08/09/2016 House of Commons

chance to get to a good school, we have to make sure we change the

terms of trade to make sure that they are turned into education

opportunities. Business question, Mr Paul Flynn. Will the leader of the

House gave us the business for next week? Leader of the House, Mr David

Liddington. Mr Speaker, the bidders for next week, Monday the 12th of

September, remaining stages of the Wales Bill. Tuesday the 13th,

secondary reading of the Digital economy Bill. Wednesday the 14th,

motions to approve statutory instruments relating to welfare

reform in Northern Ireland and pensions. Followed by an opposition

day, and on allotted half day, they will be a debate on NHS

sustainability and transformation plans... On the 15th of September,

debate and a motion related to domestic abuse victims in family law

courts, followed by a debate on a motion related to quantitative

easing. These are determined by the backbench business committee. On

Friday the 16th, the House will not be sitting. On Monday the 10th of

October, the provisional business will include the second reading of

the neighbourhood planning Bill. I would also like to inform the House

that the business in Westminster Hall for the 15th of September and

the 13th of October will be as follows... The 15th of September, a

debate on the sixth report from the Justice committee of session 2015-16

on prison safety, that is determined by the liaison committee. And on the

13th of October a general debate on Tobacco control, determined by the

backbench business committee. Can I briefly at Mr Speaker, that I am

sure members of all parties represented in this House will want

to wish success to the team GB Paralympic athletes on the first day

of competition today and personally as an MP that represents Stoke

Mandeville, I think everybody in the United Kingdom can take some

considerable pride in the fact that it was in this country that because

of the drive of Ludwig Guttman, we saw the creation of a disability

sport movement which has grown into the worldwide Paralympic movement,

whose achievements we celebrate in the next two weeks. We thank the

leader and we all are bass king in the reflected glory of the brilliant

success of our Olympians and we acknowledge, as the leader has said,

the pioneering work in this country in the whole introduction of the

concept of the Paralympic games. We all wish the athletes well. There is

one minor quibble we would have, it is an odd moment when we are

celebrating the success of sport to diminish the role of the time

available of the committee responsible for these affairs in

this House, culture media and sport. It has been reduced today. We have

gone on with this reluctantly but we see it as a temporary measure and we

certainly do not think any of these areas are minor in any way. We look

for the restoration of the full-time that was previously available to

culture media and sport. Next Wednesday's Welsh debate will

illustrate the degraded system that our democracy has and the way that

it is heading into further distress. The Welsh Bill will not guarantee in

anyway a compensatory increase in the number of members of the Welsh

Assembly, although the work level has trouble. But in the future,

Wales will lose 11 of the 40 MPs, will lose the four MPs of the MEPs

that represent Wales, and we have got this turmoil in the democratic

system when the disgrace of buying places in the House of Lords

continues. Quite rightly, the press condemned the decisions taken by the

previous prime minister in awarding places in the House of Lords, which

is already bloated, which is already trying to cope with 300 extra

members which they do not need, and to add to this in order to placate

the interests of lobbyists, cronies and party donors. What we should be

doing, instead of having a piecemeal reform of only one part of the

defects in our democracy, and that is a reform which will please only

one party and help only the Tory party, but will also disenfranchise

2 million voters. Should we not be getting together and realising how

far our democracy is degraded and how an all-party agreement on how we

can come together with a reform which will be all embracing, which

will look at all these abuses, in order to have a system that is fair,

that is of good value for the electors, and one that can win back

the respect that we have had internationally for the quality of

our democracy? The decision to halt the contract on Hinkley point was a

bold one hand a brave one. The position is not one in which there

is a crisis of security. It is an out of date system which has been

introduced, which has never worked anywhere in the world, because of

the endless construction delays and the multi-billion cost overruns

which have taken place in other countries, and we must also

reconsider the atrocious deal struck which would mean that our

electricity users would be saddled with the highest prices for

electricity in the world for the next 35 years. Can he give us the

debate, before any final decision is taken, on Hinkley, so we can

consider all these aspects in this House before we blunder into what

could be a gigantic financial and technological disaster of Hinkley?

Finally, could I ask the minister after his distinguished record as a

minister on European affairs, why are we retreating from our noble

role as providing the gold standards of human rights in the world and

certainly throughout Europe by insisting on a minor matter of our

own traditional practices and inviting other countries, the

oppressive regimes to go back to the old traditions of abusing and their

own nation state citizens and degrading the human rights there? If

we are not the as the trailblazers, the gold standard, the others will

slip backwards. Does he not feel it is a retrograde step and we should

consider being hateful part of the court of human rights and all of the

European tradition of human being -- European rights we have lived for

many years. -- playing hateful part? -- playing a full role. The usual

channels will review those depending upon experience with how it will

work out in practice. The question he asked at the end about human

rights, I have to say to him, there is absolutely no retreat on the part

of the Government from the high human rights standards that we set

for ourselves in this country, and which we follow through in promoting

foreign policy objectives as well. But the human rights of the United

Kingdom were well developed and had a fine reputation before the Human

Rights Act of 1998 was enacted. There is a long-standing issue over

the way in which a number of particular decisions about the

application of Article eight of the Convention have applied, in certain

extra in cases. We are looking at how -- in certain cases. The

government is absolutely clear that we stand by the human rights

embodied in the European convention, which after all was something that

was very much the product of work by the United Kingdom, and by its

politicians at the time. On Hinkley, as the Prime Minister has said, we

do intend to make a decision very soon. I think the objective that we

have always had in mind is the need in framing an energy strategy to

deliver both on climate change objectives, and on making sure of

security of energy supply at a reasonable cost to domestic

consumers and British industries so that industry can be competitive in

some quite fierce global markets. I suspect he and I on the House of

Lords voted the same way when those things were debated in a previous

parliament for the partially elected upper house. But in truth there was

no consensus or anything approaching consensus in the House of Commons,

within parties or across parties about how that issue should be

addressed. I do not really think it is likely to be fruitful to try and

pursue House of Lords reform as an early priority. I was sorry about

the disparaging tone he adopted towards the Wales Bill, because

after all, what's this government's record has been about is delivering

increased devolution, which the Welsh Assembly and political parties

in Wales for the most part have been saying that they wanted to see.

I was not shocked, but I was disheartened by the critical remark

he threw in about the approach of the parliamentary boundary

commission and the framework within which they are operating. One of my

treats since my appointment has been to get into the honourable

gentleman's autobiography. And I found on pages 57 and 58 of his

memoirs that he lauded the achievements of the chartists, and

he spilled out that one of the key objectives was that we should have

constituencies with the equal numbers of electors in each

constituency, and now the framework under which the boundary commission

is operating will deliver one of the chartered objectives which he so

strongly supported. I would have thought he would be cheering us on

and not criticising as. He will be aware that I PSA is out for

consultation with quite remarkable changes that are being proposed.

They are presenting themselves before various committees and will

have two sessions before the admin committee. Would he agree to a

debate in the House that might give IPSA the opportunity to get a better

understanding of what it is like to be an MP and how they can insist

rather than hinder? -- a cyst. It is important that they are statutorily

independent, but he is right in saying that any decisions about the

salaries, pensions and expenses of members of Parliament should be

informed by a proper understanding of what the responsibilities of

being a member involved, and about the multifarious different ways in

which different members, because of the nature of their constituencies,

go about doing the job. I would suggest on a debate that the proper

course would be for the backbench business committee perhaps to

consider this if there is a large number of members who feel a debate

of that kind is needed. Can I join the housing wishing the very best of

the Paralympic team, hopefully winning a whole clutch of medals for

the country. Yesterday the Prime Minister announced there would be no

running commentary on the Brexit negotiations and she refused to say

whether she was in favour of being in a single market are not. To me,

that sounded that this House will be simply expected to accept whatever

this government can clock is when it comes to the Brexit deal, as soon as

it gets into deciding what that will be. The leader of the houses

parliament 's champion. -- concocted. Will he tell us today

that this House will be kept bang up-to-date in every detail of these

negotiations as it is the biggest single issue in public life today.

We already know that the government have no intention of bringing the

trigger for article 60 two this House -- article 50. To this House.

We also know there will be no Australian points based, instead

we're going to have a wall constructed at Calais. No more

keeping this House and the public in the dark about what this government

proposes when it comes to wrecks it. This morning it was announced that

billions of pounds will be spent on refurbishing this House. I am sure

the Leader of the House meant to announce that we will have a full

statement on this and a proper debate in government time about

these proposals, particularly when we learn that this could cost up to

?4.3 billion of public money, and I am sure all the constituents would

want to know exactly. Lastly it goes back to the constituency issue in

the House of Lords that was raised. We're going to have this

announcement on the government's latest plans to gerrymander

boundaries. When we have that conversation, can it be all of

Parliament because we have to take into account what is going on in

that absurd House down the corridor. It cannot possibly be right that we

increasing the number of unelected Lords while at the same time

decreasing the number of elected members. Mr Speaker, first of all I

can say to the honourable gentleman that yes, Parliament will be kept

fully informed at the appropriate times about the progress of the

negotiations, though I think that the honourable gentleman will

understand that if there is an ongoing negotiation, it would be

foolish of any government of any political party to go into minute

detail about how those negotiations were progressing because that would

disadvantage this country in the progress of those negotiations. But

the government will indeed report back at regular intervals and of

course ministers will additionally be available to answer oral and

written questions, and it is open to members to make application to Mr

Speaker for urgent questions and debates if they feel the case is

strong. I would say to the honourable gentleman, if you looks

at the track record this week, on the first day back we had my right

honourable friend the Secretary of State for exiting the European Union

and questions about this matter for about two hours. Yesterday my right

honourable friend the Prime Minister, in giving a statement

about the G20 summit, in practice spends a lot of time responding to

questions about the impact on the United Kingdom's International

status in leaving the European Union, so I do not think he can

claim to be short-changed this week. He referred to the report which is

to be published at midday today by the joint committee of the Lords and

Commons on the restoration and renewal project. That is a report

which, like any select committee report, has been developed by the

members concerned. The government has not had any input into that or

any prior copies of the report sent to us so we could suddenly make

comments before the announcement made today. Parliament will indeed

have an opportunity to debate this before any decisions are taken.

Decisions will be a matter for the House and the House of Lords about

the future of the Palace. On the boundary changes, I say to him, the

principle involved here is a quality of waiter votes. It really would be

an affront to democracy if we went into an election in 2020 on the

basis of electoral roll is based on a census to decades-old by that

point, and we're some members were representing 100,000 electors and

others representing significantly fewer than half that total. Thank

you. I note that the Leader of the House has announced the second

reading of the neighbourhood planning Bill, and I wonder whether

he would comment on whether there would be enough time on matter

whether he recommends a second debate on the local plan expert

group which has come up with substantial and innovative

recommendations to simplify the whole process, including

neighbourhood planning. I think that there will be opportunity in the

course of proceedings on the bill to have the kind of debate which he

wants to see, but should he be dissatisfied there are opportunities

available. Under half of the backbench business committee, can I

say we welcome the opening of positive dialogue with the Leader of

the House about the allocation of parliamentary business for backbench

debates, and we welcome time sensitive subject applications. We

had such an application at the committee on Tuesday, which is for

during the week beginning the 10th of October. And that is an

application from the member from Colchester, and I would support this

because that week is baby loss week, and this debate is about baby loss,

stillbirth and infant mortality in the first week of life. If he could

find a slot during that week, we would be very appreciative. Indeed,

he makes a powerful and persuasive point. I cannot make a promise

today, but I will do my best to accommodate what he wants. Well and

prison is a reserve prison and is not operating at the moment, and it

is at the end of a large residential area. -- Wellingborough prison.

Three days ago ten traveller families dumped themselves on the

prison car park. The Ministry of Justice have tried their best to

move them. It has become unacceptable to my constituents,

particularly the ones living nearby. Could we have a statement next week

on how the government deals with travellers who are on Crown

property? There are number of us on all sides of the House where we have

had this problem of unauthorised encampment upon privately owned or

publicly owned land and local residents have become very

distressed about that. I am sure the appropriate Minister will want to

talk to my honourable friend about this particular case, but he might

want to consider applying for an adjournment debate so he can discuss

his views more fully and secure a detailed response from the Minister.

The campaign for Better Transport has this week set out its concerns

that the government's bus services Bill will have a huge impact on

rural bus services. I regularly get complaints from constituents about

the deterioration of their services, particularly in country areas,

around Silloth and the Solway plain. Will he ensure that when the bill

comes for debate in this House, there is proper time to discuss the

impact on rural bus services? I'm sure there will be ample time to

ensure we have those discussions which will be relevant to members

across the House with rural constituencies. There are some real

challenges in that many rural bus services to provide a vital lifeline

which is quite a minority of people because the customer base shrinks

but the services are also still important. I would hope that the

debate encompasses things like the use of new technology to help

provide community transport services which, in my constituency and

others, are providing a very useful additional form of support to people

living in villages. Could we have a debate on paediatric training in the

NHS in England because in my constituency the children's

emergency centre that County Hospital has been temporarily closed

due to lack of sufficient trained staff, and I understand that I am

not the only member of Parliament who has this problem in the

constituency. I can understand, particularly given the history of

hospital services in Staffordshire, via my honourable friend is so

concerned, and he has been a very strong champion of patients in his

constituency. I was sorry to hear what had happened. Obviously the

local health authorities have taken the decision on grounds of patient

safety, which clearly has to come first. I hope those local problems

can be resolved as rapidly as possible and the government is

certainly determined to continue to ensure that paediatric training

standards are of the highest level possible. Can I take the opportunity

to congratulate him on his appointment. In January the

government announced welcome proposals for a partnership between

the DFT and TEFL to specify franchises in London when an divine

-- individual franchises lapse. How does the government take this

forward in the months ahead? Thank you to the honourable gentleman for

his welcome to me. I would draw his remarks to the attention of both the

Minister for London and the appropriate Minister in the

Department for Transport and ask one of them to make contact with him.

I'm delighted at the importance of industrial strategy, now formally

recognised, not least by being included in the title of a

government department. Can we have a debate on its terms of reference,

its aims and objectives? It sounds to me like this would be an

excellent idea for my honourable friend to put forward to the

gentleman opposite as the chairman of the backbench business committee.

I'm sure my ministerial colleagues would welcome it, if such a debate

was secured. The industrial strategy is going to be important for future

prosperity in this country. It is important we have a strategy that

works for all sectors of industry, particularly the new industry which

will provide the growth and opportunity for the country in the

future and that it is a strategy that works for all parts of the

United Kingdom. Every single day in my constituency of Dundee I have low

income workers getting in touch after the tax credit support, Rob

Lee and without warning is stopped and HMRC payment by results model,

in short, commission. It causes immense stress and hardship for

households. 12% of all enquiries are about this very issue in my office.

Will the House commit to an urgent debate on this matter before more

people experience this harsh and brutal situation? Decisions about

tax credits are not always what applicants want. It is very

important. Every constituency MP would agree with the honourable

gentleman, decisions are taken as promptly as possible and that they

are accurate. He is right in saying people on low incomes are completely

thrown if an application that is justified is suddenly either

rejected, or there is an unjustifiable attempt to claw back

money after the event. I will let the relevant Treasury Minister know

about this particular point. It may be something he would like to seek a

debate upon but I hope very much that the problems he has described

will be resolved by HMRC and the contractor as rapidly as possible

because constituents deserve a better service than that. To assist

my honourable friend the leader of the House in the consideration of

the Brexit process, I have an idea. I wonder if he could enlighten us as

to the state of the discussions on the scrutiny by the select

committees in the Brexit process? My perception is that it is clear that

each department should have a select committee. We have two new

departments and we should have two new select committees. Considering

the complexity of the issue and the need for communities to be involved,

it would help if we got going on the select committee as soon as possible

and I wonder if he could help as I am sure the House would like to see

this kind of scrutiny. I will do my best to help. These matters are

subject to continued discussion between the usual channels. I think

on anything related to the establishment of select committees,

if it is humanly possible to have a cross-party agreement it is better

we should achieve that. Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is a new and

innovative charity established in my constituency to offer opportunities

to people to get out and about in the outdoors in the Trossachs. Can

we have a debate to explore how we can promote such excellent

initiatives across the country? I think that is an excellent subject

for the honourable gentleman to draw to the attention of DWP menaces at

the next question Time will stop or for him to seek and add -- DWP at

the next question Time. It seems to me the word should be spread and

this could be an example in which we could copy. The next time we have a

meaningful time to have debates will be in October. The government has

given a lot of money to flood defences in the United Kingdom,

another 12.5 million in Dover North. Can we have a statement from the

Government about the future of flooding and flood defences. It

affects the whole nation, not only see flooding, but internal flash

flooding, and this has to have a continued debate in this chamber. My

honourable friend raises an important point and of course I will

recall his constituency was very badly affected by floods a couple of

years ago. And he was the most fearless and outspoken champion of

his constituents at that time. Coincidentally there has been a

report published earlier today by Deborah on flooding and the future

25 year plan for flood resilience. -- by the Department. I urge all

members of the House to take an interest in this matter to study the

report. It has a number of important conclusions and also proposals on

how the Government will take things forward into the future. I notice

request for a debate. Clearly I cannot promise that at the moment

but I understand the subject's importance. On the 19th of August a

faulty tumble dryer caused a major fire in Shepherd scored, and damaged

a major block of flats. 26 families had to move out and it was a miracle

there were no deaths, or serious injury. There are 1 million for the

products not being recalled by the manufacturer. Can we have eight

government statement on how many factors can be made to recall and

replace faulty white goods as demanded by the London Fire Brigade

total recall campaign? I think if there is a question in my mind about

the legal position, if goods have indeed been sold that are

demonstrably a threat to the safety of those customers, I would hope

that if a situation like the one he described, the manufacturer should

take note of his remarks and act accordingly. I shall ask the

relevant Minister to have a look at the particular case. If you would

like to write to me with the details I will happily passed those onto the

relevant department and let's see if we can get appropriate action. I

have a familiar question for my honourable friend as one of the

longest serving Europe ministers. Can we have a statement after the

new minister's visit to Cyprus, which coincides with three meetings

taking place this week between the city and leaders and the president

saying the end of the road has been reached and it is time to reunite

Cyprus? I know that my right honourable friend, the member for

Rutland and Melton would be delighted to talk to the member for

Southgate about his recent visit to the island full stop I am sure all

of us across the Florida house --. I am sure everyone in the House would

like to see the country reunited and the Turkish and Cypriot communities

brought together again. That would be a good day for the United

Kingdom. I think there will be an opportunity to raise this at the

next foreign office questions. I think a conversation between my

honourable friend and the Minister is probably the best way forward.

Yesterday, the BBC reported that Katrina Percy, the former Chief

Executive of the sudden health trust, which has been investigated

because of a lack of investigation into unexplained death at the trust

had resigned from a post but was then shunted into a ?240,000 per

year job created just for her with no other candidates. -- Sutton

health trust. Can we have a debate about this very worrying decision?

My understanding is that this was an appointment which was wholly within

the jurisdiction of the local board of the relevant NHS trust and it is

a decision which that board therefore needs to explain and for

which they are accountable. Health provision is very important to all

constituencies. With an ageing population and acute health needs.

Given that, can we have a debate in government time about the NHS in the

West Midlands and in particular mergers of CCG and NHS trusts

serving my constituency? My honourable friend raises an

important point. He is already in his first year in this House

building up a reputation as somebody who really does stand up for good

health services and the interest of patients in the West Midlands. He

will have an opportunity on Tuesday the 11th of October when we have

health questions to make some of these points to the ministerial

team. The communities act application by new Council to

control fixed odds betting terminals alongside 92 other councils which

represent 42% of the population in England and were expired on the 14th

of July. That act says the Government has to compromise with

the negotiations and no debate has taken place. When will we get a

statement on this important issue for a huge proportion of the

country? I will ask the responsible minister to write to the honourable

gentleman about that point. Can my right honourable friend arrange for

the attorney general to make a statement about appealing against an

Julie lenient sentences? A number of people in my constituents felt the

sentence given to Anjem Choudary was derisory given the serious level of

the offences he had committed. We found out today in the newspapers

that the attorney general is not able to appeal against a lenient

sentence for that particular crime. We promised in the manifesto to

extend the number of crimes that could be appealed for being lenient

in sentencing. When are we going to crack on with it? As he pointed out,

big and was elected on a manifesto which pledged us to extend the list

of crimes that were covered by the right of the attorney general to

refer excessively lenient sentences to the Court of appeal. -- the

Government was elected. Either the attorney or relevant justice

minister will come forward with a statement to the House will stop the

petitions --. The committee has agreed on a Parliamentary debate on

grouse shooting after the session and there is a debate about the

badger culling and I am sure we will reach the 100,000 required. When we

had a debate on Westminster Hall this week, more than 40 MPs attended

and a lotta people wanted to watch the debate but could not fit into

the public gallery. Can we make sure that both of these debates are in

the main chamber so people can come and watch and there is time for MPs

to take part? There is always a pressure which government must

wrestle with and there is also, the backbench business committee must

wrestle with which matters are debated in Westminster Hall and

which matters are debated in the chamber. She will have an additional

opportunity on Thursday the 13th of October, when ministers from

environment, food and rural affairs will be answering questions here. I

know the leader of the House is very aware of the anxiety caused in Corby

aroused the discussions ongoing about the future of the steel

industry. Can we have a statement next week from ministers updating us

on where we are with these discussions with the industry, the

department and unions, so my constituents can be updated as to

exactly where we are? I will make sure that the business secretary and

the international trade secretary are aware of my friend's concerns. I

understand the importance of the steel issue is for his constituents

in Corby. The Prime Minister said in her statement on the G20 yesterday

that she had raised the question of overproduction on global markets in

the plenary session of the G20 leaders when she had been in China.

And she hoped that would lead to the international powers considering a

way forward to manage this. The leader of the House is very popular

in my constituency. And I have been asked to ask this question, whether

they voted for Brexit or to Remain, if this is a sovereign Parliament,

why did they concede the deal and why has a sovereign Parliament can

we not have a vote? Because they love him so much they would like a

debate on the closure of accident and emergency in Huddersfield and

with the landfill tax going up to ?85 across West Yorkshire, we are

getting fires and unscrupulous waste contractors are setting fire to

waste in order to save money, can we have debates on all of those

subjects? I think all the waste management question he will have the

opportunity at questions on the 13th of October. On the local health

issue there are questions on Tuesday the 11th of October to the health

ministers. As someone who the House knows was

on the Remain side of the campaign, if we are Democrats, however

reluctantly, to accept the result. If the result had been the other way

round, I would have been the first to say to my colleagues supporting

the leave campaign that it was time to fold up their tent. We have to

respect the view that the electors have taken. As I am sure the whole

House will be aware, the world black pudding throwing Championships are

taking place in Ramsbottom in my constituency this weekend. It dates

back to the War of the Roses. Can we please have a statement on what the

government will be doing to promote this prestigious and historic event

in the future? For a moment I thought he was going to propose this

as an experimental support for the Tokyo Olympics and for -- in four

years. I think he has made his point very forcefully, as usual today. I

hope he gets the chance to sample the black puddings before they are

thrown, rather than afterwords. Does giving evidence, -- when giving

evidence, the predecessor offered to come to my constituency to discuss

English votes for English laws, much to the disappointment of my

constituents. Will the new Leader of the House visit my constituency to

discuss this with my constituents in his place? Just say yes!

LAUGHTER It is a delight to have such a tempting offer.

Her constituency like many others in Scotland contains vibrant

communities and absolutely wonderful landscapes. But while I would hope

to be able to visit North Ayrshire at some stage in the future, I

cannot give a firm diary commitment at the moment. I welcome the

statement that there will be a debate on the government's Tobacco

control programme. The issue at hand is that the control programme that

was running for five years has expired, and we were promised a

replacement in the summer of 2016. I realise the summer stretches into

the autumn, but we still do not have the new programme published. The

government has met the targets it set itself under the five-year

programme, but during that debate can my right honourable friend make

sure that the Minister announces the date for publication and that it is

announced in this place? I will make sure the Minister knows, my

honourable friend will have an opportunity not just to take part in

the back bends business debate -- backbench business debate, but in

the debate on the 11th of October. When will members of the House now

when they can elect the chairs of the select committees? I hope as

soon as possible. Obviously after this week we have to provide for an

additional select committee But I hope this is not delayed

indefinitely. Will the Leader of the House look again at the time

allocated for the development of international trade. I do not think

the leader was in his place this morning when we had half an hour for

questions to the culture department then half an hour regarding the

international trade Department. There are almost 50 questions listed

on the order paper for a one-hour period, whereas a normal one-hour

slot would only have about 35. Despite his huge experience, the

Speaker had to make heroic efforts to try to squeeze everyone in, and

even then it overran by ten minutes. Surely we can do better than this,

given the importance of international trade post Brexit? I

will look at what experience tells us of the new roster for oral

questions and if the House needs to be asked to review this again then

we will do that. I think that will be very welcome in the House. The

danger otherwise is that there is a recipe for disappointment. There is

always unsatisfied demand, but it was very, very striking this

morning. Huge numbers and a lot were disappointed. I have also been

contacted by hundreds of single women over the summer who have been

affected by the behaviour of concentric. I received a written

parliamentary answer yesterday to see the contractor had breached its

performance standards on 120 occasions over the last 11 months.

Can we have an urgent debate about the behaviour and performance of

this contract so it cannot punish individuals and particularly single

women for another day? Clearly the number of contract breaches she has

described is completely unacceptable. I think that she might

want to write to the financial Secretary is probably the right

minister at the Secretary to make sure the concerns are being directed

correctly to the ministers dealing with HMRC, but it seems to me that

it is the responsibility of the HMRC senior management to manage their

contract effectively and for the contractor to deliver rant delivered

a decent service to her constituents and everyone else's. -- to deliver a

decent service. The decision by southern health was greeted with a

fit of apoplexy in my constituency, but can we have a debate on the

scandalous and enduring and read duopoly of the wholesale newspaper

distribution market and the disastrous consequences this has for

independent retailers? My honourable friend is obviously returning with

relish and energy to his new role as a backbench champion, particularly

for small retailers in his constituency. I am sure he knows the

ropes well enough to know that an adjournment debates might well be

the opportunity to discuss these concerns further. I was recently

contacted by a constituent when she discovered her energy account had a

standing charge of 14p per day higher than other constituents. Aeon

tell me that they are entitled to charge a higher rate for those who

do not pay their accounts by direct debit, but this

amounts to... -- E.on. The way forward would be for the honourable

gentleman to see if he could catch the eye of the Speaker for business

energy questions and he could put those points to the ministers. Mayor

also strongly endorse what was said by the honourable member for Heywood

and Middleton, and my right honourable friend for New Forest

West about the extraordinary decision of the southern health

trust to create a host with a salary greater than that of the Prime

Minister to accommodate someone whose position as Chief Executive

had become untenable, but may I ask for a ministerial statement on the

plight of Afghan and other former interpreters for British Armed

Forces in hostile environments who have applied for but not yet been

given asylum in this country? This is not only a debt of honour but

something that is necessary for the future functioning of British troops

in hostile environments when we are greatly dependent upon indigenous

interpreters. He raises an important point. Clearly it is a very

important principle that asylum decisions are all taken on the

merits of each particular case, and that is true of applications of

former interpreters as well as everyone else. But the Ministry of

Defence and the Home Office continue to review the overall situation in

order to ensure that we are providing protection to people who

have helped to protect us, -- to protect us. My right honourable

friend will be pleased to know that on Monday the 12th of September,

next week, we have defence questions, which may be something he

wishes to raise with defence ministers Ben. May we have a

statement on reports that emerged over the summer that the government

equalities office has awarded G4S the contract to deliver the helpline

. The matter is urgent, I understand the contract is due to take effect

from the 1st of October, so could the leader make a statement on the

subject next week, as people have expressed concern at G4S providing

public services? I will draw the concern to the attention of the

relevant Minister dealing with the government office for the qualities.

Parliamentary scrutiny of Sports Direct has helped employees get a

better deal from a rogue employer. May we have a debate on a good

increase in the minimum wage leading some employers to cut back terms and

conditions further staff, leading to a net reduction in pay? That cannot

be right. Badge for your staff. It is not right, but I would have hoped

that the honourable gentleman would have acknowledged that by setting

the first-ever national living wage it is this government that has

lifted considerably the minimum levels of pay that the low paid

employers can no expect around the country. -- can now expect. The

honourable member for North the Beds asked what progress has been made

for setting up select committees to scrutinise the new departments of

exiting the European Union and the new Department of International

trade, and he said discussions are ongoing. When we get back on the

10th of October, it will be more than 3.5 months since the

referendum. We have had very little detail this week of what is actually

proposed by the government. I am sure that lots of other honourable

members are inundated with requests about what the government are going

to do in light of the vote. Can he guarantee that when we return here

on the 10th of October, the select committees will be a position to get

up and running and scrutinise these departments to try to get the

answers we have not had this week? I very much want that to be the

position, I hope the ongoing discussions through the usual

channels have a successful outcome soon. Can we have a debate on the

performance of South-eastern Trains. The government has put ?20 million

into trying to sort out the mess of suburban trains. But my constituents

are suffering equally because of the poor performance of this company

behaving like they have one foot out of the door because they can see the

prospect of TEFL taking over the franchise. -- TfL. He will have the

opportunity to raise this with Transport Minister is next week. One

of my constituents is waiting for a decision from the DW P regarding his

condition. On the 12th of January I was advised a decision whether or

not to add this to the list of prescribed diseases will be made

early this year. As we are still waiting, can we have a ministerial

statement to explain this delay and bring these deliberations to a

conclusion? I will draw that matter to the attention of DWP ministers

because whatever the decision is to be, the sooner that people know the

outcome, the better. The Leader of the House and I have something in

common, in that we were both 1's contestants on University challenge.

If we were able to have a debate on enhancing democracy, how would he

answer this starter for ten, under what school for logic do you enhance

democracy by cutting the number of elected politicians and increasing

the number of unelected peers? I said to him earlier, I wish I had

been the consensus that was absent about the House of Lords, but we are

where we are on that, and I doubt the opinion of the House of Commons

has changed all that much since we have been -- had to be aborted

attempt at reform. I think the answer to him as that he really

cannot evade the central point, that we are now operating on electoral

registers based on a census taken in 2001. It is now very out of date,

given population changes that have taken place, and it is also just

plainly wrong to continue with a situation in which constituency

electorates are of such disparate sizes which means there is gross

inequality between the weight of votes of individual electors.

In June of this year, one of my constituents was killed because of a

gas blow out at a minus. In August, a contract worker was electrocuted

doing service work at the same mind. Back in April, 11 miners escaped

with their lives after oxygen ran out. The mining has been

investigated over the past 12 months. Those 11 miners, some of

which have had to return to work with post-traumatic stress disorder,

due to the fact the sick pay is not enough to cover the costs of feeding

a wife and children... Can we have a debate in relation to health and

safety work and locations of workers having to return to work because

sick pay is not adequate enough, when companies have accepted

liability? I am grateful to the honourable gentleman to -- for

bringing a serious matter to my attention. I want to express my

sympathy with those of his constituents who have gone through

this horrific experience and also their families. What he raises

crosses the border between the Department of business and energy

and the DWP in respect of benefits. What I will do is I will draw this

question to the attention of ministers in both departments. He

might also like to raise this ad business and energy questions when

it comes macro up. Or seek an adjournment debate so there can be a

consolidated ministerial response across government addressing these

concerns. Three people a day die due to a shortage of transplantable

organs. Earlier this week a quadruple amputee poses -- pose nude

with her body displaying transplantable organs.

The honourable gentleman has used today's opportunity well to

highlight his support for organ donation. I know constituents who

have been given not only a longer life, but a life of unexpectedly

improved quality because of a successful organ transplant. I am

sure that he can find many ways in which to highlight this matter

during Parliamentary proceedings. Order. We will come to the

honourable gentleman in due course. Point of order. Can you advise me

how best I can bring my concerns to the attentions of the House in

relation to the boundary review and House of Lords reform? It seems

perverse to reduce the number of elected representatives in this

place, while the Lords continues to gorge itself on new arrivals. Mr

Speaker, I believe in an appointed other House but not at