17/05/2012 Business Questions

My honourable friend has put his finger on the Mail about the

problems of programmes that have gone on before. They didn't offer

real choice and were not open to real competition. The Green deal

will change all of that. It will bring it real opportunities for

local players to come to this market. The Secretary of State will

know that for energy security and diversity, we have got to invest

now in big infrastructure projects, and he knows of that name deism, so

rampant in questions in this chamber, is a great barrier to

planning permission. What will he do about planning permission to

achieve these objectives? honourable gentleman will know that

this has passed a planning statement relevant to this issue.

We have brought forward the National Framework. We need to make

sure that the local democratic voices heard, but we do need to

source investment that we all support. So there is a balance, but

we are determined to see the investment this country needs.

now come to business questions. Could the Leader of the House

please give us the business for next week. The business the next

week will be: Monday made 21st, remaining stages of the Finance

Bill. Tuesday May 22nd: Financial services bill followed by a third

reading of the Civil Aviation Bill. Wednesday made 23rd, second reading

of the electoral registration and administration bill. Followed by a

European document relating to the proceeds of crime. Thursday 24th

May, motion on the Whitsun recess adjourned. Thank you, Mr Deputy

Speaker. Can I thank the Leader of the House for his statement and

financing business. We can also congratulate our noble friend the

Member for North East Derbyshire on her re-election. Last week's

Queen's speech demonstrated this government has already run out of

ideas. Only 19 announced bills, and have them, three are career overs

from last session. Now as many as five of the new bills may have

their passage delayed until the next session, making this the

slimmest Queen's Speech in living memory. Can the Leader of the House

tell us why? Today is the International Day against

homophobia and Trans phobia. It is right that we market in this House.

There are five countries where you can still be sentenced to death for

being a lesbian or gay, and 76 where it is still illegal. We

should pray tribute to all those who are bravely campaigning for

equality around the world -- paid tribute. Can we have a statement on

the Government's proposal for equal marriage. The Education Minister

said he was totally opposed. But across the country there are

couples who want to know whether do have a civil partnership or wait

until the law is changed. What they don't want is to be in limbo while

Conservative MPs fight among themselves and the Government

prevaricates. The Prime Minister has said it is an important matter

of equality, and I agree. Will the Government now commit to quickly

bringing forward legislation on equal marriage? The whole House

will be concerned about the eurozone crisis. On Monday, the

Chancellor said to be open speculation from some members in

the eurozone about the future of some countries in the eurozone is

doing real damage across the whole European economy. Only for the

Prime Minister to indulge in precisely the same speculation two

days later. We have been pushed back into recession. This method

has failed in Britain and it is failing across Europe. The Prime

Minister should be pushing for a solution to the eurozone crisis. Mr

Speaker, Deputy Speaker, at the election, members opposite promised

not to cut a frontline services, but that is exactly what the Home

Secretary has done. More than 5,000 police officer jobs have been cut.

When she spoke to the Police Federation conference yesterday,

she insisted they shift the podium because she didn't want to be

filmed in front of or conference slogan opposing police cuts. Mr

Speaker, you can shift the podium and the camera angle, but you can't

shift the responsibility. So could the Leader of the House explained -

- arranged the the Home Secretary to make a statement on police

numbers so she can explain to the House what has happened to their

manifesto promise not to cut frontline staff. And while she is

at it, she could also explain the ongoing immigration shambles at

Heathrow. Every week we have reports of thousands of people

stuck at immigration, passengers queuing for hours while immigration

desks are closed. It takes something when even Joan Collins

feels the need to tweet from the queue saying that the Home

Secretary should get a grip. The immigration Minister's

justification for the shambles was it was the wrong type of wind. Mr

Deputy Speaker, what is it about this Government and the weather?

First they blame the performance of the economy on the snow. Then they

say it was the wrong type of rain. Now we have the wrong type of wind.

Mr Speaker, could we have a statement on the ministerial code?

Does the Minister it -- does the House in tend to amend it so that

they can say that Ministers are responsible unless it can be blamed

on the weather? Neither the Secretary of State nor his deputy

were President -- present at questions this week. They should at

least turn up for departmental questions and not leave it to

junior Ministers and whips to do their work for them. Could the

Leader of the House undertake to make sure senior Ministers are

present for all questions in future? Mr Deputy Speaker, justice

Ministers and dodge their responsibilities to this House. The

Home Secretary refuses to take responsibility for her police cuts.

The Immigration Minister refuses to take responsibility for the

shambles at Heathrow, and the Chancellor refuses to take

responsibility for a double-dip recession made in Downing Street.

What a way to start the new Parliamentary session. Can I begin

in a conciliatory way and congratulate the honourable lady on

her promotion to the chair of a party's and national policy forum.

We hope she can do this without becoming a part-time Shadow Leader.

I know she will bear in mind what her leader said and generate 10th:

In these times, with less money, spending more on one thing means

finding the money from somewhere else, something her colleagues seem

to have forgotten. Her previous job as shadow chief secretary, she will

want to bring some financial discipline to her party Bosman

policies if they are to have any credibility with the electorate.

Turning to the Queen's Speech, she asserted that we didn't have enough

bills in the Queen's Speech. If she looks at the earlier Queen's

speeches, she will find that the number of Bills introduced in this

session is not dissimilar from those in the 2005, six and seven

sessions. And if she looks at the Bill's we are carrying over, she

will find there are three Bills carried over from the last session.

What we are going to do is what the last government did which is to

bring too much legislation to the House of Commons so that they

weren't able to process it properly -- what we are not going to do. We

are not going to make that mistake. She mentioned that today was a day

to celebrate equality. If Mr Speaker had been in the chair, I

would have commended the article which he wrote in today's copy of

the Independent. Today is International they against

homophobia and Trans phobia. The Government is strongly committed to

making sure that all groups are free from discrimination. The ban

has been lifted a missable partnership taking place a

religious premises. We are continuing to remove barriers to

tackle prejudice, and we are continuing to consult on the

quality of marriage. -- Equality. On policing, can I just remind her

that before the last election, the then Home Secretary was asked

whether he could guarantee police numbers. He said no. The department

has also endorsed cuts of 3.1 billion to the police budget. The

effectiveness of policing cannot be measured by the number of officers

a loner by reductions in crime and increases in public confidence. It

is an inconvenient truth for the honourable lady that while she may

suggest that crime is going up, official figures show that police

recorded crime showed -- fell by 3%. Turning to immigration, we

inherited a shambles at the UK Border Agency which we are in the

process of putting right, and she will welcome the announcement by

the immigration Minister before the Home Affairs Select Committee that

an additional mobile unit is being put in at Heathrow to cope with the

delays that she has referred to. I am astonished that she mentioned

the absence of the Lord Chancellor at all the questions. She will know

that occasionally Ministers have responsibilities other than at the

House. As a former Minister, she will be familiar with that. In line

with President, he wrote to say that he would be at an

international legal forum in Russia. I'm sure that he would have

preferred to be here, because he enjoys his time at the despatch box.

Can I commend my a horrible Friend the Member for North West

Cambridgeshire, who not -- my Al- Finally, can I just say to the

honourable lady that it is a fortnight since the Labour Party

candidate was defeated in the election for mayor of London. It is

less than two months since her party lost Bradford West. So any

triumphalism on the part of the honourable lady is very premature.

A new report by previous president of the British Veterinary

Association says that more than 25% of meat sold in our shops is coming

from animals that have not been Prix stunned before slaughter. This

figure exceeds easily the needs of some of our communities that have

special religious requirements. It suggests that some abattoirs are

cutting corners and costs. Could we please have a statement from Defra

on what measures are in place to protect animals, and what measures

are in place to make sure they are enforced? That is a sensitive issue.

Obviously are ideally, all animals should be stunned before slaughter,

but people have a preference to have their meat presented in a

different way. But I can tell her that we are going to consult on

measures to improve the welfare of animals slaughtered in accordance

with a religious rights when we consult on measures to implement

regulation which comes into effect on 1st January next year. That

specifically deal for the Protection of animals at the time

of killing, so there will be an opportunity for her to influence

the decision-making process later this year. We are all on your side!

I would like to thank the leader... Both sides are getting irritated,

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I think the Leader of the House for

the announcement of the Prix recess journalist debate next Thursday.

Had the backbench business committee been in existence, I am

sure we would have looked at scheduling a pre- recess debate. I

would like to pay a brief tribute to the outgoing members of the

backbench business committee, the members for Kettering, Shipley and

especially Wellingborough. Without them, the committee would not be

what it is today, and I am sad to see them leave. I welcome the

Member for a Nuneaton, Harrow East, and the Member for Southend West

who is himself the greatest champion in that house of the Prix

recess adjournment debate. There would also just like to say that by

the end of the session, I hope that given that the committee is still

entirely English in composition, that we can look at having

membership from the minority parties in order that we can become

a UK backbench business committee rather than just be entirely

Can I repeat what I said last night in congratulating the Honourable

lady on her re-election. I am grateful for her to endorse the

decision about this debate next Thursday, which my Honourable

Friend will responsive. She paid tribute to the outgoing members. I

am not sure if it would enhance her reputation a fine dust that,

because the whole point of the backbench committee is to choose

subjects that the Government would not normally have chosen. They did

that up until the last regime. I look forward to working with there

and the newly elected colleagues over the next -- over the course of

this session. Also, to take forward some of the ideas that we have

shared in how we can get some certainty in the conventional

debates. As far as Scottish members are concerned, her party has better

place than my party Tippett members from Scotland on of the backbench

business committees. But we have changed the standing orders to

enable other members to attend. I hope that is a mood in the right

direction. In a written parliamentary answer

on eighth March from the independent parliamentary stands

authority, I was told that under our publications game, we pro

actively publish the minutes of meetings of it so's board. 30

minutes ago, the transparency minutes of board meetings revealed

that the last recorded public accessible minutes were on 30th

January. Knowing how keen it Sir is on every I being dotted and every

tee being crossed, and either they have not met for three months or

are there not honouring what they should do. Bearing in mind there is

a public consultation going on at the moment as to what the public

feel the will of an MP is, should we not have a debate?

My Honourable Friend is a member of skips there and he will know that

on Tuesday, there is a meeting between the two companies. I'm

sorry about all these initials! He will have an opportunity on Tuesday

morning to put to the chairman of the question that he has just put

to me. The chairman will have advance notice of what is coming

and he will have in his breast pocket the answer to the question,

with specific details as to when his board last met.

Whatever happened to the Tory announcement of the school building

programme? Several months ago, the State Secretary for Education in

answer to me said that the state and would be made -- a statement

would be made. Several months have passed and nothing has happened. Is

this programme in the long grass with the quality programme, care of

the elderly, building houses, the green deal and all the rest of it?

We intend to announce which schools will be rebuilt through the

priority school building programme by us month. It has been necessary

to make specific sex on the building conditions of all schools

that have applied, making site visits and we want to get it right.

-- specific checks. The schools rebuild through this programme will

open as Scheduled and 2014. Is the leader of the house aware

that the 44th meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary

Association took place in Dublin for two days this week, attended by

many Honourable Members from this house and another place, and indeed

from the Irish Parliament, including their leader? The Dail is

discussing that meeting to discuss trade, environment, transport,

Northern Ireland and environmental policies. We did not be helpful to

this house and to another place if time were made available for us to

report on the proceedings of the British-Irish Parliamentary

Association? I have lots of work my Honourable

Friend does as chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee.

He is also involved in the grip he has just mentioned. I don't know

whether there is a brick through the Northern Ireland Select

Committee and doing a report on these issues which could then find

a or whether he could apply to the newly-established backbench

business committee, or whether next Thursday, when we have the Prix

recess adjournment debate, he would find it possible to speak on this

subject and get a response from my Honourable Friend, the deputy

leader. Answer the leader of the house

would agree that it is important to keep good communications between

members and their constituents. The last three days, the telephone has

been out of action and my office. I don't know if anybody else has had

the exasperation of trying to contact British Telecom recently. I

spent 45 minutes on the telephone yesterday trying to get hold of

somebody I could stop to about the problems. My Office spent three

days trying to get hold of a person to correct the fault. British

Telecom was privatised by this Government in 1984. It made a

profit last year of �2.4 billion. Surely, somebody can look at this

problem, given the difficulties it is probably -- causing both members

and their constituencies I am sorry to hear about your problems.

I have always find clover Fife, who works for BT, enormously helpful in

solving constituency problems. I will bring to her the difficulties

that you face in your constituency office and see if they can be put

right. The wants to get everyone in.

Speedy questions and shorter answers may be a quick way of doing

I am sure I am not alone in having to deal with the significant amount

of constituent casework concerning the family court system and a

feeling that my constituents find when they are dealing with such

service. Could the leader find time for an urgent debate on this topic

to reassure my constituents that all that can be done has been done

to reform the system? We will be introducing a family and

children's Bill which will be introduced -- addressing some of

these issues. It will take six months for care cases to be

completed and focus on issues which are essential to decide whether a

court order is made. I would be testing the patience of a read out

the other issues in the bill. But this is a priority for this

Government and it is in the Queen's Speech.

Can we have a debate about military procurement in Government? In

particular, about how resourced -- bust the tendering processes and

out due diligence is progressed. This has been prompted by the

experience of the company in my constituency who made military

comments. They tend to be significantly lower contract price

than a Spanish company. The Spanish company won a contract. They then

offered to sub-contract the entire business to the company in my

constituency at that significantly lower price.

I take it this was a contract with which the Ministry of Defence was

the prime purchaser. I will certainly raise this issue with the

Secretary of State and see if there has been any irregularity had asked

him to write to the Honourable Member.

Can we have a debate on trade? In 30 years under the previous

Government, the automotive sector was in a trade deficit. In just two

years, it has become a trade surplus. With the very good news

today of Vauxhall Motors further investment in UK manufacturing, it

is important for this house to have a debate and understand how we are

rebalancing the economy. I'm grateful to my honourable

friend and I notice the Honourable lady did not mention the good news

at Ellesmere Port tough, securing 2,100 jobs and paving the way for

another 700 as they move from two sister three. My Honourable Friend

makes a good point in that it emphasises in at how we are being

successful in rebalancing the economy away from over-reliance on

financial services back on to manufacturing. He makes the point

that a number of other major motor manufacturers are investing in this

country, but also, some of the up and component suppliers are also

moving back to the UK so be get the benefit of the whole supply chain.

I am sure the leader of the house will want to listen to the

catalogue of disasters that have affected my constituents. He has a

problem at the age MRC. They keep taking monies from two separate

employer relationships he got. 31st January, I wrote to them. Eight in

the report, no reply. I chase the game and they said there would be a

reply in 20th April. No reply. I contacted the minister on the as of

May. 16th May, still no response. My constituent is still having

money withdrawn from his account. Can the leader of the house please

ask the Treasury minister to come to the house of Commons and explain

whether his department is simply incompetent or whether it does not

care about my constituents. Of course Treasury ministers care.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer will be at this dispatch box in a

few moments time. Rather than waiting for a debate, if the

honourable lady will that be have the details, I will see that the

appropriate Treasury minister gets on to the case. If there is an

injustice, we will see that it stops straight away.

The Government is investing heavily in rail infrastructure across the

North, with the electrification of the Trans Pennine route. The big

decision is coming up about the big decision about the northern hub

investment programme, which was simulate 20,000 jobs across the

North. Could we have another debate on the fully funded northern

harbour project, particularly focusing on the support the scheme

is getting from local enterprise partnerships and the private

sector? This is an important project and

the Secretary of State for Transport was speaking about it

yesterday. I cannot promise another debate in the very near future. But

we have agreed to fund Network Rail up to �130 million to implement the

package that he has just referred to. The increasing capacity on the

Sheffield Manchester line, increasing the speeds on this line,

and also the Manchester to Bradford and Manchester to Preston viable to

lines. All these investments will be subject to value for money being

confirmed, but it is a demonstration of our commitment to

infrastructure. On 15th March, the Government

tabled a series of changes to the immigration laws. Some of these are

perfectly sensible, but some of them will lead to a new generation

of domestic workers living in virtual servitude. These come into

force if after 40 days there has been no motion in this house tabled

to oppose them. I know the Government has difficulty working

out when a 40 days laps, but they lapse tomorrow. The Government has

already failed to provide an opportunity for us to debate this.

Will the Minister delayed the introduction of the implementation

of these until such time as we have a proper debate?

The procedure that we are her opting for is the same procedure

that he adopted when he was deputy leader of the house.

The decision of the right honourable gentleman to re-order

his priorities may or may not have been a welcome development to the

opposition, but it is a welcome development for those of us who are

concerned about making best use of tidal and hydro energy schemes.

Will the Government make time for her at a debate on the knees for

investing in tidal and hydro schemes, not just like the ones

that the Severn Estuary, but also such as that at Morecambe Bay. We

need to create clean green energy on a massive scale and thousands of

jobs. The sorrow important issues and part of our agenda to diversify

supply of electricity generation. I say to my Honourable Friend that

yesterday we did have a debate on that these issues. We just had

questions to the Secretary of State and his team of ministers, so I

cannot promise another immediate opportunity to address these issues.

But later in the session, there will be a pill and electricity

market fall and this may be an opportunity for him to develop his

team. The leader of the house has already

noted that today is the International Day against, phobia

and Trans gender and transsexuals will be a. Can there be a debate on

tackling homophobic bullying in schools?

This is an important issue and I want to know whether it would be

appropriate for the Honourable lady to make an early application for

that backbench business committee to see if a debate on bullying in

schools and the particular type of bullying she has referred to be

something that we should take forward. Be can be proud that the

UK has been recognised as the number one country in Europe for

her rights for the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Car and we have a statement on how this Government is helping hard-

pressed households by freezing council tax, something the last

Labour Government completely failed to do. Council tax more than

doubled during their term in office. Not only is this Government to

living in council tax pledges, but so is by district councils. We are

currently freezing council tax for the third successive year.

I'm grateful to my Honourable Friend for reminding the house of

the combined saving of this two years freeze of �147,000. I pay

tribute to the local authorities to have made these difficult decisions

to pass the benefits through and he does contrast the record of the

first two years of the coalition Government with the previous record

of the Labour Government when I wonder if the right honourable

gentleman has seen the report by three independent housing

organisations on the emerging housing crisis? That report

confirms that last year, only 109,000 homes were completed, much

less than the 140,000 on average of the last Government, and less than

half the number that the Government nose needs to meet demand.

Homelessness is up 27%. Overcrowding, over 600,000

households affected. This is a win- win situation. The reality is that

to build homes will increase growth over the Prime Minister is talking

about. Will the right honourable gentleman to give government time

for a debate on housing? As a former Housing Minister, I do take

a close interest. When we came to office, we had the lowest peace

time housing records since the 1920s, so what we inherited was not

very positive. Am sure he will welcome are affordable homes

programme, which is set to exceed expectations. I hope he would also

welcome what we have done on the planning side to get decisions made

more quickly, and what we've been doing in making public land

available the House builders to build, what we have done to help

first-time buyers, and also the fiscal decisions we have taken to

allow interest rates to remain low and help first-time buyers.

children and families Minister announced earlier this week her

response to the green paper on special educational needs. His area

of policy has been ignored for far too long, where parents have to

battle for their children to receive the education they need.

Can we have a debate on this important area of policy so that we

can push progress much quicker? would welcome such a debate, and we

are committed to a draft Bill on this matter, where there will be an

opportunity to take it forward. We want to ensure that services for

disabled children and young people and those of special educational

needs are planned jointly by local authorities and commissioning

groups, and we want to give our children who have challenges a

fairer deal than they have at the moment. I'm sure everyone in the

House would join me in congratulating the Glasgow Labour

Party on their success in the elections last week, helping to

crash the SNP juggernaut. One reason for that success is the

policies that Glasgow Labour put forward, including the jobs

guarantee scheme. In the ongoing unemployment crisis, can we have a

debate in the House on that question? If he looks up in men

under the Queen's Speech which has been tabled and which we are about

to debate, he will see that unemployment is a specific issue

which has been mentioned, so the answer is yes, I can gap grant the

debate on the subject he had referred to, and it will start in

20 minutes. Please can we have a debate on encouraging

entrepreneurialism in young people in schools and colleges? I went to

harried at college and was impressed by the pitches and

ability of the people I met. Young people just need the opportunity in

our education system to understand the excitement and rewards of a

career in business. I commend what my honourable friend has done, and

I can't think of anybody who looks less like a dragon! It is important

to look that reward children for the financial challenges in life.

Pupils are given a relatively small sum of money and challenged to let

it grow. There has been an increasing self-employment young

people, which is encouraging. I applaud his encouraging young

people in his constituency to become attuned to financial matters.

On Tuesday, the Member for carding Valley raise the issue of how the

principles of the rehabilitation of offenders Act are being undermined

by CRB Cech, whereby a people's lives are being blighted for ever

by it cautions from decades before. In view of the utterly complacent

reply from the Minister, can we have a debate to remedy this

ongoing injustice? rehabilitation of offenders

legislation has recently been reviewed. I was certainly take on

board the. Do the right honourable member makes to see if any further

tweaks are needed to the legislation to make sure that

people are not unjustly penalised for relatively trivial offences

that may have happened for some time ago when they seek employment.

Given that politicians and the Congo -- Democratic Republic of

Congo have claimed that payments offered foreign gilts payment to

give foreign companies offshore mining activities, can we have a

debate on overseas aid? My right honourable friend the Secretary of

State debated this at some length in the House. On the specific issue

mentioned here, it is not right to withhold support to the DRC. The

aid which we give does reach some very poor people who would be

deprived of the assistance that they need. But I will draw his

concern to the attention of my right honourable friend. The Leader

of the House will be aware that small and medium businesses in my

constituency are eager to respond to the Government challenge to

export more to Brazil, Russia, China and India, but did he also

see Lord Digby Jones's remarks that the UK trade and investment arm of

the Foreign Office has been devastated. What help can we give

small and medium but as in -- businesses in constituencies like

mine to export to these countries? They recently held a seminar in my

constituency for small and medium- size enterprises wanting to export.

It was well-attended and have found to be of great value. I couldn't

praise more highly the input of the UK TI into that initiative. By

encourage other members to contact them and have a similar conference.

Another hidden a scandalous form of discrimination in this country is

the reluctance of businesses, often small businesses, to hire women of

child-bearing age because they fear that they may take maternity leave.

Could we have a debate on shared parental leave, and the importance

that this will halve in ensuring that that form of hidden

discrimination ends? I applaud what a horrible friend has said, and it

is indeed a policy to move towards more flexible parental leave so

parents can share caring responsibilities. We are working

with businesses to create a more flexible system of parental leave.

Parents will be given the choice to determine how they take leave for

child care, and they will be able to divide the majority of the lead

into blocks and split it between both parents. I hope that will

remove some of the barriers. Last year, I raised with the Leader of

the House the tragic case of my constituent Joe Arthur who was

killed on holiday in Greece in 2006, and the family's fight for justice.

This week the family have again been aired degrees, and yet again

the trial has stalled. Can the Leader of the House arrange for me

to meet urgently with a Minister from the Foreign Office to offer

assistance to the family, because this situation cannot be allowed to

continue. I'm sorry to hear of the problems which confront the

honourable lady's constituents. It so happened that a constituent of

mine was killed in Greece last year, and the family are having the same

problems finding out whether they can play a role in proceedings and

when the trial will be held. I will ask a friend in the Foreign Office

and to contact her and see what assistance they can give to the

family. I support the Government been putting public sector pensions

on an affordable and sustainable footing, and in that spirit, could

we have a debate on the pension contributions of judges? Judges are

being asked to make a contribution of just 2% towards their pension,

which can be neither affordable nor sustainable. Surely my right

honourable friend must agree that it is wrong that judges should pay

less intent towards their pensions than up of a public sector workers

are being asked to pay an increased contributions. I can say that there

will be an opportunity going to debate this. We are committed to

producing legislation on public service pensions. There will be an

opportunity for him if he finds to propose the necessary amendments to

the legislation. Mr Deputy Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister was

asked about the cut in the number of frontline police officers, and

answered by talking about the proportion. Can the Leader of the

House impress on his colleagues the importance of asking the question

asked and not one they would rather have been asked so that next and

that question is asked, he gives the answer which a point of clarity

is over 5,000? I think with respect of that is a game which we can play

as well, having listened to the previous prime Minister for some

Third genius. One of my colleagues actually read a book compiling not

just the failure to answer but actually be inaccurate answers that

the previous Prime Minister gave. The Prime Minister always answers

questions as accurately and as honestly and has openly as he can,

and I would rebut any criticism of his performance at this despatch

box. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Despite the the Scottish Parliament

and the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies, we continue to have

questions in this House, often dominated by questions by English

MPs provided by the whips office. If we are going to carry on with

this, is it not time also to have English questions so that English

MPs Ken raise questions that are important to the English people?

The principle of oral questions are put a house should have opportunity

to halt Secretaries of State and Ministers to account, and that is

why there is a separate Northern Ireland, Scotland and Welsh

questions. English Ministers have to answer for English related

matters when they are at the despatch box. Of the House wants to

hold the Government to account, the best way to do it is by a series of

department are questions, which is what we have at the moment. With

that the publication of the BBC Trust latest plans for savings,

will the House have an early opportunity to debate these plans,

and in particular the plans for local radio? The reason I ask is

because of excellent services like Radio Humberside that covers my

constituency, and this week we saw the radio show Beryl and Betty,

where the two ladies are 86 and 90, winning the Sony Gold Award for the

excellence of the programme. BBC is an independent organisation

responsible for how they allocate their funds and where they have to

find savings. If she wants to make an application to the backbench

business committee for a debate on how the BBC is organised, I'm sure

she would get a warm representative -- reception. Earlier this week,

the All Party Parliamentary Group on pharmacy published its report

after a six-month inquiry into medicine shortages where patients

want to go and get their prescriptions are fulfilled. The

difficulty which they have had is they can't always get them. Could

we have a debate or at least a ministerial statement to make sure

that we understand what the Government proposes to do about

this position? I appreciate the work, are all friend does as the

vice chair of this group. There are 900 million prescriptions issued

each year for some 16,000 medicine's, and some of them are in

short supply. -- some 16,000 medicines. If a pharmacy cannot get

a medicine it needs from the wholesaler, it can go direct to the

supplier. But we do want to response to the suggestions in the

report. Please could we have the chance to debate the Government's

thoughts on a regional pay? There what government last week produced

a paper in response to the consultation, and it would be in

port and to debate how unfair these proposals are to areas like Newport.

It might be an order to raise the matter as an amendment to the

debate. I welcome the contribution to the consultation process which

she has referred to, they think the consultation ends later this year.

At that point it might be sensible to have a debate to indicate