Browse content similar to Live Cabinet Office Questions. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Questions to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. | :00:09. | :00:19. | |
Working collaboratively with our partners and local government we are | :00:20. | :00:26. | |
delivering better integration of public services. We have raised ?1.8 | :00:27. | :00:34. | |
billion in capital receipts and reduce running costs by three | :00:35. | :00:44. | |
quarters of ?1 billion. I welcome the Minister placing this on record. | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
Does he agree that at a time when the country needs to build more | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
housing on brown field sites, it is essential that the government leads | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
the way on this. Has the government then any audit that is actually | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
there to ascertain the amount of land available and the number of | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
houses and flats that could be built on that land? We have done some | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
work. It is in the nature of the work that we are doing that there is | :01:08. | :01:11. | |
not sufficiently good quality of understanding of public sector land | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
which is why we are seeking to make it better but we did deliver 100,000 | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
homes in the last parliament on public sector land and we'd aspire | :01:18. | :01:24. | |
to build 150,000 in this. I will provide him with further details as | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
and when we discover it. The Minister will know that in 2010 | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
there was a report that said that the changes to the civil service, | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
the regionalisation of the civil service, would take political | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
leadership. What we have seen is a reduction in the size of the estate | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
in London but we have seen an increase in the number of top | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
officials and civil servants in London. Under his tenure, will we | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
finally see that political leadership and the regions actually | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
having a voice? I have to say to the honourable gentleman, I thank him | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
for his kind comments, in my previous post it was a great | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
pleasure to be working with civil servants, especially in Yorkshire, | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
and I saw myself how it is possible to have senior civil servants around | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
the country and I agree that the more we can get senior positions of | :02:17. | :02:20. | |
all kinds around the country, the better we will be able to serve the | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
people we are elected to serve. The speed with which the new Brexit | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
department has been established from scratch has been truly impressive. | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
This is the key to a modern government which can respond to | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
modern needs, to have as much flexible, open plan office space as | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
possible. I completely agree with my honourable friend. The way that we | :02:44. | :02:46. | |
have been able to set up the new department and the other departments | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
so rapidly is a tribute to the work done by my predecessors in reform of | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
the civil servants. He will have heard the comments of my right | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
honourable friend, the member for Exeter, about the very significant | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
support he has received both in number and quality from the civil | :03:06. | :03:16. | |
service so far. With your permission I shall answer | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
this question and question four together. We are committed to | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
insuring our electoral system is as transparent as possible. We are | :03:26. | :03:28. | |
working closely with the Law Commission to decide which reforms | :03:29. | :03:31. | |
might be brought forward following a report earlier this year. The | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
government is also considering the review into electoral fraud and we | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
will respond in due course. Smaller parties received almost a quarter of | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
the votes cast in the 2015 election and while once 97% of the electorate | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
voted Labour or Tory, none of that is reflected here. Is it not now | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
time for a very serious and mature discussion on how we can make every | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
vote count in the UK general election? The government believed | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
that first past the post is the best system for electing a government. At | :04:07. | :04:09. | |
the same time as ensuring the vital constituency link between a member | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
of Parliament and their constituents is retained. This is clearly in line | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
with the public mood reflected in the overwhelming majority support | :04:19. | :04:21. | |
for first past the post and the referendum held in 2011. Many 16 and | :04:22. | :04:30. | |
17-year-olds field disenfranchised by Westminster. In 2007, Scotland | :04:31. | :04:39. | |
lowered its voting age to 16 and the turnout among 16 and 17-year-olds is | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
higher than among other first-time voters. Will the Minister commit to | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
seriously examine the evidence to extending the franchise to our young | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
adults? The government believes that it is absently vital to our | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
democracy that young people should be engaged in the democratic process | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
and will continue its commitment to increase participation. The current | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
voting age of 18 is widely recognised as the point at which one | :05:05. | :05:08. | |
becomes an adult and gains full citizenship rights. I know the issue | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
of lowering the voting age has been issued -- debated in this House when | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
it has been defeated, including three times during the referendum | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
Bill. The government has no plans to reduce the voting age. I welcome my | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
honourable friend to the dispatch box and I thank him and his | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
predecessor for the help given in the compilation of my report. Is my | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
honourable friend alarmed that it is harder to take out a library card or | :05:38. | :05:45. | |
to collect a parcel from the Post Office than it is to either vote or | :05:46. | :05:53. | |
to obtain a postal vote? This place is our ballot boxes at a peculiar | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
risk. I would like to thank my honourable friend for the work he is | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
undertaking in producing his report on electoral reform he published in | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
the summer. It made an excellent summer read. The government is | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
taking electoral fraud extremely seriously and as a result we are | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
currently considering his puzzles and will be formally responding to | :06:18. | :06:25. | |
his report in due course. May I welcome the Minister to his new | :06:26. | :06:35. | |
position very warmly. As the Minister considers proposals to | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
strengthen electoral law against voter fraud, will he also consider a | :06:39. | :06:41. | |
new legal requirement for people with more than one residents to | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
choose one of them in advance as the only place where they wish to be | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
legally registered to vote? I don't mind but I like to pay tribute to my | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
predecessor for the work he has undertaken. He has left me with a | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
rich inheritance. The incident involving Charles Moore is currently | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
the subject of an investigation and therefore it would be inappropriate | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
for me to comment on it at this time. I note that the Law Commission | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
report includes recommendations on electoral residents which the | :07:12. | :07:14. | |
government will respond to in due course. May I welcome the Minister | :07:15. | :07:21. | |
to his position and say I look forward to working with him but I do | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
think there is a frightening complacency in the answer to the | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
questions so far. The Prime Minister spoke recently on the steps of | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
Downing Street about the disenfranchised. Does he not realise | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
that it was the voting system itself that disenfranchises many of our | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
citizens, particularly at 16 and 17-year-olds and those who broke | :07:43. | :07:45. | |
from minor parties and will he not now commit in this government to | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
renewing our system to make it more fair and democratic? The government | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
is committed to ensuring that we have a democracy that works for | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
everyone. Already the introduction of individual electoral registration | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
has made it easier to register to vote than ever before, with 20 | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
million applications online since 2014. The Electoral Commission's | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
report from 2016 shows that electoral registers are not only | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
more complete than ever before but are critically more accurate than | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
ever. But we recognise as a government there is always more to | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
do and are committed to a programme of registration among vulnerable | :08:23. | :08:24. | |
groups in order to engage in democracy. Question three. The | :08:25. | :08:34. | |
boundary commissions for England and Wales will be publishing their | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
initial registrations in September and the boundary for commission in | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
Scotland later this year. The Boundary Commission for Northern | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
Ireland has published the recommendations yesterday. The | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
conduct or the boundary review is a matter for the independent boundary | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
commissions. The initial proposals will be the subject of extensive | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
consultation between political parties and local communities after | :08:58. | :08:59. | |
which revised proposals will be published at a later date. I thank | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
the Minister for his response and welcome him to his position where I | :09:06. | :09:07. | |
am sure he will make an excellent job. Does the Minister agree that if | :09:08. | :09:20. | |
the boundary review is to achieve constituencies of equal size, by the | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
next election, then these factors would need to be taken into | :09:24. | :09:30. | |
consideration? During every previous boundary review, Parliament has | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
accepted there must be a defined date and a set of register to | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
access. This was set down as a result of the 2013 review, voted for | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
by Labour members. Those who now seek to delay the boundary review | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
even further not only seek to overturn the accepted will of | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
Parliament but also to delay the boundary review again, ensuring | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
constituencies that are both dramatically and equal size are | :09:55. | :10:03. | |
based on data over two decades old. The boundary review next week is | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
going to be a sham. Nearly 2 million voters haven't been counted of. Why | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
doesn't the Minister start again so our democracy is not undermined by | :10:16. | :10:22. | |
next week's partisan gerrymandering? Without the limitation of these | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
reforms, legislated by a majority in the previous parliament, then this | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
will continue to represent constituencies that were drawn up on | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
data over 20 years ago. This regarding significant changes in the | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
population since that has happened. The status quo at cannot and will | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
not be an option and in future boundary reviews will also take | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
place every five years to ensure constituencies remain up-to-date, as | :10:47. | :10:47. | |
they should be. The number of electors in Welsh | :10:48. | :11:03. | |
constituencies varies greatly. My constituency is roughly in the | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
middle with 40 8000. Does the Minister agree that it can't be | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
right for each of these constituencies to elect one MP when | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
the number of voters within them is so radically different? Absolutely | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
right, we cannot continue with the historic injustice of such unequal | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
representation. Representation that allows the one seat to be twice the | :11:27. | :11:30. | |
size of another or to allow one elector's wrote to be worth twice | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
that of another. This injustice, long recognised, must be resolved. I | :11:37. | :11:42. | |
congratulate the honourable gentleman on his well-deserved | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
promotion to the Treasury bench. In the past, ministers have argued that | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
cutting the number of MPs will save the taxpayer ?12 million. The exact | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
amount of money the previous Prime Minister has spent on his list of | :11:55. | :12:01. | |
honours. This boundary redistribution is proceeding on the | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
basis of a register where 2 million people are excluded. Is that not an | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
affront to democracy? He is right to recognise that cutting the number of | :12:13. | :12:19. | |
MPs from 650 600 will not only save ?12 million but ?66 million over the | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
course of a parliament. At time when many areas of public life have found | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
savings, it is right we should put our own house in order. We should | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
establish the democratic principle of equal sized constituencies. First | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
called for it by the chartists in 1834 and endorsed by the committee | :12:39. | :12:48. | |
for standards in public life. All departments are looking to get the | :12:49. | :12:51. | |
best deal for the whole of Britain. The Cabinet Office it that is | :12:52. | :12:59. | |
helping co-ordinated that effort. The shape Whitehall comes in at a | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
time when many people feel Whitehall will not be able to cope with the | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
scale of negotiations. With exit negotiations looming, rather than | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
laying off civil servants, is it not time the civil service was properly | :13:18. | :13:26. | |
resourced? I reject the honourable Lady's assertions, the civil | :13:27. | :13:30. | |
servants is one of the finest in the world. It has risen to the challenge | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
of the immediate opportunities that face us as a country. That is why I | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
am glad we have been able to resourced the two departments so | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
successfully. The secretaries of state art content with that. May I | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
congratulate my right honourable friend on his new position and say | :13:50. | :13:58. | |
how much we on the public administration committee look | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
forward to working with them. As well as focusing on resource in and | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
machinery. Our enquiry into the civil service will focus on civil | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
servants leadership. Does he agree we need to develop stronger | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
leadership in the civil service, the right attitude for which a high | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
functioning organisation is based. I look forward to continuing my | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
long-standing relationship with the chairman of public and Constitution | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
committee. I agree with him entirely about his point. We want the senior | :14:38. | :14:48. | |
talent team in the civil servants. They have their work cut out to make | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
sure we can do even better. In the context of the recent machinery of | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
government changes, when will we know who will have lead | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
responsibility for cross government coordination with the British Irish | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
Council which relates to all eight administrations in this island? I | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
say to the honourable gentleman that I retain responsibility for the | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
constitution as a whole, as does the Cabinet Office. I will write a | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
detailed reply to this question so he can have the satisfaction of | :15:24. | :15:30. | |
that. The government is determined that those whose personal safety | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
would be at risk if their details appeared on the register should be | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
able to register anonymously. I have arranged to meet with the women's | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
aid to discuss their concerns over the process of anonymous | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
registration and have written to the Minister for women and equality is | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
to look at plans for regulation on this policy. Thank you for the | :15:51. | :15:59. | |
information he has just given. You have acknowledged that some domestic | :16:00. | :16:05. | |
violence victims do not choose to go to the police and do not have access | :16:06. | :16:14. | |
as a result. I look forward to you announcing the steps that could | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
take. Gray order, this is very unfair. The honourable lady is | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
asking a question about help for victims of domestic violence who | :16:24. | :16:26. | |
wish to register to vote anonymously. I really think the | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
house should be attentive to this matter. Thank you Mr Speaker. I am | :16:31. | :16:36. | |
pleased you add knowledge the difficulties that these women have | :16:37. | :16:39. | |
in registering. I look forward to what steps you roll out in the | :16:40. | :16:49. | |
future, it is difficult to register to vote to to the limited number of | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
officers and women do not have easy access to those people. That this on | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
Friday and -- disenfranchises them. I thank her for raising this issue, | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
those who have left are messed it violence to seek a new life, they | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
are some of the most vulnerable in society but also they are some of | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
the bravest. Today I can announce the government will look closely | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
with appropriate charities and the honourable member because nobody | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
should be denied the opportunity to vote. I've thank the Minister and I | :17:24. | :17:31. | |
welcome him to his position. He will be replying to a letter I wrote when | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
I was reporting on this topic. I warmly welcomed what he has said | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
today. He could clean things up by adding to the list of the domestic | :17:40. | :17:45. | |
violence protection orders and I would urge him to do that speedily? | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
I thank her for the question. I appreciated receiving the letter, it | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
was one of the first things I was determined to act on. It is a | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
slightly more complex situation, to change the regulations, it would | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
require a change in primary legislation but the government will | :18:07. | :18:14. | |
review aspects of this policy. Most victims of domestic abuse never | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
report that abuse to the police. Will the government review the | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
regulation so these women are able to register anonymously. I refer my | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
honourable friend to the answer I have just given. Question number | :18:27. | :18:37. | |
seven. Mr Speaker, the government is investing ?2.25 million in digital | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
services over the next four years to recast the relationship between the | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
people we seek to serve and the state. There is more to come and we | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
are doing a lot but there is more to do. May I join the congratulations | :18:50. | :18:56. | |
to the Minister in his new role. Turn us back to the use of digital | :18:57. | :19:04. | |
technology in the NHS. How could we better use sharing services to | :19:05. | :19:13. | |
reduce incidents in the NHS? My honourable friend is entirely right | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
that it will be a digital solution that will bring the most advantage | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
to the area of the health service that she identifies. I am glad that | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
the close working of the health and safety investigation Branch and NHS | :19:28. | :19:30. | |
improvement and the NHS litigation authority enabled through digital | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
will mean we can reduce the number of events. Thank you Mr Speaker, | :19:34. | :19:43. | |
ensuring the digital technology at pace, what steps are the government | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
taking to make sure that the hacking of such technology decreases and is | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
eliminated? The honourable gentleman is entirely right, hacking poses a | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
serious threat to the infrastructure and I will have more announcements | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
in the next few week which I hope will colour the detail he is | :20:05. | :20:13. | |
seeking. Topical question. The Cabinet Office is responsible for | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
delivering a democracy that works for everyone. And driving efficiency | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
and reforms to make government work better. At a time where the | :20:23. | :20:31. | |
government are reducing 50 members of this are elected house of | :20:32. | :20:34. | |
parliament, is it right that we keep 100 hereditary peers in another | :20:35. | :20:45. | |
place? It is not for me to revisit the arguments about the House of | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
Lords here. As our manifesto made clear, it is not a priority of this | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
government. He would be glad to know that we have reduced the cost of the | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
House of Lords considerably. The house was courteous to the Minister | :21:01. | :21:04. | |
as the Minister has been to the house, that would be a great | :21:05. | :21:12. | |
advance. User-friendly and watertight. The Minister previously | :21:13. | :21:22. | |
alluded to the report by the member for Brentwood and an girl, I wonder | :21:23. | :21:29. | |
if he is able to commit to the full thrust to allow our system to | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
continue? My honourable friend is absolutely right. We must take | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
electoral fraud very seriously. The April 2015 election court judgment | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
in Tower Hamlets exposed worrying electoral fraud and corruption. | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
There is a range of measures to tackle such fraud and the government | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
will consider this and give a full response in due course. Welcome back | :21:52. | :21:58. | |
Mr Speaker and a warm welcome to the new ministerial team. I congratulate | :21:59. | :22:03. | |
them all on their appointment. We look forward to a positive working | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
relationship with them, holding them to account and making a difference | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
where we can. Might I also apologise Mr Speaker for Mike friend, the | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
member for land Koster and Fleetwood, a new member of my team, | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
she is on her honeymoon and can't be with us today. I am sure we all wish | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
her well in her marriage. Let me reassure the ministerial team that | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
my colleague may be on her honeymoon but the honeymoon period for the | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Ulster is well and truly over. I have been | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
asking a series of questions -- the Duchy of Lancaster. Can I ask any | :22:40. | :22:48. | |
member of this team, where is he today and what does he actually do? | :22:49. | :22:57. | |
He has asked a number of questions, I will relate his questions to the | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, but he is responsible for | :23:01. | :23:09. | |
the Duchy of Lancaster. What departmental responsibilities does | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
he have and how is he carrying them out? He sits on a number of | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
important Cabinet committees and another responsibilities that I am | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
sure the Right honourable gentleman will find out in due course. Thank | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
you Mr Speaker, can the Minister tell the house whether the Cabinet | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
Office will play an important role in coordinating the exit | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
negotiations from the EU and the activities to make sure they help | :23:38. | :23:49. | |
them come to an agreement? My right honourable friend will be pleased | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
that my job in this is to serve. I will make sure my right honourable | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
friends have all the resources they need in order to do their report on | :23:57. | :24:00. | |
job of work to make sure we make a success of the exit. The office | :24:01. | :24:09. | |
which serves my constituency is to close by 2020, due to a modernising | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
service. Order. This situation is intolerable. The honourable | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
gentleman is entitled to be heard. I want to hear the honourable | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
gentleman, can he be assured of it? During recess, government digital | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
services lost its second rector general within a year and received | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
resignation of chief digital officers in other departments. What | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
steps is the minister taking to get the government digital provision | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
under control and ensure people have access to reliable online services? | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
I have to say I am proud what the government digital service has | :24:54. | :24:56. | |
achieved in the last year. It is rated the foremost digital service | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
in the world. I am pleased to welcome the new director-general. It | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
is the first time that office has had a rector general, he had a fine | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
pedigree in the private sector and he will bring that knowledge to the | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
digital office. What progress has been made on the | :25:14. | :25:32. | |
audit into racial disparities in public service? I am glad to hear my | :25:33. | :25:40. | |
honourable friend endorse the words of the Prime Minister on the steps | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
of Downing Street. She will be glad to know we have already had a | :25:45. | :25:48. | |
substantial meeting to discuss the remit of the racial disparity audit. | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
It will uncover uncomfortable truths but unless we do that, we cannot | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
face up to those burning injustices that remain in our country. Mr | :25:57. | :26:03. | |
Speaker, does he agree with the Lord Speaker that membership of the House | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
of Lords should be less than that of the commons? The other place has an | :26:07. | :26:14. | |
important role in drafting legislation as a revising chamber. | :26:15. | :26:17. | |
The government is clear that an unelected chamber should not block | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
the will of the commons. The manifesto was clear that reform of | :26:23. | :26:25. | |
the House of Lords is needed and we have since ignored and reforms | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
including the retirement of peers. Over 150 peers have left the chamber | :26:30. | :26:37. | |
since 2010. The operating costs have also fallen by 14% since 2010. Last | :26:38. | :26:47. | |
but not least, Caroline Ansell. The government recognises how vital | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
small and medium enterprises are to our nation 's fortunes. It is | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
increasingly looking to see how it can open government contracts to | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
them. Last month launching a new resource. What more can the Minister | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
and I do to seal the deal for local businesses in Eastbourne and | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
Willingdon with the government? My honourable friend is entirely right, | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
small and medium-sized enterprises power this nation and we hope the | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
negotiations we begin will unleash them even further into the global | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
market that Britain will be able to exploit. She is also right to say we | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
should give more contract to small and medium-sized enterprises and we | :27:30. | :27:32. | |
beat our target in the last Parliament, we have an ambitious | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
target of more than a third of projects and I had to work with her | :27:37. | :27:37. | |
to make sure we achieve that target. I would like to congratulate the | :27:38. | :28:04. | |
British Olympic team on a great medical -- medal haul, finishing | :28:05. | :28:14. | |
second, in front of China. CHEERING I know everyone would wish to give | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
the very best wishes to our Paralympic athletes and wish them | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
the best of success. This morning I had meetings with ministerial | :28:25. | :28:26. | |
colleagues and others, and I will have further such meetings later | :28:27. | :28:33. | |
today. May I add my warm wishes to those, all Paralympians and those | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
from Bristol in particular, | :28:39. | :28:39. |