Browse content similar to 12/07/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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office records, and so I think the ministers should take some pride in | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
that fact. The other way of looking is that I am giving them additional | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
speaking opportunities. Point of order, we will come to the | :00:07. | :00:09. | |
honourable gentleman, we are saving him up. My honourable friend who is | :00:10. | :00:17. | |
standing for the leadership of my party heard her constituency windows | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
broken, and the police have confirmed that such an incident has | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
taken place. Can we take the opportunity of deploring such | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
hooliganism, whoever commits it and whichever party is involved? It is | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
totally unacceptable, and one hopes the police will apprehend the | :00:37. | :00:41. | |
culprits as quickly as possible. I thank the honourable gentleman for | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
his point of order. Of course, it is not strictly in any residual sense a | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
matter for the chair, but it is a matter for the chair in one respect, | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
and that is that in common with all colleagues, the chair believes in | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
democracy and peaceful exchange of opinion. We are a pluralist society, | :01:01. | :01:09. | |
and if people think they will get their way by violence, threats and | :01:10. | :01:15. | |
intimidation, they will soon find themselves wrong. And there is, I | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
think, if I may say so, no one more suited to making that point than | :01:22. | :01:24. | |
someone who has served as a democratic parliamentarian for as | :01:25. | :01:27. | |
long as the honourable gentleman has done. Point of order. Unfortunately | :01:28. | :01:34. | |
I was not able to bid for business questions last Thursday, for many | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
different reasons. -- I was not able to be here. So I had to read later | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
in Hansard, and I scoured Hansard to find announcements regarding next | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
week's business, and in particular next Monday's business. But on | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
Saturday I gather that the Prime Minister knows, not to their size, | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
not even in this country, but in Poland, that next Monday we will be | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
debating the renewal of the Trident system. -- the Prime Minister knows, | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
not to this House. The question is, why have we not been told? Why has | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
this has still not been formally told that that will be our business | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
next week? The Minister for defence yesterday had a perfect opportunity | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
if he wanted to do so to make that clear to the House. I note that | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
today on the order paper, it says, and motion down in the name of the | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
leader of the hows that says, at the sitting next Monday, the speakers | :02:30. | :02:32. | |
should pit the questions necessary to depose on the questions necessary | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
relating to the UK's nuclear deterrent not later than 10pm. So we | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
have a sub announcement that that is what we will be debating. Still no | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
sign of what the motion will be, whether it is amendable, and in | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
precisely what terms we are having this debate. Surely it would be more | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
courteous to this House to have a proper supplementary business | :02:54. | :02:56. | |
statement that lays out what our business will be next Monday? I | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
thank the honourable gentleman for his point of order, and he has the | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
advantage of being right on both counts. Junior Government whip says | :03:05. | :03:15. | |
that he is not right always, but the same could be said of junior | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
Government whips, for that matter. On this matter, the honourable | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
gentleman is right in both respects. First is that motion number five on | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
today's order paper is posited upon the assumption that there will be a | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
debate on Monday the 18th of July on the UK's nuclear deterrent. And that | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
this debate has not been notified to the House other than via passing | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
reference to register the by the Secretary of State for Defence in | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
the course of the statement on the recent Nato summit. I'm make no | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
complaint about what the Prime Minister might have been thinking or | :03:55. | :04:01. | |
had intended, and was caused or tempted to comment elsewhere. I am | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
not focusing on that point. What I am focusing on is that if there is | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
to be a change of business, there should be a supplementary business | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
statement. That is the way we do our work in this place, and if I may say | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
so, the usual channels, whatever their opinions on the merit of the | :04:20. | :04:27. | |
issue, really ought to be aware of that point, which is blindingly | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
obvious and Brooks than no contradiction. It is very, very | :04:33. | :04:36. | |
straightforward. We cannot get into a situation in this place in which | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
we do business in a disorderly fashion. The procedures of this | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
House are for the protection of this House, and all members ought to take | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
that very seriously. They certainly ought to be aware of its | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
significance, and some sort of remedial training is required for | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
those who are not. Point of order, Emily Thornbury. | :05:00. | :05:07. | |
The Ministry of Defence released a press release stating that there | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
would be eight motion but it has not been informed to the House and it is | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
not about renewal it is about continuing nuclear deterrent and the | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
principle of it which seems to be a different issue. I do not know what | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
press officers get up to in these matters but suffice say that | :05:26. | :05:33. | |
ultimately the Secretary of State in a department is always everywhere | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
and for everything in that department responsible. So we should | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
not drill on it any further but let us try to learn from it for the | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
future. Because I am in a benign and generous mood I will allow a further | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
from the honourable member. I am grateful but the point is surely | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
that as things stand unless the Leader of the House gives a clear | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
statement to the House we will get to Thursday morning will be the | :06:01. | :06:02. | |
first time we know for certain what the business is to be for next | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
Monday by which time it will be impossible to table amendments to | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
the business that will be taken on Monday, and the issue are going to | :06:11. | :06:21. | |
be generous about the amendments that can be taken and tables and | :06:22. | :06:23. | |
manuscript amendments and so on. Surely friendly are considering the | :06:24. | :06:25. | |
defence of our nation it is ludicrous for the Government to | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
indulge in such shenanigans? It would be better if there were a | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
supplementary business statement and I would have thought that the terms | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
of which I have answered him make that so clear that the point needs | :06:37. | :06:43. | |
simply to waft from the scholarly cranium of the junior whip on duty | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
to the powers that be in the relevant Government 's Department. | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
Secondly, in the absence of any such supplementary business statement, | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
which I would regard as discourtesy to the House, the honourable | :07:00. | :07:02. | |
gentleman can be assured that it will be possible to table amendments | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
on Thursday and if it is necessary, I have not thought about Pernice | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
chronology, but if it is necessary for me to a low manuscript | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
amendments because of the circumstances which are not of the | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
honourable gentleman's devising then such manuscript amendments will be | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
allowed, subject only to those amendments in terms of content being | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
orderly. But I think the quips got the message. | :07:32. | :07:41. | |
Not the sort of thing that you used to chant at the University of Essex | :07:42. | :07:49. | |
student union. Whether this is a point of order is for you to judge | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
but I want to thank you and the officers of this House for enabling | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
us to display in the Jubilee room a range of products manufactured in | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
the Black Country which is the greatest place in the world. If you | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
have five minutes to visit the Jubilee room you will see parts | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
manufactured for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and the Olympic torch, | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
made in the Black Country, and if that is not enough of an attraction | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
there is also some beer brewed in Dudley North, all members are | :08:29. | :08:38. | |
welcome. I am extremely grateful... The honourable gentleman must speak | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
for himself. I appreciate what he has just said. If it is possible for | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
me to pop and I will try to do so. I am not sure what the hours of this | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
event are. From now until four. I will do what I can and I encourage | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
other members to do likewise. If there are no further points of order | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
we come now to the ten minute rule motion which the honourable member | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
for Carshalton and Warrington who has been patiently waiting. I seek | :09:10. | :09:19. | |
leave to bring in a Bill to grad EU citizens the right to remain in the | :09:20. | :09:22. | |
UK following the UK's withdrawal from membership of the European | :09:23. | :09:29. | |
Union. On the 24th of June three million EU citizens in the UK and 1 | :09:30. | :09:37. | |
million UK citizens in the EU will cap to an uncertain future because | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
the Brexiteer 's had slogans are plenty that are Government had no | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
plans for the long-term future of EU citizens in the UK or indeed the UK | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
posts Brexit. EU citizens were not able to vote in the referendum, they | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
were left without a voice during the campaign. They now find themselves | :09:58. | :10:03. | |
without the protection of the uses writes in the UK. This includes not | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
just the right to live and work in the UK but also the right to | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
participate in local, regional and European elections. The current | :10:15. | :10:16. | |
Prime Minister gave an assurance that there will be no immediate | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
change. This now carries little weight given that we will have a new | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
Prime Minister tomorrow. His assurance is time-limited. It has a | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
sell by date. He has offered no protection for the rights of EU | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
citizens and Brits abroad in the future. By calling and then losing | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
the referendum the Prime Minister pulled the right out from under the | :10:39. | :10:41. | |
feet of the citizens. He needs to get that right out of the removals | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
van parked outside number ten and booted back before he departs. EU | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
citizens need certainty about their long-term future in the UK and they | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
need this assurance before their futures are used as bargaining chips | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
in negotiations with the European Union. The Prime has appointed a | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
commission to replace Jonathan Hell. He should also act now while he | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
still has time to secure the rights of EU citizens by granting all EU | :11:12. | :11:19. | |
citizens resident in the UK on 23rd of June the right to stay. -- | :11:20. | :11:33. | |
replace Jonathan Hill. If he feels to do so there are three | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
ways in which EU citizens rates could be safeguarded in the future. | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
Firstly a legal challenge might rely on an appeal to Article 70 .1 B, | :11:43. | :11:49. | |
Vienna Convention, on the Law of treaties. However as a professor has | :11:50. | :11:56. | |
pointed out in an article entitled, what happens to acquired rights in | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
the event of a Brexit, there is no consensus amongst lawyers about the | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
application of the convention to the situation of EU citizens living in | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
the UK, neither does this seem to be much scope to protect the position | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
of EU citizens in the UK or Brits abroad through customary | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
international law. EU citizens might have two weak years before any rate | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
have under the convention could be tested in court. Secondly the | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
Government could negotiate an Agreement with the EU member states | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
to allow them to remain in a reciprocal basis and pertussis | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
citizens in the EU. The problem with this approach is it turns EU | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
citizens into bargaining chips, such a negotiation does not have a start | :12:41. | :12:46. | |
date and this House has already condemned this by 245 votes - two as | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
being wrong in principle. Bartering would be to treat EU citizens as | :12:54. | :13:00. | |
children in a divorce settlement, it would be humiliating for the | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
individuals concerned and their families. It would demonstrate a | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
shameful lack of political judgment on the part of the British | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
Government. It would also be a weak negotiating strategy because there | :13:13. | :13:15. | |
is a chance that EU member states are likely to your Natalie guarantee | :13:16. | :13:26. | |
the rights of British citizens. -- to unilaterally guarantee the | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
rights. In his evidence the Home Affairs Select Committee this | :13:34. | :13:36. | |
afternoon I ensure the Immigration Minister will be pressed further on | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
this issue. There were signs at the weekend at the Nato summit and | :13:41. | :13:43. | |
reported on Saturday that the position of the Government may be | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
softening on this issue but the third approach, put forward by my | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
Bill, would be for the Government to legislate now to secure the rights | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
of EU citizens on a unilateral basis, this would provide the | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
certainty for EU nationals living here. We must meet EU citizens feel | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
welcome and safe in Britain. This reissues will help also the 1.3 | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
million British people living in the European Union. This reassures will | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
help secure the future of the 9% of NHS doctors who work in the UK who | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
are from the European Union. This reissues will help make sure that | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
Britain remains open and welcoming. Yesterday I met with the campaign | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
organisation new Europeans, a voice for EU citizens in the UK, and a | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
number of other charities representing migrant communities. | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
New Europeans has gathered more than 2000 signatures on a letter to the | :14:40. | :14:42. | |
Prime Minister asking for this issue to be resolved now. I also draw the | :14:43. | :14:55. | |
attention of the House to the same call. We have already had an | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
opposition motion where we achieved a very clear outcome of 245-2 in | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
favour of sorting out the position of EU citizens living in the UK | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
immediately. Thanks to new Europeans I will also be meeting with the | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
European Commission in the UK and ambassadors to member states in | :15:17. | :15:21. | |
London to discuss the issue. It is clear that many EU citizens feel the | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
longer welcome in Britain and that many are leaving. I met some of our | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
lawyer this morning who said exactly that, that he and his partner feel | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
that the only thing they can do is to leave the UK and they will be | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
doing that shortly, even though they have lived here for 20 or more years | :15:37. | :15:41. | |
and paid tax, a significant amount of tax through that time, they now | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
feel they are not welcome. Reseat phones and xenophobic attacks have | :15:47. | :15:49. | |
increased since the referendum. In London where there are over 800,000 | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
EU nationals living there are three race times every hour. These threats | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
and discrimination will continue unless and until the Government | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
makes clear that it will ring fence the rights of EU citizens living in | :16:05. | :16:13. | |
the UK before the 21st of June. -- 24th of June. I commend the Bill to | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
the House. The question is that the right honourable member has leave to | :16:20. | :16:25. | |
bring in the Bill. I think the Ayes habit. Prepare and bring in the | :16:26. | :16:39. | |
Bill. Tim Farren, Nick Clegg, Norman Lamb, Greg Mulholland, Caroline | :16:40. | :16:41. | |
Lucas... And myself, is to speak. EU Citizens Resident in the United | :16:42. | :17:15. | |
Kingdom (Right to Stay) Bill. Second reading, what day? 21st of October. | :17:16. | :17:25. | |
We now come to the motion on energy and environmental implications of | :17:26. | :17:33. | |
the EU referendum result. To move the motion I call the shadow | :17:34. | :17:37. | |
Secretary of State responsible for these important matters. Barry | :17:38. | :17:44. | |
Gardner. Thank you. I beg to move the motion standing on the order | :17:45. | :17:51. | |
paper in my name and in the name of honourable members of the Shadow | :17:52. | :17:55. | |
Cabinet. Before the referendum vote the Government was facing problems | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
in emission targets and environmental protection is the UK | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
requires for the 21st-century. These problems were mainly self inflicted. | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
We had an energy policy that left companies and investors confused as | :18:10. | :18:17. | |
fees and tariffs could change retrospectively, as an effective | :18:18. | :18:19. | |
moratorium was put on wind power despite it being the cheapest form | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
of renewable power, as the subsidy for offshore was also capped. | :18:25. | :18:36. | |
Investors were told that Government was simultaneously incentivising new | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
and conventional gas and phasing out call by 2025 but ?1 billion still | :18:41. | :18:47. | |
remaining four development of carbon capture and storage was cut for | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
weeks before final bids were to be made with the consequent | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
announcement of the abandonment of the hydro project and the | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
announcement by Shell that they no longer saw a future in the near term | :19:02. | :19:08. | |
for the Peterhead project. The Secretary of State's reset speech | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
last November left as 54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent further | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
away. Many of these companies involved, | :19:17. | :19:26. | |
the investment lead-in times are quite long, and this is just leading | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
to a very uncertain environment for them to work in, which is leading to | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
them just pulling out of the UK altogether. I have to reluctantly | :19:35. | :19:41. | |
agree with my honourable friend. This is not good news. This is | :19:42. | :19:46. | |
really bad news for all of us. Because the investment climate in | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
the UK is in a really dire state. In fact, the UK has now fallen from | :19:54. | :20:01. | |
eighth to 11th to 13th in the errands and John index of the best | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
countries for investment in low carbon technology. When previously | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
we had never been outside of the top ten. These are really worrying | :20:11. | :20:17. | |
methods. I recently asked the Secretary of State for Energy and | :20:18. | :20:19. | |
Climate Change about what action she would take to promote zero carbon | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
homes, giving the Government announced last July it was to scrap | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
the target set by the previous Labour Government for all homes to | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
be carbon neutral by the issue. She replied that she could reassure me | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
an EU directive was due to come in in 2020, and Edward, she believes, | :20:35. | :20:41. | |
help reduce bills. Given we are reading the EU, would you agree we | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
should take immediate action to reintroduced ambitious targets for a | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
zero carbon homes. What an excellent point my honourable friend makes. | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
She knows, as I do, that the Secretary of State was somebody who | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
did see the value in UK staying within the European Union. She saw | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
the value of all the directives and the regulations that came from | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
Europe that really afford read the sort of environmental protections | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
and energy policies that would secure our future. I will give way | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
in just a minute. In that respect, I feel the Secretary of State, whilst | :21:23. | :21:29. | |
no doubt she will responsibly respond to the brief today, must | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
actually feel a great deal of somebody both with what my | :21:33. | :21:35. | |
honourable friend has said and indeed my own remarks on the | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
dispatch box. He is making a powerful case about the lack of | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
investment and economic instability. I wonder if he would agree with me | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
that now is a good time for the Government to reverse its decision | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
to privatise the green investment bank, and also, it could be making a | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
very strong case that the Government will seek to remain inside the | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
European investment bank when it negotiates its withdrawal, because | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
if these two things happen, we are in difficult times. The honourable | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
lady speaks with great knowledge. She's absolutely right about the | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
Green Investment Bank. It was set up for a very particular purpose, | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
because the Government recognised there was market failure, and it was | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
quite right that the Government put the Green Investment Bank in place. | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
Unfortunately the borrowing powers did not come quickly enough for it. | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
But no to privatise the Green Investment Bank I think is a mistake | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
and of great regret to all who work in that environment. The remarks she | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
makes about the European Investment Bank will come into my own speech | :22:44. | :22:51. | |
later. In regards to insecurity in investment, national Grid have said | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
that fuel prices are about to rise with the Brexit result, and my | :22:57. | :23:04. | |
campaign showed that consumers were being overcharged to the tune of | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
?1.7 billion per year. Does my friend Matt agree with me that it is | :23:09. | :23:11. | |
important the Government outlines what they will do to ensure that | :23:12. | :23:16. | |
consumers are not ripped off further and are not paying more for their | :23:17. | :23:23. | |
field. My honourable friend and constituency neighbour has run a | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
superb campaign on fuel policy, and she makes reference to the 1.7 | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
million that was in a report which found that bill payers in the UK | :23:33. | :23:38. | |
were being overcharged. By really quite an obscene amount. Of course | :23:39. | :23:41. | |
it is right that the Government comes forward with clear proposals | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
about how to tackle that abuse, and not simply say, as they have today, | :23:46. | :23:50. | |
that people need to be able to switch more easily. -- as they have | :23:51. | :23:59. | |
two date. This is one of the first debates we are having that matches | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
the EU referendum result, and though I know the honourable member was on | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
the other side of the argument, I think it would be useful if you | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
could inform the House, when it comes to a vote, will he be voting | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
to leave the EU, despite his heavy heart, or will he be voting against | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
the wishes of the British people? What I try and do is always look at | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
the motion in front of me on the order paper and make a judgment on | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
it when I see what it says. I have done that for the past 19.5 years, | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
and I suspected I will do it for the next year as well. Even the | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
Government - dominated select committee has warned about what they | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
call the hiatus in product development could threaten the UK's | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
ability to meet its energy targets. So when the Government's on fears | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
show the need for ?100 billion of investment by 2020 to make our | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
delicate state infrastructure fit for purpose, the Secretary of State | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
really does have to explain to the House where she believes that | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
investment is going to come from, given that investor confidence in | :25:06. | :25:08. | |
her department is at an all-time low. -- to make our electricity | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
infrastructure fit for purpose. Before she does, perhaps she did | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
confirm to the House whether she instructed her department not to | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
prepare in anyway for a leave of thought, as the Prime Minister | :25:22. | :25:24. | |
apparently directed, and if she did, can she explain why? Because that is | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
what business leaders are asking out there. It seems incomprehensible to | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
them that the Prime Minister took such a gigantic risk with their | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
future, a risk that will increase and the cost of capital and the cost | :25:41. | :25:48. | |
of energy to Bill payers, both corporate and ethical life. And yet | :25:49. | :25:51. | |
he made absolutely no preparations for what might happen when at rest | :25:52. | :25:58. | |
went the wrong way. A group of is additional investors representing | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
over E13 trillion in assets that the aftermath of the boat to leave has | :26:04. | :26:11. | |
brought considerable uncertainty and market turmoil, which only goes to | :26:12. | :26:18. | |
prove that the art of light Ortiz is not yet dead. -- the aftermath of | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
the vote to leave. In light of that uncertainty, would my honourable | :26:25. | :26:26. | |
friend agree that what the Government should do is get a | :26:27. | :26:33. | |
cast-iron guarantee that it will all learn the environmental standards | :26:34. | :26:35. | |
and undertakings we have made in the EU to date posts Brexit? Luke, my | :26:36. | :26:45. | |
honourable friend who takes a consistent and right interest in | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
these matters, is absolutely correct. That is precisely the | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
intention of this motion, to flush out those issues and ensure the | :26:56. | :26:58. | |
Government does precisely as they say. In the aftermath of the Leave | :26:59. | :27:06. | |
vote. The Government's all external adviser has said the future of the | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
Hinkley C Power Station is now extremely unlikely. It is now | :27:13. | :27:18. | |
reassessing the risk of working in the UK, which could jeopardise its | :27:19. | :27:22. | |
plans for a ?5.5 billion wind farm off the east coast of England, and | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
Siemens announced they were putting a freeze on their future, not in | :27:27. | :27:30. | |
their current but future clean energy investments in hole as a | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
result of what they called the increase uncertainty from the Leave | :27:36. | :27:42. | |
vote. I must say that for all that Minister has talked about the sunlit | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
uplands of the post - Brexit world, there's no use in the Secretary of | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
State trying to pretend she thinks the vote anything but a disaster, | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
because she herself is on record quoting analysis that won't the | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
exclusion from the EU's energy market could cost the UK up to ?500 | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
million per year by the early 20 20s. The right honourable lady stock | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
response that Labour members should not talk Britain down simply will | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
not serve, given that these quotations are only from her own | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
advisers from industry leaders, and indeed, from herself. Bloomberg new | :28:23. | :28:28. | |
energy Finance is not scaremongering when it says of the upcoming Brexit | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
negotiations that they are, and I quote, likely to cause project | :28:34. | :28:36. | |
investors and banks to hesitate about committing new capital, and | :28:37. | :28:43. | |
could cause a drop in renewable energy asset values. It is an | :28:44. | :28:46. | |
authoritative, independent commentator telling the unvarnished | :28:47. | :28:54. | |
truth. I always follows comments with a great deal of interest. Is it | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
not about time that he and his party moved on? The British people have | :28:59. | :29:02. | |
delivered their verdict, and would you not agree that it is not | :29:03. | :29:05. | |
terribly help of our people like him to continue to talk the British | :29:06. | :29:09. | |
economy down in the way he has just done? I understand that there is a | :29:10. | :29:19. | |
need to move on, and the honourable gentleman is right to say that we | :29:20. | :29:22. | |
must now look to the future. If you payers with me, I think he will find | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
that that is what I am trying to do. -- if he bears with me. Yes, I am | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
critical of where we are, but actually, the criticisms that I have | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
so far add grated or not my own. They are the criticisms of the | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
Government's own advisers, the industry itself, and the criticisms | :29:41. | :29:46. | |
that were made by the right honourable lady. This is not me | :29:47. | :29:51. | |
talking the UK economy down. This is actually trying to set out with | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
clarity with the situation now lies, and then to try and see that we can | :29:56. | :30:00. | |
move on from it. Perhaps the Secretary of State could do the | :30:01. | :30:05. | |
same, as Bloomberg, in telling the unvarnished truth, and tell the | :30:06. | :30:08. | |
House of what assessment her department has made of the increased | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
price of imported energy as a result of the falling pound. I will happily | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
give way to her if she was used to. Perhaps then she could tell us what | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
assessment her department has made the price premiums on loans that | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
will be demanded by investors energy infrastructure to cover the cost of | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
political uncertainty. Is it 1%? Is it 2%? Again, I will happily give | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
away if she wishes to inform the House what assessment her department | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
has made on these matters. In that case, I will give way to the | :30:42. | :30:47. | |
honourable gentleman. I thank him very much for his voluminous | :30:48. | :30:51. | |
intervention, Adas, will he take the Minister to task in what she intends | :30:52. | :30:59. | |
to do to achieve the climate change targets in respect to complete the | :31:00. | :31:02. | |
car by then the transport and heating sectors to achieve 2050 | :31:03. | :31:11. | |
targets? The honourable gentleman is absolute right. If you look at what | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
the committee on climate change has said, it is absolutely clear that | :31:17. | :31:19. | |
the area where the UK is falling behind most badly is not in the | :31:20. | :31:24. | |
power sector, but in transport and heating. He is right in the comments | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
he makes. Of course, it does not rest solely with the right | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
honourable lady. It rests with her colleagues in the Department for | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government as | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
well. Perhaps the honourable lady might find it easier to explain how | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
the UK might continue to benefit from the EU internal energy market, | :31:44. | :31:50. | |
or does Brexit mean Brexit from this as well? We really do need clear | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
answers to this. Perhaps she can tell us what will happen to the four | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
clean energy projects currently under assessment by the European | :32:01. | :32:03. | |
fund for strategic investment. She knows that the European investment | :32:04. | :32:09. | |
bank has been the UK's biggest clean energy lender, putting 31 billion | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
euros into clean energy over the last five years. Has she identified | :32:14. | :32:17. | |
a replacement source of funds for projects such as this? Perhaps she | :32:18. | :32:23. | |
can explain why the Government last week pulled funding from the only | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
large new gas plant that had managed to secure financing under the | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
capacity market scheme after Carlton power were unable to secure | :32:32. | :32:34. | |
investment needed for the Trafford plant? The capacity market has | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
resoundingly failed to secure the new gas bill that it was introduced | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
to incentivise. Perhaps she can explain, after the failure of the | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
green Deal and offering lodging that neither the warm homes scheme are | :32:49. | :32:55. | |
sufficiently targeted to reach those most in need, how would she tackle | :32:56. | :33:02. | |
the fuel poverty experienced by 2.38 million of our fellow citizens? Let | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
me correct that, Mr Speaker. I should not say 2.38 million of our | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
fellow citizens. It is that the 2.3 million households, and that in | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
England alone. Perhaps she might also explain to the House why it was | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
the national Grid warned on Friday the lights were on the kept on by | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
emergency measures last year. The fact is that the Government's energy | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
policy has pushed us further towards energy insecurity. The reason that | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
we have secured this opposition Day debate today is precisely to ensure | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
the Government cannot ignore pressing concerns like these | :33:43. | :33:45. | |
following the referendum. The vote to leave was not a vote for | :33:46. | :33:50. | |
blackouts and soaring energy bills. It is the Government's | :33:51. | :33:53. | |
responsibility to ensure that this does not happen. The committee on | :33:54. | :33:57. | |
climate change, who have the statutory duty to advise the | :33:58. | :34:00. | |
Government on the most cost-effective route to | :34:01. | :34:01. | |
decarbonisation have always been clear that early action is cheaper | :34:02. | :34:07. | |
action. As the Chief Executive of the committee on climate change | :34:08. | :34:10. | |
warned us last week, leaving the EU is the mechanism of how we reach our | :34:11. | :34:17. | |
target is into question. -- pits the mechanism into question. The | :34:18. | :34:20. | |
Government has now created a temper sent gap and predictions for 2020, | :34:21. | :34:31. | |
and is nearly 50% shortly meeting its target for 2030. If the | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
Secretary of State get around to her obligation to set it, it is tabled | :34:38. | :34:41. | |
for Monday, which would make it only 18 days beyond the legal statutory | :34:42. | :34:46. | |
limit. Last year the environmental audit committee gave the Government | :34:47. | :34:50. | |
a red card for managing future climate change risk. The chair | :34:51. | :34:56. | |
concluded, and I quote, we simply do not know the inability of the vast | :34:57. | :35:01. | |
majority of stuff out there for current weather, never mind the | :35:02. | :35:02. | |
future. This is a tier one priority risk | :35:03. | :35:15. | |
alongside terrorism and cyber attacks and it is our most deprived | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
communities that faced the greatest increases in flood risk. New | :35:21. | :35:23. | |
evidence released today by the committee on climate change makes | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
starker than ever the threat to British households and businesses | :35:29. | :35:31. | |
from failing to manage climate change. They publish estimates that | :35:32. | :35:37. | |
sure how without increased action on climate adaptation by Government the | :35:38. | :35:40. | |
number of forms at high risk from flooding will rise to well over a 1 | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
million even if we meet our current climate targets. I will give way. | :35:45. | :35:53. | |
Just to clarify, would the right honourable member explain what the | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
relationship between the issue relating to the European Union and | :36:00. | :36:05. | |
the questions around flooding is? Some people might think that the | :36:06. | :36:07. | |
honourable gentleman is approaching the conclusion of his pool remarks. | :36:08. | :36:18. | |
-- preliminary remarks. I am sure you are correct. Happy to explain | :36:19. | :36:30. | |
that because unless we have both clarity about the post Brexit | :36:31. | :36:33. | |
scenario, unless we know where we are going to be able to secure | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
funding to replace all the funding that came under the Common | :36:39. | :36:41. | |
Agricultural Policy for measures that were taken to mitigate | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
flooding, unless we are able to look at land management in the way that | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
the European Union Allied is to do then we do not have clarity on these | :36:51. | :36:52. | |
matters. It is vital for adaptation. matters. It is vital for adaptation. | :36:53. | :37:03. | |
We are living at a time of increased risk | :37:04. | :37:11. | |
that requires robust planning to limit impacts on communities and | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
businesses. After the devastation of recent floods around our country I | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
say that this new assessment requires a new response from | :37:21. | :37:26. | |
Government backed cuts to the budget and the Environment Agency makes us | :37:27. | :37:32. | |
more vulnerable and the Government must take responsibility. The UK's | :37:33. | :37:41. | |
ability to face up to environmental challenges was strengthened by EU | :37:42. | :37:45. | |
membership so given that the principal response from the Treasury | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
so far is a U-turn on the core election pledge to balance the books | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
by 2020 it would be helpful... I think the Speaker wants me to press | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
on so I will not. I have been generous in giving way. It would be | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
helpful to get some clarity from the Environment Secretary when he | :38:03. | :38:08. | |
concludes this debate, precisely where he proposes to find additional | :38:09. | :38:12. | |
resources for adequate flood defences to meet this new | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
assessment. Last week the Secretary of State for DEFRA told the House it | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
is clear that it is business as usual while we remain members of the | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
EU. Perhaps she will understand that what concerns many of us is that | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
this unit we are no longer members of the EU many of the protections | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
that the natural environment currently enjoys will fall away. The | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
the directive has been opposed in Europe by this Government to try to | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
what it down for years. Our own Supreme Court has found them to be | :38:47. | :38:54. | |
in breach, the Government that is. 52,500 excess deaths in the UK every | :38:55. | :39:02. | |
year because of polluted era. I pay tribute to the Emir of London who | :39:03. | :39:05. | |
used the 60th anniversary of the clean air act to unveil a new queen | :39:06. | :39:18. | |
here programme -- pager bute to the Mayor of London who used the 60th | :39:19. | :39:24. | |
anniversary of the clean air act to unveil a new queen here programme. | :39:25. | :39:33. | |
The birds and habitats directive may be transposed into law but we need | :39:34. | :39:40. | |
to know if our beaches will still be protected by believing what | :39:41. | :39:43. | |
directive or whether swimming through sewage will become a feature | :39:44. | :39:47. | |
of swimming at the seaside. We need to know which bits of the electronic | :39:48. | :39:53. | |
waste directive will not be chance littered into European law and what | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
the impact may have for recycling industries and our commitment to the | :39:59. | :40:06. | |
circular economy fish and birds and insects, pollution is oblivious to | :40:07. | :40:12. | |
the strictures of national airspace. If we manage -- if we wish to manage | :40:13. | :40:20. | |
all of these it is best to do so in concert with European neighbours, | :40:21. | :40:23. | |
the votes to leave the EU has made that Hyder, the Government must | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
outline how it will overcome that parole London. Last week the House | :40:28. | :40:35. | |
was told that on subsidies to farmers up to 2020 it was not a | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
decision that could be made at that stage, not a decision that could be | :40:41. | :40:44. | |
made at that stage. Surely it is a decision that should have been made | :40:45. | :40:49. | |
before farmers were asked to vote to leave the EU. Much of the subsidy is | :40:50. | :40:55. | |
fire environmental stewardship schemes and other practices that | :40:56. | :40:58. | |
benefit biodiversity and wildlife. To turn round to tell farmers now | :40:59. | :41:04. | |
that 3.5 billion total of subsidy that used to flow each year from the | :41:05. | :41:10. | |
EU into their pockets is no longer secure is not just an attack on the | :41:11. | :41:14. | |
likelihood of farmers, it is an attack on all the work that farmers | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
do to enhance our environment and protect our landscapes. These are | :41:19. | :41:24. | |
not abstract challenges. Managing the risks borne of the uncertainty | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
of the referendum outcome is a responsibility for Government. | :41:30. | :41:32. | |
Ministers must identify any legislative gaps in environmental | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
protection that may arise from the removal of EU law and develop plans | :41:37. | :41:44. | |
so that the UK does not become a riskier, and healthier, more | :41:45. | :41:47. | |
polluted place to live in or do business in. I give way. He would be | :41:48. | :41:57. | |
hard-pressed to find any conservation group in the country | :41:58. | :42:05. | |
any environment group are told that believes CAP provides net benefit. | :42:06. | :42:09. | |
There are bits that argued. Surely Brexit gives an opportunity to | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
tailor those funds so that they genuinely subsidise farmers in | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
delivering a genuine public good. This is a massive opportunity, | :42:20. | :42:25. | |
surely? I am happy to say to the honourable gentleman that I have | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
been a critic of the CAP as he has for many years that he will know | :42:30. | :42:36. | |
that the arrangements under the CAP and the environmental stewardship | :42:37. | :42:38. | |
arrangements were positive and that there was a net benefit that came | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
from that. What I want the Government to do is set out what the | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
new arrangements be proposed Arsenal we can be sure that those | :42:48. | :42:51. | |
environmental protections do remain in place and money is not fitted me | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
on something else. The Government must provide cancerous to Parliament | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
and the public who want to be assured that there will not be a | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
Brexit bonfire of the regulations. Environmental protections under the | :43:09. | :43:11. | |
EU are not bureaucracy to be done away with, they are part of what it | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
is to live in a civilised country that respects the natural world and | :43:16. | :43:21. | |
believes the only prosperous future is a sustainable one. I want to ask | :43:22. | :43:26. | |
three key questions. Will the Government move swiftly to ratify | :43:27. | :43:29. | |
the Palace climate Agreement? How will the Government press access to | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
the internal energy market? How will the Government make sure that energy | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
bills do not go up as a result of increased uncertainty following the | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
vote? Ultimately the Government must commit to safeguarding environmental | :43:45. | :43:48. | |
and is to at least the same levels we have enjoyed within the EU by | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
passing into UK law all those regulations which would otherwise | :43:54. | :43:59. | |
fall away upon leaving it. The question is as on the order | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
paper. I call the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Thank | :44:05. | :44:12. | |
you. Can I start by thanking the opposition and the member for Brent | :44:13. | :44:15. | |
Northwood giving the opportunity on the site of the House to address | :44:16. | :44:23. | |
important questions and particularly with stakeholders? Can I respond to | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
the point made by the honourable member for South West Wiltshire? It | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
may have escaped some people's noticed that I campaigned on the | :44:34. | :44:37. | |
other side of this issue on the EU referendum but I agree we must move | :44:38. | :44:42. | |
on, Brexit means Brexit, we will make a success of it. It is true | :44:43. | :44:48. | |
that the decision that the country made on June 23 is of historical | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
importance and it is true that the key challenge which faces as now is | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
to work towards a settlement that is in the best interests of Britain. | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
But it is not true as the honourable member has been suggesting that our | :45:01. | :45:05. | |
commitments to the environment and tackle minor change, to provide | :45:06. | :45:10. | |
homes and businesses with secure and clean energy, has faltered in any | :45:11. | :45:13. | |
way. Our commitment to these tasks has not changed and will not change. | :45:14. | :45:21. | |
I have made it my priority to the year these points over the past | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
fortnight. I have said security of supply would be our first priority | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
and it remains so. My department announced last week how much | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
electricity capacity we intend to buy in the forthcoming capacity | :45:36. | :45:39. | |
market auctions. This commitment is the backbone to our energy policy. I | :45:40. | :45:43. | |
announced that the Government would accept their recommendations of the | :45:44. | :45:49. | |
committee on the level of the first carbon budgets, a long-term | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
commitment is taking us beyond this Parliament, until 2032. I also made | :45:55. | :46:00. | |
clear that we remain committed to holding a competitive CFT allocation | :46:01. | :46:10. | |
round this year. There is no point pretending that the votes to leave | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
the EU is not of huge significance. There are risks that this Government | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
will continue to do its part to deliver on the environmental | :46:20. | :46:22. | |
challenges that this country faces. I give way. Will she take the | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
opportunity to confirm that the Government intends in the future to | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
honour its commitments to the environment as set out in EU | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
directives in the pass so that standards do not slip from the | :46:39. | :46:42. | |
current standards on air quality, flooding, climate change, does she | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
agree that should be legislation to series should become standard? What | :46:48. | :46:54. | |
I can say is that this Government's commitment to a clean environment | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
and to its climate change commitments remain unchanged. I will | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
address my remarks, the issue on climate change issues specifically, | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
energy, I will allow the Minister to address the environmental once when | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
he makes his remarks, no doubt addressing the exact point you have | :47:13. | :47:18. | |
raised. Does she not ideally that it is a pity that the benches opposite | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
seemed to be suggesting that the European Union has tracked the | :47:24. | :47:27. | |
United Kingdom from darkness into enlightenment and Ritchie agree with | :47:28. | :47:30. | |
me that Britain has traditionally led the way in environmental | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
legislation, I would cite the clean air act of 1956, which was cited by | :47:37. | :47:45. | |
the member for Brent Northwood vote irony? As he rightly has said we | :47:46. | :47:51. | |
must move on. There are benefits to what we have already proposed and | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
there have been benefits to the EU directives as well but have read | :47:56. | :47:59. | |
standards in some areas but what I believe we'll nighty places that we | :48:00. | :48:03. | |
will maintain the standards and not allow those standards to slip all. | :48:04. | :48:14. | |
Increasingly investors are getting more cautious, can she confirmed she | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
is doing all she can to persuade colleagues to make sure that we | :48:20. | :48:22. | |
remain part of the European investment bank as least as long as | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
the negotiations are going on, because if we withdraw now there | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
will be a huge amount of potential investment not coming into this | :48:31. | :48:36. | |
country when we needed most. I was going to talk about investment and | :48:37. | :48:39. | |
she is absolutely right about the importance of investment in securing | :48:40. | :48:43. | |
clean energy going for. Regarding the European investment bank I | :48:44. | :48:48. | |
appreciate the impact it has had on supporting clean energy in this | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
country and I would hope that our membership will continue. I cannot | :48:53. | :48:58. | |
give commitments going for word. I share her views about how a it is. | :48:59. | :49:18. | |
We have heard this morning that there is with the temper sent | :49:19. | :49:24. | |
achievement gap that has opened between 2023 and 20 27. The decision | :49:25. | :49:33. | |
to cancel the carbon capturing storage competition at the last | :49:34. | :49:36. | |
spending review will do little to encourage investor confidence in | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
that area. The right honourable lady is right. We have always known that | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
we have an issue with the fourth carbon budget, and there is more | :49:47. | :49:50. | |
work to be done, which is why, and I thank her for her comments, it was a | :49:51. | :49:54. | |
reasonable achievement to get cross Government approval to get the fit | :49:55. | :49:57. | |
carbon budget approved. There is a lot of work to be done. There are | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
policies to be decided on, and we will be coming forward with the | :50:03. | :50:05. | |
emissions proposals by the end of this year in order to address those | :50:06. | :50:08. | |
policies that will be needed in the 20s. In a former life, I was the | :50:09. | :50:16. | |
rack and tour of the European Parliament for the European | :50:17. | :50:20. | |
Investment Bank, and we are not on the stakeholder in the bag but a | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
shareholder in the bank, one of the biggest funders, and it funds | :50:25. | :50:27. | |
projects across the planet, not just in the EU. So surely there is no | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
risk to investment in the UK while those factors remain the same. I | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
thank my honourable friend for clarifying that position, which no | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
doubt will give the honourable lady as much comfort as it does me as | :50:42. | :50:47. | |
well. Can I make some comments on the issue of investor confidence, | :50:48. | :50:50. | |
which was central to the debate for this afternoon. Then the referendum, | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
I have met with investors from across the energy spectrum, all | :50:57. | :50:59. | |
areas in which we need investment. Yesterday I spoke to the Siemens | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
managing board to reassure them of the commitments I am setting out you | :51:04. | :51:06. | |
today. Officials across my department have regularly kept in | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
contact with energy investors and companies to reiterate that message. | :51:11. | :51:15. | |
But the message from businesses is clear. They still see the UK as a | :51:16. | :51:19. | |
great place to invest. Britain remains one of the best buddies in | :51:20. | :51:23. | |
the world to live and do business. The rule of law, low taxes, talented | :51:24. | :51:29. | |
workforce, a strong finance sector. We have to build upon the strength, | :51:30. | :51:35. | |
not turn away from them. These factors, clear energy policy | :51:36. | :51:38. | |
framework and a strong investment economy conveyed to make the UK an | :51:39. | :51:41. | |
ideal place to attract the much-needed energy investment. The | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
UK has been the fourth highest investor globally. This is the | :51:46. | :51:51. | |
investment in the energy structure we need to underpin a strong, | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
competitive economy. This Government will do all it can to keep the UK as | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
an attractive place for investment, and whatever settlement we do decide | :51:59. | :52:02. | |
on in the coming months, these fundamentals will remain unchanged. | :52:03. | :52:08. | |
I wanted to underline our commitment to addressing climate change. | :52:09. | :52:12. | |
Climate change has not been downgraded as a threat. It remains | :52:13. | :52:16. | |
one of the most serious long-term risks to our economic and national | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
security. I attended the world-class team of British diplomats at last | :52:21. | :52:26. | |
year's Paris climate talks. Our efforts were essential to securing | :52:27. | :52:30. | |
that deal. The UK will not step back from that international leadership. | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
We must not turn our back on Europe or the world. Our relationships with | :52:35. | :52:39. | |
the United States, China, India, Japan, other European countries, | :52:40. | :52:43. | |
will stand us in strongest dead as we deliver on the promises made on | :52:44. | :52:48. | |
Paris. At the heart of that commitment is our own Climate Change | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
Act. The act was not imposed upon us by the EU. It was entirely | :52:53. | :52:58. | |
home-grown. It was also a world first, and a prime example of the UK | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
setting the agenda that others are now following. Let us not forget | :53:03. | :53:06. | |
that it was delivered with unanimous support right across the House. It | :53:07. | :53:14. | |
is true, we have... I give way. She will be aware that the fifth time | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
its budget means the UK is reducing carbon at a rate faster than any | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
country in the EU, and significantly faster than the EU IND CeBIT forward | :53:25. | :53:27. | |
at Paris. It is not the risk of at Paris. It is not the risk of | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
Brexit that we go back on climate change objectives, but that we do | :53:33. | :53:35. | |
not bring the rest of Europe with any readership decision we have | :53:36. | :53:38. | |
taken, and that we are going so much more quickly than will the art. My | :53:39. | :53:44. | |
honourable friend, who knows this area so well, has raised a very | :53:45. | :53:48. | |
important point, and I hope I will be able to reassure him that we will | :53:49. | :53:52. | |
be able to continue to use our influence to encourage the European | :53:53. | :53:55. | |
Union to raise their game in reaching the high standards that we | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
do. But I agree with him that this will be an additional concern which | :54:00. | :54:02. | |
we will have to work to try to deliver. It is true that we have had | :54:03. | :54:08. | |
to make tough decisions on renewable energy when we came into office last | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
year, reflecting the need to cut costs and for technologies to stand | :54:14. | :54:17. | |
on their own two feet. I will not shy away from taking those tough | :54:18. | :54:20. | |
decisions going forward. We need technologies which are low cost and | :54:21. | :54:24. | |
clean to protect bill payers. I give way. I thank the honourable lady for | :54:25. | :54:32. | |
giving way. She mentions India among others standing by us in respect | :54:33. | :54:36. | |
with investment. Does she agree that given there are something like 2400 | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
coal-fired power stations planned or under construction around the world, | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
including India and China, that cancelling the CCF project is a | :54:46. | :54:48. | |
massive missed opportunity for this country? The honourable gentleman | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
will be aware, we have been through the issue of the CCS many times. We | :54:54. | :54:59. | |
would like to have a CCS programme. We are working on an industrial | :55:00. | :55:04. | |
programme to address having a CCS strategy. But at the time, we could | :55:05. | :55:12. | |
not go ahead with the ?1 billion that had otherwise been planned for | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
the CCS proposal. It is not off the table at all. We are still working | :55:18. | :55:20. | |
towards having some sort of CCS proposals. So are commitment to | :55:21. | :55:29. | |
decarbonisation is clear. With ?13 million of investment in renewable | :55:30. | :55:33. | |
energy city in 2015 alone. And with investment in renewables increasing | :55:34. | :55:38. | |
by 40% since 2010. We have our funding to be provided through | :55:39. | :55:41. | |
auctions in this Parliament to support up to four gigawatts of | :55:42. | :55:46. | |
offshore wind and other offshore village mac renewable technologies. | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
With the potential for up to ten gigawatts in total if the course | :55:51. | :55:56. | |
continue to go down. We are making real progress to deliver new nuclear | :55:57. | :56:02. | |
power in the UK, addressing a legacy of underinvestment. We are enabling | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
new and innovative ways of heating our homes and businesses. And we | :56:07. | :56:12. | |
will lead the world by consulting or closing unabated coal-fired | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
stations, a commitment that was praised across the world and on | :56:17. | :56:19. | |
which we will be setting out further details on. All of these commitments | :56:20. | :56:24. | |
remain in place. They will help us dramatically rebuild our energy | :56:25. | :56:27. | |
infrastructure, and they are underpinned by our commitment to | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
carbon budgets, which is why the CBI, the EEF, businesses and | :56:33. | :56:35. | |
investors from a wide range of different sectors, are also | :56:36. | :56:37. | |
supportive of the decision we took to set the fifth carbon budget. We | :56:38. | :56:44. | |
have a proud history of energy innovation. The world's first | :56:45. | :56:47. | |
coal-fired power station was built on the banks of the Thames in the | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
late 1800 's. The world's first nuclear power station was opened by | :56:52. | :56:57. | |
Her Majesty The Queen in Cumbria in 1956. And well before the EU | :56:58. | :57:02. | |
referendum had begun in earnest, my department was making sure that this | :57:03. | :57:07. | |
country remains at the forefront of energy and climate change | :57:08. | :57:10. | |
innovation. That is why, the Government, we have committed more | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
than ?500 million over the spending review to supporting new energy | :57:15. | :57:17. | |
technologies. This means supporting entrepreneurs as they look to | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
develop the innovations of the future, in storage, energy and | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
renewables. As part of that programme, we will build on the UK's | :57:27. | :57:30. | |
expertise in nuclear innovation. At least half of our innovation | :57:31. | :57:34. | |
spending will go towards nuclear research and development, and this | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
will support our centres of excellence in Cumbria, Manchester, | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
Sheffield and Preston. Our nuclear programme will include a competition | :57:43. | :57:46. | |
to develop a small modular nuclear reactor, potentially one of the most | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
exciting innovations in the energy sector. Otherwise have focused | :57:50. | :57:55. | |
primarily on energy and climate change, we must not forget the trade | :57:56. | :57:58. | |
and businesses surrounding the environment and agricultural | :57:59. | :58:01. | |
sectors, which are so profoundly affected by our decisions on | :58:02. | :58:07. | |
tackling rising global temperatures. The Department for Environment, Food | :58:08. | :58:10. | |
and Rural Affairs continues to engage farmers, businesses and | :58:11. | :58:12. | |
environmental groups to make sure their voices are heard. It has been | :58:13. | :58:17. | |
made clear to them that there will be no immediate changes, and we will | :58:18. | :58:20. | |
hear later from my honourable friend and the Minister, the member for | :58:21. | :58:24. | |
Penrith and The Border, who will address the environmental issues. | :58:25. | :58:28. | |
There have been significant advantages to us trading energy, | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
both within Europe and being an entry point into Europe for the rest | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
of the world. In Europe, we have led the world on acting to address claim | :58:37. | :58:41. | |
it change. The economic imperative that drove those relationships has | :58:42. | :58:46. | |
not changed. An openness to trade remained central to who we are as a | :58:47. | :58:50. | |
country. And be Prime Minister has repeatedly said, we will work | :58:51. | :58:54. | |
towards the best deal for Britain, and as I have said, our challenges | :58:55. | :59:02. | |
remain the same. Securing our energy supply, keeping bills low, holding a | :59:03. | :59:08. | |
low carbon energy infrastructure, and protecting the environment and | :59:09. | :59:11. | |
farming. Our commitment to these is unboned. -- is the same. It is a | :59:12. | :59:24. | |
good debate to be having, and I thank the shadow Secretary of State | :59:25. | :59:27. | |
and the Labour front bench for giving us the opportunity to debate | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
this. It is just a shame the right honourable member did not get beyond | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
his introductory remarks in what was an excellent overview of the issues | :59:37. | :59:42. | |
that have been raised. I think today, SNP history will be made in | :59:43. | :59:45. | |
that it will be the first time the full force of team Cal will be | :59:46. | :59:51. | |
deployed at the same time in a debate. We will hear from the member | :59:52. | :59:56. | |
from Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, or as I like to call him, | :59:57. | :00:05. | |
the junior member of team Callum later on. This feels like an element | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
of the last day of school or something like that. There is the | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
bones of Brexit to pick over, there is how do we go forward, and I'm | :00:16. | :00:19. | |
sure the Secretary of State is pleased that we have a new Prime | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
Minister, as we all are, that will help ease some of the uncertainties | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
that were building. I think it is welcome that there will not be the | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
several weeks of uncertainty, and I hope the Government uses the summer | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
recess particularly to come up with some plans, because plans are badly | :00:35. | :00:45. | |
needed. Last week we discussed the excellent energy and climate change | :00:46. | :00:47. | |
committee report in investor confidence, and were able to discuss | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
some of the issues that are affecting the sector, which have | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
really been exacerbated by the Brexit wrote. I think it is fair to | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
say, and it bears repeating time and time again - Scotland did not vote | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
for Brexit, and we will be doing everything in our power to make sure | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
that that is not done to us. I think we perhaps should change the lexicon | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
slightly, and refer to this either as exit or perhaps Wexit. Scotland | :01:16. | :01:24. | |
is not for leaving. Our Government has united around effort is to keep | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
Scotland in the European Union. But that uncertainty is afflicting the | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
United Kingdom following the vote will have effects on us whilst that | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
clarity of our position in the European Union works out. Today, in | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
terms of energy bills, the Guardian was reporting research that | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
suggested 12 providers have pooled their cheapest fixed rate tariffs | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
and replaced them with more expensive deals since June 23. That | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
is the impact that this is having. That is the impact that will be had | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
on consumers and those who cannot afford to pay more. There is the | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
impact of the weak pound, and what that will mean in terms of our call | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
cost as a net importer of electricity. These things will have | :02:10. | :02:16. | |
impact. They will drive our bills, and I think it is an unfortunate | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
consequence of the Brexit vote. There is also uncertainty around the | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
huge river interconnection. I think it is important we have | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
interconnection. -- the future ground interconnection. I think that | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
is a sensible aim for the Government to have. I have said again and again | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
that we should not see it as a way to import cheap elders are deeper on | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
the continent, which as the Secretary of State said, I think we | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
should be using it to export elegant city to the continent, and looking | :02:47. | :02:54. | |
to invest in domestic low-carbon electricity generation, which | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
Scotland has immense and highly enviable potential. -- we should be | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
using it to export electricity. The idea of importing cheap relativity | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
is questionable, giving the assumptions that will be built into | :03:09. | :03:16. | |
the sums in terms of decisions which may not look so good when the pound | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
is daring not so well against the euro. These things will come out in | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
the wash, as we say in Scotland, but there is a requirement to look at | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
energy policy, at interconnection, and see whether it is the right | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
thing to do. There is also the large question of Hinkley. We have had | :03:36. | :03:38. | |
some discussion about that. It will not come as any is a prize to anyone | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
on the Government benches that we on this site are not in favour of that. | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
-- it will not come as a surprise. Its beers repeating. The economic | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
salt Hinkley where, in my view and in my party's view, highly dubious. | :03:54. | :04:01. | |
-- the economic 's of Hinkley. The fundamental economics of it have | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
only been undermined by the Brexit wrote. We need to look at it again. | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
We cannot afford to have all of our eggs in this particular basket, | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
because if it does not happening, and I sincerely suspect it will not | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
happen, there is a rather large hole to be filled, and we cannot be in a | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
position like we are with the Brexit board, where we enter the unknown | :04:24. | :04:24. | |
with no back-up plan. It quite is shocking that element | :04:25. | :04:40. | |
estimates have been driven up for the cost of Hinkley to 37 billion, | :04:41. | :04:49. | |
rather than 14 billion. The costs are eye watering and given the | :04:50. | :04:56. | |
extent to which this is an international project there are | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
questions as to whether the cost will rise further still. It is time | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
to have a sincere look at the plans, decide whether it is possible. My | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
assumption will be that it will not, and find a back-up plan that we | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
require. There are huge strains on our energy system and if we do not | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
fill them then the bread and butter of keeping the lights on will beat | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
Pitt in jeopardy, perhaps not today, but in decades to come. That is | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
incumbent on Government to act and act now. We also need clarity from | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
the Government in terms of the position about the internal energy | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
market in the European union. The report last week about the potential | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
of being out with that system adding an extra ?500 million power and to | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
the cost of our energy system is a sobering reality when the Government | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
as I haul is indulged in the summer homework working out how we get out | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
of this particular pickle I would suggest strongly that one of the | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
things that needs to be high up the agenda is making sure that we keep | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
the cooperation because it delivers for us here but also for people | :06:12. | :06:21. | |
abroad it will help us meet energy costs and should not be sold down | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
the river likely. To maintain security of supply time has come to | :06:27. | :06:34. | |
scrap Hinkley, invest in viable and cheaper forms of domestic energy, | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
including onshore wind, we need to lift the embargo that has been | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
placed on it. We need the auctions that the Secretary of State has been | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
talked about. There should be the widest possible and technology | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
neutral, and nothing should be excluded from biting into it, we | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
need to get serious about building the new gas plants that have been | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
suggested. I will make the case. And again, if we can get the anomaly of | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
transmission charging sorted we are ready to go, Scotland can provide a | :07:07. | :07:15. | |
significant contribution to reducing the whole that is coming in terms of | :07:16. | :07:22. | |
energy production. And across these islands we need to invest in energy | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
efficiency. There is strong work from the Scottish Government and | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
this needs to be replicated across these islands. If we are going to | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
meet what is an ever more challenging set of circumstances | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
around about energy, where we get it, the best way of doing that is to | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
use less of it, the benefits to everyone are substantial in the long | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
run. To climate change, I would agree with the member for Warrington | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
South who is no longer here, it is regrettable UK will not be a member | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
of the European Union. I to the Secretary of State for her role in | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
the Paris talks. She played a strong hand. Not as strong at hand as I and | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
others might have wanted but it was a strong hand played well that | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
resulted in a pretty good deal. The fact that we are no longer going to | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
be at the heart of the decision-making process is | :08:22. | :08:23. | |
regrettable because the UK can be proud of what it has done in terms | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
of climate change, and there is more it could offer at the European | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
Union. That is the reality. We need to work out how in terms of our | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
renewed relationship with the European union that will happen. But | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
there will be an absence and that is regrettable. I have specific | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
questions and they have been touched upon around the process and the | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
impact of Brexit on our commitments from the Paris talks. Our nationally | :08:54. | :09:00. | |
defined contribution was the European union's NDC and read that | :09:01. | :09:11. | |
applies to as, I am not sure, but I assume it does. We can and should do | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
more. There are issues around ratification of the deal that I am | :09:16. | :09:25. | |
not clear about. Do we have two ratify this before the Brexit deal | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
is concluded? Is there an impact on the European Union as a whole? And | :09:31. | :09:39. | |
in terms of EU ratification process I understand that requires all | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
member states to ratify that before they can ratify it as a whole. | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
Ultimately the UN requires the 55 countries sold are -- so are the | :09:49. | :09:56. | |
implications for us, for the European Union, as the implications | :09:57. | :09:58. | |
for the entire deal if we are not able to do that? I may not answer | :09:59. | :10:09. | |
all his questions on this particular intervention but just to say because | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
I did not pick it up, we are pushing for early ratification of the Paris | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
treaty on behalf of the United Kingdom. I thank the Secretary of | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
State for that intervention and welcome that. That is progress and I | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
hope that can be done. There will not be opposition from these benches | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
in terms of that. The biggest single statement we have heard, I do not | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
want to go through the negatives, on the eve of palace we had the suite | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
and this hour, the sewer of the carbon capture that my honourable | :10:45. | :10:55. | |
friend has mentioned, -- the sour of the carbon capture. But I question | :10:56. | :11:08. | |
the deliverability of that. The commitment had the caveat that it | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
would only be done if and when it was possible and I would suggest | :11:13. | :11:20. | |
that the combination of effect of invest in confidence, the lack of | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
clarity around a number of these things, will make it more difficult | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
to meet the conditions required to have that call taken off the system. | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
There is a requirement to look at that again and in terms of the fifth | :11:37. | :11:40. | |
carbon budget which I think we all welcome the fact that we are now | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
getting it and I agree with the climate change committee's | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
recommendations that we need the action plan. It is the | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
bread-and-butter of this, is how we do it. Ambition, determination is | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
there that it will only come to be if we have a viable plan. It is | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
achievable that it has become more uncertain because of the Brexit | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
fought. To conclude I think that we are in probably a better place as of | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
yesterday's events than many of us expected to be. We do not have the | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
added unwelcome uncertainty of a nine week leadership contest but | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
there is a power of work that needs to be done by Government. I hope the | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
Secretary of State continues in her post to do that and I look forward | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
to continuing to work with her and marking her homework after the | :12:38. | :12:43. | |
summer recess. It is a pleasure to speak in the | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
debates today. Opposition being opposition often fires questions to | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
Government and this is a difficult time for governments to answer all | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
the questions because we are about to change Prime Minister is. There | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
will probably be a substantial reshuffle in Government and then | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
those ministers will get down to dealing with the consequences of | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
what the British people have decided. The essential point, and | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
many of the points made in the speech today, what is going to | :13:12. | :13:18. | |
happen with regulations, I do not leave that this parliament is going | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
to go through every piece of European legislation that has been | :13:23. | :13:24. | |
passed over the past 40 years and decide whether to keep it or not. | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
The most likely outcome is enabling legislation that in needles | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
everything we have agreed with the EU into UK legislation and then this | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
Government and future governments at their leisure can what they want to | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
do. That is the most sensible approach and that is the most | :13:42. | :13:43. | |
sensible approach and that might been that in some areas some | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
legislation me get rid of, in other areas we strengthen. Whatever the | :13:48. | :13:50. | |
outcome this parliament makes sure that picks what is best for our | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
country. A lot of legislation has been agreed with 27, 28 other | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
states. Some of it may not be that applicable relevant to us but there | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
may be things that we want to improve standards in and as my | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
honourable friend made the point, our record on environmental, clean | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
air and everything else predates a lot of our joining the EU. Quite | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
often the Duke has been more vociferous in these areas than many | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
states of the European union. -- quite often the UK has been more | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
vociferous. The Queen air act was about stopping people burning things | :14:34. | :14:45. | |
in London -- bit clean air act says nothing about particulates because | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
diesel cars had not been invented. Things move on. Just because we are | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
out of the EU does not mean that we cannot make sensible decisions that | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
affect our citizens from things such as you suggest. My guess... I will | :15:01. | :15:10. | |
make progress. Essentially what we will have is enabling legislation | :15:11. | :15:12. | |
and we will deal with the consequences of Britain leaving in | :15:13. | :15:15. | |
terms of the detail of European directives that we have signed over | :15:16. | :15:20. | |
the years at our leisure, as governments determine priorities. I | :15:21. | :15:26. | |
want to move on and talk about energy. I am sure that when the | :15:27. | :15:33. | |
Right honourable lady was given her task the Prime Minister said do not | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
let the lights go out. Given that the capacity and the gathered and | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
the manned, that is probably her principal concern and her job, and | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
the principal concern of her predecessors, that we do not have | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
that situation. I am pleased with many things that the Government has | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
done but we have two increase capacity. While I disagree with the | :16:00. | :16:05. | |
comments from the SNP is that we need nuclear capacity as part of | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
that. Whether it is a good deal or a bad deal depends on crystal ball | :16:10. | :16:16. | |
gazing. All I predict is that prices go up and down and I do not know | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
when that happens. In the last Parliament the Labour Party had a | :16:24. | :16:26. | |
policy of freezing energy prices and when that policy was made by SIS | :16:27. | :16:36. | |
began to fall. Energy goes up and down and that is to do with the | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
market, it is not necessarily as being in the EU and I would also | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
caution joint long-term conclusions about what has happened in the | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
markets when it has only been two weeks and since we had a vote to | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
leave EU. Long-term interest rates have fallen, the pound has gone up | :16:54. | :16:56. | |
and condoned, markets have got up and gone down, there will be a bumpy | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
ride in the markets in the next couple of years, but we as a UK | :17:02. | :17:10. | |
Government has got to do our bit for increased capacity. That means | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
nuclear power, more gas, fracking, I know a lot of people do not like | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
fracking that it is a natural resource we have to make use of. It | :17:21. | :17:27. | |
was mentioned about running down coal fired power stations, I think | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
until we are certain that some of the investment is starting to kick | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
off I would be reluctant to close off some of that capacity because I | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
think it will be a challenge for us to keep the lights on in the future. | :17:39. | :17:45. | |
The problem is that we have in capacity are largely caused by not | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
that current Government or the Coalition Government but the | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
previous Labour Government which put off making decisions such as having | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
a White Paper on nuclear power and I welcome what the Coalition | :17:58. | :18:00. | |
Government and this Government has done but we really do need to | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
improve confidence and improve investment so that we have more | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
capacity in the energy market. I welcome a lot of what the Government | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
has done. There is no reason why this country should not be still at | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
the forefront of fighting environmental damage. I still think | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
that this country can provide lessons to the European union. I do | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
not believe our leading is going to be a disaster, I believe it is a | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
great opportunity for our country. We have to make it a success and I | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
am perfectly sure that this parliament is perfectly capable of | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
making decisions that benefit our citizens rather better than some of | :18:41. | :18:42. | |
those made within the EU. It is a pleasure to follow on from | :18:43. | :18:53. | |
the honourable gentleman. We have heard today that environmental | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
problems do not respect borders and I would like to posit an alternative | :18:59. | :19:04. | |
argument, which is that everything was pretty much OK, to say things | :19:05. | :19:12. | |
were not that OK and Britain's membership of the EU has been | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
instrumental in the UK's improvement of its air quality, of cleaning up | :19:17. | :19:23. | |
water elution, of our management of waste, protection and enhancement of | :19:24. | :19:30. | |
biodiversity and in giving us a global platform in which we can show | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
global leadership in tackling climate change. This year the | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
environmental audit committee, which I chair, carried out an inquiry into | :19:41. | :19:48. | |
the effects of that membership on UK environmental protection and we | :19:49. | :19:51. | |
heard from a variety of witnesses, from businesses, academics, | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
politicians and NGOs, and the overwhelming majority told our | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
committee that the environment was better protected as a result of our | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
EU membership. We don't have to look too far to find examples of this. In | :20:10. | :20:14. | |
the 1970s the Thames was biologically dead and it may not | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
like any cleaner from the Palace of Westminster than it did in the 70s | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
but it serves as a reminder of how EU membership has cleaned up our | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
environment. We can see seals, dolphins, I've yet to see one but I | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
think otters are now up in the high-end of the Thames, and this has | :20:35. | :20:41. | |
been repeated, this success story has been repeated up and down the | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
country as once dead rivers have been brought back to life, where | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
once it was dangerous to swim now it is safe for people and wildlife and | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
the EU legislation has cleaned up beaches and rivers because of that | :20:56. | :21:02. | |
water framework directive and the Marine strategy directives which | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
have encouraged us, and it hasn't been easy, and I've paid tribute to | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
the minister for Defra on this, to set out that ecological eat coherent | :21:12. | :21:18. | |
network of marine protection zones. I give way. Will my honourable | :21:19. | :21:26. | |
colleague agree that one of the things we found in the study was | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
that the European Union is a union which has minimum standards that are | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
ratcheted up and it doesn't allow individual members to under cut that | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
and as a platform across the globe for best practice? That is right and | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
the setting of minimum standards does not repent individual states | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
from going above without but it also provides that common baseline and a | :21:55. | :22:01. | |
harmonised market for products. That is absolutely crucial for UK | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
witnesses as we move forward into the uncertainties of a Brexit world. | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
EU membership has also been keen on our quality and successive | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
governments have dragged their feet on this difficult issue. Since 2010 | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
the UK has been in breach of EU air quality limits in 31 of its 43 error | :22:23. | :22:31. | |
zones, one of which is in Wakefield, I know London tends to get all the | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
attention and as a cyclist in London I am aware of high pollution but | :22:37. | :22:43. | |
areas like Wakefield with the motorways crossing by it have severe | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
burdens of vascular disease and lung disease as a result of breaching | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
these limits. EU legislation has allowed UK campaigners to hold the | :22:56. | :22:58. | |
Government to account, the High Court has ordered Defra ministers to | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
come up with new plans and in court they were backing allegations that | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
these plans are still insufficient to bring our quality into line with | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
EU standards, and there are questions about what will happen to | :23:15. | :23:18. | |
our standards in the new Brexit world. On biodiversity, the nature | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
directives have preserved some of the most treasured places, plants | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
and species in our country. Many of our best loved sites, Dartmoor, | :23:31. | :23:39. | |
Snowdonia, are protected via the EU. Thank keeper giving way. On that | :23:40. | :23:46. | |
issue of habitats direct is, would she agree that even if we do keep | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
that, as we hope the lead do, in legislation, we must make sure there | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
is proper enforcement because that is what the EU has given us and we | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
need to create a new enforcement mechanism that is as rigorous as | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
possible. I don't think anything can be guaranteed, the first step is to | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
hear from ministers, I wish the honourable gentleman well in | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
whatever future role he is called on to play in the Government and he has | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
been an excellent minister and appeared before us many times on the | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
committee, but I don't think anything should be taken for granted | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
because in my debates on the EU referendum campaign, I was a | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
passionate pro-remain, but there were different versions of Brexit | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
depending on who you were debating with, we had the member for Redruth | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
who was minister in the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, who | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
described the directives as spirit crushing and said if we voted to | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
leave they would go. Whether his version of events is the same as the | :24:59. | :25:04. | |
new Prime Minister's, we wait to see, but he also said he thought | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
leaving the EU would free up common agricultural payments, up to ?2 | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
billion for payments to farmers in, and I quote, insurance and | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
incentives for farmers. Nowhere do I hear about the need for protection | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
of species, protection of wildlife and plant life, words are vital | :25:25. | :25:31. | |
services provided by soils and bogs and the need for restoration of bogs | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
and influence, which is something an excellent report on soil that was | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
published a month ago recommended and which was echoed by the climate | :25:43. | :25:49. | |
change committee's report, which was published this morning. We have seen | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
otters, hen Harriers and it turns making a comeback and I think the | :25:56. | :26:00. | |
referendum result could put all this progress at risk. The EU has also | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
laid a key role in promoting investment in sustainable this is | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
technologies. Investors nuclear policy signals from strong | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
legislative frameworks, and those frameworks are provided by the | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
climate change act but our current inquiry into transport and Treasury | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
is finding some mixed messages coming from that on government and | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
especially the question I've posed to the Secretary of State under | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
carbon capture storage competition being cancelled, which has a | :26:37. | :26:43. | |
debilitating effect on investor confidence and we do not want to get | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
into a position where consumers aren't spending, investors aren't | :26:49. | :26:51. | |
investing, because that is disastrous for the economy and for | :26:52. | :26:59. | |
environmental progress. On waste, 20 years ago the UK sent almost all of | :27:00. | :27:07. | |
our household waste to landfill. Now we recycle almost 45% of household | :27:08. | :27:14. | |
waste, although I was disappointed to see those numbers dip last year. | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
The Treasury introduced the landfill tax escalator in response to the EU | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
than full directive and since then the waste and resources management | :27:26. | :27:28. | |
sector has invested five young pounds in new infrastructure over | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
the last five years thanks to this long-term policy signal and the | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
environmental services Association told our committee that. Those | :27:39. | :27:43. | |
policy signals are vital and we need to keep investing in infrastructure | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
if we are to make those 2020 waste targets. If they do still apply in | :27:50. | :27:59. | |
UK law. A set of the gin! To keep me going, that's better. A slice next | :28:00. | :28:07. | |
time, please. I want to conclude by saying a couple of things on Micro | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
plastics. We are concluding an inquiry into Micro plastics, tiny | :28:12. | :28:19. | |
particles of elastic that can come from larger particles of plastic | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
that are broken down or they can come in shaving foams, deodorants, | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
toothpastes, and facial scrubs, and it seems to be the higher end ones | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
that have not been cleaned up as quickly as the mass volume scrubs, | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
and we are finding they have washed down the sink, passed through | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
filtration systems and ended up in the sea, and if you have had half a | :28:44. | :28:51. | |
dozen oysters, you will have consumed 50 Micro plastic particles, | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
so for those of us who like seafood that is something to reflect on. Bon | :28:55. | :29:03. | |
appetit. Over a third of fish in the English Channel are contaminated | :29:04. | :29:07. | |
with Micro plastics, and as an island nation we have to take this | :29:08. | :29:13. | |
seriously, and the way to do that is to work with our partners in the EU. | :29:14. | :29:18. | |
That is what the member for Camborne and Redruth told our committee when | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
he gave evidence just before the referendum, so if the EU takes | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
action to address an environmental problem, it creates a level playing | :29:32. | :29:34. | |
field for businesses and creates an opportunity to market environmental | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
solutions. There are a whole series of questions now raised by Brexit, | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
the issue of the circular economy package, the EU's drive to get us to | :29:46. | :29:52. | |
reduce the waste and recycle more and have a secure sustainable supply | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
of raw materials, paper, glass or plastics, which would have driven | :29:58. | :30:04. | |
new green jobs in this UK economy and the decision to abandon this has | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
left investors reeling. We have heard from my honourable friend the | :30:08. | :30:13. | |
Shadow Secretary about the Siemens decision to freeze their investment | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
in that wind industry in Yorkshire and the Humber, and we face a | :30:19. | :30:26. | |
protracted period of uncertainty. The minister, when he appeared | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
before our committee, told us that a vote to leave would result in a long | :30:30. | :30:36. | |
and tortuous they juicy nation. That hasn't even begun yet. The period | :30:37. | :30:43. | |
ahead of us is fraught with risks. The UK risks not being regarded as a | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
safe bet, investors may no longer wish to invest their cash here, and | :30:49. | :30:55. | |
contracts now are no longer being signed in London because the risk of | :30:56. | :31:00. | |
London no longer being part of the European single market means people | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
want to sign their contracts in a European country so in the event | :31:06. | :31:09. | |
that something goes wrong, contract law will be enforceable across all | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
the countries of the EU, so it will have a very big effect on our | :31:16. | :31:21. | |
financial and legal services. I will give way. Could I ask whether she | :31:22. | :31:29. | |
agrees, in terms of the emerging recycling market across Europe, with | :31:30. | :31:34. | |
us possibly a sink tariffs and different regulations, it will mean | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
people will not invest in Britain but instead in Europe? That is the | :31:40. | :31:46. | |
point I was making, and when looking where to put new foreign direct | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
investment into the economy, they will look again and go to the area | :31:52. | :31:57. | |
of least risk, and those risks are being active now in the economy. We | :31:58. | :32:05. | |
found out in our report that the environment and the UK's membership | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
of the EU being a two-way street, it forced us to take action more | :32:12. | :32:16. | |
quickly on waste and water and also gave us a platform to project our | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
own values, especially in the area of climate change, and Lord born | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
told the committee the UK's voice was loader in Paris and I worry | :32:27. | :32:32. | |
about the global agreement received at Paris and perhaps damage to | :32:33. | :32:41. | |
achieving those climate change targets that withdrawing from the EU | :32:42. | :32:47. | |
could have. To conclude, in the 1970s the UK was the dirty man of | :32:48. | :32:51. | |
Europe and economically the sixth man of Europe. We have cleaner | :32:52. | :32:58. | |
beaches, we drive fuel efficient cars, we have more fuel efficient | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
vacuum cleaners and we can hold the Government to account on air | :33:03. | :33:08. | |
pollution. Environmental problems do not respect borders and they require | :33:09. | :33:10. | |
much longer term solutions then eight five-year term of government. | :33:11. | :33:17. | |
EU membership allowed the UK to be a world leader in tackling | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
environmental problems with our science base and our civil servants | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
to provide nuts and builds solution to these challenges and created | :33:27. | :33:33. | |
British with this as a world leader, whether retrofitting diesel buses in | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
China are helping the Indian government to water management for | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
the Ganges delta. These are services we can export proudly because we | :33:42. | :33:47. | |
have been cleaned in the EU and the result has caused political and | :33:48. | :33:53. | |
economic uncertainty and I hope we will get reassurances from the | :33:54. | :33:57. | |
Government about the threats it poses to our common home and the | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
actions any new government will take to make sure we leave a better | :34:03. | :34:03. | |
future for our children. I am very pleased to follow my | :34:04. | :34:13. | |
honourable friend and I have a great deal of the night before as the | :34:14. | :34:17. | |
chair of the Select Committee, but I would like to say aye would like to | :34:18. | :34:20. | |
be more positive about life post EU than she has been today. I am | :34:21. | :34:26. | |
pleased to speak on this important subject and I am pleased that the | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
opposition have brought this subject today, talking about the EU energy | :34:31. | :34:35. | |
and environmental implications post EU and the environment is something | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
we cannot avoid. It effects us all. The air we breathe, the water we | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
drink, the food we eat, the soil which produces it, the trees which | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
take in carbon dioxide. Absolutely every single thing we touch and it | :34:51. | :34:55. | |
is essential that we deliver policies that will determine that we | :34:56. | :35:00. | |
can go forward to having a healthy life and that all God's creatures | :35:01. | :35:05. | |
can have a healthy life as well. As has been said many times today, much | :35:06. | :35:10. | |
of our environmental legislation that we adhere to does stem from | :35:11. | :35:16. | |
Europe and, actually, yes, we have been instrumental in writing a lot | :35:17. | :35:22. | |
of it. The birds directive, the habitats directive, the bathing | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
water directive, the quality directive, but I did want to touch | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
on the something mentioned in the motion today which said that little | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
mention of environmental protection was made during the EU referendum | :35:36. | :35:42. | |
run-up. Actually, many people, me included and some of my honourable | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
colleagues, did refer to these areas of the environment, including many | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
from the environmental from Europe group. Interestingly, what I believe | :35:53. | :35:58. | |
happened, was that the media give it a little average. The statistics | :35:59. | :36:05. | |
show it only got 1.7% coverage in all media to do with the referendum | :36:06. | :36:12. | |
and, on television, how much coverage did it get? 0%. It wasn't | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
that people were talking about it, it just wasn't picked up. That is | :36:18. | :36:21. | |
one issue we face. When you talk about it, people engage with that. I | :36:22. | :36:28. | |
set up an environmental Forum to which I held a big debate about the | :36:29. | :36:35. | |
EU and the environment. It wasn't pro one side or the other but it was | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
a talking point. Over 100 people turned up to this event. It shows | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
people are interested. What we have got to do now is, we are where we | :36:45. | :36:48. | |
are, we are out of Europe and I believe we have to move forward | :36:49. | :36:52. | |
positively. I will just mention if you smoke concerns that have arisen | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
to show that we have some immediate problems to sort out, Minister. For | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
example, a number of Londoners have spoken to me you are about to sign | :37:03. | :37:09. | |
higher level stewardship contracts, protecting really precious bits of | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
our habitat and those are being held off. I would like some reassurance | :37:15. | :37:20. | |
about what will happen with those things. Where will the money come | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
from? What we don't want is to lose those wonderful bit of protective | :37:25. | :37:29. | |
habitat when people are waiting to see what happens. Similarly, with | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
other greening issues for farmers. We do not want to risk farmers being | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
forced to plough up field margins were edges were ponds because they | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
don't know what is happening with environmental protection money where | :37:44. | :37:46. | |
it is coming from. Some reassurance in the short term would go down | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
really well. We had to bear in mind that no one has mentioned farmers | :37:53. | :37:55. | |
and landowners but they own the land we are talking about. We have to | :37:56. | :38:02. | |
work with them. Likewise, fishermen. I have heard rumours, I don't know | :38:03. | :38:07. | |
if they are true, fishermen are ignoring money from marine | :38:08. | :38:09. | |
protection because they think it doesn't apply any more that we have | :38:10. | :38:12. | |
left Europe. Reassurance would be helpful. What now? I did mention we | :38:13. | :38:21. | |
should be positive in our approach and I see this as a real opportunity | :38:22. | :38:26. | |
to take ownership of the environment and to adopt the best systems that | :38:27. | :38:35. | |
will work for us. This is the time to start building more than ever | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
before and we have talked about it on the committee before, to build in | :38:41. | :38:43. | |
sustainability and to build in a healthy future and to think more | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
about how every single Department across government delivers on these | :38:49. | :38:53. | |
things. How infrastructure works when it is going through special | :38:54. | :38:57. | |
landscapes and injured trees, how our homes can be more sustainable | :38:58. | :39:01. | |
and we have touched on all of this and I am pleased the government is | :39:02. | :39:04. | |
undertaking an enquiry to look again at sustainable urban drainage | :39:05. | :39:11. | |
systems and, also, carbon efficiency and energy efficiency, but we needed | :39:12. | :39:17. | |
to build these in. Also, how to reduce flooding impact. The Defra | :39:18. | :39:20. | |
Select Committee is doing an enquiry and it will bring forward useful | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
ideas on how to build in resilience to flooding into our land-use plans | :39:26. | :39:29. | |
and this is the time to get these things in. I see it as a great | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
opportunity and how energy generation, how we can do more and | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
our low carbon energy generation and more on transport to have lower | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
emissions to reduce those error pollution statistics we have got. It | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
is all possible with clear land use planning and thought. I have talked | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
to lots of bodies already about these issues, from the RSPB to the | :39:53. | :39:59. | |
wetland trust, to the wetland trust for, to farmers and landowners. We | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
have to work with them and continue to support them if we are going to | :40:06. | :40:13. | |
deliver what we need. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, there are things I | :40:14. | :40:16. | |
would like to suggest we should consider. The EU legislation sets | :40:17. | :40:23. | |
are targets. This has been referred to by my honourable friend from | :40:24. | :40:26. | |
Wakefield on error pollution in particular and water pollution. It | :40:27. | :40:33. | |
is the EU legislation which others to account, said last targets and | :40:34. | :40:36. | |
then took us to task if we didn't take those targets. We must ensure | :40:37. | :40:42. | |
that, going forward, we set targets and that we have a system of | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
checking and we have a system of reporting and, I suggest annually, | :40:48. | :40:53. | |
on how we are doing. I would very much urge that we do not lower our | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
quality standards for our water quality standards. We have heard the | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
shocking statistics that 50,000 people are dying every year from the | :41:04. | :41:07. | |
pollution related diseases. We would be crazy to the word those | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
standards. I am sure you are listening on that, Minister. A new | :41:13. | :41:16. | |
thoughts on how to progress. They have been referred to by other | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
members, but let's take those relevant EU directives, transpose | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
them into UK law and amend them as we think that as we go on, but let's | :41:27. | :41:32. | |
at least have them. Let's ensure we have the special areas of | :41:33. | :41:35. | |
conservation and let the war on the world stage. We need to do more | :41:36. | :41:40. | |
error, increase our global influence with bodies like the UN and the | :41:41. | :41:44. | |
OECD, the animal welfare legislation is important and we need to stay | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
part of nature 2000. I know and I applaud the fact that the Defra has | :41:51. | :41:57. | |
been working away on its, I won't seek elusive, it's 25 year plans for | :41:58. | :42:02. | |
farming and the environment, which is excellent, but let's see those | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
plans as soon as possible, but make sure the environment is absolutely | :42:08. | :42:10. | |
inextricably interwoven with those farming production targets. This is | :42:11. | :42:16. | |
a great opportunity, that make greening slightly less complicated | :42:17. | :42:20. | |
for the farmers, Minister, because I know most farmers are keen to | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
undertake greening aspects. Some of the forms they have to fill out and | :42:27. | :42:29. | |
the demands are torturously complicated, to the point, and I | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
only heard this this morning from my barn owl expert who works with | :42:34. | :42:36. | |
farmers in the south-west, some are thinking of not bothering in future | :42:37. | :42:42. | |
if we cannot simplify it a bit to deliver what we need to put make it | :42:43. | :42:47. | |
easy to do. Let's get in the soil monitoring while we are rewriting | :42:48. | :42:51. | |
the plans and recognise that soil is an ecosystem and not just a growing | :42:52. | :42:59. | |
medium to be abused. Let's deal with the circular economy, Minister. The | :43:00. | :43:04. | |
effort suggests it could bring in a ?22 billion of savings, let's have a | :43:05. | :43:07. | |
look at how it can and build all that in. So, subsidies, I reiterate, | :43:08. | :43:15. | |
they will happen to be part of the system but let's work out how they | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
are placed on our landowners and farmers and I suggest, Minister, | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
that they are not just based on land ownership, but the farmers and | :43:25. | :43:27. | |
landowners have to deliver something for it in terms of green services, | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
whether it is a good production for whatever, but they must deliver for | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
it and potentially caps should be put on so if you have 3000 makers | :43:37. | :43:40. | |
producing parable, is it right that you clock in so why not have a cab | :43:41. | :43:45. | |
so that everything is on a level playing field? I know farmers and | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
landowners are discussing this countrywide. Heino environmental | :43:52. | :43:55. | |
organisations are discussing this. Let's put all their findings | :43:56. | :43:59. | |
together and build them in to our forward-thinking plan and, finally, | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
Madam Deputy Speaker, I will touch on energy because it is in the | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
motion. I am pleased that the Secretary of State has committed to | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
delivering secure, affordable, clean energy and I welcome the system | :44:14. | :44:16. | |
which is enabling consumers to switch to lower cost energy, to help | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
with bills. I really have welcomed the commitment to lead on climate | :44:24. | :44:26. | |
change. It has been referred to by many honourable colleagues today and | :44:27. | :44:33. | |
the early ratification and I reiterate decreases for that climate | :44:34. | :44:35. | |
change system which had the honourable member from Aberdeen | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
referred to. We are all together on that. This government has committed | :44:40. | :44:46. | |
to low carbon energy. It is phasing out: and it is committed to nuclear | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
and I will touch on nuclear. The south-west is pressing ahead with | :44:52. | :44:54. | |
its commitment for Hinkley point. This is a crucial part of our | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
economy, it can deliver 7% of our energy and I welcome the government | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
involvement in establishing the National College for nuclear and | :45:05. | :45:07. | |
there is a big spin off there in Somerset at Bridgwater College which | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
is just linking up with by Somerset College in my constituency. That is | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
swanning not only the ingenious but it is one of the new skills we will | :45:16. | :45:20. | |
need to move forward in this low carbon energy sector which has got | :45:21. | :45:24. | |
to be part of our brave new world. To conclude, let's not be negative | :45:25. | :45:28. | |
about any of this, government must listen and I am sure they are. We | :45:29. | :45:33. | |
must link farming with the environment very closely fought the | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
good of the nation, to deliver for the environment, to deliver for us | :45:38. | :45:41. | |
all in terms of health and well-being and in life chances going | :45:42. | :45:51. | |
forward. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker for graciously allowing me | :45:52. | :45:54. | |
to Mick McGiven speech in this really important debate. I am deeply | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
honoured to be standing here in this chamber as the new member of | :46:00. | :46:05. | |
Parliament for tooting. When I think about this chamber's long and proud | :46:06. | :46:09. | |
history, the men and women who have sat here before me and all they have | :46:10. | :46:15. | |
achieved, I feel humbled. Clement Attlee, now Bevan, very recently Jo | :46:16. | :46:22. | |
Cox. But to name a few. I am also reminded of the vast | :46:23. | :46:25. | |
responsibilities that we, in this chamber, are entrusted with and over | :46:26. | :46:29. | |
the coming years and the magnitude of what we must now achieve for our | :46:30. | :46:34. | |
country. I would like to talk a little bit about this task and about | :46:35. | :46:37. | |
the mindset with which we should approach it. First of all, I would | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
like to talk about where I come from. It is hard for me to | :46:42. | :46:48. | |
adequately express my gratitude to the people of tooting for putting | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
their trust in me. During my campaign, I said I would be a | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
passionate, energetic and tireless representative for absolutely | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
everyone in my constituency. It is with that promise that I intended to | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
serve. Just two months ago, I was working day and night on the front | :47:08. | :47:11. | |
line of the NHS as an emergency doctor in A Now I find myself | :47:12. | :47:15. | |
wandering the corridors of Westminster, grappling with vast | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
piles of booklets and mistaking offices for Lady's rooms. It has | :47:20. | :47:26. | |
happened. It was a piece of good news which set me on the journey I | :47:27. | :47:29. | |
am here today and that is the election of our new Mayor of London, | :47:30. | :47:36. | |
my good friend, city can. He had the largest personal mandate in British | :47:37. | :47:42. | |
personal history. From the first time I met Sadik, it was clear to me | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
he was destined for greatness. When I became a councillor, he took the | :47:47. | :47:49. | |
time to offer me support and guidance as he remembered well what | :47:50. | :47:53. | |
it was like to suddenly find yourself in the responsibilities of | :47:54. | :47:57. | |
elected office. He spent 11 years working tirelessly for the people of | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
tooting. His commitment to equality, justice and inclusivity is | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
inspirational. Whether he is celebrating International women's | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
Day year after year, breaking bread with every religious community were | :48:12. | :48:14. | |
talking to children about how they can achieve no matter what their | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
background, his interactions are always warm and very welcoming. He | :48:20. | :48:24. | |
truly believes in the power of people and communities and has shown | :48:25. | :48:27. | |
that throughout his time representing tooting and now, the | :48:28. | :48:31. | |
great City of London. He has made improving the environment a top | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
priority in City Hall and has started tackling the important issue | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
of air quality in London. This debate gives us an opportunity again | :48:41. | :48:43. | |
to see what the difference we can make in the House when we get | :48:44. | :48:47. | |
legislation right. Legislation like the clean air Act of 1956, past 60 | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
years ago, following the London smogs of the 1950s. | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
I will endeavour to build on Sadiq's fine legacy. His shoes are big to | :48:58. | :49:06. | |
fail but I have the benefit of much higher shoes to help! We share a lot | :49:07. | :49:14. | |
in our history is an art characters, our surname, a love of football, a | :49:15. | :49:21. | |
keen interest in boxing, and perhaps most importantly we are children of | :49:22. | :49:28. | |
Tooting, now choosing to raise our families in the streets where we | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
grew up. We have one important difference, my dad was not a bus | :49:33. | :49:39. | |
driver. However, my mum did work in a local Vettel 's Haitian and | :49:40. | :49:44. | |
perhaps Sadiq's father fills up his bus there. As a Tooting girl, I | :49:45. | :49:52. | |
never liked when people say Tooting is becoming a fantastic place to | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
live, anyone who has lived there knows it has always been great. The | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
green open spaces, the iconic market and the lido opened for residents to | :50:03. | :50:10. | |
swim out doors for 110 years. There has always been a rich tapestry of | :50:11. | :50:15. | |
communities living harmoniously and that unity should be celebrated and | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
I will defend it with every fibre of my being. That unity is woven into | :50:21. | :50:27. | |
me, an essential part of who I am. When people ask me where I am from, | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
I say I am half Polish, half Pakistani, raised in England, | :50:34. | :50:38. | |
married a Welshman and I am 100% Tooting! What binds us to gather, in | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
Tooting and across the country it is a sense of common purpose. The | :50:46. | :50:52. | |
selflessness that drives community groups binds us together. Many local | :50:53. | :50:58. | |
businesses not only fuel are thriving economy but bind us | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
together. Saint Georges Hospital and our NHS, where everyone is treated | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
with equal concern is based on their need binds us together. In these | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
fragile times we should never forget the charities, businesses and | :51:15. | :51:20. | |
national in situations are important not only because they provide a | :51:21. | :51:23. | |
service that because they've wind us together. As local residents and as | :51:24. | :51:31. | |
Schumann being is. Why am I see? Life wasn't easy growing up but I | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
always had the bedrock that was the love and support of my mum Maria. | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
Even in the face of adversity she was on her own, a single mum but | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
like a small army Shari my brother and me with praise, providing a | :51:48. | :51:52. | |
sense of possibility. She gave me hope, showing us that even people | :51:53. | :51:57. | |
from our background can achieve anything with hard work. She | :51:58. | :52:04. | |
instilled in me determination to help others who have seen hardship | :52:05. | :52:09. | |
and to fight for social justice. But I am also here because of Labour. My | :52:10. | :52:14. | |
dream of becoming a doctor became a reality not just due to hard work | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
but because a Labour government made it financially possible for me to | :52:21. | :52:24. | |
access a world-class medical school at Cambridge. That is one reason why | :52:25. | :52:30. | |
my ambition will always be for Labour to win Palmer, not just to | :52:31. | :52:35. | |
sit in opposition. I've served in an ice cream shop, fried eggs at a | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
hotel, but my proudest job is being a wife and a mother. My heart first | :52:42. | :52:46. | |
with the love I have for my husband and my two young daughters, aged | :52:47. | :52:53. | |
three and just one. They are an immense source of strength for me | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
and will continue to be so. We must now all look to those coming years. | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
They will be turbulent and challenging and in the history will | :53:05. | :53:10. | |
be made. This House will be responsible for shaping Britain's | :53:11. | :53:16. | |
future by hiding and providing accountability for the most | :53:17. | :53:18. | |
important negotiations are country has seen for decades. Important and | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
a questions will be asked about who we are and who we want to be, about | :53:25. | :53:30. | |
the legacy we leave the next generation and generations after | :53:31. | :53:34. | |
that, about the relationships we want to have with our friends across | :53:35. | :53:38. | |
the world. Britain has always been an looking country, one that doesn't | :53:39. | :53:43. | |
shy away from challenges that face us. My experience as a doctor and | :53:44. | :53:49. | |
all over the world has taught me a lot about those challenges. I have | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
lived and worked in squalid refugee camps, pulled dead bodies out of | :53:55. | :53:59. | |
floodwater, watched children suffer as victims of war. I have witnessed | :54:00. | :54:09. | |
aching, 18 suffering. My commitment is to be a voice for those who have | :54:10. | :54:12. | |
none, to find hope for those who have lost it, to build strength for | :54:13. | :54:19. | |
those who are we, regardless of race or socio economic status, we all | :54:20. | :54:25. | |
bleed, grieve and feel pain. The sound of a parent losing a child is | :54:26. | :54:31. | |
an international language. It is tragically a sound that is | :54:32. | :54:34. | |
increasingly common in unstable world. We live in a time of | :54:35. | :54:40. | |
insecurity and change without parallel in recent history. Europe | :54:41. | :54:47. | |
is in flux, the Middle East is in crisis, the axis of global power is | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
shifting, old certainties no longer seem so certain. It's too easy to | :54:52. | :54:56. | |
write off calls for international social justice as irrelevant when we | :54:57. | :55:01. | |
ourselves live in such an uncertain times. We have so much to do here, | :55:02. | :55:10. | |
why should we think about overseas? That is to misunderstand what social | :55:11. | :55:14. | |
justice is about. It is not just a gold to be ranked in relation to | :55:15. | :55:21. | |
other goals, it is about who we are. It applies to everything we do, | :55:22. | :55:26. | |
whether protecting our NHS, protecting workers' rights were | :55:27. | :55:30. | |
working to seek peace in Syria and Yemen. Everywhere I looked there is | :55:31. | :55:38. | |
work to do. Here at home, I pledge to bring my years of experience in, | :55:39. | :55:43. | |
a deep commitment to the NHS to stand up for it. I could not be | :55:44. | :55:49. | |
proud of my NHS colleagues. At St George's Hospital and elsewhere, | :55:50. | :55:53. | |
they worked day and night with little thanks, anyone who has worked | :55:54. | :55:59. | |
in the NHS or in any of emergency services knows that feeling of | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
leaving behind the comfort of home day after day, night after night, | :56:04. | :56:11. | |
selflessly to work gruelling hours in difficult circumstances, serving | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
the communities they love. I will work to protect them from the | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
taxpayer under. Our NHS staff see work as a vocation, not as a job. | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
This is why they have been so damaged by the recent mishandling of | :56:27. | :56:31. | |
the junior doctors contract and white nurses are distraught when | :56:32. | :56:34. | |
they see their bursaries axed. -- axed. It is reprehensible that | :56:35. | :56:41. | |
students are forced to seek food banks or that nurses are penalised | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
for having children. I have already asked two questions in my short time | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
in this House and I will not stop asking until I get satisfactory | :56:52. | :56:56. | |
answers. In these times, who knows how long I may be sitting here? | :56:57. | :57:04. | |
What I do know and can tell you is that I will make every single | :57:05. | :57:13. | |
minute, every single day, count for the people of Tooting and four Great | :57:14. | :57:14. | |
Britain. Thank you. What an absolutely fantastic, | :57:15. | :57:29. | |
brilliant maiden speech we have just heard from the member for Tooting. | :57:30. | :57:35. | |
I've served in this House 14 times and that is the best maiden speech I | :57:36. | :57:40. | |
have ever heard. It was eloquent, moving, witty, it talked about | :57:41. | :57:46. | |
Tooting, about history, where we are and where we're going. The member | :57:47. | :57:52. | |
for Tooting is a credit to Tooting, a credit to her family and I know | :57:53. | :57:58. | |
her mother is here, as is her brother, her best friend and her | :57:59. | :58:02. | |
husband, who I'm very pleased to hear is from Neath and I hope to | :58:03. | :58:09. | |
share an ice cream later in the summer if all goes well, and | :58:10. | :58:17. | |
supporters in the gallery. I will be mentioning the Mayor of London. It's | :58:18. | :58:23. | |
fantastic to hear about Tooting and it is great to have the Mayor of | :58:24. | :58:29. | |
London back with us today because this debate is about the | :58:30. | :58:34. | |
environment, our concerns as we break free from Europe that we will | :58:35. | :58:39. | |
know longer have a mandatory standards over air quality and I am | :58:40. | :58:44. | |
proud that Siddique can has now made headway after two terms of indolence | :58:45. | :58:51. | |
from the previous mayor in terms of air quality, in terms of moving | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
forward in this direction because after all, we have heard that in | :58:57. | :59:04. | |
London alone there is something like 9500 premature deaths from air | :59:05. | :59:10. | |
pollution, largely from diesel cars, the Royal College of Physicians that | :59:11. | :59:14. | |
the number is 40,000 across Britain, lung disease, heart disease, | :59:15. | :59:19. | |
premature strokes, problems for children, whether or not they are in | :59:20. | :59:25. | |
the classroom or the womb, so I am pleased that Sadiq Khan, I was with | :59:26. | :59:30. | |
him last week when he launched his new air quality standards on the | :59:31. | :59:35. | |
60th anniversary of the clean air act, I look forward to low emissions | :59:36. | :59:40. | |
coming forward with the new technology, and there is new | :59:41. | :59:46. | |
technology from America that can use lasers to counter the amount of | :59:47. | :59:53. | |
emissions for each car and set standards for that. One of my real | :59:54. | :59:58. | |
concerns about this debate is that there will be no mandatory standards | :59:59. | :00:08. | |
enforceable in the courts. I am glad to see planet Earth taking the | :00:09. | :00:11. | |
Government to court to make sure we deliver those standards, because the | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
fact they have to take them to court shows that left to our own devices | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
we are in danger of going back to being the dirty man of Europe, the | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
embarrassing situation we faced before. The world health | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
organisation has standards but they are not enforceable and I hope to | :00:33. | :00:40. | |
hear that in not just air quality standards we will honour our | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
commitments, we have the responsibility to make future laws | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
ourselves but unless the integrated we will not work as a platform to | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
make the world more sustainable. I'm grateful to him, he has touched off | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
an important issue in respect of the fines that are to be levied in | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
respect of breaches of air quality standards. Does he think there is a | :01:06. | :01:12. | |
important job to be done here in terms of joined up government | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
because we hear the British Government will pass the fines down | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
to local government, who are also controlled by central government and | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
housing targets, which means in one hand they have to approve new | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
developments in areas of their towns and cities that are suffering from | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
poor air quality, and at the same time the Government are passing the | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
fines down to them. I think that is a concern. I've put forward an air | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
quality built, the idea being to give more of our two local | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
authorities with the support of government to bring forward more air | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
quality concerns, more testing, encouraged trams and electric driven | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
systems and not just having a series of zones where we have to reach | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
minimum standards but having air quality approved for all people | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
across our nation, and we don't want the Government passing the buck and | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
reverting to becoming the dirty man of Europe. We have got a lot of them | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
are fats from being in Europe. In Swansea West we have beautiful | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
beaches, we don't want to revert to having the old Hightower beaches of | :02:35. | :02:44. | |
the past. We have a situation with environmental innovation being | :02:45. | :02:46. | |
shared across Europe, you're in danger of risking that, we work | :02:47. | :02:53. | |
world leaders for Kyoto, across Europe, we were leaders in Britain | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
for the nomination of CFCs and closing the hole in the ozone there. | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
We don't want to miss those chances but we are likely to do so. Today | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
the climate change committee had a meeting where they talked about the | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
latest Rob Evans with adaptation in terms of climate change, what we | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
have to do in terms of flooding, changes in biodiversity, health and | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
food, challenges we need to face together and I hope to hear | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
reassurances from the minister that we will work together, not just | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
float off on our own and become worse environmentally. We face | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
challenges from Gtech, the trade negotiations between the EU and the | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
US, and now we are leaving we will find we cannot veto or influenced | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
those negotiations, we will just be a bystander and have to live I those | :03:54. | :04:00. | |
rules, which do not protect the environment in relation to | :04:01. | :04:03. | |
investors, so we run the risk of being fined by fracking companies, | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
as we have seen in the Lone Pine in Canada, hundreds of millions of | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
pounds, there was a moratorium on fracking in crop that, I did not | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
want to see that happen in Wales or Scotland or elsewhere when these | :04:20. | :04:22. | |
companies are given the open door. I am rapporteur for Tito and | :04:23. | :04:37. | |
fracking. I hope the advice will be taken by the government. People have | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
mentioned the issues of the environmental audit committee. I am | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
a member of that. We have said that, working together with Europe has to | :04:49. | :04:55. | |
be good for standards. What we don't want to see is undercutting other | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
countries for competitive reasons on the environment which will bring | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
everybody down. In terms of climate change, in Paris, it was agreed we | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
would have a target for our water temperature is not to go up more | :05:11. | :05:20. | |
than 2%. We have already moved 1 degrees up and on the basis of CO2 | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
in the pipeline, it is calculated that we are at 1.5% up, which is the | :05:26. | :05:33. | |
Paris aspiration. It means we need to move toward zero carbon | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
technology and zero carbon and shamefully, the government, even | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
before leaving Europe, has abandoned its aspirations and plans for carbon | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
capture. I am really concerned as an environmentalist that we will not | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
just become the dirty man of Europe, but we will start playing dirty to | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
reduce standards to attract jobs as we face tariffs as one of the | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
inevitable consequences of the Brexit boat. I will be putting down | :06:03. | :06:13. | |
a Bill tomorrow. It will give the opportunity for the government to | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
sign up to say we will keep the current standards so we won't sink | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
backwards as the EU is moving forward. I hope that would be | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
agreed. It is with great regret that we voted for Brexit. I hope we will | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
have a second referendum on the exit package so people precisely know | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
what they are voting for and if it doesn't deliver the reasonable | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
expectations, they'll have the option to default back to recover | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
membership of the EU again. We will see how it goes. People are shaking | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
their heads but I don't think we should continue to work into what | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
may be an environmental disaster. Finally, I would like to once more | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
say what a fantastic speech from The Member For tooting. From this side, | :06:59. | :07:07. | |
can I say what a pleasure it was to hear from the new member, she given | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
excellent speech in terms of content and delivery. My son is a junior | :07:12. | :07:18. | |
hospital doctor and I know how hard doctors work and for me I would like | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
to say that we need more scientists and doctors in the House of Commons | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
and, for that reason, she is welcome. Congratulations. Madam | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
Deputy Speaker, the implication of the opposition Day motion here is | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
that, somehow, we are leaving the EU and as a result of that, as we have | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
heard, we will become the dirty man of Europe, but somehow, without the | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
cloud hand of European legislation, we will go back to our dirty ways. I | :07:47. | :07:54. | |
am going to talk about climate change policy and in particular I | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
will talk about how far ahead in climate change policy we are to the | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
rest of the EU, which is causing an increasing difficulty the world in | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
terms of how slow Europe is being. Where people are right is that | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
environmental protection and policy is something that is cross-border. | :08:13. | :08:20. | |
We are 1.3% of global emissions. Since 1990, the UK has decreased | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
carbon emissions by 28%. The EU has decreased carbon emissions by 21%. | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
That is including our 28, so the rest of them have done a bit worse. | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
That isn't a disaster. What is extraordinary is the variability | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
within different countries in Europe in terms of performance on carbon | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
emissions since 1990. Austria has increased emissions by 14%. Ireland | :08:46. | :08:52. | |
by 7%. Poland by 14%, Germany has decreased, but nothing like as much | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
as asked. It is quite bizarre, because people talk about countries | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
like China as being the issue in terms of emissions. The reality is | :09:02. | :09:04. | |
that the Chinese are taking the whole issue a great deal more | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
seriously than a number of OECD countries. China has 40 to 50 | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
nuclear power stations under construction. It increased its | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
proportion of energy from nuclear by 30% last year, but 20% for | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
renewables. A huge amount of effort. The truth is, where the issue | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
exists... Thank you for giving way. I take his point that China are | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
making commendable progress in respect of nuclear construction, but | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
inset is not the case that, along with India, they are constructing | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
property several thousand coal-fired power stations and the argument, as | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
well put by the Prime Minister of India stated, why should we come to | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
the banquet, have only a dessert and be presented with the Bill? I have a | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
lot of sympathy for that argument and that is why we have had to cut | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
more slack for developing countries. I will come on to talk about coal. | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
The Secretary of State in November said we were going to phase out coal | :10:06. | :10:12. | |
by 2020 -- 2025. The following week, Germany commissioned a lignite | :10:13. | :10:19. | |
burning coal power station. That sort of behaviour plays to the point | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
just made by the member from the Scottish National Party that it is | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
very hard to lecture the Indians and the Chinese on hold when there are | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
countries in Europe, in this year, commissioning brand new coal power | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
stations. I want to come on and talk about Paris. We have talked about | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
how important Paris is. The member who spoke before me the point that | :10:45. | :10:49. | |
we might well be close to one and half percent annually. It is a | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
statistical model and it is hard to tell that but the facts are that the | :10:54. | :11:04. | |
IM DC, the EU made a commitment like something like half as owner is in | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
terms of decarbonisation as the climate change Act is requiring us | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
to do within the UK. We will reduce emissions by 57% in 2030. The | :11:14. | :11:22. | |
European offering, the EU offering, was a 40% reduction in which | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
includes the 57% from the UK. We are seeing the result of this. Last | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
year, carbon emissions across the EU as a whole increased by 9.7%. That | :11:34. | :11:40. | |
is only one year. This isn't a thing you can look at one year at a time. | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
18 of the 28 countries within the EU either had no decrease in emissions | :11:46. | :11:55. | |
for an increase. In that same time the UK reduced by about 3%. One of | :11:56. | :12:03. | |
the courses, I will talk more widely about why I think the EU has lost | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
its way on climate policy, but there is a fixation around: in the EU. | :12:08. | :12:15. | |
Germany is often regarded as being a leader in renewables and they are. | :12:16. | :12:18. | |
They have more renewables than we do, but they also have much higher | :12:19. | :12:20. | |
carbon emissions than we have and carbon emissions than we have and | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
the reason is because of the code they use. They use four times as | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
much coal as the UK. They are four times more populous. Other countries | :12:31. | :12:35. | |
are at the same. Does this matter? Perhaps not in one sense, someone | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
has got to need and it is us, but if you look online you will see that | :12:41. | :12:49. | |
the UK for domestic consumers are something like 50% higher than the | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
EU average. Our gas prices are not. Our industrial prices are about 80% | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
higher. That matters because I come from a constituency in the north of | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
England where we manufacture things and it is very hard to talk about | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
rebalancing our economy, very hard to talk about the northern | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
Powerhouse on the back of differentially high energy prices. I | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
just want to make a viewpoint about why it is that I think the EU have | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
taken the position they have. As to why it is that the policy objectives | :13:20. | :13:22. | |
of reducing carbon have not been realised. The first error which was | :13:23. | :13:28. | |
made, this is the clue, there was confusion as to the target. A lot of | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
the early EU directives about renewables, they were not about | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
decarbonisation, which is a secondary target. The consequence is | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
that cc gas, which we have talked about, was not emphasised. Gas was | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
not emphasised as a transition and nuclear was not emphasised. The | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
biggest omission, 30% of EU electricity, comes from nuclear and | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
the fact that isn't even regarded as part of the solution is quite | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
bizarre. Two or three speeches have talked about Sisi S. It is true that | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
the UK is not pushing ahead here. To say that this is an european issue | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
when a number of countries, Germany for example have banned, not just | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
not developing at, really the disbelief. Plus the other error I | :14:24. | :14:32. | |
think you have made is a general parity between different types of | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
fossil fuels. The fact is that coal and gas are very different indeed in | :14:37. | :14:43. | |
terms of the materiality. One of the reasons that the UK does a lot | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
better than the EU is the amount of gas use and the way we have | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
displaced coal with gas. A statistics I like to call is this, | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
if the woodwork to replace all the code we currently with gas, that | :14:57. | :15:04. | |
would be equivalent of five times, a factor of 500%, more renewables and | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
pretend that isn't part of the solution is just plain wrong. One of | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
the reasons people regarded as not being part of the solution is that | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
there has been an error between a pathway that at some point we need | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
to get to an emissions level Leo that afforded by gas emissions | :15:24. | :15:30. | |
accumulative. The member who spoke before me from Swansea, I beg your | :15:31. | :15:39. | |
pardon, talked about the fact that we might be close to one and half | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
percent in terms of particulates and that is true. It is accumulative | :15:44. | :15:49. | |
effect. Carbon doesn't go out of the atmosphere up until after a long | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
period of time. It is not just about pathway. For that reason, gas should | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
have been more of a factor in this than it has been. The fourth thing | :15:59. | :16:06. | |
is... On the related matter, isn't he is concerned as I am about | :16:07. | :16:13. | |
leakages of methane from fracking, which are 5%, given that meeting is | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
83 times worse than CO2 in global warming? First of all, I recognise | :16:18. | :16:26. | |
the issue he raises, that methane released from fracking at that level | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
would represent a threat. I don't think that is the case in the United | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
States of America, but I am prepared to be corrected. I don't think | :16:36. | :16:38. | |
anything like that amount of methane is being emitted by fracking in the | :16:39. | :16:47. | |
United States. I really don't. I can provide him with the satellite | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
evidence of this. It is between three and did percent and the best | :16:52. | :16:55. | |
judgment is 5%, which makes it two and a half times worse than coal in | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
terms of global warming. If that was true, it would apply to fractal gas | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
only. Most of our gas comes from Norway and Russia. That said, there | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
have been papers written about the motive methane that emotive Wales | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
and I don't think the evidence is quite as the honourable gentleman | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
said but we should leave it at that for now. We will have a coffee | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
afterwards. The other thing that wasn't done was that the EU has no | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
price of carbon. The emission trading system that was put into | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
pace was an attempt to put into pace a price for carbon because of the | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
recession, carbon permits became very cheap indeed and they begin | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
publishing at all. We then established a for price. The EU | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
Parliament, the parliament in Brussels, debated this, it was | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
clocked by MPs from Germany in particular and there is no price for | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
carbon within the EU which would have fixed some of this. The result | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
of all of this is a policy that overly emphasises renewables as a | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
solution without taking into account some of the other things we could be | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
doing like nuclear, like CCS, like displacement of coal with gas. We | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
see the result in Germany. A country that has very high renewables, but | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
also has very high carbon emissions. Germany has something like 15% now | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
of its total energy coming from renewables, 30% of its electricity | :18:32. | :18:34. | |
coming from renewables, but because of the amount of coal producers, | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
carbon emissions are a third higher GDP than the UK and a third higher | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
per capita than the UK. There is an issue with is leaving the EU. It is | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
not an issue of us learning from the EU about how to reduce carbon | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
emissions, it is an issue of them not being held to account for the | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
level of emissions that many of those countries are | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
If Brexit has a downside in terms of environmental policy, it is that the | :19:05. | :19:12. | |
leadership did you say has been able to, perhaps unsuccessfully, | :19:13. | :19:18. | |
demonstrate to the EU about climate targets will not be as evident in | :19:19. | :19:26. | |
the future. Thank you, Madam deputies weaker, it is a pleasure to | :19:27. | :19:32. | |
see you in the chair. It was frustrating to me that the | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
environment received so that'll add tension during the referendum | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
campaign, despite the best efforts of my other members of the | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
cross-party environmentalists for Europe. It seems a lifetime ago I | :19:45. | :19:55. | |
was stood on the windswept beach in Hove as Stanley Johnson, the member | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
of the honourable father 's of Orpington, exhorted people to remain | :20:03. | :20:08. | |
for nature. Brighton and Hove voted to remain, and I'm sure it was down | :20:09. | :20:15. | |
to our efforts that day. The public voted narrowly for Brexit, although | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
I did not believe they voted to remove the environmental protections | :20:21. | :20:22. | |
that have served us well over the years. There is much that is good | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
that has flowed from our EU membership. Britain was once the | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
dirty man of Europe, we used to worry about acid rain but our | :20:33. | :20:41. | |
software dioxide emissions fell between 1990 and 2010, thanks to EU | :20:42. | :20:49. | |
direct those, the band on the petrol and the requirement for catalytic | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
converters in cars. I'm grateful to my honourable friend, as I represent | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
a constituency that has an air quality management area, she will | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
know there is a public health issue in respect of obtaining clean air. | :21:05. | :21:11. | |
Does she think it is incumbent on the Government to make sure we | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
tackle the air quality issue so we never those health inequalities that | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
are endemic inconsistencies like mine? I agree, 60 years on from the | :21:21. | :21:29. | |
Clean Air Act it is clear that many open areas are suffering greatly | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
from Eric elution. It is an issue of social justice as it tends to be her | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
people in poorer communities that are most affect it, and whether we | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
are in the EU work out, we need further action. It is hard to | :21:47. | :21:52. | |
believe we used to allow untreated sewage to flow into our seas before | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
the EU force the UK have meant to make our water is fit for swimming | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
in and to test for back carrier like E. Coli. In 1990 just 27% of an | :22:02. | :22:08. | |
bathing waters met minimum standards, by 2014 99% complied. The | :22:09. | :22:19. | |
US required us to recycle 50% of household waste by 2020, although it | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
looks as if the UK is moving slightly upwards in its progress | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
towards recycling targets and that needs to be halted. We also have | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
nature direct the risk protecting our most threatened habitats, with | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
beauty spots like Ben never stand the Brecon Beacons designated for | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
protection. There is a lot of uncertainty and I am clean to hear | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
indications from the minister as to what are negotiated stance will be, | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
and reassurance about the importance of such protections. I understand if | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
the UK were to negotiate membership of the EEA, most legislation would | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
continue to apply, including legislation covering chemicals and | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
waste management but not bathing waters or bird protection. Outside | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
the EEA, most legislation would cease to comply, except where | :23:24. | :23:32. | |
companies were importing to the EU. Many EU directives have been | :23:33. | :23:35. | |
transposed into UK law under arts other than that European communities | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
act on this legislation would continue to apply until changed by | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
Parliament. The EU regulations would present aid from problem for the | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
garden -- the Government, as these could cease to apply. We need a | :23:53. | :23:57. | |
cover or that of clear guidance to be given to the Hub, who felt | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
through the referendum campaign that they did not have the information | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
needed to make the decision in front of them. We need clear guidance as | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
to what attractions could be under threat in each scenario before they | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
decide which of these scenarios the order to support, and we need to | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
know what the Government intends in each case. There are doubts about | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
Defra's capacity to do this. The department was underprepared for a | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
Brexit result, the Secretary of State said there was no fan be. The | :24:35. | :24:42. | |
Chancellor last night and then set a cut of 15% for this Parliament, | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
Defra and its agencies have launched a quarter of its staff, and I hope | :24:47. | :24:51. | |
the minister can now tell us how the department will untangle EU | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
directives went it does not have sufficient staff or even its day | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
work. I urge the Government to bring in experts from outside Parliament | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
who are already gathering I'd is an meeting and trying to collate a | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
strategy for how we should now proceed, for example Professor Tim | :25:12. | :25:18. | |
Lang. We also need to know which civil servants from Defra will take | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
part in the member for West Dorset's EU unit and what their remit will | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
be. Aim concerned that of some in the Government have their way we | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
will have a bonfire of protections. We note some of the most prominent | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
leave campaigners are climate change deniers and much EU rhetoric has | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
cast environmental protections as a bureaucratic urban rather than a | :25:44. | :25:50. | |
buffet. The Chancellor tried to claim these protections have faced | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
ridiculous costs on British witness of the big government's own review | :25:56. | :26:01. | |
proved him wrong, and the Farming Minister vowed that the nature | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
directors would go after Brexit, describing them as spirit crushing | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
green directives, although he did later say that was misrepresented. | :26:11. | :26:17. | |
He said the Marine strategy framework directive, which requires | :26:18. | :26:19. | |
member states to achieve good environmental status in waters and | :26:20. | :26:26. | |
to promote a more sustainable approach, would go as well, so we | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
need reassurances that those voices will not prevail. The European | :26:32. | :26:39. | |
Commission's fitness check and there regulatory burden is due to report | :26:40. | :26:43. | |
soon. In the largest response ever to win EU consultation, 500,000 | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
people called for nature of those to be kept and better enforced. More | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
than 100,000 of these responses came from British citizens. Organisations | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
like the RSPB have been instrumental in protect the directives. To take | :27:00. | :27:08. | |
another example where the EU is currently discussing issues that | :27:09. | :27:11. | |
affect the UK, it is not a question of there being legally binding | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
obligations that they are things we should still be a part of, the | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
circular economy package was agreed last year. There have been reports | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
that during those negotiations are UK tried to water down the package, | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
arguing against mandatory targets and priding ourselves on inserting | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
the word voluntary. Scotland has brought forward fans to compliment | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
the package and Wales has its own blueprint for a more sickly economy, | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
so what will England do? If the package is properly implemented the | :27:48. | :27:53. | |
potential for new jobs is huge. I would like the minister to reassure | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
us we will not allow Brexit to do real our progress. To give a third | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
example, the new nicotine joints and, the European food safety is | :28:05. | :28:12. | |
reviewing restrictions on the use of these and their harm to his and | :28:13. | :28:20. | |
other indicators. This will consider whether they should be extended to | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
cover all crops. Will the UK now base its view on future regulation | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
on the assessment or, as these restrictions were only introduced | :28:31. | :28:33. | |
thanks to the EU, does the Government now see this as an | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
opportunity in the way the member for North Shropshire does for | :28:39. | :28:45. | |
overturning the current ban? I also want to talk about the impact on | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
farmers and unmanaged environment. The Common Agricultural Policy is | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
far from perfect but it is a lifeline for farmers, about 35% of | :28:55. | :29:01. | |
their income coming from the EU. Britain's lack of food | :29:02. | :29:04. | |
self-sufficiency makes us vulnerable to Brexit. Most experts agree prices | :29:05. | :29:12. | |
are likely to rise on imported food, and we will have difficulties of | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
setting this with British grown food, given how reliant the sector | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
is on free movement of Labour. I think I am right in saying 38% of | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
workers in the food and farming sector come from outside the UK and | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
their situation is in doubt in a post Brexit scenario. The Leave | :29:34. | :29:38. | |
campaign promised a post Brexit UK have with the more generous to | :29:39. | :29:43. | |
farmers but we know the UK lobbied for cuts to see a piece support. We | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
also know that they had the chance of development but opted for 5% | :29:50. | :29:55. | |
modulation, so there are worrying signs. There were too many examples | :29:56. | :30:02. | |
of the Government not meeting EU requirements. It had to be taken to | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
court for breaching EU clean-air laws. It was taken to court by WWF | :30:07. | :30:14. | |
for its failure to protect our rivers, lakes and coastal areas from | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
agricultural pollution. The water framework directive required good | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
ecological status I20 fifth in in all water bodies but only 19% | :30:25. | :30:30. | |
currently comply. Beaches are being has admitted that this Government so | :30:31. | :30:34. | |
they did not have to warn swimmers about poor water quality. My final | :30:35. | :30:41. | |
point is about TTIP. Some people worried that by staying in the EU we | :30:42. | :30:46. | |
would end up as a signatory and our hard-won food safety and animal | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
welfare standards could be compromised, for example the EU does | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
not allow for Mount punt made in the US does. Just when it looks like the | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
EU will resist TTIP, and the signals from France and Germany are that | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
they will do so, will Brexit means the Duke team government ends up | :31:07. | :31:11. | |
negotiating Abe bilateral trade deal with the US and will are weaker | :31:12. | :31:17. | |
position mean we see the ground on the standards? Bilateral | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
negotiations with the US could leave us with even less control. Faced | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
with losing EU protections, ministers need to wish a rest that | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
are except one not mean environmental degradation and | :31:32. | :31:39. | |
pollution spiralling out of control. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
It's a pleasure to take part in this debate. I thought the new member for | :31:45. | :31:50. | |
Tooting, apart from having a fantastically named constituency, | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
did herself heard. She stood tall for Tooting today. I wondered if she | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
would make a bid for the Labour leadership, there were so many MPs | :32:01. | :32:06. | |
on benches. Could I also thank my colleagues on the other half of Jean | :32:07. | :32:15. | |
Callum. He failed to mention that he is taller, has more hair, but anyone | :32:16. | :32:21. | |
can see his shoes knows there are still clearly some flaws. So I think | :32:22. | :32:30. | |
this has been an excellent debate. I think it's a shame we didn't have | :32:31. | :32:34. | |
more of this type of debate prior to the referendum. We did everything in | :32:35. | :32:40. | |
our power to promote the case for the UK remaining in the EU and a key | :32:41. | :32:47. | |
part of that case was about the protections that EU legislation has | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
brought in the workplace, and human rights and on the environment. | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
Unfortunately these issues were often brushed aside in the political | :32:58. | :33:06. | |
contest we experienced. As we heard earlier, the environment scarcely | :33:07. | :33:08. | |
featured in the debate about Britain's membership of the EU at | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
all, yet the environmental protections we have enjoyed here for | :33:14. | :33:19. | |
decades, they come in areas like air and water quality, emissions, waste, | :33:20. | :33:27. | |
chemical regulations and habitat protection, or all underpinned by EU | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
legislation. Our membership of the EU has had a positive affect on the | :33:33. | :33:38. | |
quality of beaches, walkers and rivers and the air we breathe. It | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
has underpinned protection for many of our rarest birds, plants and | :33:43. | :33:50. | |
animals and their habitats. Like so many other questions in the detail | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
Brexit, the question of how we continue to protect these assets | :33:56. | :33:56. | |
needs an answer. As the honourable member for | :33:57. | :34:13. | |
Oxbridge told the country just days after encouraging us to vote to | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
leave, there will still be intense and intensifying European | :34:20. | :34:22. | |
co-operation and partnership in a huge number of fields, the arts, the | :34:23. | :34:28. | |
sciences, universities and improving the environment. It is not clear how | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
this picture of intensifying cooperation squares with the Home | :34:35. | :34:39. | |
Secretary's statement yesterday that Brexit means Brexit. On matters that | :34:40. | :34:44. | |
stretch across a whole range of fields vital to our prosperity and | :34:45. | :34:49. | |
well-being, there has been little more than aviation and confusion | :34:50. | :34:54. | |
from the government thus far. This is why ministers must do everything | :34:55. | :34:59. | |
in their power to offer clarity about how they will take forward the | :35:00. | :35:03. | |
protection of the environment in this new political situation. There | :35:04. | :35:09. | |
is so much about the EU that we do not want to abandon. I have noticed | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
this in relation to my other brief, in meetings on the digital single | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
market, there is a strong view that it makes sense to continue to adhere | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
to EU directives and projects, even though we have voluntarily given up | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
the capacity to ship them. It is worth considering for a moment how | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
the approach to the environment in this country has been shipped so far | :35:34. | :35:39. | |
since we joined the EU. As many honourable members have mentioned, | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
in the 1980s, Britain was known as the dirty man of Europe. That is | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
because of widespread pollution of air, land and water. There is a risk | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
that Britain will end up rekindling that reputation. Well, the UK has | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
sometimes willingly followed a driver for incremental standards and | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
occasionally it the way. It has taken years to get the country to | :36:04. | :36:07. | |
meet the standards considered the norm in Europe. I would also like to | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
point out that when considering matters around environmental | :36:13. | :36:14. | |
protection it is worth remembering that in addition to the inherent | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
worth of our landscape and ecosystems, there are key economic | :36:20. | :36:26. | |
benefits to protecting diversity. In Scotland, our natural environment | :36:27. | :36:29. | |
contributes an estimated 21 and half billion pounds to the Scottish | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
economy. Scotland also provides a major part of the UK contribution to | :36:35. | :36:42. | |
the EU. It established protective sites with over 15% of land | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
designated for a wealth of habitats and species. During the campaign, we | :36:47. | :36:52. | |
didn't hear anything from the Brexit campaign about what this vote would | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
mean for the habitats directive, for the circular economy with its need | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
for long-term planning and investment were issues around water | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
quality, where the UK still has a lot of catching up to do. What we | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
did here was a deep and often ideological driven opposition to red | :37:11. | :37:16. | |
tape. This red tape includes measures that protect rare species | :37:17. | :37:21. | |
and unique habitats and which prevents companies damaging the | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
environment were using dangerous chemicals in their products. It is | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
now time to put the rhetorical bluster about red tape behind us and | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
to move on to focusing on what the government will do as it undertakes | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
these negotiations. If its priorities are modelled for key | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
protections are sacrificed for short-term gain, we could be living | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
with the impact for generations. When ever all of the different | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
moving parts of this constitutional crisis ends, we must ensure that the | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
UK continues on the right path. As a range of environmental groups have | :38:04. | :38:10. | |
asserted before and after Brexit, cooperation and collaboration within | :38:11. | :38:14. | |
Europe and with the EU works. This is because we do not solve such | :38:15. | :38:22. | |
problems in isolation. My own admission, Scotland, understands | :38:23. | :38:27. | |
this. What does This House and does this government? No. Thank you Madam | :38:28. | :38:35. | |
Deputy Speaker. Consideration of the question and in respect, my concerns | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
are as follows. Investment in oil and gas, renewables, any project or | :38:42. | :38:47. | |
initiative relies upon, amongst other things, stable legislation. | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
Investors can rely on conditions under which they would be prepared | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
to invest to last for preferably the duration of the project or | :38:58. | :39:00. | |
initiative. This has not been the case with this and previous | :39:01. | :39:06. | |
governments whether there have been changes in the warrant and gas | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
sector, allied with withdrawal from green initiatives, such as the zero | :39:13. | :39:16. | |
Carbon home policy, abolishing the green the home improvement fund, | :39:17. | :39:21. | |
subsidy cuts, onshore wind farm subsidy removal, opening the doors | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
to fracking, biomass fuel caps, privatisation of the green | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
investment bank, abandoning green tax targets and renewable energy | :39:31. | :39:36. | |
investment, cutting green car incentives and, particularly | :39:37. | :39:39. | |
significant for myself since I worked on a project, cancel the | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
competition for carbon capture and storage. I will happily give way. | :39:44. | :39:48. | |
Does he not agree he has illustrated the Surrey plays the government has | :39:49. | :39:51. | |
taken this country which market is no longer Britannia rules the waves | :39:52. | :39:59. | |
but Britannia waives the rules? An honourable point well made by my | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
friend. That short list of changes in legislation can do nothing but | :40:05. | :40:09. | |
discourage investors from investing in new energy production and | :40:10. | :40:16. | |
investment. The carbon capture and storage ?1 billion competition | :40:17. | :40:18. | |
initiative, cancelled late in the Autumn Statement of 2015, will make | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
it almost impossible for the UK to meet climate change targets. I will | :40:23. | :40:28. | |
gladly give way. I thank him for giving way. This highlights one | :40:29. | :40:31. | |
reason there is concern on this side of the House. We have a degree of | :40:32. | :40:38. | |
faith in the ministerial team opposite that they get the | :40:39. | :40:41. | |
challenges involved here. My colleague across the border, the | :40:42. | :40:48. | |
Secretary of State understand the challenges, but in this pace, all | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
too often, it is the Treasury that decides. Will he join with me in | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
pushing one member opposite for the Chancellor position. I thank my | :40:57. | :41:03. | |
friend for commend the comments and agree with him wholeheartedly. The | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
confirmation by Matthew Bell, the chief Executive of the committee of | :41:10. | :41:13. | |
climate change she said, and accord, if you do not have CCS then you | :41:14. | :41:19. | |
really need to decarbonise the transport sector and completely | :41:20. | :41:21. | |
decarbonise your heating sector in to deliver the 2050 ambitions. Since | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
both of these sectors seriously lagged behind decarbonisation in the | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
energy production, this seems extremely unlikely to say the least. | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
The underlying message of these changes is that the cost of | :41:40. | :41:42. | |
subsidising renewable energy has been previously underestimated by | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
the government, which has led to the withdrawal of the green fields by | :41:48. | :41:51. | |
the Treasury for consumers. House-builders and energy investors | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
alike. The government has instead put all its eggs in the jewel basket | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
of fracking and nuclear energy. Neither of which looks like to be | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
progressing very smoothly at the moment, making achievement in the | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
matter to regard it highly unlikely. The problems of Hinkley C, touched | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
on by my honourable friend from Aberdeen South, as anyone can see, | :42:13. | :42:20. | |
this history of successive short term used UK Government continues to | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
move the legislative goalpost and only undermined investor confidence. | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
Brexit will only serve to exacerbate the problem further. A point well | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
made by the honourable member for Brent North who is no longer in his | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
pace. But Deputy Speaker, in consideration of the question, in | :42:40. | :42:45. | |
respect of energy security, I would add that last year I was a member of | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
the market debate committee and while this was a very early | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
engagement and a very early stage discussion, the potential for cross | :42:56. | :42:58. | |
European energy sharing via interconnector 's and the like was | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
striking amongst EU members. I wonder if that committee will even | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
sit again this year given Brexit. It should be obvious to all that and | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
efficient interconnector network shared energy design across Europe | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
would benefit all the when the wind is blowing in Scotland, as | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
invariably it does, and the energy generated can be used elsewhere. | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
When it is not, the sun is shining in Spain. We can share that mutual | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
benefit. I sincerely hope that this committee does meet again, but we | :43:31. | :43:36. | |
have just made it much harder for ourselves as we try to coordinate | :43:37. | :43:38. | |
Europe-wide efficient energy supply from without the EU. I should say at | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
this point, Scotland has no intention of suffering the fallout | :43:44. | :43:47. | |
from Brexit. The ramifications of which are still to be understood. As | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
my honourable friend is from both Aberdeen South and Berwickshire | :43:52. | :43:57. | |
pointed out, we are staying in Europe. In further consideration of | :43:58. | :44:03. | |
the question as respect the natural environment, I like most sensible | :44:04. | :44:05. | |
politicians, turn to independent experts in the field for questions | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
on issues of context matters such as the natural environment. The point | :44:12. | :44:18. | |
on the circular economy have been well made, so I will skip to the | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
point on the comments by the institution of environmental | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
sciences is that it is currently conducting a survey of its members | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
asking what impact do you think the decision to leave the EU will have | :44:33. | :44:38. | |
an environmental protection. Overwhelmingly, 80% of highly | :44:39. | :44:42. | |
educated, experienced environmental professionals consider and the | :44:43. | :44:47. | |
court, without binding EU law, it is likely environmental regulations | :44:48. | :44:49. | |
will be weakened or scrapped by the UK. A pre-EU referendum survey of | :44:50. | :44:57. | |
members of the institution of environmental scientists showed that | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
68% of members were in support of the EU. The UK has been | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
disproportionately successful in securing funding for research | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
projects in the environmental sciences and other sectors due to | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
the strength of our UK science base. Under the seventh framework | :45:18. | :45:24. | |
programme, which ran from 2007 to 2013, 1000 704 million euros were | :45:25. | :45:29. | |
spent on projects for under the environment theme. Of the 4055 | :45:30. | :45:36. | |
projects funded under the FP seven theme, according to the community | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
research and development services, 603 were based in the UK, second | :45:41. | :45:47. | |
only to Germany with 645. I will gladly give way. He is making an | :45:48. | :45:53. | |
important point about the important contribution that EU funding makes | :45:54. | :45:59. | |
to research and, just in recent months, I visited the Plymouth | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
Marine laboratory and as I was there they just cut and as through the to | :46:03. | :46:07. | |
pick up a significant 6-figure sum from Europe to fund some of the | :46:08. | :46:10. | |
research. They are very worried about what Brexit will mean. There | :46:11. | :46:18. | |
is amazing thing the Glazers and drones and all sorts of high-tech | :46:19. | :46:21. | |
research and that is dependent on EU funding, to a large extent. I agree | :46:22. | :46:28. | |
with the honourable member and Asher concerns in respect of future | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
funding and Britain leads the EU. Given Brexit, this does not bode | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
well for the future of positive environmental projects in the UK. To | :46:37. | :46:41. | |
finish, I would ask the following questions of the Minister and make | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
one final point. Number one, Scotland has an incredible | :46:46. | :46:48. | |
opportunity to be a world leader in a range of renewable technologies | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
which are a vital part of our energy supply in the UK. We help the | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
environment and create jobs in communities across Scotland. What | :46:58. | :47:00. | |
steps will the Minister and the government take to ensure Scotland | :47:01. | :47:06. | |
remains at the forefront of both renewable and offshore industries? | :47:07. | :47:10. | |
Number two, the recent vote to leave the European Union has plunged our | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
energy sector into further uncertainty. The Scottish National | :47:16. | :47:17. | |
Party call upon the UK Government to hold the damage and programme of | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
austerity and inject the economy with investment necessary to | :47:22. | :47:24. | |
stimulate growth and create a healthy environment for investors | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
and consumers alike. What will the government do to protect businesses | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
and consumers from this fallout? Number three, the Scottish National | :47:34. | :47:37. | |
Party belief that enhancing energy efficiency in homes throughout the | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
UK can provide valuable benefits to individual consumers. From improving | :47:43. | :47:47. | |
the quality of life to reducing fuel poverty, a key issue that has not | :47:48. | :47:51. | |
been touched on enough in this debate. The energy efficiency of | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
homes should be a top priority. What does the Minister intend to do to | :47:56. | :47:59. | |
reduce fuel poverty in this respect? Number four, what does the Minister | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
and the government intend to do to get climate change targets and keep | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
the lights on? One final point, it is in respect of storage. Renewable | :48:10. | :48:17. | |
energy storage and efficiency are key for the future of energy in the | :48:18. | :48:23. | |
UK. More needs to be done in green energy that is not intermittent. I | :48:24. | :48:27. | |
would urge the Secretary of State to engage in pumped storage. Thank you. | :48:28. | :48:37. | |
Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Not only have we had a very important | :48:38. | :48:41. | |
debate this afternoon, we have also had a very revealing debate. | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
Revealing because it has confirmed are very worst fears that the | :48:47. | :48:49. | |
government called a referendum without first carrying out the | :48:50. | :48:51. | |
analysis as to what could It is nothing but reckless to enter | :48:52. | :49:04. | |
a process without first taking out a risk assessment of the scenarios | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
that could occur. Analysis should have come first, as we have heard | :49:09. | :49:14. | |
from so many members today. We had an excellent debate with real depth | :49:15. | :49:21. | |
and understanding of all issues across the impact of what leaving | :49:22. | :49:30. | |
the EU will mean, whether, as my honourable friend the Shadow | :49:31. | :49:33. | |
Secretary of State said, in respect of climate change and the impact it | :49:34. | :49:37. | |
is having on some of the first people in fat immunities as 2.8 3 | :49:38. | :49:43. | |
million households are already in fuel poverty, and as we were told, | :49:44. | :49:49. | |
the fuel bills are already rising. We also heard an excellent speech | :49:50. | :49:55. | |
from the honourable member for Wakefield, who was an outstanding | :49:56. | :49:58. | |
chair of the environment audit commission. She highlighted so many | :49:59. | :50:05. | |
of those protections which are now at risk if we are to move forward | :50:06. | :50:09. | |
with leaving the EU and looking at the advances we have made in the | :50:10. | :50:15. | |
past 40 years, 40 years of marriage to then be put into two years of | :50:16. | :50:22. | |
divorce, and she highlighted issues around air quality, water | :50:23. | :50:28. | |
management, waste and biodiversity, but we were privileged to date to | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
hear the maiden speech from the honourable member for Tooting. It | :50:34. | :50:38. | |
was a tour de force with the energy that she has clearly brought from | :50:39. | :50:43. | |
serving patients in accident and emergency serving her community and | :50:44. | :50:49. | |
ringing that to our benches. We have been honoured to have her in our | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
house and I know she will be an accident advocate for her | :50:56. | :51:02. | |
constituency. We also had excellent speeches from the member for Swansea | :51:03. | :51:06. | |
West, a strong campaigner on air quality and emissions. The member | :51:07. | :51:12. | |
for Bristol East said many of the things I would want to bring up to | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
date as her expertise has brought to this House, and we heard from | :51:18. | :51:24. | |
honourable members across this House about some of the concerns around | :51:25. | :51:27. | |
leaving the EU and the impact it will have. It was the Government's | :51:28. | :51:34. | |
determination that we should have a referendum but first it should have | :51:35. | :51:39. | |
been analysed, what would we be impact of leaving as remaining would | :51:40. | :51:46. | |
have resulted in normal policy processes, then it could have shared | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
the outcomes with the electorate. We heard today the many risks. Not only | :51:51. | :51:55. | |
should this impact assessment have taken place but we should have | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
understood did depth of our regulatory ties with the EU and the | :52:00. | :52:05. | |
scenario planning of what environmental protections the | :52:06. | :52:08. | |
Government would prioritise should the pound plummet as we are now | :52:09. | :52:14. | |
seeing, for instance one question put to me by a member of the public | :52:15. | :52:22. | |
will pillar to of CHP be implemented in full or world the Government | :52:23. | :52:28. | |
scaled back on the 563 million currently received back from the EU | :52:29. | :52:33. | |
and reach its match funding obligations? We need to know the | :52:34. | :52:39. | |
detail. How will farmers remain competitive while addressing | :52:40. | :52:44. | |
challenges and sustaining protections? We have not heard from | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
the Government's front bench how much legislature is tied up with the | :52:50. | :52:56. | |
EU. It is estimated that around 70% of our environmental protections | :52:57. | :53:01. | |
originate from Brussels but what is the real figure and how integrated | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
are we? We've not heard the amount resource needed to carry out | :53:08. | :53:11. | |
detailed analysis of the impact of leaving the EU in that context of a | :53:12. | :53:20. | |
Department of cut at Defra of 57% in 2020, nor the resources needed to | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
re-negotiate each regulation if that is the path we go to and the member | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
for Poole suggested an alternative way forward Derek, how will be not | :53:31. | :53:37. | |
engage with the EU in the future and so many of these issues? How will we | :53:38. | :53:43. | |
regulate and police and enforce a new UK based law system around the | :53:44. | :53:49. | |
environment since this currently occurs in the EU courts, so what | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
will be the mechanisms of the future? We haven't heard the courts | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
of this work or if the people with the right skill set up even present | :54:00. | :54:05. | |
in their departments at this time. We haven't heard how the impact of | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
the fall of the pound, wiping millions of the value of economy, | :54:10. | :54:16. | |
will impact on projects and research, and we haven't seen the | :54:17. | :54:20. | |
analysis of the global impact. Maybe the plan is to simply buy the whole | :54:21. | :54:27. | |
package of Europe, but at what price will this be? Will it be the same as | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
existing EU nations or will we pay more for those benefits? The reason | :54:33. | :54:40. | |
why so many on our benches are concerned about the global impact to | :54:41. | :54:44. | |
the environment is because we believe protect our climate and | :54:45. | :54:50. | |
environment is one of the most important functions of government. | :54:51. | :54:54. | |
We are already witnessing a massive impact of decades of neglect. We see | :54:55. | :55:00. | |
floods and famine, disease and dread, climate change and conflict, | :55:01. | :55:07. | |
and population migration. The impacts can be felt across our | :55:08. | :55:14. | |
globe, including here in the UK. The environment doesn't respect national | :55:15. | :55:18. | |
borders and so from the macro level to the micro level, from the loss of | :55:19. | :55:24. | |
habitats and rarest PCs, the Government have a responsibility to | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
drive Ford a programme of stewardship. By 2010 the UK lead the | :55:29. | :55:35. | |
world on issues like climate change and the environment, something we | :55:36. | :55:41. | |
own our benches are heard of, while indulging there is much more to do, | :55:42. | :55:49. | |
but as we have heard today we have now slipped out of the top ten | :55:50. | :55:53. | |
nations on dealing with issues of climate change, now ranked 13th in | :55:54. | :55:59. | |
the world. That is not how we want to progress on these issues. The UK | :56:00. | :56:04. | |
led the EU through many of these issues to be a major player on the | :56:05. | :56:11. | |
global stage and bringing environmental and and we want to | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
make sure we maintain a strong voice as we move forward to rebalance our | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
national environment. The strength of our influence is now unclear. We | :56:23. | :56:28. | |
will not be at the table of the EU, pressing the EU to go further, and | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
under a failing economy I must press the minister today whether he will | :56:34. | :56:40. | |
now commit to legislate to secure protection of all environmental | :56:41. | :56:43. | |
measures we are currently obliged to meet in the EU. How will he advanced | :56:44. | :56:50. | |
these and regulate to ensure there is enforcement around? We do not | :56:51. | :56:56. | |
want to become known as the dirty man of Europe, as so many have said | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
as we look back at our history, but we want to make real advances on | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
where we are today. They government must urgently act to replace these | :57:07. | :57:13. | |
vital environmental and is in full. On the most simple level, I want the | :57:14. | :57:20. | |
minister to clarify today, will we even see the two long-awaited 25 | :57:21. | :57:27. | |
year plans for food and farming and the plan for the environment before | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
the summer recess, as the Government committed to, what are these now | :57:32. | :57:38. | |
based in the box marked" we didn't have a leaf plant so we don't know | :57:39. | :57:43. | |
what are going to do"? Labour wants to ensure that external flashers | :57:44. | :57:49. | |
still lead on this dormant -- pressures. When we look at issues | :57:50. | :57:57. | |
like air quality and we saw the world health organisation report | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
today, this is a public health issue, it impacts on people's | :58:03. | :58:07. | |
respiratory function. I know the impact this has and we heard today | :58:08. | :58:14. | |
how up to 50,000 people's lives are ended amateur league as a result of | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
the quality of their and our country. People are dying | :58:20. | :58:25. | |
prematurely. So what is the Government going to do on the issue | :58:26. | :58:33. | |
of air quality, this urgent issue? We need to know because even in my | :58:34. | :58:39. | |
own city of York, it is a serious issue as people die prematurely but | :58:40. | :58:44. | |
also I have seen planning which will worsen the air quality in our city. | :58:45. | :58:51. | |
There are issues we need to address, how many trees we will plant, how we | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
will bring protection around important directives, as so many | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
colleagues referred to today, and again we want answers and the | :59:02. | :59:05. | |
Government must now set out its strategy to take us forward as it | :59:06. | :59:12. | |
failed to do before the EU referendum, should they leave out | :59:13. | :59:19. | |
occur. Moving forward, Madam Deputy Speaker, perhaps this afternoon, the | :59:20. | :59:25. | |
minister can enlighten us, will he, too continued to apply the | :59:26. | :59:31. | |
precautionary principle where scientific data is not complete or | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
will he agreed with his Minister for farming and food to go down the much | :59:37. | :59:42. | |
weaker US -based approach, which we know has a limit on the way things | :59:43. | :59:48. | |
are moved forward, for example on pesticides, GM crops and food | :59:49. | :59:54. | |
management, often putting profit before environmental and is. The | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
people of our country have a right to know. If there were more time I | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
would raise more concerns over environmental protections. We have a | :00:05. | :00:10. | |
complex and fragile environment. We have worked diligently with our | :00:11. | :00:17. | |
European friends to read balance our environment, and today the | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
Government should have made it clear how we will advance progress made to | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
date. We cannot afford further delay when it comes to this issue. We | :00:26. | :00:32. | |
believe the Government must urgently replicate the EU directives into law | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
and I look forward to hearing the minister's response as to how he | :00:37. | :00:41. | |
will secure our environment for the future years to come. Minister, Mr | :00:42. | :00:50. | |
Rory Stewart. Can I begin, Madam Deputy Speaker, by paying huge | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
tribute to the honourable member for Tooting for her extraordinary maiden | :00:56. | :01:02. | |
speech? There were five elements which encapsulates the heart of this | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
debate, first the sense of history, talking about Nye Bevan, the 1956 | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
Clean Air Act, the scale of the challenge we face, her energy, her | :01:15. | :01:22. | |
up the mess and, her sense of place, the fact she said she thought people | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
who said Tooting was becoming a fantastic place was missing the fact | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
she had that it was fantastic all her life, and her sense of the | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
importance of humans in the history of the landscape, whether the leader | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
or her own community. Through her rhetoric and language, her love of | :01:45. | :01:54. | |
this place, she shows as a Member of Parliament a real reason to be | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
optimistic about Parliament and its sovereignty and those things she | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
contributed in her speech I think represent exactly what we hope to | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
bring into the British environment in the future. There have been an | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
enormous number of different questions asked. The Shadow | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
Secretary of State asked on nine different occasions that the | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
Government should respond to specific queries. I counted 35 | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
different questions posed by the Shadow Secretary of State and an | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
additional 117 questions posed by other members. I have approximately | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
nine minutes to answer those questions. I will, with the | :02:39. | :02:45. | |
permission of the House, focus on the natural environment rather than | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
energy questions, with apologies to Callum senior, the member for | :02:51. | :02:58. | |
Aberdeen South, and a member for Coatbridge, who provided a | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
discussion around GM and a member for Warrington South, who discussed | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
how domestic legislation underpins UK energy policy and some references | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
to the EU work a little misleading. I'd cannot detail as fully as I | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
would like with the speech even by the member for Bristol East, which | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
raised important points, but I will try to deal with them in the rounds. | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
There were four main types of points made by some eateries, and they form | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
a structure of an answer. The first was that people pointed out, | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
especially the honourable member for Taunton Deane, and the Secretary of | :03:42. | :03:52. | |
State for Energy and Climate Change, they pointed out the importance of | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
being deeply up the mystic about Britain's future after the European | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
Union, partly as the member for Hastings and right pointed out | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
because of the strength in this country, but there were of course | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
immense positives that we derive from our membership of the EU and | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
they have been listed. The honourable members have laid out | :04:17. | :04:31. | |
a very powerful progress that has been made over the last 42 years in | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
air quality, water quality and this is driven by European Union law, | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
European Union financial assistance and by the structures of the | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
European Union that protected our landscape. As the honourable member | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
for Swansea West pointed out, it is indeed important for our | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
international industry to ensure that we have uniform standards so | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
there is not a race to the bottom. We cannot simply think about this | :05:00. | :05:07. | |
island as though we were not exposed to environmental factors from | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
abroad. 85% of our birds are migratory. Between a third and a | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
half of our error blows in from other countries. That is the air | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
pollution coming into our country and our terrestrial biodiversity is | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
dependent on ensuring that isn't acid rain raining on those peat bogs | :05:24. | :05:30. | |
or on those grass lands on which we depend. However, as the honourable | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
member for Wiltshire and the honourable Member for Poole pointed | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
out, we had an extremely strong, powerful tradition of | :05:41. | :05:42. | |
environmentalism in the United Kingdom long before we joined the | :05:43. | :05:49. | |
European Union. Indeed, the history of environmental protection in the | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
United Kingdom stretches back almost 1000 years to the formation of the | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
royal forests in Scotland and the royal forests in England and habitat | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
protection brought in pace to nearly 23% of our landmass at that period. | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
It goes through the contributions of Walter Scott for Wordsworth to | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
ensuring the protection of our landscapes and, indeed, we celebrate | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
over the next four years the anniversary of the Forestry | :06:16. | :06:18. | |
Commission, the centenary of the Forestry Commission, founded in | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
1919. The anniversary of our 19 parks founded in 1947 and the clean | :06:23. | :06:31. | |
air Act itself, passed in 1956. And there will be opportunities | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
available to us from leaving the European Union. The honourable | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
member pointed out that there have been some advantages of European | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
Union funding for flooding, but there have been significant | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
challenges as well. One of the ways in which we would like to address | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
natural responses to the management is to plant trees. In order to do | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
this we need to be able to look at flexible and intelligent ways of | :06:59. | :07:01. | |
moving money between what are currently quite rigid budget | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
structures. If we are going to be dealing with farmers planting trees | :07:07. | :07:10. | |
on the land in order to slow the flow of water, we need to think | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
intelligently about how the pennant since we give for agriculture, the | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
payments were given for the environment and the payment we give | :07:24. | :07:25. | |
for flooding can work together, rather than against each other. When | :07:26. | :07:28. | |
looking at laws we need to make sure we are flexible and there are ways | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
in which rigid legal structures brought into pace by 27 member | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
states have, in the past, made it quite difficult to respond to recent | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
evidence. Again, inspection regimes. Honourable members have raised the | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
issues of inspections. These regimes have, at the worst, sometimes | :07:50. | :07:52. | |
discredited the very environmental regulations which we wish to | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
protect. Finally, as the honourable member pointed out, it is, of | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
course, true that there are perverse consequences of part of the common | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
agricultural policy for the environmental conditions which we | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
value so much. So, the principles on which we now need to move forward | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
would seem, to me, as laid out powerfully by This House and by the | :08:17. | :08:19. | |
honourable member for Bristol East in her initial intervention sixfold. | :08:20. | :08:26. | |
A principal first of realism. A principal of humility. A principal | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
of honesty about conflict. A principal about being honest with | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
the public. A principal of confidence and a principal of | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
identity. If I could expand briefly on those principles. Firstly, | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
realism. We have to acknowledge that leaving the European Union will not | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
mean the government behind. People will continue to be frustrated by | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
bureaucracy, people will continue to have to respond to procurement | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
regulations. We will have to continue to operate inside an | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
international environment and we will have to make compromises. | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
Humility, as the honourable member pointed out, it is not true that | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
everybody in this country is always interested in this environment and | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
we have to be realistic about our power and capacity as the government | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
to respond. An honesty on conflict, land remains a deeply conflicted | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
issue. It will not be possible for us to imagine that simply leaving | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
the European Union will overcome the serious conflict within any other | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
constituencies between different land uses. Between the desire to | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
build housing, the desire to create renewable energy, the desire to | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
produce productive food or to protect the species habitats which | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
we value so much. But the principles of confidence and identity are | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
perhaps the most important of all. This decision in this referendum was | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
made by one of the most well-educated, well travelled | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
populations in the most mature democracy on earth. We need to | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
ensure that we recognise the legitimacy of that democratic choice | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
and we need to put a full energy and optimism behind it. We need to | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
understand that in responding to this, British identity and this | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
extends to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
fundamentally on our land. We need to do two things in moving forward. | :10:22. | :10:29. | |
We need to reassure people. We need to play a full role in all our | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
international conferences, we need to ensure that in the forthcoming | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
conferences on biodiversity or sites, we play a responsible | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
international role. But can also be far more imaginative. This accept | :10:44. | :10:50. | |
there is a case for a second referendum on an exit package over | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
the precise terms of leaving? We have only agreed to leave in | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
principle and people haven't seen what it has in the can? Absolutely | :10:58. | :11:03. | |
not. I disagree very strongly with that intervention. When I do think | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
the honourable member shows the optimism we need is to your focus on | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
technology and the focus indeed from the honourable member on the markets | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
in China and India. There is so much potential out there. We could show | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
the lead in the Amazon rainforest, we could show the lead in defining, | :11:26. | :11:28. | |
through our natural capital approach, what it means to take it | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
British initiative. Water, water. The minister is suing important | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
things and people are chatting. Minister. In conclusion, land and | :11:39. | :11:52. | |
conflict around land has been fundamental to the problems in our | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
society since the days of Cain and Abel. We can be confident in this | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
country, we have extraordinary natural scientists, we have a very | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
rich civil society with 9 million people connected to environmental | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
NGOs. We have extraordinary legal structures in pace. We have | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
incredible new members of Parliament, such as the honourable | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
member for cooking, bringing the energy and optimism into This House. | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
If we can bring this together, we can prove, in the future, as we have | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
proved over the last millennium, that the British landscape, the | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
British environment and its extraordinary combination of | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
productive food and nature can remain at the heart of our national | :12:39. | :12:50. | |
identity for ever. The question is as on the order paper. Clear at the | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
lobby. Water. The question is is on the | :12:57. | :14:38. | |
order paper. As many as have an opinion say aye. On the contrary, | :14:39. | :14:40. | |
no. The ayes to the right, 229, the noes | :14:41. | :25:36. | |
to the left, 278. The ayes to the right, 229, the noes to the left, | :25:37. | :25:45. | |
278. The noes habit. The noes have it. Unlock. We now come to the | :25:46. | :25:56. | |
second Opposition Day motion in the name of the Leader of the | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
Opposition. The subject is Sessay -- SATs results. I call Angela Rayner | :26:02. | :26:08. | |
to move the motion. I beg to move the motion in my name and in the | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
name of the Leader of the Opposition as set out in the order paper. Madam | :26:14. | :26:22. | |
Deputy Speaker, the 2016 Key Stage 2 SATs tests, which assessed children | :26:23. | :26:30. | |
in reading, writing, punctuation and maths, by the first to assess the | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
new national primary curriculum. The Government claims it has raised | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
expectations for pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 of those at the | :26:41. | :26:47. | |
chalkface, primary teachers, school leaders, say the expected standard | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
for SATs has been set at a level beyond the reach of majority of | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
children. Our children are being set up to fail. Our almost half of | :27:00. | :27:09. | |
11-year-olds will now go on to secondary school having been told | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
they are failures, but the real failures are in this Government, and | :27:13. | :27:20. | |
in particular the current Secretary of State for Education, who pushed | :27:21. | :27:23. | |
ahead with this flawed system despite warnings from education | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
professionals that its assessment system was not fit for purpose. | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
Under this Government children who failed to meet the unrealistic | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
expected targets at the end of Key Stage 2, the 47% of children, will | :27:39. | :27:47. | |
be required to reset these tests in future and school leavers were told | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
yesterday that catch up on link for secondary schools will not increase | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
despite the number of pupils deemed to be the low the expected standard | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
increasing. Madam Deputy Speaker, for these pupils the first year at | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
the school and all the excitement and anticipation that it would bring | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
will instead become an anxious replay of the rolling for tests in | :28:16. | :28:21. | |
English and maths which they sat in primary school. I can only imagine | :28:22. | :28:28. | |
the impact on those young lives to have to go through it all again, to | :28:29. | :28:36. | |
feel a failure. To see their friends getting on when they should be | :28:37. | :28:39. | |
looking ahead to new challenges and new opportunities. I remember being | :28:40. | :28:47. | |
told that I would never amount to anything but look at me now. I want | :28:48. | :28:53. | |
and teachers want every child to know they are amazing. I want an | :28:54. | :28:59. | |
education system that helps every child realise their full potential. | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
I'm grateful to the honourable lady Ford giving way. In the last Labour | :29:05. | :29:11. | |
government we have such a system, every child was told they were | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
succeeding the twin we looked at international league tables we went | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
down and down, and whatever her critique of results this year, does | :29:21. | :29:23. | |
she agree we must have high standards or we will go back to | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
those days when we let in the future of young people by pretending they | :29:29. | :29:35. | |
were successful? I remember under Labour that we had sure start, we | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
had new schools, we had teachers in the profession, we had teachers and | :29:41. | :29:46. | |
children feeling they were happy, at the moment we have teachers taking | :29:47. | :29:51. | |
unprecedented industrial action and leaving the profession at record | :29:52. | :29:57. | |
rates, so I will take no wreck -- lectures from that side of the | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
House. We recognise ongoing assessment and consistent testing in | :30:03. | :30:07. | |
schools is important to help teachers and parents provide new | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
challenges for all children. They can identify and close any gaps in | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
knowledge so all pupils can do well but a proper assessment regime needs | :30:18. | :30:23. | |
consistency and to be understood by all. This Government has utterly | :30:24. | :30:30. | |
fail to deliver on this. The current SATs test goes too far. The | :30:31. | :30:36. | |
Secretary of State has chopped and changed, causing disruption and | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
chaos in schools and extra bureaucracy for teachers. The Key | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
Stage 2 assessments have been an unmitigated disaster and a nightmare | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
for thousands of children ending in disappointment and uncertainty. But | :30:51. | :30:57. | |
they also have serious consequences for thousands of schools because the | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
way this Government uses them as part of the school accountability | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
system. Key Stage 2 SATs are used to rank schools in league tables, they | :31:09. | :31:14. | |
are scrutinised either DFP and regional schools commissioners who | :31:15. | :31:16. | |
form judgments on schools performance. Ofsted used them when | :31:17. | :31:23. | |
forming their inspection judgments and parents take them into account | :31:24. | :31:26. | |
when choosing their children's school. Schools reputations are | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
heavily dependent on how pupils perform in these tests. The National | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
Association of head teachers ask the Secretary of State not to publish | :31:41. | :31:45. | |
the data as she herself conceded it is not to be compared to previous | :31:46. | :31:52. | |
years, and the NAHT general Secretary, given the changes to SATs | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
this year and the mistakes we have seen, it is hard to see how valuable | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
this data will be to parents who want to understand how well a school | :32:03. | :32:07. | |
reforms year on year, but the Government does love a leak table | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
regardless of how accurate it may be. Worryingly the schools | :32:12. | :32:18. | |
commissioners are already using the original results from these tests to | :32:19. | :32:23. | |
identify schools which they can apply their extensive legal powers | :32:24. | :32:29. | |
to force them into academy status on this curious grounds that they are | :32:30. | :32:32. | |
failing, coasting or underperforming. Madam Deputy | :32:33. | :32:38. | |
Speaker, does all this remind you of anything? Children who are judged | :32:39. | :32:45. | |
failures at an early age, being separated from their primary school | :32:46. | :32:50. | |
classmates, schools which are being worryingly condemned as second | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
class, sounds to me like the dark days of 11 plus. Children branded | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
failures before they have even read their teens, separated out from | :33:00. | :33:05. | |
their classmates with all the stigma that can bring. Many adults today | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
still recount the lasting effects this has had on them. Happy too. I | :33:11. | :33:20. | |
thank the honourable lady for giving way and I have to confess I am one | :33:21. | :33:25. | |
such failure of the 12 plus system. Does she agree with any form of | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
testing and if so what type of testing which she brings Ford? I | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
thank him for his intervention and I think I made it here in my opening | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
remarks that we do acknowledge the need for a testing, but it is the | :33:41. | :33:46. | |
chaotic nature in which the Secretary of State has roared in | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
these Newquay stage two SATs which has damaged, and I'm sure the | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
honourable member will recognise the 11 plus 412 plus did cause | :33:57. | :34:03. | |
uncertainty and that feeling, as I know how I felt when I was rounded a | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
feeder, and it does not help young people today. | :34:09. | :34:14. | |
It seems that this government is hell-bent on bringing back the 11 | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
plus by the back door. The evidence is in front of us, children being | :34:20. | :34:24. | |
selected on the basis of muddled headed tests. Winners and losers, | :34:25. | :34:31. | |
and failure. The primary skills are being branded in exactly the same | :34:32. | :34:39. | |
way. The 11 plus by any other name. Of course, these tests do not give a | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
rounded picture of the work of individual pupils were their skins. | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
I could not say any better than Mrs Jane Derrick, the head teacher of | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
Lansbury Bridge School who wrote to one of her 11-year-old pupils, then, | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
about his test results. Ben is artistic. She congratulated them on | :35:00. | :35:03. | |
his fabulous progress and wrote, these tests only measure a little | :35:04. | :35:08. | |
bit of you and your abilities. Ben is made up of many other skills and | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
talents that we see and measure in other ways. These tests do not | :35:14. | :35:18. | |
measure your artistic talents, your ability to work in a team, your | :35:19. | :35:23. | |
growing independence, your kindness, your ability to express your | :35:24. | :35:30. | |
opinion, durability in sport, your ability to make and keep friends, | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
your ability to discuss and evaluate your own progress, your design and | :35:36. | :35:41. | |
building talents, your musical ability. This fine head teacher | :35:42. | :35:47. | |
concludes, we are so pleased with all these different talents and | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
abilities which make you the special person you are. These are all of the | :35:52. | :35:55. | |
things we measure to reassure us that you are always making progress | :35:56. | :35:59. | |
and continued to develop as a lovely, bright young man. Well done | :36:00. | :36:06. | |
then, we are very proud of you and I am sure, Madam Deputy Speaker, the | :36:07. | :36:09. | |
whole house will join me in congratulating young then in his | :36:10. | :36:13. | |
development at the tender age of 11. Indeed, to his head teacher for sure | :36:14. | :36:19. | |
and in very real human terms how this test result should not in any | :36:20. | :36:23. | |
way make a child feel that they are not developing well. I thank my | :36:24. | :36:32. | |
honourable friend he makes a very persuasive case. Does she agree with | :36:33. | :36:41. | |
me that we should be encouraging children and giving them that | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
confidence, in particular in areas like mineworker is high levels of | :36:47. | :36:50. | |
deprivation and children are often told by many people that they cannot | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
achieve or go far in life? This adds to that. We should encourage our | :36:56. | :36:58. | |
children, give them the confidence and not discourage them. I thank my | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
honourable friend for his intervention. He is right. That is | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
what we have defeated the concerns of the professionals. When you said | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
children up to feel, that is a real tragedy. The government needs to | :37:13. | :37:16. | |
work with the profession to nature the mistakes this year are not | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
repeated and to build a system that works better for children, parents | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
and schools. These results do not reflect the dedication of teachers | :37:26. | :37:28. | |
and the many hours that they have worked extra to ensure that all | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
children can fulfil their potential, despite the turmoil caused by the | :37:33. | :37:37. | |
Secretary of State's Kell Brook and confusing reforms. Is she aware of | :37:38. | :37:46. | |
the real danger of children leaving primary school without adequate | :37:47. | :37:48. | |
maths and English and the fact that once they have done that, there is | :37:49. | :37:53. | |
only a one in nine chance it will recover the ground necessary to | :37:54. | :37:57. | |
develop into proper adults and is that not a serious matter and should | :37:58. | :38:01. | |
it not be addressed through some form of knowledge of outcomes? I | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
think the honourable member for his intervention and I am only too aware | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
of that, because I failed my GCSEs. I didn't get grade a to C. I am only | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
too aware of that and that is why we had a debate which was well attended | :38:18. | :38:22. | |
regarding early years and intervention there as well. It is | :38:23. | :38:25. | |
important we put structures in pace to help children, not make them feel | :38:26. | :38:28. | |
like failures through our own failures. These stats undermine the | :38:29. | :38:35. | |
morale of our dedicated primary teachers who have battled against | :38:36. | :38:39. | |
the odds to prepare children for tests they use or inappropriate | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
while trying to protect them from the worst consequences. They could | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
result in thousands more skills being forced to become academies. | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
They do not reflect the hard work of the children with special | :38:54. | :39:00. | |
educational needs. These tests are designed to measure what children | :39:01. | :39:05. | |
cannot do, not what they can do. Nor do they measure the many ways in | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
which our children learn to develop, succeed every day of their young | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
lives. The impact on children of these tests is best illustrated by | :39:16. | :39:21. | |
the parents. Rachel McCullen from Birmingham says, mice and is tired, | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
stressed and paranoid he is going to feel. I cannot wait for this week to | :39:26. | :39:32. | |
be over. Catherine Lee from Bath, my son hardly slept on Sunday night and | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
he was nervous on Monday morning, despite is telling him that these | :39:38. | :39:41. | |
tests are not the be all and end all. It is way too much pressure at | :39:42. | :39:48. | |
11. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have already forced the government into a | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
U-turn on forced academies edition but they are using these results to | :39:53. | :39:57. | |
compel even more academisation through the back door. Is hardly | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
surprising that teachers and school leaders have lost confidence in the | :40:04. | :40:05. | |
Secretary of State and education policies. Guidance arrived late and | :40:06. | :40:12. | |
changed frequently. Test papers were leaked and the design of test | :40:13. | :40:17. | |
pauper. Preparation for the tests had a negative impact on access to a | :40:18. | :40:25. | |
broad and balanced curriculum. 90% of teachers thought that the changes | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
had a negative impact on the experience children had at school. | :40:31. | :40:38. | |
Teachers spoke of demoralisation, demotivation and physical and mental | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
distress. Madam Deputy Speaker, this is a damning indictment of the | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
Secretary of State's performance. She has been entrusted with the | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
future of our children and the future of our country. She has | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
failed. We do not need any test to see that. The question is as on the | :41:00. | :41:08. | |
order paper. Secretary of State, Nicky Morgan. Madam Deputy Speaker, | :41:09. | :41:16. | |
thank you very much indeed. It is a pleasure to speak under your | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
chairmanship. I wanted to give the honourable lady the benefit of the | :41:21. | :41:26. | |
doubt. I know she hasn't been Secretary of State for Education for | :41:27. | :41:28. | |
very long. I can sense a passion for this subject both in terms of her | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
own experience in education, but also in terms of her family. I have | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
to say to the House that the honourable lady's speech captured | :41:39. | :41:42. | |
everything that is wrong with the Labour Party at the moment. Mad | :41:43. | :41:49. | |
conspiracy theories, the fairing to the unions and zero answers to the | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
problems facing this country and, in this case, it is young people let | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
down by the Labour Party, by the Labour government who consistently | :42:02. | :42:04. | |
sold them short in terms of their life chances. The honourable lady | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
was wrong on all counts. Wrong on tests, wrong on selection, wrong on | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
giving young people the best start in life. Madam Deputy Speaker, | :42:14. | :42:19. | |
nothing, nothing at all, is more important than making sure young | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
people master the basics of the three hours and the master them | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
early. If they do not come at struggling for the rest of their | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
lives. Denied the opportunity to realise their full potential. That | :42:33. | :42:36. | |
is why making sure that every child in this country has a good grasp of | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
literacy and numeracy is a matter of social justice. I am grateful to my | :42:41. | :42:49. | |
right honourable friend. Does she agree with me that what is sad is | :42:50. | :42:53. | |
that the party opposite appears to think it more important to let | :42:54. | :42:55. | |
children are ready for secondary school than actually to ensure that | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
they are? I couldn't agree with my honourable friend, the former | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
chairman of the Education Select Committee, enough. He is absolutely | :43:06. | :43:09. | |
right. The party opposite appears to want to sell young people short, | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
rather than actually being clear with them about the standards needed | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
to compete with the best in this country and the best in the world. | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
When this government came to office in 2010, too many young people are | :43:24. | :43:26. | |
not entering secondary school able to read, write and add up well | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
enough. Pupils in England were far behind their peers in top performing | :43:31. | :43:37. | |
countries across the globe. International test at International | :43:38. | :43:40. | |
test should other nations surging ahead while poor performance in | :43:41. | :43:43. | |
England stagnated. The OECD identified England is one of the few | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
countries with the basic skills -- skills of school leavers are no | :43:49. | :43:57. | |
better than the grandparent's generations. Central to the scandal | :43:58. | :43:59. | |
was that the curriculum into in many primary schools under the tests | :44:00. | :44:01. | |
pupils were taking were not up to scratch. I am grateful to the | :44:02. | :44:09. | |
Secretary of State and can tell her that in my constituency we have some | :44:10. | :44:12. | |
really spectacular primary schools. We also have some outstanding | :44:13. | :44:19. | |
secondary schools, but actually, what I find, as echo around the | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
screws in my constituency is that too many young people are that down | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
at the secondary stage of their education. They come out of primary | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
school with very good results and they slip back over the five years | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
they are in secondary school. What is she going to do about standards | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
in secondary education as well as in primary? At the risk of strain of | :44:42. | :44:49. | |
the subject matter of this debate, which is firmly on key stage two, I | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
won't give the honourable gentleman on the details that we could have | :44:54. | :44:57. | |
had if we had a proper debate on education, but we are reforming our | :44:58. | :45:03. | |
GCSEs, we are be forming other aspects are also looking at | :45:04. | :45:06. | |
technical and professional education. An increase of young | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
people at 16 are apprenticeships. We launched a skills plan. I don't | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
disagree with them that there are challenges at both stages and I know | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
that the Chief inspector of Ofsted has identified those first three | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
years at secondary school as one of the times when children, especially | :45:24. | :45:27. | |
bright children from disadvantaged backgrounds, slipped backwards. That | :45:28. | :45:30. | |
is a matter of social justice and I think we can find common cause in | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
tackling that. The trouble with the attitude of the party opposite is | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
that it allowed Labour politicians to trumpet ever higher pass rate but | :45:41. | :45:45. | |
the price was low standards letting down the young people trying to | :45:46. | :45:53. | |
master these vital subjects. Just to reinforce it would be Secretary of | :45:54. | :45:58. | |
State is making, is she concerned with the observation of the national | :45:59. | :46:02. | |
numeracy society that 78% of the adult population in this country | :46:03. | :46:07. | |
scarcely reach level two in maths? That is an appalling situation and | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
it is one that we really must work with total devotion to put right and | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
the tests we are discussing today are one too a tool box we must use. | :46:17. | :46:24. | |
I entirely agree with the chairman of the Education Select Committee. | :46:25. | :46:27. | |
Numeracy and literacy and basic skills, the building blocks. The | :46:28. | :46:30. | |
Prime Minister has called them the ultimate vocational subjects and it | :46:31. | :46:34. | |
is something we need to see everybody having confidence in. One | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
thing we have done is in terms of funding at post 16 levels is to | :46:39. | :46:42. | |
require those who did not get a grade C is to continue taking it. In | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
terms of the results from last week, 70% of the key stage two pupils | :46:48. | :46:58. | |
taking the new test achieved expected standards in mathematics. | :46:59. | :47:00. | |
That is 70%. That is through the hard work of those taking it and | :47:01. | :47:03. | |
they are to be congratulated. This government refused to accept the | :47:04. | :47:05. | |
status quo that young people down. That is why we consulted experts and | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
introduced a new world-class primary school curriculum. That criticism | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
raised the bar on what counts as a good enough standard some children | :47:15. | :47:18. | |
would leave primary school genuinely ready for success in secondary | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
studies. To measure how schools and pupils perform against the new | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
curriculum, new test were required. I know some oppose testing, but they | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
could not be more wrong. The honourable lady was challenged by | :47:32. | :47:34. | |
the former chairman for my honourable friend on what tests she | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
would introduce and she could not say. I think we can agree that tests | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
are a vital part of teaching because they allow teachers to know whether | :47:43. | :47:47. | |
a pupil has understood key subject, they give parents confidence that | :47:48. | :47:50. | |
their children are on track and they allow schools to identify what | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
support is needed. Let me make progress and I will give way. These | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
tests are not about open children to account and they are not exams, | :48:01. | :48:05. | |
because the best schools make the taking of tests as low stress as | :48:06. | :48:09. | |
possible. As one teacher said, the children had such a positive | :48:10. | :48:12. | |
attitude which definitely paid off. Let me give way. She will know some | :48:13. | :48:19. | |
of the concerns teachers have on this particular issue and may I ask | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
what she is doing to assuage these concerns and engage with the | :48:24. | :48:26. | |
profession and more importantly ensured that mixture more than 53% | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
of children are meeting the expected standards? I am aware of the | :48:31. | :48:39. | |
concerns. I see the e-mails and letters, I have conversations with | :48:40. | :48:42. | |
teachers at every school I go and visit and I think it is inevitable | :48:43. | :48:51. | |
It will be a challenging year and I take that as somebody who was among | :48:52. | :48:58. | |
the first to take the new GCSEs in the 1980s. We are listening to | :48:59. | :49:05. | |
feedback from teachers about the structure for the frameworks and we | :49:06. | :49:08. | |
will continue to do that. I'd talk about a positive attitude towards | :49:09. | :49:14. | |
SATs because this is not unique. Pulling phone that 60 super-centre | :49:15. | :49:23. | |
of pupils either do not mind for two not enjoy -- do not mind taking the | :49:24. | :49:29. | |
test. The Administration was not as smooth as it could have been and for | :49:30. | :49:35. | |
that we have apologise, but where errors occurred we took immediate | :49:36. | :49:39. | |
action, making sure the overall roll-out was a success. Low results | :49:40. | :49:43. | |
do not represent a failure of reforms. It is not possible to | :49:44. | :49:49. | |
compare this year's results with last year's. Because we have raised | :49:50. | :49:55. | |
a new curriculum and raised the bar, we knew that the bar would be lower, | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
and this shows the contrast between parties because we want children to | :50:04. | :50:08. | |
understand the curriculum so they compete with the best in the world | :50:09. | :50:11. | |
and not to risk than leaving school without the skills they need to | :50:12. | :50:16. | |
succeed, and the party opposite seems to be happy for that to | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
happen. They forget it isn't the children in leafy skills with | :50:22. | :50:27. | |
supportive parents who most need the primary curriculum, but the ones who | :50:28. | :50:32. | |
were not brought up with high aspirations, who needs teachers to | :50:33. | :50:37. | |
aim high for them. That is what these tests are about. Results | :50:38. | :50:40. | |
showed that schools have resoundingly risen to meet that | :50:41. | :50:47. | |
higher bar. Two thirds of pupils achieve the expected standard in | :50:48. | :50:50. | |
Reading, seven in ten achieve that in mass, nearly three quarters | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
achieved it in writing, so despite doom mongering, more than half are | :50:56. | :51:01. | |
giving people achieve the expected standard in all three subjects, a | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
number that will rise as schools and pupils experience more of the new | :51:06. | :51:10. | |
curriculum. What does this mean for children who did not meet the | :51:11. | :51:15. | |
standard? It means secondary schools can now give those pupils the | :51:16. | :51:19. | |
support they need. It does not and never has meant that those children | :51:20. | :51:25. | |
have somehow failed. The only people who used these results to label | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
children figures are the National union of teachers, now join either | :51:31. | :51:35. | |
the Labour Party. That is shameful. I will not give way. Let me be clear | :51:36. | :51:42. | |
about what this means for schools. We believe schools have to be held | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
to account for the results their pupils achieve but they need to be | :51:46. | :51:51. | |
held to account fairly, which is quite we judge schools not just on | :51:52. | :51:55. | |
the standards they achieved but the progress they make with every child, | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
so schools with charging intakes get proper permission for the | :52:01. | :52:03. | |
achievement they make in pushing their pupils to success. On top of | :52:04. | :52:10. | |
that I have also announced that the proportion of schools judged to be | :52:11. | :52:13. | |
allow the floor when the new progress bar is set ill be no more | :52:14. | :52:18. | |
than one percentage point higher than last year. That progress bar | :52:19. | :52:24. | |
will be released in September and no school can be the divide is below | :52:25. | :52:30. | |
the floor until then. I was struck by just how easily the honourable | :52:31. | :52:35. | |
lady's speech could have been written by the NU teeth and | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
presented a final stage of the Labour Party's transformation into | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
the parliamentary wing of the NU teeth. There was a greater presence | :52:46. | :52:52. | |
on the benches opposite for a question on the NU teeth strike then | :52:53. | :52:55. | |
there was for education questions the day before. In March we set that | :52:56. | :53:02. | |
it planned to tackle areas of underperformance but we did not | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
expect one of those areas of underperformance would be the NU | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
teeth itself. There was enough to use children to oppose every reform | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
designed to be worn great teaching and enable schools to tackle the not | :53:18. | :53:21. | |
so good as a further example of chronic underperformance by that | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
union on behalf of of its members, and that they do for those children | :53:27. | :53:31. | |
that their members work with. We see that same attitude now from the | :53:32. | :53:36. | |
opposition. I have seen the transformation of the Labour Party's | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
attitude to our reforms, from the secret support of the memorable for | :53:41. | :53:47. | |
Stoke Central, and now the outright hostility to raising standards from | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
the honourable lady opposite, and I hope the member for Durham will | :53:52. | :53:56. | |
forgive me for lacking the time to work out where she stood, so the | :53:57. | :54:01. | |
Labour Party have firmly chosen to become the anti-standards party, the | :54:02. | :54:07. | |
voice of ideas and determine to protect vested interests and unions | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
rather than putting children first, from the party of education | :54:13. | :54:18. | |
education education to the party of low standards, low aspiration and | :54:19. | :54:23. | |
low expectations. I don't want to end the speech by focusing on the | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
collapsing party opposite but by saying thank you. Rather than giving | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
down the achievements of schools and pupils I want to commend them. The | :54:34. | :54:39. | |
Secretary of State is not giving way. Is she? Thank you to the | :54:40. | :54:47. | |
teachers who again have risen to the challenge to meet and deliver for | :54:48. | :54:53. | |
young people. As I have said before, teaching is the most noble of | :54:54. | :54:56. | |
professions and last week's achievement in helping young people | :54:57. | :55:02. | |
demonstrate mastery of the basics is an example of why. I urge the House | :55:03. | :55:10. | |
to reject the motion. Sometimes in these did its criticising the | :55:11. | :55:14. | |
Government can be quite difficult but when the minister describes the | :55:15. | :55:20. | |
back-up with SATs is a great success, criticising government | :55:21. | :55:25. | |
policy is more like shooting fish in a barrel. I would like to start by | :55:26. | :55:35. | |
referring to a headteacher in my constituency, headteacher of the | :55:36. | :55:39. | |
largest primary school in the North West, who put his pupils through | :55:40. | :55:44. | |
SATs recently. He was so shocked by the outcome, and this is a standard | :55:45. | :55:49. | |
middle-class school, he was so shocked he felt that necessary to | :55:50. | :55:53. | |
write home to the pupils in the following terms. He wrote to them | :55:54. | :56:02. | |
saying that SATs were one big mess, and told the children to look on the | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
bright side. He said the only thing people would remember about the SATs | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
was that they were one big mess. He said of pupils, your results will | :56:12. | :56:17. | |
not stop you achieving well at high school and being a success in the | :56:18. | :56:20. | |
future, but what you got to the back of your mind and move on, he said | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
there must is important in life that these tests were not fair. This is a | :56:26. | :56:32. | |
very experienced headteacher of a very large primary school in a | :56:33. | :56:37. | |
standard middle-class area with a record of success. He said the | :56:38. | :56:41. | |
pupils, they were harder than usual and you did not get the chance to | :56:42. | :56:47. | |
show how much you learn. Schools all over the country have been the same, | :56:48. | :56:52. | |
I think we all feel that their own, you feel let down because you work | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
hard and did not get what you deserve. Your teachers feel the same | :56:56. | :56:59. | |
because they tried to help you achieve and it has not turned out as | :57:00. | :57:07. | |
they would have wanted. He goes on to say what a great experience it | :57:08. | :57:11. | |
has been having them at school, and says compared to everything you have | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
enjoyed at school, test scores mean very little especially when the test | :57:18. | :57:23. | |
was unfair anyway. I wonder if the honourable gentleman is as | :57:24. | :57:29. | |
disappointed as I am that head like this did not write when we had | :57:30. | :57:32. | |
inflation in standards and the perception of success but no reality | :57:33. | :57:39. | |
to success, that letters like that were not written home to parents | :57:40. | :57:43. | |
then, because it would be good if they showed similar outrage at that | :57:44. | :57:48. | |
selling out as at the implementation of a new higher standard. I am sure | :57:49. | :57:54. | |
he was doing what he thought necessary at the time, but he | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
concludes by saying we don't need tests to tell us how great we are. | :58:01. | :58:03. | |
The worst thing about that letter is the need to remove the feeling | :58:04. | :58:08. | |
children have, hard-working children, that they have failed. I | :58:09. | :58:14. | |
don't think anyone here is against summit of assessment of children's | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
progress. I don't think you're against meaningful feedback or it | :58:20. | :58:25. | |
cool for establishing a baseline for improvement. No one wants to go back | :58:26. | :58:30. | |
to the days of total freedom where there were no reasonable expect | :58:31. | :58:35. | |
patients but we all have to learn something from places like Finland, | :58:36. | :58:40. | |
where they have very few tests like our SATs and do very well, Wayne | :58:41. | :58:47. | |
need to learn from experts and from the teachers who have to implement | :58:48. | :58:52. | |
what we impose on them, and we need a sense which is lacking from the | :58:53. | :58:59. | |
Secretary of State's comment of comment enterprise with the teaching | :59:00. | :59:04. | |
profession. I note the NU teeth are not the teaching profession that she | :59:05. | :59:08. | |
needs to support what teachers are trying to do. We need humility, and | :59:09. | :59:15. | |
if I could illustrate that I'd taking a look at grammar, because I | :59:16. | :59:21. | |
looked at the grammar sections of the test, I think grammar has a | :59:22. | :59:29. | |
definition as a living language. I think it helps more in the study of | :59:30. | :59:33. | |
foreign language than your own and I would argue that the greatest | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
orators in this place are not necessarily the greatest | :59:39. | :59:42. | |
grammarians. Most people have been speaking dramatically most of their | :59:43. | :59:46. | |
life with a fair amount of success, much like a character who had been | :59:47. | :59:52. | |
talking prose all his life. I think there may be value in trying to | :59:53. | :59:57. | |
understand the rules once unconsciously follows. It is | :59:58. | :00:05. | |
generally fun, clause analysis, I enjoyed it, but it is arguable how | :00:06. | :00:11. | |
far that benefits the users of language and it is debatable how | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
much meta- vocabulary one needs to acquire, especially as there is no | :00:18. | :00:23. | |
particular consistency and opacity in what terminology one needs. I did | :00:24. | :00:32. | |
Latin, preferring the imperfect to the past progressive, all these | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
things are rarely esoteric but it is arguable how far you can go down | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
this road with the ascending into the type of pedantry about splitting | :00:42. | :00:50. | |
in some -- infinite others, but it is not arguable that imposing a test | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
in haste of limited value with scant preparation and discouraging | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
well-intentioned pupils and teachers in the process is rash. It requires | :01:02. | :01:08. | |
some serious explanation and apology. It is a pleasure to take | :01:09. | :01:17. | |
part in this debate and talk about SATs this year. When a character | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
select committee, we had the SATs fiasco under the previous | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
government, a true mess of SATs. What we have this year is a new | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
assessment and what I can share with the House, having chaired the | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
committee, is whenever you bring in new assessment is you get some | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
volatility, you don't get everything right and I would not try to claim | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
we have this year, but when you bring that in you get volatility and | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
then over time you see improvement, and the central question is how are | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
we going to raise standards? The first question is, are we doing a | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
good unit job? That would have been a good question for the Shadow | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
Secretary of State to answer. Were we in 2010 or two day? The answer is | :02:11. | :02:18. | |
always partial, but if you look around the world it appears too many | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
children in this country are not given the requisite skills and | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
knowledge to flourish in secondary skill with lifelong negative impacts | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
on them and their families. We didn't hear that from the Shadow | :02:37. | :02:39. | |
Secretary of State, instead we had a rather incoherent, and I don't mean | :02:40. | :02:46. | |
to be overly harsh on one of her first outings, but it seemed like a | :02:47. | :02:53. | |
passionate enunciation of testing because if you feedback the result | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
of those tests, some people will be told they are not at the required | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
standard and others told they are, it seemed to be an attack on that in | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
principle, and that was married with a public statement that she and her | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
party believe we should still have tests. I don't see how those could | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
be put together. It seemed extraordinary to me and I think she | :03:17. | :03:23. | |
needs to think clearly, that is what education policy requires, because | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
it is not just a political fight in this House, it has real world | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
affects on children what happens in schools, so I think that was | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
disappointing, so it would be good to hear from the party opposite what | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
they think about tests. They think if 20% of children are led to think | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
they are feeling, there is a standard we aspire to and it is a | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
high standard and not everyone will reach it, it doesn't mean everyone | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
else is worthless or have not done a good job but we have to give people | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
a objective ideas of where they would like to be, or do we throw | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
that away because it might demoralise some? | :04:11. | :04:19. | |
Thank you very much. It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
comment on my predecessor's observations. Does he agree with me | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
that these tests are really part of it wider mission to improve | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
standards and they are linked to differences in the curriculum, they | :04:36. | :04:38. | |
are linked to the average good that we have, which is to give young | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
people the aspiration and the tools to deliver on the aspiration? That | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
is what this is about. Does he agree that is part of our own | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
determination to give young people more opportunity in life? I do agree | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
with my honourable friend. When I defer to the honourable gentleman of | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
the city give such a fine speech, I would also have to say I did not | :05:07. | :05:09. | |
like his use of the split infinitive and would prefer it was not used in | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
This House. Then that is because I am a pedant in that respect. I do | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
agree with my honourable friend. There is a genuine argument to be | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
made. How practically useful is grammar? What is it designed for? Is | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
it excessive in its extent and publication and effect compared to | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
what is sought from which these are legitimate questions. Perhaps it | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
does need to be rolled back on. That is where we can have a more useful | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
dialogue. To focus on the practicalities, rather than to be in | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
this rather... This suggestion. I will give way in a moment. Instead | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
we have moved from the contradictory positions and then we moved on to a | :06:00. | :06:07. | |
crazed assessment that it was like the 11 plus. The whole point of 11 | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
plus was that it was used to divide children and select them and I don't | :06:13. | :06:15. | |
think anyone can suggest that is what has happened this year. I would | :06:16. | :06:22. | |
like the honourable gentleman for giving way. To stop this becoming a | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
sterile debate, let me say that I don't think there is anybody in This | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
House speaking now he is in favour of not trying to improve standards | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
in schools. I also think that is a consensus that testing is part of | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
improving standards. What I was disappointed with in the speech from | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
the Secretary of State was that what the debate is about is that there | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
have been real problems with the tests this year, which is the point | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
the honourable gentleman has made. What we didn't hear from the | :06:54. | :06:56. | |
Secretary of State is what she intends to do about those problems | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
to put them right for next year. I am grateful to the honourable | :07:05. | :07:12. | |
gentleman. All new assessments and tests create additional volatility. | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
If you remember the English GCSE changes. It was called a fiasco, I | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
would call it a furore. When it went to court it turns out that the | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
unions had said was a disgrace, the schools said it was nothing to do | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
with them, they lost on every count, because it was a new test. The next | :07:31. | :07:38. | |
year at the same test, is considered badly the hell can do it better. | :07:39. | :07:41. | |
They read the spec and await had to do previously and if other technical | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
changes, they were made. This is a new assessment. It is not a | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
disaster. What we need to do is unpick the components, pathetic | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
carefully, or it gets the right balance between raising standards, | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
having high standards and not creating something which is negative | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
in the way it is perceived by children in schools. This year will | :08:04. | :08:10. | |
be difficult to embed a new assessment, but with my friend agree | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
with me that the new curriculum of assessment which puts children | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
through writing Mastriet is preferable to moving them through | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
the system without having a grasp of the subject which they should have? | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
I agree with my honourable friend. If you are saying are we doing a | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
good enough job and if the answer is no, it is not because we're lazy | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
teachers. Fundamentally, if we are not doing as good a job as our | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
neighbours and competitors do that we need to raise standards. When you | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
do that, there will be a shock to the system. Partly that would be | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
because of the volatility and the adjustment, but partly it would be | :08:55. | :08:57. | |
because the system needs that shock. It needs to be told. One thing I | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
clashed with the honourable lady on was the issue of whether simply | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
raising the bar, what in itself does that do to raise standards? There is | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
a mixed answer, but one thing I have seen in the system is standards | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
rising partly because the bar was raised. Because there is clarity | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
over what was required and the truth is whatever the difficulties, | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
customisation, all sorts of issues we can talk about and complexities | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
within it, but the fundamentals of our education system, | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
notwithstanding the downsides, is that we have better schools out | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
there and we had six years ago. Part of that has been about stating | :09:41. | :09:43. | |
clearly what you want and setting out what it is asking schools to | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
meet the challenge. I have absolute confidence that mixture we will seek | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
more than 53% children meeting those things as schools trust. Head | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
teachers will work out how better to use the people and have better to | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
use the funds they have. I just wanted to ask the honourable | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
gentleman on that point, going through change is difficult, does | :10:10. | :10:12. | |
the government have a role to play in making sure that we keep our | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
teachers with us because that is the thing I worry about most of all, | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
change is hard for the children, Hartford teachers, but our teachers | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
are under unprecedented stress at the moment and I worry for them was | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
the does the government have a role to keep an eye on that and listen to | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
them? She is right. The whole house has a role to play. Simply | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
trumpeting of the negatives as I think the honourable lady did can be | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
more devastating if you are more understated than trying to suggest | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
this is the return to the 11 plus, which it clearly isn't. There are | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
issues around engaging with teachers. It was a fairly vicious | :10:54. | :10:59. | |
assault on the National Union of Teachers by the Secretary of State. | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
Some people might think it was over the top. My experience of the | :11:03. | :11:05. | |
National Union of Teachers is that it is not over the top and they | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
oppose almost everything. It is tragic and I can say by way of | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
uplift is not that I don't meet teachers who are concerned about | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
changes in the curriculum, changes in assessment, the speed from the | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
end of the telescope, so to they are genuinely feeling that it is | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
difficult and challenging but there are a lot of positives when I speak | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
to those teachers down from the national representatives of the NUJ. | :11:35. | :11:44. | |
-- nu T. We need to keep teachers on board and recognise they are the | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
most important people in the system. The one thing out there in five | :11:48. | :11:50. | |
years chairing the committee was that is the most important thing. He | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
has only important if they print out the best in the teachers. Teacher | :11:56. | :12:02. | |
quality is transformational. I have broken a promise not to be too long. | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
The example of Finland who have liked testing but very strong | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
teacher buy in, what conclusions does withdraw from the favourable | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
ranking in the league tables converted to us? He is right to lead | :12:17. | :12:25. | |
a challenge down though he also mentioned that he remained in favour | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
of tests as well. Once you move to a certain level of excellence, of | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
course, if you are recruiting teachers from the top 30% of | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
graduates with ten people competing for each job, not only did you get | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
people with high academic ability, you can select them with enthusiasm | :12:44. | :12:46. | |
and apathy and other skills and you have a first-class class workforce. | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
We are a bigger country, we have different challenges and we do not | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
recruit teaching force from the same pool that they do in the land. If | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
the honourable gentleman ever read about how systems get better, it is | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
a basic thing, but you have to hear it to realise it, systems are | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
different. You have to have different interventions at different | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
points in the development of the system and I look forward to the day | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
when we have such a self-confident, self-critical, self improving | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
education system that we can slowly drop away, cut down Ofsted, we can | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
cut down the accountability system and leave that system to keep on | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
improving by itself. He recently honourable lady and the honourable | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
gentleman and those of us on this side of the House haven't got to | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
that point is that we don't have the confidence for it but I hope it | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
will, one day. One final point if I may, just on this issue of the | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
stress of children. It is very important that we don't talk of this | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
lurid talk of failure and it is important we do say to schools, look | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
at the schools where children are shown no stress. Is it possible, | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
does the system mean all children have to be stressed is remarkable is | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
that? No, because we can find many instances where the children are | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
suffering to stress. They are prepared for these tests without it | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
feeling like some great deal coming down the road that their future | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
depends upon and the message I think we should send out from This House | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
would be to say two screws, look, learn from those who don't stress on | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
kids and, actually, use the tests as an assessment for learning rather | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
than making it into this thing. Just because teachers and head teachers | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
need to ensure whatever stress the feeling and they are accountable for | :14:45. | :14:47. | |
the results and they should be, that they do not pass that stress on to | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
children. We know that can happen, it does happen and it needs to | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
happen everywhere. I want to say at the outset that I am a child of the | :14:59. | :15:04. | |
70s when grammar purism wasn't up to much. We are of the same vintage. We | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
are exactly the same age. I will not be a grammar fascist or purist in | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
this way. We played in the sand that rather than learning how to decline | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
your declensions or whatever. I wanted to contribute to this debate | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
today because of the case which was raised to me about the weakened by a | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
constituent and deputy head teacher of this good in my constituency, | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
Christ the Saviour, which is a Church of England school and it is | :15:34. | :15:36. | |
outstanding in all four categories. It is not Bash Street screws, gas | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
Street comprehensive, the deputy head came to me. I went to school I | :15:44. | :15:54. | |
have known her for 40 years. Both screws I attended art in my | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
constituency. I am a mum bringing up my own in the borough and Christ the | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
Saviour is a very well regarded schools. This weekend I went to the | :16:03. | :16:09. | |
Carnival and she literally grabbed me by the lapels and said can you | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
tell Nicky Morgan is, can you tell her from me? I thought now is my | :16:15. | :16:21. | |
opportunity. What Katie says, she is worried about the floor standards of | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
Key stage two. I read the headlines like everyone else that almost half | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
of primary pupils will not reach the required standard, that issue is | :16:32. | :16:34. | |
with the marking. I've wanted to please directly this. What she tells | :16:35. | :16:41. | |
me is the key stage two reading paper was so relieved Mark that 55 | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
out of 86 papers, that is 64%, had to be returned for re-marking and | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
sometimes these problems seem really very minor. First of all, it cost | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
them ?9 per paper if the complaint is not upheld. Economically, that is | :16:58. | :17:05. | |
not a good use of money. They are in fear of sending things like because | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
there might be a penalty. Key stage two, the GPS paper, grammar, | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
contrition and spelling, the conflict there is that it is an | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
exceptionally harsh marking scheme, so, for example, if you insert a | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
semicolon in the correct pace in the sentence but the people insert it | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
too large a size, so it comes out larger than the letters, that is | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
marked wrong. Now Mark is given. Zero. Those kind of things. She said | :17:35. | :17:43. | |
she must go on and on. She said she could give me more. The point has | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
been made from opposite that we are and the testing. That is not the | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
case. We presided over them for all those years and is the Secretary of | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
State pointed out, it was Tony Blair's mantra that his top priority | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
for education, education, education. These tests have been picked right | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
dog's dinner. They have been a shambles. I know this myself from | :18:09. | :18:13. | |
numerous examples that I have come across in my inbox. People are | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
cornering me when I am going to a fun event at the weekend. It is | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
surely the responsibility of the government to make sure these are | :18:24. | :18:30. | |
marked properly. Again, I will give way. I appreciate the constructive | :18:31. | :18:37. | |
way she raises the concerns of constituent. If she wants to read to | :18:38. | :18:41. | |
me or the minister we followed that up with the standards and testing | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
agency. I should say that the review of the marking, comment should be | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
submitted by the 15th of July, so she might like to encourage a | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
constituent to send those thoughts but I hope she will contact us and | :18:55. | :19:00. | |
let us know because the whole point of this system is getting feedback | :19:01. | :19:08. | |
I did a lot of assemblies in my constituency is, and the London | :19:09. | :19:16. | |
Borough of Ealing is a leafy, suburban borough and it was a | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
Conservative seat as recently as May 2015 and the other thing that comes | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
up, while I'm opposite the Secretary of State in this place, is the | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
tension rate of teachers in a borough like Ealing. Head teachers | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
say to me that they can very easily get young trainees in in their 20s | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
but once the people want to put down roots and settle, they are off to | :19:42. | :19:46. | |
Slough, Milton Keynes, where ever around the M25 which is the nearest | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
affordable place to live. People have raised with me, and I know this | :19:51. | :19:53. | |
is getting slightly off the subject, but could we have a thing like tied | :19:54. | :19:59. | |
housing which they have on some university campuses because that | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
would make it more attractive. Some heads say they have lost people to | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
schools where they do have something like that, caretakers house where | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
they house people. The point was made opposite that this was just an | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
NU Tebar diatribe and that's why I wanted to raise -- NU T diatribe and | :20:17. | :20:24. | |
that's why wanted to raise it, and if you are at losing the goodwill of | :20:25. | :20:32. | |
people who naturally would be small seed Conservative, I think it has | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
problems. This constituent of mine said that education is in crisis, | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
and crisis gets much overused but she was really in despair and shock | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
and anger when she told me this. The Secretary of State and I have both | :20:48. | :20:53. | |
been guinea pigs. 1998, the first year of GCSEs, and I understand | :20:54. | :20:56. | |
there will be teething troubles in any system, but people have begged | :20:57. | :21:04. | |
them not to introduce these changes so rapidly, and we are where we are | :21:05. | :21:11. | |
now, and I know that the NUT has been a dirty word in this debate, | :21:12. | :21:18. | |
but Kevin Connelly called the Key stage two Sats rushed and | :21:19. | :21:25. | |
inappropriate. We have seen poor marking from my own example, and | :21:26. | :21:31. | |
this kind of tinkering has led to chaos and confusion. It does feel | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
like the kids are guinea pigs and schools should not be examined | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
factories. Again the Times educational supplement this Friday, | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
headteacher called Brian Walton who is ahead of a school in Somerset, he | :21:47. | :21:55. | |
argues that we have we have a results illusion that so much rides | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
on Sats that a lot of education is lost in statistical positioning and | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
we are being seduced by the numbers and not recognising the child who | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
they are. Again, I think there are some studies that show one in ten | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
teachers have left the profession as a result of falling morale. The | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
housing thing is so intrinsically linked in an area like West London | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
because something has to be done. The worry is, if Ealing is a borough | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
where teachers cannot afford to live, there will be a hollowing out | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
of the capital, which is obviously wrong. This was an intervention and | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
I've managed to spin it out into a speech. It was meant to be quick. | :22:36. | :22:44. | |
Frustration on this side would be that the G1 to have tests but you | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
talk about the tensions it can cause. , what kind of test is it | :22:49. | :22:56. | |
there would be wanted. The honourable gentleman to the Liberal | :22:57. | :22:59. | |
Democrats Lee suggested that a grammar test might be over the top, | :23:00. | :23:02. | |
but what is it that is wrong about these tests that should be put right | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
for next year? Any suggestion would be helpful. | :23:07. | :23:08. | |
I don't know if the honourable gentleman was listening to the | :23:09. | :23:14. | |
anecdote I read out from the deputy head, but it seems that this time | :23:15. | :23:17. | |
round the curriculum has not been properly in place and the marking is | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
all over the place, so it is not the testing that is wrong, it is the | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
maladministration of the key stage two Sats. I noticed in the recent | :23:27. | :23:36. | |
Brexit debate that the Lord Chancellor said we had had enough of | :23:37. | :23:40. | |
experts and I think that this is a real mistake. These are the people | :23:41. | :23:49. | |
at the chalk face. So headteachers and people in the NUT, have been | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
warning about this and I hope that these problems can be rectified and | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
we can hear from the Secretary of State about what will be done to | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
minimise next year's disturbances so there are no disturbances because | :24:05. | :24:06. | |
otherwise it feels like we are losing sight of the child. | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
It is a great pleasure to follow the honourable lady for Ealing Central | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
and Acton, constituency where I resided for many years and my eldest | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
daughter went to preschool there before I escape to the countryside | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
in East Sussex. I share the sentiment expressed in the first | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
sentence of the motion that every child deserves an excellent | :24:33. | :24:34. | |
education that enables them to grow and thrive, and in order to deliver | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
the aspiration it's important children are assessed to enable | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
parents and teachers to determine whether the education received is | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
meeting the desired outcome. I therefore welcome the testing at | :24:49. | :24:51. | |
both key stage one and Key stage two, and the latter is of important | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
-- of importance because it will inform parents and secondary schools | :24:58. | :25:00. | |
of development reached and progress required. The former is of | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
importance for both the child and school in order to assess how | :25:05. | :25:07. | |
progress is developed over the intervening four years between each | :25:08. | :25:13. | |
test. As I somewhat declared my interest, having failed my own 12 | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
plus exam and attended a secondary school which by its definition was | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
for those of us who had similarly failed, I'm disappointed that the | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
motion references that children will be labelled as failures. Instead, | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
these tests should be used as a method by which to benchmark | :25:32. | :25:34. | |
progress, not talk about failure. The motion focuses on the fact that | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
only 53% of children have reached the standard in all three papers. | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
When broken down, the Department for Education statistics showed that 66% | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
met the standard in Reading, 70% in maths and 72% in grammar. The motion | :25:51. | :25:57. | |
is correct in that the rates of 2016 compared to 2015 have reduced. But | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
the very aspect of the comparison is wholly misleading because the tests | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
have been changed and made more difficult. It's therefore | :26:08. | :26:10. | |
unsurprising that we have a grade deflation. What we now have is a | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
rigorous regime which will help drive up progress and standards and | :26:16. | :26:20. | |
help give every child and excellent education which enables them to grow | :26:21. | :26:24. | |
and thrive. Children are not going to thrive if the tests are set at a | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
level which do not stretch them and inspire them to do better. We should | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
not be alarmed by this benchmark, we should embrace it and do all that we | :26:35. | :26:37. | |
can to help our children reach their potential. Rather than turn back to | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
previous methods we need to give the new regime a chance to bed in. We | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
also need to give teachers more time and space to listen to children. In | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
that vein, can I make some positive suggestions that I hope the | :26:52. | :26:54. | |
department can take on board? Firstly, it must be the case that | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
teachers have had to spend extra time getting to grips with the new | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
tests and curriculum. Can we therefore give teachers sometime | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
back so they can focus on inspiring and teaching our children? Too many | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
teachers, as the member South Cambridgeshire mentioned, are | :27:13. | :27:14. | |
working long hours and we need to help them. Secondly, I embrace the | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
need for all children to master English and maths so they have the | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
basics aged 11 but there is more to learning than these two subjects. | :27:24. | :27:26. | |
Last weekend I spent another morning with my seven-year-old and | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
ten-year-old. One had maths homework on the other had English. Can we | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
have time for science, art, history, geography and other subjects or at | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
least ask our teachers to use them as the basis for maths and English. | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
Thirdly, comparing our children to those of other nations who they will | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
be completing with in the global jobs race is helpful. But can we not | :27:50. | :27:56. | |
be as obsessed by it? Not all of our children will master maths as well | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
as a child in India or Singapore. However, if we teach our children to | :28:01. | :28:05. | |
be leaders, to be creative, to think outside the box and inspire they | :28:06. | :28:08. | |
will probably end up managing a maths genius from India without the | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
need to be one themselves. Madame Deputy Speaker, I agree that a | :28:14. | :28:16. | |
rigorous education assessment underpins the desire on these | :28:17. | :28:19. | |
benches to give better life chances to everyone. As we see in public | :28:20. | :28:23. | |
life, there are numerous examples of children enjoying a successful | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
education as a result of having the support and drive of parents and | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
maybe a private education. However there are not enough examples of | :28:35. | :28:37. | |
those who have enjoyed a difficult start and may have grown up in | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
deprived communities where the parental emphasis is lacking. And | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
where there has been no one to support or inspire them outside the | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
school gates. For these children, their schooling offers them the only | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
route to a better place. This can make a difference to their health, | :28:55. | :28:57. | |
well-being and ultimately their life expectancy. I would urge this house | :28:58. | :29:04. | |
to embrace the need to assess our children, as the government is | :29:05. | :29:07. | |
doing, so that every child can reach their true potential. | :29:08. | :29:14. | |
Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I make a brief intervention and make | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
a couple of comments which hopefully the minister will be able to address | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
when he winds up? I very much agree with the honourable member for South | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
Cambridgeshire which is one of the reasons I wanted to attend the | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
debate. I'm sure the Secretary of State would agree with this, | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
whatever the rights and wrongs of the way the current Sats have been | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
administered, there can be no doubt that for many of our schools, and | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
outstanding schools, and headteachers, dedicated teachers, | :29:46. | :29:50. | |
the harsh reality of the way in which the results have been | :29:51. | :29:53. | |
presented where some have seen a huge drop in the standards to which | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
their schools have attained has been a huge shock to them. I think the | :29:59. | :30:04. | |
secretary of state, in my view, would have done well to address that | :30:05. | :30:10. | |
in the remarks she made. I'm sure all of us have outstanding schools | :30:11. | :30:13. | |
in our constituencies, and to see some of them, for reasons they found | :30:14. | :30:19. | |
difficult to understand, see their results almost collapse in some | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
instances does not help them and is not help the Secretary of State in | :30:26. | :30:28. | |
her desire to raise standards and does not help all of us, because in | :30:29. | :30:34. | |
the end it is the partnership between government, parents and | :30:35. | :30:37. | |
schools that deliver the standards we all want. Thank you for giving | :30:38. | :30:46. | |
way. The other point I just wondered, what you thought about, | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
where schools have done better than they expected, perhaps because they | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
have been teaching very closely to get the children through it and | :30:55. | :30:59. | |
ignoring the Brett mentioned. Does he think there might be an element | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
of that as well? There has always been a danger of that, that you | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
teach to the test. But one thing Ofsted has done is actually the | :31:09. | :31:16. | |
guidance is to look to see what the breadth of the curriculum is and the | :31:17. | :31:21. | |
sorts of empresses they give to subject outside of those that are | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
specifically designed for the Sats. So the good schools that we go to | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
ANSI have drama, history, sports and all the other things -- that we go | :31:33. | :31:38. | |
to and see. In my view, the schools that often do best at tests often do | :31:39. | :31:45. | |
best with young people who are from some of the most disadvantaged | :31:46. | :31:47. | |
backgrounds, and they are the ones that have the breadth of curriculum | :31:48. | :31:51. | |
and do drama and other things as well because it gives them the | :31:52. | :31:56. | |
self-esteem and confidence to do something that is more academic and | :31:57. | :32:04. | |
it gives them the self-esteem and confidence to do that. Just to say | :32:05. | :32:08. | |
to the Minister, he needs to address in his wind up what he will do to | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
restore confidence for some of our leaders. I know in our own | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
constituency, whatever the rights and wrongs, and it's not to make a | :32:17. | :32:19. | |
point, I say it is a statement of fact. Some people have been | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
absolutely distraught at the consequence of the results that they | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
have been given, and that cannot be right. Even schools regarded as | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
outstanding, headteachers have been crying. This cannot be what we want. | :32:35. | :32:44. | |
Let's reflect on all of that. What I also wanted to say to the Minister | :32:45. | :32:52. | |
is, whatever the rights and wrongs, 53% met the target expected. We | :32:53. | :32:58. | |
don't want to use the failure full -- word. 47% didn't meet the target | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
the government said. Is there something in the three components | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
that is of particular concern? Is there one area weaker than other, | :33:08. | :33:13. | |
the maths part? Something we need to do with respect to that? What is the | :33:14. | :33:18. | |
government going to do am working with all sides of the house and | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
unions to actually do something to ensure that a 47%, we tackle that do | :33:23. | :33:30. | |
something it. I'm grateful to him for giving way and I think he makes | :33:31. | :33:33. | |
an important point about partnerships. I think where the tone | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
of the debate has gone wrong today is that we have had Tory bad, Labour | :33:38. | :33:45. | |
good, Labour good, Tory bad. Unions right, government wrong. Donna | :33:46. | :33:51. | |
Wright, unions wrong. Actually -- government right. Actually, we owe | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
it to the teachers to work in partnership because we want to see | :33:57. | :33:59. | |
our children succeed and we all want to see better standards and we all | :34:00. | :34:05. | |
want to see the United Kingdom improved in terms of the global | :34:06. | :34:07. | |
league tables as well. I agree very much, I think standards | :34:08. | :34:16. | |
in the last couple of decades have risen, but the point is we want them | :34:17. | :34:22. | |
to rise faster and quicker, and there is too much inequality and too | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
much where social background determines educational attainment. | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
The question for everyone is to not blaming, it is to say, what is | :34:33. | :34:35. | |
preventing this country from overcoming solutions? What has | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
bedevilled the education system for decades. I don't think anyone says | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
they want to continue that, but the question is, how do we best meet it? | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
Can I ask a few other points? First of all, what will he do to improve | :34:52. | :34:57. | |
the security of the tests given the fact that the embarrassment, and I'm | :34:58. | :34:59. | |
not trying... The embarrassment where tests were leaked and had to | :35:00. | :35:07. | |
be abandoned beforehand, what has happened and is going to happen in | :35:08. | :35:10. | |
the future about that? What is happening about the criticism made, | :35:11. | :35:17. | |
that the new tests are actually about the new curriculum, which was | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
introduced in 2014 and we are now testing it in 2016, two years for a | :35:23. | :35:29. | |
four year course. Is there any way in which that is taken into account? | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
What have you said to schools? Does that mean anything for the testing | :35:35. | :35:40. | |
next year? This is what we want to hear, and it would be ridiculous to | :35:41. | :35:47. | |
pretend that the stats have been an unmitigated success, they haven't, | :35:48. | :35:50. | |
there've been real bobbins, but what this house would like to hear is | :35:51. | :35:55. | |
what the government is going to do about it, how are they going to | :35:56. | :35:58. | |
improve it, and that is what the parents and schools and all the us | :35:59. | :36:05. | |
want to hear. The last point I want to make, what do these key stage | :36:06. | :36:14. | |
results mean for the Ofsted characterisation of these schools? | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
Does it mean when they go in in September, if I'm a school which has | :36:20. | :36:23. | |
seen a collapse in my results, what does that mean? What are Ofsted | :36:24. | :36:30. | |
going to do? I don't know, that is why I'm asking. That is why I'm | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
asking, because people want clarity about that. What does it mean for a | :36:36. | :36:42. | |
school with respect to its Ofsted characterisation with respect of | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
these results? If the government says this is the standard we expect, | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
and large numbers are below that, including in schools which are | :36:53. | :36:55. | |
characterised as outstanding, what does that mean when the inspectors | :36:56. | :37:01. | |
go in? Does it mean the school is cast out of the community? Maybe | :37:02. | :37:07. | |
not, and that is what schools what. The minister will respond to that | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
and reassure people. What I'm trying to do, is to say there have been | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
very real problems with respect to this and everyone in the house | :37:19. | :37:21. | |
agrees that we need to improve standards, and we know we are never | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
going to reach a point where everyone is satisfied, because | :37:27. | :37:29. | |
everyone will want more. What are we going to do with respect to the | :37:30. | :37:32. | |
problems which have occurred and how is the particular test we have | :37:33. | :37:37. | |
introduced going to allow us to build on that progress? What are we | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
doing to reassure schools and what are we doing with respect to | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
headteachers and teachers and parents? To reassure them. And what | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
is the difference next year to prevent what has happened this year | :37:52. | :37:59. | |
from taking place again? That is why I was trying to intervene on the | :38:00. | :38:02. | |
sectarian state, I was not trying to say, Tories wicked, Labour which can | :38:03. | :38:08. | |
I just wanted to ask -- secretary of state. There are very real questions | :38:09. | :38:15. | |
which we want the answers, and I would be grateful if the Minister | :38:16. | :38:20. | |
answers some of those questions and maybe other points. | :38:21. | :38:28. | |
It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate, first of all to comment | :38:29. | :38:36. | |
on the contributions from backbenchers which have been | :38:37. | :38:41. | |
uniformly thoughtful and interesting and if I begin with the intervention | :38:42. | :38:47. | |
of my honourable friend four Reddish who challenge the Secretary of State | :38:48. | :38:49. | |
on the issue of secondary improvement. On that point, although | :38:50. | :38:56. | |
this is not a debate about secondary improvements, they would be assisted | :38:57. | :38:59. | |
if these schools did not have to worry about how they are going to | :39:00. | :39:08. | |
play catch up. The honourable member for Southport in a thoughtful speech | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
was rightfully caustic about some of the Newspeak from the Secretary of | :39:14. | :39:20. | |
State on Sats, and saying it is a big mess, the quote from the | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
headteacher, that is worth bearing in mind. A survey of 97% of primary | :39:25. | :39:32. | |
teachers showed concern that schools were preparing pupils for the tests | :39:33. | :39:36. | |
at the expense of the wider curriculum about which other members | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
have spoken today. The member also spoke about a sense of common | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
enterprise and I think that and the other contributions we have had have | :39:49. | :39:51. | |
pointed to the fact that we need a sense of common enterprise and also | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
evidence driven policy. The honourable member, the former chair | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
the select committee, used the interesting word volatility for the | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
description of what has happened this year, that is not a great | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
phrase from someone who has chaired the select committee for five years. | :40:12. | :40:15. | |
You might have had different phrases for the fiascoes we have had from | :40:16. | :40:26. | |
this year's Sats. Surely the whole Robben with this debate is the | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
inspectors were not there in time for them to row back -- the whole | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
problem with this debate. The MP for South Cambridgeshire sparked a chord | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
with many members by talking about the way in which we need to keep our | :40:42. | :40:48. | |
teachers with us. My friend, the MP for Ealing Acton, regaled us with | :40:49. | :40:57. | |
tales, but the truth of the matter is, the most enlightening thing she | :40:58. | :41:04. | |
said, apart from that, it was to relay what her headteacher said. I | :41:05. | :41:09. | |
thought maybe it should be what Katie did and what Katie did next. | :41:10. | :41:16. | |
On that. The Secretary of State has been gracious and told her what she | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
needs to do next, to get that in before July the 15th. There again, | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
it raises the issue of people having legitimate concerns about things, | :41:27. | :41:35. | |
not concerns about anti-testing, the member for Bexhill said the tests | :41:36. | :41:39. | |
should not be set at a low benchmark and I don't think anyone in this | :41:40. | :41:43. | |
house would dispute that. He said there needs to be more time for | :41:44. | :41:51. | |
learning apart from just English and maths, and maybe we can welcome him | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
as an additional recruit to those of us who talk to the Minister last | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
week about the need to widen some of the issues. The member for Gedling | :42:02. | :42:09. | |
has expressed concerns, quite rightly, that some of the | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
outstanding schools in his constituency have had bizarrely low | :42:14. | :42:18. | |
results and he talks rightly about security of the tests and asks what | :42:19. | :42:21. | |
the government is going to do about that. I hope when the minister comes | :42:22. | :42:26. | |
to respond that those are issues that he will take on board. My | :42:27. | :42:31. | |
colleague but the shadow Secretary of State, got an unfair blistering | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
from the Secretary of State herself, because what the shadow Secretary of | :42:38. | :42:44. | |
State, what they did was to paint a stark picture of the strengths and | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
other skills of the young people who have taken these tests this year, | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
and with this being cast aside or ignored, because they have been the | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
guinea pigs and the victims of the Department shambles this year. Yes, | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
she showed passion, she needed to, because the pupils who took those | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
tests have been badly let down. Why had they been badly let down? | :43:10. | :43:14. | |
Because the department's resources and the Minister's focus was | :43:15. | :43:18. | |
obsessively trained on their nationalisation process, as my | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
colleague the member for Scunthorpe said when the statement was made on | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
this and others said they have taken their eye off the ball. It is tens | :43:28. | :43:34. | |
of thousands of children who have suffered, for what? A humiliating | :43:35. | :43:41. | |
climb-down on the subject of academies, and that means the | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
Minister, the Secretary of State will have to swerve and dodge in the | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
Academy built which might or might not come this autumn. The process | :43:52. | :43:57. | |
cannot be divorced from outcome in this instance and the general | :43:58. | :44:03. | |
secretary of the NU HD was right to say that the government has made | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
serious mistakes in panning and implementation of the tests this | :44:07. | :44:14. | |
year, -- planning. The Minister for schools said in this house on the | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
10th of May that Pearson UK were investigating the issue of the | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
uploading of the key stage test onto a website and committed to it | :44:25. | :44:30. | |
quickly. I do not recall whether we have had a explanation of that from | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
the Minister and I ask him to give us one now, and will he also, and I | :44:35. | :44:43. | |
echo my colleague, will he also tell us what steps he has put in place to | :44:44. | :44:46. | |
lessen the possibility of this happening again? The Secretary of | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
State wanted to cloud over her failures by saying that this was a | :44:52. | :45:03. | |
plot driven by the NU hate to -- NU tea, but perhaps she can look at the | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
statement from the National Governors Association, they actually | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
said that schools did not need to draw conclusions from the Sats | :45:12. | :45:16. | |
because it provides no intelligence on the rate of improvement of | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
teaching and learning and they went on to say that many will be feeling | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
demoralised, pupils, teachers and parents, all involved in schools, | :45:28. | :45:30. | |
should be proud of the work they have put in to implement the new | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
curriculum in what has been a very short timetable. It simply isn't | :45:37. | :45:47. | |
good enough, for the Secretary of State to be complacent on this | :45:48. | :45:51. | |
matter, the government's complacency has already been commented on by the | :45:52. | :45:55. | |
Public Accounts Committee which does not seem to have affected the | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
Secretary of State's ability to put a Pangalos on the issue. She said in | :46:01. | :46:05. | |
a first response that the results had been a good start, but Anne | :46:06. | :46:15. | |
Watson, the Americas Professor -- emeritus professor said no | :46:16. | :46:21. | |
comparative judgments can be made as of the way performance is judged and | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
that means we do not know from this data if the government has done a | :46:26. | :46:29. | |
good job or a bad job and whether the test designers have done a good | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
job or a bad job. These results after all mean that according to | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
this government 47% of children in this country are not ready for | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
secondary school, how do you tell children and their parents that? | :46:45. | :46:52. | |
Both the Secretary of State today and on another occasion the | :46:53. | :46:54. | |
Minister, have talked about the fact that students and pupils do not mind | :46:55. | :47:01. | |
or enjoy taking these tests and there was a poll which gave them | :47:02. | :47:04. | |
some comfort in that respect, but what I would say, they might not | :47:05. | :47:15. | |
mind taking the test, but to have the test taken out of context which | :47:16. | :47:18. | |
has left teachers frustrated that they are not being able to engage | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
them at an early enough stage, that they mind and they mind that with | :47:24. | :47:28. | |
absolute justification. The member for Scunthorpe, responding on the | :47:29. | :47:37. | |
issue of this statement, made this point, and this is key, I think, | :47:38. | :47:44. | |
what he said, "I'm rushing ahead with this policy without properly | :47:45. | :47:48. | |
involving professionals or parents, and the government has failed to | :47:49. | :47:50. | |
spot the fundamental flaw in the design which was that the test they | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
had developed was insufficiently parable, and as a result they were | :47:56. | :48:00. | |
forced to abandon the approach -- come parable. " He went on to say | :48:01. | :48:10. | |
that it had been chopped and changed by this government, and that they | :48:11. | :48:18. | |
had been updated at least once every other working day, and that is not | :48:19. | :48:25. | |
something we can regard as good now. I want to ask the Secretary of State | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
about the floor standard, I think she said that the announcement on | :48:32. | :48:36. | |
the floor standard would be made in September, and yet her department | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
told schools on the day of the announcement that they would not be | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
announced until December. Whether it is September or December the | :48:47. | :48:56. | |
Secretary of State can clarify that, but what an indictment that schools | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
should have to have this sort of Damocles over their head, whether | :49:01. | :49:10. | |
that is four months or six months. At the end of the day, this comes | :49:11. | :49:17. | |
down to what happens in individual members constituencies and the | :49:18. | :49:20. | |
responses they get back, and in my own area in Lancashire the spokesman | :49:21. | :49:27. | |
for the national association of head teachers says that with 94% of | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
Lancashire schools judged good or outstanding by Ofsted, there is | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
something wrong in an assessment process where you need to support | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
children or staff and carry out what is effectively damage limitation. | :49:42. | :49:48. | |
Last Friday I visited one of my primary schools in Blackpool where | :49:49. | :49:53. | |
the head and others are doing extremely good work and I observed a | :49:54. | :49:59. | |
session with the excellent literacy tutor there, but when I spoke | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
afterwards to the head, he had a huge sense of frustration that they | :50:06. | :50:12. | |
had not been able to structure preparation for the exam because of | :50:13. | :50:15. | |
the continuous chopping and changing to which I have referred to which my | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
honourable friend, the member for Scunthorpe referred on that | :50:20. | :50:24. | |
occasion. And he said I fear it will put more pressure on the testing in | :50:25. | :50:32. | |
the first year of those students and they will not regard these tests as | :50:33. | :50:39. | |
useful that will deflated students and pressured parents. Those are my | :50:40. | :50:49. | |
observations not his. The years between nine and 11 are almost as | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
crucial a time for young people as the time for the transfer to | :50:56. | :50:58. | |
secondary school. I am old enough and I suspect others here might be | :50:59. | :51:05. | |
old enough to remember nine plus. I did the nine plus and I remember it | :51:06. | :51:10. | |
was a testing time. So it is not simply good enough for the Minister | :51:11. | :51:18. | |
and secretary of state to draw a veil over these results by setting | :51:19. | :51:25. | |
up straw people and saying that those criticising Mr side are not | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
interested in testing and standards. We are interested in both but we are | :51:31. | :51:36. | |
interested incompetence and in delivering them and the government | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
has not shown competence. This has been a good debate if short about | :51:43. | :51:49. | |
how we ensure children leave primary school fluent in the basic building | :51:50. | :51:56. | |
blocks of education. Over the last six years government has been | :51:57. | :51:58. | |
determined to ensure the education system is properly equipping people | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
with the knowledge and skills they have been here before. And to be | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
able to compete in an increasingly global jobs market. And the | :52:10. | :52:15. | |
remarkable leadership of the Prime Minister, my right honourable friend | :52:16. | :52:19. | |
as member for Surrey Heath and Loughborough, have introduced the | :52:20. | :52:22. | |
most far-reaching education reforms for generations. Reforms are | :52:23. | :52:30. | |
working. Of course, it would be easy not to have engaged with the reforms | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
and allowed the continued inflation of results and the year-on-year | :52:35. | :52:39. | |
increases in GCSE increases masking the decline in standards compared to | :52:40. | :52:42. | |
the most successful education systems in the world. It would have | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
been easier not to have taken on the vested interests and easier not to | :52:48. | :52:53. | |
have embarked on raising the bar. Easier not to have demanded phonics, | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
not to have looked better ways of teaching maths, easier not to | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
challenge the publishers and demand better textbooks and easier not to | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
insist on pupils core academic subjects. Easier not to increase | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
people taking foreign-language is, easier not to encourage more take-up | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
of maths and physics at A-level. But we were determined to hold the | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
British decline in the international league tables which showed the UK | :53:24. | :53:26. | |
falling from seventh in Reading in the year 2000 down to 25th by 2009 | :53:27. | :53:34. | |
and from eighth down to 28. And we fell further still in 2012 survey. | :53:35. | :53:39. | |
We appointed a panel of experts who examined the curricula of the | :53:40. | :53:43. | |
countries which topped the rankings and produced a new primary national | :53:44. | :53:48. | |
curriculum which we consulted on in 2012, finalised in 2013 and that | :53:49. | :53:55. | |
came into force in 2014 with a new sat test taken in 2016. The new | :53:56. | :54:01. | |
curriculum requires fluency in Reading, phonics in the early | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
primary school followed by a focus on eight habit of reading. Spelling | :54:06. | :54:10. | |
and handwriting techniques, grammar and punctuation, neglected for | :54:11. | :54:17. | |
decades have been wrought onto the curriculum. We looked at the | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
Singapore maths curriculum ensuring fluency and calculation technique, | :54:24. | :54:26. | |
long multiplication, long division and fractions. We've reduced the age | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
by which all children's should know their timetables from 11 down to | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
nine and this year we pioneered a computerised tables test. I visited | :54:37. | :54:39. | |
schools up and down the country and I saw more and more pupils fluent in | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
their times tables, not so six years ago. The academic year 2015 would | :54:46. | :54:49. | |
always be a challenge with the new maths and English GCSE is being | :54:50. | :54:54. | |
introduced for first teaching from September 20 15. The new revised | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
GCSEs are on a par with the qualifications taught used in the | :54:59. | :55:04. | |
best performing countries in the world. That is what this is about, | :55:05. | :55:08. | |
raising academic standards in schools, raising expectations and | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
raising aspirations, and it is working. The focus on phonics has | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
raised reading standards. In 2011 when we tried the new short test for | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
six roles to ensure that they were mastering the basic skill of reading | :55:22. | :55:27. | |
simple words, just 32% passed. In 2012, 50 8% past, rising to 69% in | :55:28. | :55:35. | |
2013, two 74% in 2013 and 77% last year. That means 120,000 more sexual | :55:36. | :55:41. | |
roles today are reading more effectively than they otherwise had | :55:42. | :55:49. | |
would -- more six-year-olds. The new phonics tests are designed to resist | :55:50. | :55:52. | |
teaching to the test. As my honourable friend in South | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
Cambridgeshire hinted said the wait for pupils to do well is to have | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
read during a lodger in their time at primary school. There have been | :56:02. | :56:07. | |
more challenging books -- read during a longer time. That is why at | :56:08. | :56:12. | |
Peckham Park primary School, I am told 88% reached the expected | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
standard in the new reading tests. At Elmhurst primary School, 88% | :56:18. | :56:21. | |
reached the expected standard in reading. The new maths Sats are made | :56:22. | :56:29. | |
up of a maths reasoning and mass test. It is not just about being | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
fluent in mathematical calculation but they have a deep conceptual | :56:34. | :56:36. | |
understanding that comes from practice and good teaching. That is | :56:37. | :56:43. | |
why, at Elmhurst primary School, 94% of pupils achieved at least that | :56:44. | :56:47. | |
expected standard. And in Carshalton, 96% at one school | :56:48. | :56:54. | |
reached the expected standard. The honourable gentleman, the member for | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
South board, read a letter from an experienced head teacher in his | :56:59. | :57:02. | |
constituency to his pupils -- Southport. But the tests are | :57:03. | :57:07. | |
designed to hold schools to account, not pupils. We know we are asking | :57:08. | :57:10. | |
more but we are doing that because we are committed to giving young | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
people the best start in life. This year's results are the first to be | :57:15. | :57:18. | |
released following the introduction of a more rigorous national | :57:19. | :57:21. | |
curriculum on a par with the best in the world. They showed there was no | :57:22. | :57:28. | |
limit to our children's potential and that schools can rise to the | :57:29. | :57:30. | |
challenge of ensuring pupils meet the new higher standards. As my | :57:31. | :57:34. | |
honourable friend points out, neither schools more parents should | :57:35. | :57:37. | |
try to compare this year 's results with previous. They simply cannot be | :57:38. | :57:42. | |
compared directly. We publish data to show the national averages for | :57:43. | :57:46. | |
the number of pupils meeting the new expected standard which allows | :57:47. | :57:50. | |
schools to see how their pupils have performed against the national | :57:51. | :57:54. | |
average. This is a much more useful comparison ban for schools and | :57:55. | :57:57. | |
parents. We also raised the challenge of the new grammar test, | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
and the national curriculum tests we sat this may take over three years | :58:03. | :58:06. | |
to develop, and during the process that they go through three rounds of | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
expert reviews which includes teachers, curriculum experts, | :58:12. | :58:15. | |
disability experts, inclusion experts and cultural experts. The | :58:16. | :58:19. | |
questions are also trialled twice with pupils at the appropriate age. | :58:20. | :58:24. | |
One is to check that the questions function as required and children | :58:25. | :58:28. | |
are giving appropriate answers, and also to determine the difficulty of | :58:29. | :58:31. | |
the questions. Questions are improved throughout the process. My | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
honourable friend, the member for Beverley, asked the relevant | :58:37. | :58:46. | |
question, are we as a country doing a good enough job in educating our | :58:47. | :58:48. | |
young people? Too many children, he points out, not given enough | :58:49. | :58:51. | |
knowledge and skills to flourish in secondary school. He is right to | :58:52. | :58:53. | |
point out there are always new challenges when you tests are | :58:54. | :58:56. | |
introduced, but as they bed down and teachers become more familiar with | :58:57. | :59:00. | |
the curriculum. But the honourable member for Ealing Central and Acton | :59:01. | :59:06. | |
cited the head teacher at an outstanding school in her | :59:07. | :59:10. | |
constituency being worried about the standards. The secretary of State | :59:11. | :59:13. | |
has made it clear that given the greater challenge of the new Sats, | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
the number of schools regarded as below the floor will not be greater | :59:18. | :59:21. | |
than one percentage point more than last year. And the publishing | :59:22. | :59:27. | |
provisional progress figures, early in September, to answer the | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
question, so schools will know if they are below the floor. The | :59:32. | :59:34. | |
December figure is the finalised figure after adjustments for error. | :59:35. | :59:40. | |
My honourable friend pointed out that there is more to education than | :59:41. | :59:46. | |
English and maths and we need more time in primary school for science, | :59:47. | :59:50. | |
art, history and geography. I totally agree. A knowledge rich | :59:51. | :59:54. | |
curriculum is key, and this is what the best primary schools in the | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
country deliver. The honourable gentleman said he had seen too many | :59:59. | :00:05. | |
schools that have seen a sharp drop in their results this year, and he | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
is right. The results will focus the mind of those schools that are | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
struggling to deliver the results and other schools in similar schools | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
are delivering them, so we will help schools with that challenge. The | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
stage one national funding formula consultation we are preparing says | :00:24. | :00:30. | |
we are preparing to introduce the lower prior attainment factor which | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
would provide extra support to help children catch up. The honourable | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
gentleman also raised the issue of Ofsted and the impact that will have | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
with more challenging assessments. I have acknowledge that point and I | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
have written already to Sir Michael will sure to ask Ofsted to take into | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
account that this is the first year of more challenging tests and a more | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
challenging curriculum when inspectors examine schools. For me, | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
this is one of the most fundamental points. What does take into account | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
mean? Does it mean he reads it and then doesn't do anything about it? I | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
appreciate the independents, I appreciate that, but it is a | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
fundamental point. I have been where he is and taken things into account | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
and looked into it but it is fundamental. School is absolutely | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
want reassurance about this point that they will go from being | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
outstanding to being schools that are regarded as at risk. If he could | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
say more about that, that would be helpful. The experience so far is | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
that inspectors are already taking my letter into account and they are | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
adjusting their judgments and not looking at raw data in an | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
unintelligent way. They are looking at it and reflecting the concerns | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
raised in the letter. We have also introduced the progress measure and | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
progress will be an important part of whether a school falls below the | :01:59. | :02:06. | |
floor or not. He also asks about Pearson 's, and they are taking a | :02:07. | :02:09. | |
number of steps. They have investigated the leak and art taking | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
a number of steps to ensure that the road markers do not deliberately | :02:15. | :02:22. | |
release marking schemes in the future and are tightening up | :02:23. | :02:24. | |
contractual arrangements. As a result of the education reform | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
programme, 66% of secondary schools and 90% of primary schools have | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
academy status with the professional autonomy this brings. 1.45 million | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
more pupils are in schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted than | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
in 2010. More pupils are taking and securing good grades in the core | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
academic subjects at GCSE that employers and universities most | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
valued. More pupils are studying foreign languages. More pupils are | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
taking A-level maths, A-level physics and A-level chemistry. As a | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
result of reforms, more children are reading fluently and reading | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
fluently earlier. But I was saddened by the approach of the new Shadow | :03:06. | :03:12. | |
Secretary of State took today. Yesterday, in the Westminster Hall | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
debate on term time holidays, she supported our reforms to improve | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
school attendance. Today, she is reverting back to the approach of | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
her predecessor but one, the honourable member for Manchester | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
Central, in opposing the rise in academic standards and the rising | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
expectations that the new Sats reflect and assess. She, alas, is | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
simply kowtowing to the NUT to take. This government, Mr Deputy is | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
bigger, is about raising standards, raising expectations and delivering | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
successful and effective reform, so I urge the house to reject Labour's | :03:50. | :03:57. | |
motion -- Mr Deputy Speaker. As many of the opinion say I? To the | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
contrary, no. Division excavation mark -- division! Clear the lobby. | :04:04. | :04:38. | |
The question is on the order paper, will people say ten one. Or said | :04:39. | :04:46. | |
noe. The ayes to the right, 178, the noes | :04:47. | :16:22. | |
to the left, 278. The ayes to the right, 178, the noes to the left, | :16:23. | :16:31. | |
278. The noes have it. We welcome to motion number three regarding income | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
tax, the question is on the order paper. The ten one have it. We now | :16:38. | :16:47. | |
come to motion number four -- the ayes have it. Division. | :16:48. | :17:41. | |
The question is on the order paper. As many of that opinion say aye, and | :17:42. | :17:52. | |
also say noe. The ayes to the right, 278, the noes | :17:53. | :25:00. | |
to the left, 218. The ayes to the right, 278, the noes | :25:01. | :27:33. | |
to the left, 218, so the ayes have it. The ayes have it. Unlock. Order, | :27:34. | :27:43. | |
we now come to motion number three. No, not three or four, not moved, I | :27:44. | :27:54. | |
believe. Five, not moved, on business of the house, not moved. | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
Therefore we come to the presentation of public petitions. | :27:59. | :28:05. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker, I rise to present a petition relating to | :28:06. | :28:09. | |
Doctor kilo and the medical practitioners Tribunal service. Over | :28:10. | :28:15. | |
3000 petitioners believe he has suffered a miscarriage of justice | :28:16. | :28:18. | |
and would like him reinstated as a practising medical doctor. Mr | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
Speaker, with your position -- permission, the petition asks the | :28:24. | :28:25. | |
Commons to take note of the damage done to the doctor 's life and | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
career by what is believed to be a flawed disciplinary process and urge | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
the house to re-examine the statutory basis for the jurisdiction | :28:35. | :28:37. | |
of the end PTS with a view to remedying this and future injustices | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
and urging the government to open an investigation into the written | :28:43. | :28:45. | |
statements from the Iraqi witnesses as presented by public interest | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
lawyers, gathered evidence under cross-examination in the enquiry, | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
the original British Army court martial and the public enquiry and | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
the Doctor's fitness to practice hearing. | :29:01. | :29:14. | |
Petition, the doctor of the medical practitioners tribunal service. | :29:15. | :29:22. | |
Order. We come to the adjournment. Do we look to move? We look to move | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
that the house adjourns. The question is that the house to now | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
adjourn. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am pleased to have secured this debate | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
in the week before the start of the summer recess. Whilst the government | :29:38. | :29:43. | |
are carrying out a review of supported housing, it's important to | :29:44. | :29:46. | |
obtain a progress report from the Minister as to how the review is | :29:47. | :29:51. | |
going and also to reemphasise the vital importance of putting the | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
funding of supported housing on a sustainable long-term footing. It is | :29:56. | :30:00. | |
essential that we do this so as not to let down a very vulnerable group | :30:01. | :30:07. | |
of people, whether they are elderly, young, have a physical disability | :30:08. | :30:10. | |
have suffered domestic violence or face mental health challenges. My | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
intention is to seek to be helpful and not hostile, but those involved | :30:16. | :30:22. | |
in the sector are very worried about the future and it is vitally | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
important that the government know their concerns and take them fully | :30:27. | :30:31. | |
into account in producing their proposals, which I hope will be | :30:32. | :30:37. | |
available shortly. The one-year exemption for supported housing from | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
the 1% rent reduction for social housing landlords and the one-year | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
delay in applying local housing allowance caps to residents in | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
supported housing provides some breathing space but the clock is | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
ticking down to 2017 when this one-year grace period expires. It is | :30:56. | :31:00. | |
important to have new policies in place before then so that will not | :31:01. | :31:06. | |
only remove worries about the viability of existing schemes, but | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
also to act as a catalyst for attracting much-needed new | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
investment into the sector. I will give way. I would like to | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
congratulate my honourable friend for securing this debate, but more | :31:20. | :31:23. | |
than that, for bringing up important issues about the barriers to | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
receiving good care, the lack of correct supported housing that it | :31:28. | :31:34. | |
leads to with learning disabilities and mental illness, and he will, I'm | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
sure be aware that on a daily basis many mental health wards in the | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
country are struggling to find suitable step down housing and | :31:44. | :31:46. | |
community housing for patients that badly needed because this is an | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
issue that has not been properly gripped with. Would he agree with | :31:53. | :32:00. | |
that? I thank my honourable friend for the intervention, and I agree | :32:01. | :32:03. | |
this is an issue that we need to tackle very, very quickly and I'm | :32:04. | :32:06. | |
grateful to him for what he has said. This week, Mr Speaker, I | :32:07. | :32:12. | |
joined the National Housing Federation's Starts at Home | :32:13. | :32:18. | |
campaign. It tries to highlight the unique benefits of supported housing | :32:19. | :32:21. | |
and how it is so important to individuals and society. The | :32:22. | :32:24. | |
campaign seeks to secure a commitment from the government to | :32:25. | :32:28. | |
ensure that everyone can have a home that meets their own unique needs. | :32:29. | :32:36. | |
Over the past three months I have received representations, had | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
meetings with and have also visited a wide variety of organisations, | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
national and local, all very concerned about the future of the | :32:46. | :32:49. | |
sector. As well as the National Housing Federation these include the | :32:50. | :32:56. | |
local government Association, Suffolk County Council, the | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
Salvation Army, Papworth trust and the give us a chance foundation who | :33:01. | :33:04. | |
as well as providing accommodation help young people into work and | :33:05. | :33:07. | |
sustainable employment. I will give way to my honourable friend. I thank | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
the honourable member forgiving way. I wonder if he is also aware of the | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
Cambridge Housing group which provides sheltered housing in my | :33:18. | :33:20. | |
constituency, who warned that the housing cap changes could cost them | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
up to half ?1 million per year for their key schemes in the city | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
plunged into chaos by these financial proposals. I'm grateful to | :33:31. | :33:33. | |
my boyfriend for raising the issue. I have come across a lot of cases | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
like that and I will be producing statistics that confirm that. It's | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
very important to have those specific case studies on the ground | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
and emphasise the serious nature of the problems we face. There are also | :33:47. | :33:53. | |
local providers in Suffolk, and in my own constituency, such as access | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
community trust, the housing association and the professional | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
deputy service to provide advice and support to vulnerable and dependent | :34:03. | :34:05. | |
people. There are also charities and social investors, either already | :34:06. | :34:09. | |
active in the sector or wanting to get involved. | :34:10. | :34:32. | |
I will give way to my honourable friend. I echo my friend's welcome | :34:33. | :34:41. | |
for this debate, alacrity is the keyword in that 970 units under | :34:42. | :34:50. | |
threat, 80% of all pipeline development in specialist housing, | :34:51. | :34:54. | |
and I welcomed the review, but what what we need is a decision from the | :34:55. | :35:01. | |
government to put on a firmer footing the long-term future of | :35:02. | :35:06. | |
specialised housing. I thank my friend for that intervention, he is | :35:07. | :35:09. | |
right. We are getting to a stage where speed is of the essence. The | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
case for supporting housing is compelling. There is a rising demand | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
for care and support due to an ageing population, and increased | :35:19. | :35:23. | |
levels of mental health and learning disabilities and the National | :35:24. | :35:32. | |
Housing Federation has pointed out, supported housing enables older | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
people to retain independence and enables young people to live | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
securely and get their lives back on track and makes sure victims of | :35:40. | :35:42. | |
domestic violence are able to find emergency refuge into a safe place, | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
and it helps homeless people with complex and multiple needs. To make | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
the transition from living on the street to a settled home with | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
education, training or implement. It makes sure that people with mental | :35:58. | :36:00. | |
health needs can stabilise their lives and live more independently. I | :36:01. | :36:08. | |
will give way. By most grateful. My friend has hit the nail on the head, | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
these housing units have these additional costs therefore it raises | :36:14. | :36:19. | |
the issue of whether introducing this cap is appropriate immolation | :36:20. | :36:21. | |
to supported housing and maybe the government should think again about | :36:22. | :36:30. | |
what is done in this sector. I will be coming on to make that very | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
point. In addition ex-service men and women are able to find a stable | :36:36. | :36:38. | |
home, this includes those with mental health and physical | :36:39. | :36:43. | |
disabilities, people with learning disabilities are able to maximise | :36:44. | :36:46. | |
their independence and exercise choice and control over their lives. | :36:47. | :36:51. | |
It should also be pointed out that investment in supported housing can | :36:52. | :36:58. | |
provide a benefit to more expensive... I will give way. I | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
would like to congratulate him on securing this debate on a very | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
important subject, but the homes and communities agency have identified | :37:09. | :37:14. | |
savings of 640 in pounds to the taxpayer with investment in | :37:15. | :37:23. | |
supported housing -- ?640 million. I did not interrupted the honourable | :37:24. | :37:25. | |
gentleman was in full flow, but we don't have interventions in a German | :37:26. | :37:32. | |
debates from the opposition front bench -- interventions adjournment | :37:33. | :37:40. | |
debates. It looks like the gentleman was not aware of this convention, | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
but he is now. I am now also aware of this in to mention, but the point | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
he makes is a good one. -- this convention. The development of new | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
supported housing schemes is of vital strategic importance to | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
councils providing adult social care services and it will help them meet | :38:01. | :38:04. | |
the care and support needs of an ageing population, making the best | :38:05. | :38:09. | |
use of limited budgets, such models provide people with greater | :38:10. | :38:12. | |
independence, meet the support needs of individuals and are more | :38:13. | :38:16. | |
cost-effective than residential provision. I'm very grateful to my | :38:17. | :38:25. | |
friend and I think he's making a strong case. To add to the point, | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
Worcestershire County Council had contacted me to say they are | :38:31. | :38:33. | |
concerned that some of the schemes they have been working on could be | :38:34. | :38:39. | |
under threat as a result of this cap and they want me to make sure their | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
concerns were taken through in this debate. I'm grateful for that | :38:45. | :38:52. | |
intervention. It is the same position in Suffolk as it is in | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
Worcestershire. I will give way. I'm grateful. He is being most generous. | :38:57. | :39:06. | |
And making a powerful speech. Isn't the nub of the problem that we are | :39:07. | :39:11. | |
facing, the insecurity regarding the funding and the funding model means | :39:12. | :39:15. | |
it is actually very difficult for a number of housing associations to be | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
able to develop new products and get the investment they need so they can | :39:21. | :39:26. | |
help people at a cost effective way, in supported housing. She is right, | :39:27. | :39:35. | |
we are in a period of limbo, and what that means, nothing is | :39:36. | :39:40. | |
happening. Schemes that are desperate in needed are not coming | :39:41. | :39:48. | |
forward. Research shows that a person with learning disabilities | :39:49. | :39:50. | |
moves from residential care to supported living, savings can be | :39:51. | :39:57. | |
achieved in the order of ?185 per week if this is extrapolated | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
nationally, there would be a reduction of at least ?72 million | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
per year from social care budgets. There are other advantages of | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
specialised supported housing, in a care home the minimum standard for | :40:13. | :40:17. | |
an individual room is 12 metres squared, but in an apartment for | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
specialised supported housing it is of the order of 15 metres squared. | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
In a care home support is organised to support the demands of group | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
living, but in specialised supported housing it is tailored to meet the | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
needs of the individual. The homes and communities agency has found | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
supported housing provision has a net positive benefit of ?640 million | :40:40. | :40:47. | |
to UK taxpayers and there is a current shortage of 15,640 places, | :40:48. | :40:56. | |
14% of supply, and if current trends continue, the shortfall will double | :40:57. | :41:03. | |
by 2019 - 20. It should also be highlighted there are 30,000 people | :41:04. | :41:05. | |
in the UK with learning difficulties, who are still living | :41:06. | :41:13. | |
with their parents, and research by the Papworth trust shows 1.8 million | :41:14. | :41:16. | |
people require some form of access of all housing, the number is | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
growing every year. When a disabled person is living in an inaccessible | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
-- living in an accessible home which meets their needs their | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
quality-of-life is improved and their job prospects also benefit. | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
The message is clear, there's a compelling case supported housing, | :41:37. | :41:39. | |
demand for which is increasing every year. If we don't put its funding on | :41:40. | :41:46. | |
a secure, sustainable long-term footing, a significant proportion of | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
existing supporting housing schemes will be forced to close, leaving | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
many vulnerable disadvantage people with nowhere to live and more over, | :41:55. | :42:00. | |
the much-needed new accommodation will not be built. In finding a | :42:01. | :42:07. | |
sustainable long-term solution for the funding of supported housing, it | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
is important to think outside the narrow departmental confines of DWP. | :42:12. | :42:19. | |
There is a need to break out and to think holistically. Supported | :42:20. | :42:27. | |
housing is not just for DWP, it is not just about housing and benefits, | :42:28. | :42:31. | |
it's a case of the Department of Health, as it concerns physical and | :42:32. | :42:42. | |
mental health care. It was a job for councils, whether they are housing | :42:43. | :42:46. | |
authorities or social care providers, it is of interest to | :42:47. | :42:49. | |
housing association is, charities, social investors, keen to pursue | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
innovative projects which will change people's lives. Achieving | :42:55. | :43:00. | |
good supported housing requires a focused partnership between housing | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
authorities, housing associations, care and support providers and | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
councils providing social care, and what this all means is that | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
supported housing is not just about housing. As it delivers benefits far | :43:14. | :43:21. | |
beyond the walls of the DWP it is appropriate to look at securing | :43:22. | :43:24. | |
funding for more wide-ranging potential sources from other | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
departments. In the fullness of time, devolved government might also | :43:31. | :43:33. | |
have a role to play. I will give way. My honourable friend is making | :43:34. | :43:41. | |
a typically powerful speech. Does he agree that each year we have delayed | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
discharge crisis across Acute Hospital trusts in England and were | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
we to think long-term about we fund supported housing, it could pay for | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
itself in terms of a reduction of the cost to the taxpayer of these | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
crises which happen every winter? He makes a very good point. If we can | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
just raise our eyes and think long-term instead of just | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
short-term, then savings will be produced which can actually deliver | :44:16. | :44:18. | |
the far better high-quality supported housing that we need. I | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
will give way. I friend is being very generous. On that point, would | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
he also accepted that the reality on the ground is not actually... The | :44:30. | :44:36. | |
lack of suitable supported housing is leading to the fact that hospital | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
and mental health wards are having to discharge people onto the streets | :44:42. | :44:44. | |
in some cases, which is most undesirable, very vulnerable people. | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
Or in the alternative having to put people into very unsuitable housing | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
and this situation needs to be addressed very urgently. | :44:56. | :45:00. | |
Accommodation needs to happen with the Department of Health to make | :45:01. | :45:08. | |
that happen. Yes, I would agree. All types of housing are interrelated, | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
you cause a problem in one and it has a negative spin off to another. | :45:14. | :45:21. | |
The prospect of the local housing allowance cap being applied to | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
residents in supported housing after one year... After the one-year | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
delay, is causing considerable concern in the sector. With housing | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
benefit set to be abolished as the roll of universal credit begins, it | :45:36. | :45:41. | |
is appropriate for the government to review the funding of supported | :45:42. | :45:45. | |
housing. However, feedback from the National Housing Federation reveals | :45:46. | :45:51. | |
that the threat of a crude cap is having a detrimental effect. 24% of | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
supported housing providers have told the NHS that of their sheltered | :45:57. | :46:03. | |
units, all of them were at risk of becoming unviable and closing -- | :46:04. | :46:10. | |
National Housing Federation. 156,000 units of supported housing it has | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
been estimated would be unviable and at risk of closure, that is 41% of | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
all existing schemes, and there would also be an impact on the | :46:20. | :46:22. | |
future development with an estimated 9270 units in the pipeline not being | :46:23. | :46:30. | |
developed. This represents 80% of the total existing development | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
pipeline and includes more than 8000 specialist homes for older people | :46:36. | :46:39. | |
and people with disabilities which was announced in last year's, brands | :46:40. | :46:46. | |
of spending review. The cap undermines several pieces of | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
legislation introduced by the last Coalition Government. The | :46:50. | :46:52. | |
introduction of specified accommodation in 2014 establish a | :46:53. | :46:56. | |
precedent of treating supported housing differently to other forms | :46:57. | :47:03. | |
of social housing. In addition to being eligible for high rates of | :47:04. | :47:06. | |
housing benefit, specified in, day she has been removed from the | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
current universal credit arrangements -- specified | :47:12. | :47:18. | |
accommodation has been removed. This is not only in consistent with | :47:19. | :47:21. | |
previous policy, but it also places at risk the step government has | :47:22. | :47:27. | |
taken already to protect housing for the most disadvantaged. It also | :47:28. | :47:32. | |
threatens one of the government's own flagship policies, the | :47:33. | :47:36. | |
transforming care programme, which relies on supported accommodation | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
being available in the community. In 2014 the rental agreement was | :47:42. | :47:44. | |
approved by the homes and communities agency, which allowed | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
registered social landlords to increase their rents by inflation | :47:50. | :47:52. | |
plus 1% annually for the next ten years. The purpose of the agreement | :47:53. | :47:58. | |
was to provide registered social landlords with a stable base from | :47:59. | :48:02. | |
which to invest in their services, including the provision of new | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
supported housing. By capping social rents the government has removed the | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
stability, making it virtually impossible for providers of | :48:12. | :48:14. | |
supported housing to plan future developments. For those already | :48:15. | :48:20. | |
invested in new schemes, the cap will also jeopardise their ability | :48:21. | :48:23. | |
to meet existing financial returns of current investment. I will give | :48:24. | :48:31. | |
way. He's making a very powerful and Bernard speech. It is often | :48:32. | :48:36. | |
difficult and people often get it wrong with housing benefit -- learn | :48:37. | :48:40. | |
and speech. I completed many government | :48:41. | :48:47. | |
documents to set up housing scheme specifically for victims of domestic | :48:48. | :48:50. | |
violence, but the government signed off on funding based on the current | :48:51. | :48:57. | |
housing rates of housing benefit. For the future of those projects. | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
The government signed off on those and are now putting their own work | :49:03. | :49:03. | |
in jeopardy. I'm grateful for the intervention | :49:04. | :49:11. | |
because it provides a clear illustration of the point I am | :49:12. | :49:20. | |
making. Inside Housing survey found that 90% of supported housing | :49:21. | :49:23. | |
providers would be forced to wind up some or all of their schemes. HB | :49:24. | :49:30. | |
Villages want to do better -- invest in new developments. They require no | :49:31. | :49:36. | |
public grants but it can only be done if future rents are protected | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
from continued rent exemption. I fully appreciate that the review | :49:41. | :49:47. | |
must be comprehensive and based on as much evidence as possible and | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
it's important not to rush it in order to arrive at a sustainable | :49:53. | :49:58. | |
long-term funding solution. However an early assurance from the | :49:59. | :50:01. | |
government, perhaps from the Minister tonight, that the cap will | :50:02. | :50:05. | |
not apply to supported housing will remove the uncertainty that | :50:06. | :50:11. | |
currently hangs over the uncertainty that hangs over the sector. In | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
framing their proposals for the future of supported housing, it is | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
vital that the government have in mind the needs of those charities, | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
housing associations and social investors both already active and | :50:27. | :50:30. | |
doing great work in the sector and those looking to get involved. There | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
is an enormous amount of goodwill and capital waiting in the wings. If | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
the right framework is put in place, those organisations and charities, | :50:41. | :50:45. | |
those investors and charities, they will step up to the plate and carry | :50:46. | :50:51. | |
out projects, and in doing so they will bring significant benefits to | :50:52. | :50:57. | |
the lives of many. Thank you for being so generous with your time. | :50:58. | :51:02. | |
I'm not sure if he knew that women's refuge accommodation in Scotland is | :51:03. | :51:05. | |
often in the ownership of local authorities and housing | :51:06. | :51:09. | |
associations. It is estimated that a one-bedroom flat in a city like | :51:10. | :51:15. | |
Glasgow, there would be a ?7,100 loss per year on the flat. Would he | :51:16. | :51:18. | |
agree without looking at the cap and changing the way the policy is going | :51:19. | :51:21. | |
at the moment, these services will become unsustainable? I thank my | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
honourable friend for the intervention and I think what we are | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
getting this evening, as we started with an East Anglia and flavour to | :51:32. | :51:35. | |
the intervention, but that has widened to cover the whole country | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
so it is very much a national crisis we are facing. Going back to East | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
Anglia, and housing association active in Suffolk have emphasised to | :51:47. | :51:51. | |
me the importance of a long-term plan. You cannot run a business, | :51:52. | :51:57. | |
they say which has a 10-year outlook on the back of local authority | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
discretionary housing payments. An organisation I would like to briefly | :52:04. | :52:11. | |
mention is Amaeus, set up 20 years ago just outside Cambridge. They now | :52:12. | :52:18. | |
have 28 communities across the UK supporting over 700 vulnerable | :52:19. | :52:21. | |
people with the objective of increasing this to 1000 by 20 20. | :52:22. | :52:29. | |
They need a stable funding regime in order to set up new communities | :52:30. | :52:41. | |
which serves my own and several surrounding constituencies. | :52:42. | :52:46. | |
Ultimately, with the right initial support, Amaeus communities are self | :52:47. | :52:54. | |
funding. It shows that the social return on investment in their | :52:55. | :52:57. | |
communities, using the Treasury to give them a discounted rate of 3.5%, | :52:58. | :53:04. | |
is ?11 for every ?1 invested. In addition, the present value of | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
savings to the state is nearly ?6 million for a contribution of just | :53:10. | :53:12. | |
over ?2.7 million in housing benefit. Providing the right | :53:13. | :53:20. | |
long-term investment framework, we encourage the provision in new | :53:21. | :53:24. | |
developments of adaptive technologies which not only enhance | :53:25. | :53:28. | |
the lives of residents, but also produce significant cost savings to | :53:29. | :53:32. | |
councils then releasing funds available for investment elsewhere. | :53:33. | :53:39. | |
Research by HB Villages shows the introduction of adaptive | :53:40. | :53:43. | |
technologies can produce savings of ?3.7 million about 20% of budget on | :53:44. | :53:55. | |
a typical council. I look forward to hearing the Minister's responds. I | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
hope people answer the following questions. How was the evidence | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
review going? When will the results be available? Are the wide ranging | :54:04. | :54:09. | |
parties interested in the sector or being consulted? What is the impact | :54:10. | :54:15. | |
of the roll-out of universal credit? Will he give early confirmation | :54:16. | :54:21. | |
tonight that the threat of the crude local housing allowance cap after | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
next April will be removed. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, in putting | :54:28. | :54:31. | |
in place the new framework for the future of funding of supported | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
housing, I urge the government to be sympathetic, to be visionary and to | :54:36. | :54:42. | |
think strategically. It is so important for the future lives of so | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
many vulnerable people that they now pursue such a course. | :54:47. | :54:52. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker, it's a pleasure to be able to contribute to | :54:53. | :55:00. | |
this very important debate, and I congratulate my honourable friend | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
for Waverley, not just for his very well judged and his sensible remarks | :55:05. | :55:10. | |
this evening but for his commitment in this issue, and to my honourable | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
and Right Honourable members across the house. The house will know that | :55:16. | :55:21. | |
we did discuss this matter earlier in the year, in March, and the | :55:22. | :55:25. | |
minister then was very receptive. And it would be remiss of me to | :55:26. | :55:32. | |
record my delight at the results of my own party's leadership and to say | :55:33. | :55:39. | |
in particular that the Right Honourable friend for Maidenhead | :55:40. | :55:44. | |
that she has made a specific and strong commitment to housing and | :55:45. | :55:50. | |
addressing it as one of the number one, if not to be number one issue | :55:51. | :56:00. | |
in our country. And I have to say that I welcome the decision of the | :56:01. | :56:08. | |
government to undertake a strategic review of supported housing and | :56:09. | :56:12. | |
specialist housing, and it was in response to a ground swell of | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
significant concern, not just from registered providers across the | :56:18. | :56:23. | |
country, but also from us as individual consistency members of | :56:24. | :56:26. | |
Parliament. And I wanted to make a few general comments about the | :56:27. | :56:30. | |
issue, and I haven't got the command of the facts and figures. But also | :56:31. | :56:38. | |
to talk about some of the impact that may accrue in my own | :56:39. | :56:41. | |
constituency and the surrounding area. I'm extremely grateful to Alan | :56:42. | :56:48. | |
Lewin, chief executive of axiom housing, who has provided me with a | :56:49. | :56:53. | |
very strong briefing. It is one year ago that I attended a social event, | :56:54. | :57:00. | |
as it happens at number 11 Downing St and I managed to buttonhole the | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
honourable lady from Birmingham, who is impressed, and I do occasionally | :57:06. | :57:13. | |
crossed the threshold in these esteemed addresses in our country | :57:14. | :57:17. | |
and may do in the future, who knows? Maybe under the new dispensation. I | :57:18. | :57:24. | |
am touched by the solicited of the lady for Birmingham Yardley. What I | :57:25. | :57:30. | |
said on that occasion to the Chancellor is, you cannot solve | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
these problems by salami slicing, by incremental policies on tackling the | :57:36. | :57:43. | |
area of supporting specialist housing, Acute Hospital care and | :57:44. | :57:47. | |
adult social care in the interface with local government. You actually | :57:48. | :57:51. | |
have to have a long-term strategic vision of addressing the significant | :57:52. | :57:57. | |
massive demographic changes which give rise to very many older people | :57:58. | :58:06. | |
who need to be housed and I do think to an extent that the Minister is | :58:07. | :58:12. | |
caught somewhat, because this is not the responsibility of local | :58:13. | :58:17. | |
government, it is a Treasury driven initiative. He can't say it, but I | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
can as a humble backbencher. Unfortunately they are caught | :58:22. | :58:29. | |
between two stools in that they have do continue to develop the policy | :58:30. | :58:33. | |
even though, long-term thinking has not yet been put in place. I think | :58:34. | :58:40. | |
that the house must be aware that this is an issue which is probably | :58:41. | :58:49. | |
the most important issue because we cannot beat the demographic clock, | :58:50. | :58:53. | |
and as my honourable friend said, and it runs with one of my own | :58:54. | :58:57. | |
policies, to an extent, the policy of oversight of local government for | :58:58. | :59:06. | |
adult social care, of health and we certainly need the extra time to put | :59:07. | :59:12. | |
in a new funding formula but it must not be nice batch cocktail is. We | :59:13. | :59:17. | |
have to think about predicting demographic change and assisting | :59:18. | :59:20. | |
local housing associations to deal with that and, of course, not just | :59:21. | :59:25. | |
supported housing for older people, but some of the most vulnerable | :59:26. | :59:30. | |
people in society. People with special education needs. I give way. | :59:31. | :59:37. | |
I thank you again for securing this debate, because I just want to talk | :59:38. | :59:42. | |
briefly about supported housing for vulnerable people, exactly the point | :59:43. | :59:45. | |
you are making, and it's not a case of just talking about the country, I | :59:46. | :59:50. | |
want to bring London back into the equation because of you any build | :59:51. | :59:54. | |
these things out of London, people have to leave their local | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
communities, and if you want to keep people in the family environment, we | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
have to remember we have to build these expensive properties in London | :00:05. | :00:07. | |
and the final of the point I wanted to make is that we can currently | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
build them by using the 106 agreements but if these will become | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
starter homes or be sold off, there will be less opportunity for | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
councils to be able to provide this sort of housing, so I would urge the | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
Minister to please, in conclusion, consider supported housing and this | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
type of accommodation when looking at other options available. I thank | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
my honourable friend for Kensington and the intervention. She goes to | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
the nub of the issue, which is we are not talking about fiscal changes | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
for general needs housing, which is a separate issue and we understand | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
the significant increase in the housing benefit bill over the last | :00:51. | :00:53. | |
number of years and that we have to reduce it but we are talking about | :00:54. | :01:00. | |
young people who are fleeing violent backgrounds, women who are fleeing | :01:01. | :01:09. | |
violent partners and teenagers and children and young adults who have | :01:10. | :01:16. | |
mental health issues, which was alluded to earlier, and that is | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
different. The Minister needs to put a case to the Treasury that a much | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
more long-term and sustainable funding regime should be put in | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
place. And that is before we go any further. I mentioned earlier about | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
delayed discharge. If we were only in a position to properly plan these | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
supporting housing schemes, which are now under threat, as so | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
eloquently revealed by my honourable friend, we would make a net saving. | :01:47. | :01:54. | |
It might take five years or ten years, but the number of older | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
people who are admitted to hospital do not need to be in Acute Hospital | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
beds but in the appropriate housing in order to deal with their specific | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
and individual needs. Would my honourable friend agree also that | :02:11. | :02:13. | |
the elderly people with specific conditions they could avoid a | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
hospital admission altogether if they have the right supported | :02:17. | :02:22. | |
housing? Absolutely. And one of the great pleasures of being a | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
constituency MP is that we get to visit some of these excellent | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
supporting housing schemes and I can think of Friary Court and the | :02:32. | :02:38. | |
Pavilions who have had an impact in the urban area of pita bread. Can I | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
just alluded briefly to the specific concerns raised question what -- the | :02:44. | :02:56. | |
urban area of Peter borough. He said that one of the consequences of the | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
proposed local housing allowance policy, a flagship extra care scheme | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
for 60 vulnerable people at Whittlesey, which is in North East | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
Cambridgeshire, and that is now on hold because he cannot commit to | :03:11. | :03:12. | |
building the new projects when there is uncertainty surrounding the | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
future revenue funding streams, and I think that is a good point. It | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
does have an impact way you have low value land, as you do in the | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
neighbouring authority but there are other parts of the East of England | :03:27. | :03:32. | |
where that will also be appropriate. He also mentions the impact on | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
current services. Young person's foyer is and specialist supported | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
planning an expert sheltered housing. He says the current impact | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
on each of these schemes and projects, based on current rents and | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
services is summarised below. For instance, the Peterborough Fourier | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
and the Wisbech foy eight, which do a good job for young people who want | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
to get off benefits and into work or training or internships to make | :04:05. | :04:06. | |
something of their lives and improve themselves, that will have a | :04:07. | :04:18. | |
cumulative loss in annual income of ?627,550. Our homeless hostels, he | :04:19. | :04:29. | |
says, would lose 461,407 pounds. As we said, the three extra care | :04:30. | :04:36. | |
schemes in Peterborough, will lose ?794,704. | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
You don't get a generic service with a specialist housing, as my friend | :04:42. | :04:49. | |
said, you do have night porter services for safety and security, | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
for instance. You have an enhanced service which has to be paid for and | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
losses will also vary according to the level of supporting people | :05:00. | :05:11. | |
money. Otherwise the costs will go into the service charge, which will | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
now be capped. He goes onto say that the loss revenue to axiom is ?2.2 | :05:17. | :05:27. | |
million. Unless the government has innovative, a forward-looking | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
approach, however is that money can be made up, not just axiom, but many | :05:33. | :05:39. | |
of the registered providers that provide this much-needed housing for | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
vulnerable people, they will find themselves in great difficulty and | :05:46. | :05:51. | |
that will clearly impact on work in the community, general needs | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
housing, and I have a local housing association which runs an | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
apprenticeship School, Crosskeys homes, which is a great skin, there | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
will be a knock on effect and there will be a tumour to knock on effects | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
in terms of -- which is a great scheme, there will be a knock on | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
effect and there will be an accumulative knock on effect. I will | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
give way. He's making an excellent speech and I agree with many of the | :06:23. | :06:29. | |
points. The many people, access services in my constituency, if they | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
did not go there, they would be out on the streets -- for many people. | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
There are no other housing providers which will take them. Absolutely. | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
The lady from Glasgow makes a very good point. There is going to be | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
consequences if we don't step back and I didn't just make reference to | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
the new Prime Minister because I want a job, because that is highly | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
unlikely. Highly unlikely. After 11 years I'm resigned to being a humble | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
spear carrier in the drama of British politics and there has been | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
a lot of drama this week. But the new government has given priority is | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
under vision, and new principles, and housing is massively important. | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Housing our most vulnerable people, looking after people, getting them | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
off the streets, and we should be proud of what this government has | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
done on housing. One of the reasons I'm commenting in this debate and | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
making these remarks, I don't want them to throw the record away by a | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
short-term action of cutting a few million or hundred million here and | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
there, but actually making the situation worse down the line. I | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
will conclude by saying thank you to my honourable friend and I pay | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
tribute to the gentleman for Newcastle North who has raised the | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
issue in the past and I hope I can get reassurance from the Minister | :08:03. | :08:04. | |
that he does talk to his colleagues in the Treasury and other | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
departments. He can come back and win the review is concluded in an | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
expeditious fashion in the next few months and we are able to tell our | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
constituents and housing associations that the government is | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
taking housing seriously, and if looking after the needs of the most | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
vulnerable people in society because we are compassionate Conservatives, | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
that should be our watchword. I call Marcus Jones to reply. Other like to | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
begin by congratulating my honourable friend for securing this | :08:41. | :08:50. | |
debate, and it is clear that he has significant knowledge of this | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
important subject. In my speech I will do my best to respond to the | :08:55. | :09:01. | |
comments he made and it is also obvious from other interventions and | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
the speech of my friend from Peterborough that there are a | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
considerable number of members across this house who also have | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
significant knowledge and passion on this very important subject. Mr | :09:15. | :09:26. | |
Speaker, I am pleased to the -- be responding in this debate because we | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
are in a very important place in our journey, supported housing plays a | :09:33. | :09:35. | |
crucial role in supporting hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
people in the country. A safe stable and supportive place to live, it can | :09:41. | :09:46. | |
be the key to unlocking better outcomes for individuals, and for | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
many it is also the stepping stone to independent living in the longer | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
term. That has been mentioned by a number of colleagues in this debate. | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
One of this government's key commitments is to protect the most | :10:01. | :10:03. | |
vulnerable, the provision of supported housing underpins this | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
commitment and helps departments all across Whitehall fulfil the | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
objectives in supporting those most in need and delivering on this | :10:15. | :10:21. | |
promise. This sector supports people from right across the country, as | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
has been rightly said, in this debate, from those with mental | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
health conditions to rough sleepers and people who are homeless, two | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
ex-offenders and those escaping domestic violence. It makes sure | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
vulnerable elderly people can maintain their independence for as | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
long as possible and to live safely and insecurity and that those with | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
learning difficulties can live as independently as possible and care | :10:52. | :10:54. | |
leavers can safely make the transition to self-reliance. The | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
importance of supported housing cannot be overestimated. Supported | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
housing helps people meet the demands of daily life and it helps | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
people get their lives in order. It improves and supports their health | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
and well-being and it provides a place of safety and stability where | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
people can achieve independence and reach their full potential. I | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
understand that the honourable gentleman would like to intervene | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
but I will take heed of Mr Speaker's comments made earlier in the debate. | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
Whilst looking after the most vulnerable in society, we must also | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
make sure that funding for supported housing is efficient, workable, | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
transparent and sustainable. So that it delivers a secure, quality | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
service which provides for those who need it and makes the best use of | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
the money available. Long-term reform of the sector is overdue. | :11:58. | :12:04. | |
Working with and listening to commissioners and providers to date | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
has been invaluable in helping us two envisaged what the future might | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
look like and I see a very positive future. A future where high-quality | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
supported housing is there to provide the right support at the | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
right time. And for the right length of time. Helping those who can move | :12:24. | :12:31. | |
on into work and independence. Where services are outcomes focused, | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
accountable, planned and responsive to individual and local needs. Our | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
new funding regime must support these goals. The decisions we make | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
will lay the foundations for that future. The roll-out of universal | :12:45. | :12:51. | |
credit provides an opportunity to drive that reform, as housing | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
benefit is phased out. Reform of the sector and a new funding regime must | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
be in place for when universal credit is fully rolled out. We think | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
that better services for vulnerable people and value for money go | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
hand-in-hand and our reforms must drive both. We want the quality of | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
services and the focus on outcomes for the people who use them to be at | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
the forefront and we must consider new approaches to transparency and | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
oversight in order to achieve this. Let me set out what I believe must | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
be the principles for a new, long-term funding regime. It must | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
protect the public finances, for the taxpayer as well as both central and | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
local government. It must also build in a rigorous approach, and value | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
for money, at the same time in order to protect our vulnerable and older | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
people both now and in the future, and it must be funded in such a way | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
that recognises the increased cost of supporting people in the | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
community as has been mentioned by colleagues across the chamber. I | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
also want to make sure that future funding models provide enough | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
certainty to make sure that the development of new supported housing | :14:16. | :14:19. | |
units takes place. In particular an ageing population demands housing | :14:20. | :14:28. | |
that keeps place. -- keeps pace with our needs for the welfare spending | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
cannot spiral out of control, and it is right that people seeking housing | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
benefit should not get high levels for the same property if that is in | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
the social sector rather than in the private rented sector, but it is | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
clear that supported housing is different and should be treated | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
differently. Government recognises the high costs associated with | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
providing supporting housing for vulnerable groups over and above the | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
costs of general needs housing and that is why it is crucial that we | :15:02. | :15:08. | |
work across government as my friend from Peterborough said and alongside | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
the sector and other partners, to find a workable and sustainable | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
solution. It is absolutely right that there has been a significant | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
and great deal of interest in this important issue, and we have said | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
all along that we wish to hear from a wide spectrum of stakeholders and | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
other partners to make sure that we reflect the diversity of vulnerable | :15:33. | :15:39. | |
people's needs and the support offered across all parts of the | :15:40. | :15:42. | |
sector, and I can reassure my vulnerable friend -- my honourable | :15:43. | :15:49. | |
friend, we are constantly engaging with the sector and have been for | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
some months over this important issue because they are absolutely | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
part of coming up with a sustainable solution. And speaking to the sector | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
I think they recognise that the status quo is not an option, but | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
they are also making strong representation which we are | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
certainly indeed this link to. Mr Speaker we have been -- indeed | :16:14. | :16:21. | |
listening to. We have been listening to bodies like the government | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
association, local authorities and other local commissions, as well as | :16:28. | :16:30. | |
those who represent those in need which rely on the benefit from | :16:31. | :16:37. | |
supported housing. Of course, in Scotland and Wales, housing is a | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
devolved matter, and UK Government officials have been speaking to | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
their counterparts in the devolved administrations. This dialogue has | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
been absolutely crucial to guide our thinking on this important issue, | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
and we need to keep talking as we firm up our plans. I want to take | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
this opportunity to thank the sector bodies and representatives such as | :17:04. | :17:10. | |
the National Housing Federation for the extensive engagement and the | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
work they have undertaken to consider what the future regime | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
might look like. It is important we consider all their proposals in | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
detail and continue the conversation we have begun with the sector, and | :17:22. | :17:27. | |
other partners. We should also hear all voices across this diverse | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
sector. It is absolutely clear that supported housing is an investment | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
which brings significant savings to other parts of the public sector | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
especially the NHS. At the same time any loss provision means | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
significance option to service users as well as expensive cost shunting, | :17:46. | :17:51. | |
and that is why releasing carefully into the sector and putting in place | :17:52. | :17:55. | |
the one-year exemption. The short-term exemption was welcomed by | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
the sector but we recognise it is only a temporary fix. And that is | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
why we are looking at a longer-term solution. That is a solution which | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
must work for all parts of the sector and we must make sure that we | :18:09. | :18:13. | |
recognise the diversity in the sector and we will continue to do | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
that. I will subtly take the points that my honourable friend has made | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
and honourable colleagues have made across the chamber tonight in the | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
debate. I will take them into account. We certainly look forward | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
to bringing a solution to this important issue as soon as is | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
practical. Has the Minister sat down? He says | :18:36. | :18:48. | |
he has concluded his speech. The question is, as many say aye, on the | :18:49. | :19:01. | |
contrary noe. I think the ayes have it. Order, order. | :19:02. | :19:04. |