region, and we do need to talk to Russia about what | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
they are doing, and somebody needs to to to -- tackle Assad, and we | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
should be looking at keeping as many people as possible in the area where | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
they have been brought up, with a culture is correct, would they | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
understand the lifestyle, rather than encouraging them, as the party | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
opposite might choose to do, to get them to come to this country where | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
we are putting so much money I'm a taxpayer's money, to helping these | :06:21. | :06:29. | |
people settle elsewhere. These are two related issues, but of course, | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
we are playing a role close to home here in Europe, in helping refugees | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
who have finally arrived on our shores, but she is right to | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
recognise that overwhelmingly refugees basically want to stay | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
close to home. I met a lady in my last trip to Jordan who family's | :06:49. | :06:58. | |
stolen homes, -- still in the homes. -- homes. But she desperately needed | :06:59. | :07:05. | |
there was to be able to work legally, to support herself, while | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
she tried to get on with the light that she suddenly found herself | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
living. A life, as I said at the beginning of this crisis, that | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
overwhelmingly, none of the refugees that they would leave Syria for | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
anything more than a few weeks, or a few months, and we should all think | :07:22. | :07:24. | |
about how we would cope with those sorts of situations. It is incumbent | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
on the industrial community go to make sure that we now go beyond this | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
day-to-day support for people, so they're not just a block, but they | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
are able to have some kind of life. It is in their interest, it is also | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
in the interests of the host communities, who are so generously | :07:42. | :07:50. | |
accommodating them. Thank you. We also welcome the pledges and | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
commitments that have been made at the conference, recognising the | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
chief and the biggest ever pledges in one day, particularly the | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
commitments on child education. I would echo the concerns about the | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
difference between making a pledge, and fulfilling a pledge, and being | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
able to hear what was discussed at the conference and any processes, | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
and implementation of pledges, bear in mind the pledges last year. | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
There's also a feeling in some quarters that civil society was | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
underrepresented. Especially in local and national, and society | :08:26. | :08:27. | |
organization, yet it is those organizations that are on the | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
front-line responders to the crisis, and inside Syria, other | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
international counterparts not. It would be interesting to see what | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
will the Secretary of State sees, or civil society about the terms of | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
decision-making, and implementation. In recognising while the government | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
has played, we would echo the concerns about response to the | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
refugee crisis in Europe, and I would also suggest that rather than | :08:54. | :09:01. | |
20,000 refugees over four years, it should be 24,000 this year alone, so | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
I hope the commitments the UK has made, with those displaced by the | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
conflict, especially those already in Europe. Already, the only viable | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
long-term solution must be negotiated peace. The discussions | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
has she continued to have with the Cabinet colleagues about the impact | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
of UK air strikes? The she believed that it has been helped or hindered? | :09:24. | :09:30. | |
While seeking to improve humanitarian response among time it | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
is not adding to the crisis on the other. The prize may not be one that | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
he craves, probably the longest sentence and the parliament. Thank | :09:40. | :09:47. | |
you. I will try and briefly answer the points that he is raised. They | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
are all important ones, and I said before, we tried to do our best to | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
make sure that the commitments made last Thursday are honoured. He is | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
red to highlight the important role of civil society, in fact we have | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
the day dedicated to that, last Wednesday, and there are actually 17 | :10:05. | :10:13. | |
Syrian civil society organizations, and 27 nanograms eighth overall. The | :10:14. | :10:16. | |
role that they have, already played, and continue to play, is delivered | :10:17. | :10:21. | |
on the ground. Many of them put their lives on the line every single | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
day of the week to get into communities who desperately need | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
their help. Secondly, to continue to assess needs. In order to make sure | :10:30. | :10:35. | |
that we target our... And is often vital information that we get from | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
civil society, and finally, I think looking ahead, optimistically, | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
perhaps but nevertheless importantly, when we find that we | :10:44. | :10:46. | |
get to a position where we can see Syria getting back on its feet, and | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
rebuild the role of civil society, not only in understanding needs and | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
priorities of local people, but forming networks that can actually | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
help on the ground to deliver that work will be critical, and I have | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
already sent out that I believe that we are playing our role, not only in | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
the region, but also closer to home, here in the UK. I would like to | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
point out that ?1 spent here in Europe is not did anyone -- anywhere | :11:17. | :11:19. | |
near as far as supporting refugees as a talent that can be delivered | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
closer to home in the region, providing food, water, shelter, | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
getting a child into school, who is currently out of school, so it is | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
incredibly important that we make sure that we do not lose sight of | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
the root causes that underlie the refugees that we have seen coming to | :11:37. | :11:40. | |
Europe over recent months. Finally, I could not disagree even more, on | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
UK air strikes. You will not be surprised to hear that, but one of | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
the key challenges to ever reaching any kind of a peaceful settlement | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
and Syria is of course the presence of the barbaric Daesh. Who, | :11:55. | :12:01. | |
day-to-day, routinely commit -- acts of unspeakable brutality, | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
particularly on women, on people more generally, in the territories | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
that they control. His people are not simply going to get up and go | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
home, that is why we need to take military action against them, to | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
force them, out of those territories, who are already seeing | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
it happening in Iraq, and they are leaving a wasteland behind them, but | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
it is a wasteland that we can start to rebuild. We will do the same and | :12:27. | :12:31. | |
Syria. I wholeheartedly support what the government are doing here. It is | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
a critical part of our strategy, to ensure that the two small nations | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
nearby, in particular Jordan and Lebanon, are able to cope, with the | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
most incredibly difficult number of refugees, to their overall | :12:49. | :12:51. | |
populations. Can the Secretary of State give us some detail as to work | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
they're doing to encourage those two nations, in relation to customs, for | :12:55. | :13:02. | |
the idea of economical operation, perhaps not just for the UK, but | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
within the EU as a whole. To try to ensure that they do their best, but | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
also recognising the fact that many hundreds of thousands of those eerie | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
refugees, are likely to be in Jordan, and Lebanon for many years | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
to come. I am pleased he raises this issue of... I think it is a historic | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
step forward, in terms of getting an agreement to start to create jobs | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
for refugees, for many years, they have not been able to work legally. | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
That has forced many into working illegally to try and support | :13:35. | :13:37. | |
themselves, many of them might have left Syria, with some assets, but | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
with over the weeks months and years, the assets have been | :13:42. | :13:44. | |
depleted, and it is reaching the end of that, as many of them have to | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
decide that they know how alternative to try to find a life | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
somewhere else. This matters, and what we was essentially countries | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
like Jordan and Lebanon taking the decision to now allow work permits | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
so that Syrian refugees with greater numbers can work legally, and those | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
were big decisions for them today, but decisions that I think were | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
right. As they coped, and indeed often struggled to cope with the | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
refugees who are temporarily put in large numbers, within their | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
countries, what are we doing? Well, on the Jordanian and Lebanese side, | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
particularly with Jordan, which have and they just tax rates, some of | :14:25. | :14:31. | |
this will be the Syrian economy and exile, business leaders are | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
establishing their Syrian... That is not just good for Syrians who can | :14:37. | :14:39. | |
get back into work, it is also providing work for local people who | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
are unemployed, and of course that is been complemented by investment | :14:45. | :14:47. | |
coming in from the World Bank, from the European investment Bank, who | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
critically also reformed the European Union level, and making our | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
own trade barriers more flexible, so that actually countries like Jordan | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
can more easily sell their goods into the huge market that is the | :15:01. | :15:04. | |
European market. I think we should be really proud of the work that was | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
achieved at the conference, but with Jordan and Lebanon, it was very calm | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
growing UK, ideas that were put on the table, and international support | :15:16. | :15:19. | |
was there. Most importantly, it gave us the chance to work directly with | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
governments in Jordan and Lebanon to help in the long-term, to provide | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
jobs and growth that will be there hopefully long after their generous | :15:28. | :15:34. | |
hosting of refugees. It cannot be disputed. I will point out that we | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
got the to backbench questions in seven minutes, ask, so we should try | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
it -- drive for productivity improvement. It is immensely | :15:47. | :15:56. | |
important, but she did say that Britain was also helping refugees in | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
Europe. The honest truth is that his timing that is being provided, and | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
she will note that there are refugees in Greece, in the Balkans, | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
closer to home, and Calais, and there I was humanitarian conditions | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
than those in the region, and they are being denied the Board by | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
governments, the UN, and aid agencies, because they are in | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
Europe. Can't you tell us when children are suffering, from | :16:23. | :16:24. | |
scabies, bronchitis, from the cold, how much of the London conference | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
funding will go to helping refugees in Europe, and if the answer is | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
none, but is she doing to have a similar approach in conference to | :16:34. | :16:35. | |
help those refugees who are in Europe as well? Conference was | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
indeed to make sure that we are responding in the region, to Syrian | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
refugees, and indeed host countries who are affected by this crisis. She | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
asked about the responses here in Europe, but we are talking about | :16:52. | :16:55. | |
European countries who have the resources themselves to be able to | :16:56. | :16:58. | |
respond and help refugees who are currently in their own countries, | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
and as far as I have set out, the UK has played its role in helping | :17:04. | :17:11. | |
refugees who arrived. I strongly support the government's approach, | :17:12. | :17:14. | |
giving maximum help to refugees near their homeland. I strongly support | :17:15. | :17:20. | |
the government's participation, and crucial initiatives for political | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
progress and peace. What impact on British Government policy is there | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
from the intensive vocation of Russian supported Assad supported | :17:32. | :17:33. | |
Russian military intervention? The main impact has been the breakdown | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
of peace talk progress. In the short-term, in the end, it is going | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
to be resettlement that gives people the hope and future that they want | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
to be able to be able to go back and rebuild their country. The positive | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
role Artie being played by the RAF in the Coalition campaign to drive | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
Daesh back from territory, but that she agreed that the catastrophe | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
including the humanitarian catastrophe, and refugee Ted | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
Cassidy, will continue as long as Daesh control large areas of Syria, | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
and as long as President Assad supported by Pugin, slaughters his | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
own people? Yes I do, entirely, I have set out the Honorable | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
gentleman, where I think it is critical that we maintain Syria's | :18:26. | :18:29. | |
integrity as a country, and that means regaining the territory that | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
has been lost to Daesh. They can be no peace settlement in a so-called | :18:34. | :18:37. | |
Syria, until we have that territory back under control, and it can form | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
part of the peace talks. I'm grateful to the Secretary of State | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
for coming here. She is always a good commentator. Can GE confirm | :18:48. | :18:55. | |
that we will continue to focus our different work in the camps, and in | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
the region, with ultimately tackling the root cause of this problem, that | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
a political solution is the only long-term solution? I strongly agree | :19:04. | :19:11. | |
with her, and the talks need to get back under way, and of course UN | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
Security Council for this resolution at the end of last year set out a | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
road map for that being able to take place, but there were two key areas | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
that were highlighted. One was for a cease-fire, the second was for free | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
access to humanitarian supplies to get to people, and it is the lack of | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
progress on these that during peaks talks, combined with actually | :19:35. | :19:41. | |
attacks by the Assad forces, and supported by the Russians that is | :19:42. | :19:50. | |
undermining them making progress. Words cannot convey the impotence | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
and the anger that we as politicians of the lack of progress in the peace | :19:55. | :20:01. | |
process. The contribution made by the government, but at the same | :20:02. | :20:08. | |
time, we are seeing humanitarian crisis developed today, at the | :20:09. | :20:16. | |
border with Turkey, and the single Merkel has made it quite clear what | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
she feels about it. She says the Russians are primarily responsible | :20:23. | :20:25. | |
for the bombing. The reason the people are fleeing in droves from | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
Syria, has the foreign office called in Russia on Assad, has the Prime | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
Minister called in the Assad? He should be called in every day until | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
they stop bombing civilians in Syria. She will be pleased to hear | :20:42. | :20:48. | |
that the foreign secretaries part of the international Syrian support | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
group, and I will be meeting in Munich this Thursday, hopefully with | :20:52. | :20:54. | |
the Russians there, and is precisely the sorts of messages that we will | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
be delivering to the Russians, which is that they have a critical part to | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
play in enabling the peace talks to move forward, at the moment, their | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
actions are taking us further away from a peaceful settlement, because | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
they are bombing the very moderate opposition around which a political | :21:11. | :21:12. | |
transition government should be able to form. The Secretary of State has | :21:13. | :21:20. | |
every right to be exceptionally proud of what was achieved at the | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
conference. But, I'm afraid that we need to do more locally in Europe. | :21:26. | :21:36. | |
Shall know that I... I can tell her that the Greeks are not coping. We | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
need, as Britain, to lead, as we have done, and there are children | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
and refugees in Europe who need our help, Greece is on its knees, and | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
will she meet with us to hear our first hand account emotionally, and | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
factually, about what we saw? I'm very happy to meet with her, and I | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
have read about the reports of the visit that she made. I would be that | :22:00. | :22:10. | |
-- are her that we can work with Greece. It has been with the UK that | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
has been working with UNHCR, which has been registering many of the | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
refugees who have been arriving. In the end, we also have to accept that | :22:21. | :22:24. | |
Greece has sovereign control over itself, and will want to ultimately | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
organise how it deals with refugees. Yes, it needs resource and, that is | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
what the European Community is discussing, how it can effectively | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
do that, the UK has been a part of that, but in the meantime, our focus | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
is also on dealing with the root causes as to why those people lost | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
any hope of feeling like there was a future for them in the region that | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
they lived in and had grown up in. That surely has to be the main focus | :22:51. | :22:57. | |
for us as well. The prime minister accepted when the House supported to | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
exempt military campaign against Isis, from Iraq to Syria in | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
December, that is extended, not only our involvement, but the | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
responsibility to. Can I ask her more about the peace process that | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
she has touched on, it would be needy -- easy to lose faith in this. | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
Given the events of recent days. But that she agreed that while the key | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
difference that she is talking about are commendable, the only long-term | :23:28. | :23:31. | |
solution for the people of Syria is not eight, but a country in which | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
they can live, and is there anything more that she can say about how to | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
get this political process back on track? He will know that the key | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
next steps are this Thursday when the international city area support | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
group meets, and then there is building towards hopefully a peace | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
talk, which are having a pause, which was described by the UN, and | :23:54. | :24:02. | |
there are two elements to this. One is the peace talks, and that | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
political dialogue that is under way, the second is in response to | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
what happened earlier. The military action that is needed to eradicate | :24:12. | :24:15. | |
Daesh from that part of the country, that it is currently holding. Making | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
progress on both of those is critical, and the final step will be | :24:20. | :24:22. | |
the chance to put into practice much of the planning that is there | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
already, and unable to be dead on with, which is the rebuilding of | :24:28. | :24:34. | |
Syria. The whole generations of children have grown up in refugee | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
camps, such as in Algeria, and with all of that education and | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
radicalisation, but can be done to prevent something similar happening | :24:45. | :24:45. | |
near Syria? The need to at least be able to read | :24:46. | :25:10. | |
and write and have some sort of an education. There are too many | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
children have lost too many days in school, but after last Thursday we | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
have a much better chance of getting them back into the classroom and | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
that mining. That is precisely what we're hoping to do over the next few | :25:22. | :25:28. | |
weeks and months. Would like a Job with others in, the reminder also | :25:29. | :25:35. | |
with the Yemeni donor conference six years ago is not the pledges that | :25:36. | :25:38. | |
matter but also the pain over the money put back in that case only 10% | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
has been paid over. The key local countries Turkey. The EU has pledged | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
Turkey 3 billion euros in order to do with this crisis. At that money | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
be repaid over at least in part and can she reassure the House that | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
recent elements are not affecting the processing of the 19,000 Syrian | :26:00. | :26:04. | |
refugees that the Prime Minister has pledged for to come in before the | :26:05. | :26:12. | |
next election? Why make that 3 billion was very much reach as part | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
of the conference that we had last Thursday and by Kim Miley very keen | :26:18. | :26:20. | |
to make sure that all the commitments made last Thursday I | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
delivered for us to achieve the results that we set ourselves. To | :26:26. | :26:30. | |
make sure that there are no Syrian refugees out of school by the end of | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
this forthcoming academic year. More broadly, he should be reassured that | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
the UK will continue to play a role in ensuring that we do a lot in our | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
response to this crisis, which we arty have, and have been the second | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
is biggest bilateral donor today. We also continue to shape the response | :26:49. | :26:57. | |
as well. Thank you Mr Speaker once someone ceases to be a displaced | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
person internally, and crosses an international border, in their minds | :27:03. | :27:07. | |
and in reality, they become refugees or economic migrants. It is very | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
difficult for them to go back to their own country. It is much more | :27:13. | :27:15. | |
difficult for them to go back to their own country. It is would be | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
great if the international community, that has built so far to | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
stop the world would come to some kind of agreement to set up safe | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
areas close to other countries on the borders of other countries, | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
which we could reach into and look after people, so that when the time | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
comes and politics works, they can to go home within their own country. | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
I think the hope is that following last Thursday's conference, we will | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
be better able to help those countries that offer for the | :27:50. | :27:52. | |
refugees to flee to on the border with Syria. But they are better able | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
to cope with the refugees who are down there. Mr Speaker, I think we | :27:58. | :28:00. | |
all hope in time that the refugees will be able to go back to their | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
countries. The reality is that the difficult time that someone will | :28:05. | :28:08. | |
spend as a refugee is now 17 years. This is why the work on getting | :28:09. | :28:12. | |
children into school, the work on jobs, is so important. Thank you Mr | :28:13. | :28:21. | |
Speaker. What's concrete -- concrete action does the conference agreed to | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
following the toxic intervention of the Russians and the likelihood that | :28:26. | :28:32. | |
a site will impose a blockade? Was the subject today convoys or | :28:33. | :28:33. | |
airdrops discussed at the conference? This general point that | :28:34. | :28:41. | |
he races all access and making sure that, alongside making sure that the | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
sources for UN agencies and NGOs needed, we also then have the | :28:46. | :28:49. | |
ability to get back resorts into people in need, is a central part of | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
this conference will stop this is why I said out of my state and how | :28:54. | :28:56. | |
important it is for the international community to reiterate | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
his support for freedom and humanitarian access. We should | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
condemn all of those who are stopping come on in day-to-day | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
basis, key supplies for which people often need. The easiest thing in | :29:10. | :29:19. | |
politics is to say to do more. Can I do say how proud I am of the | :29:20. | :29:22. | |
secretaries of state, the Prime Minister and the UK's response to | :29:23. | :29:26. | |
this humanitarian crisis. Can I say that I agree with the members that | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
we must now tackle this issue of indiscriminate bombing by Russian | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
Air forces. And what can be done to get the UN's special envoy back on | :29:36. | :29:38. | |
the table with the Russians and stop the spamming which is making this | :29:39. | :29:45. | |
crisis so much worse? I actually think this UK Palm is playing its | :29:46. | :29:48. | |
own role in highlighting this issue. It is the thing that has led to the | :29:49. | :29:54. | |
current path in the peace talks. It is vital that this Thursday in | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
Munich, that the Russians take a long, hard look at their role in | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
being able to make or break these peace talks. At the moment the | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
actions they are taking is preventing progress. It's as simple | :30:08. | :30:16. | |
as that. On friends, in terms of cease-fire, too in terms of failing | :30:17. | :30:19. | |
to do is persuade the apartheid regime to allow supplies into key | :30:20. | :30:21. | |
areas that they have under control. Mr Speaker into many request the UN | :30:22. | :30:28. | |
agencies have made to the on-site rigging, 10% has been agreed in | :30:29. | :30:32. | |
terms of allowing access to areas. This is a total disgrace. I would | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
help the Russians would raise that with the assigned rigging which they | :30:38. | :30:45. | |
are doing so much to support. Cannot commend the development cycle tour | :30:46. | :30:48. | |
for the resources that have been allocated to educating children and | :30:49. | :30:52. | |
young people from Syria, while being displaced. It is my understanding | :30:53. | :30:55. | |
that this is almost exclusively being channeled through you this but | :30:56. | :31:00. | |
-- Unicef. Can she confirm with a house that British agencies with a | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
lot of experience in these areas, and the door for this is absent, for | :31:06. | :31:09. | |
using then and harnessing their expertise in this matter? The | :31:10. | :31:17. | |
initiative was a up with you this is, who is not a amazing job in | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
allowing us to scale up this work. Of course now is essentially owned | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
by government in Lebanon and Jordan, which I've had a privileged to work | :31:27. | :31:30. | |
alongside in putting together these plans do not enable us to scale up | :31:31. | :31:34. | |
to make sure that all children in those countries can get into school. | :31:35. | :31:37. | |
I think the best thing I would suggest to him is that they NGOs do | :31:38. | :31:42. | |
get in touch with stupid to understand what role they could play | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
those government of Jordan and Lebanon plans, to get children back | :31:49. | :31:56. | |
into school. Thank you Mr Speaker. Indeed I command my right honourable | :31:57. | :32:01. | |
friend and to the government for not only convening the Syrian donor | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
conference, but also for the significant in reaching the | :32:06. | :32:09. | |
mandatory and support, that we are providing. In recent times Saudi | :32:10. | :32:16. | |
Arabia and the UAE and consequent military action in Syria, can you | :32:17. | :32:19. | |
say what those countries and others like countries in the region are | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
doing that with regard to humanitarian aid? I think one of the | :32:24. | :32:31. | |
big sets of this conference was the stepping up of the region itself. | :32:32. | :32:36. | |
Stepping up to provide the resources and humanitarian supplies to get | :32:37. | :32:40. | |
through to people and of course the last three donor conferences have | :32:41. | :32:45. | |
been in the region in Kuwait. We have chose to host the conference | :32:46. | :32:49. | |
this year, but it has substantial and significant risk support from | :32:50. | :32:54. | |
the region. That is one of the reason we were able to reach such a | :32:55. | :33:05. | |
record breaking response. Can't I talk about concerns about the | :33:06. | :33:08. | |
conditions of some of the refugee camps? Not just in Syria in the | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
region, but also in Europe too. What assessment has the Secretary of | :33:13. | :33:15. | |
State's department made of the health risk in particular the public | :33:16. | :33:20. | |
health risk, arising from those squalid conditions. What more can be | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
done to help alleviate the risk -- refugees were living in those | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
conditions Baggio as I said earlier that we have provided key support to | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
refugees arriving in Europe, including most recently we announced | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
?10 million fund that is critically going to enable us to provide | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
practical support refugees who are having to cope with some of those to | :33:43. | :33:45. | |
school conditions that he talked about. Can I commit my right | :33:46. | :33:56. | |
honourable friend was invented that. What are the Turks meant to deliver | :33:57. | :34:00. | |
a return to the 3 billion euros which the EU is getting them, | :34:01. | :34:04. | |
especially with regard to the way to latest wave of refugees from the | :34:05. | :34:11. | |
crisis is why might you be aware that their already substantial | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
numbers of refugees in Turkey. Tooling in total. That plan is | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
really around helping them to continue to provide the kind of food | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
water and shelter and source of education, and some of the job | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
programmes that will enable refugees to cope with the circumstances they | :34:28. | :34:35. | |
now find themselves in. Is serious to have a stable and peaceful | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
future, and women and girls have in part to play in that, I wonder the | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
Secretary of State could say why there is no mention of the role of | :34:44. | :34:46. | |
women in the Syrian stabilisation paper published last week? I fully | :34:47. | :34:52. | |
agree with her that women have a key role to play. Not only in the | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
rebuilding of Syria in time but in the peace talks. We should happen in | :34:58. | :35:03. | |
advance. Shall know that alongside all the work that we have done to | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
protect children affected by this crisis, we have particularly focused | :35:08. | :35:11. | |
on women as well. We know that humanitarian emergencies and women | :35:12. | :35:18. | |
and girls and in particular at adolescent girls are important and | :35:19. | :35:21. | |
we work very hard to make sure that the risk that they face are managed. | :35:22. | :35:26. | |
I will notify her further us on the plans that we have regarding women | :35:27. | :35:35. | |
in regards to the Syrian crisis. The Secretary of State highlights what | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
happens to people upon their arrival to Europe. But that's the question | :35:40. | :35:46. | |
is what happens after that? Those that have already arrived in 2015 | :35:47. | :35:53. | |
and who should do it? Of courses is not part of the Schengen area. You | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
keep cat -- UK played our own role in helping Syrian refugees that need | :36:00. | :36:01. | |
to be settled out of the region. That's why the Prime Minister has | :36:02. | :36:06. | |
pledged to have 20,000 Syrians resettled. I like to play tribute to | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
the work of my Honorable friend, who has overseen that process today. We | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
met our first time I'd had getting 1000 Syrian refugees resettled prior | :36:18. | :36:19. | |
to Christmas. I think we should be proud of that. Today up to 70,000 | :36:20. | :36:32. | |
refugees and advancing forces from the Russian air strikes had been | :36:33. | :36:36. | |
able to cross to Turkey. Can the Secretary to the House was being | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
done to offer immediate help to these poor people? Element will of | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
course that flow of is happening because of action by the Syrian | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
regime. This is driving them out of their homes. This has been a | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
persistent issue that we have seen of the last few years. We have to | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
direct you with our own partners on the ground to make sure that | :37:02. | :37:04. | |
humanitarian support is getting to those Syrian refugees, affected by | :37:05. | :37:10. | |
this. Of course more broadly as we understand it, Turkish authorities | :37:11. | :37:14. | |
rules are putting in place necessary measures to make sure people are | :37:15. | :37:23. | |
able to cross the border. Statement of the Secretary of State for | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
Communities and Local Government. Secretary Greg Clark. Hear, hear! Mr | :37:29. | :37:39. | |
Speaker I am pleased to report financial information for the next | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
year. To hundred 78 responses for the consultation. My ministers and I | :37:44. | :37:46. | |
have met with local government leaders from all types of authority, | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
from all parts of the country and many college in this house. Hear, | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
hear! . I have listened carefully to each of them. Colleagues that have | :37:57. | :37:59. | |
work with you before, know that I always take the views of the members | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
of this house seriously and I always respond what I can to practical and | :38:05. | :38:07. | |
sensible suggestions. I am grateful to everyone who has taken the | :38:08. | :38:12. | |
trouble to make such suggestions. The provisional settlement contained | :38:13. | :38:16. | |
a number of important innovations. First, although the stats to assess | :38:17. | :38:23. | |
settlement is for 2016 and 17 I set out to allow councils to apply for a | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
four-year budget, extending to the end of the problem. This change of | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
its councils to plan with greater certainty. The offer was widely | :38:32. | :38:34. | |
appreciated in the consultation. This is not surprising since as a | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
sum that local government has been requesting for years. I want to give | :38:39. | :38:41. | |
councils the time to consider this offer. And translate this into | :38:42. | :38:47. | |
efficiency savings. I give councils to the Friday appointee of October | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
to respond. Many have done so positively already. Secondly in the | :38:55. | :38:57. | |
provisional settlement, I responded to the clear call from all tiers of | :38:58. | :39:00. | |
local government and too many colleagues across this house, to | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
recognise the important priorities and growing cost of caring for our | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
elderly population. In advance of the spending review. The local | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
Government Association and the directors of adult social services | :39:15. | :39:17. | |
have written to me requesting additional to .9 billion per year be | :39:18. | :39:24. | |
available by 2019. What a dedicated social care of to percent per year | :39:25. | :39:28. | |
equivalent to ?23 per year, on average. A better care front of 1.5 | :39:29. | :39:38. | |
billion per year by 2019 and 2020. These are measures to address these | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
issues I care. The provisional settlement made up to three and half | :39:42. | :39:48. | |
billion available by 2019 thirdly, recognising the council services in | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
rural areas, Faith extra cost. I suppose in the provisional | :39:54. | :39:56. | |
settlement, that the rule services delivery of the increase from 15 and | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
a half billion this year to 20 billion in 2015 and provisionally to | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
65 million by 20 19. Councils and colleagues who represent rural | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
areas, welcome to. But the gap between rural and girls councils, in | :40:13. | :40:17. | |
terms of government funding, should not widen. Fourthly this years | :40:18. | :40:25. | |
provisional settlement, marked the turning point for our over | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
centralised pass. At the start of the 2010, almost 80% of the local | :40:31. | :40:35. | |
councils expenditure was financed by central government funds. Revenue | :40:36. | :40:44. | |
support by day she will account for. By 2019 and 2020 only 5%. Revenues | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
will disappear altogether as we move to 100% retention. Local financing | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
through counsel takes and business rates has been a big objective of | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
councils for decades. However the many authorities and many honourable | :41:01. | :41:04. | |
members, especially from counties like Dorsett, rest assured, | :41:05. | :41:11. | |
Worcestershire and Lancashire and several mind are including Kingston, | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
have argued for transitional help to the first to years, when central | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
government grounds declined sharply. They have argued that other local | :41:22. | :41:24. | |
resources would not have had the time by then to build up fully. So | :41:25. | :41:30. | |
much in the provisions settlement is welcome, the specific points were | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
raised about the sharpest changes in the government grounds in the early | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
years of this part -- Parliament. Concerns about rural areas was also | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
an issue. Another point was made. Many felt that too much time has | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
passed since the last substantial revision of the formula, which | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
assesses the councils needs. Hear, hear! And the cost that can be | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
expected in meeting those needs. These responses to the consultation | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
into me to be reasonable and ought be accommodated. Everyone would | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
appreciate that the need to reduce the budget deficit means that | :42:06. | :42:11. | |
meeting these recommendations is extraordinarily difficult. I'm | :42:12. | :42:14. | |
pleased to be able to meet all of the most significant of them. I can | :42:15. | :42:18. | |
confirm that every council will have for the financial year ahead. The | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
resources allocated. I have agreed to the responses to the | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
consultation, which recommended at ease in the pace of reduction during | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
the most difficult first to years of the settlement. Councils that | :42:34. | :42:38. | |
experienced the sharpest reductions and revenue support. So I will make | :42:39. | :42:41. | |
additional resources available in the form of a transitional front, as | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
proposed in the response to the consultation by colleagues in local | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
government and the ground will be worth 150 million pounds per year | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
paid over the first to years. On the need for myself, it is nearly ten | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
years since the current formula was looked at thoroughly. I think there | :43:00. | :43:04. | |
is good reason to believe that the Democratic -- demographic pressures | :43:05. | :43:07. | |
affecting particular areas, such as the growth of the elderly | :43:08. | :43:10. | |
population, have affected different areas in different ways. As has the | :43:11. | :43:18. | |
costs of providing. I asked that we conduct a thorough review of what | :43:19. | :43:20. | |
the needs assessment formula should be in a world were all local | :43:21. | :43:26. | |
government spending is funded by local resources we will use it to | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
determine the transition to 100% business transition. Fitting that | :43:32. | :43:39. | |
review, including rural parts of the country car wall, and such, I | :43:40. | :43:51. | |
recognise... LAUGHTER I suspect I will have the opportunity rich to | :43:52. | :43:59. | |
respond to colleagues. I propose to increase by more than five votes, | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
the rule service delivery front from 15.5 million this year to 80 .5 | :44:04. | :44:14. | |
5,000,020 16. With an extra 30 to 47 available to rule councils to the | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
transitional front that I subscribe. 90 to 43 billion, compared to the | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
provisional settlement is available to rural areas. There is | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
significant, this proposal ensures that there is no deterioration in | :44:28. | :44:30. | |
government funding for rural areas compared to urban areas for the year | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
of the statutory settlement. Hear, hear!. I have also requested that we | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
help the most economic councils by allowing them to without triggering | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
referendum. I will consult on the well performing planning | :44:48. | :44:50. | |
departments, for the possibility of increasing their fees with inflation | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
at the most, providing that the revenue reduces the cost subsidy, | :44:55. | :44:57. | |
that the planning function currently gets to the Council taxpayers. A | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
final point on the consultation, although the figures for future | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
years are indicated. A small number of councils would have to make a | :45:06. | :45:13. | |
contribution to the councils in 2017 and 2018 or 2018 -- 19. I can | :45:14. | :45:17. | |
confirm that no cats will have to make such pages. These are important | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
times for local government. The devolution of power and sources is | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
gathering momentum. I am aware that there is serious work for councils | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
to do to continue to provide excellent service at the lowest cost | :45:31. | :45:33. | |
possible over the years he had. I acknowledge the important role of | :45:34. | :45:38. | |
members of this house, and represent to me the recommendation of councils | :45:39. | :45:42. | |
which delivers the services which all of our constituents depend. I am | :45:43. | :45:46. | |
grateful for all of our contributions. My response to the | :45:47. | :45:49. | |
consultation has responded positively to a sensible | :45:50. | :45:53. | |
recommendation and if there in a fair manner as possible. This holds | :45:54. | :45:57. | |
firm to our commitment to free us from the dangers inherent with the | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
national deficit. Mr Speaker I commend the statement to the House. | :46:04. | :46:11. | |
Thank you very much. And I thank the Honorable gentleman for his courtesy | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
in providing the statement. This afternoon we would welcome | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
announcements and it is clearly a good thing that more money is being | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
provided to rule committed -- communities that are hard hit. Let | :46:26. | :46:28. | |
me explain exactly where the additional funding is coming from. | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
There is just over to hundred million pounds. This is obviously a | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
great shortfall relative to the billions, that requires | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
understanding pressures. Can he tell us nonetheless where the additional | :46:44. | :46:51. | |
spending is coming from? Above all when they come from, all of this is | :46:52. | :46:55. | |
purely transitional. This reminds me of nothing more than someone | :46:56. | :46:59. | |
speeding along the road into a disaster, who then says I will take | :47:00. | :47:03. | |
my foot off the accelerator, without changing the destination. The local | :47:04. | :47:11. | |
government is facing a disaster. His recent provisional announcement, and | :47:12. | :47:19. | |
the House, the other week seems to some unusual recruits. I don't think | :47:20. | :47:26. | |
that he knows the identity of the anonymous MP, who talked | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
conservative home this morning. Essential reading. LAUGHTER. It | :47:32. | :47:38. | |
certainly is true. The MP said as follows "Counsel as he or she said, | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
has done the right thing. They have done it well. They have saved vast | :47:44. | :47:47. | |
amounts of money in the last few years, and now all that that is | :47:48. | :47:52. | |
gone. On the meat is gone and the government wants to knock on the | :47:53. | :47:59. | |
bone. I'm not having local libraries and offices closed down. " Is that | :48:00. | :48:05. | |
you that the secretary of state is known on the Secretary of State is | :48:06. | :48:08. | |
known about? Does he acknowledge that according to what's control, | :48:09. | :48:16. | |
LGA, even in every counsel in England, increase their council tax | :48:17. | :48:18. | |
by the maximum allowed by the government for the next four years, | :48:19. | :48:21. | |
and in every penny of that increase went only on supporting the elderly | :48:22. | :48:25. | |
that they would still be a funding gap of over one billion pounds on | :48:26. | :48:35. | |
social care about? Then the Minister for social care promised that the | :48:36. | :48:38. | |
government would end the infamous 15 minutes fine business. Is that the | :48:39. | :48:45. | |
secretaries policy? House is going to be funded given the shortfall? | :48:46. | :48:51. | |
How we achieve this target? On the subject of how the government | :48:52. | :48:56. | |
disputes funding between counsellors, how does he explain the | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
manifest injustice that the most deprived areas are being cut the | :49:02. | :49:06. | |
most? As things currently stand, the ten most deprived areas in England | :49:07. | :49:11. | |
with the 18 times worse off than the ten least deprived areas. How will | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
he explain to farmers that their services will be cut, at the same | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
time as the engineering Council tax increases, we estimate up to 20%. We | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
estimate this by the end of this promo. The Minister asked study | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
carefully representations made by the rule services network and | :49:34. | :49:36. | |
perhaps by some of these anonymous MPs. Perhaps some of them were not | :49:37. | :49:45. | |
anonymous. LAUGHTER The rule services network conservative right | :49:46. | :49:49. | |
says that his poor original statement, would make life difficult | :49:50. | :49:53. | |
for hundreds of thousands of people, across all areas of rural England. | :49:54. | :49:56. | |
Their lives would be totally insufferable. That is what the rule | :49:57. | :50:03. | |
networks that. Can he guarantee that the relatively small increase | :50:04. | :50:06. | |
therefore, and the rule services delivery group, which was announced | :50:07. | :50:13. | |
today, will have to cut health, and in children's homes, and public | :50:14. | :50:16. | |
transport? If you really recommending to rule districts that | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
the date increase the council tax by at least to percent present or 5%, | :50:22. | :50:30. | |
not which is a half lower, but which is the higher? He wants them to | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
decreased by the higher amount. In a suspended 20 billion has been cut | :50:36. | :50:39. | |
from local governments since 2020. The impact of this cuts were felt | :50:40. | :50:46. | |
more in the more urban London boroughs in the past? It is now | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
laterally spreading far and wide to the whole of the English | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
countryside. But Mr Speaker I represent 20 rule villages. There is | :50:56. | :50:59. | |
no doubt that the provisional settlement which he announced, was | :51:00. | :51:04. | |
devastating for rule England. How did he make such an announcement? | :51:05. | :51:10. | |
Today's announcement -- announcement is far from it adequate. Can he | :51:11. | :51:14. | |
confirm that sent it is transitional, it is his intention, | :51:15. | :51:18. | |
that in this Parliament, all of the cuts which he has announced in the | :51:19. | :51:21. | |
provisional settlement will eventually be proposed on rule | :51:22. | :51:27. | |
areas? In regards to business rates, one will he provide the House with | :51:28. | :51:32. | |
details on ledges which he intends to introduce? Finally does the | :51:33. | :51:35. | |
Minister accept that all of these quotes -- cuts are in essence of | :51:36. | :51:41. | |
political necessity? Should not the government learned lessons from | :51:42. | :51:44. | |
other members of the European Union who are raising hundreds of millions | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
of pounds more than we are getting from Google and other | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
multinationals? That money could then be used to support public | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
services. Isn't it time that the council showed some guts, stand up | :52:00. | :52:06. | |
to the multinationals and? Hear, hear! Thank you very much indeed Mr | :52:07. | :52:14. | |
Speaker. I'm delighted to hear about the reading material of the | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
Honorable gentleman. LAUGHTER This makes a change from the Redbook, | :52:20. | :52:25. | |
that is the preferred choice of the Council. I encourage him in that. If | :52:26. | :52:31. | |
he reads that very good website, there is constant praise for the | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
efficiency of the conservative Council that have a record of | :52:37. | :52:42. | |
economy and good service for the residents. In terms of increasing | :52:43. | :52:46. | |
council tax, will he would know all about that, because the last Labour | :52:47. | :52:52. | |
government doubles Council tax. The council tax at the end of this | :52:53. | :52:56. | |
Parliament and the projections that are made will be less in real terms | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
than they were at the beginning of the last Parliament. We will take no | :53:03. | :53:05. | |
lessons from him in terms of the Council tax. I detected a | :53:06. | :53:12. | |
halfhearted welcome for the transitional funding. This is just | :53:13. | :53:16. | |
as well. There were some Labour leaders that call for precisely | :53:17. | :53:19. | |
that. I think they might have been disappointed if a spokesman opposite | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
was not supporting them. He asked where the money is coming from. I | :53:25. | :53:29. | |
can confirm that it does not come from the local government financial | :53:30. | :53:31. | |
settlements. We have been able to find resources from outside the | :53:32. | :53:35. | |
settlement thanks to the generosity of the chalice but. We are able to | :53:36. | :53:41. | |
add that to the financial settlement. I can confirm that the | :53:42. | :53:50. | |
social care and precepts that have been put in place, again were at the | :53:51. | :53:56. | |
request of local counsel, who recognise and across parties | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
consensus, that as the population grows towards more elderly people, | :54:03. | :54:07. | |
in each council area to look over. It is not a reflection on the | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
efficiency of the Council. It is a Democratic way of life. It is a | :54:14. | :54:16. | |
right that we provide for elderly people in their retirement. He | :54:17. | :54:23. | |
quotes to me that anonymous people and important figures in | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
conservative local government. My experience is that they are not | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
anonymous. My colleagues are shrinking and they can come and talk | :54:34. | :54:37. | |
to me anytime. They will find that I will listen and respond where they | :54:38. | :54:47. | |
make a good case. As for leaders in local government, including leaders | :54:48. | :54:49. | |
of the local government associations, I can't help but | :54:50. | :54:54. | |
noticing the presence, in this House today of the gentleman concerned. He | :54:55. | :54:57. | |
seemed to have a happy smile on his face. I don't know whether that says | :54:58. | :54:59. | |
anything to the Honorable They cannot expect to be called, and | :55:00. | :55:11. | |
our convention on the matter is very clear, and people do need to abide | :55:12. | :55:19. | |
by it. I think it Secretary of State is to be congratulated on having | :55:20. | :55:23. | |
negotiated a very difficult minefield, very considerable skills, | :55:24. | :55:26. | |
and cannot particularly thank him, for the very thoughtful approach, | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
and the time which he gave myself, my fellow MPs, and my Council leader | :55:33. | :55:37. | |
from only? I am welcome that he has picked up the importance of | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
transitional as far as it affects London boroughs, and this is | :55:42. | :55:45. | |
sometimes a risk, and particular circumstances, and they are lost in | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
the equation. Cani a time frame on which the detail of the operation | :55:51. | :55:53. | |
will be set up? Can he also also give us detailed on how we intend to | :55:54. | :55:57. | |
look at the review of the needs, many of us welcome that, and I | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
regret we will not able to do a Coalition, but it will be important | :56:03. | :56:05. | |
for historically efficient authorities to make sure that there | :56:06. | :56:10. | |
are comparing with the unit costs and pick up and setting the baseline | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
for the visits rate going forward? I'm grateful to my Honorable friend, | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
and I recall a evening with his counsel in Bromley, and a more | :56:21. | :56:24. | |
recent meeting there. I think it is right to think of the demographic | :56:25. | :56:30. | |
pressures in outer London boroughs. The case that was put by our London | :56:31. | :56:35. | |
boroughs, and many places across the country is that as the population | :56:36. | :56:39. | |
has aged, more people tend to retire to such places, than they do to | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
others. It has not changed for ten years, and it has not kept up with | :56:45. | :56:47. | |
us. I can confirm that the transitional funding will be | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
available immediately, from the next financial year, so that his counsel | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
and others will be able to apply those extra funds straightaway. | :56:56. | :57:05. | |
Thank you. I think it Secretary of State for the slightly advanced | :57:06. | :57:07. | |
services I had of speech, first of all public to give some background | :57:08. | :57:12. | |
of cuts to local government in England, and I understand over the | :57:13. | :57:15. | |
past year it has been 8% in years coming ahead, and I am glad that at | :57:16. | :57:21. | |
the very least he has given local councils a little bit of time to | :57:22. | :57:24. | |
think about this, and I hope they do get back to us with their views on | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
the settlement. I know that has been said about service delivery, and the | :57:30. | :57:35. | |
pressures on that. I would also like that I am looking at the list of the | :57:36. | :57:42. | |
breakdown of the statement, and it doesn't reflect those areas, and in | :57:43. | :57:50. | |
terms... I know as well that he mentions that 80% of counsel | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
expenditure is coming down to 5%, and I wonder how much of that is | :57:56. | :57:58. | |
actually going to be cut, rather than changes to the expenditure, and | :57:59. | :58:04. | |
it doesn't seem to be within this statement, and of times really for | :58:05. | :58:07. | |
local councils to respond. We talked about two years to respond, but it | :58:08. | :58:10. | |
doesn't quite acknowledge the difficulties that some councils will | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
have an terms of funds from business rates, and some have a relatively... | :58:15. | :58:20. | |
I'm not convinced that two years will be enough transition for them. | :58:21. | :58:26. | |
It also seems to be no recognition in this statement, and there is some | :58:27. | :58:30. | |
talk about demographic pressures, but age is not only the demographic | :58:31. | :58:32. | |
pressure that many communities face. I think there needs to be some | :58:33. | :58:39. | |
greater acknowledgment of that within the plant, because of the | :58:40. | :58:42. | |
demographic pressures to exist, and there are areas of multiple | :58:43. | :58:47. | |
deprivation which require additional support in transition, and other | :58:48. | :58:50. | |
like to see greater recognition of that. Thank you. I'm grateful for | :58:51. | :58:56. | |
the Honorable Lady's contribution, shall never more colleagues and | :58:57. | :58:59. | |
Collins at the local Government financial framework is a delicate | :59:00. | :59:03. | |
matter, and it involves a lot of decisions that affect people in | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
different ways. I hope that you will reflect that I've done this in a | :59:09. | :59:11. | |
fairway. She talked about the transitional relief being over two | :59:12. | :59:14. | |
years, and that is because the shape of the settlement, if I can put it | :59:15. | :59:19. | |
this sees resources increasing towards the end of the period, as a | :59:20. | :59:25. | |
social care precept of the care fund, as it takes effect, but the | :59:26. | :59:29. | |
first two years, colleagues from across the House felt that this was | :59:30. | :59:36. | |
a severe. It is right to vote as the transitional relief on that. She | :59:37. | :59:40. | |
mentions an assessment of needs, and I completely agree with her, and | :59:41. | :59:45. | |
this is the review that I have committed to and set out, it needs | :59:46. | :59:50. | |
to look at all of the needs, including the common not only the | :59:51. | :59:54. | |
demographic pressures, but the cost of delivering services, we need to | :59:55. | :59:59. | |
look at both. And the cost of delivering the services, and I think | :00:00. | :00:03. | |
that is a fair way to present it. Can the Secretary of State give any | :00:04. | :00:07. | |
more detail on how to be very unwelcome transitional relief... In | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
his original plans, are both working? I was grateful to my | :00:13. | :00:20. | |
Honorable friend for his meeting and representations with me. Again, the | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
authorities felt that the early years were the most pressing, so I | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
can confirm that there will be transitional funding for West | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
Berkshire, 1.4 million, and for working him, of 2.1 million. I think | :00:37. | :00:43. | |
that will be welcomed by his authority having varies closely | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
studied the representation. About the ongoing continuing cuts in my | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
barrio, due to the lack of funding, would he be willing to meet with the | :00:56. | :01:02. | |
Tory lead of the Council, in order to discuss what is happening on the | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
ground, and what I have already said, by continuing cuts, which are | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
adversely to -- affecting my constituents? Would he be willing to | :01:14. | :01:16. | |
come to the borough in order to see for himself what is happening, and I | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
am in no way exaggerating the position. I meet regularly with his | :01:20. | :01:27. | |
leader, and the West Midlands is a very important area, where we are | :01:28. | :01:31. | |
negotiating a very important devolution deal at the moment. He | :01:32. | :01:39. | |
will know that the Authority has benefited from the settlement, so | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
that over the course of the four years, the spending power for his | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
local authority will increase by 1.5%, and that is something I note | :01:49. | :01:57. | |
that will be welcomed locally. Thank you. I thank my right honourable | :01:58. | :02:01. | |
friend for the very careful and diligent way in which he is | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
approaching this matter. Will he agree with me that what seems to be | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
said difficult for local government, particularly in rural areas is that | :02:09. | :02:16. | |
counties and... Run their affairs in a very orderly fashion, be more | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
efficient and effective they are, the less money they got. There seems | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
to be a completely idiotic way of proceeding. It is, Mr Speaker, and | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
that is why the transition to business rates, retention, when it | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
is not the representations that councils make to central government | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
for grant, but it is their ability to attract businesses, and to grow | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
those businesses. That will be determined of the resources that | :02:41. | :02:43. | |
they have available. That is in the councils have long wanted, isn't the | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
Conservatives have long wanted, and I am very confident that both his | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
County Council in West Sussex, and his excellent District Council of | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
which I know very well, will respond to the opportunities available. | :02:58. | :03:07. | |
Thank you. The crisis in social care in Liverpool will not be resolved by | :03:08. | :03:14. | |
either the new presets suggested, would the Minister's statements | :03:15. | :03:21. | |
today, it is the result of a 58% cut of funds by central government on | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
the poorest area in the country. Will the Minister take another look | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
at this very critical situation? What I would say to the Honorable | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
Lady is that the introduction of the present, and of the better care | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
fund, will be very important for Liverpool. In fact, at the end of | :03:39. | :03:46. | |
the period, it will deliver around ?30 million a year, to spend on | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
quite appropriately, care of elderly people in Liverpool. I would have | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
thought I would be something that she should welcome, and it was a | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
proposal that was made by conservative leaders in County | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
councils, that there should be a social care precept, but it will | :04:03. | :04:04. | |
benefit her city, as much as they do. Thank you. Can I thank my right | :04:05. | :04:12. | |
honourable friend for the meeting he held with me, and other members from | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
Suffolk to discuss global funding? I know he has worked hard on this, and | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
I constantly welcomed his announcements today, particularly | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
around additional funding to use the pace of production during those | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
first two years. Can he inform the House as to when final figures will | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
be given to councils? I will indeed. I was grateful for the meeting that | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
I had with my Honorable friend. I am looking forward to the discussions | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
of further devolution, to Suffolk, for the East Anglia and powerhouse, | :04:46. | :04:52. | |
and we were calling a description for that very high-performing part | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
of the country. The funds will be available right from the beginning | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
of the next financial year, and at the usual way, they will be | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
confirmed to councils, following the statement. Thank you. Can I get the | :05:05. | :05:18. | |
context, is it that Holton, had a cost of over 50% since 2007, so in | :05:19. | :05:26. | |
that context,... Let me say this poll and 68% of property simpleton | :05:27. | :05:32. | |
are in a and B, the preceptor not raise anywhere near to what it was. | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
Will the Minister look again at this, and will he meet the urgency | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
to talk about this? I'm always very happy to submit the honourable | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
gentleman. He will know that the allocation of the funds did take | :05:47. | :05:50. | |
into account the different resources and different areas that they have, | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
and in fact, Holton is a beneficiary of that, but I'm very happy to help | :05:57. | :06:09. | |
them understand that. Thank you. Can I thank my right honourable friend | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
for the meeting. Particularly, my Honorable friend from | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
Leicestershire. As you know, our county is being one of the worst | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
funded for central government historically. We are hopeful that | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
this new deal will produce benefits, not only for central government, but | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
also for Leicestershire as well. Can he tell the House today when we are | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
likely to get the actual numbers which the County Council can deal | :06:37. | :06:39. | |
with, and what those numbers will be? I certainly will. I am grateful | :06:40. | :06:49. | |
for his advice on this matter. Leicestershire is one of these | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
places that I think will make a particularly strong case for a | :06:54. | :07:01. | |
review of the match between its needs and its resources. And, rather | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
than keep them hanging on, I can tell them that the transitional | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
funding for Leicestershire will be reported ?3 million. Can I just say | :07:09. | :07:21. | |
that I think it is a bit off that the Minister has got the entire | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
figures? These are not going to be released to counsel, and went | :07:26. | :07:27. | |
nowhere scrutinising what he is saying, but can I raise the point | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
raised by my Honorable friend from Holton about the better care fund? I | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
agree with the Minister that this is an issue that affects all councils. | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
County Durham as a low tax base,... The Minister just said that this | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
will be in a formula? Can I ask them to meet with myself to talk about | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
disadvantaged councils, not being able to raise the cash? Usually the | :07:57. | :08:04. | |
complaint is that others are told first, and in this case, I feel that | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
some people are complaining about being told first. I cannot see one | :08:09. | :08:16. | |
of -- what is wrong with being told first. Maybe I misunderstood, but I | :08:17. | :08:25. | |
think I understand. What I will say is that have having conversations | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
with his local authority, they made some very positive comments, and | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
suggestions for the settlement. Of course I'm very pleased to meet with | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
him to discuss the very important devolution is taking place in the | :08:40. | :08:42. | |
northeast of England, which are very proud of. I warmly congratulate the | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
Secretary of State for his announcement today. As you will be | :08:49. | :08:51. | |
aware from the representations that we have made, we were looking at | :08:52. | :08:59. | |
834% reduction, next year, against a uniform reduction of 25%. Any | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
support on this will be much appreciated. Those who share my view | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
that there is danger that low economic activity areas, such as my | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
own county historically, may be penalised by the transition to | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
council tax being supplemented by rural rents, unless there is a | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
transitional fund of some kind that stimulates economic growth? My | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
Honorable friend makes a very good point. I think the potential of | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
Hertfordshire, in terms of attracting businesses is great, and | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
my Honorable friend has been a very doubtful campaign for a university | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
there. But I think he is absolutely right, of course, the transition to | :09:46. | :09:53. | |
a world in which local resources that fund councils has to take | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
account of the needs in each area, and the potential that they have two | :09:59. | :10:04. | |
raises revenues. That is why I have announced those reviews today. I | :10:05. | :10:07. | |
might say that several colleagues from across the chamber of | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
contribution, and have expertise in this matter, and I hope in the | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
spirit of the statement that I am making, that I can contribute to it | :10:16. | :10:25. | |
as well. Thank you. I 2am concerned about the future stability of | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
funding for local services. While Council tax provides a solid base of | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
revenue, moving toward a more reliant on business rates as more | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
unpredictable, in a level of revenue available to local councils. The | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
considerations is the Secretary of State given to the impact on local | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
services, if they fall in revenue from business rates, for example, | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
from a downturn in the economy, which is beyond control of many | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
local councils? The great advantages of the devolution deals that we are | :10:56. | :11:00. | |
striking including with greater Manchester, and she raises her eyes, | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
but in fact, the leaders of greater Manchester, the elected leaders, | :11:05. | :11:11. | |
have proposed a means of taking on the 100% retention business rates, | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
and making sure that they can manage the ups and downs across the years | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
about that. This is one of the proposal they have made so in | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
attracting more businesses, to greater Manchester, the whole of | :11:24. | :11:25. | |
that great city will benefit from it. To my right honourable friend | :11:26. | :11:35. | |
assure me that his final settlement reflects the accurate level of | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
reserves which are truly available to our County Council? What I would | :11:41. | :11:43. | |
say is that I have made no assumption of reserves, and in terms | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
of the spending review, spent -- several commentators made a | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
suggestion that we should require councils and take account of their | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
known reserves. I resisted this, and it seems to me that it is reasonable | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
for councils to have reserves, just as a nation, we are looking to | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
create a surplus as a buffer against the ups and downs of the economy in | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
the years ahead. Something the party opposite failed to do. The great | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
advantage of a four-year settlement is that it gives that certainty to | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
councils, so that part of the reserves they keep against the | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
uncertainties of year-to-year settlement is available to them, but | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
I have made no assumptions that they will. My surgery on Friday, on her | :12:31. | :12:40. | |
own for her serve elite disabled daughter. She was not able to get a | :12:41. | :12:46. | |
decent night's sleep. She used to receive six night scare him up, now | :12:47. | :12:49. | |
she told she will get nothing, and that is the reality of the | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
conservative party of treatment of local government, since 2010. There | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
are no more black office functions demurred, there are no more staff to | :12:58. | :13:00. | |
be made redundant, there simply is not anything left to be cut, except | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
the services for the people who need them most. For them, the outlook | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
bleak. No devolution can compensate for that basic provision. Can I make | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
a suggestion? He goes and has a cuppa tea with the leader of traffic | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
Council next-door. Which runs its services extremely efficiently, and | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
I do not say that the advice that he will be able to give to tame side | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
will be very sensible, if they took it up. Can I think the Minister for | :13:30. | :13:41. | |
revisiting this issue. We represent rural areas and want to see its | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
fairness in the funding system. While Gloucestershire may seem to be | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
a wealthy county, there are areas of deprivation, and we have flooding | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
problems, a higher percentage of poor people. Regardless of where | :13:56. | :13:58. | |
they lived, they still need social care, so can I ask that he enjoys | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
that the final settlement that he comes to guys reflect the problems | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
which exist in rural areas as well as other areas? I completely agree | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
with my Honorable friend, and I was grateful for the representations | :14:11. | :14:12. | |
that colleagues from Gloucestershire have made. He will be grateful and | :14:13. | :14:18. | |
pleased that the pressure on them will ease for these first two years, | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
to the tune of about ?2.5 million, which knowing the pressures on the | :14:25. | :14:30. | |
council, for tech with reasons he says, will be welcomed greatly. Mr | :14:31. | :14:37. | |
Speaker, no counsel has ever suffered the same level of cuts and | :14:38. | :14:40. | |
local government in history of Birmingham, record is ?1 billion. No | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
city has been treated so unfairly. As the Secretary of State begin to | :14:47. | :14:49. | |
understand the dismayed that there will be over todayannouncement? It | :14:50. | :14:59. | |
will threaten dozens of community groups, supporting the most | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
vulnerable in Birmingham. There will be utter dismay in Britain's second | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
city. What I would say to the honourable gentleman is that the | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
figures that I'm publishing today include an extra ?800,000 from the | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
new homes bonus for Birmingham. That was not included in the provisional | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
settlement. I would have thought that would be a cause of -- for some | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
pleasure in Birmingham, rather than the opposite of what he says. Really | :15:26. | :15:31. | |
well done to the Secretary of State. CHEERING | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
Enter the review that he is announced today. Could he say what | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
assumptions you made on the uplifting parish and town council | :15:43. | :15:45. | |
presents and the assertion that he made a few moments ago about the | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
portion of local governments spend, and that would be consumed by the | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
RSG, by the end of the decade, because he will note that those | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
precepts have gone up, as the RSG has gone down, and in many places, | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
the council tax has been frozen? My Honorable friend makes an important | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
point, and there have been representations in the past two to | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
include parish and town councils in the referendum principles. We have | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
not done this, but we keep it under review, so that there is economy in | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
those town and parish councils, which is very important, because | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
council taxpayers are the same that paid the Council tax to his County | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
Council. Who is the 10th most deprived area, and over the next | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
year, it faces spending cuts, which is 50% greater than those in County | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
councils. 20 minutes to explain why County councils are getting | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
additional monies, but not areas like mine? Yes, because County | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
councils and other authorities in the first two years, were | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
experiencing sharper reductions in the revenue support Grant, and the | :17:00. | :17:06. | |
representations that came from across local governments, including | :17:07. | :17:09. | |
labour authorities, was that we should ease the transition there. | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
But I would say to her constituents in Hall, is that that there huge | :17:14. | :17:20. | |
attention being given to that very important city. Through the deals | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
that we have established, the growth deal, investors is potentially in | :17:25. | :17:32. | |
the area. It is very important for further opportunities for that city. | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
I think my right honourable friend for meeting with me, and colleagues, | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
and listening to rural communities, and I warmly welcome this statement. | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
An ageing population is a key joiner of cost, so that I right honourable | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
friend to ensure that future funding formerly, instead of using | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
potentially out-of-date figures, instead keep up with the changing | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
demographics, experienced by areas like North Yorkshire I've? That is | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
one of the point that the honourable gentleman, as well as other | :18:02. | :18:03. | |
colleagues have made, and that is why I have made the response that I | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
have today, that we should look again. At that funding formula. It | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
was also a point that was made by another MP, who knows, and I am | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
pleased that we have been able to meet his request. Did the Secretary | :18:18. | :18:26. | |
of State consider including the Chancellor's social care tax in the | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
calculation of overall Council tax income for the core funding | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
settlement, and surely that would make the changes fairer, and | :18:36. | :18:38. | |
mitigate against the late introduction of the Medicare fund, | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
on the Council tax base authorities, like Birmingham? The combination of | :18:43. | :18:49. | |
the social care preset, which I think has been recognised across all | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
parties in different types of authorities. Even those district | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
councils that do not receive it. Their residents are the same | :18:59. | :19:04. | |
residence of counties as they are in burrows, and it is important that | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
that funding is there. The combination of the precept and the | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
better care fund provide up to the 5p, and I think what I said, the | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
representation that I had before the spending review from the local | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
Government Association, and the director of social services said | :19:21. | :19:30. | |
that nearly ?2.9 billion,. Can I pay my right honourable friend for his | :19:31. | :19:36. | |
patience and courtesy? And how he has dealt with colleagues like | :19:37. | :19:43. | |
myself who are talking about County Council, and can I welcome the heart | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
of the announcement which my right girlfriend has made today? I'm sure | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
rural local governments would be part of a big wet kiss on the cheek | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
of the Secretary of State, but I'm not entirely sure that that is | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
right. If the able at this stage to give further detail about the | :20:04. | :20:06. | |
transitional funding for Dorset, now that he is announced it? The devil | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
always be in detail. Kennedy also set out the timing for this very | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
welcomed review for the assessment of need, because the sooner we can | :20:17. | :20:19. | |
get that sorted out, the better for rural local government. I'm sure | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
scintillating replies to his honourable friend, I take this | :20:25. | :20:27. | |
opportunity to say what a delight it is to see our new sergeant of arms, | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
and the chair. Can I add my welcome to the new Sergeant? Giving him my | :20:34. | :20:40. | |
Honorable friend, as far as the way he is from the dispatch box, but IM | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
grateful for his good wishes. Of course, Dorset is a place that is a | :20:47. | :20:53. | |
very well run County Counsel, and has very important costs that come | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
from being a very beautiful and rural county. The extra funding that | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
he will received from a... Will be a ?4.10 million. Which having spoken | :21:05. | :21:12. | |
to his leader, will make a very big difference in managing the | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
transition that his authority will recommend. Thank you very much. We | :21:17. | :21:24. | |
are the smallest unit authority and the country, and I in response to | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
questions, the Secretary of State announced that fellow authorities | :21:29. | :21:35. | |
broke at 1.4 million pounds in transitional funding, and having a | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
very changing highly needs population, what are we going to | :21:43. | :21:49. | |
get? Daly LAUGHTER , gobbling that want to... I'm | :21:50. | :21:56. | |
surprised she is not welcomed the announcement is made. Thank you. Can | :21:57. | :22:04. | |
I welcome the additional funding to my right girlfriend has made today, | :22:05. | :22:07. | |
to piece the pace of reductions, during the most difficult two years, | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
rich in north London was looking very frightening challenge to | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
achieve? Cut my right honourable friend confirmed that the new North | :22:16. | :22:23. | |
London, which is a high population of elderly people, will now be | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
secure? What I would say to my Honorable friend is that the benefit | :22:30. | :22:37. | |
that the project, first of all, there is the additional funding that | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
comes from the rural services, and the transitional grant that I | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
mentioned. Both very important, and then I will be welcomed by people in | :22:47. | :22:53. | |
Northumberland. But also, a review of the cost of delivering services, | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
and rural areas, and the increasing demands that they have. I notice | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
something that many of her constituents and counsellors were | :23:02. | :23:03. | |
calling for, and I think it is right that we should get on that | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
straightaway. The report recently said that 37,000 elderly people who | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
were dependent on statutory funding and residential care are at risk of | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
losing their places and becoming homeless, because of the rise in | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
minimum wage, and the cost of local council funding, whereas areas like | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
mine, but for the benefit of PPS, went to reasonably, because of a | :23:31. | :23:33. | |
high tax base out of a process, other areas of the country, will | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
have a low tax base, which is in the Northeast, and will suffer very | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
badly, and they have the highest areas of dependency on statutory | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
funding for adult social care? Will be Secretary of State look again at | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
this funding formula, and make sure that the areas of the country that | :23:49. | :23:53. | |
need it most get I just said to the House that I do intend to look at | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
the funding formula to make sure those areas with the highest costs | :24:00. | :24:07. | |
and pressure are funded accordingly. We are facing a rate support grant | :24:08. | :24:12. | |
of 44%, so I will be very grateful that my right honourable friend and | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
his ministerial team have listened to many of us here. Could he do two | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
things for us? Could he give an indication about whether the cost | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
will have a speeding up of the potential business rates, and will | :24:27. | :24:28. | |
this really resolve some many problems for local authority such as | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
part Berkshire, could you also have a word with his colleagues and the | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
Department of Health and told him to pull their finger out in the deal | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
they have agreed to return care act funding, which the promise to do, | :24:43. | :24:45. | |
which they could make a difference in settling this years budget? I'm | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
very grateful to my Honorable friend, and he doesn't have well-run | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
council, and it was representations from them and other colleagues in | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
the Council that led me to be able to make the changes that I have. In | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
terms of the early retention of business rates, I'm glad he gives me | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
the opportunity to say to all members that weave through the | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
devolution deals are very keen to get on with the devolution of | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
business rates. I would encourage all areas to come forward with the | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
proposals that are there. The Chancellor has made a commitment | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
that they should be in place, by 2019, but that is buying rather than | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
the West Berkshire Iraq would be in the West Berkshire Iraq would be in | :25:33. | :25:35. | |
a very good position to but a good case together. | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
this would only be a fair settlement were predicated on every area having | :25:42. | :25:49. | |
an equal council tax base and also equal levels of need and | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
representatives as I do, across borough constituency into the CPS on | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
paying fine and thoughtful,. I know that these too authorities are very | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
different in their abilities to raise income. There is ?16 billion | :26:04. | :26:12. | |
deficit in adult social care. The levy on council tax. The to percent | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
present will raise ?1.4 million only. How does the Secretary of | :26:18. | :26:24. | |
State plan to fill that gap? I have given some advice to his neighbour | :26:25. | :26:27. | |
on this issue and if he would like me to arrange for him to meet with | :26:28. | :26:35. | |
the leader, he will find it a very instructive conversation. In a world | :26:36. | :26:39. | |
of devolution, it could be that traffic would be able to provide | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
some advice and assistance to his borough council on running an | :26:45. | :26:51. | |
efficient set of services. I welcome very much the 3.3 million | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
transitional release, which is at the bottom of the funding pile. | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
Would he say a word about the discussions he has had a funding of | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
adult social care, which very much affects our County? I will indeed. | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
The provisional settlement as I said in my statement, made a particular | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
response to the knowledge pressures on adult social care, across the | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
country. This was from all tiers of local government cited as the | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
important priority. I think the decision to establish a social care | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
precept, was a very important step in recognising what has been | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
building up for many years now. As particular pressures on authorities | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
which must assure, very much runs as it is, fills those pressures. Madam | :27:44. | :27:53. | |
Deputy Speaker, can I congratulate my right honourable friend to listen | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
to all these ministers. We are very grateful for the arrangements. Can | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
he perhaps the little bit further to think about the changes to the new | :28:05. | :28:11. | |
home and business rates, so that fast-growing districts, although | :28:12. | :28:14. | |
they will get more money in the future, are not actually penalizing | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
the short term? Indeed I would say to my Honorable friend of the | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
consultation is open until March. It is important that she and her | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
counsellors contribute to that. So that will be the opportunity to | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
consider there. Of course as a maker today, the very important step of | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
100% business rate retention, by local government, needs to be | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
accompanied by a fundamental look at the methodology. I hope that she | :28:45. | :28:47. | |
will bring her considerable expertise on this matter forth. Can | :28:48. | :28:57. | |
the Secretary of State first for his announcement about transitional | :28:58. | :29:00. | |
relief, which I very much hope the London Borough of pavement will | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
benefit from. Not just because of its ageing population, but the | :29:06. | :29:07. | |
increasing demand for children's services. My right honourable friend | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
will already know I'm sure, that the 12 inner London boroughs have more | :29:13. | :29:16. | |
reserves collectively, than the 20 out of London boroughs. I wonder if | :29:17. | :29:21. | |
he might reflect further on whether that might be taken into | :29:22. | :29:28. | |
consideration? On my right honourable friend suggestion there, | :29:29. | :29:33. | |
the council will benefit from the transitional relief. I think you | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
want to make a good case, in terms of the review of the demographic -- | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
demographic pressures that others are facing. She invites me to do | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
what I said I would not do. This is to require councils to dispose of | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
their reserves. If I did that, I would incur the displeasure of some | :29:50. | :29:52. | |
of the colleagues that have spoken earlier. I have not done that. I | :29:53. | :29:56. | |
think it is a matter for local government. By providing a four-year | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
settlement, this does get every counsel the ability to plan ahead | :30:02. | :30:04. | |
and make sure it has the right level of reserves, for the circumstances. | :30:05. | :30:20. | |
Hear, hear! Can I ask him further to the Scottish Nationalists | :30:21. | :30:22. | |
represented, that suggested that rule areas are richer than urban | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
areas. The opposite is true. Council tax is also much higher. As a | :30:29. | :30:32. | |
dentist we continue to allow percentage rises on a much higher | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
base or a much poorer people to go on, we're going to actually | :30:38. | :30:39. | |
reinforce the equities in our system. In a world in which we have | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
business right protection and council tax, what can the Secretary | :30:45. | :30:49. | |
of State do to ensure that our poor older, and harder deserving citizens | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
are not unfairly impacted, while the lower council tax areas offer richer | :30:56. | :30:58. | |
people to pay less and continue to be subsidized by Asquith yellow | :30:59. | :31:02. | |
honourable friend makes a valuable point. I'd like to pay tribute to | :31:03. | :31:08. | |
him in a way that he has conducted a well reasoned, and persuasive | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
argument. I'm grateful for the manner in which he is done that. | :31:14. | :31:16. | |
He's absolutely right of course. It is a false assumption to make. | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
Because the area is rule, it does not mean necessarily that is wealthy | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
and prosperous. Some of the poor circumstances are in the most rural | :31:29. | :31:31. | |
areas. That is why I think it is long overdue, after more than a | :31:32. | :31:34. | |
decade, that we should look at the cost of delivering services in rural | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
areas. We should look at the pressures they face. We should set | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
the retention of business rates accordingly, so that they can be | :31:44. | :31:45. | |
recognised in the way that they have not been in recent years. I normally | :31:46. | :31:56. | |
welcome the Secretary of State statement today. I like to thank him | :31:57. | :31:58. | |
for looking at rule areas. You will know however that the demographic | :31:59. | :32:02. | |
areas and that the precept well committed as it is, could he set out | :32:03. | :32:11. | |
during his review whether he will listen to other proposals to create | :32:12. | :32:15. | |
a sustainable long-term settlement for social care which is being | :32:16. | :32:18. | |
described as unfinished business in the fight here for review? I | :32:19. | :32:24. | |
certainly will. I am grateful for my Honorable friend with words. It is | :32:25. | :32:30. | |
clear that one knows that more people choose to retire to places | :32:31. | :32:34. | |
like Devon then perhaps to other parts of the country. It is | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
important that is recognised in the funds that are available. My | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
Honorable friend shares a very important committee of this house. | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
It is one of the essential task of this government over the years | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
ahead, to make sure that health and social care come together. They are | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
to size of the same coin. There are for looking after the same people, | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
whether by councils or the NHS. One of my absolute things that I am | :33:02. | :33:08. | |
absolutely determined to do is to make sure that we have a much better | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
connection between the NHS and social care. I would be grateful for | :33:13. | :33:15. | |
her advice to our committee on how we do that. The different councils | :33:16. | :33:24. | |
that will be impacted on the settlement will happen in different | :33:25. | :33:32. | |
ways. The lowest County Council tax in the country will be the most | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
laudable. It may be long-term to ensure that proper local service | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
delivery in the county, is a restructuring of government. But | :33:42. | :33:44. | |
will my right honourable friend confirm that he will it give | :33:45. | :33:52. | |
solutions that could involve an answer that ensures that public | :33:53. | :33:54. | |
services are delivered more efficiently. ? It is within all our | :33:55. | :34:03. | |
interest that we have councils that are effective and efficient. I have | :34:04. | :34:07. | |
also weighed said that I do not believe in a top-down organisation | :34:08. | :34:10. | |
of local governments. This has been attempted in the past and has not | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
ended well, if I can put it that way. But of course the commitment | :34:15. | :34:20. | |
that I have to dilution, carries with it the idea that if local | :34:21. | :34:23. | |
people want to do things differently, than they should be | :34:24. | :34:26. | |
able to do that. So what I would say to my right honourable friend is | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
that if there are proposals that enjoy the support of local people, | :34:33. | :34:34. | |
then they should come forward and they should have those discussions. | :34:35. | :34:41. | |
I would like to congratulate my right honourable friend for having | :34:42. | :34:44. | |
approached these issues in a pragmatic way. He rightly points out | :34:45. | :34:48. | |
that demographic pressures affect different areas in different ways. I | :34:49. | :34:50. | |
wonder whether he would say when he wonder whether he would say when he | :34:51. | :34:53. | |
expects to needs review to be completed and what role the figures | :34:54. | :35:01. | |
obtained from that will play in the integration of social care with the | :35:02. | :35:07. | |
NHS? I spoke to my boyfriend and he was of considerable resistance when | :35:08. | :35:12. | |
we consulted on the quality framework. I would like to get to | :35:13. | :35:20. | |
review underway as soon as possible so that it can inform not only the | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
business rates retention but it can reform of the decisions that the | :35:26. | :35:28. | |
government has to take some time to time. Not just about rule areas but | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
about different needs for different areas. The sooner it's done, the | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
better. In the coming weeks I will set out a process for which we will | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
do that. Colleagues across the House will contribute. Thank you. He has | :35:44. | :35:54. | |
been very courteous. ?4 million or more across the County Council. Can | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
he just confirm. I did not quite hear about the tariff adjustment. Is | :36:00. | :36:06. | |
that going to stay or go? In 1920 they will end up paying the | :36:07. | :36:14. | |
government half million pounds. This will take ?123 and Council tax. I | :36:15. | :36:17. | |
don't think that's fair. Will he take this whole issue into I'm very | :36:18. | :36:25. | |
grateful to my boyfriend for his kind words. We'll find both the | :36:26. | :36:31. | |
transitional relief and the role grant important. While I have said | :36:32. | :36:37. | |
on what has been called the negative grant, is that we will remove that | :36:38. | :36:45. | |
entirely. For 2017 and 2018 and the following year we will remove it. By | :36:46. | :36:48. | |
the time we get to the interior of the settlements, that will be when | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
100% business pretending comes into play. Those figures will be | :36:54. | :36:55. | |
influenced by that. You can look forward with confidence to the | :36:56. | :37:00. | |
review to which his counsel, and I my Honorable friend himself. We have | :37:01. | :37:09. | |
a increasingly ageing population. This has been one of the biggest | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
areas of pressure to my local authorities. That think the | :37:15. | :37:17. | |
Secretary of State for listening to Council leaders and for speaking | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
regularly on this matter. Thank you for making sure that there's more | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
money available for better care, to tend to the needs of these | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
particularly important residents. I am very grateful to my right | :37:31. | :37:34. | |
honourable friend. He's absolutely right. He doesn't excellent job not | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
only in leading works of the council, but also in her national | :37:40. | :37:41. | |
response to the local Government Association. She has been very | :37:42. | :37:47. | |
persuasive, and making the case for extra funding recognising the cost | :37:48. | :37:53. | |
of social care. She is of the most influential and respected Council | :37:54. | :37:56. | |
leaders and the country. We're very lucky to have her. Madam Deputy | :37:57. | :38:02. | |
Speaker cannot thank the Secretary State Gazette and indeed for | :38:03. | :38:09. | |
accommodating a meeting with all the Gloucestershire MPs. Will he go a | :38:10. | :38:17. | |
little further and explain what opportunities for North West | :38:18. | :38:19. | |
Leicestershire and Gloucestershire and increase in the rule services | :38:20. | :38:23. | |
deliver grant? I'm grateful to my Honorable friend and grateful for | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
him coming back to consider these matters further. There are | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
opportunities for rest assure and Northwest best assure that they will | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
gain in transitional funding. One of the things that we need to do | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
through the review is to look at areas like North West Leicestershire | :38:43. | :38:46. | |
to see whether the resources that they have are adequately recognised, | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
not just in the business rates retention, but through calculations | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
such as the rule services deliver grant. Both local authorities | :38:57. | :39:04. | |
operating in my constituency have expressed serious concerns about the | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
draft settlement. What assurances can the Secretary of State give | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
regarding his consideration on these concerns? As I said to his | :39:14. | :39:17. | |
honourable friend, we have listened very carefully and the leaders of | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
his authorities have made representations that we have | :39:22. | :39:23. | |
listened to very seriously. I think that they will be pleased with the | :39:24. | :39:32. | |
response that we have made. Secretary of State will be aware | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
that the challenges faced by Nottingham and the former coalfield | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
communities... I wonder if he can outline will be received. So that | :39:44. | :39:50. | |
the county Council can find its own way in generating business rates in | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
the future? Of course attracting businesses that are located in areas | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
is a sure-fire way in to make sure that the resources available to | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
councils continue to grow. I am grateful for his question. I can | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
confirm to him that Nottingham sure will receive transitional grant | :40:09. | :40:10. | |
funding of around to million pounds next year will stop by the something | :40:11. | :40:13. | |
that they will be welcomed across the county up with thank you Madam | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
Deputy Speaker. It was not me that Deputy Speaker. It was not me that | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
had a cosy little chat with the conservative home, if indeed it was | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
a conservative MP this morning, but the idea that some councils having | :40:28. | :40:31. | |
to knock on the bone is absolutely accurate. I prefer to my own family, | :40:32. | :40:37. | |
which has been gnawing on the phone, because of its efficiency and | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
competence in providing services. I am very grateful for the wonderful | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
Secretary of State for coming to visit from link and to the green to | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
transition their rate for Bromley. Can I ask what they are certain? | :40:50. | :40:58. | |
LAUGHTER It is always a pleasure to come to Bromley and I was to do so | :40:59. | :41:02. | |
again in the future. We will make sure that probably benefits from | :41:03. | :41:05. | |
around to million pounds in transitional grants for each of the | :41:06. | :41:12. | |
next three years. That I know from looking at the representations that | :41:13. | :41:15. | |
have been made, by London boroughs. This'll be a big help. This will | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
help them manage through the more difficult first to years the | :41:21. | :41:25. | |
settlement. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. And I thank the Secretary | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
of State for listing to the vocal representations. At those meetings | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
he heard that it is not just morality but also sparsity of | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
population that is important can he confirm that this new revised area | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
that we take into account? Lincolnshire is the County that is | :41:49. | :41:54. | |
particularly ambitious phase of its history. It is looking to negotiate | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
a very substantial devolution deal. It is a very rule and indeed sparse | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
County. As he said it faces particular pressures. The additional | :42:06. | :42:09. | |
funding that Lincolnshire will receive is in the order of ?5 | :42:10. | :42:12. | |
million during the year ahead. This something I know will be widely | :42:13. | :42:19. | |
welcomed across county. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker as apparently | :42:20. | :42:22. | |
falls on me to do. I like to say thank you to my right I will friend. | :42:23. | :42:33. | |
Hear, hear! . I thank you very much indeed for listing we're are | :42:34. | :42:36. | |
awaiting the final figures. It might be that he can provide those | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
perished quickly if I speak slowly enough. LAUGHTER. Can he agree with | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
me that what is important is to never again find ourselves, that we | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
never again find ourselves in a position where cool areas face | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
discrepancy and unfairness in the face of urban areas? Hear, hear! | :42:55. | :43:04. | |
Hear, hear! I am very grateful to my right honourable friend. His | :43:05. | :43:11. | |
patience is rewarded. The finding that Devon will receive next year | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
from the government is ?8.4 million. I know this'll selected big | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
difference to the area. North Devon will receive around one quarter of | :43:21. | :43:26. | |
million pounds for its services. I can confirm that the opportunity to | :43:27. | :43:32. | |
take a long hard look at the resources that areas have, the cost | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
that they have, is something that I that they have, is something that I | :43:38. | :43:45. | |
think is long overdue. I know both his county and district will play a | :43:46. | :43:52. | |
full part in that review. We now come to the motion on the draft | :43:53. | :43:57. | |
Social Security benefit up rating order, which will be debated | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
together with the motion on the draft state pension and amendment | :44:03. | :44:04. | |
regulations. I called to minister to move the first motion. Thank you | :44:05. | :44:10. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker. The order relations before us, have been made | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
in the House previously. It is my understanding that there is general | :44:16. | :44:18. | |
agreement on both sides of the House to its contents. I do not therefore | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
propose to detain the House any longer than is necessary. I beg to | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
move formally. Hear, hear! The question is the draft thank you | :44:30. | :44:39. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker. This is the first time I haven't debated at the | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
ministers dispatch box. I would like to welcome the Minister and thank | :44:45. | :44:47. | |
him for his very brief explanation of the draft order is before us | :44:48. | :44:52. | |
today. I do however want to use this opportunity to debate and clarify | :44:53. | :44:55. | |
and scrutinize aspects of these important measures. As the Minister | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
has outlined previously, the government legislated in the | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
pensions act up to thousand 14 to introduce a new single tier state | :45:06. | :45:09. | |
pension, for persons reaching state pension age on our after the 6th of | :45:10. | :45:16. | |
April to thousand 16. A central principle of this legislation has | :45:17. | :45:19. | |
been to maintain the earnings link. This is a link that was restored in | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
the pensions act of 2007, passed by a Labour government. The Coalition | :45:25. | :45:28. | |
Government, committed to increasing the basic state pension, to the | :45:29. | :45:35. | |
triple guarantee at the price of 2-.5% which was highest from a full | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
2011, the triple lock is a policy approach these figures to support. A | :45:41. | :45:46. | |
position that was confirmed in our manifesto at last years general | :45:47. | :45:51. | |
election. Today we are considering to implement key features of that | :45:52. | :45:59. | |
settlement. For existing pensioners on the current state pension scheme, | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
the 2-.9% increase, being proposed today, which matches earnings as the | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
highest rise of the three measures for this year, is a step in the | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
right direction. This means that for the basic state pension will rise to | :46:14. | :46:19. | |
?119 and ?30 per week, an increase of ?3. I'm very grateful to my right | :46:20. | :46:30. | |
honourable friend of course the triple lock is all fine and well. If | :46:31. | :46:34. | |
you are root in receipt of the state pension. Of course she will know | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
that there's a group of women who have deprived -- been deprived of | :46:39. | :46:41. | |
estate agents. These otherwise the women, these are women born in the | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
1950s. Doesn't she think that a triple lock up nothing is still | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
nothing and actually what we need from this government is that there | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
transition arrangements those women. I thank my Honorable friend for that | :46:54. | :46:58. | |
and his contributions. Hopefully I will touch on that during my speech | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
and a half today. I would also like to commend my home -- honourable | :47:03. | :47:10. | |
friend ankles, in campaigning on the issue for these women that feel that | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
they have been let down by this government. The increased starting | :47:15. | :47:18. | |
rate for the new flat rate pension, was introduced in April of this year | :47:19. | :47:25. | |
of ?150 is again broadly welcomed, on these ventures. Of course it is | :47:26. | :47:30. | |
an increase of only ?5 on the previous minimum guarantee of ?155 | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
and 60p. What is less welcome is the lack of communication, escalated | :47:37. | :47:42. | |
timescales, pure management, and utter confusion caused by what | :47:43. | :48:24. | |
Potential effect of that they will be getting the correct amounts they | :48:25. | :49:52. | |
were promised and are entitled to. Times are another matter of the | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
leading portals, unlike the common. An individual will no longer at the | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
right entitlement based on national insurance record of the formal | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
spouse or civil partner. Some transitional protection has been | :50:07. | :50:08. | |
provided and the details are not at all clear. I'm sure all members of | :50:09. | :50:15. | |
the side of this house have constituents in rather desperate | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
circumstances trying to milk through the park. I myself have one | :50:20. | :50:25. | |
constituent contact me recently,. Her husband is terminally ill and | :50:26. | :50:30. | |
honest in that daft deathbed. He fears what will happen to his wife | :50:31. | :50:33. | |
when he dies under these transitional arrangements. They have | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
no children. His wife stayed home for many years, Walker has been | :50:38. | :50:40. | |
provided for them both. She called pension help line and they were | :50:41. | :50:46. | |
unable to offer any clarity or reassurance. I've asked this | :50:47. | :50:53. | |
question before, but I have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. Can | :50:54. | :50:56. | |
the Minister confirm that in an extreme scenario, a woman with no | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
entitlement in her own right who is widowed, could end up with no state | :51:03. | :51:09. | |
pension at all. As compared to the expected 190 -- 119 pounds and 95 | :51:10. | :51:14. | |
pence that she was receive the current system? What is the | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
government doing to ensure that pensioners do not unfairly without? | :51:20. | :51:24. | |
And that people are given the correct information so they know the | :51:25. | :51:28. | |
position they will be an? When asked how the department was planning to | :51:29. | :51:31. | |
communicate with those affected, the Minister for pension reform, who of | :51:32. | :51:38. | |
course fits in place, and is not here today, said he cannot perceive | :51:39. | :51:41. | |
he was going to become widowed in the future. I think it is fair to | :51:42. | :51:49. | |
say this is not exactly how -- a helpful reply. Perhaps a minister | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
who is with us today can provide some clarity on what action the | :51:55. | :51:56. | |
government is taking to communicate these changes, in particular those | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
with gaps in the record, who are likely to be directly impacted. I | :52:03. | :52:11. | |
thank my Honorable friend and I think she's a making a very | :52:12. | :52:16. | |
important observation about the need to communicate any changes | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
concerning the state pension rules. She will know that is one of the | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
complaints of the Waspy women. They have not been adequately notified | :52:26. | :52:28. | |
are given proper transitional arrangements. Does my Honorable | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
friend think that it gets respect, the government really ought to be | :52:33. | :52:34. | |
doing a lot more to communicate the changes respect of the new state | :52:35. | :52:41. | |
pension arrangements. Because there will be some people who actually | :52:42. | :52:46. | |
will not benefit from the scheme. I thank my Honorable friend for his | :52:47. | :52:50. | |
contribution. He's absolutely right. The government does need to get | :52:51. | :52:54. | |
their act together when it comes to communicating these changes. The | :52:55. | :52:58. | |
general population has nothing left but honesty. They need frank | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
information that the government should be providing for them, so | :53:05. | :53:06. | |
that they can make informed decisions about the future. Can the | :53:07. | :53:12. | |
Minister also gives us a more specific estimate of who will be | :53:13. | :53:15. | |
covered by the transitional protection and how many people will | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
lose out from the changes in the future years? Once again the | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
governments track record on communicating pension changes falls | :53:26. | :53:28. | |
well below the standard that the public would hold and expect. In my | :53:29. | :53:36. | |
meeting with the national pension -- pensioners convention last week, | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
they pointed out that many pensioners are now waking up with | :53:42. | :53:43. | |
the fact that only a minority of these that reach the state pension | :53:44. | :53:48. | |
age, under the new system, will receive the full flattened rates up | :53:49. | :53:56. | |
a per post today. Recent analysis by the ministers Department confirmed | :53:57. | :54:03. | |
that they estimate that only 37%, 37% of people reaching the state | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
pensionable age into thousand 16 in 2007 team will receive the full | :54:08. | :54:10. | |
amount of the new state pension directly from the state. Millions of | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
people receive an significantly lower state pension in the future, | :54:16. | :54:21. | |
in some cases more than ?500 per year. The gloss from spinning the | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
top line for flat rate without the detail is rapidly starting today. | :54:28. | :54:33. | |
Indeed the Minister for pensions reform, has herself admitted that | :54:34. | :54:36. | |
oversold. It is clear that the oversold. It is clear that the | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
government should be doing far more to inform those affected, especially | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
those who are nearing retirement. And therefore they have the least | :54:46. | :54:50. | |
notice or time to consider the impact. In its ageing report on the | :54:51. | :54:55. | |
new state pension, published in January, the pension committee | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
reported that "We heard evidence that let widespread lack of | :55:01. | :55:03. | |
awareness about what people would receive and when, we were concerned | :55:04. | :55:11. | |
that the statement was confusing and lack necessary information." As UK | :55:12. | :55:15. | |
amongst others have called on the government to do far more for people | :55:16. | :55:23. | |
to be affected. They say there are would be WP materials highlighting | :55:24. | :55:27. | |
credit on ways to decrease the state pension. People need to know they | :55:28. | :55:30. | |
may be affected. We believe that they should contact people with gaps | :55:31. | :55:36. | |
in their record individually, to highlight the changes and explain | :55:37. | :55:42. | |
options. So I ask, what is the government doing to properly | :55:43. | :55:45. | |
communicate the impact of these changes? | :55:46. | :55:51. | |
She has been very generous and giving way but we need to have some | :55:52. | :55:56. | |
confidence that the information of the DWP is communicating is correct. | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
She will remember from the debate that we had in Westminster last week | :56:02. | :56:04. | |
that as recently as last week, I have not checked to see if it has | :56:05. | :56:13. | |
been changed, the dwup was clinging to the state pension age for men was | :56:14. | :56:21. | |
60. -- women. They have argued that I have some sympathy. The government | :56:22. | :56:26. | |
is failing to give the adequate information and the information is | :56:27. | :56:28. | |
not readily available when people require it. The Department for work | :56:29. | :56:36. | |
and pensions has produced an analysis that a majority of people | :56:37. | :56:40. | |
years. I ask the Minister what about years. I ask the Minister what about | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
after that? A close look at these figures reveals that for those aged | :56:46. | :56:50. | |
under 43 now like myself and many in this house, the probability is that | :56:51. | :56:54. | |
they will receive thousands of pounds less in a state pension by | :56:55. | :56:59. | |
the time that they retire. We do not hear much about the impact of the | :57:00. | :57:03. | |
new state pension on retirement income of future generations, it is | :57:04. | :57:06. | |
increasingly clear why the government is keen to keep quiet | :57:07. | :57:12. | |
about it. An analysis that my Honorable friend the shadow | :57:13. | :57:16. | |
Secretary of State for state pensions cells that those in their | :57:17. | :57:22. | |
40s now, are likely to be ?30,000 worse off over the course of their | :57:23. | :57:27. | |
retirement. Many in their 30s now are likely to be nearly ?17,000 | :57:28. | :57:34. | |
worse off while women will lose over ?18,000. For the generation in their | :57:35. | :57:44. | |
20s now, the loss is to be over ?19,000 for men and 20 and a half | :57:45. | :57:50. | |
thousand pounds for women. The future generations will clearly be | :57:51. | :57:59. | |
worse off. By 2060, when today's 20-year-old car and retirement, the | :58:00. | :58:02. | |
government will be spending 28 billion a year left on state pension | :58:03. | :58:11. | |
provision. That is a huge clock. One that has not been given proper | :58:12. | :58:14. | |
knowledge and by the government and consequently has not been properly | :58:15. | :58:16. | |
scrutinised and debated in this house. I thank the Honorable Lady | :58:17. | :58:24. | |
for giving way, it is interesting to hear her comments. She talks about | :58:25. | :58:27. | |
the cost of state pensions with those of state pensions with those | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
in their 20s require retire, how much of that is based on the act | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
into thousand seven at increased the A's to 68? -- I will bring him back | :58:37. | :58:47. | |
to the proposal when we had a proposal that works for pensioners | :58:48. | :58:52. | |
and a long-term plan and they'd be delivered up without any regard that | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
people would be affected for it. I won't take any lessons of the | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
benches opposite regarding that. As I was saying, the money, the ?28 | :59:02. | :59:08. | |
billion a year that will be spent less on state pension provision is a | :59:09. | :59:14. | |
huge cut, one that has not been given proper acknowledgment and I | :59:15. | :59:17. | |
hope we will debate this further in the house. With the Minister confirm | :59:18. | :59:22. | |
to us today that the government so-called long-term economic plan | :59:23. | :59:26. | |
involves cutting 28 billion out of pensions? And what assurances can he | :59:27. | :59:32. | |
give to today's younger generations who faced higher housing costs, the | :59:33. | :59:40. | |
largest fall into rages and greater insecurity and the workplace that | :59:41. | :59:43. | |
they will have sufficient income and retirement. -- wages. We will | :59:44. | :59:50. | |
concede to ask the government to be more transparent about the long-term | :59:51. | :59:53. | |
and up and losers in this new state pension. Withholding this | :59:54. | :59:58. | |
information in the short term may be politically advantageous, but in the | :59:59. | :00:01. | |
long term only serves to undermine public trust in a savings for | :00:02. | :00:07. | |
retirement, all sides of the house agree is the right cause for all of | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
our population and is in the national interest. Madam Deputy | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
Speaker, there was an enormous interest for members across the | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
house in the related debate we had in Westminster Hall last week, which | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
was triggered by over a signatures on the petition by women against the | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
state pension inequality. It was standing room only, I suspect not | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
just because it was my first outing on the front bench, but because of | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
the significance and the importance of the issues to many members. The | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
2.5 million of our female constituents, indeed the Minister | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
might want to know that this includes more than 4000 women in his | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
own constituency. I hope the Minister can now expand on the | :00:57. | :00:59. | |
government considerations of transitional protection for these | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
women, too many of whom were not given proper notification of the | :01:05. | :01:06. | |
exhilaration and their state pension age. There has been a number of | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
proposed the government has failed to respond to include the 1951 and | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
53 cohorts of women, he will not have access to the new state pension | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
as we are agreeing today, for those born between the 6th of October and | :01:22. | :01:28. | |
the 5th of April 1955, the face of the late over a year and the women | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
born later in 1953 who had a double whammy of changes in 1955 and 2000 | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
11. Can he tell us what assessment the government has carried out of | :01:42. | :01:47. | |
these options? Alternatively it was suggested 20 passes of the 2011 act | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
which maintain the age for the qualified credit that protect some | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
of the most vulnerable. Has the government reconsiders and sent? | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
another element of regulations, I another element of regulations, I | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
note the proposal to freeze the staving credit of pension credit as | :02:10. | :02:10. | |
amount in the statement. For the 438,000 pension credit | :02:11. | :02:25. | |
recipients who only received the staving credit elements of the | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
pension credit, their losses will not be offset from the rise of the | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
guarantee credit. They will therefore the debits and credits | :02:34. | :02:36. | |
awarded reduced. Unfortunately, the government has so far refused to | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
come clean about the impact this will have on Britain's poorest | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
pensioners. I called in to the ISS analysis and it will mean that one | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
points away recipients of pension credit will lose an average of ?112 | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
a hundred told how the next financial year. That figure will be | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
significantly higher for many, including those of the poorest fifth | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
of pensioner households, can the Minister confirm that some of | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
Britain's poorest pensioners will be worse off as a result of this | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
measure, and will he commit to publishing a more detailed impact | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
assessments and has been produced to date? What he tell us | :03:15. | :03:27. | |
exactly how much? Madam Deputy Speaker, knowledge is power! People | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
need empowering with that knowledge when it comes to their retirement. I | :03:31. | :03:32. | |
hope that the Minister will provide some answers to us today because it | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
is the least that this and future generations of consumers deserve. -- | :03:37. | :03:46. | |
pensioners my Mac and I start by welcoming the Honorable member to | :03:47. | :03:53. | |
the front bench. I was surprised with the Minister Sosa move these | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
orders formally this afternoon and I'm also surprised that there is so | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
little interest in debating these orders of evening. Not because they | :04:03. | :04:09. | |
are deep-seated fundamental differences on the issues but | :04:10. | :04:12. | |
because I would have thought that given the very significant changes | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
that are about to take effect with the introduction and implementation | :04:17. | :04:19. | |
of a brand-new pension system and as a few weeks' time, I would have | :04:20. | :04:22. | |
thought there would be an appetite in the house to debate the issues | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
surrounding that it indeed to raise awareness with the public, I think | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
they are very much in the dark about the changes and the significance of | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
them for their own lives. However, I am going to try to confine my | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
remarks this evening to the key issues. I want to start addressing | :04:41. | :04:47. | |
the state pension amendment regulations. The state pension will | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
be set at ?155 a week, very few people will actually get that | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
amount. Indeed even though the pension will be hired in the basic | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
state pension, the net amount that people were received may be less | :05:03. | :05:05. | |
than what they would have gotten onto the old system because of the | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
loss of tested benefits. Only 22% of women and 50% of men who are going | :05:12. | :05:17. | |
to reach state pension age in 2016 and 17 will get the new state | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
pension in full. According to the national pensioners convention on | :05:24. | :05:26. | |
the out of ten new women pensioners and nearly half of new mail | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
will get less than the full amount. will get less than the full amount. | :05:30. | :05:37. | |
Will the Honorable member giveaway? I will give way I think she is | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
making a good point. Is it not the case that it is incumbent on the | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
government and on ministers to properly communicate these changes, | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
because don't we also run the risk of repeating some of the mistakes | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
that have impacted on the Waspy women and that those people will be | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
bitterly disappointed when they are not getting the entire money that | :06:01. | :06:07. | |
they were going to get? He makes an important point. I think is worth | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
saying that the governments have failed in becoming adequately up | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
with pensioners. The Honorable gentleman alluded to the Waspy women | :06:16. | :06:21. | |
and I think that is the best example. These women have seen the | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
goalposts shifted. Many of them are not sure what they're going to get | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
and when and have a contradictory information is an increase in times | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
of the government. But to come back to the new state pension, we are, in | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
a single tear pension and giving it a flat rate but in reality there | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
will be many many different trades bidding on an individuals personal | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
circumstances. In other words, it will not be visible. Inevitably, the | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
introduction of the new system means that there will be two systems | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
operating concurrently. The dangers of the state prisons could be seen | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
as a 2-tier system, there are some existing pensioners who would be | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
better off if they were including in the new state pension. They will be | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
inundated with the proposals from constituents want to see the work | :07:14. | :07:16. | |
out that they have been short-changed compared to that | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
friends, relatives and spouses. We all understand that there will be a | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
cliff edge with the introduction of a new system. Someone will lose or | :07:26. | :07:37. | |
gain with the new pension. Given with all these inevitable and | :07:38. | :07:40. | |
anomalies which will cost a huge sense of injustice, I think it is | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
incumbent on the government to introduce a bit of flexibility in | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
the system in terms of an people take more responsibility for whether | :07:49. | :07:51. | |
they are in the old or new system, so at least it is their choice when | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
they take that gamble with their old life expectancy. We also need to | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
acknowledge that over time the new system will be less interest for | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
other people. Those born from 1970 and onwards will be worse off under | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
the new arrangements but others who will be losing out will be those who | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
have contributed for longer. For example those who started work for | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
an early age and those who started early. Those who will receive | :08:22. | :08:31. | |
credit, there will be winners and losers but there'll be born losers | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
over time. The new state pension is pink introduced on a basis. -- on a | :08:36. | :08:44. | |
neutral basis. I think we need to note that the systems have the | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
potential to lead to accusations that the government building and | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
equality into the system. After April 2016, the newspaper has and | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
will be uprooted annually, however my understanding is that an existing | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
post or wrongly have a triple lock on the first ?119, 30 other basic | :09:06. | :09:12. | |
state pension and ACP I blame on any states above that level. The value | :09:13. | :09:21. | |
of the second state pension will fall in real terms and it is likely | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
that that Apple will weigh in overtime. 7 million Christians get | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
some kind of state pension payment. Applying the same for both old and | :09:33. | :09:41. | |
new state pension equally to the pensions cause some pension spending | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
but it would mean that both basic and state pension funds related to | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
the triple lock. It is at to develop in the coming years and helped | :09:54. | :09:56. | |
create a system that is more likely to be perceived as fair. Madam | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
Deputy Speaker, the second issue that I want to address is to express | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
Svendsen of the forms of the government is not upgrading | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
seventieths credit but instead it will follow in April from 1482 to | :10:10. | :10:17. | |
?13 and seven. And that from 1743 to 1745 and it will no longer be | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
available for new pensioners. It was announced in November last year that | :10:23. | :10:25. | |
savings credit would be further reduced for current recipients but | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
that production is not included in today's order. I would be interested | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
to hear from others if they have decided to not reduce this amount of | :10:34. | :10:36. | |
things credit or when they intend to bring forward regulations for the | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
measure. I would say to ministers that they would credit the port | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
pensioners on low incomes who half minutes to save a small amount | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
toward their retirement. The vast majority who receive it are women | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
around 80%. Many of whom would have spent their working lives at very | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
low paying jobs. They have limited opportunities to say but have been | :10:58. | :11:04. | |
so none the less. Abolishing it for new pensioners sent that is exactly | :11:05. | :11:06. | |
the wrong signal to people in low-paying jobs who feel that they | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
should be trying to say but really have very little incentive to do so. | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
Before I conclude I want to devote some attention to the part of these | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
orders related to the operating and nonoperating of state pensions paid | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
to those living and for overseas countries, the issue of so-called | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
frozen pension. The state Pistons are paid to those who spent their | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
working lives in the UK paying contributions to the state pension. | :11:33. | :11:36. | |
But for whatever reason they are spending their retirement am | :11:37. | :11:38. | |
countries who don't have a reciprocal arrangement with the UK | :11:39. | :11:46. | |
the pensions. The domicile pensioners and those living in other | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
parts of the EU and some who do have arrangements of their pensions | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
remain frozen. The value of their pension falls every year. This | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
causes hardship for those affected. According to the memorandum attached | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
to the order, over half a million pensioners and disposition, most of | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
them over 90% are in Commonwealth countries like Austria, Canada, New | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
Zealand, and south Africa, India, Pakistan and parts of the Caribbean | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
and Africa. Countries with deep cultural ties to the UK. Some of the | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
people will have dual citizenship and others will be UK citizens is | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
cool I have retired to be close to family. The British pensioners | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
points out that ethics are now aged 90 class live in Canada or are sure | :12:41. | :12:43. | |
you throughout the retirement will be getting a basic state pension of | :12:44. | :12:54. | |
the system ?43 a week. I don't think that is right. I think we are doing | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
really badly by these people. Those people affected by frozen vendors | :13:01. | :13:05. | |
have no toys of whether to pay contributions. When need to member | :13:06. | :13:08. | |
that many of them are living and working in a rapidly changing and | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
globalising world and the post world were they were not paying attention | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
to small print details. It seems to be very unfair that a pastor who | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
retires in the USA had get a full of credit pension for a pension and the | :13:23. | :13:28. | |
candidate will receive his pension at the original level. I think that | :13:29. | :13:34. | |
the government has to offset that cost against the cost that would be | :13:35. | :13:41. | |
if the individual had remained to in the UK. It is also very hard to mess | :13:42. | :13:52. | |
of the deterrent effect of frozen pensions which at present prevented | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
pensioners who would like to retire closer with her children and | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
grandchildren and other parts of the Commonwealth in doing so because | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
they know that a key component of their retirement income will not | :14:03. | :14:03. | |
keep ace of the cost of living. It would signal that those | :14:04. | :14:21. | |
pensioners are not forgotten. Madam Deputy Speaker, we all won fair and | :14:22. | :14:24. | |
sustainable pensions that provide enough support for our elderly | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
population to enjoy our dignified and the comfortable old age but | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
those originals need to be fair and need to be seen to be fair if we | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
will maintain confidence in the system for future generations. I | :14:38. | :14:39. | |
hope ministers will consider and respond fully to the point that I | :14:40. | :14:46. | |
have raised. Thank you very much, may I take this opportunity to | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
welcome the Honorable Lady to harden their position and I look forward to | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
discussing and debating issues with her. -- new position. I will try to | :14:59. | :15:05. | |
address as many of the questions that have been appraised as | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
possible. Thank you for the admissions that we have had. I'm | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
grateful to the honourable lady for welcoming the triple lock and I | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
grateful to her for the support that her party has given for the | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
initiative. The issue of medication has come up repeatedly and I just | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
want to say that there is an awareness campaign which including | :15:26. | :15:31. | |
and targeted towards those who are 55 and older, and they will receive | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
a letter providing details of their own state pension. The details | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
further additives will be obtained from payroll and benefits. The | :15:41. | :15:48. | |
campaign aims to build awareness for those who are of that but for my | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
particular age group who will be the first to reach pension age after | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
April 20 16th and encouraged them to get a personalised statement, | :15:59. | :16:07. | |
between other dates we have issued other statements. We have facts | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
sheets, videos, type letters, and YouTube videos, toolkits for | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
stakeholders and weekly stakeholder bulletins and of course we will | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
concede to do what ever is necessary and whenever we can to ensure that | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
people are aware of it. I went to where all colleagues on both sides | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
to ensure that they do their bit also. The new state pension it is | :16:29. | :16:44. | |
our intention, and I think it will be the case that it will be a lot | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
simpler and clearer for people then was is situation before, when we had | :16:49. | :16:55. | |
opt out and additional private pencils and so on. The honourable | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
lady -- pension. The other ladies that are not everybody would qualify | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
for the new rate. She's absolutely right. Reason for that is that the | :17:06. | :17:15. | |
national insurance contributions. In recent years, people have not paid | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
for national insurance contributions, to the state because | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
they opted out, they contracted out, by doing so, some of those people | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
contracted out into its second additional pension. That needs to be | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
factored in, alternatively, that national insurance contributions | :17:35. | :17:37. | |
from which to conduct it out was used for an occupational pension, or | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
a private pension. If the two were added together, and in many cases it | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
would actually be more than ?135 and 55 pensions. It cannot be the case | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
that where people have a pension system which is based on national | :17:56. | :17:58. | |
insurance contributions and that if they have not had those | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
contributions they are expected to get the full payment that is due, | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
not withstanding the fact that some of their own national insurance | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
contributions have gone to another pension. I hope that she foot on | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
that. I'm happy to give weight. I gave them a specific example where | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
they have not contracted out because of their second pension. I'm | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
wondering if he is willing to to deliver that point in it. Also the | :18:26. | :18:31. | |
fact that people have not been given adequate responses and noticed. Some | :18:32. | :18:38. | |
people have not been given the information that is what I'm asking | :18:39. | :18:41. | |
for, that they are giving the information so that they can make | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
progress in. And she will appreciate that that I cannot give advice on | :18:45. | :18:54. | |
individual cases, at the dispatch box, a whole lot of measures that we | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
are putting in place to make sure that people are communicated with, | :18:59. | :19:01. | |
if we were not doing our job properly them Goodspeed September 14 | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
and October we would not have had half a million plus personal | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
statements being issued. The continued to make sure people are | :19:11. | :19:13. | |
aware. She has a role to play in this as well as other people. I'm | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
sorry that there was a disappointment with the government | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
is in the forthcoming year, spending an additional ?2.1 billion to what | :19:22. | :19:29. | |
it is. Of course, there is also the pensions credit and the standard | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
minimum gallery which would ensure that there is a minimum threshold | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
which must be met and the state is there to assist people. The | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
honourable lady also from the S mentioned frozen pensions. Can I do | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
say to her, it is the policy of successive governments for the past | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
72 or so years to not operate the pensions for everyone. The issue is | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
complex, but she will be aware that there is an upgrade, and some | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
countries, where there is a obligation to do so. In other | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
countries, also be remembered that in some countries, the pensions that | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
people did are based on a tested basis by means. If we did upgrade by | :20:14. | :20:20. | |
everyone and find ourselves in a situation where we are paying people | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
who are from Britain who are now resident in another country, we are | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
paying them an upgraded pension was to be taken into account to buy | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
their new home country, and therefore the new home country would | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
give them less because they are taking into account the | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
contributions being made by us. The honourable gentleman is negatively | :20:41. | :20:42. | |
shaking his head that I can assure him that is the case, and some | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
countries they do at pension payments based on need. Madam Deputy | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
Speaker, this government takes the right of pension is very seriously, | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
and we do all we can to protect them. For a single person, the rate | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
of a basic state pension would be the biggest real-time increase since | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
2001. We will continue to protect the poorest pensioners, the means | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
tested for threshold below which pensioners need not fall, the | :21:15. | :21:19. | |
guarantees will be the biggest real-time increase since its | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
introduction. The full basic state pension will be over ?1100 per year, | :21:24. | :21:30. | |
higher and 17 compared to the start of last Parliament. Madam Deputy | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
Speaker, our triple lock and protect us for the poorest pensioners and | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
our new state pension reforms means that we will be able to provide | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
pensioners the dignity and the security that they deserve a | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
retirement. I commanded the order and regulations of the house. The | :21:47. | :21:54. | |
question is that the motion on the draft on the order paper, as many as | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
of the opinions they Ayes, on the contrary say noes. I think the Ayes | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
have it. Minister to move the motion on the draft state pension amendment | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
regulations formally, the question is that the question on the draft | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
statement be read on the order paper. I think the Ayes have it. We | :22:15. | :22:22. | |
now come to the backbench debate on the future of the roots of the great | :22:23. | :22:30. | |
rest of the rail way. Thank you, it is a pleasure to rise, I beg to move | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
the motion that is in my name on the order paper. Starting, I would also | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
like to thank all the members on both sides of the house that | :22:40. | :22:42. | |
supported the application for this debate at the backbench business | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
committee, and my colleagues on the backbench committee, for agreeing to | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
allocate this plot to it, here in the chamber, not perhaps in | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
Westminster Hall as it might have ended up. I think it is encouraging | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
that we are starting almost bang on time which is encouraging for any | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
discussion that we are having around trains, and roadways. It has to be | :23:06. | :23:13. | |
said that -- railways this is a day to have the debate of windstorm | :23:14. | :23:21. | |
image and has hit. There is a tree on the line. That sort of sums up | :23:22. | :23:30. | |
the issue of resilience. I will give way. I think the Honorable member | :23:31. | :23:37. | |
for giving way, is he aware that there aren't three trees which have | :23:38. | :23:45. | |
come down on the line? I think the Honorable member for sharing with | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
the house his superb knowledge of the vegetation around the Great | :23:49. | :23:53. | |
Western mainline. His point rammed home the masses at a tree falling | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
over, a cow breaking out of a field, a small amount of earth moving our | :23:59. | :24:05. | |
points and could close off the network. It is important that we | :24:06. | :24:08. | |
have this debate tonight around resilience. Another point today is | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
that we have had the cross-country services counsellor at bullish | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
again. Not due to the line but due to be filed with the train | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
themselves. Again, it brings on the vulnerability of some of the key | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
groups and networks that many people depend upon. Yet, I hope today's | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
debate is not going to be about being negative and having a moan. | :24:30. | :24:38. | |
Because then the next hour of sharing our poor stories about being | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
on the trainer, myself and one of the Honorable members were on a | :24:44. | :24:50. | |
train that had a toilet still which was particularly interesting. That | :24:51. | :24:50. | |
will not achieve anything. I am sorry to bring in a | :24:51. | :25:06. | |
disagreeable note into a disagreeable debate. We like to moan | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
and groan, but the fact of the matter having travelled for 20 years | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
twice a week, I actually find it extraordinarily good. There are | :25:16. | :25:23. | |
catering and toilets... There are are the punctuality and service is | :25:24. | :25:26. | |
actually extremely good stop yellow I would like to thank the Honorable | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
member for his intervention. There are many positive stories to be | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
made, and the key one of them is the amazing legacy that we have been led | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
to the benefits of engineering by Victorians. We can look at the | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
Prince Albert Bridge built with innovative techniques, a real feat | :25:48. | :25:50. | |
of engineering at that time. The link between Plymouth and Cornwall | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
that still exist today has been carrying transit it was the micro -- | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
Guy it was so innovative at the time that they had to have a station at | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
both ends because some Victorian travellers were rather frightened | :26:08. | :26:10. | |
going through a tunnel said they had to have an option of getting the | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
train and having a carriage ride around it, and knitting back on the | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
Trinity and into the tunnel. I think that is very ungentlemanly. I will | :26:22. | :26:28. | |
give way again. Box tunnel is in my constituency. All sorts of that. | :26:29. | :26:37. | |
That is not true for the division. We believe that it is true. I have | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
seen myself. We are close, we think, to be opening the station. I would | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
hope that my Honorable friend agrees with me that opening stations like | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
that along the route is extremely important. Absolutely. I'd would not | :26:51. | :26:58. | |
want to get involved in a debate around a particular title "Date. I | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
think it is important that communities along the route. One of | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
the reason that the title of this debate is important, but if the | :27:09. | :27:13. | |
chain mind is not running that it actually means he did not have the | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
service you would like. There were many other parts of about her very | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
positive in thinking about the changed again. This is the positive | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
story of a network that stretches from London to Swansea. It | :27:28. | :27:34. | |
revolutionized a whole region that had been fairly isolated until the | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
trains went through. Over the last few years, we have seen a huge | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
growth in real trouble across our region. There are many brand lives | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
and parts of Cornwall sink passenger levels that have not been seen since | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
decades. All being delivered with some of the well-known limitations | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
of the network in that area. Relatively old rolling stocks, but | :27:57. | :27:59. | |
have probably seen better days, and some of the well-known issues that | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
we have at the network in terms of resilience, signalling, things I | :28:05. | :28:07. | |
will point to an imminent. The point to this debate is not to share jokes | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
are the about poor train journeys, it is about that there can be a more | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
positive story in the future hope to have it -- boosting investment. I | :28:17. | :28:24. | |
will happily give way and. My Honorable friend constituency is | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
similar to mine, and he connected with me that the more trains in | :28:30. | :28:32. | |
franchise that we get an place and some of these areas the better that | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
it will be for tourism. Absolutely. As the Honorable gentleman is | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
already aware, looking at some of the early figures coming out showing | :28:43. | :28:49. | |
higher than expected levels of usage. For we have seen the impact | :28:50. | :28:55. | |
particularly where good park services are absolutely crucial to | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
the tourist industry. I think having good trains makes for good tourism. | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
I will give way but then I have to make progress. The honourable | :29:05. | :29:08. | |
gentleman has mentioned park-and-ride, does he agree with me | :29:09. | :29:10. | |
that something we should be looking at in the future in particular | :29:11. | :29:22. | |
places where my constituents is, current... Have another | :29:23. | :29:25. | |
park-and-ride station to the east of that to allow areas that don't have | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
access to a rest station to be able to commute and travel to the city of | :29:32. | :29:40. | |
Plymouth. I thank the Honorable Lady for her intervention. She is | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
absolutely right that park-and-ride can play a huge part in actually | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
allowing rural communities to have access to rail to rail service. In | :29:50. | :29:56. | |
terms of looking at Northwest Devon and North Cornwall, it could be an | :29:57. | :29:59. | |
interesting budget to come around partly station near to 830 as it | :30:00. | :30:09. | |
comes into Devon. It could get a service to that area, but without | :30:10. | :30:12. | |
competing with the South Devon Great Western mainline. It is worth saying | :30:13. | :30:19. | |
in terms of what could investment deliver, even a relatively modest | :30:20. | :30:22. | |
improvement of 15 minutes and journey times between the Southwest | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
peninsula in London, is estimated to be able to deliver 300 million and | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
increase productivity. This is not just about economics, it is about | :30:32. | :30:34. | |
communities on the line and their needs for travel growth. I will not | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
look to play with our region against another, but to stay the same way | :30:41. | :30:44. | |
that investment and crossrail in new rail capacity and the other parts of | :30:45. | :30:48. | |
the UK for those parts of the community and will do over the next | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
two years, so delivering on these issues can and Iris. It is also | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
worth bearing in mind investment anchored bus is... President of | :30:57. | :31:03. | |
Heathrow as the UK's hub that will be supported. I will only be too | :31:04. | :31:10. | |
happy to give way. You share my disappointment about the delays in | :31:11. | :31:15. | |
the western rail act, which has been announced to be put back for a | :31:16. | :31:20. | |
further two years. This is the investment that will bring the | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
biggest inward investment into the UK as well as helping travellers | :31:26. | :31:29. | |
from all over the west of England to be able to get to Heathrow, our | :31:30. | :31:36. | |
premier hub airport. Will he pressed the Minister who is sitting on the | :31:37. | :31:44. | |
bench from him to ensure that as a result of this debate, someone in | :31:45. | :31:48. | |
her department puts their foot on the accelerator at Western rail | :31:49. | :31:54. | |
access to Heathrow. I think the Honorable members at such a | :31:55. | :31:57. | |
passionate intervention. I think she is right. It make sense. To have | :31:58. | :32:07. | |
proper access to Heathrow. And not just supports the economy of our | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
areas, but also the national economy by making it easier to expand and | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
develop. I think -- I hope with the Minister on the bench,. I hope that | :32:18. | :32:27. | |
given the widespread support across this house for that access, but that | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
time could be greatly shortened to allow for us to get on and get the | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
shovels in the ground on a project that makes eminent sense. That could | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
be a long list of improvements needed listed in the speech, which | :32:42. | :32:43. | |
I'm sure several contributors will be about to highlight they see that | :32:44. | :32:48. | |
is vital for their areas. For me there are two key areas of focus | :32:49. | :32:52. | |
that affect the whole network. These are resilience and knowledge of | :32:53. | :32:53. | |
vacation. The tone is collapsed. It is not the only issue. It has to | :32:54. | :33:04. | |
be said that it gives us an opportunity to debate these issues. | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
As the Member for South West Devon, my Honorable friend, said it took a | :33:09. | :33:18. | |
crisis to get here, but this is our chance. It is worth looking at the | :33:19. | :33:23. | |
impact of that prices. My Honorable friend for North Cornwall reminded | :33:24. | :33:26. | |
us of the impact of potential tourism. 70% of tourist, x-ray. | :33:27. | :33:38. | |
There is a 20% drop in bookings. Because of the image that was | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
created. It shows that it is not just a transfer issue. I am | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
certainly happy to give away. Can I say to him in support of the point | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
that he's making, what about the particular and said he was talking | :33:52. | :33:55. | |
about was the most extreme damage to major rail infrastructure. In South | :33:56. | :34:02. | |
Wales, I have travelled because of flooding on the part of the line. We | :34:03. | :34:08. | |
also have regular flooding around the seven, as well. We need to be | :34:09. | :34:13. | |
asked to that we have a resilient well-run structure as well as | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
electrification. I would completely agree. As a constituency that is not | :34:20. | :34:25. | |
currently scheduled to benefit from electrification, we are impacted by | :34:26. | :34:29. | |
flooding, it is vital that we make sure a railway is future proof | :34:30. | :34:39. | |
around issue of whether. We have the flooding there across the rail line | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
in Exeter. It is absolutely vital that we do topple the range of | :34:46. | :34:49. | |
resilience issues, not just the very famous issue on the coast. I know | :34:50. | :34:56. | |
that Network Rail is looking at the cliffs near tennis, and I am sure my | :34:57. | :35:01. | |
Honorable friend will talk more in her contribution, but that is | :35:02. | :35:04. | |
probably one of the aspects of this than needs to be looked at, not just | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
the issue of the Siebel itself. There is also signalling throughout | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
Devon and Cornwall, much of which was installed in the 1960s | :35:13. | :35:16. | |
unfortunately it is the list for control period six with just | :35:17. | :35:23. | |
2019-2024. It is vital the back of the head. It is crucial that we have | :35:24. | :35:33. | |
these journey times. It is crucial that the imminent publication of the | :35:34. | :35:37. | |
fire apart from the peninsula rail task force that will set out the 20 | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
year plan for Devon and Cornwall. Brazilians is going to be absolutely | :35:43. | :35:45. | |
at the heart of that, and it is vital that we know that funding for | :35:46. | :35:49. | |
the two reports needed to complete this report is fair and is present. | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
Of course, there have been encouraging noises over the last | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
week or two. I think we might hear a couple more from the Minister and | :35:58. | :36:00. | |
her contribution later, but again one of the reasons for this debate | :36:01. | :36:06. | |
is to secure hub vital it is to be secure the sign. In terms of moving | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
on, electrification, but should vacation -- electrification. It will | :36:14. | :36:20. | |
literally electrify the communities along the route. Blasts suspect | :36:21. | :36:23. | |
colleagues they wish to talk about this a little bit more. -- I | :36:24. | :36:36. | |
suspect. As a public accounts committee member having sat through | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
a discussion on progress so far, not least the estimated cost, I can't | :36:41. | :36:44. | |
imagine the Minister may not be relishing the thought of committing | :36:45. | :36:48. | |
to more such projects. It is right that these are highlighted as an | :36:49. | :36:51. | |
investment must not just the about creating a quarter for electric | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
trains to speed through, but the starting point for an integrated | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
network of electrification across the area by the great Western. I | :37:00. | :37:06. | |
will give way. I am very grateful to the Honorable gentleman for giving | :37:07. | :37:16. | |
way. One of the major reason for... Does he share my concern that the UK | :37:17. | :37:21. | |
government will not publish the level of payments made in a schedule | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
because we are talking about hundreds of millions of pounds of | :37:27. | :37:33. | |
the public money. I think the Honorable member for his | :37:34. | :37:35. | |
intervention. It is interesting to hear. I'm sure the Minister will | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
wish to respond to his detail, but I say that the main issues was around | :37:40. | :37:44. | |
the signalling that have been put in in the 1960s and were piling was | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
being done that cables had not been mapped. That was also one of the | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
issues that might make those lines more suitable for electrification in | :37:56. | :37:58. | |
the future. If we know exactly where the signalling cables are. That was | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
certainly one of the main reasons, but I'm sure the Minister response | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
to his wider points. I'm happy to give way. I hate -- he is talking | :38:07. | :38:16. | |
about electrification. Is it important to a by the group from | :38:17. | :38:22. | |
Paddington and onto Penzance. And welcome the proposal to bring | :38:23. | :38:28. | |
forward trains which are bimodal. In the speeding of the service that | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
would introduce, would he share my concerns that we could be tempted to | :38:33. | :38:36. | |
delete some stops along that route which would, perhaps he is coming | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
onto this point, be a pity since that would mean some of our | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
constituencies would simply be transit corridors. Particularly, | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
would he be agreed with me that was very session, being a vital hub must | :38:49. | :38:55. | |
not be deleted from any plans any forthcoming new franchise. Having | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
changed trains at Westbury myself, I share his concern that if there | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
wasn't too into link with the rest of the region COMMENTATOR: As he | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
touched on this debate is has to be about viewing the railway not as a | :39:10. | :39:16. | |
transport network in aspect. We sort of stand around like train spotters | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
discussing exactly how long that is going to change the Microtek. Is it | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
about where people want to get to, linking economies, and making sure | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
that people can service. I was just concerned, and I am sure it collects | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
in South Devon have concerns and neighbouring constituencies. If the | :39:35. | :39:36. | |
spectrum is that that be sped them up by driving past patch -- | :39:37. | :39:48. | |
passengers. I am conscious that time is moving on, and I am searching | :39:49. | :39:54. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker to patients and my opening remarks, so I will try | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
and press on so that other colleagues will wish to speak. The | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
use of bimodal trains do in 2018 as referred to any intervention I had | :40:04. | :40:06. | |
just taken, will make a real difference in open up many | :40:07. | :40:10. | |
opportunities for our region not least the fact that it would allow | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
some potential for partial electrification on sites that would | :40:16. | :40:18. | |
at most enhance the journey time impact rather than in the past when | :40:19. | :40:28. | |
a purely electric train, for obvious reasons, may not have been able to | :40:29. | :40:33. | |
be considered to bring west of Exeter. I think that this gives us | :40:34. | :40:36. | |
real options to develop in the future. And why this import is so | :40:37. | :40:47. | |
important. -- report. Including prospects for new stations in my own | :40:48. | :40:53. | |
patch for the first time in decades. I would think that it is those key | :40:54. | :40:56. | |
for the Minister to command at the end of this debate as he look ahead | :40:57. | :40:59. | |
to the announcement of work that will take place in central period | :41:00. | :41:10. | |
six running in 2019 to 20 24. That this would definitely be provided, | :41:11. | :41:14. | |
and no Network Rail is ready to start work on those immediately once | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
that has been confirmed. The second is that there is a clear commitment | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
to VB signalling work for Devon and Cornwall that is scheduled take | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
place in control period six. But the project secure a Army Minotaur --. | :41:29. | :41:39. | |
That the work to secure the mind against flooding and another key | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
point is touched on will be progressed. The electric -- | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
electrification project will be completed with a view to the apart | :41:51. | :41:53. | |
of an electrified network for the great Western region rather than | :41:54. | :41:56. | |
being an electric cable running through the middle of a cell. I | :41:57. | :42:02. | |
believe the benefits are clear as well. They need to make sure that in | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
the 21st Century the vision for the great Western as as great as it was | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
one Victorian engineers were the root on or start imagining what it | :42:13. | :42:15. | |
could be in the future. They could not have imagined then that the type | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
of transit they would have or the type of uses people with the railway | :42:20. | :42:22. | |
to, but they could see that in building a railway they would build | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
a region. I believe we can do the same bow and show a similar vision | :42:27. | :42:29. | |
and that is but recommend this business into the House Hear, hear! | :42:30. | :42:34. | |
The question is as on the order paper. Thank you very much Madam | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
Deputy Speaker. Can I apologised to the Honorable member for arriving a | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
few seconds after he rose to his feet. The previous pitches having | :42:45. | :42:53. | |
finished fast business. Can I thank him for being beginning force behind | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
this. I want to preface my remarks by saying when I get in at the end | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
of the week to carriage a at Paddington, with my bike in the | :43:05. | :43:08. | |
backspace doesn't benefit, carriage eight is the quiet carriage. It is | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
one of the best two hours of my week usually. I give thanks every time | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
I'm on that journey to them and the brilliance of the line that he | :43:22. | :43:26. | |
created back in the Victorian age. We are still benefiting from. I | :43:27. | :43:29. | |
think that it is incredible, given that very little has happened since, | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
that on a good day you can still get from London to Exeter which is quite | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
a long way, as I'm sure Honorable members do their geography known, | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
and must than two hours. I think that there are things down to him, | :43:45. | :43:47. | |
and accrued the Honorable member who was here a little bit earlier. I | :43:48. | :43:57. | |
also think that Great Western for all its frailties is my favourite | :43:58. | :44:03. | |
railway, and I travel a lot across the UK. Certainly better than the | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
new franchise owners on the East Coast, mainline and the pokey little | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
carriages they have on Virgin on the West Coast mainline. Great Western | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
comfortable, bright, the blues don't work, but when they do work they | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
flushed straight onto the tracks. That is something that is completely | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
intolerable. That has to change is a matter of urgency. The ventilation | :44:28. | :44:37. | |
is quite idiosyncratic. You can often find the carriages that are | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
far too hot or cold. The staff are always delightful and very friendly. | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
The service, it is excellent I think. I have one clique, this is to | :44:49. | :44:54. | |
all the rail companies, they should do much more to publicise the | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
passengers right to a full refund if they are delayed by more than an | :44:59. | :45:01. | |
hour. I do think that they are getting away with too much and far | :45:02. | :45:04. | |
too many people don't realise that they are compared to a refund. I | :45:05. | :45:12. | |
think in terms of good customer service, this is something that | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
should be done and announced on the trains as a matter of course. Yes of | :45:16. | :45:20. | |
course I give way. In highlighting the beauty of the mind onto Exeter, | :45:21. | :45:25. | |
Kai incurs my Honorable friend to stay on the train and see how it | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
even more beautiful it gets once you pass the line along the coast. It is | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
not just about the beauty of the mind which I hope everyone will | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
experience, it is about the economic importance of outline the adore lush | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
to the economy of South Devon. Please join me in saying that | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
whatever we do we must respecting line. I know the line there very | :45:49. | :45:57. | |
well. My pages to get a very fast in line all the way down. It is | :45:58. | :46:04. | |
beautiful but vulnerable. Having said all the positive things, I just | :46:05. | :46:11. | |
have set. We do have voting stock that was introduced in the early | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
1970s. As I said travel speeds have not increase very much for decades, | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
if not for a century. I mentioned the bathrooms, and the heating, I | :46:20. | :46:23. | |
think that the Honorable member has Arty touched on electrification. It | :46:24. | :46:30. | |
does seem to me that when Spain and Italy have a full comprehensive | :46:31. | :46:33. | |
network of high-speed electric trains that we still don't have a | :46:34. | :46:37. | |
network of high-speed trains in this country. In the south was, we are | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
said to be probably the only major beaches with big cities that does | :46:42. | :46:46. | |
not have either high-speed trains or electrification. It is absolutely no | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
reason why we should not have electrification already. It happened | :46:50. | :46:52. | |
technical challenges, but having been on trains in the Alps that are | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
electric going of gradients like this, I never quite understood what | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
the barrier is to electrification where you have gradients. As the | :47:02. | :47:05. | |
Honorable members is, we will soon have the technology to overcome | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
that. I give way I think my right honourable friend. But he agreed | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
with me about how long it takes is to deliver some of these | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
infrastructure progress in the UK. The top drafts -- talks around the | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
intervention. In getting them delivered. I agreed but that. We set | :47:27. | :47:34. | |
up the independent infrastructure and his government has gone on to do | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
something quite similar. We need to be much more radical about how we | :47:39. | :47:41. | |
manage these big infrastructures improvements. The idea of giving it | :47:42. | :47:47. | |
over as rail track, and putting with the government to not privatise. And | :47:48. | :47:56. | |
hand over these decision to independent rail commissioned to | :47:57. | :48:00. | |
make these decisions. I think that is defensible sound idea. I hope the | :48:01. | :48:04. | |
government will listen to that because the fragmentation and | :48:05. | :48:06. | |
privatsation of rail could be an absolute disaster. Can I think the | :48:07. | :48:12. | |
honourable gentleman for giving way. It also if you want business to | :48:13. | :48:18. | |
operate using railways, we need to make sure that there is a good level | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
of broadband so that people can actually work at the same time. I | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
forgot to mention that broadband is terrible and standard class. It | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
never works. I just use 3G or 4G, and I have Guy apparently it is fine | :48:34. | :48:42. | |
in first-class, but who travels first-class? MP certainly don't. Not | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
my experience. We are not allowed to. Madam Deputy Speaker, as many | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
Honorable members will remember, two years ago, exactly lastly, we had | :48:55. | :49:00. | |
the catastrophic severing of a mind at your leisure which is the | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
Honorable members that had a huge impact on the regions wider economy. | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
As well as that we had flooding that cut the line on the Somerset levels | :49:09. | :49:16. | |
and flooding between cities this weekend, my train was diverted back | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
from Exeter because of flooding. We have a lot of resilience problems | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
throughout the network. As we all know, with the growing threat from | :49:26. | :49:31. | |
climate change and the increase in extreme weather events, these events | :49:32. | :49:33. | |
are going to happen more and more often. There has been meaningful and | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
substantial investment in the railways, including in the | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
Southwest. Not as much and the other parts of the UK, but following the | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
Hatfield disaster and we had a major programme under the labelled | :49:47. | :49:49. | |
government sorting out things to make it safer. That work is ongoing. | :49:50. | :49:54. | |
We have had other improvements which have made a significant positive | :49:55. | :49:58. | |
difference. To the reliability of the of services. I used to get | :49:59. | :50:05. | |
regularly delayed. There have been improvements, but we still feel in | :50:06. | :50:09. | |
the far southwest, as opposed to the Bristol South bells core door -- | :50:10. | :50:20. | |
Wales. We have a lot of very generous, I will use that term | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
rather than grandiose, I think we took them at their word promises | :50:25. | :50:28. | |
made. By the Prime Minister, Chancellor, transport Secretary, | :50:29. | :50:36. | |
after that and then they run to the general secretary. | :50:37. | :50:41. | |
Hear, hear! Promising us more than ?7 billion of braille and other | :50:42. | :50:51. | |
infrastructure investment. And they will be held to those promises. We | :50:52. | :50:58. | |
have a whole -- a lot of conservative MPs elected based on | :50:59. | :51:02. | |
those promises. They're laughing and smiling now, but if those promises | :51:03. | :51:06. | |
don't deliver them the promised at that smile will be on the other side | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
of their base. It is up to them to get their government to deliver. I'm | :51:11. | :51:17. | |
rather embarrassed, I fill sorry for my conservative colleagues. We have | :51:18. | :51:21. | |
regional solidarity, but I felt that the micro-site for them. They had. | :51:22. | :51:31. | |
The group back together after and was run by conservative counsel. | :51:32. | :51:38. | |
They came up with this fantastic document and the Honorable member | :51:39. | :51:40. | |
based most of his speech on it about what needs to happen and the | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
Southwest, and very small initial ask is for ?250,000 for the | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
necessary studies, electrification and misleading studies that the | :51:53. | :51:54. | |
Honorable member has just mentioned. We were promised that these are | :51:55. | :52:03. | |
going to happened, and I hope perhaps the Minister will use the | :52:04. | :52:07. | |
opportunity this evening. It is not a good time to put out such a | :52:08. | :52:12. | |
fantastic news story which our media and the Southwest below. I hope that | :52:13. | :52:16. | |
the way she responds she will come up with a small amount of money. It | :52:17. | :52:22. | |
is ?250,000 for two studies. Yes I give way. With the member offset can | :52:23. | :52:30. | |
see that this money was -- the studies were committed to by Network | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
Rail and so in effect the government has not given money to projects and | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
then taken it away that money has followed through as a result of what | :52:39. | :52:42. | |
Network Rail have done, and we have asked the government to step up and | :52:43. | :52:46. | |
deliver that in its place. He is absolutely right. The government has | :52:47. | :52:50. | |
never come up with the money. I am and the just and that it should. The | :52:51. | :52:53. | |
reason that Network Rail or not able to come up with the monies because | :52:54. | :52:57. | |
of cost overruns and delays on the whole of the rest of the | :52:58. | :53:00. | |
infrastructure investment project. In the huge cost and time amount, | :53:01. | :53:07. | |
but overall investment. Which incidentally the government knew | :53:08. | :53:10. | |
about before the general election before they made grandiose promises. | :53:11. | :53:15. | |
Those are conversations he needs to have with his front bench | :53:16. | :53:17. | |
colleagues. I will lead him to, and I wish in the very best of luck. It | :53:18. | :53:21. | |
is completely obvious to me why this money has not come up. Network Rail | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
has not got it because it is overspent and overrun on all of | :53:27. | :53:30. | |
these other projects, and I do hope that when a minister responds that | :53:31. | :53:33. | |
we can have a little bit more detail about exactly what it is that we can | :53:34. | :53:40. | |
expect in the far southwest and when. If he can't tell us about the | :53:41. | :53:44. | |
feasibility study that perhaps he might be able to tell us let me make | :53:45. | :53:49. | |
be able to hear about that. Let might be able to have some hope | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
about the prospect of electrification beyond Bristol into | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
our part of the region. When we maybe able to have some idea about | :54:00. | :54:07. | |
the timetable an additional alternative. Either the point that | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
the. We do not want to lose the line here, it is beautiful. The people | :54:13. | :54:16. | |
there don't want to lose it either. The fact is that if you talk to any | :54:17. | :54:24. | |
engineer or climate change scientist is not about talking about stars and | :54:25. | :54:28. | |
sea levels, but also the fragility of the cliff. The biggest problem | :54:29. | :54:32. | |
last year was that the cliff kept falling down. It is a multiple | :54:33. | :54:37. | |
problem there. You have a line between easy and quite a soft cliff. | :54:38. | :54:42. | |
As members will know, back in 1939 there was a plan to build an | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
alternative site built -- slightly in land. It did not go ahead because | :54:48. | :54:56. | |
of the Second World War. There are other options and I can understand | :54:57. | :54:58. | |
that people in North Devon and Cornwall like the idea of the OK of | :54:59. | :55:02. | |
mind being ripped open, but let's have look at it and what is going to | :55:03. | :55:08. | |
happen when. The Prime Minister himself said we cannot afford to | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
have the Southwest cut off like that again. Our economy can't afford it, | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
I was on the right side about block so it does not affect me, but for | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
the Plymouth and Cornwall economy were seriously | :55:25. | :55:32. | |
Merit to his shopping list to the Minister might like to reassure | :55:33. | :55:39. | |
those of us where the southwest and south Wales fit in the government | :55:40. | :55:44. | |
priorities, if it appear that we have neither resilience or | :55:45. | :55:46. | |
significant investments in the speed of our attorneys and our networks in | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
the 70s. Certainly beyond Bristol, there is no evidence of that coming | :55:51. | :55:55. | |
soon. But regions with whom I had was much faster high-speed rail | :55:56. | :56:00. | |
within a decade or two. Where do we stand in the priorities? I am in | :56:01. | :56:08. | |
with that. I want to add I would hope that he would at some | :56:09. | :56:20. | |
point welcomed the fact that there would be a new station opened in his | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
constituency next year. We have already had a new station opened up | :56:27. | :56:33. | |
just outside my constituency and an investment programme was put there | :56:34. | :56:36. | |
by the Labour government. I'm very careful that she did not cut it. I'm | :56:37. | :56:44. | |
very grateful for it. I'm not giving away again. Order! One! The | :56:45. | :56:52. | |
ombudsman is now giving way. I'm at grateful. I would say to her, she | :56:53. | :56:56. | |
cut the investment programme in the last six years, the economist of | :56:57. | :57:01. | |
this world think that we should be investing and the infrastructure for | :57:02. | :57:05. | |
the long-term. We have record low long term and interest rates. This | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
is the time we should be investing in infrastructure particularly in | :57:11. | :57:15. | |
Wales. I'm grateful that she did not cut the station and that we will be | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
getting a devastation. Yes of course, I'm grateful for that but | :57:21. | :57:23. | |
I'm going to end with the following suggestions of these MPs who were | :57:24. | :57:30. | |
sent to victory last May on these great promises of a rail revolution. | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
I got into a great deal of trouble with my width in the last | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
Parliament, for refusing to vote for the money for the high-speed up to | :57:40. | :57:46. | |
the north. To give him his credit, one of the conservative MPs who was | :57:47. | :57:50. | |
not in his seat tonight, did the same. We withheld our support for | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
that money, the government only has a majority of 12, I will not give | :57:56. | :58:02. | |
way! She can speak in a minute! There are more than some | :58:03. | :58:05. | |
conservative MPs who can stop the government putting that money | :58:06. | :58:07. | |
through, if they did not get what they were promised by the government | :58:08. | :58:12. | |
in the next five years. I challenged him to do that and stick up for the | :58:13. | :58:15. | |
constituents and the Southwest and just stop taking no for an answer! | :58:16. | :58:22. | |
Thank you very much, I think all the conservatives on the side of the | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
house will be sticking up, for the countrymen. Well we went to see is | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
the growth of this country, we want to see productivity improved and we | :58:33. | :58:38. | |
are having to repair the damage of the previous labor government, who | :58:39. | :58:42. | |
was those and the code so we are now having to make, and is undoubtedly | :58:43. | :58:45. | |
this government and improve his Coalition government would focus on | :58:46. | :58:49. | |
the need to do something about the whole infrastructure. I congratulate | :58:50. | :58:56. | |
my Honorable friend, and my neighbouring constituency for | :58:57. | :58:58. | |
allowing us to have this debate tonight. Undoubtedly, the great rest | :58:59. | :59:08. | |
of the route is absolutely critical. It is absolutely fair to say, and | :59:09. | :59:13. | |
here perhaps that the gentleman might agree, we need to make sure | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
that some priority is given to the infrastructure now in the Southwest, | :59:18. | :59:20. | |
where we would disagree is that I believe that we have the and action | :59:21. | :59:26. | |
and more than just warm words and frankly as the MP representing | :59:27. | :59:31. | |
duelist in other places, I have seen it in spades, we all feel the same, | :59:32. | :59:39. | |
we want to see the commitment, when needed on record. The Low I thank my | :59:40. | :59:45. | |
Honorable friend for giving way, the very fact that the trains that we | :59:46. | :59:52. | |
are seeing run between those cities were first initiated in 1976, just | :59:53. | :59:57. | |
goes to show the lack of investment the Labour government, that the | :59:58. | :00:02. | |
honourable gentleman opposite talks about, initiated, they did nothing | :00:03. | :00:07. | |
for the Southwest, when they were in the government for 12 years. My | :00:08. | :00:17. | |
Honorable friend makes a good point. This government and the Coalition | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
government has begun to look at the Southwest, they recognise that the | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
road infrastructure needs sorting, they recognise their broadband needs | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
sorting, not something that the Labour government did anything | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
about. They also recognise that frankly, I'll throw Ray needs a | :00:33. | :00:40. | |
solution. The our GPA is 72% of the national average. We can really | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
deliver on the opportunity and potential and raise the productivity | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
of our area have as a whole. An reminder, just had to do list as has | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
been mentioned by so many colleagues in the chamber today, it was an | :00:55. | :01:01. | |
extraordinary event, it is in a way as opposed sometimes some of the | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
most disastrous events, some of the best things emerge. It is true that | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
what happened and the list that they didn't shine a light on the | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
challenge, but the government rather than running away from it, actually | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
said this is something that matters and we will send the money. The | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
government does and 35 million at the time, and I'm member position of | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
saying that this cannot be fixed, and it cannot be done, but it can't | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
and it will be and it will be soon. I think it took about six weeks in | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
the and and it was phenomenal. At its expense, they continue to spend | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
another 6 million sorting out some of the individual problems. Clearly, | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
there's more to be done but if you look at what we have 300 engineers | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
who work solidly and around the clock for months sorting out our | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
railway. They were very ingenious despite what they said, they can do | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
with the idea of 19 sea containers for a sea wall. That was an | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
innovative idea. Annie Jones they had, how are they going to remove | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
it? That became more of a child's of putting it in place. 6000 tonnes of | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
concrete letter. Under 50 times and still later and 25,000 tonnes of | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
that clip that has been mentioned we are now in a very good Brazilian | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
position in that part of the railway which is at duelists. We have | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
repaired the wall and the platform and we have several hundred | :02:41. | :02:42. | |
of new track. More work is ongoing of new track. More work is ongoing | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
and the point about for the link is after Leroy Sane right. More repair | :02:47. | :03:00. | |
and restoration is going on, duelists the point has been made | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
that there is some natural climate change problems. Work is already | :03:04. | :03:12. | |
going on there. The point of this debate, other than same is that, as | :03:13. | :03:21. | |
I said earlier, this is flagged to everyone the need to do more. There | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
is a bigger picture, my boyfriend mentioned, that the task force has | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
been one of the key drivers behind this. It was established to look at | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
a 20 year plan, House of support I think of everybody in the area, that | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
is a great credit at to the area and to how strongly we all feel about | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
getting this right. If we can get this right, is that task force is | :03:49. | :04:00. | |
allowed to complete it stop, and the government commits to its investment | :04:01. | :04:02. | |
in the Southwest and the potentially have a GDA uplift 55 20 million and | :04:03. | :04:09. | |
it is fascinating as an area. I think it has come up behind a 26% | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
over the decades compared to a national increase of 61%, tourism, | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
is already well demonstrated. In 214, there was over 1 billion spent | :04:21. | :04:32. | |
-- 2014. In 2013 there was more spread and the Southwest man in | :04:33. | :04:39. | |
London. Those of you who enjoy travelling and have a look, the | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
Southwest is situated of the third best place to visit, I had of Italy | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
and Denmark. So, the potential is there! And there is a win-win, only | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
for the Southwest but for the government because it would get the | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
productivity up and that is what the chance to want to see above | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
everything. The government is already committed 400 million, we | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
have had 11 individual reports to the ghoulish event, looking at | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
friendly and reliability, looking at faster journey times and | :05:12. | :05:20. | |
insufficient -- sufficient. There are some crucial bits that need to | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
be addressed, clearly, the coastal road has to be a priority. I think | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
everybody agrees with that. Unless you have that running as a forever | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
forever resilient line, shoring up the whole of the Peninsula network, | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
then frankly everything else begins to become secondary. I do have an | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
issue with a challenge who seems to feel that at some point we would all | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
get washed away, I say but as look at British sciences they have been | :05:52. | :05:54. | |
incredibly Brazilian over the years, as indeed those passages playback | :05:55. | :06:01. | |
window when the line broke down and got in another carriage. They | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
continue their journey. We are a resilient nation and this plan will | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
survive. I am sure that the government will ensure that that can | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
happen. Nothing is impossible, you just did a bit of an intelligence | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
and imagination. It is crucial but in the spirit because axing all of | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
our interest in looking at the whole area, the Project for resilience is | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
equally important, Bridgewater and Montana are crucial to get sorted as | :06:33. | :06:42. | |
as the other cities. I thank the Honorable Lady for giving way, and I | :06:43. | :06:47. | |
very much agree with what was done and Dawlish it was right to keep the | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
railway going. We have to use the line from Bristol down through to | :06:52. | :06:58. | |
get a new station and have some Metro trains as well. I know the | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
Honorable member who cannot be here today because of ill health is | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
supporting this as well. I think we need to have a rover plans to bring | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
more trains to the existing tracks and have more station and use our | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
tracks more greater effect than we are at the moment stoplight the | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
Honorable member is right, we only have one spine going down the south | :07:23. | :07:25. | |
of the Peninsula, when need another one going down the north of the | :07:26. | :07:32. | |
Peninsula. We also need like a spiders web of a network, the | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
economy is truly being taken advantage of and the productivity | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
levels to grow we need as my boyfriend says, the smaller stations | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
and the point made earlier, that the smaller stations and thoroughly | :07:47. | :07:48. | |
delightful dualist that they should not become secondary and it would be | :07:49. | :07:56. | |
a disaster. This economy is set to grow, we need those two spinal group | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
and then we need to ensure that we have the connectivity, the spider | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
web that ensures all of our communities can be successful. As | :08:05. | :08:07. | |
rural communities, travel is critical. The third crucial piece is | :08:08. | :08:21. | |
bustard Journal journey time. It would be very good in the Minister | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
can tell us a bit about any cast-offs which we may have in our | :08:28. | :08:30. | |
area just to increase the numbers. That would be very helpful. The | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
points made about electrification are very right, the solution seems | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
to be the way for it but you are right as members have said we need | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
to plan, and know that there is a commitment from government to do | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
more than just one piece because the Southwest its use and does not stop | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
as some people have thought it stopped us and Britain. Finally, we | :08:53. | :08:59. | |
must look at capacity and quality, this issue of the additional routes | :09:00. | :09:07. | |
is crucial, I have 40 concept of the spiders web and this is the heart of | :09:08. | :09:15. | |
getting it right. The geotechnical study is due in April of 2016. That | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
is the one that looks specifically at the Dawlish issue and the sea | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
wall and whether or not there is a need for a Boras and out at sea. I | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
think what it has pleased me is that it has gone ahead and has not | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
suffered any cuts at all. I think the key for the government to come | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
into the findings and give us a chance to work and lobby hard to get | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
the right solution and the government will commit to spending | :09:45. | :09:50. | |
the money that we need, to get the resilient sorted once and for all. | :09:51. | :09:58. | |
The second is his 20 year plan from the task force, that is the second | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
key event for those of us, what we need to see is not only that plan | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
coming forward properly funded and has ordered dimension, but we also | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
need to see that there is some preplanning and place, because while | :10:12. | :10:19. | |
there are a number of years until we get to CP six and 2016, it seems to | :10:20. | :10:27. | |
me that we need the government to began to say that we put the plan in | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
place, this is what we can do, so that we are ready to go and that | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
they have invested the money in that planning phase so that the P6 will | :10:35. | :10:44. | |
be done by 2018, but we have to commence the planning and advanced | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
in it and commit to the resolution of the problem. That would be | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
absolutely brilliant! If we invest in the Southwest, our GPA will go up | :10:52. | :11:00. | |
-- GDA, the security will go up, we will unlock the Marina potential of | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
the area, is already worth 410 million, we will also be able to | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
build on the nuclear potential, the nuclear market is worth 50 billion, | :11:11. | :11:18. | |
we will also be able to take advantage of the aerospace and | :11:19. | :11:21. | |
engineering which is already worth 16 billion and are part of the | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
world. And new data analytics which are based primarily in Exeter and | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
the computer there which gives us the 97 million worth of income and | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
the area. You heard enough about me, the lady from Dawlish. I am asking | :11:38. | :11:46. | |
you for your commitment to the Southwest, to find the funding, and | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
to give us the security that we need and help us deliver the productivity | :11:51. | :11:53. | |
that the Chancellor wants, we want and the country needs! And is a | :11:54. | :12:03. | |
pleasure to follow the honourable lady with a very stirring speech. I | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
thoroughly enjoyed it, can I commend the Honorable member for Torbay and | :12:09. | :12:19. | |
securing this debate. The Great Western Railway is of significant | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
importance to me it is where I and other Welsh colleagues regularly use | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
as our mode of transport up and down the row break. I have done it for | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
the last 15 years, if I am fortunate with the help of the electorate, I | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
may be using it shortly to travel back in that direction for the final | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
time as I head down to the Welsh assembly. All of the fence on the | :12:43. | :12:49. | |
electorate. It is important that the members have said, that's as for | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
politicians coming back and forth to work and represent their | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
constituents but also for the economy of the areas as well. As the | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
Honorable Lady just said, the Great Western Railway, gives us great GPA | :13:01. | :13:11. | |
if we get it right. Could I also think Great Western Railways for | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
getting me here on time almost. I apologise for the honourable | :13:16. | :13:17. | |
gentleman I was a couple minutes late. Part of my journey on the | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
roadway today was done by codes. They did have the codes is run and | :13:24. | :13:26. | |
they managed to deal with the weather and things that we had. They | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
got us here nearly on time. It does bring up the issue, regarding the | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
electrification which is to do with run of the mill of resilience. We | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
have too many parts of our existing Rae stock which are fluctuating in | :13:45. | :13:53. | |
the ability to deliver the timetable that we need. Too often they are | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
shut down, even for short periods of two or three hours and then we have | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
trains backed up in the wrong places and the time stable habits to catch | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
up with where the rolling stock it. No doubt as a result of today will | :14:06. | :14:13. | |
find Great Western Railways lobby sold in to try to catch up with the | :14:14. | :14:18. | |
delays that they have had. I will give way. I'm enjoying his speech, | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
we have the issue of the we have the issue of the | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
cross-country voyages which connect parts of South Wales on the route to | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
Birmingham as well and they were not specified to go with a piece of | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
track that may have a way to go over it. He makes a good point. I hope | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
the points that have been made today will be listened to by the Minister | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
but also by those not only train operating companies put | :14:47. | :14:48. | |
infrastructure companies as well so they can act on some of these things | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
to make it work better for our passengers and matures. The point is | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
already being made by several colleagues on different parts of the | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
floor. How important the spine of the network is for all the branches | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
that flow off of it as well. This is nothing to do with high-speed lanes | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
or electrification, it is well floes off of that. When I travel here from | :15:10. | :15:18. | |
my stake where I live with my family, I'm fortunate that we still | :15:19. | :15:24. | |
have a branch related there. -- rail line. It is a very strong minded | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
leadership and labor authority at the time they fought and they would | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
be damned if they had that was a close. They fought and kept it open. | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
It is amid the success these days. That is Rob from my stake down to | :15:41. | :15:48. | |
Bridgend, and all the way up to another place is a popular route. It | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
is ridiculous that on such a popular routes that as we talk about travel | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
to work areas of the people of my constituency, they travelled to work | :15:58. | :16:08. | |
and other places they need a good reliable... We are very fortunate | :16:09. | :16:18. | |
that we were able to fight to introduce on the mainland, the male | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
nine that we are talking about, the Great Western spine to reintroduce a | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
new station, it is very rare you see that happen nowadays. And Planned | :16:27. | :16:33. | |
Parenthood which is between -- and Planned Parenthood. | :16:34. | :16:47. | |
I will give way and a moment, this lasted over 40 years to residues the | :16:48. | :16:55. | |
station, but the benefit of it, as we have seen 2000 new homes built in | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
that area, possibly another 2000, and, that has become an economic | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
boom to the area, people want to come and live there because it is | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
not just the Great Western spine, and now has a station, the point was | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
well made by Honorable member opposite that would need to make | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
sure that would not bypassed entities when we deliver the | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
electrification and deliver the spine of the mainline, we also need | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
to connect these committees as well. I will give way. | :17:24. | :17:35. | |
Jones played a good hand and it and so did Andrew Davis, they had to | :17:36. | :17:44. | |
economic case but not stack up, and economic case but not stack up, and | :17:45. | :17:50. | |
he had to say that it was back up when they see the phones come in and | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
the new school and everything else. When I travel pass them now and I | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
see in the new station, scores of people every hour of the Vegard | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
commuting for shopping and visiting well assumes all working as well, we | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
need to think more about that as well as longside electrification. | :18:09. | :18:16. | |
The other critical aspect of this in terms of use and the spine, is to | :18:17. | :18:22. | |
make sure that it connects to the South Wales Metro. I say that the | :18:23. | :18:29. | |
liberty it has to be a genuinely Southwest Metro. We have another | :18:30. | :18:38. | |
line that was protected all those years ago, we also have two or three | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
valleys that have no connection to rail links whatsoever. They need | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
somehow to be linked into that man first Great Western mind when it is | :18:49. | :18:51. | |
electrified and delivering faster services. The link may be by good | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
coaches and buses that operate according to the right timetable | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
that arrived for the right connections at the right time of the | :19:02. | :19:09. | |
day. Certainly Bridgend County Council are sitting down with the | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
Welsh Government and things right, let's have a look at how do we join | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
with 20s that do not have the rail networks that link to the Great | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
Western spine at the moment. How did they get to make friends and how do | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
the other lead to the opportunities that they can socialise with friends | :19:26. | :19:36. | |
that they have. I will give way. Much obliged to you, I think that | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
the points you are making are very important, which would step from me | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
that the electrification of the line, by the conservative government | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
is going to give a whole new social mobility to the people of the | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
valleys? Yes, I agree entirely but I will come back in my remarks a | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
little bit further on and I hope he would support me in the necessity to | :19:59. | :20:02. | |
have that delivered on time as originally pledged, and hopefully on | :20:03. | :20:12. | |
budget as well, the critic of this for Newton Abbot mentioned earlier | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
that too many people think that the Southwest said that Bristol, to meet | :20:16. | :20:22. | |
people up here think that South Wales in. That is a brilliant city, | :20:23. | :20:24. | |
please go there and visit them. It was third at the top ten short | :20:25. | :20:40. | |
destinations of the pool of Europe recently. It does not stop at | :20:41. | :20:48. | |
Carter, just be on the line there, is presented, just beyond the line | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
of Bridgend is Swansea. Beyond there is West Wales. One of the points I | :20:53. | :21:00. | |
wanted to make today is to say to the Minister, don't short-change us | :21:01. | :21:04. | |
by the delays that we have heard of. When we talk the benefits, and we | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
were told that this would be delivered to Swansea, not to | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
Bristol, not to Cardiff not to Bridgend, but to Swansea, we wanted | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
it to Swansea because if you look at the development happening there at | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
the moment, the integration of the new university campus, out of | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
Britain very, these are tremendous and tools in the economic crowd and | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
Swansea they need to be joined up. Wales, South Wales does not stop | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
there. It goes way beyond, we need to go and deliver. I'd agree with | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
the prime point that we need to get the electrification there and I hope | :21:42. | :21:43. | |
you'll agree with me that we need to get it there promptly and on time. | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
Not that of the labor that we have thoughts about where we have been | :21:49. | :21:51. | |
told, that is going to be put back into the control period of six, and | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
that people don't know what control period six is, does the 13th 2019 in | :21:57. | :22:22. | |
2024, not of it, around 2018. In effect, Christmas comes late, for | :22:23. | :22:25. | |
the honourable gentleman constituents, for my constituents, | :22:26. | :22:28. | |
we are going to have to read for the Christmas present, that is not good | :22:29. | :22:30. | |
and his constituents are not secondary citizens of this nation, | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
not a mind, let's have it on time. I know he agrees with me and I will | :22:34. | :22:36. | |
give way. He has been generous and has important point here. It would | :22:37. | :22:38. | |
be far better if they started in Swansea as opposed to starting | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
somewhere else, it would be an budget at this time in Swansea and | :22:43. | :22:48. | |
not London. I would be reasonably happy with that, I would probably | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
start from present and work upwards and both directions. But Swansea | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
would be a good second option I have to say. Could I also say in terms of | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
the connectivity of the Great Western well line. What we also need | :23:03. | :23:12. | |
is the necessity of delivering now on the Heathrow link. We need that | :23:13. | :23:20. | |
done, people who travel from south Wales to Jews that Heathrow link, | :23:21. | :23:29. | |
the preposterous nature of -- from wealth to people who use that | :23:30. | :23:36. | |
Heathrow link. It is also those commuters, it is myself as well. I | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
fried from Bristol and Heathrow. -- fly. It should be done quickly, it | :23:42. | :23:48. | |
has been sitting on the plants for years and years. -- plan. We do need | :23:49. | :24:00. | |
to have it on time, and the Welsh government has made clear, as have | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
other parties and Wales as well that they are holding the government to | :24:05. | :24:06. | |
its original commitment of delivering it on time and on budget. | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
But when it is done, what I would ask the Minister is to make sure | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
that there is a full discussion with all the communities on the routes | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
about related infrastructure development that would really | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
benefit those communities and I will give you prime example, a well-known | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
infamous example and my own constituency and a place, the court, | :24:32. | :24:39. | |
where it still has a traditional level crossing. But at the centre of | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
the village, right next to the Cenotaph, right next to the shops. | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
When we march they are, on Remembrance Sunday, we have to time | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
our marches, and ordered to take an account of sometimes the 15 minutes | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
that that level crossing will be closed. That is on the march of | :24:59. | :25:01. | |
Remembrance Sunday. This happens every day of the week. If we have | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
this major investment that will require not only putting in the | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
electrical infrastructure but also heightening bridges and changing | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
major structural issues around the community, then I take to the | :25:15. | :25:22. | |
Minister and would love to meet with her with the town Council and how we | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
can all work together to get rid of that crossing to upgrade the bridge | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
that is only a half a mile or less of the world for that we can get two | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
lanes of traffic and solve the problem that it was caused by these | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
level crossing as well as driving electrification on the way down. And | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
maybe the Minister would like to invite me to come and meet with her, | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
with a small delegation because we think we can bring something to the | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
table and the town council can as well as the county bear and become | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
active for the worker, for those communities as we drive | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
electrification through. My final point would be in terms of the | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
electrification and the point made by the honourable gentleman made who | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
represents them of this was at the end of that main spine of the line, | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
it is not finished there, it goes way beyond that up into West Wales, | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
but it is regarded for the purpose of this project as with the | :26:19. | :26:21. | |
government originally said that they would deliver a notification as | :26:22. | :26:28. | |
well. My hybrid not have to use not variations, but on time. Regardless | :26:29. | :26:31. | |
of that, at the moment what we have been told is because of the delay, | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
at the moment we have no clear cost, the costing to my knowledge has not | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
been done. We have no clear started, and in that case, we no certainty, | :26:42. | :26:46. | |
my worry is that this will drift, I would like to hear from the Minister | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
today the more clarity, I would love for her to stay here with and that | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
time it will start. Here is the we will deliver the full cost thinks, | :26:56. | :26:59. | |
so that we have a little bit more certainty that even though it is | :27:00. | :27:02. | |
drifting, it is not drift into the back of beyond. A great project, I | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
was on the members of the Southwest and committee member from North | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
Devon opposite, we always look at each other, both the glorious | :27:12. | :27:18. | |
coastlines across, I wish you all well and your aspirations for your | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
areas, but for my area, when the electrification on time, we needed | :27:24. | :27:26. | |
on button so that we can link up all the other things that we have been | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
talking about into a really cohesive transporting infrastructure for soft | :27:32. | :27:32. | |
Wales and onto West. . Before I called ineffable member | :27:33. | :27:42. | |
then something strange going on, each of the last three people who | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
have spoken in this chamber have used the word, you and a reference | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
to other people. Not just one person, but everyone is doing it. I | :27:52. | :27:59. | |
have been reluctant to intervene, and I try not to, but after three | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
times I have to point it out to the chamber. When the word you is used, | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
it means the chair and if you're asking the Minnesota do something, | :28:11. | :28:11. | |
you ask the I will try very hard to take notice | :28:12. | :28:25. | |
of it and if I do make a mistake, then I hope that you might forgive | :28:26. | :28:28. | |
me. I think you very much for calling me to this debate. May I | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
also congratulate my honourable friend as well who has been able to | :28:33. | :28:40. | |
get this debate as well. He has something more important than I do, | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
because I have been trying for five years to get a debate on the future | :28:44. | :28:49. | |
of the railway. He quite obviously has something which is more of | :28:50. | :28:54. | |
Loring actually delivered. I'd very much hope that during the course of | :28:55. | :29:03. | |
my speech I won't get accused... Last week was the unwelcome second | :29:04. | :29:12. | |
anniversary, as my honourable friend has Artie pointed out, of the | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
Dawlish being swept in to see that was rightly a huge wake-up call to | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
the government into abuzz and the Southwest region. . What is | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
interesting is that we all collectively worked together to make | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
one cause to make sure that the government understands the | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
importance of this issue. That is one thing, if I may say so, is | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
making sure that we have one voice as we have during the course of this | :29:43. | :29:47. | |
evening as well. We all need to look at what happened today would be | :29:48. | :29:54. | |
frail was mind -- rail wave line was delayed due to a appalling weather | :29:55. | :30:00. | |
and trees that fell off. It demonstrates clearly as to how | :30:01. | :30:06. | |
fragile our railway line is as well. As the chairman of the eight PPG for | :30:07. | :30:15. | |
dependents of the rail, I see that members are fighting for better | :30:16. | :30:18. | |
links to our region. That is something that I campaign for in | :30:19. | :30:22. | |
this house over the last 15 years, and that she conservative's | :30:23. | :30:29. | |
candidate. Yes. I think my honourable friend for giving way. It | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
is about resilience into the West country because we do have the Great | :30:34. | :30:42. | |
Western Railway, the rail line, with boots. And bring back the trams. To | :30:43. | :30:49. | |
carry on from Exeter down to Cornwall with the second line. It is | :30:50. | :30:54. | |
right to keep the top -- tautness line. We have got to have that | :30:55. | :31:01. | |
second line so that we have up resilience so that when we do see | :31:02. | :31:07. | |
more bad weather we will get that my block. We will be able to have a | :31:08. | :31:11. | |
second group into Cornwall. My honourable friend is 100% right. We | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
need to make sure that we have the effect of mine. Was it that happens | :31:16. | :31:18. | |
to go through as my personal preference would be to go through -- | :31:19. | :31:26. | |
I would be ideal. We need to make sure that there is going to be one | :31:27. | :31:32. | |
that goes through those cities purely because we have got to make | :31:33. | :31:36. | |
sure that there is a decent capacity and me can put straight on that line | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
as well. Two years ago, as my honourable friend says, the line at | :31:42. | :31:48. | |
Dawlish was washed away. For the next six weeks there were no trains | :31:49. | :31:58. | |
to Western Dawlish. Having lost our airport and trends, the only way | :31:59. | :32:02. | |
that anyone from clinic could get to London and the Midlands was via the | :32:03. | :32:10. | |
partially dueled lines which are the only single dual carriage way. I | :32:11. | :32:15. | |
welcome the government's commitment to doing BA 303 the whole there. I | :32:16. | :32:22. | |
think along with my honourable friend would like to see it go | :32:23. | :32:29. | |
through Black hand-helds. That would... The Prime | :32:30. | :32:40. | |
That they are actually going to try and make full use of that. It is not | :32:41. | :32:48. | |
going to be crazy. The Prime Minister is persistence ensures that | :32:49. | :32:54. | |
the Army worked tirelessly to 60 line through 2014 which just the | :32:55. | :33:00. | |
start of the tourist season. At this time last year my right honourable | :33:01. | :33:04. | |
friend, the prime minister, met with my honourable friend and warmly | :33:05. | :33:13. | |
supported the setting up of the rail task force to undertake the rail | :33:14. | :33:16. | |
task force to undertake research into what needs to deliver this | :33:17. | :33:21. | |
resilient railway line. Madam Deputy Speaker, while I understand that | :33:22. | :33:27. | |
progress has been made, I was dismayed to learn that two weeks ago | :33:28. | :33:30. | |
network rather not have the money to deliver for it the research into | :33:31. | :33:37. | |
journey times. I hope that my honourable friend later on this | :33:38. | :33:39. | |
evening will be able to help me as far as that is concerned and make | :33:40. | :33:43. | |
sure that this has happened. Last Monday, nearly all might fellow | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
Devon and Cornwall MPs met with the counsellor were be laid out our | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
concerns. We were -- there was a promise that we could deliver a | :33:55. | :33:59. | |
decent railway line to and from the West country and we can improve | :34:00. | :34:04. | |
transport links as well. I am grateful that my right honourable | :34:05. | :34:07. | |
friend the Chancellor met us with such short notice and we understand | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
what our peninsular needs are. On Tuesday, we went to micromanage our | :34:13. | :34:23. | |
founding rail minister, who was also a Southwest member of Parliament. | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
She told us that she would do everything she could do find that | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
?300,000 for this work. I am delighted that I hope she's going to | :34:33. | :34:38. | |
find that for us. Let me remind my honourable friend when we implement | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
in the far west actually want. She may be bored with hearing this, but | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
I have been hearing this now for the past five years to let me turn on | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
one more time. We want more three-hour train journey from London | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
to plummet and vice versa. We want trains getting into Plymouth from | :34:56. | :34:59. | |
London before nine o'clock in the morning so that businesspeople can | :35:00. | :35:03. | |
get a full days work in Plymouth. We are the largest urgent -- urban | :35:04. | :35:13. | |
economy shed an -- urban. It is important that we are used as an | :35:14. | :35:18. | |
economic motor to deliver that significant level that my right | :35:19. | :35:25. | |
honourable friend talked about. Never again must Plymouth and the | :35:26. | :35:29. | |
far west the cut off from the rest of the United Kingdom. I am | :35:30. | :35:41. | |
delighted that the government... Came down to Plymouth to announce | :35:42. | :35:46. | |
it. The government announced that before the general election we would | :35:47. | :35:50. | |
be getting the new high-speed photography eight T 200 trains and | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
2018. That is a positive piece of news. I am somewhat concerned | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
because of the delay in the electrification, and my honourable | :36:02. | :36:11. | |
friend might be willing to. What we need to make sure behalf is more | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
three-hour train journeys from plummet to London and vice versa, | :36:16. | :36:19. | |
and I said make sure that we have trains getting in before nine | :36:20. | :36:27. | |
o'clock. -- Plymouth. We also need additional mind to the Dawlish so | :36:28. | :36:34. | |
that the Far West will not be cut off again. A significant part in our | :36:35. | :36:41. | |
economy, but only if we have a decent transport system and, a | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
decent skills based as well. That is something that we. My honourable | :36:47. | :36:53. | |
friend the Member for more of you also knows this. We | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
and 2020, an important issue is going to take place in Devon. We | :37:00. | :37:09. | |
will be commemorating the Mayflower and leaving the city in 1622 found | :37:10. | :37:17. | |
the American colonies. To make this, we people need to be able to get to | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
put to see for that great ships built from. Just because the | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
opposition think that they are going to... I would just remind the Labour | :37:27. | :37:34. | |
Party that they have not got a particularly good record in | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
delivering. They announced that they would cancel during the manifesto | :37:39. | :37:47. | |
which would move the bottom to Stonehenge. Finally Madam Deputy | :37:48. | :37:57. | |
Speaker, without the Southwest this conservative government would not | :37:58. | :38:01. | |
have an overall majority. We feel we have done our bit to ensure we have | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
a conservative government which I am delightful to actually support. Can | :38:07. | :38:10. | |
you please help us to help deliver for you? Thank you Madam Deputy | :38:11. | :38:26. | |
Speaker. Can I start also by congratulating the Member for | :38:27. | :38:33. | |
securing this debate. Did I say to the honourable member office said | :38:34. | :38:36. | |
that he mentioned that he might well be departing for pastures new, can I | :38:37. | :38:41. | |
indulge in the House saying a pleasure but it has been to serve | :38:42. | :38:45. | |
under your chairmanship of the environmental audit committee which | :38:46. | :38:47. | |
has been my first experience of a select committee, and it has been | :38:48. | :38:55. | |
actually fruitful. We will miss you. -- missed the honourable gentleman. | :38:56. | :39:02. | |
I think I got away but the! Madam Deputy Speaker, I like many members | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
here on all sides of the House and a regular news search of the Great | :39:08. | :39:10. | |
Western Railway mainline. I travelled up this morning and as | :39:11. | :39:17. | |
other members have said it was a journey with some considerable | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
delays. I would pay tribute to the train staff on GW are who kept us | :39:22. | :39:29. | |
all the time informed and advised as to what was happening. They operate | :39:30. | :39:36. | |
on days like this. Under extremely difficult conditions. It can only be | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
a challenge for them to deal with a lot of passengers who want to know | :39:42. | :39:44. | |
why they aren't and how are they getting in. I have to say that they | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
performed an an exemplary fashion this morning and kept us all advise | :39:50. | :39:52. | |
although we were an hour late getting into Paddington. That was | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
fine. I pick of the points that another honourable member has made | :39:59. | :40:03. | |
that the broadband would be gratefully perceived to be slightly | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
improved in its performance. It is a very valuable time on the train to | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
work. I had an unexpected extra hour to work on the train this morning, | :40:15. | :40:20. | |
and although the broadband works after a fashion, it is slightly | :40:21. | :40:26. | |
tacky. I will make my further comment, I think the Member for | :40:27. | :40:29. | |
Exeter made a point to say when he travels in the quiet carriage. That | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
is the one I choose, but I have to say never has a noun been more | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
misplaced than the quiet carriage occasionally because it is certainly | :40:39. | :40:42. | |
not always quiet. It is a place where we do work. It is a place | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
where we -- that is absolutely vital for people who need to do work on | :40:50. | :40:54. | |
their journey from the Southwest to London and elsewhere. Will he give | :40:55. | :41:01. | |
Wade? This has been Jude suggested before. In my experience if one | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
politely asks someone who is making noise in the quiet carriage to | :41:07. | :41:09. | |
desist or move they do so. It is a great example of the British self | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
policing and I would recommend he try to if he has not already done | :41:15. | :41:23. | |
so. I am a shrunken violent and I would never do such a thing. And I | :41:24. | :41:27. | |
would never do such a thing I take his point. The vital reason for this | :41:28. | :41:34. | |
railing to the Southwest has to be stressed again and again. It is our | :41:35. | :41:41. | |
only major rail artery, and it is extraordinarily important because of | :41:42. | :41:43. | |
one other aspect which has been touched upon by other members. That | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
is that not only is that a fragile rail link to the Southwest, but of | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
course it compliments what is by any definition also a fragile series of | :41:54. | :42:00. | |
road links to the Southwest as well. The M5 or the 8303, you pay your | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
money and take your choice. There are times when they can both be, | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
Franca, not helpful to the travelling public. That is why it is | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
vitally important white meanie to have the resilience on the Southwest | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
rail line which so many members and honourable members on both sides of | :42:21. | :42:23. | |
the House have mentioned is important. Of course I will give | :42:24. | :42:30. | |
Wade. As well as resilience we have to get the network working smarter. | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
For example, there is a great train robbery which takes place every day | :42:35. | :42:38. | |
for my constituents who are robbed the 15 minutes of their lives | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
because the train from London meets the mainline, parks and Gloucester, | :42:43. | :42:45. | |
was the driver gets out from one end of the training, gets in the other | :42:46. | :42:49. | |
end, before the trend and rejoicing in mind and goes to the other and, | :42:50. | :42:52. | |
before the change rejoins the mainline Ngosso Tottenham. | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
My honourable friend makes a good point. I am not aware of the | :42:56. | :43:02. | |
jiggery-pokery that he mentions, but it sounds like an extraordinary | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
choreography that goes on on a regular basis. I was mentioning that | :43:08. | :43:15. | |
the difficulty that we have just put links as a whole. That is what the | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
resilience of the self is related is vitally important. I want to talk | :43:20. | :43:25. | |
also about the fate that has been used by some other colleagues, and | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
that is that of the spider's Web that we need in order to ensure that | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
we have a very good in a widespread and well serviced across the | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
Southwest. It is not just that spine, but the ribs coming off of it | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
to stretch the analogy to its breaking point. I am bound to | :43:44. | :43:50. | |
mention the vital rail link that we have in North Devon. It connects | :43:51. | :43:58. | |
Exeter with Barnstable. It has survived cuts, a great deal of | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
problems over the years including flooding and underused, and it has | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
turned the corner. We are now in a position where the Exeter to | :44:11. | :44:16. | |
Barnstable root is going almost exponential -- exponentially. It | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
used to be the fact that it was primarily used during the summer | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
months, and indeed it is still signposted at some point along the | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
mind with road signs of the Brown to Torres Friday which gives the | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
impression of it being a quaint slime which it is not. It is a vital | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
artery, and if we can improve it we will improve the economic vitality | :44:44. | :44:50. | |
of North Devon. I was delighted when just three weeks ago the chairman of | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
the rail Association, which is a group that does fantastic work to | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
promote that line to operate it in a way which has really driven this | :45:02. | :45:08. | |
advance and use of the line for that I was able to arrange for he and | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
myself to meet the honourable member the rail minister and me had eight | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
extreme and productive meeting at which tree to stop the Mac discussed | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
the importance of the North Devon mainline. I hope my honourable | :45:21. | :45:28. | |
friend might refer to that in her comments at the end. These rigs are | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
the spines are absolutely vital if we are to ensure that we have a rail | :45:33. | :45:38. | |
service which is of use to the maximum number of people and the | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
Southwest. Particularly in North Devon, it is important because of | :45:44. | :45:44. | |
tourism. Will my I does represent a Southwest | :45:45. | :46:00. | |
constituency. I was at Exeter University and I regularly visit | :46:01. | :46:03. | |
North Devon. I concur but the point that he is making about the | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
Barnstable line. One of the key thing that I think that it means is | :46:08. | :46:14. | |
a single carriage train that is woefully inadequate, I hope that he | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
will find the Greek Western franchise comes up in a few years' | :46:19. | :46:21. | |
time that proper consideration will be given to procuring that for that | :46:22. | :46:29. | |
line. -- great Western. My honourable friend makes a good | :46:30. | :46:36. | |
point. The question of the rolling stock is absolutely key. It has, I'm | :46:37. | :46:44. | |
afraid, then the left to decay to the point that not it is only just | :46:45. | :46:50. | |
to fit for purpose. I held a significant number of meeting with | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
the operators of GW are, and with Network Rail, and with the rail | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
Association, and we have discussed at length the importance of getting | :47:01. | :47:03. | |
significant new rolling stock. I am delighted to say that we do appear | :47:04. | :47:07. | |
not to have reached a position where there is going to be a cascade, the | :47:08. | :47:12. | |
word that I use, of rolling stock that. I would rather not use the | :47:13. | :47:17. | |
phrase that was used earlier. I want to be more positive than that! Would | :47:18. | :47:22. | |
have to get a cascade of 21st-century rolling stock. I'd very | :47:23. | :47:32. | |
much welcome that. May I just take this opportunity to the honourable | :47:33. | :47:35. | |
gentleman to stress the importance of access for people with wheelchair | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
disabilities that they are in a wheelchair. Particularly, a friend | :47:42. | :47:49. | |
of mine from the bridge and -- Bridgend. Two people travelling | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
together have to be split, and it would be great to look at the new | :47:58. | :48:00. | |
railing stock and the ability to do different variations. I have | :48:01. | :48:07. | |
travelled on the North Devon line between Barnstable and Exeter quite | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
often there is no room at all for a single person using a wheelchair. | :48:12. | :48:17. | |
That is one reason why we do need to get this new rolling stock cascaded | :48:18. | :48:22. | |
to us as soon as we possibly can. The many reasons. But me turn now | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
that away from the specifics of the Devon line to the great western, | :48:27. | :48:33. | |
mainline. It is a vital artery for the stop us. We have talked a lot | :48:34. | :48:37. | |
about the resilience of that line. This is the key. It is absolutely | :48:38. | :48:45. | |
the case that we rely on that rail, that single rail line, to provide us | :48:46. | :48:49. | |
with a transport artery to the Southwest. One the happy event such | :48:50. | :48:56. | |
as happened at Dawlish the effects are devastating. Even though people | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
are coming to North Devon they would jump off the line before Dawlish, | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
usually at Tiverton Parkway. The fact is that when you have the sort | :49:06. | :49:08. | |
of event that happens at Dawlish, the whole of the Southwest and all | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
of the constituency represented by honourable members here are affected | :49:14. | :49:19. | |
by such an incident. We do need to make sure that we have the | :49:20. | :49:24. | |
resilience of that line so not for the future, not only will that will | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
bet difficulties at Dawlish BC to any member for Exeter. The clips are | :49:31. | :49:38. | |
as much of a problem on that side of the mind as the coastal side. -- | :49:39. | :49:46. | |
Cliffs. We need to have that scene too. We also need to consider the | :49:47. | :49:53. | |
thought of this second mind. -- Wine. We'll open up a northern court | :49:54. | :50:03. | |
order and that will be vital. The flooding issue is also obviously of | :50:04. | :50:08. | |
significance. As I came up on the train this morning to the Somerset | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
levels, you can see how close it is to the rail line at some point. We | :50:15. | :50:20. | |
do need to look at that. Then the electrification. I absolutely agree | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
with Matt and Barker are members and honourable members that we need to | :50:25. | :50:28. | |
speed up the process of electrification. I am delighted that | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
it is going through to South Wales or is planned to, we need to ensure | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
that we get that done to the Southwest. My concern is that if we | :50:38. | :50:45. | |
get no significant movement on this until control period six starting in | :50:46. | :50:51. | |
2019, we started to be pushed back to the end of the cue. I am hoping | :50:52. | :50:57. | |
that the Minister can give us some positive news. Providing near sure | :50:58. | :51:08. | |
-- reassurance. Regarding these two vital reports, feasibility studies, | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
which need to be done into the resilience and the electrification | :51:15. | :51:18. | |
of the mine. Without understanding or going into the dues and don'ts | :51:19. | :51:23. | |
and who said what, or where the money was coming from, or whether it | :51:24. | :51:28. | |
was cut from point a or Plan B, the fact is we need a relatively small | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
amount of money to have these points undertaken. We really need those to | :51:35. | :51:39. | |
be done. I would hope that when the Minister gets to her feet at the end | :51:40. | :51:43. | |
of this evening's debate, she will have some positive news. You cannot | :51:44. | :51:52. | |
stress too much how important it is have those studies done. I also want | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
to briefly conclude and mention the Peninsula where all task force. And | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
the excellent work that that organisation has done. I commend | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
them and their 20 year plan is one that bears reading and taking | :52:08. | :52:11. | |
seriously, because it does have a vision for the way that we could in | :52:12. | :52:15. | |
the Southwest have the sort of real mind that we deserve. I conclude by | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
saying this, Madam Deputy Speaker, as is mentioned during the election | :52:23. | :52:25. | |
and the prime minister and the chancellor came down to the | :52:26. | :52:28. | |
Southwest on a number of occasions. They came to my constituency to | :52:29. | :52:34. | |
soften, indicates that the Chancellor, and announcements for | :52:35. | :52:43. | |
weight. -- announcements were made. I feel sure and I am confident that | :52:44. | :52:47. | |
when the rail minister gets to her feet she will be able to give us the | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
reassurance that those promises that were made will be delivered. It is | :52:52. | :52:56. | |
vitally important for all of us in the Southwest for North Devon and | :52:57. | :53:00. | |
the wider Southwest that we have a resilient, fast, and efficient rail | :53:01. | :53:10. | |
service. Thank you. I am sigh that I have to miss part of the debate. I | :53:11. | :53:15. | |
was reversing with the Parliament choir, and I was trying very hard to | :53:16. | :53:22. | |
beat in two places at once. I'd really welcome this debate. I note | :53:23. | :53:25. | |
that because I have reported about the speeches that have happened | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
already that the focus of the debate today has not included the issue of | :53:31. | :53:36. | |
the commuters service which is provided on the great Western | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
Railway. I want to urge the Minister to end her summing up her spot on | :53:41. | :53:44. | |
the issues relating to those who commute using routes of the Great | :53:45. | :53:51. | |
Western Railway. If you look at passengers and excessive capacity on | :53:52. | :53:56. | |
a typical autumn weekday, but operator, the first great western | :53:57. | :54:05. | |
exceeds all other companies and passengers in excess of capacity. | :54:06. | :54:11. | |
That is because not of the long distance services because of the key | :54:12. | :54:16. | |
meeting services that are provided on miserably. They are chronically | :54:17. | :54:22. | |
overcrowded on an average day. There are something like a thousand people | :54:23. | :54:29. | |
in excessive capacity in the three top most overcrowded trains on this | :54:30. | :54:36. | |
rail line. We have 30% of the top ten most overcrowded trains are on | :54:37. | :54:40. | |
the great western mainline. There is a real problem. I am too often been | :54:41. | :54:45. | |
and one of these chains where of my nose pressed into the armpit of | :54:46. | :54:49. | |
someone whose name I don't know. Frankly, I find that offensive! We | :54:50. | :54:57. | |
have standards for carrying animals around on lorries, and we do not | :54:58. | :55:02. | |
have standards for carrying humans around on trains. The Kuwait Western | :55:03. | :55:09. | |
commuter rail service -- great Western, is quite disgusting for | :55:10. | :55:13. | |
passengers. I think we really have got to do more than adopting a few | :55:14. | :55:19. | |
carriages which used to feed people. We have given not up. An order to | :55:20. | :55:24. | |
put a few more seats in. We actually need to do more to actually provide | :55:25. | :55:30. | |
sufficient stock for the commuter service on this railway to serve the | :55:31. | :55:39. | |
people who depend on it. The Thames Valley is the most productive region | :55:40. | :55:44. | |
of our country. It makes more profit per worker than any other part of | :55:45. | :55:49. | |
Britain. We need to make sure that those people can get about. My | :55:50. | :55:54. | |
constituency, and I often say this in his house and I am sure members | :55:55. | :55:57. | |
are bored about it, has more European headquarters of | :55:58. | :56:05. | |
multinational had gas companies than all the other coaches put together. | :56:06. | :56:10. | |
The reason is because Slough is easy to get to. It is very easy to get | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
from Slough to Heathrow to London to the West country, up the a 42 | :56:16. | :56:27. | |
Birmingham. It is a very well-connected town. That is why we | :56:28. | :56:33. | |
draw investment into Britain successfully. I am not competing | :56:34. | :56:38. | |
with other towns in England and Wales, and Scotland, and Northern | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
Ireland, Slough tends to be competing with other cities in | :56:43. | :56:46. | |
Europe. When I talk to those companies about what issues impact | :56:47. | :56:53. | |
on their profitability, one of the things that they say back to me is | :56:54. | :56:58. | |
we want to be confident that Heathrow has a secure future and we | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
want to be able to get to it. The best way to do that is actually by | :57:04. | :57:15. | |
rail. I persuaded the predecessor to do some research over ten years ago | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
on what companies and the Thames Valley were spending on taxes to | :57:21. | :57:26. | |
Heathrow. At that .10 years ago, it was ?10 million a year. On taxis to | :57:27. | :57:35. | |
Heathrow. If that money was spent not on taxis to Heathrow on the | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
already excessively congested and four, but was actually being used to | :57:40. | :57:46. | |
use a train service and to Heathrow, those companies would have a more | :57:47. | :57:52. | |
dependable journey not depending on what is happening at the moment | :57:53. | :57:58. | |
around Junction five, six, or seven. Not overcrowded on the M4. I know | :57:59. | :58:04. | |
that we are going to get smart motorways, but it is a hard shoulder | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
running. If there is an accident it takes longer to get around it. We | :58:09. | :58:20. | |
have real problems using this route. I get a feeling about the way that | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
the Department of transport routes that it really can only do one thing | :58:26. | :58:30. | |
at a time. It looks down a little tunnels think this is my project at | :58:31. | :58:36. | |
the moment. Their project at the moment is to create a train part for | :58:37. | :58:40. | |
the Heathrow express which I would rather not have. Actually, it seems | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
to me, and the Minister has been very helpful about some of these | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
issues, but it does seem to me that the failure to put fort -- someone's | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
foot on the accelerator of Western rail axes to Heathrow is truly | :58:56. | :59:02. | |
foolish. It is not visible is in terms of this bit of railway, it is | :59:03. | :59:06. | |
foolish in terms of our national economy. If it had as much energy | :59:07. | :59:13. | |
behind it as some of the other rail projects it would be significant and | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
attracting inward investment to Britain. At the moment, we are | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
failing to attract inward investment. We are failing to create | :59:23. | :59:26. | |
the jobs which would inevitably follow from better connectivity for | :59:27. | :59:32. | |
Heathrow. Because nobody is pushing this forward. I was concerned that | :59:33. | :59:35. | |
we were not going to get by 2018 which was the first time you're out | :59:36. | :59:41. | |
of Western rail access. Then it was pushed back further to 2020, now it | :59:42. | :59:47. | |
looks as though it might be 2023 were 2024. I suspect that this | :59:48. | :59:52. | |
project is not going to be completed until we have got the runway. We | :59:53. | :59:56. | |
needed before we have an additional runway. We know that. I would the | :59:57. | :00:04. | |
Minister to set someone, one of her nice tonal vintage Doctor vision | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
civil servants, to make their tunnel vision Western rail access to | :00:09. | :00:13. | |
Heathrow. I promise that companies in this country are desperate for | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
it. They will back it. If she needs a bit of private investment, I had a | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
meeting some years ago with officials and her department and one | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
of the official said we are spending blah million, I cannot remember how | :00:27. | :00:33. | |
many per month on the airport. I was looking about the companies who came | :00:34. | :00:36. | |
with me who were spending that much per month themselves on their own | :00:37. | :00:44. | |
companies's development. Frankly, the time has come to make sure that | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
Western rail access to Heathrow... Edessa E complement the | :00:49. | :00:55. | |
there are not things that would make it later. This minister who I admire | :00:56. | :01:09. | |
would forever be at my glory box if she would make sure that somebody | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
puts the accelerator under this project. At the moment, her | :01:14. | :01:19. | |
department is frankly failing it. They are letting down the Thames | :01:20. | :01:21. | |
Valley and the whole of the South Eastern economy as it. | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
Is There no need for a time limit in this debate, there is plenty of | :01:30. | :01:37. | |
time, but speeches and interventions tend to expand when we have that | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
amount of time. So I advise that it would be helpful if members were to | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
now take around 12 or 13 minutes, which is a long time. | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
Think you very much. You will be delighted to know that my speech | :01:54. | :02:03. | |
will be very brief. Thank you to my right honourable friend for securing | :02:04. | :02:12. | |
this debate and I think it is important at this stage to say what | :02:13. | :02:20. | |
difference I can add to this debate rather than saying what has already | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
been said. I will disappoint my father, I am no railway engineer. He | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
dragged me around that lost art of Trainspotting when I was a young man | :02:33. | :02:39. | |
and it never really caught on. But I want to talk about why this is | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
important for my city of Clements and why we need to get this right as | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
a government. To deliver for that part of the world. I will echo the | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
comments of my honourable friend and say we need a remarkable service a | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
lot of the time. -- we have a remarkable service. There are a lot | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
of challenges. But when we have instances of severe weather we must | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
rise to that challenge, but not the same time to grade everything we | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
have already done, which I think does a disservice. Almost two years | :03:12. | :03:19. | |
ago, the door and its rail disaster happened and the railway fell into | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
the sea, cutting off my city of Clements. As has been alluded to | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
already. This idea that the government has done nothing since | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
then, I am afraid that is stacked up with the myths that are increasingly | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
piling up in my office from the opposition. ?17 million of money has | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
been invested to keep that railway open and in general resilience to | :03:45. | :03:50. | |
the southwest in the last two years. That has been a significant amount | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
of money. We have that resilience at Dornbusch, it faces challenging | :03:58. | :03:59. | |
weather but I am afraid the weather may be something a little bit too | :04:00. | :04:07. | |
far to try and control. I would also urge the government in its duty of | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
delivering this to not heed the rather divisive words and tones of | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
those who would seek to only further their own personal agenda while | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
leading this rail debate. Many of us in the Southwest do actually feel | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
that we have had that investment to a point, but we now need to go to | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
the next level. I would like to briefly explain why that is | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
important. Like I said, I am no railway engineer but I am and | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
extremely mediocre politician and that gives you the opportunity to | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
knock on people pause back doors and hear what is important to them | :04:48. | :04:54. | |
implement. Often, it is a question of why it is that despite our | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
history in Plymouth, our astonishing spirit that is seen as making the | :04:58. | :05:05. | |
largest contribution to this country's defence in material and | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
men. And reviving ourselves after a devastating blitz after the war, why | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
do we still have in our city the most deprived communities in the | :05:17. | :05:19. | |
United Kingdom? The reasons are many and far too varied for this debate | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
but the answers are part of this debate. We must address the life | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
chances that we give the people appointment. If you were to cross a | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
particular porridge and Plymouth on the way home, your average life | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
expectancy would drop seven and a half years. That is seven and a half | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
years and my city. We must start to fight our way out of the state | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
dependency that has dominated our city since the 1980s when Plymouth | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
citizens worked at the docks. As society changes, we as a city have | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
changed with it. This central economy based around the docks has | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
given way to write and positive city that has become a hub for small | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
businesses and startups, with an astonishing 48% drop in unemployment | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
in the last Parliament. We have two world-class universities but they | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
are furthest from the airport in the entire United Kingdom. One is ranked | :06:21. | :06:26. | |
first in this country or social mobility, something that is really | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
important implement. We as a government must do everything we can | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
to assist their onward development with that. I thank the honourable | :06:35. | :06:41. | |
member for giving way. He is making powerful points that are relevant to | :06:42. | :06:50. | |
my constituency as well. But what makes this debate so important, | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
particularly with the comments from the member from Slough is the need | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
to get Western access, that acts as a selfless ski Airlink. He is | :06:59. | :07:07. | |
absolutely right. At the heart of this is about developing | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
opportunities, about bringing skilled employment Stooke places | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
that are outside of London and our communities that have been deprived | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
for so long. The challenge of modern Britain in a way that only they can | :07:21. | :07:27. | |
with a spirit that makes us so proud to call Plymouth Tower home, but we | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
as a government must do a part in this survival and seek out this | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
issue that will feel us onward towards a better more prosperous and | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
more healthy Plymouth. The most rewarding, effective, highest payoff | :07:43. | :07:45. | |
target that this government can get right in the next five years is this | :07:46. | :07:52. | |
railway. The jobs, opportunities for our young people, the skill | :07:53. | :07:54. | |
manufacturing opportunities, they will only come with a transport link | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
that is resilient, fast, and the fitting of the 21st century Britain. | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
It is the Titanic issue for the Parma in the Southwest. -- | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
Parliament. I will conclude by saying in the last election, with | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
moldy and showed their true colours and elected for the first time three | :08:16. | :08:18. | |
conservative members of Parliament in that city. They want aspirations, | :08:19. | :08:26. | |
life chances, we need to do everything we can as a government to | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
enable that and provide the latter and bring my city forward into the | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
potential that all of us know it so clearly has and this rail link is | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
that issued that will feel that to the greatest effect. It is a | :08:42. | :08:51. | |
pleasure to follow my honourable and gallium front. -- Gallant. Thank you | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
for bringing this debate to the front. I would like to talk for a | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
few moments about my experience with Great Western Railway and how | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
beneficial it has been. I have not been a huge user of the railways | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
previously, I have not travelled that much to London, from North, | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
walk, but I use it commonly now. -- Cornwall. The best part of my week | :09:15. | :09:23. | |
as my honourable friend and mentioned earlier on, getting back | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
on the train from Paddington. When I use the sleeper drain I would urge | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
my friend to use it as well, there is nothing better than leaving | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
London at midnight and waking up in God's country in the Southwest at | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
six o'clock to go back to work on Friday morning so yes, I urge them | :09:42. | :09:43. | |
to use that service. It is excellent. I represent a | :09:44. | :09:51. | |
constituency that is barren in terms of its railways. North Cornwall does | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
not have any branch railway links, the Southwest saw a huge reduction | :09:57. | :10:06. | |
under beaching cuts and stations, which originally served the Great | :10:07. | :10:09. | |
Western Railway. I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to the | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
rail task force who have worked tirelessly in the Southwest to | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
attempt to deliver a plan for the Southwest and over recent days, we | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
have seen that planned and presented it to the Chancellor and transport | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
secretary and I hope later on we will here some remarks about that | :10:29. | :10:37. | |
survey. We have seen how groups of MPs can't join together for a | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
region. The example today with the securing of the local government | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
funding settlement and the increase for rural areas has been hugely | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
beneficial to residents in Cornwall and I am grateful for that. We do | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
have a rather seamlessly tied of blue in the Southwest and it would | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
be beneficial for us to all work together to try and get the best we | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
can for our region. The great restaurant railway franchise, or | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
great first as it used to be called has had a significant presence in | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
Cornwall. There have been have other operations, but they have come and | :11:17. | :11:24. | |
gone, the trains operate and serve the Cornish people for many years. I | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
would like to thank my honourable friend for his continued support of | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
the train network in the Southwest and more recently agreeing to meet | :11:34. | :11:40. | |
with us. We noticed how resilient Cornwall and Devon can be when we | :11:41. | :11:48. | |
saw the event of 2014 and those events cannot be ignored. It is a | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
fantastic place to pass on the train, one of the best advertisement | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
for the Southwest, if you have not ridden through it on a train, looked | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
over to the left-hand side and you can see the huge amount of seed and | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
swell and that is what the Southwest is about. It is rugged and coastal | :12:05. | :12:13. | |
and people... Thank you. Millions of people from across the world saw | :12:14. | :12:19. | |
those scenes of the railway hanging in the sea and at that time, we were | :12:20. | :12:28. | |
relying on the one arterial Rd that comes into Devon and Cornwall and | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
that was difficult at that time. We saw the orange army working and they | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
did a huge dump for us and I am grateful that they did. I feel we | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
should explore other opportunities and other branch lines that might | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
help us out and I want to talk about the possibility of a counter link | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
and a line to Plymouth and how viable that would be to my | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
constituency and the benefits that would bring to tourism, not just in | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
North Cornwall but also to my friend in North Devon and other areas in | :13:01. | :13:06. | |
the region. I am sure first Great Western will welcome the opportunity | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
to service more stations and facilitate the return of trains to | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
North Devon, it would help thousands of people across North Cornwall and | :13:14. | :13:19. | |
Devon. Many of them have to travel huge distances to access trains. I | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
think it might be the only speaker that does not have a branch running | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
through their services and I would like one. I will make another case | :13:28. | :13:35. | |
and that is for the Central branch line. There are two standard gates. | :13:36. | :13:49. | |
They run and they are fantastic steam railways but the Parkway is | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
located five miles outside of the town centre which is not an easily | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
accessible if there are roadworks and problems. I would like to see a | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
proper dedicated line between various places. Steam trains do a | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
great job in the summer but we need a 365 day link and I would welcome | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
first Great Western, and their consideration to put a link to | :14:15. | :14:24. | |
connect the Parkway. Would he agreed that the point he is making about | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
where trains can be developed can show that these could be in the | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
Southwest region particularly if services were created and not just | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
in terms of the Great Western route but if the old southern route would | :14:38. | :14:45. | |
still exists was extended? I agree. The more branch services we get on, | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
our transport system is not great and Cornwall Devon. We do struggle | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
in order to provide bus services and if we make those investments as my | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
honourable friend said earlier, we will see that driving jobs and the | :15:00. | :15:07. | |
economy in our areas. I want to talk a little bit and thank the Minister | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
for the investment we are already seeing in the Southwest. The | :15:12. | :15:17. | |
investment in the points system, the new taxi trade that we will see by | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
2018, that is a fantastic investment and we are grateful for that. The | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
sleeper trains that we talked about a little earlier on about being | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
rocked to sleep on those sleeper trains, it is a fantastic service. | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
Six and a half hours into Bodmin Parkway, and a general relaxation | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
and sleep is a lovely feeling. I will look forward to the sleeper | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
trains when they do come online. These trains will reach Cornwall | :15:49. | :15:51. | |
faster, the bimodal trains will reach faster and we can do with | :15:52. | :15:58. | |
those. It is imperative for us to look at line speed improvements as | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
well. I know that is not going to happen overnight but I would like | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
you to consider it. The sleep train is an and durable part of the | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
Southwest. -- interval. As being six hours from London, sleeping is | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
important because you can get up and have a restful night's sleep and | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
then get to work first thing on a Friday morning. I want to thank my | :16:21. | :16:30. | |
honourable friend and the other who is no longer with us for raising the | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
Heathrow element of those proposals. For me, Heathrow is not a London | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
issue. It is a countrywide issue and I think that by linking up areas | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
like the Southwest to have faster journey times to Heathrow, it | :16:48. | :16:50. | |
connects us for onward travel and I am great grateful for them. We could | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
be living in a region with direct flights from Heathrow and direct | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
trains from the region to Heathrow. That would mean the people in | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
Cornwall could fly to Heathrow and an hour and people in Devon could | :17:05. | :17:12. | |
hop on a GW our service and BN Heathrow in under three hours. I am | :17:13. | :17:19. | |
enjoying my honourable friend's stories about rocking to sleep. | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
Would he agree with me that what is fundamental to upscaling our part of | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
the world is attracting bigger manufacturing companies to our part | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
of the world to give our young people the skilled opportunities and | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
skilled manufacturing jobs to keep them in the Southwest and that is | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
fundamental if we are going to change the character of our | :17:45. | :17:50. | |
Southwest? My honourable friend is absolutely right. When we see train | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
connections previously it has raised wage base in that area and we have | :17:56. | :17:58. | |
suffered in the Southwest over the years from having a low-wage, high | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
house economy. Many of our young people do struggle to get on in life | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
and if those rail services, on those businesses will invest in the | :18:10. | :18:12. | |
Southwest and that will give our young people every single | :18:13. | :18:14. | |
opportunity to go forward which is great. He is making a fine speech | :18:15. | :18:21. | |
and could I urge when he has some time to look at the development of | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
the Southwest Metro concept because that current others urban and rural | :18:25. | :18:32. | |
areas, and it is a great idea because it relies not only on rail | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
but other modes that work on time affordably. It has a way to go but | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
for the Southwest I think I can see a Southwest Metro concept coming | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
into mind here. I will have a look at those reports that you talked | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
about earlier on with your valleys and branch lines, so I look forward | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
to reading that report. Mr Speaker I will start winding up, in | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
conclusion, the Great Western Railway is a valuable asset to the | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
Southwest which could be improved. Without it the region will crumble | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
and we must make it better, faster, and more resilient. Many of my | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
colleagues have been affected by the severe weather that we have seen in | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
the Southwest as we have heard, there were four trees on the railway | :19:16. | :19:23. | |
service in Bodmin and around the Southwest which has delayed the | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
trains today. It is quite fitting that that should happen on this day | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
of the debate. I am confident the Great Western Railway franchise will | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
serve our region well and link to the capital and that the rail task | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
force and others are working together for our corner of Britain | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
will make it better to live, work, and play. My congratulations to my | :19:46. | :19:53. | |
honourable friend for securing this important debate. It is an important | :19:54. | :20:01. | |
debate for two reasons. Firstly, the rail infrastructure in the Southwest | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
was a central part of the Chancellor's long-term economic plan | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
for our region. As such it is important that we hold the | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
government to account in the delivery of that plan. Secondly, the | :20:14. | :20:21. | |
Southwest is a region that is unfortunately defined by its poor | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
infrastructure in general. We have a poor road network on the M fives, we | :20:25. | :20:34. | |
have a poor broadband access to the national Airport is difficult. We | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
have fantastic growing regional airports but nothing on the scale of | :20:39. | :20:43. | |
those available in other regions. And we have our rail network, which | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
is only one line deep. That line is not too far into the past and was | :20:49. | :20:55. | |
washed into the sea which showed how vulnerable we are. My right | :20:56. | :21:02. | |
honourable friend makes the point that broadband could be better | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
integrated into the rail service, I would exclude broadband from what I | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
say, but our roads, rail, and airports are very poorly integrated, | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
meaning that only are they bad but they do not create a joined up | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
network either. Which adds to our woes as a region. My remarks come | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
under two headings. The interregional and the intraregional. | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
On the interregional, what is important to note, my honourable | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
friend was very noble in resisting the temptation to compete with other | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
regions but I am afraid that I believe the important part of this | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
debate is how the Southwest fares against other regions and therefore | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
where the region should be in the government's priorities. At the | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
moment, it takes one hour and 42 minutes to go from London to Bristol | :21:59. | :22:04. | |
Temple meetings. That is 118 miles. On the West Coast Main line, you can | :22:05. | :22:11. | |
go to London from crew in one hour four minutes. That is 183 miles and | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
on the East Coast Main line you can go from London to York in an hour | :22:16. | :22:23. | |
and 15 minutes. That is 215 miles. So already, right now, our region is | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
at a huge relative disadvantage to other regions because of the speed | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
of access into the Southwest. The new bimodal trains will reduce those | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
journey times to around an hour and 25 minutes which is very welcome, | :22:41. | :22:45. | |
but even then, our line is still slower mile for mile down the lines | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
serving the Midlands and North West and the Northeast. I make three | :22:51. | :22:56. | |
points on that. Firstly, the comparison that I have just given is | :22:57. | :23:03. | |
to Bristol. The northernmost part where the lines are fasters and it | :23:04. | :23:07. | |
would be quickest to access from London. Secondly, in other regions | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
there are huge further improvements to the rail infrastructure that are | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
expected that will accelerate journey times into the ruse of -- | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
those regions and those will catch up with the bimodal trains that will | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
get us to Bristol in an hour and 25, they sprint on ahead. This means | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
that we as a region remain in the second division. Thirdly, the | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
marginal effect of the electric vacation, electrifying only to | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
Bristol or only part way down the West country line means that yes, | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
you will reach the end of the electric line relatively quickly, | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
but thereafter your journey becomes relatively slow and so proceeding in | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
your journey beyond Bristol is like jumping off of a cliff back into the | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
slow world of diesel trains when you have left the electric. That, I | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
fear, will accelerate investment into the Thames Valley and the core | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
door but not necessarily investment beyond restoring the Southwest at | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
large. So what do we ask from and interregional perspective? Our | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
connection to London and London Heathrow which has been mentioned is | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
vitally important. It will be cherished not to say that it is the | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
most important and therefore it is absolutely right that it is the key | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
aim of the government's rail plans for the Southwest of England. It is | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
not the only interregional connection that matters to the | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
Southwest. Our visitor economy for example will benefit enormously from | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
improvements to the cross-country network because so many of our | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
visitors and they are welcome indeed, come down from the Midlands, | :24:51. | :24:53. | |
North West and North East to find some sun in the West country. | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
The government currently only has so much cash, so what matters here is | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
that the way that the cash dispense and sequenced. Listening to me that | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
the broadband, when we talk endlessly about whether our | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
responsibilities to deliver superfast broadband to have many | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
people as possible, whether it is just to deliver broadband to those | :25:19. | :25:21. | |
who are left without it altogether. I think the real debate in the | :25:22. | :25:24. | |
southwest of England is very similar. Do you sprint ahead with | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
the development of high-speed rail into the north of England, one in | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
the southwest we are still having to proceed with the bimodal trains | :25:35. | :25:38. | |
because we can only get electric so far down the line and thereafter we | :25:39. | :25:42. | |
had to upgrade to a technology that it had not been deployed elsewhere. | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
I suspect from the dining of the Honorable gentleman, the same | :25:48. | :25:49. | |
applies and Wales once you got behind Carter. I think this is an | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
opportunity for the government to state very clear. -- state clearly | :25:57. | :26:03. | |
where the chocolates sits in his priorities, because those priorities | :26:04. | :26:10. | |
are to shed it very clearly by the way that the government sequences be | :26:11. | :26:13. | |
spending of cash home with rail infrastructure. Its original train | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
networks, the PRF has received praise this evening, but there is a | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
danger about the peninsula rail the Genesis of the task force came about | :26:24. | :26:30. | |
through the difficulties that we have in accessing Devon and Cornwall | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
after the floods a few years ago. A lot of the plan that the PRT TF has | :26:35. | :26:39. | |
come well with the addressing the difficulties. There are some | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
benefits for Somerset and that, because the lines that were affected | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
by flooding need to be made more resilient. But Somerset is an | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
integral part of the Peninsula rail task force in its own right, not | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
just as a territory for the enablement of quicker travel down | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
into Devon and Cornwall. What I would like to put into the | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
Minister's mind is that the PRT at pass responsibility not only to get | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
greater resilience into Devon and Cornwall, not only to look at | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
committed capacity in and around Plymouth in Devon, but also to | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
recognise that within Somerset, the requirement is generating committed | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
capacity and to Bristol and Bath, because so many people in that part | :27:29. | :27:35. | |
of the county actually consider, we talk to them about faster | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
connections, London may or may not be the thing they say first, but it | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
will certainly say about the inability to commute to work and | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
Bristol and Bath by train. We need to make sure that it is addressed, | :27:47. | :27:50. | |
and I've met with the Peninsula task force and they assure me that is | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
part of their thinking. One cannot help notice that there is no real | :27:55. | :28:01. | |
explicit mention of it and are document, and I hope from our | :28:02. | :28:08. | |
meeting so far, and the midst of feeling animated by this, they may | :28:09. | :28:14. | |
be a more explicit mention in the future. -- the Minister. It is | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
important to economic development of our part of the county. When we come | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
to increasing the committed capacity from Somerset up to Bristol, the | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
number of challenges there are. The rubble of the rolling stacks will be | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
welcome, but there are plenty of stations who platforms are not quite | :28:35. | :28:37. | |
long enough to do with that. There are plenty of stations who don't | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
have the car parking to meet the needs of this growth and demand. So | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
need to adjust that. There are many of our stations that have no | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
disabled access whatsoever, and we need to adjust that. We also need to | :28:55. | :28:57. | |
look at that. We also need to the getaway perhaps of timetabling | :28:58. | :29:02. | |
services better, when I in my last job in the military, I was working | :29:03. | :29:05. | |
in the Ministry of Defense. I saw how Southwest trains will have | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
services that come in from Hampshire and Surrey, that was not relatively | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
frequently until somewhere like Surbiton, and then will go straight | :29:16. | :29:22. | |
into London Waterloo. Other. Hardly at all --. Given how people are not | :29:23. | :29:29. | |
willing to travel a bit further to prayer, given that the Bristol and | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
Bath economies are growing very fast, whether or not there is a | :29:34. | :29:41. | |
opportunity to have services at other stations and maybe were out on | :29:42. | :29:45. | |
the outset, but then accelerate through into Bristol to deliver a | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
journey time that really encourages people to live that bit further out. | :29:50. | :29:56. | |
Not just in the creation of jobs that people and Thomas Aiken at | :29:57. | :29:59. | |
access this new transporting, but one of our great problems in the | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
Southwest is that houses are very expensive. House is within the | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
commuter belt equivalently expensive, so by being able to | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
accelerate commuter traffic up from Somerset into Bristol and Bath, you | :30:13. | :30:15. | |
allowed commuters for Bristol and Bath accessories cheaper housing and | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
Somerset with that thing is that when the wind. That's what I think | :30:21. | :30:23. | |
it's a win-win. Hybrid and Brian was the only | :30:24. | :30:35. | |
station I have in my constituency. It is on the no man's land line, | :30:36. | :30:43. | |
between Tom Thumb and Bristol. It may or may not get electrified. | :30:44. | :30:50. | |
There is a real opportunity, given the frustration that so many people | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
have at my part of Somerset, accessing Bristol for the station to | :30:55. | :30:58. | |
be improved. More parking to be delivered, no disabled access | :30:59. | :31:02. | |
whatsoever on the platform at the moment when coming across. Huge | :31:03. | :31:12. | |
opportunities for improvement. But because the station is just an | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
acquired backorder of Somerset, it is too easily forgotten an | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
opportunity that's it there just waiting to be honest for a | :31:23. | :31:24. | |
relatively small amount of money is too often overlooked. On another | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
have placed on record so I will move on. I want to conclude by saying the | :31:30. | :31:37. | |
government has already committed a very welcome amount of investment | :31:38. | :31:41. | |
into the Southwest. When mounted deliver what has been committed to. | :31:42. | :31:46. | |
The government makes some exciting promises and its long-term economic | :31:47. | :31:50. | |
plan for the Southwest for breath and average them, but when I need to | :31:51. | :31:54. | |
deliver that. We need to recognise that in delivering that one the | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
public purse is so stretched, government is going to need to come | :31:59. | :32:01. | |
good on the things that it was saying in the West country during | :32:02. | :32:06. | |
the campaign, and to make clear that the Southwest is a priority for the | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
government. We believe that the government has no majority was made | :32:11. | :32:19. | |
in the Southwest. -- government's. The Southwest benefits enormously | :32:20. | :32:26. | |
from having an almost entirely one conservative representation. We | :32:27. | :32:28. | |
speak as one forced on all sorts of issues. The I were talking about | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
local government funding, the night we had been talking about rails. | :32:33. | :32:37. | |
That's the other night. This one boys get the Southwest and | :32:38. | :32:40. | |
opportunity in this place that has not had before, and we need to hunt | :32:41. | :32:43. | |
that by making sure that the government delivers on its promises | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
and delivers on the things that we are so keen to see happen and I | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
constituency. Our region has poor infrastructure are ready. Road | :32:54. | :32:57. | |
improvements that the government has promised up welcome, proper and | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
improvements is promised -- is welcome. The real improvements that | :33:02. | :33:04. | |
the government has promised are absolutely vital. And I hope the | :33:05. | :33:10. | |
Minister will agree with me that it should be a priority to deliver them | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
into the Southwest, and money many will not allow for things to be done | :33:15. | :33:17. | |
at the same time, it will be the Southwest to be done at the same | :33:18. | :33:20. | |
time, it will be the Southwest that we can catch up with everybody else. | :33:21. | :33:28. | |
May I begin by congratulating the Honorable member for Torbay. As been | :33:29. | :33:35. | |
a important subject and an excellent contribution. I would agree with the | :33:36. | :33:41. | |
Honorable member of the great Western Railway is just a transport | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
system. It is vital to the fortunes of the areas which are served by the | :33:46. | :33:49. | |
route, which aside it is so important that the government | :33:50. | :33:52. | |
delivers on its promises of electrification and improved | :33:53. | :33:55. | |
resilience. It is a matter of urgency. Identified by my honourable | :33:56. | :34:04. | |
friend, the recent flooding in much of the country as for the | :34:05. | :34:08. | |
highlighted the importance of assuring that our railways are | :34:09. | :34:12. | |
resilient to extreme weather conditions, which we are witnessing | :34:13. | :34:18. | |
with an increased frequency. Commuters on the great Western | :34:19. | :34:21. | |
Railway is no they're only too well. The 2014 breach of the doorless | :34:22. | :34:25. | |
2-ball for the close of the line for a total of two months, creating | :34:26. | :34:29. | |
significant disruptions. We did see the braille hanging banner in the | :34:30. | :34:37. | |
air like a brokerage, I too want to apply the heroic efforts of the | :34:38. | :34:43. | |
engineers and workers. -- hanging in the air. A report published on the | :34:44. | :34:51. | |
likely future impact of weather on trains travelling to and from the | :34:52. | :34:56. | |
South predicted that up to one third of rail services could be disrupted | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
over the next 100 years. The report described by an network as key to | :35:01. | :35:08. | |
long-term development. That further underline the importance of | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
improving resilience in the region. We on the side of the house are an | :35:13. | :35:15. | |
agreement with the Prime Minister, when he said that the government | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
needed to find answers because the tallest disaster of 2014 must not | :35:22. | :35:26. | |
have it again. The Prime Minister Pride rhetoric has yet to be matched | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
by action. Despite it being sank money is no object, the Peninsula | :35:31. | :35:39. | |
task force of examining how to improve the Southwest rail network | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
following the storm damage, and currently unable to complete the | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
final four, and that the fun is unavailable. In a letter to the | :35:49. | :35:55. | |
Secretary of State, the Southwest was said to be at a severe | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
disadvantage said no funding these down to complete the studies. If we | :36:01. | :36:02. | |
are to accept what the Prime Minister told the House when he said | :36:03. | :36:08. | |
that money was no object, and that the government is serious about | :36:09. | :36:10. | |
making our railways resilient to extreme weather conditions, the | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
government must ensure that funding is available to complete the report. | :36:15. | :36:20. | |
It is of paramount importance to resilience is improved, and that the | :36:21. | :36:23. | |
government to give its backing to the report so they can get on with | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
the job delivering a railways that needs to be right on, rain or shine. | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
And a number of suggestions have been made for an additional route to | :36:33. | :36:41. | |
doorless. Including, Honorable friend. -- from my. Labor in the | :36:42. | :36:53. | |
Southwest also. The Prime Minister appeared to prejudge and a fair | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
assessment of the options when he backed a new Railway Road as the | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
most resilient alternative to the fundable doorless room. He said the | :37:05. | :37:07. | |
UK was a wealthy country that should be making long-term investments and | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
rail in the euro County line was what they've long hard look. I'm | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
asking whether the Minister will granted today were all options for | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
additional rooms in the Southwest will be assessed on a fair basis and | :37:21. | :37:23. | |
when she reassure the House that both the funding the Prime Minister | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
promised will be made available that has yet been taken on the route that | :37:28. | :37:33. | |
the aborted line would take? So far the government's track record on | :37:34. | :37:37. | |
delivering the mainline is a poor one, electrification will be | :37:38. | :37:40. | |
delivered late, and will cost substantially more than initially | :37:41. | :37:48. | |
estimated. Labor committed to electrification of the great | :37:49. | :37:50. | |
mainline into the other nine, but the estimated cost of doing so has | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
escalated dramatically since the rail made its first assessment and | :37:57. | :38:02. | |
12,000 11. -- 2009. He has criticised his government's track | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
record, would he liked it a lot in the house on his own government's | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
government track record on the investing in the Great Western | :38:12. | :38:16. | |
redlined? I'll happily do so. I will mind the lady of the pieces that we | :38:17. | :38:22. | |
had to pick up and coming into government after the disaster of | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
rail tracks and the death that will cost on the roads of as a result of | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
the privatised nation. We want to want to hear anymore about the | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
investment bank significant. -- we don't want to hear. The chief | :38:35. | :38:40. | |
executive told members of Parliament in October the estimate for the | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
project had been ?874 million in January 2013, at ?1.5 billion and | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
September 20 14. He said because of an aquatic and adequate planning, | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
the cost of electrification can now reach to point ?1 billion. And the | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
upgrades which were expected to be completed by 2018, are behind | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
schedule. When the original plan sentiment complete operating, and | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
Oxford and Bristol were on schedule to be completed this year. Oxford, | :39:13. | :39:24. | |
the fit --... Bristol will not see electrification changed at the 2020, | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
and the East rail link is delayed to be early 2020. Some of these | :39:31. | :39:34. | |
improvements have been delayed by after four years, impacting | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
significantly uncommitted super light on the Great Western as well | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
as the towns and city was the line sirs. Progress on the Great Western | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
electrification has been hampered by this government by them putting | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
electrification on hold at the third 2010 election, and not fully | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
confirming the project in 2012, meaning the essential original plan | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
was to late. Because of a number of enhancements, at a later several | :40:04. | :40:10. | |
important projects were started in 2410 without being fully assessed. | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
At the start of control period five, seven the compounds the ?12 billion | :40:17. | :40:21. | |
and has been spending at not signed off by the regulator. -- 2014. The | :40:22. | :40:26. | |
head of long-term planning and funding has said the high cost | :40:27. | :40:32. | |
pressures across the whole portfolio of enhancement projects, which | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
should not be a surprise to anybody given that we did not have the level | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
of confidence that we might have wished at the start. It is the | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
taxpayer, commuters, and those who would lie on the Great Western who | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
will suffer the consequences of for cost estimation and poor planning. | :40:49. | :40:53. | |
At the Great Western tracks are not electrified according to schedule, | :40:54. | :40:56. | |
but in the department will be liable to pay compensation to the private | :40:57. | :41:01. | |
consortium that is delivering the new generation of electric trains. | :41:02. | :41:07. | |
The Department for Transport is considering converting electric IEP | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
chance so that they can run on diesel, at a unclear cost of the | :41:11. | :41:14. | |
taxpayer. Which may not be unable to reach speeds of 125 mph. Raising | :41:15. | :41:20. | |
fears that some journeys can actually slow down compared to the | :41:21. | :41:26. | |
day to electrification the delay. The government's plant of him | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
replacing uncountable trains on branch lines and Southwest are | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
dependent on the success of electrification programme. At the | :41:36. | :41:38. | |
Great Western electrification Project acid significantly delayed | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
the passengers in the Southwest can endure vehicles for gears that the | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
government has said are unacceptable in the north of England. For | :41:47. | :41:52. | |
planning and the premature announcement of projects as less | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
commuters uncertain of the future of the Great Western. Get the | :41:57. | :41:58. | |
government was repeatedly warned that rising cost could lead to some | :41:59. | :42:05. | |
project being delayed or cancelled. Labor first race problems with the | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
made lines of programme in May 2000 14. Just weeks into the start of the | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
investment period, challenging the government to explain what | :42:14. | :42:18. | |
electrification project will be delayed or cancelled as a | :42:19. | :42:22. | |
consequence of rising costs. -- 2014. These concerns were echoed by | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
the transport select committee, which warned in January 2015 we are | :42:27. | :42:33. | |
concerned that key enhancement projects, such as electrification, | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
have been announced by ministers with out Network Rail having a clear | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
estimate what the projects will cost, leading to uncertainty about | :42:45. | :42:47. | |
whether the project will be delivered on time or at all. And | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
worse still, commuters were kept in the dark while the government to the | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
others very. -- by the government. The chief confirmed that in March | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
2015, Network Rail and formed the Department for Transport that | :43:03. | :43:06. | |
decisions may need to be made in the coming months about the deferral of | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
certain schemes. Get ministers and the Department are still refusing to | :43:13. | :43:17. | |
say whether they will are all forms of the plants of the firm Aegis | :43:18. | :43:24. | |
games before the election. -- the firm Aegis games. It is not clear | :43:25. | :43:27. | |
that the agreed work that I've never been delivered within the agreed | :43:28. | :43:33. | |
budget and time frame. Yet Network Rail, the Department for Transport, | :43:34. | :43:38. | |
the regulators, all signed to the plans anyway. This resulted in a | :43:39. | :43:42. | |
great deal of unnecessary uncertainty and confusion. A | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
passenger in the public up at a price for such failures, and serious | :43:49. | :43:51. | |
questions must be asked of the government how such a sample to | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
place on their watch. It will be a great relief to passengers relying | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
on the Great Western that track upgrades will arrive late, rather | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
than never. We on the side of the house occurs to government to | :44:07. | :44:09. | |
properly examine the adequacy, and the adequacy of Network Rail and | :44:10. | :44:12. | |
budgeting, planning, and delivering such programmes in the future. It is | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
these issues that we should be focused on, so it is a issue of | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
concern, and who the person heading, has said the privatised nation of | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
Network Rail is that option that is on the table. That privatise Asian. | :44:31. | :44:33. | |
The government should be asking how to better deliver major projects, | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
such as relative location in the future, not looking to devote time | :44:40. | :44:43. | |
to managing get further privatise Asian and the fragmentation of our | :44:44. | :44:53. | |
infrastructure. Is he also aware that the Great Western also raise | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
objections to the impossibility of privatise Asian of Network Rail | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
saying it would fragment the system and remove the advantage that | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
Network Rail has been the buying in bulk and therefore cheaply on behalf | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
the taxpayer. Grateful for his intervention. He is right. It is a | :45:13. | :45:22. | |
matter of huge concern. It makes no sense to break of a national network | :45:23. | :45:28. | |
that we all remember the days of the private enterprise adventure into | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
the infrastructure of our rail in this country. And with the | :45:33. | :45:36. | |
consequences that came from that. With that, I would encourage almonds | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
and this have to this most for privatsation of Network Rail. | :45:44. | :45:53. | |
Cannot start by thanking my Honorable friend. -- cannot start. | :45:54. | :46:01. | |
It has been a wide-ranging debate. He like me has had many reports of | :46:02. | :46:08. | |
the damage. I'm hoping for a ride is here and one piece. What I like to | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
think hard about what our constituents have had to do with | :46:13. | :46:19. | |
John today. I want to pay reference to the points that do world race. -- | :46:20. | :46:26. | |
that were raised. This is a broad set of issues raised by members for | :46:27. | :46:29. | |
a coffee house, many things I'm tempted to respond on. The places | :46:30. | :46:38. | |
they one of the two -- on whose estate one of the few... I am | :46:39. | :46:46. | |
pleased to hear that he does enjoy his journeys with his bicycle. I'm | :46:47. | :46:50. | |
disappointed that he would accept the information, because he can't to | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
foods produce a slew of tirade information and then have the facts | :46:56. | :46:59. | |
to back him. I mention here that he did rebel against his party on HST, | :47:00. | :47:03. | |
I wonder if he were about or had stern words for his shadow ministers | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
on the issues by the pitiful performance of the labor government | :47:09. | :47:13. | |
electrification. I know he is a revolving door of ministers, but I | :47:14. | :47:21. | |
like to remind him once again, at a time when we had a go-go economy, a | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
light touch regulation system that was pouring money into the | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
treasury's on how many the labor electrified? Lesson ten. -- less | :47:33. | :47:39. | |
than. Do you know why? And nephew, Railway was not something that | :47:40. | :47:46. | |
matter. They could jack up the fares with the place, they could have an | :47:47. | :47:50. | |
inflation busting bears year after year. They did not invest a planning | :47:51. | :47:53. | |
and electrification in the Southwest. That's a penny. They | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
could have actually replaced the Pacers. That's the Pacers that were | :48:00. | :48:08. | |
tanked up of people around. They could never place them in 2003, yet | :48:09. | :48:16. | |
they could. Did they? No. Because they do not get a stuff about | :48:17. | :48:20. | |
transport advancement, it is not something view that it is important | :48:21. | :48:25. | |
and a track record is disgraceful. So frankly, I will take no lessons | :48:26. | :48:30. | |
whatsoever from the party opposite on Broadway. The other thing -- | :48:31. | :48:36. | |
railway. I hope the answer words with his party about their plans to | :48:37. | :48:43. | |
abandon the upgrade of the 8358 as set out in his parties's manifesto | :48:44. | :48:51. | |
and not a word of support. Something that is absolutely vital to the | :48:52. | :48:54. | |
economy in the Southwest. If he did not complain about that, I hope he | :48:55. | :49:01. | |
would have complained about the fact that his party, a monetary | :49:02. | :49:11. | |
fantasies, do not have a plan to generate a shot economy because | :49:12. | :49:15. | |
without a strong economy, you cannot invest in transport infrastructure | :49:16. | :49:19. | |
and cannot invest in vital public services. I think the whole house | :49:20. | :49:22. | |
can agree that we will take no lessons whatsoever from the party | :49:23. | :49:29. | |
opposite. I'm not quite sure that that fits in with the route date. I | :49:30. | :49:35. | |
know that you want to do with the railways, your reputation at | :49:36. | :49:37. | |
Railways Minister is what I want you to be tonight. Far for me to | :49:38. | :49:45. | |
criticise you Mr Speaker. We both know that is not a option. The pros | :49:46. | :49:52. | |
and rail investment our product to this region. I think I'll be more | :49:53. | :49:59. | |
help. We know the debate is about, what members are trying to stick to. | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
What I wanted to, on know you have a lot to cover, so I would say | :50:06. | :50:08. | |
concentrate on the railways. That is what -- I know what you want to say. | :50:09. | :50:17. | |
I will follow your advice. She pointed out the value of this | :50:18. | :50:20. | |
investment would does for the region. The honourable gentleman | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
committed very powerful speech about the extension of the line, Becca | :50:25. | :50:27. | |
said that he is leaving us potentially MA. -- potentially in | :50:28. | :50:37. | |
May. He will be much missed by many members on all sides of the house. | :50:38. | :50:44. | |
I'll ask my friend if you agree with him as a matter of urgency to | :50:45. | :50:46. | |
discuss the important infrastructure that he prays. My Honorable friend | :50:47. | :50:52. | |
from Plymouth seven, how the remember to mention freight. The | :50:53. | :50:58. | |
bottled world of freight, that railways actually produced. He has | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
been very clear about what the priorities for the constituency. | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
That's the priorities for his constituency. How disappointed he | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
didn't mention hedgehogs once and it's great. All opened for her | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
Crosson. My Honorable friend for a headshot Crosson. My Honorable | :51:18. | :51:19. | |
friend but not to become who I have enjoyed meeting with multiple times | :51:20. | :51:26. | |
as freight the opportunities. -- four North Devon. | :51:27. | :51:34. | |
And passionate campaign out of realm, cursed his constituency will | :51:35. | :51:40. | |
benefit from direct investment that the government is making, | :51:41. | :51:42. | |
particularly in Crossrail. And I take your point about the Heathrow, | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
but she accused my department of having tunnel vision. Far from it. | :51:49. | :51:52. | |
We are multitasking on a daily basis. We are delivering | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
electrification of the bid them a mind, the Great Western mainline, | :51:57. | :52:04. | |
and multi-bid compound tense with programme, Crossrail, we are | :52:05. | :52:08. | |
delivering ?38 billion of investment on this countries apartment railway | :52:09. | :52:14. | |
system. The biggest investment since Victorian times. Why we are | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
committing money, have to be spent wisely and I'll say more about that | :52:21. | :52:24. | |
and terms of sequencing. She is right to break it, it will be | :52:25. | :52:27. | |
delivered an added question of sequencing it appropriately. Not a | :52:28. | :52:35. | |
translator, but I did make a powerful point for the bridge and | :52:36. | :52:39. | |
the need for transport investment and driving... And made a point of | :52:40. | :52:46. | |
pride that I had to say was received carelessly on the benches opposite, | :52:47. | :52:49. | |
that the private sector growth that drives the best improvement and life | :52:50. | :52:56. | |
chances. A discipline to hit the reaction of Honorable members | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
opposite. -- I was disappointed. The private sector has a good ball to | :53:03. | :53:05. | |
play in developing growth, so she will know that indwells we have the | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
highest levels of satisfaction, cost levels of investment in a wider | :53:11. | :53:17. | |
company. And profit model that returns to the shareholder. That she | :53:18. | :53:22. | |
agreed that the whales consultation lost on my birthday, January 22, | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
into a not for dividend Miles the Wales franchise as a worthwhile | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
consultation to look at a different model to deliver more targeted? -- | :53:34. | :53:40. | |
more bag. He'll have a opportunity to duplicate models for the | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
franchise because it is a devolved matter. I hope he will be grateful | :53:46. | :53:50. | |
as I am that this government has indeed committed 125 the compounds | :53:51. | :53:57. | |
above to assure electrification of the West Dallas is delivered. -- 100 | :53:58. | :54:00. | |
?25 million. My friend from North Cornwall. As | :54:01. | :54:09. | |
always, speak so passionately from the provincial of his constituency, | :54:10. | :54:16. | |
but makes a point that branch lines, joining of a political connectivity | :54:17. | :54:20. | |
is something that is important to railway. Hold the peninsula task | :54:21. | :54:26. | |
force -- I hope, I working to capture some of this investment. He | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
did make an important point about the sleeper service, something this | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
government has supported with multi-million pound investment. I'm | :54:36. | :54:38. | |
glad it's Friday him to sleep every Thursday night. It is a vital plate | :54:39. | :54:42. | |
the betting that the rhythm and business halfway down to the | :54:43. | :54:47. | |
Southwest. -- building the tour resumes and business tab. I will | :54:48. | :54:56. | |
mention again, but does make the point original investment. I want to | :54:57. | :55:01. | |
assure him that this is not a 0-sum game. This is not a question of | :55:02. | :55:07. | |
pitching the north against the Southwest, because in this | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
government's view, transport investment across the local regional | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
or national economy drives economic growth. Economic growth delivers | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
greater tax revenues, greater skills, and that is about to flood | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
the entire country higher. So we can generate economic growth from | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
transport investment, we all benefit from that. An important question, | :55:29. | :55:35. | |
this one about regional transport, committee and the Bristol, -- | :55:36. | :55:42. | |
commuting into. That is something where we will be looking to help | :55:43. | :55:49. | |
organisations to help us understand where is the best money can maximise | :55:50. | :56:02. | |
growth. I also want to mention my friend, who is not her. She raises | :56:03. | :56:05. | |
about issues of connectivity and is working hard on proposals of the | :56:06. | :56:10. | |
floor to the new station investment fund something that the government | :56:11. | :56:14. | |
committed another ?20 million two and the Nato spinnaker boom. What is | :56:15. | :56:21. | |
going on with this line? -- spending review. The judge -- the GW I, | :56:22. | :56:31. | |
called by some as gods wonderful halfway. I meant when they one to | :56:32. | :56:38. | |
five scan to Bristol, it was as if we were no longer cut off. We were | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
finally connected. As many members have pointed out, those same trends | :56:43. | :56:48. | |
are still running. Some of them have been repassed, reprinted, for | :56:49. | :56:52. | |
refreshed and still work. And should be to the design. But they are now | :56:53. | :56:58. | |
old trains. -- a tribute to the. And the last 20 years, passenger numbers | :56:59. | :57:02. | |
have doubled, and passengers journey sent privatsation are at a record | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
high. Numbers across the country have doubled. Too many chains are | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
overcrowded, to meet our full, successive governments all colours | :57:11. | :57:18. | |
have not taken the test decisions on Broadway investment. That's too many | :57:19. | :57:25. | |
trains. Too many decisions were duct -- the duct. But this government, | :57:26. | :57:30. | |
despite the appalling economic chaos that we inherited, picked up the | :57:31. | :57:36. | |
pieces and said he will invest more than 38 dead compounds on half | :57:37. | :57:41. | |
railways. Moreover, will put the road investment on budget. -- 30 ?8 | :57:42. | :57:49. | |
billion. So alter for systems can be protected going forward. It is truly | :57:50. | :57:55. | |
the most ambitious upgrade. It is being directed at the southwestern | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
region and I'll explain why. Because this region is a priority for this | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
government. Good transport, reduces the cost of doing businesses. It | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
helps local companies reach new markets and grow. It has local | :58:12. | :58:14. | |
people travelled to new opportunities and students travel to | :58:15. | :58:17. | |
some of the wonderful universities that would have represented. But | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
where transport is poor, act as a drag on growth and a drag on social | :58:23. | :58:27. | |
aspiration. This government gets the importance of row investment in the | :58:28. | :58:32. | |
Southwest. We have heard powerful pieces made tonight about why Winnie | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
to transform the Great Western mainline. Over the four years, the | :58:37. | :58:44. | |
14-year-old wanted pies will be replaced by reliable cutting-edge | :58:45. | :58:47. | |
trends. We have seen them and they are great. They will deliver as well | :58:48. | :58:52. | |
as the electrification of the fully running around the suburbs. At 40% | :58:53. | :58:57. | |
increase and sees coming into Paddington. That is an incredible | :58:58. | :59:02. | |
numbers and stuff to do with the overcrowding problems, also journey | :59:03. | :59:05. | |
times are five to 15 minutes. That again helps to achieve some of the | :59:06. | :59:08. | |
addition of the additions that we have heard about today. 50 stations | :59:09. | :59:14. | |
will be approved, 170 bridges, 200 miles of track, 17 tunnels. All of | :59:15. | :59:21. | |
this work is going on and the honourable gentleman for... I know | :59:22. | :59:32. | |
Bristol much better than well. Ogborn... Made an important point | :59:33. | :59:39. | |
about rectification. I went I went to tell him was the commitment to | :59:40. | :59:42. | |
electrification it absolutely and taken to the plan. I think you must | :59:43. | :59:48. | |
consider that as preliminary work to quantity. It is difficult to get | :59:49. | :59:55. | |
through the tunnel as he knows. The work is going on. We have made the | :59:56. | :59:58. | |
commitment to electrification will continue on to Swansea and the next | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
capital period. But he says what about the new trains? The hybrid | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
track that we have purchased will be absolutely able to bond on those | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
tracks. His constituents will see the journey time improvements, see | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
the capacity improvements, and see the brand-new state-of-the-art | :00:17. | :00:18. | |
chance and I hope he will at least be happy with that. | :00:19. | :00:24. | |
I only went because I can feel the whole population west of Cardiff at | :00:25. | :00:31. | |
the same time as us, the interim measure to get us there. I do | :00:32. | :00:38. | |
understand that. With the right honourable lady, she would be right | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
honourable in my eyes as she can answer this question as to when the | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
date is that we will see the completion to Swansea? I do not have | :00:49. | :00:55. | |
a completion date but as those plans proceed, as the work accelerate the | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
electrification to Cardiff, I am happy to make sure he is one of the | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
first people... I was invited this evening... My job is to serve. Let's | :01:04. | :01:11. | |
talk a bit about the direct investment as well as the line | :01:12. | :01:19. | |
because some people might say,... It is much more than Cardiff if we are | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
talking about Southwest. What is actually happening for the Southwest | :01:24. | :01:30. | |
Peninsula? I think members here tonight a right to say that the | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
Southwest has sought and watched other regions pull ahead and | :01:34. | :01:36. | |
wondered why this was happening. We have prurient ideals. We are | :01:37. | :01:41. | |
effectively cut off and whether it is Cornish that had to prove or | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
other issues and other transfer networks I think Cornish was an | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
absolute wake-up call for so many of us. The work that was done in | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
restoring that line showed that where there was a will and funding | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
there was a way to deliver. That is why in this Parliament the | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
government is investing more than ?400 million directly in the real | :02:02. | :02:10. | |
system for this region. We are providing the class 83 trains, | :02:11. | :02:13. | |
bimodal trains that go there my constituency as well, so it is a | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
great thing for my constituents as well but they will provide those | :02:17. | :02:20. | |
fast reliable journey times to the Southwest. We have opened new | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
stations in new court and another were in at... All happening in the | :02:24. | :02:34. | |
next 18 months. The honourable Desmond did mention Reading station | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
and how it is a ?700 million investment made by this government | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
in untangling freight and passenger lines and adding a key source of the | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
late on that line. We overhauled the night sleeper trains and I am told | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
they will be in place for the vital tourist season of this year. We are | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
expending the long train maintenance site to maintain this trains and of | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
course dollars which we have still ?35 million of the time of the | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
works, and continue money has gone into that project since because it | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
is not just enough to stabilise the track, as we have heard over and | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
over again, the challenge is going to be fridge or proving some of | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
these lines which are the most exposed parts of the railway | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
network. That is why three and a half million pounds has been spent | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
by Network Rail on the geological analysis, the cliff resilience | :03:29. | :03:36. | |
analysis, to make sure that what is proposed actually gonna work. There | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
is an additional ?31 million also being spent at ten sites across the | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
Southwest, including the works at County Bridge, installation of | :03:47. | :03:49. | |
rainfall monitors, ground monitoring, making sure the flooding | :03:50. | :03:52. | |
problems we saw in 2014 do not happen again. We have a plan for the | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
Southwest, we are determined to improve the resilience of the | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
Southwest, we have a plan for Wales, the honourable gentleman may not be | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
entirely happy with it but the government is the one delivering for | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
Wales as well. We are pleased to hear that almost universal series of | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
comments about Great Western Railway today who are of course delivering | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
their highest ever score for overall passenger satisfaction and as we | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
said, time and time again in this debate we have really delivered at a | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
time of tough service disruption. They are delivering 3% year on year | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
in terms of customers and they are determined to do more. The number | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
one question here today is, you have told us this matters, clearly there | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
is a long-term plan, what about the resilience study? I am delighted to | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
assure the House today that we have negotiated a package that will make | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
sure those relatively small but important studies do go ahead to | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
form part of the plan that we are expecting to get from the rail task | :04:58. | :05:04. | |
for us. I wanted to keep you in suspense until the last possible | :05:05. | :05:07. | |
minute. That would mean the great study can go ahead looking at those | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
wind speed improvements between London and Devon and Cornwall. The | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
Spanish link will more can be done did improve track signalling | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
improvements. It is an important part but not the only part. I am | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
excited that the rail task was porting in June this year and will | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
provide efficiency for the next 20 years of what should actually be | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
done. The work will include the resilience questions around the | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
oneness, the journey time improvements that we absolutely need | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
and it is no easy task to do that and I think we should all thank | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
those parties led very ably by the chair of Devon stopped in terms of | :05:46. | :05:53. | |
pulling all that work together. I think what she just said is very | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
well. We negotiated a package is what she said. Can she give us more | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
detail about what the government is putting on table and relation to the | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
others who have put a lot on the table? Quake Western Railways has | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
funded the study. Not a penny. As far as our negotiation with them | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
because there was never any government meant money being put | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
into that study. They stood by to make sure these studies actually | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
happened. They were prepared to backstop any shortfall that Great | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
Western Railway has agreed to fund the very small part of the overall | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
plan and we are talking 2003000 pounds as opposed to the 5 million | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
RD provided. I hope you will crack a smile and welcome something. I think | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
we will move on. Basically the government is committed to the | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
region, these studies will go ahead, this is a vital region and the | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
country as far as economic growth and I am delighted as an MP and | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
Railway Minister to confirm that the studies will go ahead. Thank you Mr | :07:03. | :07:10. | |
Deputy Speaker, it has been a fascinating couple of hours since we | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
started this debate a couple of hours ago and I would like to keep | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
it on track and as I said to the back bench business committee, they | :07:18. | :07:19. | |
built a bit of steam behind these issues. Chairman of the committee | :07:20. | :07:28. | |
will be pleased to... Is leaving aside the funds, given the requests | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
I have just received, it has been very encouraging to hear the news | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
about the studies going ahead and as a key part of starting to identify | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
what needs to be done on our railway to secure it for the future. It is | :07:44. | :07:46. | |
right that we have had the commitment today that -- and the | :07:47. | :07:50. | |
Great Western Railway will be at the heart of the peninsula. I know | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
through to Swansea is at the heart of that area's economy and I hope | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
that people support the motion without the need for intervention on | :08:01. | :08:07. | |
it. -- division. It is not just about a transport system and getting | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
around, it is the heart of a region that could deliver so much more with | :08:12. | :08:13. | |
the investment that we hope will come. The question is as on the | :08:14. | :08:20. | |
order paper. As many of that opinion say iMac. -- eyes. The ayes habit. | :08:21. | :08:34. | |
-- have it. As many of that opinion say I, the contrary know. The ayes | :08:35. | :08:47. | |
habit. -- have it. The ayes have it. Motion number five. The ayes have | :08:48. | :09:01. | |
it. I begged the House do now adjourn. The floods have hit the | :09:02. | :09:13. | |
North England over the Christmas spirit have brought untold misery | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
and suffering to a number of people. In the Cornwall Valley, 2700 homes | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
in 1635 businesses were flooded. In addition to this, four schools were | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
affected with two schools likely remaining close for the for future | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
many bridges were damaged. Infrastructure currents at 32 Main | :09:35. | :09:40. | |
pounds. The government response so far has been welcome. Businesses | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
were made available within days of the flooding to help with the | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
incidental costs. 5.5 million for the rebuilding of the bridge and | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
most recently a repairing fund to include... | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
most recently a repairing fund to As welcome as the response from the | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
government has been up to date, there is far more to do and the | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
communities in my constituency will need a great deal of support over | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
the coming months and indeed years to get back on their feet. The | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
long-awaited flood prevention modelling work forward the Valley is | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
due to be completed in October by the environment agency and while | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
improve defenses cannot guarantee protection for the future, there is | :10:27. | :10:29. | |
an urgent need to move ahead with these projects. In addition to flood | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
prevention work and the cost of are pretty damage to the structure, | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
there is also the need to work with businesses to ensure they are able | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
to recover. An essential part of this is insuring small businesses | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
are able to access flood insurance. In response to a written question on | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
this issue, the Parliamentary Secretary of State for environment | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
and rural affairs noted that once we recognise a difficult challenge that | :10:57. | :11:00. | |
some small businesses could face, the areas of high flood risk, we are | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
not currently I'm aware of any evidence that there is a systemic | :11:06. | :11:08. | |
problem. Therefore we have committed to work with the Association of | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
British insurers, and other interested parties, to monitor the | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
insurance market for small businesses. We are keen to work | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
across government and a range of business interest interests that | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
could expend the problem. I am grateful to the honourable member | :11:27. | :11:39. | |
for giving way. His worries for small and large businesses, | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
certainly you mentioned excesses, excesses of several tens of | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
thousands of pounds in order to secure insurance. He is worried | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
about that. What specific role does my honourable friend think the | :11:51. | :11:52. | |
government has in actually developing some form of flood | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
retyped scheme for businesses, perhaps underwriting money they have | :11:58. | :12:06. | |
for domestic people? I will come onto what I am going to ask the | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
government to do a little later but I will also explain within my speech | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
exactly what currently is taking place. He is absolutely right | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
though, the excesses for small and medium-size businesses phenomenally | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
are unaffordable, as is some of the premiums offered as well. In | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
addition to the written question that I mentioned earlier, the Prime | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
Minister recently stated that he was looking very carefully at this issue | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
and while some small businesses are alerting for concerns, the ABI are | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
stating they will not turn down any small business sports flooding | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
insurance. Flooding has become more regular across the whole of the | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
United Kingdom, mother nature cannot be ignored. But does the honourable | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
member agree with me that we should have been setting up formal | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
structure and permanent support for businesses affected by flooding. As | :13:03. | :13:10. | |
well as insurance? I would like to thank my honourable member for | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
giving an intervention. I do not think is the sole responsible of the | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
government, I think it is a joint approach between the industry and | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
the government but I will come onto that in my speech as well. Having | :13:24. | :13:29. | |
the ABI state they will not turn down any but small businesses for | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
flood insurance, I can tell you from speaking to hundreds of businesses | :13:34. | :13:36. | |
over the past couple of weeks it has become apparent that many businesses | :13:37. | :13:43. | |
are increasingly running into problems. This coupled with the | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
rippling cost that's based some businesses as a cost of the flood is | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
jeopardising their future. As such while I note the Minister's response | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
of the government is not aware of any evidence that there is a stiff | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
them a problem, I will question the basis on which this has been | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
breached. In July of last year, it was a report published. Findings | :14:04. | :14:15. | |
from research with the possesses. -- businesses. A conclude... The survey | :14:16. | :14:26. | |
showed that the vast majority of businesses arrange commercial | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
insurance cover their premises and there is no significant difference | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
between small businesses located in high flood risk areas and those not. | :14:33. | :14:38. | |
However a more detailed consideration of the report and in | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
particular the basis upon which the evidence is collected provides a | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
very different picture. The headline figures from the report actually | :14:47. | :14:49. | |
come from a secondary source, a small business sorbet run by... -- | :14:50. | :14:57. | |
survey. This survey data contains a small number of businesses. As such | :14:58. | :15:07. | |
one may legitimately question when considering insurance for business | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
and high risk areas. The main focus of that report was a series of | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
in-depth interviews with businesses and it is this that can the micro | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
forms the base of the report. A majority of whom were not in | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
high-risk areas the overwhelming majority consisted of a small amount | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
of businesses and small businesses employing less than ten people and | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
only one manufacturing business was included. My point is that the | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
evidence based on the report is not credible and as a consequence of | :15:42. | :15:44. | |
this, the report itself is of limited value. In order to | :15:45. | :15:51. | |
appreciate the true extent of this issue, the government and ABI needs | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
to speak to businesses in areas of high risk. Of course. As I recently | :15:56. | :16:05. | |
appointed chair of flooding prevention, we have had some | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
discussions with the right honourable Lady just last week, and | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
it became apparent during that debate of which we had several | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
interventions to come and vote. We were divided on whether there was | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
evidence to show that businesses had been affected so with the honourable | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
gentleman agree with me that we could use the APG to come and visit | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
as a witness and speak to the businesses that have been affected | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
by the flooding issues? I would like to thank the honourable member for | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
the intervention. Of course we would always welcome the APPG into the | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
Cornwall Valley but anybody as well that would want to come up. If it | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
will indeed make any progress in this area and others in the flooding | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
been by all means the whole community is welcome and of course I | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
will organise some businesses to come and talk to you as well. As I | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
was saying, in order to appreciate the true extent of this issue, of | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
the government and ABI, they need to speak to businesses. Especially | :17:09. | :17:15. | |
those in areas of high risk and have experienced a high frequency of | :17:16. | :17:18. | |
flooding in recent times such as we have in the Cornwall Valley. The | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
council say that between 40 and 50% of businesses cannot access flood | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
insurance. In five of my six communities in the Cornwall Valley. | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
A insurance broker in the upper Valley says that 20% of his clients | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
cannot access flood insurance. Ironically, himself included. But | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
true to the spirit of those in the valley, he has a desk and a mobile | :17:44. | :17:46. | |
phone set up in the middle of all the building works that was his | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
office working to ensure that his clients are sorted out. After the | :17:52. | :17:54. | |
last bloods, he along with other brokers from the UK and high flood | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
risk areas were invited to London to take cases to the ABI. The ABI | :18:01. | :18:06. | |
refused to look at cases and said they were not allowed to look at | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
cases because of protection. The ABI say there is no evidence of | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
businesses not being able to access flood insurance and quoted its owner | :18:17. | :18:18. | |
for which I have already highlighted to say there is no evidence. Of | :18:19. | :18:26. | |
course. I thank the honourable him member for giving way. I received at | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
a briefing from the ABI saying they will not look into these issues of | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
businesses and they could shop around for insurance. I know from my | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
constituency that that does not happen and is impossible and now | :18:41. | :18:44. | |
businesses and York Central are turning into their own resources | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
instead of claiming on insurance companies. Is it now crucial that | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
the government move forward with a flood reskinned for small businesses | :18:54. | :18:56. | |
to ensure that businesses are protected in the future? I would | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
like to thank you for your intervention. I am not sure it is | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
entirely the government's responsibility, the ABI have a huge | :19:09. | :19:10. | |
responsibility and that's as well. As a highlight some of the cases | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
here, some of the things done in the Valley as they are no doubt done in | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
York Central as well. Yes it is business but it is also the | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
responsibilities of everybody to have businesses going forward, | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
otherwise we will not have communities going forward. Yes very | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
briefly. I apologise for coming late. He is making a very important | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
point, would he agree that another way to help businesses and | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
communities affected by flooding is for the government to apply to the | :19:45. | :19:47. | |
EU Solidarity fund to ensure there is more support available for those | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
businesses and communities? I would like to thank my honourable member | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
for giving way. As he will know as well as I know that the government | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
have given a commitment to look at that funding going forward to see | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
how it can help. As I say, the Minister will give us an update on | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
that. As many businesses going across the Calder Valley | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
experiencing this, there are many examples coming in daily of some of | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
the concerns that I have just become aware of. I will not name the | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
companies as we do not want their companies to lose faith anymore than | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
they already have first up we have a furniture manufacturer and they are | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
experiencing similar difficulties to others. They are successful in | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
manufacturing so buzz and employ hundreds of people. On Boxing Day | :20:38. | :20:44. | |
they were flooded in... They could only hit insurance for stock but not | :20:45. | :20:47. | |
machinery or anything else related to floods. They are facing a loss of | :20:48. | :20:54. | |
?100 million. The business will survive and continue but however | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
what is of significant concern going forward is the insurance coverage. | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
It was due for a Newell last week and they have been told that they | :21:03. | :21:05. | |
will not be able to access flood cover again. Even for stock. At the | :21:06. | :21:12. | |
other end of the Calder Valley, eight national acclaimed climbing | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
centre which opened in 2011. It now has over 30,000 members. They and a | :21:17. | :21:23. | |
and assistant business employee many people and are central to the | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
regeneration of that wider area. As these businesses are located between | :21:29. | :21:31. | |
the river canal, they have been unable to access any flooding | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
insurance. The business incurred losses when it was flooded in 2012 | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
and are now a very substantial bill following the latest bloods. This | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
business now faces a battle to stay in business and once again is in | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
limbo. Last but not least, I will mention a large manufacturing firm | :21:53. | :21:55. | |
who have been flooded on four separate occasions in the last | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
decade. The business have been able to access flood insurance in the | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
past but have been told in no uncertain terms by insurers that | :22:03. | :22:04. | |
would they will not receive flood coverage in the future. They have | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
been unsuccessful on account of the ridiculous terms and conditions that | :22:11. | :22:13. | |
have been quoted. The difficulties in accessing insurance and the | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
losses incurred so regularly I flooding is likely that is business | :22:20. | :22:27. | |
will close along with 40 jobs. Would he agree with me that these business | :22:28. | :22:37. | |
with significant employers, the thought of flooding is just so | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
serious that they are thinking of moving out of the Calder Valley. | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
Those job losses and loss of businesses and the support they are | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
providing to the communities is quite serious. Business insurance is | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
a large part of ensuring that we are attractive. The honourable member is | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
right. As she will know the Calder Valley in particular is one of the | :23:02. | :23:08. | |
few places that the businesses can read located locally. If they move | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
out of the Valley, not only are the jobs lost, but the local communities | :23:13. | :23:22. | |
will die as well. While some encouraged by the words of the | :23:23. | :23:25. | |
Minister and the insurance is that he has looked very closely at this, | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
my experience in this leaves that there are hundreds of businesses | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
within my constituency who are unable to access flooding insurance. | :23:35. | :23:36. | |
The examples I mentioned are the tip of the iceberg and need to | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
illustrate the personal difficulties of some businesses experiencing | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
because of the lack of adequate cover. If the situation is | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
replicated, nationally, they are susceptible to flooding which I | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
would imagine is the case, this means that there are thousands of | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
businesses across the UK who are experiencing difficulties. Every | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
community is susceptible to flooding has its own unique challenges and | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
this is the case in the Calder Valley. All of these constituencies | :24:06. | :24:17. | |
are located to the river of the Valley and next to steep sided | :24:18. | :24:24. | |
valleys. Their small businesses are the lifeblood and beating art of our | :24:25. | :24:31. | |
area. -- heart. The transport links are limited. This means that there | :24:32. | :24:35. | |
is limited land for development as I was saying to my honourable friend | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
from Halifax. Locating to other premises in the area is not a viable | :24:42. | :24:44. | |
option for many businesses. This does undermine the serious challenge | :24:45. | :24:51. | |
that the Calder Valley faces and that these businesses close down or | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
move away from the area, we are in grave danger of losing the best | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
employable skills and expertise built up over the generations. Our | :25:01. | :25:03. | |
local committees are in great danger. | :25:04. | :25:10. | |
The importance of this issue cannot be understated. The government has | :25:11. | :25:18. | |
shown it is possible to work within insurance industry, to create its | :25:19. | :25:21. | |
game that is able to fill the gaps in existing markets. Also know that | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
the government about business and science, or the ABI feel it is a | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
government refunds Will fix while the government feels it is for the | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
market to fix. I suspect the solution is somewhere in the middle. | :25:37. | :25:46. | |
Order! The question is to join. That's a jury. I suspect the | :25:47. | :25:59. | |
solution is in the middle. Thus he agree that a strategy to provide a | :26:00. | :26:02. | |
front support for businesses to protect their property from flooding | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
in the first place would bring down insurance premiums, say the | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
government for fair funding, and save the business lost revenue and | :26:13. | :26:21. | |
give up one. Will flood into me tell than the ballot, the government did | :26:22. | :26:24. | |
the best acquire a lot of money and a lot of people to invest in the | :26:25. | :26:32. | |
homes with blood prevention schemes. One of the problems we had is that | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
while people lived beside the rivers, they don't prepare for those | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
of you. The evidence does not show that if you have Leopard mentioned | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
that has reduced the risk with insurance companies. A as one of the | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
serious issues that needs addressing. Meanwhile, while the big | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
boys talk some more, and ten members, but this is a look at this | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
game where the customers will have a choice to pay the normal price for | :27:01. | :27:03. | |
the watermark price on good. Businesses will have a choice to put | :27:04. | :27:09. | |
into a generic pot as well, the will stay safe and fun. So is deflected | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
again, while they accepted pot will cover all the damages, and will | :27:14. | :27:16. | |
cover all the damages, ill give them a pot with some of the monies. -- if | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
the flood. Something the ABI and its members made to look at perhaps. | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
Thinking out-of-the-box and perhaps assessing some of their moral and | :27:26. | :27:32. | |
social justice conferences. To be fair, some insurers I have seen have | :27:33. | :27:40. | |
done excellent work with their clients and have behaved incredibly | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
well. Companies like people who have placed the SME customers, whose | :27:45. | :27:50. | |
plans were continued to be covered and for those who have expenses over | :27:51. | :27:56. | |
?350 when not and that excesses with an extra new. Unfortunately that is | :27:57. | :28:06. | |
only existing customers. As in the process of creating a scheme for | :28:07. | :28:10. | |
SMEs which will specifically include businesses at risk of blood. | :28:11. | :28:13. | |
People's expectation is that this will to current situation by | :28:14. | :28:20. | |
enabling up to 2000 febrile brokers across the UK du Plessis more | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
difficult risk to the states. My understanding is that that be but | :28:28. | :28:33. | |
are currently in negotiations to sustain Fischer. Having spoken with | :28:34. | :28:36. | |
him, this game only uses products already on market assumes a complex | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
system of protection for the carrier, protection for the | :28:42. | :28:43. | |
properties being in short, and at for the policy to reduce the high | :28:44. | :28:49. | |
excesses. How this game assets but this is what excess of terms and | :28:50. | :28:52. | |
conditions back of the barrier to insurers are pretty and will help to | :28:53. | :28:56. | |
read some of the most regional levels that may cover on affordable | :28:57. | :29:04. | |
in many cases. Cannot request from the government minister is possible | :29:05. | :29:08. | |
that in communities such as the fellow, that the government work | :29:09. | :29:11. | |
alongside small businesses to identify those gaps in the market | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
and to understand what is preventing some businesses from receiving | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
adequate flood and cover and to rely on the report... -- Calder Valley. | :29:20. | :29:29. | |
We need to go and get the evidence. There are masonry same whether | :29:30. | :29:31. | |
they're in this game is the solution that the market requires, but I do | :29:32. | :29:36. | |
know is how desperately businesses in my constituency and honourable | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
members elsewhere who have suffered not quite as bad, but if you are in | :29:42. | :29:48. | |
that position it is pretty grim. They are desperate and relying on a | :29:49. | :29:55. | |
long-term solution and I sincerely hope that the government is able to | :29:56. | :29:59. | |
identify those gaps in the market and to better understand the nature | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
and extent of the problem. And to work with insurance industries to | :30:05. | :30:06. | |
develop a new facility to address the issues. Thank you. If I can | :30:07. | :30:15. | |
first pay tribute to the Honorable member for Calder Valley. A very | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
quiet but forensic speech. Shelby declared that he has for his | :30:21. | :30:27. | |
constituency. I saw directly myself. To the places he describes, how I'd | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
had away the move as furniture factory, wiping out half and making | :30:32. | :30:35. | |
pounds worth of stock, saying how a furniture warehouse was born. That | :30:36. | :30:44. | |
half ?1 million. And the equitable impact that it has on a very | :30:45. | :30:49. | |
precious, beautiful area of our country and historic community. And | :30:50. | :30:52. | |
how intimately the subject of business insurance is connected to | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
the likelihood and longevity of these communities. I'm not going to | :30:57. | :31:04. | |
get into a detailed discussion from that. Not quite as bad as the sand | :31:05. | :31:10. | |
on paper, 2600 businesses were severed, but I absolutely agree that | :31:11. | :31:17. | |
the 25 for and that serving was taken was not enough to be a decent | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
sample and very much encourage Diablo member -- the envelope to get | :31:24. | :31:26. | |
in detailed investigation into what happened. In the round world number | :31:27. | :31:35. | |
four Stockton North that he prays. There are improvements that we can | :31:36. | :31:41. | |
make without looking at schemes,, but the person women to do is make | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
information far more accurate so that businesses are not being | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
punished for being in a flood vulnerable zone when they themselves | :31:50. | :31:52. | |
are not actually flooded. We need to make sure that this government | :31:53. | :31:59. | |
businesses are more resilient to have access to good public | :32:00. | :32:02. | |
information on how businesses can be more restrictive. -- resilient. | :32:03. | :32:15. | |
The government has a part to play in relation to business and investment | :32:16. | :32:21. | |
infrastructure. We need that broadband connections, electricity | :32:22. | :32:28. | |
substations and pros are left open, because that matters not just for | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
communities but for businesses. We also made the knowledge to the | :32:33. | :32:37. | |
insurance industry cannot be the complete answer. As the Honorable | :32:38. | :32:41. | |
member for Aberdeen part out, it is important that there's element of | :32:42. | :32:46. | |
going to come in. That's pointed out. The reason we have put great | :32:47. | :32:50. | |
behind this is my average of ?205 for business, but in some that has | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
been more, because we acknowledge the insurance industry does not | :32:56. | :33:02. | |
produce all the answers. Finally, there is a capital expenditure. | :33:03. | :33:05. | |
Anita put into fledged games in general. The Honorable member for | :33:06. | :33:11. | |
call has focused specifically on whether there should be a flood | :33:12. | :33:15. | |
rescanned. I'm afraid time when I let him attended a simple detail, | :33:16. | :33:21. | |
but here are some points. One of them is of course setting up these | :33:22. | :33:28. | |
scams involves a very considerable cost to the drive. At the moment, | :33:29. | :33:35. | |
Begala so where you're located, you can be relocated effectively on the | :33:36. | :33:38. | |
edge of a river, you could let every three years, would be guaranteed for | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
?250 for Mail, the basic council tax, too undefined access you will | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
be ensured. This would need that businesses would have to cover the | :33:50. | :33:54. | |
cost of providing insurance of some the cases. If a business has indeed | :33:55. | :34:05. | |
flooded twice in four years at a cost its time of ?500,000 to their | :34:06. | :34:10. | |
stock, it will be difficult to provide that insurance without some | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
measure of cross subsidy for businesses that are not in flood | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
affected areas. The second problem is the complexity of flood insurance | :34:20. | :34:26. | |
and businesses. Desolate looking to assure your buildings and your | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
content. On other hand if you are but a business, you have to look at | :34:31. | :34:34. | |
how much cash you have in the bank, therefore you have to look at how | :34:35. | :34:39. | |
much you want to lower your premium, and self-assuredness up against a | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
higher access. You have to look at whether you have hired Dick | :34:46. | :34:47. | |
structure assets, is that something you want to assure? Antenna company, | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
the building you're in, you don't want to its more an insurer. -- | :34:54. | :35:01. | |
restaurant upon, that is essential restaurant upon, that is essential | :35:02. | :35:04. | |
to the continuity of your business. If you look at business interruption | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
insurance, it makes a huge difference if you were... Business | :35:09. | :35:17. | |
interruption will be minimal. On the other hand, if you were in Carlisle, | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
your entire biscuit factory has been wiped out by the flood, then the | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
business interruption Croughton Colts of blood are absolutely | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
catastrophic. This is the reason why it is much more difficult to model | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
business insurance and is to model household insurance. There is of | :35:36. | :35:38. | |
course in addition the issue of moral hazard. Do not want to | :35:39. | :35:44. | |
encourage businesses to locate themselves in flood portable zones | :35:45. | :35:50. | |
if they have a high pick shuttle as it cost. You want to keep these | :35:51. | :35:53. | |
communities vibrant, keep them alive, but we also want to do so in | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
a way that makes sense. Something must be done. The member for Halifax | :36:00. | :36:06. | |
is that a good emphasis on the importance of business insurance and | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
retaining these committees for the history, and for the social cost | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
involved. The questions would need to answer therefore, how much | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
subsidy, because had to be at element, do we wish to put into an | :36:20. | :36:26. | |
individual Valley. Secondly, what is the balance between the government | :36:27. | :36:29. | |
element in that subsidy, and the subsidy provided to the insurance | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
industry for businesses and an non-flood affected areas? Thirdly, | :36:35. | :36:38. | |
should we look at a different and insurance model? One of the | :36:39. | :36:44. | |
possibilities it might be to look at the time a model that would take for | :36:45. | :36:47. | |
travel insurance or medical insurance, where you have a fixed | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
number. At the government were to be a ball, and might be reassuring for | :36:53. | :36:56. | |
the government to note that it had fixed numbers of ?50,000 a path to | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
the property, rather than what we have at the moment which is | :37:01. | :37:04. | |
unlimited flood insurance liability. -- attached. That's why I'm | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
delighted that to say that tomorrow say that, I am hosting a roundtable | :37:09. | :37:14. | |
with organisations that Federation for small businesses and a dozen | :37:15. | :37:18. | |
other stakeholders exactly to talk to the details and issues involved | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
in providing serious insurance for businesses. In conclusion,... | :37:23. | :37:35. | |
This'll be an opportunity for him to come and meet us at the PS Met with | :37:36. | :37:43. | |
others. I will be delighted do that. A lot of activity to a speech -- | :37:44. | :37:53. | |
I'll will have to pay tribute. A lot of that the other members here for | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
the contributions in this debate, and pay tribute to the insured | :37:59. | :38:01. | |
American amenity in the Calder Valley2. Who I saw for the work that | :38:02. | :38:10. | |
they did and to commit to the Honorable member and to the house | :38:11. | :38:15. | |
that we do the roundtable and was ahead, look relentlessly and | :38:16. | :38:21. | |
vigorously at the cost and the benefits, and full, economic and | :38:22. | :38:26. | |
social, which are involved and failing to provide adequate business | :38:27. | :38:32. | |
insurance. The question is that this have to not do adjourn. -- now do. | :38:33. | :38:37. | |
The ayes habit! Order! Order! I bet she asked a question and my | :38:38. | :39:35. | |
name on the order paper. -- I beg. The government is working with the | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
from conflict areas where it's in from conflict areas where it's in | :39:40. | :39:42. | |
the best interest for the child to do so. The likely to be exceptional | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
cases for most children, than a divestment in the region. Providing | :39:49. | :39:49. | |
additional | :39:50. | :39:50. |