25/01/2018 Business Questions

has a remix to look at all

taxpayers' money and it will

scrutinise any financial settlement

with the EU. The first report is due

in the spring.

Business question.

Could the Leader of the House please

update the House on the forthcoming

business?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The

business for the week commencing

29th of January will include Monday

29th of January remaining stages of

the Armed Forces flexible working

bill, followed by remaining stages

of the automated and electric

vehicles built. Tuesday 30th of

January, second reading of the

high-speed rail West Midlands to

crooks bill, followed by motions

relating to the high-speed rail West

Midlands to crew bill. Wednesday the

31st of January, an allotted half

day subjectively announced. Followed

by a debate on motions relating to

the restoration and renewal of the

Palace of Westminster. Thursday the

1st of February, a debate on a

motion on baby leave for members of

Parliament followed by a debate on

the motion on hospital parking

charges. Friday 2nd of February,

private members bills. The

provisional business for the week

commencing 5th of February 2008 team

will include on Monday the 5th of

February motions relating to the

draft Social Security benefits

operating order 2018 and the draft

guaranteed minimum pensions increase

order 2018, followed by remaining

stages of the smart metres bill. Mr

Speaker, we all remember those that

suffered such tremendous atrocities

during the Holocaust as we mark

Holocaust Memorial Day this weekend

and I think we are united in our

desire to eradicate such evil acts

from our world. Next week, the House

will have the opportunity to discuss

the restoration and renewal of the

Palace of Westminster. This must be

a decision made by Parliament

itself. It is not one for

government. I do urge all colleagues

to take a basement tour to see the

challenges that lie ahead. Members

may also wish to read the reports by

the joint committee, the Public

Accounts Committee, the Treasury

Select Committee, and the financial

memoranda to the motions to acquaint

themselves with issues raised in

these. They are all available online

on the Parliament website and my

door is always open to any member

who wants to discuss this in advance

of the debate. Finally, I would like

to wish everyone a very happy Burns

Night celebration tonight,

particularly Scottish colleagues on

both sides of the House.

Can I thank

the Leader of the House for the

business and also for the letter she

sent to me about the new list of

ministerial responsibilities. Her

letter states it is scheduled for

March but the new list may be

available soon. I don't know of the

Government are waiting for changes,

whether the Foreign Secretary will

now become the Health Secretary, but

he was reminded he is the Foreign

Secretary. Ministers must know their

responsibilities by now so can we

have an update sooner rather than

later? Can we also have the date

Parliament will rise in July. We

have the date we will return, but I

have been summoned for jury service

and I would like to give them a date

when I'm available. I thank the

Leader of the House for tabling the

motions and for the debate on

restoration renewal. We have those

two motions which complicates the

debate in the three hours and last

week the Leader of the House of

Lords of the seriousness of the

decision, they will not be

amendable. It will either be a case

of the first motion or if that

falls, the second motion. Erskine

may says if the amended notice does

not exceed the scope of the original

notice and the Speaker provides it

is proper for the motion to be

tabled, it can move forward. Hurrah

for democracy and for you, Mr

Speaker. It is important, and I

concur I have been down to the

basement, it is important for

members to no costs are being

incurred every day while a decision

is not being raised. I raised on

many occasions at business

questions, and the honourable member

for Gower raised a point yesterday,

on the issue of the Swansea Bay

tidal lagoon. Can the Prime Minister

respond to Carwyn Jones' letter,

which he sent seven weeks ago

offering financial help for this

project. The Government should be

working with the Welsh government.

His democratically elected very

clever First Minister. We know the

Government is committed to the

environment because they said so in

their document, but amazingly there

was no mention of fracking so can I

draw the attention of the Leader of

the House to a new study, the

inability of UK shale gas in

comparison with other electricity

options. The study examines economic

and social sustainability of

fracking so can we have a statement

on why exploratory drilling is going

ahead in Lancashire when the study

ranked shale gas seven out of nine

different energy sources and could

we have a statement on the data

which shows the number of people

applying to be teachers has fallen

by a third in the past year. Sadly,

Mr Speaker, we need a statement on

why teachers have been asking for

financial support from the charity

Education Support Partnership. We

need a statement from the new

Secretary of State for Education

because we are asking our teachers,

we want them to teach our children

personal social health and economic

education. The leader would have

heard from the honourable member for

Yardley on the events at the

Presidents club. Members called for

the expedition so could the Leader

of the House tells us when that will

be expedited. The Leader of the

House also tell the House if the

visit by the Minister to the

Presidents club was an official

visit or a private visit. Whether it

is the Presidents club or all the

Presidents men, either way it is an

abuse of power. And it is important

to have opposition days because

yesterday the debate was on

Carillion and the number of

questions I and others asked, the

Minister came to the House to answer

the questions and he actually is

following up what the TUC have asked

for and that is a task force but the

opposition look forward to the

delivery of the documents so could

the Leader of the House say when

those will be delivered? When we had

a debate on human rights. The Leader

of the Opposition reminded us to

sign the book of a commitment which

are still available to be signed

outside the members cloakroom

between 2pm and 4pm and it's a

reminder every right in the European

Convention on human rights, which

was then enacted into UK law in the

Human Rights Act, every one of those

rights was systematically abused and

violated in the Second World War.

Human rights and dignity should be

at the core of our society.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker, and I'm grateful to

the honourable lady for her series

of questions. On the subject of the

ministerial list, I have written to

her on that saying it will be

available as soon as possible. On

the rise of the House in July I am

appraised of the fact she needs time

for her jury service, I wouldn't

dream of delaying that unduly and I

will absolutely seek to ensure we

give that consideration to inform

the House as soon as we possibly

can. She asks about the motions for

the restoration and renewal of the

Palace. As I said last week and as I

think the honourable lady agrees,

what we want is for this House to be

able to take a decision and so what

I wanted to see is what sorts of

amendments came forward and I think

I made clear last week that what we

need is some sensible alternatives

for the House to be able to discuss,

and there are some very sensible

amendments that have been tabled,

and I certainly commit to

undertaking to ensure those are

included in the options available to

the House, but nevertheless the

important point is that this House

is able to make an informed decision

next week. She asked about the

Swansea Bay lagoon. As we have

exchanged several times in this

chamber, it is a very expensive

projects, extremely expensive

compared to other forms of renewable

energy, it requires a careful

decision and I know that is still

under consideration. On fracking, it

is clear that natural gas provided

by fracking with some of the world's

strongest and most careful

regulation anywhere is a way forward

for the UK as we move towards zero

carbon targets for our electricity

generation. We cannot do that from

where we are today, going through

getting rid of coal from the system

which we hope to do from 2025 and

moving straight to lower carbon

forms. Gas will continue to be an

important part of our transition

towards the low carbon future and

natural gas through fracking is one

option open. She raises the issue of

teacher applications. There are

15,500 more teachers now in our

classrooms since 2010. The number of

teachers returning to the classroom

has increased 8% since 2000 tenths

which is good news. And there are

more teachers with first-class

degrees, so really highly qualified

teachers able to impart information

to our young people, that is vital.

I share her disgust at what took

place at the Presidents club. There

is absolutely no place for that type

of activity men only club

effectively abusing young women in

the way that this story has been

reported, is absolutely

unacceptable. And as she will be

aware from the urgent question quite

rightly raised yesterday, that the

issue of when we will be introducing

sex and relationship education in

schools is currently still subject

to consultation with young people

themselves and it is vital we don't

guess at what it is they want to

learn about, but that we ask them,

so we need to take the time further

consultation. On Carillion, I can

assure the House the request of the

House will be absolutely upheld and

that the documents will be made

available but as she will know, the

Public Accounts Committee and

already has the means to ask for

such documents to be to them.

Finally, I share her desire to

reflect the importance of human

rights in everything we do, not just

in remembering the appalling actions

in the Holocaust but in all of the

appalling civil wars and problems we

see in our own lifetime. Human

rights must be upheld.

THE SPEAKER: Many members are

seeking to catch my eye in these

exchanges. I remind the House there

is a statement by the Secretary of

State for Defence to follow, in

which I imagine there'll be

interest. That will be followed by

two well subscribed debates to be

taken under the auspices of the

backbench. Mr Douglas Ross.

The

excellent employment figures

released this week.

Mr Speaker, a perfect example of Bev

vetty, is it not? My honourable

friend has raised this issue. There

are 32.1 million in work. 415,000

more than for a year earlier. The

number of people in employment has

increased by 3.1 million since 2010.

That is more than the entire

population of Wales. Over 70% of

this rising employment has been in

higher skilled jobs and

unemploymentment hasn't been lower

since 19716789 it is a great news

for our economy, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: I am reminded there is

a Select Committee statement, which

won't absorb a great deal of time,

but which is important. So all of

that adds to the pressure of time.

Mr Speaker, can I thank the Chief

Superintendent tan of the House for

announcing the business of the House

and announcing the importance of

Holocaust Day. Today we celebrate

the birth of Scotland's greatest

poet. He said of mice and men, who

started with this Brexit scheme a

few months ago. Now is not the time,

and we need the Leader of the House

to be braver on restoration and

renewal. What we cannot have is a

curtailment of any debate and the

closing down of option on these

critical matters W the huge costs

involved our constituents expect us

to have time to debate these issues

and we must sure we must have them.

All the options are fully considered

and we have to hear there'll be no

attempt to curtail debate by having

amendments rejected. I hope that the

whole House joins me and the SNP's

campaign to reclaim our time, to end

a ridiculous farce of wasting days

of the parliamentary deal by

standing in packed lobbies simply to

vote. The fallout of the President

club's dinner continues to develop

and appal. Can we have a debate

about these clubs and see what more

can be done to challenge the laws

that sustains them and the culture

which thinks they are acceptable. We

are in a new era of "zero tolerance"

for this type of behaviour. Now is

the time to make real and

substantial progress and stamp out

this pathetic behaviour. As our

devolution settlement is passed on

to the great and the good to the

House of Lords, let's remember what

Burns said about the petty pomposity

and the sense of entitlement of

those who consider themselves our

better.

Who struts and stands, the man of

independent mind, he looks and

laughs at all that.

Mr Speaker, I can't possibly hope to

emulate that brilliant portrayals of

Robbie Burns, some of his finest

words. What I can say is in the

context of his urge to me to be

brave, is when I was growing up, my

wonderful step dad who is a Scott,

would say if you are sitting around,

that will not get the piece. I hope

that is adequate, we want the jelly

pieces to be happening. He's right

to raise the issues for restoration

and renewal. We need a decision. We

look forward to that next week. He's

right to raise the issue of the

President's club. It is unacceptable

this kind of thing still goes on. My

honourable friend who answered the

question yesterday, she is

astonished to hear this type of

thing is still happening. How

ridiculous is it that anyone thinks

that is appropriate? I would like to

pay tribute to his excellent efforts

on the working group that I chair on

behalf of the Prime Minister that is

looking into issues of bullying and

harassment in this place. He has

been a stalwart champion of getting

this work done, as have other

members of his party. I am very

grateful for that. We have to agree

to disagree about the other place.

In my view, they do provide a very

important revising role, for which

we are vital. They do have some

expertise that in this House we

benefit from.

Mr Speaker, what more can the Leader

of the House do to help millions of

consumers currently being ripped off

by rip off energy prices?

My

honourable friend raises a point

that is incredibly important to so

many people. The issue of energy

prices for some people comes down to

whether they can afford to heat or

eat. It is a fundamental desire that

the Prime Minister has expressed to

sort out the rip off prices that are

charged by some energy companies

towards their most loyal clear

customers. In other words, if you

stick with us, you will get ripped

off. The bill we will bring forward

will seek to put a cap on those

standard variable tariffs to ensure

that rip off energy prices are a

thing of the past.

Could I thank the

leader for the business statement?

We are open for business and I would

just ask the members to remain, to

think ahead in terms of memorial and

celebration days. I am anticipating

applications about women's

international days and about St

David's Day, in our Welsh debate. If

members can think ahead to those

important dates in the diary and

bring forward their applications in

a timely way so we can get them

planned well ahead and then I am

glad to say that the haggis is not

yet an en dangered species. Even the

clockwise one I understand with

their legs being longer on one side.

Still run around the hills very

happily in all of the Highlands. I

think on the Burns day that we

should all think about the very sage

words of Robert Burns when he said,

while some power to see ourselves as

others see us.

Well, as ever, I do assure the

honourable gentleman we do take into

account the needs of the Backbench

Business Committee. I know they are

holding popular and important

debates. We will continue to provide

dates as early as we can. I do share

his concern about the endangered

nature of the haggis. I think the

opportunities for cloning them in

future, according to today's press,

it could be possible to clone haggis

in the future. But the honourable

gentleman is right to raise the

importance of getting timely

notification of available days and

we will make sure that happens.

Mr Speaker, the Government has made

great strides in recent months on

bearing down on unnecessary plastic

waste. At airports like Gatwick, in

my constituency, of course, as

people go through security a lot of

plastic bottles are discarded. Could

we have a statement from our Right

Honourable friend the Environment

Secretary on ensuring that there are

water refilling points in many

places like airports so that we can

reduce plastic waste, which is so

unnecessary?

Well, my honourable

friend raises a point that I think

all members across the House will be

delighted to see some of the

initiatives there are water

fountains and drinking water taps

made available in all key points

across the UK. We have seen some

progress towards that. I think it

would be very welcomed, not least of

which because it will save costs to

consumers as well as the enormous

amount of plastic that finds its way

into our marine areas.

Thank you, Mr

Speaker. With Government figures

released today showing the levels of

rough sleeping is at the highest on

record, can we expect a statement

from a minister next week about the

serious issue which is affecting all

parts of our country?

The honourable

lady is right to raise the appalling

homelessness issue which nobody on

this, in this Parliament accepts, as

a way forward at all. What the

Government has done is to sign up to

the bill of my honourable friend,

the member for Harrow East, a very

important bill, to ensure that we do

everything possible to eradicate

homelessness by 2027 and to half it

by 2022. There are a number of

homeless reduction task forces going

ahead to look at what more can be

done. The reasons for homelessness

can be complicated and it's not just

necessarily about the housing but

about mental health issues and

addiction issues and so on and is a

very complicated issue.

Could we

have a statement on the boundary

review recommendations for

constituencies, so that they can

come if before the house and for us

to ratify them. Some of us are very

much in favour of the proposals to

reduce the cost of running this

Parliament.

My honourable friend raidses a point

that is quite contentious across

this place, but he may want to seek

a debate on this through the

backbench committee so that

colleagues can discuss it.

With £3 billion set aside for Brexit

contingency planning. £2 million

lost as a result of slower growth

and £300 million being spent on new

civil servants, can the Leader of

the House make time available for

the Foreign Secretary to come to the

House and explain where he's going

to get the £350 million a week for

the NHS?

Well, I don't accept any of

the numbers that the honourable

gentleman is ban ding about. The

fact is he should be delighted, as

we are on this side of the House, at

the employment numbers that belie

all of the claims by those who

sought to keep the UK within the EU,

that said that our economy would be

in disastrous straights that

unemployment would rise, that we

would be in recession. None of those

things have happened. The economy

economy is growing. More people than

ever have the security of a pay

packet and the ability to feed

themselveses and their family.

I wonder if I can have a debate

about the state of top-class

sporting facilities. Football

supporters are concerned that

Coventry city are nine games away

from homelessness and speedway fans

can no longer watch at bran Dan

because it has got into a state of

disrepair.

Well, I am sorry so hear

that and I understand the

frustration of Coventry City

supporters. Football clubs are

valuable assets and every care

should be taken to protect their

long-term future. It is not the

place of Government to intervene in

the fortunes of any claub. It is for

the footballing authorities to

administer their sport. In this case

it is a matter for the English

Football League.

Thank you very

much, Mr Speaker. I am sure you'll

be as appalled as I am to know half

of all table wear bought by the

House was not made in England, never

mind, not made in Stoke-on-Trent.

Can we have a debate on public

procurement post of Brexit so we can

ensure that we are actually buying

British?

Well, I share the

honourable lady's enthusiasm for

buying British wherever possible.

She will be aware that when we leave

the European Union we will be able

to look at our own procurement rules

and wherever possible, where British

goods are equal and in many cases

the best, then we will be able to

purchase them for ourselves.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. On the day we

rightly celebrate the lights of

Burns, another of Scotland's

cultural iconic centres the sterling

Smith museum is threatened by

closure by the local SNP council in

sterling. Can we have a statement to

confirm the Scottish budget is

protected in real terms and

therefore it is political choice and

not necessity for the Scottish

Government to impose spending cuts

on local councils?

I know my friend

is, woing the friends of the museum

to save this valuable asset. I

understand it has the world's oldest

football as one of its exhibits. He

will be aware of the result of the

budget a further £2 billion is part

of the settlement for Scotland and

they can safe this asset should they

choose.ment no proper consultation

councillors reducing the paid

councillors meaning they'll have

fewer voluntary councillors than

smaller councils. Can we have a

debate between district and town

councils? The honourable gentleman

raises a very important issue about

local democracy and we would all

like to see greater decision making

at the local level and good people

coming forward to take up those

posts. It seems it would be a good

candidate for an adjournment debate

to raise the issues.

Today's rural vulnerability day, so

could you join me in celebrating

this to shine a light in areas like

Taunton Deane and what the Leader of

the House fine time for debate on

this issue? I would welcome the

Speaker to this event taking place

in the Palace today.

Of course I am

happy to share in my honourable

friend's pleasure at this new focus

on rural vulnerability. For many

people living in rural areas access

to transport and other services can

be difficult, and of course the

issue of loneliness can be more

acute so it is rightly look more

specifically these issues and I'm

happy to support her her campaign.

The reason we need an urgent debate

on homelessness and rough sleeping

is because it exploded over the past

few years, not just in major cities

but even in towns like Dudley and is

being made worse by benefit cuts and

reductions to social care, health

and support services. That's why we

need an urgent debate on this issue.

I say again to the honourable

gentleman, homelessness is an

appalling situation for anyone to

find themselves in. The Government

is dedicating over £1 billion to

tackling homelessness and rough

sleeping, as well as supporting the

Homelessness Reduction Act, and we

are looking at what more councils

can do to avoid homelessness in the

first place. The Government is

investing now in our affordable

homes programme over £9 billion in

making sure we provide homes for

people who are vulnerable.

Carol

Shields in Glasgow has highlighted

to me the difficulties in transition

between young people's benefits and

adult benefits within the Social

Security system so can we have a

debate about this important issue?

Because people should not have to

wait for a 12 week transition in the

circumstances as her son was.

It is

an important constituency issue and

if she wants to write to me about it

I will happily take up that specific

case with the relevant minister on

her behalf but this seems to me like

the sort of issue she should raise

at the next question is opportunity.

I'm still waiting for an answer to

my question, what caused the

Grenfell Tower fire, which I was

told was imminent last autumn. Could

we hear from ministers on fire

safety, especially of domestic

appliances? Last Sunday they

announced a new office of product

safety, this appears to be a new

name for business as usual.

I would

like to say again that we continue

to be appalled by what happened at

Grenfell. The honourable gentleman

will be aware we have been working

since then to make sure people

living in high-rise buildings are

safe through a series of checking

and testing which includes

identifying ACM cladding and also

larger scale tests to establish how

different combinations of cladding

and insulation materials behave in a

fire but there are reviews of the

rules around fire safety and the

honourable gentleman is right to

raise the importance of it.

Mr

Speaker, as the roll-out of

Universal Credit accelerates,

ministers will be is soon confronted

with the task of transitioning

people on tax credit to Universal

Credit. Ministers must say soon how

people will be informed of the

changes and whether the draft will

be laid. There have been a number of

statements, urgent questions, and

ministers coming to this House to

explain change is Universal Credit,

as quite rightly we need to learn

all of the lessons to improve this

system. Universal Credit is designed

to ensure work always pays. There is

evidence that this working, people

on Universal Credit spend more time

seeking work and are being more

successful at finding work. We have

also ensured people who are

transitioning to Universal Credit

can receive a transitional payment

for housing, that they can have

their housing benefits paid directly

to the landlord, where necessary,

that people can get their payments

on day one of their claims should

they need to have that. So we have

listened, we have made changes to

the system and the transitional is

now significantly improved. When can

we take advantage of the pragmatic

and progressive views of the new

prisons minister who has

acknowledged that the crisis we have

in our prisons of overcrowding and

self harm is the result of 50 years

of error by all parties, and camera

compared the crisis we have now here

with the one in the Netherlands

where they have a crisis of a

shortage of prisoners and they have

had to close down 19 of their

prisons. Isn't this the kind of

problem we would like to have here.

I absolutely agree with the

honourable gentleman, that is the

kind of problem we want to have.

He's right to mention my honourable

friend the new Justice Minister's

commitment to clean and safe

prisons, which places of discipline

and rehabilitation, not places of

harm and violence. It was this

Government that last year gave

greater powers to Her Majesty's

Inspectorate of prisons so specific

issues in prison could be raised

immediately. We have recruited 2500

new prison officers and should be at

the full complement by the end of

2018 so there is more to do but we

have made progress.

I am waiting for

a reply to my question about the

anti-corruption tsar. Who is the

current anti-corruption tsar or has

won not yet been appointed?

I'm

happy to write to the honourable

lady with a response.

The Leader of

the House, unlike your good self,

has never had the advantage of

visiting the National Centre of

textiles in Huddersfield, she

comments on the crisis of

productivity skills?

Productivity

rise was greater in the last quarter

than it has been since the financial

crisis so there is a long way to go.

Productivity has lagged since that

financial crisis and it is essential

that government focuses on

everything we can do to invest in

greater productivity, and we have

that national productivity plan

worth £31 billion to make sure we

improve productivity right across

the UK.

I'm sure everyone will agree

police dogs are an effective tool in

policing yet following years of cuts

to police budgets across England and

Wales we have seen forces reduce the

number of police dogs between 50 and

80% over the last six years. Can we

have time in the chamber for

parliamentarians to outline their

support for the amazing work of

police dogs and their handlers.

Police dogs do a fantastic job,

there's no doubt about that, and I

share her enthusiasm for them. She

may wish to seek a debate for

colleagues to give their experiences

and what more can be done to improve

the resources available to policing

such as police dogs to help tackle

crime.

I'm sure the Leader of the

House will know this week that a

full analysis was published of

transport investment over the next

four years which showed her head

London will get five times what

Yorkshire and the Humber will

receive. With Crossrail 2 already so

far advanced, there's nothing in

Transport For The North's advisory

capacity that can change that

underfunding over the next few years

and I wondered if we could have a

statement from the Transport

Secretary about what exactly he has

got against the north, and rather

than denying the underfunding he

actually addresses it?

The

Government is absolutely committed

to the northern powerhouse, and to

giving the great towns and cities of

the north of England much more say

over transport investment through

Transport For The North. We are

spending over £13 billion to

transform transport across the north

which is the biggest transport

investment in the region for a

generation.

Could she confirm

whether there will be the

opportunity for votes on the

amendment is being made to the R&R

motions, particularly on the one on

introducing electronic voting.

Surely now is the day and now is the

hour.

I share his enthusiasm for a

certain decision to be taken by this

House and as I think I have made

very clear, we are determined to

ensure there are some clear

decisions to be taken. As to

amendments being selected, that is a

matter for the chair and not myself

but we are looking carefully to make

sure there are proper proposals put

forward for the House to make a

decision on.

This month in

Nottingham Councillor David Mellon

is reading to 2018 Nottingham

children to raise money for the

library scheme. I wondered if she

would join me in congratulating

councillor Mellon.

Of course I'm

very happy to congratulate his

constituents who was a councillor

who was looking at this very

important programme. Anything we can

do to prepare young people for

adults hold and for a successful and

emotionally secure life is vital.

For my own part, I strongly favour

even earlier intervention in the

perinatal period.

I'm delighted the

Leader of the House thinks there is

a very sensible amendment, her

words, that has been tabled, which I

take to mean the one tabled by

myself and 11 chairs of select

committees including several

Conservatives. I hope that means she

will be able to vote for it because

it will be a free vote, ministers

can do exactly what they want, so

they make the right decision for

this country. Can she say what time

the votes will be next Wednesday?

I'm grateful to the honourable

gentleman for putting thoughts into

my mind about how I might vote. I

will be looking at what motions come

forward and making my decision to

that we do come forward with the

best solution that suits the desires

of most members of this place.

That's what we are seeking to do.

With regards to the timing next

week, we cannot say categorically

what the timing is, we can never do

that, but it will be the second

debate next Wednesday 31st of

January.

Can we have a statement on

the sale of high caffeine energy

drinks, which can be harmful to

under 16s.

He's absolutely right to

raise the fact these drinks can be

very harmful to young people. I

would urge him to seek an

adjournment debate, that's the

appropriate debate for that sort of

subject, or to question ministers in

health at next Oral Questions.

Cardiff airport has announced its

2017 results showing nearly 50%

growth since it was taken into

public ownership. Can we have a

debate in Government time on reform

of air passenger duty so are

publicly owned airport can continue

to thrive?

Firstly I congratulate

Cardiff airport on its increasing

passenger numbers, that's great

news, and certainly always the

Treasury will be looking at ways to

improve economic growth in the four

nations in this great country of

ours and I encourage her to raise it

at the next Treasury questions.

Official figures released this week

reveal there are 22,000 fewer police

officers in England and Wales than

in 2010. My Dewsbury constituency is

suffering a plague of car crime and

anti-social behaviour and the police

don't have the resources to manage

this. Can we have an urgent debate

on police numbers.

The honourable

lady will be aware that overall

police funding has remained steady

in real terms and that there are

opportunities next year to increase

if the police and crime commission

is use the precept of levy that will

enable them to do that.

Specifically, the way policing is

managed needs to reflect the new

threats from cyber crime and other

types of criminal activity, yet the

front line policing across the

country as a whole has not changed

and in fact has slightly increased

since 2010.

Can I have a statement

on today's ONS figures that show a

21% increase in knife crime from

last year and does the Leader of the

House support my call for an

immediate cross-party, across

government departments inquiry into

the root causes of youth violence

and not just the symptoms?

The

honourable lady often raises issues

around youth violence and she's

absolutely right to do so. Tackling

knife crime absolutely as a priority

for this Government. It has

devastating consequences on victims,

families and our communities. There

is an initiative operation sector

which the Government continues to

encourage police forces whereby they

undertake a series of co-ordinated

national weeks of action to tackle

knife crime. We host a briefing

event on the 23rd of January and a

record 38 police forces have signed

up to take part in the next week of

action planned for February. The

operation includes targeting

habitual knife carriers, weapons

weeps, test purchases of knives from

identified retailers, and the use of

surrender bins. The Government has

also launched a consultation on the

14th of October 2017 and it is now

closed and we are looking at what

more can be done to get rid of this

appalling crime.

Two years ago today a Cambridge

researcher had gone missing, he had

been murdered. It calls into

question very basic academic

freedoms. Could we have a statement

from the minister on what is being

done to mark the event and what

pressure is been exerted on the

Egyptian Government to find out what

had happened to Julio.

That was an

appalling case. Everybody who

readn't knit the press was

horrified. May I suggest he takes it

up at Foreign Office Questions,

where he can get a proper answer to

that question.

Thank you. Moss on

the gate is a fine example of how an

old building has been brought back

to life. Planning permission has not

been granted, despite the best

efforts, to do so. Can we have a

debate on what can be done to bring

irresponsible developers to task?

The honourable gentleman is raising

something which is very important in

his constituency. I do urge him to

seek an adjournment debate so he can

get a reply from a minister.

NGOs

working with religious refugees,

they have not had the same access to

humanitarian access as a majority of

religious groups and other

nationalities. Jordan and Turkey

needs to do more to ensure that they

have equal access to humanitarian

assistance and recent opportunities.

Will the Leader of the House agree

to a statement or a debate on this

matter?

Well, the gentleman raises a

very important point. What the UK

Government's approach is to look at

need rather than at religious faith.

He raises a very important issue.