Browse content similar to 01/02/2018. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Chancellor, the Business Secretary
and myself, and leading businesses | 0:00:00 | 0:00:00 | |
representative organisations. Thank
you. Order. Urgent question, Rachel | 0:00:00 | 0:00:08 | |
Reeves. To ask the Minister of the
Cabinet Office to make a statement | 0:00:08 | 0:00:17 | |
on the risk to public finances and
public services as a result of the | 0:00:17 | 0:00:22 | |
serious financial concerns at capita
and the government's contingency | 0:00:22 | 0:00:24 | |
plans. Minister Oliver Dowden. I
have been asked to comment on the | 0:00:24 | 0:00:36 | |
stock market update issued by capita
plc yesterday and its impact on the | 0:00:36 | 0:00:42 | |
delivery of public services. I
completely understand that this is a | 0:00:42 | 0:00:47 | |
matter of significant interest to
many in the House following the | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
recent failure of brilliant but I
can assure members that this company | 0:00:49 | 0:00:54 | |
is in a very different situation. To
be clear, this was primarily a | 0:00:54 | 0:01:01 | |
balance sheet strengthening
exercise, not Peter Willey a profit | 0:01:01 | 0:01:05 | |
warning, and as has been widely
recorded, we do not believe it is in | 0:01:05 | 0:01:12 | |
a comparable position. Indeed, it
has a very different business model | 0:01:12 | 0:01:18 | |
and I will update the House on that.
The issues that led to the | 0:01:18 | 0:01:23 | |
insolvency previously will come out
in due course but our current | 0:01:23 | 0:01:28 | |
assessment is that they primarily
flowed from difficulties in | 0:01:28 | 0:01:33 | |
construction contracts, including
overseas. By contrast, Capita is | 0:01:33 | 0:01:38 | |
primarily a services business and 92
present of revenues come from within | 0:01:38 | 0:01:42 | |
the UK. As members would expect, we
regularly monitor the financial | 0:01:42 | 0:01:47 | |
stability of all our strategic
suppliers, including Capita, and we | 0:01:47 | 0:01:52 | |
do not believe that any of them are
in a compatible position. The | 0:01:52 | 0:01:56 | |
measures that Capita have announced
are designed to strengthen its | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
capital sheet, reduce its debt,
arguably these are exactly the | 0:02:00 | 0:02:05 | |
measures that could have prevented
the other company from getting into | 0:02:05 | 0:02:11 | |
the difficulties they did. The
impact of these measures has | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
actually been to reduce dividends
and shareholder returns in favour of | 0:02:14 | 0:02:19 | |
others. So this is further evidence
of shareholders and not the taxpayer | 0:02:19 | 0:02:24 | |
taking the burden on this. My
officials met with senior executives | 0:02:24 | 0:02:29 | |
of Capita yesterday to discuss the
impact of the announcement. We | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
continue to work closely with the
company to monitor the execution of | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
this plan and to ensure the
continued delivery of public | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
services and we continue to engage
with all | 0:02:40 | 0:02:53 | |
our strategic suppliers and make
continuing assessments as | 0:02:55 | 0:02:56 | |
appropriate of our contingency plans
where necessary. It would not be | 0:02:56 | 0:02:58 | |
appropriate for me to comment in any
further detail on the specifics of | 0:02:58 | 0:03:01 | |
those plans, given the commercial
sensitivity of them. But to | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
reiterate, the priority of this
government and the reason why we | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
contract with these companies is to
deliver public services. Our | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
priority is the continued delivery
of those public services. As members | 0:03:08 | 0:03:12 | |
will have seen in respect of the
collapse, whatever the shortcomings | 0:03:12 | 0:03:17 | |
of air, public services continue to
be delivered and we are confident | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
that public services will continue
to be delivered as provided by | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
Capita. Rachel Reeves. I can't help
but conclude that the government's | 0:03:24 | 0:03:32 | |
thinking on this is both muddled and
complacent. The Minister has told us | 0:03:32 | 0:03:37 | |
that the situation that completely
different but let's look in more | 0:03:37 | 0:03:42 | |
detail at the circumstances of both
companies. Both have debts of more | 0:03:42 | 0:03:47 | |
than £1 million and pension deficit
in the hundreds of millions. They | 0:03:47 | 0:03:52 | |
both paid dividends of more than £1
billion in the last five years. They | 0:03:52 | 0:03:57 | |
rely on the public purse for half of
their contracts. Both were audited | 0:03:57 | 0:04:01 | |
by KPMG. Both grew through
acquisition and not through organic | 0:04:01 | 0:04:05 | |
growth. Mr Speaker, it seems there
are more similarities than | 0:04:05 | 0:04:11 | |
differences between these two
companies. I joined the minister in | 0:04:11 | 0:04:15 | |
welcoming the decision by the new
CEO to face up to some of these | 0:04:15 | 0:04:19 | |
problems. But can the Minister
honestly say that Capita could not | 0:04:19 | 0:04:25 | |
come to the same fate? And can he
honestly say that those people | 0:04:25 | 0:04:31 | |
working for Capita have nothing to
fear? And can he honestly say that | 0:04:31 | 0:04:36 | |
those saving prudently for a pension
with Capita can rely on that pension | 0:04:36 | 0:04:41 | |
paying out fully on the time it? And
can he say to people who rely on | 0:04:41 | 0:04:48 | |
Capita who rely on public services,
can rely on Capita to fulfil its | 0:04:48 | 0:04:56 | |
contractual obligations for the life
of those contracts? And let me ask | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
questions about what happens now.
What is the contingency planning and | 0:05:00 | 0:05:05 | |
do the government have
representatives in the business? How | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
long have the government been aware
of the problems at Capita? And how | 0:05:08 | 0:05:12 | |
many contracts have been issued to
Capita since then? What risk | 0:05:12 | 0:05:17 | |
assessment has the government made
of other large outsourcing firms? | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
They are currently bidding for the
defence fire risk management | 0:05:21 | 0:05:26 | |
contract. Will the government now
revealed that process? And, Mr | 0:05:26 | 0:05:35 | |
Speaker, will the government commit
to urgently review what looks like a | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
cosy relationship between the big
accountancy firms, the financial | 0:05:39 | 0:05:43 | |
reporting Council and the caucus
they are supposed to be auditing. Is | 0:05:43 | 0:05:48 | |
it not time to split up the big
accountancy firms and stop auditors | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
from being paid for other
consultancy work at the firms they | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
are supposed to be auditing? Capita
have announced they will be having a | 0:05:54 | 0:05:58 | |
fire sale of assets. Will the
Minister confirm that capita are in | 0:05:58 | 0:06:03 | |
consultation with the trade unions
about redundancies and should be | 0:06:03 | 0:06:09 | |
arrangements in the event that
services are sold off. Jobs, | 0:06:09 | 0:06:14 | |
pensions and small businesses and
vital public services now depend on | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
these outsourcing companies but it's
time we rethought the old strategy | 0:06:17 | 0:06:21 | |
for public service provision. How
many more warning signs does this | 0:06:21 | 0:06:23 | |
government need? I thank the
honourable lady for her questions | 0:06:23 | 0:06:29 | |
and I know she takes a very close
interest in this very important | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
issue. She has raised a very large
number of questions. I shall seek to | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
address as many of them as I can. I
am pleased that she has acknowledged | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
the fact that Capita is facing up to
its problems. The effect of Capita | 0:06:41 | 0:06:48 | |
facing up to its problems will
create a contrast. For example, she | 0:06:48 | 0:06:53 | |
talked about the financial situation
and the fact that the chief | 0:06:53 | 0:06:59 | |
Executive has faced up to this, he
has strengthen the balance sheet, it | 0:06:59 | 0:07:04 | |
is widely reported that Capita now
has over £1 billion on its balance | 0:07:04 | 0:07:09 | |
sheet. That gives us confidence in
their ability to continue to deliver | 0:07:09 | 0:07:14 | |
services. She talked about the
issuing of dividends. Again, as a | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
result of this announcement, Capita
will not be issuing dividends, so | 0:07:18 | 0:07:23 | |
many will be able to go back into
the pension scheme, allowing £200 | 0:07:23 | 0:07:30 | |
million extra to be spent in
relation to those core services | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
rather than being given out in
dividends. I think it is evident | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
that the Chief Executive is creating
a different situation to that which | 0:07:37 | 0:07:43 | |
retained in respect to currently in.
She referred to the accountancy | 0:07:43 | 0:07:54 | |
firms such as KPMG, and that is
being looked into, which we expect | 0:07:54 | 0:08:00 | |
to hear run in about six months'
time and we will respond as | 0:08:00 | 0:08:04 | |
appropriate to that. She mentions
whether there is a Crown | 0:08:04 | 0:08:10 | |
representative for Capita. I can
assure her that there is a Crown | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
representative for Capita. And as I
said to honourable members in my | 0:08:13 | 0:08:20 | |
original answer, the role of the
Cabinet Office and the role of the | 0:08:20 | 0:08:23 | |
government and the reason why we are
contracting with private companies, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
just as the previous Labour
government did, just as others have | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
done, this has been reported many
times, why do those companies do | 0:08:31 | 0:08:44 | |
that, why do the governments do
that, to deliver public services. So | 0:08:44 | 0:08:50 | |
our role as a government is to
ensure the continued delivery of | 0:08:50 | 0:08:55 | |
those public services. The test for
me and the test for my colleagues | 0:08:55 | 0:09:00 | |
and officials in the Department are,
are those companies capable of | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
delivering those public services and
can we ensure that if there is an | 0:09:05 | 0:09:09 | |
interruption to the delivery, if
there is a problem with that | 0:09:09 | 0:09:15 | |
company, will public services
continue to be delivered? All those | 0:09:15 | 0:09:20 | |
public services have continued to be
delivered and I am confident it will | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
continue to be delivered. Will my
right honourable friend look at the | 0:09:23 | 0:09:29 | |
total contempt which the Labour
Party has today for the private | 0:09:29 | 0:09:33 | |
sector? And will he take on time to
actually published in due course a | 0:09:33 | 0:09:41 | |
full list of all those contracts
which were entered into with the | 0:09:41 | 0:09:46 | |
private sector between 1997 and
2010? That will give a fine example | 0:09:46 | 0:09:53 | |
as to how the Labour Party of today
is nothing like the Labour Party of | 0:09:53 | 0:09:57 | |
that particular period. | 0:09:57 | 0:10:03 | |
I think he makes a very important
point here. This government and the | 0:10:03 | 0:10:13 | |
last government have engaged with
private sector companies for the | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
delivery of public services. This is
what Gordon Brown said. He was your | 0:10:16 | 0:10:23 | |
last successful Prime Minister.
Well, the last person to hold the | 0:10:23 | 0:10:31 | |
office. The last person to hold the
office. He said this. It simply | 0:10:31 | 0:10:41 | |
would not have been possible to
build or refurbish such a number of | 0:10:41 | 0:10:46 | |
schools and hospitals without using
the PFI model. Why is it we use | 0:10:46 | 0:10:57 | |
these contractors? Because we know
with bacon delivered it. Frankly, | 0:10:57 | 0:11:02 | |
Labour's position is confusing. Are
they seriously saying to us now, is | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
that their position that we will not
use the private sector at all? Is | 0:11:06 | 0:11:10 | |
the state going to start building
roads again? Or do they draw the | 0:11:10 | 0:11:15 | |
line? It's complete confusion. I'm
keen to accommodate the substantial | 0:11:15 | 0:11:20 | |
interest in this matter, but can I
remind the house that there is a | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
business question to follow and
thereafter to debates to take place | 0:11:23 | 0:11:27 | |
under the auspices of the backbench
business committee, and I am anxious | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
that time for those debates should
not be artificially truncated. Pithy | 0:11:31 | 0:11:39 | |
answers, pithy questions and we'll
make progress. Only two weeks ago I | 0:11:39 | 0:11:47 | |
warned that this whole outsourcing
problem was in danger of becoming a | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
set of dominoes, one of which would
fall after another. But the | 0:11:51 | 0:11:56 | |
government behaviour in response
that and the minister's response | 0:11:56 | 0:11:58 | |
today has been marked by
indifference to corporate | 0:11:58 | 0:12:04 | |
mismanagement, incompetence and
offers an complacency in the face of | 0:12:04 | 0:12:07 | |
a crisis. The Minister will not tell
the house, but I will, Capita were | 0:12:07 | 0:12:16 | |
given 154 government contracts last
year. And only last week, Carillion | 0:12:16 | 0:12:21 | |
contracts were being brokered to
Capita. And yet, the company was | 0:12:21 | 0:12:28 | |
clearly in trouble, share values
were plummeting. Profit warnings | 0:12:28 | 0:12:32 | |
were being issued. Short selling on
the stock market, allegations of | 0:12:32 | 0:12:36 | |
fraud against M1 in the handling of
public contracts. Yesterday, the | 0:12:36 | 0:12:41 | |
total value on the exchange was
barely more than the total debt. The | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
company is in serious trouble. Is a
familiar tale of war with strong | 0:12:45 | 0:12:52 | |
echoes of Carillion. We need to know
that government contingency plans | 0:12:52 | 0:12:58 | |
will assure drops from employees,
protect the pensions of those | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
employed there and that their
pensions of public sector workers | 0:13:02 | 0:13:07 | |
will be managed. Will he confirm
that the public service which Capita | 0:13:07 | 0:13:11 | |
managers will be protected in the
face of disaster and does the | 0:13:11 | 0:13:17 | |
government contingency plan allow
for that? What will be the combined | 0:13:17 | 0:13:23 | |
impact of Carillion and now Capita
on the spiralling cost of each is | 0:13:23 | 0:13:27 | |
too? Does he agree that not a single
penny should be used to prop up | 0:13:27 | 0:13:34 | |
outsourcing companies? This
government is blinded to the | 0:13:34 | 0:13:36 | |
corporate greed of these outsourcing
companies. Will he agreed, isn't it | 0:13:36 | 0:13:41 | |
clear that the justice minister
himself said that the government | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
should be driven by evidence about
outsourcing, not by dogma? I thank | 0:13:44 | 0:13:56 | |
him for his questions. I think the
cord of his questions was in | 0:13:56 | 0:14:01 | |
relation to support for these
outsourcing companies. He said, will | 0:14:01 | 0:14:05 | |
be not provided any more to prop up
outsourcing companies? That is | 0:14:05 | 0:14:11 | |
exactly what we did in respect of
Carillion. We took the decision that | 0:14:11 | 0:14:16 | |
this was a private company and it
should bear the loss. That is why | 0:14:16 | 0:14:21 | |
shareholders in Carillion are
unlikely to get more than a few | 0:14:21 | 0:14:24 | |
pennies in the pound back for that
investment. The private sector has | 0:14:24 | 0:14:28 | |
taken a risk. But the job of the
government to is to ensure the | 0:14:28 | 0:14:33 | |
continued delivery of those public
services, to ensure that the dinner | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
ladies get paid, that the hospitals
get cleans, that the railways | 0:14:36 | 0:14:41 | |
continue to be built. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:52 | |
That is exactly what we did in
respect of Carillion and that is | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
exactly what our contingencies
involved in respect of all of our | 0:14:55 | 0:14:57 | |
strategic suppliers. That is the
test for the government. The test | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
for the government is can be ensure
the continued delivery of those | 0:15:00 | 0:15:02 | |
public services? Those public
services continue to be delivered. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:04 | |
He made a point about pensions. The
fact that Capita has embarked on | 0:15:04 | 0:15:11 | |
this course of restructuring means
they are effectively choosing to | 0:15:11 | 0:15:15 | |
switch resources away from the
continued payment of dividends | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
towards their pension funds. That
should give pensioners confidence in | 0:15:18 | 0:15:21 | |
respect of that pension funds. He
also asked in relation to jobs. | 0:15:21 | 0:15:30 | |
Again, in respect of jobs, because
the restructuring, we can give | 0:15:30 | 0:15:37 | |
confidence on the continued delivery
of those jobs. But I keep coming | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
back to the same point, this is a
private company, the interest from | 0:15:40 | 0:15:45 | |
the government is to ensure the
delivery of public services. I come | 0:15:45 | 0:15:52 | |
back to Labour's position. What they
seem to be suggesting is that the | 0:15:52 | 0:15:56 | |
private sector has no role in public
life. If that's not their position, | 0:15:56 | 0:16:07 | |
are they going to tell us where they
choose to draw the line? They have | 0:16:07 | 0:16:10 | |
gone from pumping billions of pounds
to private companies for the | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
delivery of public services when
Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were | 0:16:14 | 0:16:19 | |
Prime Minister, to the position now
where they're saying they shouldn't | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
have a penny. Some clarity would be
helpful, because otherwise people | 0:16:21 | 0:16:26 | |
may draw the conclusion that there
is more than an element of | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
opportunism to this. Would he agree
with me that it would be | 0:16:29 | 0:16:37 | |
irresponsible of this government to
cancel private companies' contracts | 0:16:37 | 0:16:42 | |
simply on the basis of a single
profit update? This is an important | 0:16:42 | 0:16:50 | |
point about profit warnings. A
profit warning does not mean that | 0:16:50 | 0:16:55 | |
accompanies imminently going to
collapse. It's a warning to the | 0:16:55 | 0:16:59 | |
market that its results will not be
in line with what they had | 0:16:59 | 0:17:04 | |
previously thought. If we are in the
position where every time it company | 0:17:04 | 0:17:08 | |
issued a profit warning, we as a
government said we will cease to | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
contract with them, they would be
very few companies we could contract | 0:17:11 | 0:17:15 | |
with. I will not name leading
companies, because I do not want to | 0:17:15 | 0:17:20 | |
influence their market value, but I
could name a huge list of FTSE 100 | 0:17:20 | 0:17:25 | |
companies that routinely issued
profit warnings. That does not mean | 0:17:25 | 0:17:28 | |
these companies are about to
disappear. The second time in two | 0:17:28 | 0:17:35 | |
weeks, we are discussing a private
firm, responsible for the delivery | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
of vital services, which has issued
a profit warning. Will the Minister | 0:17:39 | 0:17:46 | |
now acknowledge that that is a role
for a proper public sector? Will the | 0:17:46 | 0:17:51 | |
government now start rolling back on
the privatisation agenda that it the | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
last Labour government have obsessed
about? Can we look forward to a | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
proper plan for taking public
services back into the public | 0:17:59 | 0:18:05 | |
sector? And will he now acknowledge
that public sector employees should | 0:18:05 | 0:18:10 | |
public services? Of course we
acknowledge there is a proper role | 0:18:10 | 0:18:17 | |
for the public sector. That's why,
for example, this government has | 0:18:17 | 0:18:23 | |
committed £8 billion more for the
NHS, a further 6 billion for the | 0:18:23 | 0:18:27 | |
NHS. Took all of her argument, the
reason why successive governments of | 0:18:27 | 0:18:34 | |
all political persuasions have
chosen to engage with the private | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
sector for the delivery of services
is because those companies have a | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
speciality in it. They have a
speciality in delivering the | 0:18:42 | 0:18:47 | |
services and as a result, they can
deliver them more efficiently. That | 0:18:47 | 0:18:52 | |
means there are savings for the
taxpayer. If the SNP position is | 0:18:52 | 0:18:59 | |
seriously that we should not have
any outsourcing, they need to | 0:18:59 | 0:19:04 | |
explain to taxpayers why they are
choosing, instead of using those | 0:19:04 | 0:19:09 | |
efficiency savings to plough back
into our schools and hospitals, they | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
are using them to pay far less
efficient ways of delivering public | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
services. Would the Minister agree
with me that the biggest risk to | 0:19:16 | 0:19:24 | |
jobs and pensions and the delivery
of public services would be to | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
withdrew draw support for Capita on
the basis of a reactionary profits | 0:19:27 | 0:19:32 | |
warning? He is absolutely right. If
we were to choose overnight in the | 0:19:32 | 0:19:40 | |
face of one profit warning to stop
contracting with that company, there | 0:19:40 | 0:19:45 | |
would be a significant risk of the
delivery of public services falling | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
over. The objective of the
government is the continued delivery | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
of public services, and we have
continued to pay the cleaners, we | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
have continue to have the dinner is
served, we have continued to make | 0:19:56 | 0:20:00 | |
sure that what the people out there
in the country came about, which is | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
either Bob and services being
delivered, they are being delivered. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:10 | |
Yesterday, the chief executive of
Capita said his organisation was far | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
too complex. If he finds it
difficult to understand how his own | 0:20:14 | 0:20:19 | |
organisation works, how does the
government monitor the stability and | 0:20:19 | 0:20:24 | |
performance of these very large
complex outsourcing companies like | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
Capita and cervical and others? He's
absolutely right about what the | 0:20:27 | 0:20:38 | |
chief executive said and that's why
he has embarked on this | 0:20:38 | 0:20:42 | |
restructuring. Is precisely because
of that complexity. I well remember | 0:20:42 | 0:20:47 | |
working with the honourable
gentleman when I was an adviser in | 0:20:47 | 0:20:49 | |
Downing Street and Hugh was there.
He will have knowledge of that, that | 0:20:49 | 0:20:56 | |
a third of the contracts with the
Carillion were agreed by the | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
coalition. The process we have then
and we continue to strengthen is | 0:20:59 | 0:21:03 | |
twofold. First of all, we look at
the published results of these | 0:21:03 | 0:21:08 | |
companies and use third parties to
properly understand and verify them | 0:21:08 | 0:21:11 | |
and secondly, we continue to engage
on a one on one basis with each of | 0:21:11 | 0:21:17 | |
those companies, through the Cabinet
Office, to understand their | 0:21:17 | 0:21:23 | |
financial position in order to make
sure that we deliver what the public | 0:21:23 | 0:21:28 | |
expects, which is the continued
delivery of public services. The | 0:21:28 | 0:21:35 | |
honourable lady for Leeds West has
raised concerns on the failure of | 0:21:35 | 0:21:40 | |
regulation. Does the Minister agree
with me that the answer to this | 0:21:40 | 0:21:44 | |
dilemma is not to nationalise those
companies but to make sure those | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
bodies do the job for the taxpayer
and the public service user? She is | 0:21:47 | 0:21:54 | |
correct. That is why we welcome the
fact that the FRC is looking into | 0:21:54 | 0:22:02 | |
the four major accountancy firms and
see what lessons we need to learn | 0:22:02 | 0:22:05 | |
from that. We will respond to that
and act appropriately. Can I bring | 0:22:05 | 0:22:11 | |
him back to the core issue, which is
that there are two separate but | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
linked problems, the business
problem and the performance of these | 0:22:14 | 0:22:20 | |
companies. Like Carillion, Capita
seems to be part of the over | 0:22:20 | 0:22:25 | |
concentrated dividend and bonus
exploiting culture, which relies on | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
the state to bail out failure.
Capita incompetence is only too | 0:22:29 | 0:22:34 | |
clear from its lamentable
performance on the recruitment | 0:22:34 | 0:22:38 | |
contract for the armed services.
When is this government going to | 0:22:38 | 0:22:41 | |
finally get a grip? He raises,
behind the question, an important | 0:22:41 | 0:22:51 | |
point about the diversity of
supplies on this market. I think we | 0:22:51 | 0:22:56 | |
do need to look to diversify
further. That's why we set up target | 0:22:56 | 0:23:03 | |
of 33% of our government contracting
going to small and medium-sized | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
enterprises, precisely to make sure
we have greater diversity. We have | 0:23:07 | 0:23:11 | |
done precisely the opposite of a
state bailout. Because Carillion | 0:23:11 | 0:23:17 | |
went into liquidation, its
shareholders paid the price. Because | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
Capita has decided to stop paying
dividends, its shareholders are | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
paying a price. It's not correct to
say the state is booming about the | 0:23:25 | 0:23:29 | |
situation. The government rule here
is to continue to act as a prudent | 0:23:29 | 0:23:36 | |
customer, to continue to monitor its
suppliers and the services they | 0:23:36 | 0:23:40 | |
provide. The best thing the
government can do right now is to | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
allow the company to get on with its
plan to restructure its business. He | 0:23:43 | 0:23:50 | |
is right. Capita and its executives
and shareholders are responsible for | 0:23:50 | 0:23:56 | |
Capita. Our responsibility as the
government is for the continued | 0:23:56 | 0:24:00 | |
delivery of public services, to make
sure the services on which the | 0:24:00 | 0:24:04 | |
public rely, continue to be
delivered. This is exactly what we | 0:24:04 | 0:24:07 | |
did in respect of Carillion and that
is what we are doing for all our | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
strategic supplies including Capita.
The Minister said that Capita has a | 0:24:11 | 0:24:18 | |
positive record of delivery, but
Capita has been responsible for the | 0:24:18 | 0:24:23 | |
£1 billion contract for the delivery
of NHS England's primary care and | 0:24:23 | 0:24:27 | |
support services from 2015. From the
outset, GPs and local medical | 0:24:27 | 0:24:33 | |
committees identified serious issues
with the service, including patient | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
safety, GP workload and GP finances
being affected. While some progress | 0:24:36 | 0:24:41 | |
has been made, two and a half years
on, the service short of what is | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
acceptable and there's still an
urgent need to resolve these to give | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
practices and GPs across this
country confidence in the service. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
What is he and his government doing
to improve the quality of the | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
service provided by Capita? | 0:24:57 | 0:25:12 | |
The Department of Health have to
ensure that Capita or any other | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
contractor delivers on what is has
promised to deliver. The function of | 0:25:16 | 0:25:23 | |
the Cabinet Office in respect of
this is to ensure if there is a | 0:25:23 | 0:25:27 | |
failure of the company, that the
overall public services continue to | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
be delivered. If I understand the
Minister correctly, this company is | 0:25:30 | 0:25:36 | |
raising funds from its shareholders
in order to strengthen its balance | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
sheet, strengthen its pension fund,
and these actions should be | 0:25:39 | 0:25:44 | |
welcomed. Will you share my
frustration that the attitude of the | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
opposition seems to be to the
private sector, you are dammed if | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
you do and dammed if you don't. He
is precisely right. It would be | 0:25:50 | 0:25:58 | |
helpful if Carillion had considered
these actions, it would not have got | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
these position. You can't say the
government is bankrolling these | 0:26:01 | 0:26:07 | |
companies and at the same time the
government is allowing these | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
companies to go bust if things go
wrong with them and the shareholders | 0:26:09 | 0:26:17 | |
pay the price. You can't accept two
propositions at once. Does the | 0:26:17 | 0:26:23 | |
Minister agree with me that with
Carillion and now Capita, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:28 | |
outsourcing our services has failed?
So instead of expensive bailouts, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:34 | |
they should be brought back into
public ownership. Well, the | 0:26:34 | 0:26:39 | |
government has not bailed out a
single supplier. It is the | 0:26:39 | 0:26:47 | |
shareholders who have paid the
price. It is the shareholders of | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
brilliant who will not be receiving
the money -- of Carillion, will not | 0:26:51 | 0:26:58 | |
be receiving their money back,
depending on what the outcome of the | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
liquidation is. Can my right
honourable friend assure the House | 0:27:01 | 0:27:07 | |
that the confident steps the
government has taken up to date in | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
relation to Carillion have protected
services and make sure there is | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
minimal disruption to citizens and
that the government is taking a | 0:27:15 | 0:27:19 | |
similar competent approach to the
Capita situation so that we can | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
protect services like NHS admin,
which are so important to us all? | 0:27:23 | 0:27:31 | |
Yes, my honourable friend is
absolutely right. Our focus has been | 0:27:31 | 0:27:33 | |
to make sure -- ensure the continued
delivery of public services and in | 0:27:33 | 0:27:40 | |
respect of all these key suppliers,
we make sure that we are confident | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
if there is an interruption to those
companies, public services continue | 0:27:43 | 0:27:49 | |
to be delivered. That is what the
House saw in respect of ebony macro | 0:27:49 | 0:27:54 | |
and that is exactly what we are
preparing for all the time in | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
respect of all of our strategic
suppliers. This is a very worrying | 0:27:57 | 0:28:06 | |
time for Carillion employees in
Wales, including hundreds employed | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
in a call centre in my constituency.
All PIP assessments in Wales are | 0:28:10 | 0:28:18 | |
carried out by them. Can the
Minister give a cast iron guarantee | 0:28:18 | 0:28:22 | |
that their jobs are safe and that
the benefit assessments will be | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
carried out properly and accurately?
I believe the honourable gentleman | 0:28:26 | 0:28:33 | |
was referring to Capita, not
brilliant. I can assure him that the | 0:28:33 | 0:28:40 | |
-- not Carillion. I can assure him
that there will be no interruption, | 0:28:40 | 0:28:49 | |
whatever happens, to the delivery of
those services. That is what | 0:28:49 | 0:28:53 | |
happened in respect of Carillion.
The very day it was announced in the | 0:28:53 | 0:28:59 | |
morning that Carillion was going
into liquidation, those people | 0:28:59 | 0:29:03 | |
delivering public services could
continue to turn up to work, | 0:29:03 | 0:29:08 | |
continue to be paid and the public
services continued to be delivered. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:12 | |
Before any new government contracts
are awarded to Capita, will the | 0:29:12 | 0:29:17 | |
government seeks fresh assurances in
respect of existing and future | 0:29:17 | 0:29:23 | |
pension obligation to its employees?
I can assure the honourable | 0:29:23 | 0:29:28 | |
gentleman that in fact officials
from my department met with Capita | 0:29:28 | 0:29:33 | |
just yesterday. This is an ongoing
process of engagement with all the | 0:29:33 | 0:29:38 | |
strategic suppliers asking exactly
those sort of questions to ensure | 0:29:38 | 0:29:40 | |
that we have public services
delivered and we are cognisant of | 0:29:40 | 0:29:45 | |
things like the public fund --
pension fund as well. One of the | 0:29:45 | 0:29:51 | |
real issues that comes through with
Carillion and Capita is this growth | 0:29:51 | 0:29:57 | |
of the conglomerate structure is
that these countries are vulnerable | 0:29:57 | 0:30:02 | |
when any part begins to fail and
that puts at risk the whole. Where | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
is the risk assessment that his
Minister has done? As I have said, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:16 | |
there is a continuing process of
engagement. Over the years, the | 0:30:16 | 0:30:21 | |
government commercial services has
been beefed up. We have brought in | 0:30:21 | 0:30:26 | |
people with expertise who understand
these companies, who are engaging | 0:30:26 | 0:30:29 | |
with those companies on a day-to-day
basis to understand their business | 0:30:29 | 0:30:34 | |
models. But as I say, the purpose of
doing that is to understand those | 0:30:34 | 0:30:39 | |
business models and ensure we are
confident that we can continue to | 0:30:39 | 0:30:42 | |
deliver those public services. Can
my honourable friend confirmed that | 0:30:42 | 0:30:47 | |
what matters to this government is
what delivers the best public | 0:30:47 | 0:30:52 | |
service outcomes to our constituents
in terms of quality and value for | 0:30:52 | 0:30:56 | |
money, exactly the same
considerations that motivated the | 0:30:56 | 0:30:59 | |
party opposite. Yes, the party
offices -- opposite leg many | 0:30:59 | 0:31:13 | |
contracts to private companies and
the reason they did that was because | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
they believed they had expertise to
deliver them. That is exactly what | 0:31:16 | 0:31:20 | |
we are doing. But interestingly,
since the surge in the use of PFI | 0:31:20 | 0:31:25 | |
which took place under Gordon Brown,
we have tightened up the terms of | 0:31:25 | 0:31:33 | |
PFI so we are learning the lessons
from some of those excessive PFI | 0:31:33 | 0:31:37 | |
contracts that we saw. We had a
ludicrous service fees for some of | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
the services being derided
underneath them. A significant | 0:31:41 | 0:31:47 | |
employer of mine in Huddersfield in
the shared transport business as a | 0:31:47 | 0:31:51 | |
very important role and they are a
very important company. Nobody on | 0:31:51 | 0:31:58 | |
this side wants to see it fail. Like
all businesses, we wanted to | 0:31:58 | 0:32:02 | |
succeed. There is nothing wrong with
a Private partnership. Getting the | 0:32:02 | 0:32:07 | |
contract and the relationship right
is what is important. What went | 0:32:07 | 0:32:11 | |
wrong in many PFI will rot in
contracts which still bedevil local | 0:32:11 | 0:32:15 | |
hospitals and local schools. I think
the honourable gentleman raises a | 0:32:15 | 0:32:20 | |
very important point. He is
precisely right, there is nothing | 0:32:20 | 0:32:25 | |
wrong per se with engaging with the
private sector for the delivery of | 0:32:25 | 0:32:29 | |
public services, but we need to
ensure there is rigour in those | 0:32:29 | 0:32:32 | |
contracts. Many contracts in the
past have not been properly | 0:32:32 | 0:32:36 | |
negotiated and they have not
delivered value for the public | 0:32:36 | 0:32:38 | |
sector. They will continue to burden
as for many decades to come but that | 0:32:38 | 0:32:46 | |
is not an invalidation of the model,
that is problems with specific | 0:32:46 | 0:32:50 | |
contractual negotiations. It is
quite clear that Capita is unique | 0:32:50 | 0:32:56 | |
because it grew out of outsourcing
from the public sector, but as it | 0:32:56 | 0:33:01 | |
grew, the structures have
outstripped its proper corporate | 0:33:01 | 0:33:05 | |
responsibility. It is clear we also
need to argue the case for | 0:33:05 | 0:33:13 | |
outsourcing to the public sector and
can we outline the benefits of | 0:33:13 | 0:33:19 | |
outsourcing and give a couple of
examples of where it has been a | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
success in delivering better public
services. I am very happy to do so | 0:33:22 | 0:33:26 | |
and that is precisely why private
sector companies use outsourcing. | 0:33:26 | 0:33:30 | |
Every company engages in outsourcing
because they recognise there are | 0:33:30 | 0:33:35 | |
some areas where there are greater
expertise than can be delivered by | 0:33:35 | 0:33:41 | |
our companies. Exactly the same with
the public sector. We focus on what | 0:33:41 | 0:33:47 | |
actually works, what delivers for
the public sector, and what delivers | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
at the best price and the best
value. I can tell the honourable | 0:33:50 | 0:33:53 | |
gentleman that over 4500 project
have been delivered since 2010 and | 0:33:53 | 0:34:00 | |
over a quarter of £1 trillion has
been invested in infrastructure and | 0:34:00 | 0:34:08 | |
over 70% of our long-term projects
identified are now complete, under | 0:34:08 | 0:34:13 | |
construction or part of the
programme being delivered. This is | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
delivering the public services
people want. Capita employs 450 | 0:34:16 | 0:34:22 | |
people in my constituency,
principally engaged in administering | 0:34:22 | 0:34:24 | |
public sector pensions. When he has
met with Capita, what discussions | 0:34:24 | 0:34:29 | |
did he have about the pensions
function and about that site | 0:34:29 | 0:34:34 | |
specifically and will he meet with
me to discuss it? I would be very | 0:34:34 | 0:34:38 | |
happy to meet with the honourable
lady to discuss all those points. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:41 | |
Alan Brown. What is the size of the
pension deficit and what has that | 0:34:41 | 0:34:53 | |
arrangement has the government put
in place to cover that black hole? | 0:34:53 | 0:34:59 | |
Capita is a private company and
Capita is responsible for the | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
running of its business. But if the
honourable gentleman looks at the | 0:35:02 | 0:35:09 | |
announcement that was made yesterday
by Capita, the fact they have chosen | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
not to issue a dividend and release
more cash which means they can shore | 0:35:13 | 0:35:20 | |
up their pension fund, so it is a
positive announcement in that | 0:35:20 | 0:35:22 | |
respect. Will the government review
all major outsourced contract as a | 0:35:22 | 0:35:27 | |
matter of urgency and in particular
the contracts awarded to Capita for | 0:35:27 | 0:35:34 | |
Personal Independence Payments for
disabled people who have come in for | 0:35:34 | 0:35:40 | |
criticism for the way it treats
disabled people during the process? | 0:35:40 | 0:35:44 | |
The government routinely publishes
all significant outsourcing | 0:35:44 | 0:35:49 | |
contracts and I would be happy to
provide the website and a link to | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
the honourable lady so she can get a
full list of all of those. That is | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
the process for doing it. Isn't it
time that private companies | 0:35:57 | 0:36:03 | |
providing public services were
subject to the same rules of | 0:36:03 | 0:36:07 | |
openness and transparency as the
public sector so that they can no | 0:36:07 | 0:36:10 | |
longer hide behind the cloak of
commercial confidentiality? Of | 0:36:10 | 0:36:17 | |
course there are lessons to be
learned from this and this is | 0:36:17 | 0:36:22 | |
exactly what things like the Public
Administration Committee is looking | 0:36:22 | 0:36:25 | |
into, but there is a distinction
between a private sector and a | 0:36:25 | 0:36:28 | |
public body, and I don't think it
would be appropriate to extend the | 0:36:28 | 0:36:31 | |
full provisions of FOIA to all
private companies. Drew Henry. If | 0:36:31 | 0:36:42 | |
the Minister is serious about
getting the best value for the | 0:36:42 | 0:36:45 | |
public, will the Minister committed
to learning from the Scottish | 0:36:45 | 0:36:48 | |
Government, with the Scottish
futures trust latest independently | 0:36:48 | 0:36:51 | |
audited statement has recorded over
£1 billion in savings since being | 0:36:51 | 0:36:57 | |
established? Of course I welcome his
question and of course we will | 0:36:57 | 0:37:03 | |
learned those lessons but it is
worth noting that the Scottish | 0:37:03 | 0:37:06 | |
Government gave a contract to Capita
in 2015. Capita was appointed by the | 0:37:06 | 0:37:12 | |
Scottish Government pensions agency
to deliver its integrated pensions | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
IT software solutions. An example of
how the government is choosing to | 0:37:15 | 0:37:22 | |
use the expertise of the private
sector. There are echoes of Corporal | 0:37:22 | 0:37:27 | |
Jones from Darren Sammy from the
Minister's response this morning -- | 0:37:27 | 0:37:33 | |
Dad's Army. Can I ask him why does
he think that Barnet Council, a | 0:37:33 | 0:37:40 | |
flagship Tory council, known as easy
council because of its extreme | 0:37:40 | 0:37:46 | |
outsourcing, has put in place
contingency plans based on the | 0:37:46 | 0:37:49 | |
possible failure of this company? I
can assure the honourable lady that | 0:37:49 | 0:37:56 | |
we are not in any way complacent,
that is why we continue to engage, | 0:37:56 | 0:38:01 | |
and I believe Barnet councillors
will be doing the same thing in | 0:38:01 | 0:38:04 | |
ensuring there are contingency plans
in place. Indeed, those contingency | 0:38:04 | 0:38:09 | |
plans have worked in respect of the
collapse of the one company we have | 0:38:09 | 0:38:15 | |
seen, Carillion, those public
services continue to be delivered. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:19 | |
Carillion has got a £1 billion
contract in the primary sector of | 0:38:19 | 0:38:23 | |
the NHS. The Minister has sought to
minimise... Don't you think this | 0:38:23 | 0:38:32 | |
House and the general public deserve
to know exactly what plans the | 0:38:32 | 0:38:35 | |
government have in the situation
that Capita cannot deliver the | 0:38:35 | 0:38:41 | |
services to the public? I have given
that reassurance and I can give the | 0:38:41 | 0:38:46 | |
reassurance to the House again that
we, in respect of all our strategic | 0:38:46 | 0:38:52 | |
suppliers, including Capita, we are
understanding their financial | 0:38:52 | 0:38:57 | |
position and taking appropriate
contingency measures. I hope the | 0:38:57 | 0:39:01 | |
honourable lady will understand that
all these things are very | 0:39:01 | 0:39:03 | |
commercially sensitive and it would
not be helpful to go into excessive | 0:39:03 | 0:39:08 | |
detail on that. Mr Speaker, Capita's
stock has dropped 84% since its 2015 | 0:39:08 | 0:39:20 | |
peak. Are there plans for a
ministerial task force to grip this | 0:39:20 | 0:39:23 | |
situation should it worsen? Well, it
is worth noting with respect to the | 0:39:23 | 0:39:30 | |
drop in the share price, a large
chunk of that came yesterday and was | 0:39:30 | 0:39:34 | |
in respect of the restructuring of
the business so it was a consequence | 0:39:34 | 0:39:38 | |
of the rights issue, but we are
engaging and I, alongside my | 0:39:38 | 0:39:44 | |
honourable friend the Minister for
small businesses, have established a | 0:39:44 | 0:39:47 | |
task force in respect of Carillion
and we are ensuring that in relation | 0:39:47 | 0:39:52 | |
to the private sector side of
Carillion's delivery, we are | 0:39:52 | 0:39:57 | |
providing all the support we can.
For example, we are ensuring that | 0:39:57 | 0:40:03 | |
HMRC is showing flexibility in
relation to payments, the banks are | 0:40:03 | 0:40:08 | |
showing some flexibility, and should
the need arise in respect of | 0:40:08 | 0:40:11 | |
capital, we would do exactly the
same thing. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:17 | |
Poor service delivery is often an
early warning sign of financial | 0:40:17 | 0:40:22 | |
difficulties. GP practices in my
constituency have been complaining | 0:40:22 | 0:40:25 | |
for at least two years about the
poor service are receiving. We know | 0:40:25 | 0:40:29 | |
the contract that the assessment of
personal independence payments has | 0:40:29 | 0:40:34 | |
been failing. We've heard other
examples. Shouldn't the Cabinet | 0:40:34 | 0:40:39 | |
Office, rather than leaving this to
end dependent individual government | 0:40:39 | 0:40:43 | |
departments, have been overlooking
to to see services failing? Yes, we | 0:40:43 | 0:40:52 | |
should be we take an overall view in
respect of the delivery of those | 0:40:52 | 0:40:58 | |
public services, the financial
position and contingency. Clearly, | 0:40:58 | 0:41:02 | |
in respect of the specifics of
public service delivery, that has to | 0:41:02 | 0:41:05 | |
be contracted by the relevant
department, because the relevant | 0:41:05 | 0:41:09 | |
department has a deeper
understanding of the need, like | 0:41:09 | 0:41:14 | |
health and education, they're in a
better position to negotiate | 0:41:14 | 0:41:17 | |
contracts. Last year a press
Association investigation revealed | 0:41:17 | 0:41:23 | |
that Capita received £200 million
more than originally planned from | 0:41:23 | 0:41:28 | |
the Department for Work and Pensions
for PIP payments. Can he is surely | 0:41:28 | 0:41:38 | |
the government would be rewarding
public recklessness? -- corporate | 0:41:38 | 0:41:47 | |
recklessness. Now, we would be
rewarding corporate recklessness and | 0:41:47 | 0:41:52 | |
the Carillion shareholders have paid
the price by not getting their | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
investment back. That is correct.
The role of government is to make | 0:41:55 | 0:42:00 | |
sure public services continue to be
delivered, and the private sector | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
bears the risk. Business question.
Can he update the house on the | 0:42:03 | 0:42:12 | |
forthcoming business. The business
for next week will include, on | 0:42:12 | 0:42:21 | |
Monday the 5th of February, motions
related to the draft Social Security | 0:42:21 | 0:42:29 | |
benefits and the draft guaranteed
minimum pensions increase order | 0:42:29 | 0:42:32 | |
2018. Followed by the remaining
stages of the Smart Meters Bill. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:40 | |
Tuesday, remaining stages of the
Space Industry Bill in the Lords, | 0:42:40 | 0:42:46 | |
followed by housing, planning and
the green belt. The subject was | 0:42:46 | 0:42:50 | |
determined by the backbench business
committee. Wednesday, motions | 0:42:50 | 0:42:55 | |
related to the police grant and
local government finance reports. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:59 | |
First the 8th of February, debate on
a motion on community bank closures, | 0:42:59 | 0:43:05 | |
followed by a debate on matters to
be raised before the forthcoming | 0:43:05 | 0:43:10 | |
adjournment. The subject for this
debate was determined by the | 0:43:10 | 0:43:14 | |
backbench business committee. Friday
the 9th of January, the house will | 0:43:14 | 0:43:17 | |
not sitting. The provisional
business for the week commencing the | 0:43:17 | 0:43:27 | |
19th of February will include, on
Monday the 19th of February, the | 0:43:27 | 0:43:31 | |
house will not be sitting. On
Tuesday the 20th of February, the | 0:43:31 | 0:43:37 | |
second reading of the Sanctions And
Anti-money Laundering Bill, Lords. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:44 | |
The house to the historic decision
to choose action to restore and | 0:43:44 | 0:43:48 | |
renew the Palace of Westminster. And
I would like to congratulate all | 0:43:48 | 0:43:53 | |
members and right Honourable members
across the house for their attention | 0:43:53 | 0:43:56 | |
to this debate and for their
contributions to it. I will now be | 0:43:56 | 0:44:02 | |
taking forward the decision of this
house, following a debate as to take | 0:44:02 | 0:44:06 | |
place in the other place as soon as
one can be arranged. Thank you. I | 0:44:06 | 0:44:15 | |
thank her for next week's business.
A robin in the chamber, a blue blood | 0:44:15 | 0:44:24 | |
Moon, but I will not mention the
other thing that you weren't happy | 0:44:24 | 0:44:29 | |
about and that is Swansea beating
Arsenal. Can I start by thanking the | 0:44:29 | 0:44:35 | |
Honourable member for Gainsborough
and other members and the backbench | 0:44:35 | 0:44:39 | |
business committee, for suggesting
that the debate could take place | 0:44:39 | 0:44:45 | |
today. If it wasn't for them
agreeing that debate, we wouldn't | 0:44:45 | 0:44:48 | |
have had it yesterday. They wouldn't
have bridged the government into it. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
As the later rightly said, a
decision has been made. I also want | 0:44:51 | 0:44:56 | |
to make my thanks to everyone who
took part as signed the amendments. | 0:44:56 | 0:45:02 | |
It was well tempered, people made
their points and now we have made a | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
decision. Can I also note that the
reader mentioned the adjournment | 0:45:05 | 0:45:11 | |
debate. I hope she will get her
deputy very soon, because her hands | 0:45:11 | 0:45:15 | |
are full with restoration and
renewal. I know she has been | 0:45:15 | 0:45:19 | |
assiduous in trying to engage
members, particularly on the | 0:45:19 | 0:45:22 | |
northern estate programme, and I
know she will do the same with | 0:45:22 | 0:45:26 | |
restoration and renewal. Can I
pressed her on the date for the | 0:45:26 | 0:45:30 | |
summer recess? Is only one date,
sorrow she can give is that date | 0:45:30 | 0:45:33 | |
very soon. The leader mention the
Sanctions And Anti-money Laundering | 0:45:33 | 0:45:39 | |
Bill, which provisionally will come
to those in February. It started in | 0:45:39 | 0:45:43 | |
the other place, so can she confirm
if there are any plans for other | 0:45:43 | 0:45:49 | |
bills to start on the other place?
It was published on the same day of | 0:45:49 | 0:45:53 | |
the first reading, so can she
reassure the house that this will | 0:45:53 | 0:45:56 | |
not be the case for the other 15
Brexit bills when they are | 0:45:56 | 0:45:59 | |
published? Is one year since the
speech on the government negotiating | 0:45:59 | 0:46:05 | |
objectives were exiting the EU, but
the government appeared to have | 0:46:05 | 0:46:09 | |
abandoned the financial sector.
They've shelved a position paper and | 0:46:09 | 0:46:13 | |
setting out its trade calls for
financial services after Brexit. As | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
the leads are aware that the policy
chair at the City of London | 0:46:16 | 0:46:21 | |
Corporation said, the sectors is
counting on the position paper to | 0:46:21 | 0:46:24 | |
cook clarified the government
position and the city is left in the | 0:46:24 | 0:46:27 | |
dock. And so say all of us. When can
we expect publication of the | 0:46:27 | 0:46:32 | |
position paper on financial
services, which affects 1 million | 0:46:32 | 0:46:36 | |
people. It seems the government has
annoyed the city and have also | 0:46:36 | 0:46:40 | |
annoyed the Secretary of State were
exiting the European Union and all | 0:46:40 | 0:46:44 | |
the opposition. I know the
government has said the briefing | 0:46:44 | 0:46:48 | |
will be published, could the Leader
of the House say exactly when it | 0:46:48 | 0:46:51 | |
will be provided to the committee
and to members, but not on a | 0:46:51 | 0:46:56 | |
restricted basis? The minister said
that civil servants who do their | 0:46:56 | 0:46:59 | |
work over was wrong. The Minister
appears to have a bizarre | 0:46:59 | 0:47:03 | |
understanding of what the civil
servants do. They are independent. | 0:47:03 | 0:47:08 | |
They follow government instructions
and government policy. Could we have | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
an apology from the Minister to the
civil service. Next week also there | 0:47:11 | 0:47:16 | |
will be a motion on the police
grant. Quarterly police figures show | 0:47:16 | 0:47:21 | |
with 14% rise in recorded crime in
England and Wales. Domestic | 0:47:21 | 0:47:26 | |
burglaries up by 32%, exactly
mirrored in my constituency. A young | 0:47:26 | 0:47:30 | |
couple just married at their wedding
jewellery stolen. Another | 0:47:30 | 0:47:34 | |
constituent has actually given me a
video of the gang entering their | 0:47:34 | 0:47:44 | |
house, a home and actually matching
people upstairs to rob them. There | 0:47:44 | 0:47:46 | |
was only one police station in my
constituency and that is now | 0:47:46 | 0:47:49 | |
closing, despite being upgraded.
It's not fair to say that the | 0:47:49 | 0:47:54 | |
government is protecting the police
budget. Could we have an urgent | 0:47:54 | 0:47:58 | |
debate, maybe the Minister can make
a statement on how much more money | 0:47:58 | 0:48:03 | |
will be given to local councils to
protect local services? It's not | 0:48:03 | 0:48:07 | |
right and it's not fair that the
government is shifting the burden on | 0:48:07 | 0:48:10 | |
taxes on local councils. I know you
allowed an urgent question on Capita | 0:48:10 | 0:48:18 | |
earlier, but I do want the leader's
reassured and says that the | 0:48:18 | 0:48:23 | |
government is jobseeker's allowance
helpline and the helpline that | 0:48:23 | 0:48:27 | |
administers the teachers pension
scheme is also going to be | 0:48:27 | 0:48:30 | |
protected. Also a statement of how
much the government has outsourced | 0:48:30 | 0:48:35 | |
to Capita. Finally, we are
celebrating the centenary of the | 0:48:35 | 0:48:39 | |
representation of the people act
1918, which gave 6 million women the | 0:48:39 | 0:48:43 | |
right to vote. We still have to put
up with men only clubs, and the test | 0:48:43 | 0:48:48 | |
should be, would the Prime Minister
have been invited to the President's | 0:48:48 | 0:48:52 | |
club? And the answer is no. But the
Prime Minister has been invited to | 0:48:52 | 0:48:56 | |
give a speech on Tuesday Westminster
Hall and 730, which will watch the | 0:48:56 | 0:49:08 | |
UK Parliament's vote 100 campaign.
Women have moved from their place | 0:49:08 | 0:49:13 | |
behind the grill up there to the
chamber. As we celebrate that, let's | 0:49:13 | 0:49:18 | |
all think of those unseen men and
women who speak out and fight every | 0:49:18 | 0:49:22 | |
day for equality for all. Thank you.
I share her excitement about this | 0:49:22 | 0:49:35 | |
centenary of the representation of
the People's act, which is on next | 0:49:35 | 0:49:39 | |
Tuesday. I would just like to point
out to the chamber that 100 years | 0:49:39 | 0:49:44 | |
later, our head of state as a woman,
we have our second female Prime | 0:49:44 | 0:49:49 | |
Minister. The First Minister of
Scotland as a woman, our Home | 0:49:49 | 0:49:52 | |
Secretary is a woman, the leaders
and Shadow leaders of the House of | 0:49:52 | 0:49:57 | |
Commons and House of Lords are both
women. And the Commissioner of the | 0:49:57 | 0:50:02 | |
Metropolitan police is a woman. I
could go on. There have been some | 0:50:02 | 0:50:07 | |
changes for the better, but there is
so much more to do to make sure | 0:50:07 | 0:50:11 | |
women play an equal part in every
aspect of our society, both in the | 0:50:11 | 0:50:16 | |
United Kingdom and around the world.
I share her commitment to do | 0:50:16 | 0:50:21 | |
whatever we can to make sure that
comes to pass. She asks for a summer | 0:50:21 | 0:50:26 | |
recess date. That'll be provided as
soon as we can. I absolutely accept | 0:50:26 | 0:50:32 | |
honourable members want to get on
and think about what else they might | 0:50:32 | 0:50:35 | |
like to do with their lives other
than sit there. I share that | 0:50:35 | 0:50:40 | |
enthusiasm. She asks about Brexit
bills being introduced on the other | 0:50:40 | 0:50:43 | |
place. In my role as chairman of the | 0:50:43 | 0:50:49 | |
Parliamentary and business
Legislation committee, I have to | 0:50:49 | 0:50:50 | |
make sure that bills are ready to be
introduced and then we have to look | 0:50:50 | 0:50:54 | |
at the parliamentary timetable, to
look at what else is going on in | 0:50:54 | 0:50:58 | |
either house and make those
decisions based on the volume of | 0:50:58 | 0:51:01 | |
business that is available to go. So
is not possible to say with | 0:51:01 | 0:51:07 | |
certainty at any one time that it
will be this one about one. Through | 0:51:07 | 0:51:12 | |
the usual channels, we will all was
good as much notice as possible. She | 0:51:12 | 0:51:16 | |
talks specifically about the
financial sector. It's not 1 | 0:51:16 | 0:51:22 | |
million, its 2 million people, if
you include all the professional | 0:51:22 | 0:51:25 | |
services that surround the financial
services sector, ranging from | 0:51:25 | 0:51:29 | |
Edinburgh to Bournemouth to
Birmingham to Manchester and of | 0:51:29 | 0:51:32 | |
course the City of London. It is a
blast and very successful sector for | 0:51:32 | 0:51:38 | |
this country. And recently was
declared to have extended our | 0:51:38 | 0:51:43 | |
pre-eminence over all other
financial services sectors in the | 0:51:43 | 0:51:45 | |
world. It is absolutely vital to the
UK and there will be positional work | 0:51:45 | 0:51:53 | |
going on and it will be announced in
due course when the moment is right | 0:51:53 | 0:51:59 | |
to do that. She asks me to confirm
that the government will comply with | 0:51:59 | 0:52:04 | |
the terms of the address and I'm
happy to do so. She asks about | 0:52:04 | 0:52:09 | |
economic forecast. If honourable
members want to ask the Bank of | 0:52:09 | 0:52:12 | |
England how many times their
forecasting is right, they will | 0:52:12 | 0:52:16 | |
demonstrate. Forecasting is not an
exact science, it is an art. It is | 0:52:16 | 0:52:21 | |
not a criticism of the civil service
to say that economic forecasts are | 0:52:21 | 0:52:24 | |
rarely correct, as is the case
pre-referendum. Certain forecasts | 0:52:24 | 0:52:31 | |
presumed our economy would be around
6% smaller than it is today. Those | 0:52:31 | 0:52:35 | |
were wrong. About the police grant,
real terms over police spending has | 0:52:35 | 0:52:44 | |
increased since 2015 by over £475
million, including increased | 0:52:44 | 0:52:50 | |
investment in transformation and
technology. In the settlement, we | 0:52:50 | 0:52:54 | |
propose to increase investment in
the police system by a further 450 | 0:52:54 | 0:52:58 | |
million year-on-year. She's
absolutely right to point out the | 0:52:58 | 0:53:09 | |
very concerning rise in particularly
high impact crimes, such as knife | 0:53:09 | 0:53:13 | |
crime. Hope she welcomes an
operation many police forces are | 0:53:13 | 0:53:18 | |
joining in to try and tackle this
appalling crime that has such a | 0:53:18 | 0:53:22 | |
terrible impact on victims and their
families. Finally, she asks for | 0:53:22 | 0:53:27 | |
reassurance about Capita. I know
there has just been an urgent | 0:53:27 | 0:53:30 | |
question we are a number of points
have been answered about Capita and | 0:53:30 | 0:53:35 | |
Carillion. What can see is that
there is a web page set up by the | 0:53:35 | 0:53:39 | |
insolvency service for those
affected and seeking advice over the | 0:53:39 | 0:53:43 | |
failure of Carillion. There is a
dedicated website set up by PwC, as | 0:53:43 | 0:53:49 | |
well as a dedicated helpline. The
job centre rapid response service is | 0:53:49 | 0:53:56 | |
also available for advice and
support for those whose jobs may be | 0:53:56 | 0:54:00 | |
affected. In the case of Capita,
however, the government closely | 0:54:00 | 0:54:05 | |
monitors all of those firms to whom
it outsources contract and it does | 0:54:05 | 0:54:10 | |
not believe that Capita is unlike
anything like a similar situation to | 0:54:10 | 0:54:14 | |
Carillion. Does my right honourable
friend agree there should be a | 0:54:14 | 0:54:22 | |
debate on government time to mark
International Women's Day on the | 0:54:22 | 0:54:27 | |
eight of March, to perhaps
demonstrate the respect that this | 0:54:27 | 0:54:31 | |
government has for the immense
contribution that women have made it | 0:54:31 | 0:54:34 | |
to this place over the last 100
years? Can I first commend my right | 0:54:34 | 0:54:43 | |
honourable friend for all she does
to advance the cause of women and | 0:54:43 | 0:54:47 | |
equality. She's a real champion for
women's rights and she quite right, | 0:54:47 | 0:54:52 | |
the centenary of women's suffrage
year should ensure we mark this | 0:54:52 | 0:54:57 | |
important day. Time for this debate
is traditionally provided by the | 0:54:57 | 0:55:00 | |
backbench business committee, but I
have raised with the Chief Whip the | 0:55:00 | 0:55:04 | |
view is right across the house that
it would be good for the hosts to | 0:55:04 | 0:55:08 | |
have an appropriate opportunity to
mark International Women's Day, and | 0:55:08 | 0:55:11 | |
I'm optimistic. | 0:55:11 | 0:55:17 | |
Can I thank the leader of this
crumbling house for that. What a | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
week, Mr Speaker. They may or may
not be enough Conservative | 0:55:20 | 0:55:26 | |
backbenchers to trigger a challenge
and the party 's Civil War, they are | 0:55:26 | 0:55:31 | |
raging in the ranks over there. Can
we perhaps have a debate on peace, | 0:55:31 | 0:55:37 | |
love and understanding so all the
rest of us can wish all the best to | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
our conservative friends with their
current and faculties. And as they | 0:55:40 | 0:55:44 | |
are securing another defeat, this
government will go to the whole | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
business of trying to defy the will
of the House once again by revealing | 0:55:48 | 0:55:52 | |
as little as possible about these
latest disastrous Brexit papers. | 0:55:52 | 0:55:57 | |
After degreasing our opposition
debates, refusing to be held to | 0:55:57 | 0:56:02 | |
account, this government are now
making a mockery of these humble | 0:56:02 | 0:56:04 | |
addresses. If we can't get this
government to vote on humble | 0:56:04 | 0:56:09 | |
addresses, how about getting them to
change standing orders, because | 0:56:09 | 0:56:13 | |
there is one issue that unites this
whole house against this government | 0:56:13 | 0:56:16 | |
and that is opposition to the
procedure of English votes for | 0:56:16 | 0:56:20 | |
English laws, a procedure that is as
useless as it is divisive. No other | 0:56:20 | 0:56:25 | |
party in this House will support it.
They would look singly stupid if | 0:56:25 | 0:56:31 | |
they voted for a procedure that
continues to emasculate them in this | 0:56:31 | 0:56:36 | |
House. We may not be able to secure
the time for this but the Labour | 0:56:36 | 0:56:40 | |
Party has loads of time, why don't
you help this defeat this government | 0:56:40 | 0:56:44 | |
and get rid of this divisive
procedure in the House? And isn't it | 0:56:44 | 0:56:51 | |
delicious watching all these
Brexiteers rage about the unelected | 0:56:51 | 0:56:54 | |
House of Lords as it chews up the
pressure is hard Brexit. People who | 0:56:54 | 0:56:59 | |
have no second thought of going
there if it was offered, and now | 0:56:59 | 0:57:07 | |
they are starting to wail against
these unelected Lords. Mr Speaker, | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
you could not make it up. It is just
as well I generally -- genuinely | 0:57:11 | 0:57:21 | |
like the honourable gentleman
because I do sometimes have to | 0:57:21 | 0:57:25 | |
extend my disbelief at some of the
remarks he makes, but if I can | 0:57:25 | 0:57:29 | |
gently correct him, this House is
not crumbling, the infrastructure | 0:57:29 | 0:57:34 | |
within it is the problem. The House,
as he will see, is beautiful and is | 0:57:34 | 0:57:39 | |
not crumbling. In terms of his
recommendation for lessons on peace, | 0:57:39 | 0:57:43 | |
love and understanding, I'm sure
you, Mr Speaker, would like to see | 0:57:43 | 0:57:47 | |
more of that in this place. We all
work together and I do whatever I | 0:57:47 | 0:57:51 | |
can as leader of this House to
ensure that we show each other that | 0:57:51 | 0:57:57 | |
love and understanding. He talks
about opposition debates and clearly | 0:57:57 | 0:57:59 | |
we set up a proposal that way there
is a motion approved by the House, | 0:57:59 | 0:58:04 | |
that the government would provide a
statement within 12 weeks of that | 0:58:04 | 0:58:08 | |
motion being passed to set out to
the House exactly what steps have | 0:58:08 | 0:58:11 | |
been taken to address the issues
raised by the House. That continues | 0:58:11 | 0:58:14 | |
to be the Blake -- case. He talks
about English votes for English laws | 0:58:14 | 0:58:23 | |
and is designed to stop Scottish
votes for English laws. It is very | 0:58:23 | 0:58:28 | |
important that members across this
House that as a consequence of | 0:58:28 | 0:58:33 | |
devolution, where many of the
nations that make up the United | 0:58:33 | 0:58:36 | |
Kingdom were quite keen and rightly
so to be able to manage their own | 0:58:36 | 0:58:41 | |
affairs more closely, it is
therefore right that the members who | 0:58:41 | 0:58:45 | |
come to this place should not then
be able to vote on laws that only | 0:58:45 | 0:58:48 | |
affect England or England and when.
And finally on the Lords, he laughs | 0:58:48 | 0:58:55 | |
at those who are frustrated by the
Lords, but nevertheless, surely he | 0:58:55 | 0:58:59 | |
can see their role as a revising
house with very useful expertise | 0:58:59 | 0:59:04 | |
that very often improves legislation
and makes a genuine contribution to | 0:59:04 | 0:59:07 | |
the work of this House. It is vital
that the decal is as short as | 0:59:07 | 0:59:15 | |
possible, on that we are all agreed,
and I personally believe they should | 0:59:15 | 0:59:20 | |
work triple shifts and not do what
builders do and stay as long as | 0:59:20 | 0:59:24 | |
possible. Is it my friends
honourable opinion that these | 0:59:24 | 0:59:27 | |
sponsoring body should have MPs and
peers only voting so that we get a | 0:59:27 | 0:59:32 | |
grip on this? So, I would like to
pay tribute to my honourable friend | 0:59:32 | 0:59:39 | |
because he has been a passionate
advocate for the restoration and | 0:59:39 | 0:59:41 | |
renewal of this place and I am sorry
because he will no doubt be | 0:59:41 | 0:59:47 | |
disappointed by yesterday's decision
because while it does confirm | 0:59:47 | 0:59:51 | |
action, it is not action along the
lines he would wish to see and I am | 0:59:51 | 0:59:55 | |
very sympathetic to his personal
view that in staying in this place, | 0:59:55 | 0:59:58 | |
we could do actually the job more
efficiently and effectively. In | 0:59:58 | 1:00:02 | |
direct response to his question
about how the sponsor body will be | 1:00:02 | 1:00:07 | |
set up, it will have a majority of
parliamentarians and their role will | 1:00:07 | 1:00:11 | |
be to reflect the views, the range
of views across both houses on | 1:00:11 | 1:00:17 | |
precisely what the delivery
authority should be tasked with | 1:00:17 | 1:00:19 | |
delivering. Could I thank the leader
for the business statement and for | 1:00:19 | 1:00:26 | |
announcing that the business will
include a debate on housing planning | 1:00:26 | 1:00:32 | |
and the green Belt, which is
sponsored by the backbench business | 1:00:32 | 1:00:35 | |
committee. We note that the space
industry Bill isn't likely to go the | 1:00:35 | 1:00:41 | |
distance but we don't yet know how
many government statements or urgent | 1:00:41 | 1:00:43 | |
questions may be granted so could we
therefore ask for protection of | 1:00:43 | 1:00:51 | |
that, the housing planning and green
belt debate for 90 minutes or until | 1:00:51 | 1:00:55 | |
seven o'clock, so that we guarantee
it will get a good airing? Secondly, | 1:00:55 | 1:01:01 | |
could I bring all right honourable
members' attention to page 15 of the | 1:01:01 | 1:01:08 | |
order paper, which is application
for committee debates on the | 1:01:08 | 1:01:12 | |
estimates. In order to debate
estimates, members would have to | 1:01:12 | 1:01:17 | |
submit applications by the 16th of
February, which is during the | 1:01:17 | 1:01:20 | |
recess. I am just bringing attention
to that so members will be able to | 1:01:20 | 1:01:25 | |
debate in full estimates debates of
their choosing. And lastly, another | 1:01:25 | 1:01:32 | |
plea. The backbench business
committee is effectively now down to | 1:01:32 | 1:01:35 | |
five members. We have one member who
is out on a Bill committee and we | 1:01:35 | 1:01:41 | |
have the loss of two other members
do do promotions within the | 1:01:41 | 1:01:45 | |
government so we are effectively
down to five members but we have a | 1:01:45 | 1:01:49 | |
core of four. It is getting very
tight. If we can have a relaxation | 1:01:49 | 1:01:54 | |
of a forum or a quick appointment to
replace those who have been | 1:01:54 | 1:01:57 | |
promoted. A&E ring the honourable
gentleman and I will absolutely take | 1:01:57 | 1:02:03 | |
that and see how we can support what
sounds like a very real threat and | 1:02:03 | 1:02:11 | |
practical problem. I urge all
colleagues on his behalf to look at | 1:02:11 | 1:02:14 | |
page 15 of today's order paper. This
is very important, that all | 1:02:14 | 1:02:19 | |
colleagues to set out their
applications for backbench committee | 1:02:19 | 1:02:25 | |
debates on the estimates. He is
absolutely right that the deadline | 1:02:25 | 1:02:30 | |
is during recess so with all
colleagues could look at that, that | 1:02:30 | 1:02:34 | |
would be extremely helpful. I will
also take away his request for | 1:02:34 | 1:02:38 | |
protected time during that
particular debate. My honourable | 1:02:38 | 1:02:42 | |
friend will have seen early day
motion 783 and will also know about | 1:02:42 | 1:02:50 | |
the debate later this afternoon in
my name and that of other honourable | 1:02:50 | 1:02:55 | |
members. If the House passes the
motion this afternoon, will my | 1:02:55 | 1:02:59 | |
honourable friend arrange for a
government minister to make a | 1:02:59 | 1:03:01 | |
statement to the House about how we
will scrap those car parking | 1:03:01 | 1:03:05 | |
charges? My honourable friend has
been a strong champion for resolving | 1:03:05 | 1:03:11 | |
the issue of hospital car parking
charges for a very long time and I | 1:03:11 | 1:03:15 | |
wish him well with his debate this
afternoon. I can assure him I will | 1:03:15 | 1:03:20 | |
write to the Secretary of State for
health and put forward his request. | 1:03:20 | 1:03:29 | |
The all-party group for suicide and
self harm prevention heard a | 1:03:29 | 1:03:33 | |
harrowing presentation this week
from two professes from the study of | 1:03:33 | 1:03:40 | |
self harm in England. We learned
that 200,000 hospital presentations | 1:03:40 | 1:03:44 | |
a year in England for self harm and
almost the same number two community | 1:03:44 | 1:03:50 | |
health facilities, particularly of
12-17 -year-olds. One in 100 of | 1:03:50 | 1:03:56 | |
those will die by suicide a year
after the presentation. 50% of those | 1:03:56 | 1:04:02 | |
dying by suicide have been involved
in self harm. This is an epidemic | 1:04:02 | 1:04:07 | |
that is hitting this country. Could
we have a statement from the | 1:04:07 | 1:04:11 | |
government expressing how they
intend to deal with the major risk | 1:04:11 | 1:04:14 | |
of self harm presentation in our
hospitals? The right honourable lady | 1:04:14 | 1:04:20 | |
raises some very harrowing evidence
about the extent of self harming. It | 1:04:20 | 1:04:24 | |
is something the government is
extremely concerned about and in | 1:04:24 | 1:04:29 | |
particular the need to see more
support for those with mental health | 1:04:29 | 1:04:33 | |
issues. What I can say to the right
honourable lady about mental health | 1:04:33 | 1:04:37 | |
in the context of children is that
the government is investing a record | 1:04:37 | 1:04:42 | |
£1.4 billion into children and young
people's mental health, with a | 1:04:42 | 1:04:46 | |
record number of mental health beds
at 1440. What we are also doing, | 1:04:46 | 1:04:53 | |
importantly, by this time next year
we will have trained 2000 staff in | 1:04:53 | 1:04:57 | |
secondary schools in mental health
first aid to try and provide support | 1:04:57 | 1:05:01 | |
to young people. And by 2021, 70,000
additional children and young people | 1:05:01 | 1:05:07 | |
a year will be accessing NHS
specialist mental health services. | 1:05:07 | 1:05:15 | |
In the village in my constituency, a
company owning 70 rented homes has | 1:05:15 | 1:05:20 | |
put in for planning permission to
demolish these and make them into | 1:05:20 | 1:05:24 | |
private dwellings and on Friday I
met with some of my constituents who | 1:05:24 | 1:05:27 | |
may soon receiving eviction notices.
Could I ask for a statement from the | 1:05:27 | 1:05:32 | |
Housing minister to the power and
council may have to purchase these | 1:05:32 | 1:05:37 | |
homes, instead, and I kid you not,
wanting to build a lighthouse in the | 1:05:37 | 1:05:41 | |
landlocked city of Leeds. Well, Mr
Speaker, that is an extraordinary | 1:05:41 | 1:05:50 | |
tale. Whether they are planning on
floods is anyone's guess, but my | 1:05:50 | 1:05:54 | |
honourable friend is a strong
champion for his community and he is | 1:05:54 | 1:05:58 | |
raising a very important issue. I
recommend that he seeks a debate so | 1:05:58 | 1:06:03 | |
that a minister can answer the
specific concerns he has. Thank you | 1:06:03 | 1:06:14 | |
so much, Mr Speaker. You took me by
surprise. In the old days, less | 1:06:14 | 1:06:20 | |
enlightened days, when I went to
primary school, you could have a | 1:06:20 | 1:06:24 | |
good old bench and a pinch for the
first day of the month. Could we | 1:06:24 | 1:06:28 | |
have an early debate so many of us
can give a good pinch and a bunch to | 1:06:28 | 1:06:34 | |
the private sector partnerships that
absolutely blight so many hospitals | 1:06:34 | 1:06:40 | |
in our land. So many of us want a
new deal for our health sector, for | 1:06:40 | 1:06:46 | |
our hospitals, but we are dragged
down by PFI, badly negotiated many | 1:06:46 | 1:06:51 | |
years ago. Let's have a debate on
it, please. I encourage the | 1:06:51 | 1:06:57 | |
honourable gentleman to seek a
debate on it. When I was on the | 1:06:57 | 1:07:01 | |
Treasury Select Committee about five
years ago, my honourable friend, the | 1:07:01 | 1:07:08 | |
member for Jesse Norman... I am
grateful to you, Mr Speaker. | 1:07:08 | 1:07:15 | |
Herefordshire. We had an enquiry on
the Treasury Select Committee into | 1:07:15 | 1:07:23 | |
PFI and it was quite clear that many
of those deals, the private sector | 1:07:23 | 1:07:29 | |
so the public sector coming, and
those deals have not been in the | 1:07:29 | 1:07:32 | |
best interests of the taxpayer or
the patient. Of course, the | 1:07:32 | 1:07:37 | |
honourable gentleman must reflect
that those PFI deals were signed up | 1:07:37 | 1:07:41 | |
under Labour governments and Labour
agreed to those... John Major did a | 1:07:41 | 1:07:49 | |
few of those PFI objects but the
vast majority were done under Labour | 1:07:49 | 1:07:56 | |
and now there is a much better track
record of ensuring that the interest | 1:07:56 | 1:07:59 | |
of the taxpayer are much more
closely cared for. But I absolutely | 1:07:59 | 1:08:04 | |
agree a debate would be a good break
to raise this issue again. Mr | 1:08:04 | 1:08:11 | |
Speaker, I would like to share some
good news with you which we have | 1:08:11 | 1:08:16 | |
just heard this morning, that the
bid to the housing infrastructure | 1:08:16 | 1:08:22 | |
fund, more than £7.2 million to
build the spine Road in Taunton has | 1:08:22 | 1:08:27 | |
been successful and this will make
the building of 1600 houses in that | 1:08:27 | 1:08:35 | |
area viable. What the Leader of the
House join with me in welcoming this | 1:08:35 | 1:08:40 | |
announcement, which demonstrates
that this government fully realises | 1:08:40 | 1:08:44 | |
to make the delivery of much-needed
housing viable, we must have the | 1:08:44 | 1:08:48 | |
right infrastructure. My honourable
friend is a fantastic champion for | 1:08:48 | 1:08:55 | |
the constituency and it is good news
that houses are being built. We are | 1:08:55 | 1:09:01 | |
committed to building homes so that
everyone can afford a safe, decent | 1:09:01 | 1:09:06 | |
place to live. Today, an extra £866
million has been confirmed for local | 1:09:06 | 1:09:12 | |
housing projects to unlock the
potential of 200,000 new homes. So I | 1:09:12 | 1:09:16 | |
am delighted that the road is one of
the beneficiaries. 77% of the | 1:09:16 | 1:09:28 | |
public, 98 MPs across this House,
over 20 national charities, new | 1:09:28 | 1:09:39 | |
figures this week show that one in
eight adults have gone the whole day | 1:09:39 | 1:09:42 | |
without food. UN estimates of UK
food and security staggering 8 | 1:09:42 | 1:09:48 | |
million. Can we have a statement
from government explaining why their | 1:09:48 | 1:09:51 | |
position on this is one of total
silence? The honourable lady raises | 1:09:51 | 1:10:00 | |
an issue that is of concern right
across this House. Food insecurity | 1:10:00 | 1:10:04 | |
is a major challenge. What this side
of the House has done is to ensure | 1:10:04 | 1:10:10 | |
that more people get to keep more of
their hard earned cash, raising the | 1:10:10 | 1:10:14 | |
personal allowance so that a basic
rate taxpayer is £1000 better off, | 1:10:14 | 1:10:20 | |
raising the national living wage to
ensure that people are | 1:10:20 | 1:10:24 | |
significantly, thousands of pounds
better off than in 2010. It is | 1:10:24 | 1:10:28 | |
absolutely vital that the government
does everything we can to ensure | 1:10:28 | 1:10:31 | |
people can afford to live well. | 1:10:31 | 1:10:42 | |
In Taunton Deane, they borrowed a
fortune to do up their headquarters, | 1:10:42 | 1:10:45 | |
which affects my constituency. They
have not only not signed a contract, | 1:10:45 | 1:10:50 | |
which I think is illegal and pretty
silly, but they are pouring so much | 1:10:50 | 1:10:54 | |
money, it's only going to be valued
at what half what they borrowed. | 1:10:54 | 1:11:01 | |
Could we have a debate on borough
councils? Can I ask if he consulted | 1:11:01 | 1:11:07 | |
the honourable member for Taunton
Deane in advance of asking this | 1:11:07 | 1:11:10 | |
question? If he didn't, it is rather
unseemly. I did, I sent an e-mail. | 1:11:10 | 1:11:21 | |
Yes... I'm not sure that's very
collegiate, to be honest. But I will | 1:11:21 | 1:11:26 | |
have to leave members on the same
side of the house to sort these | 1:11:26 | 1:11:29 | |
matters out. Can I gently say, there
is genuinely a slight unseemly nurse | 1:11:29 | 1:11:40 | |
about continued reference to another
member's constituency. In the | 1:11:40 | 1:11:45 | |
politest possible way, I would
exhort the honourable gentleman, who | 1:11:45 | 1:11:48 | |
I'm sure has a fertile minds and a
wide range of potential political | 1:11:48 | 1:11:52 | |
interests, perhaps to focus on some
of the other interests, rather than | 1:11:52 | 1:11:58 | |
on those, which might affect his
constituency, I don't dispute that, | 1:11:58 | 1:12:03 | |
but which most certainly affect
those of his, if I could remind him, | 1:12:03 | 1:12:10 | |
honourable friend. The Leader of the
House. Thank you. I encourage my | 1:12:10 | 1:12:16 | |
honourable friend to take this up
with GG LC ministers. My constituent | 1:12:16 | 1:12:24 | |
was trafficked to the UK as a child
and forced to work in a cannabis | 1:12:24 | 1:12:30 | |
factory. But the Home Office want to
send him back to the Nam. So could | 1:12:30 | 1:12:35 | |
we please have a debate on the
interaction between the protection | 1:12:35 | 1:12:40 | |
of victims of modern slavery and the
Asylum and immigration system? She | 1:12:40 | 1:12:48 | |
raises what sounds like a very
concerning case, and of course, for | 1:12:48 | 1:12:52 | |
all of us as constituency MPs, week
to raise particular cases with the | 1:12:52 | 1:12:58 | |
Home Office. I'm sure they will be
happy to look again at this case and | 1:12:58 | 1:13:01 | |
if she wants to e-mail me about it,
I can take it up with them on her | 1:13:01 | 1:13:05 | |
behalf. The Community Security Trust
has published there are no report, | 1:13:05 | 1:13:14 | |
showing a growth of anti-Semitic
attacks in this country, and it's a | 1:13:14 | 1:13:18 | |
pernicious growth of anti-Semitism
generally. At the same time, the | 1:13:18 | 1:13:21 | |
chief inspector of schools is making
a speech today about the growth of | 1:13:21 | 1:13:25 | |
religious extremism in our schools.
Could we have a debate on how we | 1:13:25 | 1:13:29 | |
combat religious extremism and its
pernicious attacks on people's | 1:13:29 | 1:13:34 | |
religion? He raises a very
concerning story. We will all have | 1:13:34 | 1:13:41 | |
heard in the press recently about
the rise in anti-Semitic attacks and | 1:13:41 | 1:13:47 | |
words, which can also be extremely
hurtful. He is right to suggest a | 1:13:47 | 1:13:51 | |
debate and I do encourage him to
perhaps topped the backbench | 1:13:51 | 1:13:56 | |
business committee about posting a
debate so all members can share | 1:13:56 | 1:13:58 | |
their views on this. The government
has expressed its support for | 1:13:58 | 1:14:08 | |
refugees and I now support is being,
funding is being reviewed. I know | 1:14:08 | 1:14:14 | |
that time is running out for some
places. Could she allows government | 1:14:14 | 1:14:20 | |
time, so we have time to assess what
urgent steps can be taken to avoid | 1:14:20 | 1:14:24 | |
any closures? What I can say is that
we have committed £40 million until | 1:14:24 | 1:14:33 | |
2020 and we have delivered support
to 80 domestic abuse refuges across | 1:14:33 | 1:14:40 | |
England. She's raising an issue that
is at the heart of government | 1:14:40 | 1:14:45 | |
priorities, which is why we've
committed to creating a draft bill. | 1:14:45 | 1:14:51 | |
We've created new stocking offences
and will continue to take action. | 1:14:51 | 1:15:02 | |
Next Tuesday is Safer Internet Day
and on Monday, I will be visiting a | 1:15:02 | 1:15:09 | |
primary school in my constituency to
find out more about promoting safe | 1:15:09 | 1:15:17 | |
use among pupils. That is concern
about what's happening online, so | 1:15:17 | 1:15:20 | |
could we have a debate to consider
what measures we can take to keep | 1:15:20 | 1:15:23 | |
our young people safe? I
congratulate him for raising such an | 1:15:23 | 1:15:29 | |
important issue. I hope he enjoys
his visit to his school. The | 1:15:29 | 1:15:33 | |
government for the supporters Safer
Internet Day. Schools will be joined | 1:15:33 | 1:15:42 | |
by charities, businesses, football
clubs and police forces. The day is | 1:15:42 | 1:15:44 | |
marked in 100 countries worldwide to
help children everywhere remain safe | 1:15:44 | 1:15:50 | |
online. I'm sure she will be aware
of what's been happening with equal | 1:15:50 | 1:16:07 | |
pay for women at the BBC. Will she
take the lead over pensions denied | 1:16:07 | 1:16:13 | |
to a woman over a certain age? He
raises an issue that has been raised | 1:16:13 | 1:16:21 | |
in this house many, many times.
Conservatives and government | 1:16:21 | 1:16:24 | |
committed over £1 billion to
supporting those affected so that no | 1:16:24 | 1:16:29 | |
one will see their pension age
change by more than 18 months. The | 1:16:29 | 1:16:33 | |
new state pension is going to be
much more generous for many women. | 1:16:33 | 1:16:38 | |
By 2030, of 3 million women stand to
gain an average of £550 extra per | 1:16:38 | 1:16:42 | |
year. | 1:16:42 | 1:16:52 | |
I'm very grateful. I'm sure that my
honourable friend will share the | 1:16:55 | 1:16:59 | |
concern and the Saudis and we had
yesterday in Redditch that our local | 1:16:59 | 1:17:03 | |
Marks & Spencer is closing. I'm
delighted that those employees will | 1:17:03 | 1:17:07 | |
find alternative jobs, but it is
very sad, because it is the last | 1:17:07 | 1:17:11 | |
food shop in town centre and is
badly needed. Can we have a debate, | 1:17:11 | 1:17:17 | |
because how we work together with
council colleagues to create vibrant | 1:17:17 | 1:17:21 | |
town centres that are communities
where everyone to enjoy intimate and | 1:17:21 | 1:17:24 | |
to work? She's a huge champion for
her constituency and now she has her | 1:17:24 | 1:17:31 | |
own vision for a sustainable and
thriving town centre in Redditch. I | 1:17:31 | 1:17:36 | |
do share her concern. It's always a
shame when a much loved and use | 1:17:36 | 1:17:40 | |
shock causes any town centre and I
encourage her to do all she can to | 1:17:40 | 1:17:45 | |
revitalise that time. Nottingham was
not selected as one of Sport England | 1:17:45 | 1:17:55 | |
pilot areas for new models of
activity, but not in people have | 1:17:55 | 1:18:00 | |
developed lots of good ideas and
with their typical fortitude, we | 1:18:00 | 1:18:03 | |
will be making those ideas happen
anyway that we can. Will the Leader | 1:18:03 | 1:18:09 | |
of the House supporters in this
venture by accommodating a | 1:18:09 | 1:18:12 | |
discussion on parliamentary time? I
congratulate him for the innovative | 1:18:12 | 1:18:17 | |
nature of the effort to raise
sporting activities in Nottingham | 1:18:17 | 1:18:23 | |
and also for his desire to see a
debate on government time. I | 1:18:23 | 1:18:27 | |
encourage him to seek an adjournment
debate with a sports Minister might | 1:18:27 | 1:18:30 | |
be able to give him some specific
tips. Yesterday in Westminster Hall, | 1:18:30 | 1:18:38 | |
there was consideration given to the
terrible situation facing disabled | 1:18:38 | 1:18:43 | |
people in North West Durham and
across the UK, when being assessed | 1:18:43 | 1:18:48 | |
for their Personal Independence
Payments. Many members or not heard | 1:18:48 | 1:18:54 | |
at the debate because demand was so
high. That the Leader of the House | 1:18:54 | 1:18:59 | |
advise how we can have this urgent
situation facing disabled people | 1:18:59 | 1:19:01 | |
heard in government time? I
understood that there was a fairly | 1:19:01 | 1:19:09 | |
well attended debate yesterday, and
it's quite right that there should | 1:19:09 | 1:19:12 | |
be. What I can say to the honourable
lady is that she should welcome the | 1:19:12 | 1:19:16 | |
fact that we have seen almost
600,000 more disabled people able to | 1:19:16 | 1:19:22 | |
come into the workforce over the
last four years, with 3.5 million | 1:19:22 | 1:19:27 | |
disabled people now in work. That is
good news, and what's that PIP | 1:19:27 | 1:19:33 | |
benefit is designed to do is to give
people more power over how the user | 1:19:33 | 1:19:37 | |
benefits to support their lifestyle
and their ability to make the most | 1:19:37 | 1:19:40 | |
of all the opportunities that they
have. Can we have a debate on | 1:19:40 | 1:19:50 | |
banning the use of plastic straws. I
visited a primary school who are | 1:19:50 | 1:19:56 | |
doing sterling work to ban the use
of plastic straws. These people will | 1:19:56 | 1:20:01 | |
be here a lot longer than we will.
Will the government take action? I | 1:20:01 | 1:20:07 | |
certainly shared his enthusiasm for
doing more to reduce plastics in all | 1:20:07 | 1:20:10 | |
of the things we use, whether it's
recyclable cups, whether it's any | 1:20:10 | 1:20:15 | |
form of plastics. The government has
taken strong action in banning micro | 1:20:15 | 1:20:19 | |
beads in certain cosmetics and body
wash products. There is a lot more | 1:20:19 | 1:20:23 | |
to do in protecting our marine
areas, where 80% of our plastic | 1:20:23 | 1:20:28 | |
send-up, so this government will be
committed to doing everything we can | 1:20:28 | 1:20:32 | |
to our environment. Nairn, Granton
and Aviemore in my constituency are | 1:20:32 | 1:20:41 | |
just three of the Highland towns
will be negatively affected by The | 1:20:41 | 1:20:45 | |
Royal Bank of Scotland's planned
branch closures. Given that the UK | 1:20:45 | 1:20:49 | |
Government is a major shareholder,
in addition to the plans debate, can | 1:20:49 | 1:20:52 | |
we have a statement on the
government's responsibility for the | 1:20:52 | 1:20:57 | |
range of responsibilities the
government has for holding shares on | 1:20:57 | 1:21:00 | |
behalf of the public? He will be
aware that the Secretary of State | 1:21:00 | 1:21:09 | |
for Scotland has raised the concerns
of the house in his meeting with RBS | 1:21:09 | 1:21:12 | |
recently. You will also be aware, as
has been mentioned in this house | 1:21:12 | 1:21:15 | |
many times, that we have established
the access to banking standard to | 1:21:15 | 1:21:20 | |
make sure that is proper
consultation before there is any | 1:21:20 | 1:21:24 | |
closure of any branch. He will also
be aware that the government has | 1:21:24 | 1:21:28 | |
invested significantly in the post
office network, and that around 99% | 1:21:28 | 1:21:33 | |
of personal customers will be able
to carry out their day-to-day | 1:21:33 | 1:21:36 | |
banking at a post office as a result
of new agreements facilitated by | 1:21:36 | 1:21:40 | |
government. We know it is government
policy to replace sold council | 1:21:40 | 1:21:50 | |
houses need a one-to-one basis. A
three bed semi in my constituency | 1:21:50 | 1:21:55 | |
was recently sold for just £27,000.
The council possibly replace a house | 1:21:55 | 1:22:01 | |
with that much money, unless it is
made of Lego. Across the country, or | 1:22:01 | 1:22:06 | |
make one in five council houses are
sold in being replaced. Can we have | 1:22:06 | 1:22:12 | |
a statement about how this policy
can be put into practice? What I | 1:22:12 | 1:22:18 | |
would say is that it is important
that any money raised goes back into | 1:22:18 | 1:22:24 | |
social housing and affordable
housing, but what I can reassure him | 1:22:24 | 1:22:28 | |
is that the government's own
investment in social, council and | 1:22:28 | 1:22:33 | |
low-cost homes is no more than £9
billion. We have delivered about | 1:22:33 | 1:22:40 | |
350,000 new affordable homes. That
number needs to continue to rise, | 1:22:40 | 1:22:44 | |
but the government is committed to
making sure that everybody has a | 1:22:44 | 1:22:47 | |
secure a decent home to live in.
Companies like Bright house charge | 1:22:47 | 1:22:56 | |
eye watering interest rates when
essential goods. The financial | 1:22:56 | 1:23:02 | |
conduct authority have just revealed
that the average debt for their | 1:23:02 | 1:23:06 | |
customers has doubled. Can we have a
statement and real action from the | 1:23:06 | 1:23:11 | |
government and the FCA to keep this
sector in check? He raises a very | 1:23:11 | 1:23:18 | |
concerning point about the debts
that people get into by using these | 1:23:18 | 1:23:23 | |
high-cost lenders to facilitate the
purchase of essential white goods | 1:23:23 | 1:23:26 | |
and furniture and so on. I know from
my time as city minister that the | 1:23:26 | 1:23:32 | |
FCA takes this incredibly seriously.
They have capped the interest rates | 1:23:32 | 1:23:37 | |
such companies are allowed to charge
and they are doing further work to | 1:23:37 | 1:23:40 | |
make sure we protect consumers from
the practices of some of those | 1:23:40 | 1:23:44 | |
companies. Now that the house has
maybe in principle decision on what | 1:23:44 | 1:23:52 | |
we're going to do about restoration
and renewal, can I ask the reader to | 1:23:52 | 1:23:57 | |
get together her ministerial
colleagues in the Department for | 1:23:57 | 1:24:00 | |
business and work and pensions, to
put together the parliamentary | 1:24:00 | 1:24:03 | |
skills strategy, because we will
meet thousands of people working on | 1:24:03 | 1:24:06 | |
this building, who will meet
high-tech engineering skills and | 1:24:06 | 1:24:12 | |
craft trade schools, which presently
are not available in this country. | 1:24:12 | 1:24:15 | |
This is an opportunity for every
single constituency to have | 1:24:15 | 1:24:19 | |
apprenticeships working here on the
building. Firstly, I would like to | 1:24:19 | 1:24:26 | |
congratulate him for his tenacity
and also I'd like to congratulate | 1:24:26 | 1:24:30 | |
his honourable friend, the chairman
of the Public Accounts Committee for | 1:24:30 | 1:24:35 | |
succeeding in her amendment
yesterday. I'm delighted the house | 1:24:35 | 1:24:39 | |
voted to take action. There are huge
opportunities, already been | 1:24:39 | 1:24:44 | |
fulfilled in some cases. For
example, as he will know, the | 1:24:44 | 1:24:48 | |
reverse of the cast iron roofs being
carried out in the United Kingdom. | 1:24:48 | 1:24:52 | |
There will be lots of opportunities
for new apprenticeships. I can | 1:24:52 | 1:24:56 | |
assure him that I will be taking
every opportunity to create jobs for | 1:24:56 | 1:25:01 | |
young UK people. | 1:25:01 | 1:25:05 | |
With £15 million available in year
one, Scottish organisations were | 1:25:09 | 1:25:13 | |
given just two weeks notice before
the fund closed and Sport Relief | 1:25:13 | 1:25:19 | |
invited 45 institutions to a
meeting. With the year three | 1:25:19 | 1:25:25 | |
criteria making it almost impossible
for Scottish organisations to apply, | 1:25:25 | 1:25:29 | |
isn't it time this fund was
devolved? I think the honourable | 1:25:29 | 1:25:34 | |
gentleman raises an important point.
If he would like to e-mail me with | 1:25:34 | 1:25:38 | |
details about that, I could write to
the Department on his behalf. On the | 1:25:38 | 1:25:47 | |
3rd of November, I wrote to the
Secretary of State for communities | 1:25:47 | 1:25:50 | |
and local government about the gas
storage facility plans in my | 1:25:50 | 1:25:54 | |
constituency. I am still waiting on
a reply to this letter. Will the | 1:25:54 | 1:25:58 | |
Leader of the House look into this
on my behalf? Yes, I will certainly | 1:25:58 | 1:26:02 | |
do so. Today, BT open Reach
announced plans to roll out fibre | 1:26:02 | 1:26:11 | |
broadband to 3 million homes by
2020. Far too often slow action is | 1:26:11 | 1:26:17 | |
followed by a new announcement and
this is an issue of growing urgency. | 1:26:17 | 1:26:20 | |
Not just outside London but pockets
of my constituency suffer from very | 1:26:20 | 1:26:25 | |
slow broadband speeds. It is having
a huge impact on businesses and also | 1:26:25 | 1:26:31 | |
students wanting to study at home.
Could we have an urgent debate on | 1:26:31 | 1:26:38 | |
government time to focus on how we
move from announcements to outcomes, | 1:26:38 | 1:26:43 | |
which will hugely impact the
prosperity, well-being and quality | 1:26:43 | 1:26:46 | |
of life of all of our constituents?
I certainly share the honourable | 1:26:46 | 1:26:52 | |
lady's concerned about pockets with
no broadband. It is absolutely | 1:26:52 | 1:26:56 | |
devastating for people who work from
home, people who just want to study | 1:26:56 | 1:27:00 | |
and so on. It is extremely
difficult. However, it is now | 1:27:00 | 1:27:09 | |
available to 95% of UK homes and
businesses, and that is up from 45% | 1:27:09 | 1:27:15 | |
coverage in 2010. It is not really a
case of action -- announcements with | 1:27:15 | 1:27:19 | |
no action. There is a plan. I share
your frustration and she may wish to | 1:27:19 | 1:27:24 | |
seek a debate so she can hear
first-hand the prospects for the | 1:27:24 | 1:27:27 | |
constituents. A number of residents
in the town of Llangollen in my | 1:27:27 | 1:27:36 | |
constituency are concerned that
there is no Department for Work and | 1:27:36 | 1:27:40 | |
Pensions or careers Wales present in
that town. This means that residents | 1:27:40 | 1:27:45 | |
must travel some considerable
distance. This is not just a problem | 1:27:45 | 1:27:50 | |
for Llangollen, I think it is
nationwide, for many of our rural | 1:27:50 | 1:27:54 | |
communities and small towns across
the UK. Can the Leader of the House | 1:27:54 | 1:27:59 | |
provides time for a debate where we
might seek to persuade the minister | 1:27:59 | 1:28:01 | |
of our case? The honourable lady is
raising an important point for the | 1:28:01 | 1:28:12 | |
constituents. In my constituency,
quite often, there are online | 1:28:12 | 1:28:17 | |
opportunities in libraries and in
town councils to be able to gain | 1:28:17 | 1:28:22 | |
support from DWP, but I can take it
up with the Department or she might | 1:28:22 | 1:28:28 | |
want to seek an adjournment debate.
On the 19th of January, the | 1:28:28 | 1:28:37 | |
Parliamentary Undersecretary of
State for education told a house | 1:28:37 | 1:28:40 | |
that the government is launching
local pilot schemes to combat | 1:28:40 | 1:28:44 | |
holiday hunger amongst our poorest
children. As proposed by my right | 1:28:44 | 1:28:48 | |
honourable friend, the member for
Birkenhead, using a small fraction | 1:28:48 | 1:28:52 | |
of the £530 million the Treasury
expects to raise from April from the | 1:28:52 | 1:28:58 | |
sugary drinks levy would be an
excellent use of this money in | 1:28:58 | 1:29:01 | |
places like my constituency. Given
the obvious merits of getting pilots | 1:29:01 | 1:29:05 | |
and way as quickly as possible for
this summer's long holidays, can we | 1:29:05 | 1:29:08 | |
please have a statement on how you
apply for these pilots from the | 1:29:08 | 1:29:14 | |
Department for Education? I think
members across the House will be | 1:29:14 | 1:29:20 | |
delighted to hear of those pilot
schemes and I do pay tribute to the | 1:29:20 | 1:29:25 | |
right honourable member for
Birkenhead for his commitment to | 1:29:25 | 1:29:27 | |
making progress in that area. I will
certainly ask the Department her | 1:29:27 | 1:29:32 | |
question and see whether they can
provide a further update to the | 1:29:32 | 1:29:35 | |
House. In Bristol, a case has arisen
of restaurant owners charging their | 1:29:35 | 1:29:43 | |
waiters and waitresses to work by
demanding that their waiters | 1:29:43 | 1:29:49 | |
themselves pay a percentage of the
total price of orders that they sell | 1:29:49 | 1:29:53 | |
to customers regardless of tips
received. This employer 's tax on | 1:29:53 | 1:29:58 | |
working is then being used to pay
their wages. Remarkably, I'm into | 1:29:58 | 1:30:02 | |
right that this is legal. Can we
have a debate to decide whether this | 1:30:02 | 1:30:06 | |
needs to change. Well, that sounds
quite extraordinary and I would | 1:30:06 | 1:30:13 | |
encourage the honourable gentleman
to take that with the Home Office in | 1:30:13 | 1:30:19 | |
terms of whether it is actually
legal or not. That seems to me to be | 1:30:19 | 1:30:23 | |
an extraordinary account. It is a
great privilege with many members of | 1:30:23 | 1:30:32 | |
this House to represent Britain's
great cities in this House but I was | 1:30:32 | 1:30:36 | |
alarmed to read a recent report by
the new statement -- new statesman | 1:30:36 | 1:30:43 | |
that many cities are lacking
significantly behind our European | 1:30:43 | 1:30:47 | |
peers in terms of productivity.
Sometimes half the rate of cities | 1:30:47 | 1:30:51 | |
like Munich, Seville or Barcelona.
Will the leaders of the House call a | 1:30:51 | 1:30:55 | |
debate to work out what the
government is doing to address this | 1:30:55 | 1:30:58 | |
in balance and make sure our cities
are competing with their European | 1:30:58 | 1:31:01 | |
peers. The honourable gentleman
raises an important point and he | 1:31:01 | 1:31:06 | |
will be please no doubt that in the
budget we announced a £1.7 billion | 1:31:06 | 1:31:10 | |
investment in the transforming
cities fund, specifically develop | 1:31:10 | 1:31:16 | |
transport infrastructure which adds
so much to productivity. He may be | 1:31:16 | 1:31:20 | |
aware that the north-eastern
Scotland have seen faster | 1:31:20 | 1:31:23 | |
productivity growth than London
since 2010 and so while there is a | 1:31:23 | 1:31:28 | |
long way to go, it is quite clear
that to our initiatives, such as the | 1:31:28 | 1:31:34 | |
northern Powerhouse, we are
committed to ensuring that we see | 1:31:34 | 1:31:36 | |
growth and a | 1:31:36 | 1:31:37 |