14/12/2015

:00:17. > :00:23.Order. Questions to be Secretary of State for Communities and Local

:00:24. > :00:28.Government. Question number one, Mr Speaker. Hear, hear!

:00:29. > :00:39.Thank you Mr Speaker. The northern powerhouse is running across the

:00:40. > :00:42.departments. The northern powerhouse investment fund, ?400 billion, the

:00:43. > :00:45.devolution deals that are being agreed right across the north of

:00:46. > :00:48.England and of course the doubling of the enterprise lands in the

:00:49. > :00:53.northern powerhouse that were announced at the spending review by

:00:54. > :00:58.my right, Noble friend. Earlier this year the government invested over

:00:59. > :01:03.?113 million in high-performance computing in my constituency. A

:01:04. > :01:09.joint venture between the science and technology for facilities

:01:10. > :01:12.Council and IBM, bringing high wage job. Does my right honourable friend

:01:13. > :01:16.agree that investment in technology and science is key to be growth of

:01:17. > :01:21.the northern powerhouse? I command my honourable friend's important

:01:22. > :01:26.significant work in this area. Is a passionate advocate for this. This

:01:27. > :01:29.is one more example of the investment does government is

:01:30. > :01:32.putting in in order to build the northern powerhouse to read powers

:01:33. > :01:37.our economy. -- rebalance our economy. Information spending is

:01:38. > :01:40.being it protected and we are investing in the economic growth of

:01:41. > :01:45.the future and this is a great example of that. He deserves

:01:46. > :01:51.commendation for the work he has done in delivering it. When is the

:01:52. > :01:56.government going to stop patronizing the North? We are a powerhouse. You

:01:57. > :01:58.must be investment in it infrastructure. We are the people

:01:59. > :02:01.who still make things in the country. We make the wealth of this

:02:02. > :02:07.country. Many of people in this part of the world live parasitically on

:02:08. > :02:14.our efforts! Stop patronizing! Start investing! I welcome the honourable

:02:15. > :02:17.member's enthusiasm for the northern powerhouse as a project. This

:02:18. > :02:21.government is recognising the potential of the North to drive our

:02:22. > :02:24.economy. The difference that the North can make if it is invested in

:02:25. > :02:27.and crucially if people in the North are given real control over their

:02:28. > :02:31.own future. That is what we are doing and what the devolution agenda

:02:32. > :02:35.is about and what the investment I have spoken about are about. We will

:02:36. > :02:42.deliver it and big a big difference to his constituents and mine. Thank

:02:43. > :02:44.you Mr Speaker. On this question, can he tell me what sport he is

:02:45. > :02:49.giving to small businesses within the northern powerhouse? Should they

:02:50. > :02:55.benefit from all procurements that are coming from that? The northern

:02:56. > :02:58.powerhouse investment fund, that ?400 million, will be targeted

:02:59. > :03:01.specifically at small and medium enterprises. We've got growth hubs

:03:02. > :03:07.across the North which are driving out investment. You will see our big

:03:08. > :03:09.industries succeed and thrive the economy, but small and medium

:03:10. > :03:14.enterprises are important as well. We want to invest and give local

:03:15. > :03:21.people the support they need. Thank him for his answer. He will be aware

:03:22. > :03:35.that Scottish government procure compared to the UK government's

:03:36. > :03:38.four. -- 26%. City deals can be drivers for growth. I welcome those

:03:39. > :03:40.that have already been agreed and we will continue to have talks

:03:41. > :03:44.including with some of the great cities and city regions in Scotland

:03:45. > :03:47.about where we can go further and what more we can do. I hope that we

:03:48. > :03:50.can and do course in Livermore because we can already see the

:03:51. > :04:00.difference those deals are making -- Livermore. On behalf of my

:04:01. > :04:04.constituency we think those who are helping now, those areas in the

:04:05. > :04:09.north, so badly reflected -- affected by the recent flooding. The

:04:10. > :04:15.LNS recently reported that the North is falling further behind as a

:04:16. > :04:20.result of poor investment -- ONS. It is getting worse. The average

:04:21. > :04:26.business now produces ?42,000 a year undervalue while in the Northeast

:04:27. > :04:32.the averages on ?18,000. Any place of more cuts will he now includes

:04:33. > :04:38.afflicted Dominic specific -- will he include specific is apples later

:04:39. > :04:41.this week? The right honourable member raises the important point

:04:42. > :04:45.that our E economy has for too long been unbalanced. The northern

:04:46. > :04:55.powerhouse as a project is to invest an additional weakening Mark --

:04:56. > :04:58.answer weekend, the potential. We will see that that investment is

:04:59. > :05:01.going in, but more importantly going hand-in-hand with local control,

:05:02. > :05:04.giving it to the people who know best how to grow the economies of

:05:05. > :05:12.the North because they live in them and they are part the. -- they are

:05:13. > :05:19.part of them. Stephan Phillips. Where is the fellow? Mr Andy

:05:20. > :05:23.McDonald. Thank you Mr Speaker. I will answer questions three and six

:05:24. > :05:27.together. Authorities have continued to provide an excellent service

:05:28. > :05:32.whilst making sensible savings. The number of incidents is 42% lower

:05:33. > :05:37.than ten years ago and fire deaths and injuries are at an all-time low.

:05:38. > :05:45.The existing grant distribution formula disproportionately penalizes

:05:46. > :05:50.authorities such as Cleveland, regardless of industrial risk and

:05:51. > :05:53.other performance. Can he explain what assessment will be made to

:05:54. > :05:57.identify less efficient authorities who can make surveys and more

:05:58. > :06:00.importantly what capacity these authorities have to make further

:06:01. > :06:06.savings? I'm grateful for his question. Can I use it as an

:06:07. > :06:09.opportunity to pay tribute to the magnificent work of firefighters,

:06:10. > :06:13.who with the other emergency services, can counsel staff

:06:14. > :06:17.engineers and Armed Forces and the whole community have worked

:06:18. > :06:20.tirelessly to protect and help people during the flooding in the

:06:21. > :06:25.north of England. On the particular question that the honourable

:06:26. > :06:29.gentleman asked, fire authorities have said had spending reductions of

:06:30. > :06:32.less than local authorities over the last five years of copy at a copy as

:06:33. > :06:37.given in the figures of how they performed very well and managed

:06:38. > :06:44.those cuts. The National Audit Office has said that the picture is

:06:45. > :06:47.one of financial health. What I would say in relation to his

:06:48. > :06:53.particular case is that the spending power in Cleveland for example, for

:06:54. > :06:57.the fire authority, is ?48 ahead of the population compared to ?37 that

:06:58. > :07:03.is the national average. That is reflected in the formula. I'm sure

:07:04. > :07:06.the Minister will know he has ornamented over the years there have

:07:07. > :07:14.been cuts to the fire service. And he has mentioned the point that fire

:07:15. > :07:17.service... Protect the work they are doing in places like Cumberland. So

:07:18. > :07:20.that should be working on decent wages. What guarantee can he make

:07:21. > :07:28.that local fire and rescue services will not be negatively impacted if

:07:29. > :07:33.taken over by local PC sees? As he knows there is a consultation out

:07:34. > :07:38.across the country on whether we should remove some of the barriers

:07:39. > :07:41.to a better local collaboration between all of the blue light

:07:42. > :07:47.services. That is to be initiated locally. It is to make it possible

:07:48. > :07:53.if they want to. And for the purpose of providing a better service if

:07:54. > :07:55.those changes would help. Can the Secretary of State confirm to the

:07:56. > :07:58.House that greater collaboration between the fire services and the

:07:59. > :08:04.police services, necessary to reduce costs, will not indent this tension

:08:05. > :08:08.between firefighters and police going forward? I can confirm that.

:08:09. > :08:13.They are two students think services -- two distinct services. I think as

:08:14. > :08:16.he would hit New Orleans, the opportunity to work together should

:08:17. > :08:24.be taken when ever that can make a difference to people on the ground

:08:25. > :08:29.-- I think as he would notice. And argument particular to local

:08:30. > :08:36.authorities. With the encouraged Wilshire counsel, conservative

:08:37. > :08:41.control, but I doubt we don't encourage the fire service who have

:08:42. > :08:46.been negotiating with them instead to seek to find common errors of

:08:47. > :08:52.cooperation from the Council? I say, that is an answer for the services

:08:53. > :08:55.locally. The consultation proposes requiring that there is discussions

:08:56. > :08:58.taking place, but what they conclude is up to them.

:08:59. > :09:05.Hear, hear! Thank you Mr Speaker. I would like

:09:06. > :09:11.to pay tribute to my response to be fire and rescue services to the

:09:12. > :09:15.floods in Cumbria and other northern areas. The service are rescuing

:09:16. > :09:21.people who have been at Walter from flooding High streets and homes and

:09:22. > :09:26.rescuing livestock, solidifying damage to rural communities. Yet all

:09:27. > :09:30.those services who are responding have had cuts over the last five

:09:31. > :09:37.years. We've lost nearly 7500 fighters, that's one in eight. And

:09:38. > :09:42.over 12% in the local fire rescue services. Be fire services is a key

:09:43. > :09:46.junction now. Is not safe effective or efficient to keep cutting

:09:47. > :09:49.resources. Does the Secretary of State agree that any further cuts

:09:50. > :09:52.will further the damage the fire and rescue services ability to meet the

:09:53. > :09:58.risk in local major incidents such as the loop recent floods? And will

:09:59. > :10:01.he commit to add the resources so be fire and rescue services can

:10:02. > :10:04.continue to contribute to national resilience on the scale and at the

:10:05. > :10:07.speed that the public aspect? Hear, hear!

:10:08. > :10:12.I draw the honourable ladies attention to be report that was

:10:13. > :10:17.published quite recently. It says the picture of today's is one of

:10:18. > :10:20.financial health and says that fire authorities have not changed

:10:21. > :10:27.emergency response standards as a result of budget cuts. The evidence

:10:28. > :10:35.is when all but one fire authority is increased its reserves during the

:10:36. > :10:39.period from 2010-2015, by 67% in real terms, this tells me that the

:10:40. > :10:49.fire services are coping well with the reductions that they have been

:10:50. > :10:54.made. The Staffordshire fire authority I should say decided to

:10:55. > :10:57.build a brand-new fire station but reduced the appliances to a half of

:10:58. > :11:00.what they presently are. Would he work with Matthew Ellis, the police

:11:01. > :11:05.and crime commissioner and Staffordshire, who has good positive

:11:06. > :11:09.plans to combine the police and fire service for the betterment of the

:11:10. > :11:12.whole County? Hear, hear! That is the purpose of the

:11:13. > :11:16.consultation that we have embarked on to remove the barriers that have

:11:17. > :11:19.prevented that kind of collaboration. I'm interested to see

:11:20. > :11:25.what he has to say about the proposals and Staffordshire. Thank

:11:26. > :11:31.you Mr Speaker. Minister Brendan Lewis. With permissions I will

:11:32. > :11:38.answer questions four, 13, and 18 together. We have delivered 270,000

:11:39. > :11:44.affordable homes since 2010. Specifically, the 2011-15 affordable

:11:45. > :11:52.homes around delivered 192,000, it exceeding expectations -23,000 homes

:11:53. > :11:59.-- 193,000 homes. Is not surprising he is growing about this am a but I

:12:00. > :12:04.can assure him that ?250,000 is not considered affordable. Will be

:12:05. > :12:07.definition of affordability be changed based on the income in that

:12:08. > :12:15.market rate? I will say she is referring to be massive Orr maximum

:12:16. > :12:21.price. -- the maximum price. Want to take off that 20% discount we are

:12:22. > :12:25.going to be doing, it actually helps buying home affordable for more

:12:26. > :12:31.people again. Hear, hear! In Worcester, up courting to Council

:12:32. > :12:35.figures 216 new affordable homes in the last financial year, a record of

:12:36. > :12:37.any year since 1997. It was delivered by the conservative

:12:38. > :12:49.administration the year after a labour and live them -- Liberal

:12:50. > :12:52.Democrats delivered fewer. A good example of a good well-worn local

:12:53. > :12:55.authority delivering housing for its local constituents. We are

:12:56. > :12:58.determined to stand by those authorities and work with them. That

:12:59. > :13:04.is why in the spending review I am delighted that ?1 billion was given

:13:05. > :13:10.to deliver 4000 affordable homes across the country -- ?8 billion.

:13:11. > :13:16.Given the property crisis in London, exceeded half ?1 million, first time

:13:17. > :13:19.buyers will need to learn that ?70,000 is needed to buy their first

:13:20. > :13:23.home. Does the Minister consider this affordable? And is not what is

:13:24. > :13:27.he going to do to put homeownership in the reach of the many and not

:13:28. > :13:30.just the few at the top? And that the honourable gentleman is now

:13:31. > :13:37.joining our cause and wanted to make sure we build more homes that are

:13:38. > :13:41.affordable for people to buy. 67% six 2010 is a good start. We want to

:13:42. > :13:45.go further. That is why we want to deliver more, giving people a wider

:13:46. > :13:52.opportunity to get onto the housing market. Also homes we have helped to

:13:53. > :13:57.buy records in just a 5% deposit. Some members opposite believe that

:13:58. > :14:02.homes can be made more affordable, for example in London, by returning

:14:03. > :14:05.to be bad old days of rent control. Can I ask the ministers and many

:14:06. > :14:09.others in this house that the government has no intention of

:14:10. > :14:15.giving any future mayor powers to be able to reintroduce rent control in

:14:16. > :14:19.London? Hear, hear! As my honourable friend will know we

:14:20. > :14:21.are keen to see more and more devolution and localism of power,

:14:22. > :14:26.but I am happy to say to him that this government will not allow it to

:14:27. > :14:31.fall into a trap after the party opposite encouraged me to do. The

:14:32. > :14:34.reality is that rent control drives the pie down and actually ends up

:14:35. > :14:39.looking rents up. So we are against and will not be doing that under

:14:40. > :14:42.this government. Hear, hear! Thank you Mr Speaker. The Minister

:14:43. > :14:45.has talked about extra housing investment. I wouldn't want him or

:14:46. > :14:49.the chancellor who has set the same thing to mislead the House. After

:14:50. > :14:56.the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, the annual housing investment for

:14:57. > :15:02.the government will be ?1.7 million. -- one 7p. At the money inherited in

:15:03. > :15:12.2010 from labour it was the 1p. Not an increase, but a cuts. Not a

:15:13. > :15:15.doubling, but almost a have. Maybe this is why his government has built

:15:16. > :15:20.30,000 fewer affordable homes to buy Varosha home ownership than Labour

:15:21. > :15:24.did in the last five years Hear, hear!

:15:25. > :15:27.I'm somewhat surprised the honourable gentleman raised the

:15:28. > :15:31.question. The lowest level of housing in this country since the

:15:32. > :15:34.1920s, as well be Chancellor has not done under this government is now

:15:35. > :15:39.seeing the biggest building programme in about 30 years. He's

:15:40. > :15:43.wrong on the big picture as well. Under our national affordable

:15:44. > :15:47.housing programme the number of homes built each year was bigger

:15:48. > :15:52.than his under the last government. The hard truth is that for so many

:15:53. > :15:56.people, the dreams of buying their own homes are totally unaffordable

:15:57. > :16:01.and out of reach. Now he plans to fiddle the figures again by changing

:16:02. > :16:10.the definition of affordable to include so-called starter homes that

:16:11. > :16:15.can be sold at up to ?450,000. So with the at least agree with Labour

:16:16. > :16:18.and the building societies Association that the discount on

:16:19. > :16:24.these starter homes should be permanent. Not a windfall cash at

:16:25. > :16:29.the end of five years, but there for the next generation of first time

:16:30. > :16:35.buyers as well. Hear, hear! Afraid the honourable gentleman, I

:16:36. > :16:38.have a big disagreement. He seems to want to stop Property owners having

:16:39. > :16:40.the right to deal with their property in the way that any other

:16:41. > :16:44.property owner would. We want to support people to buy their own home

:16:45. > :16:47.and that is why we want to keep building more for people at that

:16:48. > :16:51.discount for first time buyers and we are proud that under this, the

:16:52. > :16:57.conservative led Coalition, we saw an increase in affordable homes

:16:58. > :17:00.unlike the loss of 420,000 we saw in the years of Labour. Question number

:17:01. > :17:08.five, Mr Speaker. The Autumn Statement did come from

:17:09. > :17:13.?1 billion for over 400,000 affordable homes including the

:17:14. > :17:19.shared ownership homes and ?2.3 billion towards delivering 200,000

:17:20. > :17:24.starter homes. And held to by steam loss on the 1st of December, means

:17:25. > :17:28.it has been extended through 2021. That means just a 40% equity is

:17:29. > :17:35.being provided by the government for people in London and that will be

:17:36. > :17:41.launched in 2016. I was pleased to recently attend the opening of

:17:42. > :17:44.prospect housing. New development of 11 Apartments meant for shared

:17:45. > :17:48.ownership and I will cover the notions introduced to expand this

:17:49. > :17:52.being. Can ask the Minister what steps he is taking to encourage

:17:53. > :17:55.local authority to build more shared ownership housing and ensure these

:17:56. > :18:03.developments utilised Brownfield sites was back very happy. We will

:18:04. > :18:05.relax on the move. Local authority restrictions to shared ownership to

:18:06. > :18:11.make it easier for people to find the right home for their families.

:18:12. > :18:15.Brownfield also has limited housing and we are committed to ensure that

:18:16. > :18:23.those sites have planned commission housing by 2020. Number seven.

:18:24. > :18:27.Since 2010 we have delivered to under 70,000 affordable homes,

:18:28. > :18:38.including nearly 200,000 homes for rent. Delivering more homes to every

:18:39. > :18:47.parent who have and investment. Someone 7p to deliver affordable

:18:48. > :18:50.renting homes. Ministers attention to the question I actually asked

:18:51. > :18:55.which is about social renting housing not affordable. Will he

:18:56. > :19:00.confirm that in last moment the only social renting housing built would

:19:01. > :19:03.have been funded before the 2010 General election. And there is no

:19:04. > :19:06.funding at all in this Parliament for social rented housing. Together

:19:07. > :19:12.with the Right to Buy for housing association tenants on the sell-outs

:19:13. > :19:16.of no value properties, to become a nations of those policies mean fewer

:19:17. > :19:19.social renting homes available for people and longer waits on the

:19:20. > :19:25.waiting list for people who want one? Actually there was a 70%

:19:26. > :19:27.increase in social housing waiting list under the last Labour

:19:28. > :19:31.administration. It has actually fallen thanks to flick civilities

:19:32. > :19:36.we've created and effect we more social housing built in the last

:19:37. > :19:44.Parliament than the lads 13 years of labour before that. I encourage

:19:45. > :19:50.local authorities to go forward building more. Thank you Mr Speaker.

:19:51. > :19:53.The building of genuinely affordable homes for social rent and this

:19:54. > :19:59.country has plummeted. No matter how much the Minister tries to dress up

:20:00. > :20:03.the government's doings, his own figures are clear and speak for

:20:04. > :20:09.themselves. In 2010 there were more than 38,000 homes built for social

:20:10. > :20:13.rent, but by 2014 - 15, the figure was a truly dismal line priced at

:20:14. > :20:18.500, with the housing and planning build making it virtually impossible

:20:19. > :20:25.to build homes for social rent. And eight disgraceful sneaking of

:20:26. > :20:28.proposals for local authority tennis. What does this government

:20:29. > :20:31.have against people who rely on social housing to make ends meet was

:20:32. > :20:39.ONS is the Minister going to address the huge shortfall in social

:20:40. > :20:44.housing? I would I withdraw the honourable lady's to a few moments

:20:45. > :20:48.ago when I outlined the last five years of this party's government and

:20:49. > :20:52.that it oversaw more being built in the entire 13 years of labour.

:20:53. > :20:57.Actually, affordable housing drop by 24,000 homes. Still over ?2 billion

:20:58. > :21:00.ahead be required ability for local authorities to go and build more. We

:21:01. > :21:04.have been very clear that we will help everybody who wants to aspire

:21:05. > :21:06.to on their own home through the extension of Right to Buy and

:21:07. > :21:14.delivering starter homes across the country. Viguera the honourable

:21:15. > :21:17.member would be aware of the services of this department are

:21:18. > :21:21.devolved in Scotland. Therefore there are consequences of spending

:21:22. > :21:23.decisions that are made as affecting this department and he's got his

:21:24. > :21:28.government as a result of the spending review. Will see a 14%

:21:29. > :21:33.increase and the capital budget. A statement the Chancellor confirmed

:21:34. > :21:38.extension of Right to Buy for housing associations affected for

:21:39. > :21:42.privatizing them. We are aware that this has decimated social housing

:21:43. > :21:48.stock across the UK, something that the Scottish government has

:21:49. > :21:53.recognised in Scotland. The government, so-called one-for-one

:21:54. > :21:55.replacement, under the new Right to Buy hasn't been funded by the

:21:56. > :21:59.government funding. With the Minister explained what effect these

:22:00. > :22:03.proposals have an housing in Scotland? The honourable member is

:22:04. > :22:06.quite right to point out the at least one-to-one replacement that is

:22:07. > :22:10.the intention of this policy which is welcome by those of us on this

:22:11. > :22:16.side of the House. The spending review announcements will have a

:22:17. > :22:19.violent consequences impact on the government of Scotland's capital

:22:20. > :22:23.budget. That amounts to ?1.9 billion added to the what they already have

:22:24. > :22:26.to ensure the Scottish Government is able to deliver on the things they

:22:27. > :22:30.want to do for Scotland just as we want to deliver on our objectives

:22:31. > :22:32.and manifesto priorities in England and Wales. Hear, hear!

:22:33. > :22:40.Question number ten. Thank you Mr Speaker. There are

:22:41. > :22:42.strict test to protect people and property from flooding with all

:22:43. > :22:45.local councils are expected to follow. These including ensuring new

:22:46. > :22:53.development does not increase flood risk elsewhere. Grateful to be

:22:54. > :22:59.minister for that response. It is my experience that the environment

:23:00. > :23:06.agency often does object planning applications, even in flood areas.

:23:07. > :23:09.Especially where other areas could be caused to flow. Will be secretary

:23:10. > :23:12.of state actually look at the policies and the practice of the

:23:13. > :23:18.environment agency in this respect? I certainly will do what my

:23:19. > :23:21.honourable friend recommends. I recognised his constituency

:23:22. > :23:26.experience and indeed his expertise as Vice Chairman of the all party

:23:27. > :23:35.group on this matter. It is the case that national planning policy in the

:23:36. > :23:38.MPPF says that any new application in an area of flooding risk must

:23:39. > :23:42.demonstrate that the area will be safe for its lifetime and will not

:23:43. > :23:45.increase flood risk elsewhere and will possibly reduce it overall.

:23:46. > :23:51.That test had to be passed for the development to be committed. Thank

:23:52. > :23:54.you Mr Speaker. At the time to recognise the fantastic work that

:23:55. > :24:01.firefighters do invocations of flood. Statutory duty for fire and

:24:02. > :24:08.rescue services to respond to flooding? Hear, hear!

:24:09. > :24:11.I'm grateful. He offers me to pay tribute to the fantastic work that

:24:12. > :24:14.is being done in the north of England, but has been done already

:24:15. > :24:18.years in times of emergency like this right across the country. I

:24:19. > :24:25.will remind the honourable gentleman that any discussions we will have to

:24:26. > :24:29.I will consider the point he has but forward. In my constituency we have

:24:30. > :24:34.a bridge that has been partially washed away and the roles aside it

:24:35. > :24:37.have been caved in because of flooding. Will my honourable friend

:24:38. > :24:40.give us assurances that everything can be done as quickly as possible

:24:41. > :24:53.to make sure this report is put back together as if it's an ad vital

:24:54. > :24:58.place. I appreciate him giving that to his community in response to

:24:59. > :25:03.conditions that have been faced. We are determined to ensure that things

:25:04. > :25:06.are right. We are working closely with the authorities across the

:25:07. > :25:11.areas. The funds that have been made available so far will allow the

:25:12. > :25:14.assessment of what is required for restoration to be made, but then I

:25:15. > :25:20.will be followed with the repairs themselves. Is the secretary of

:25:21. > :25:24.state think it is right that the government are helping new people by

:25:25. > :25:27.their own home through the Help to Buy scheme, but those very same

:25:28. > :25:31.people will not be eligible for the flood insurance and the flood rate

:25:32. > :25:37.that this government is introducing and rent April? The negotiation with

:25:38. > :25:40.the insurance companies has been very clear that we want to make sure

:25:41. > :25:45.that everyone in the country can benefit from the insurance that

:25:46. > :25:56.gives them the peace of mind when they buy a new property.

:25:57. > :26:00.Over 1700 communities are preparing neighbourhood plans to shake of

:26:01. > :26:06.elements and their area. Diesel form part of the development plan and be

:26:07. > :26:12.used to develop application. The reform will speed up and simplify

:26:13. > :26:15.the process and allow people to leave my kitties to better engage in

:26:16. > :26:19.local planning. The Minister will be aware that the planning Inspector

:26:20. > :26:25.has deferred a decision on housing development plan. The ad has actual

:26:26. > :26:33.shirt counsel to come back after a fuel query. What measures will be in

:26:34. > :26:35.place to make sure that we do not have aggressive applications against

:26:36. > :26:43.the best interest of the savagery of the town? Having a 5 euros land

:26:44. > :26:49.supply and plays put local planning authorities and a place to resist

:26:50. > :26:56.unwanted development copy furthermore, national planning...

:26:57. > :27:02.I'm sure her local authority is well aware of that, and will make

:27:03. > :27:11.decisions. Last Thursday as business questions, I raised the case of

:27:12. > :27:17.something in my constituency where a small property that is now privately

:27:18. > :27:22.rented has been converted into a house of multiple occupation, as

:27:23. > :27:27.part of the Asylum dispersal programme. Does the Minister

:27:28. > :27:32.understand the dismay of the neighbours of this property, that

:27:33. > :27:38.the owners are able to circumvent landing and license in regulations

:27:39. > :27:44.because there were only be five people house that property? I cannot

:27:45. > :27:48.comment on an individual case without knowing all of the facts,

:27:49. > :27:52.but I would refer the honourable subsuming to look at the measures

:27:53. > :27:59.that we are breaking through in the housing and planning bill,

:28:00. > :28:03.particularly dealing with landlords. The interpretations of neighbourhood

:28:04. > :28:09.plans has been causing difficulties in the beautiful village of Hook

:28:10. > :28:13.Norton. With the Minister meet with me to discuss how the can ensure

:28:14. > :28:22.that the neighbourhood plan is adhered to? And the great of them is

:28:23. > :28:28.that a Hook Norton is, it is a home to a fantastic brewery. I do hear

:28:29. > :28:31.what he is saying and I will meet with her or I am sure my horrible

:28:32. > :28:39.friend, the housing and planning Minister well. -- honourable. The

:28:40. > :28:46.communities in New York need a family housing built, on the York

:28:47. > :28:50.Central side. We hear that high-value flats will be placed on

:28:51. > :28:57.that side, will the Minister listened to local communities to

:28:58. > :29:00.ensure that their voices prioritise? I think the government has

:29:01. > :29:04.demonstrated that we want local people to have a strong voice to

:29:05. > :29:09.neighbourhood planning and in relation to the issue, the Honorable

:29:10. > :29:12.Lady mentioned, I am sure that is on the record and her local planning

:29:13. > :29:16.authorities should be listening to the concerns and the comments from

:29:17. > :29:21.local residents. In the council areas where there is no adopted

:29:22. > :29:26.local plan, local communities are continually let down by the planning

:29:27. > :29:31.process. Would he give consideration in these circumstances to allow the

:29:32. > :29:36.objectors the right to appeal? I think my Honorable friend makes a

:29:37. > :29:41.very good point. By 2017, we will make sure that all areas have a

:29:42. > :29:45.local planning place, and the housing and planning bill sets out

:29:46. > :29:53.in some detail how we will achieve that. Question number 12. Thank you,

:29:54. > :29:58.the government allow with the Scottish Government is working with

:29:59. > :30:03.the Highland Council to identify opportunities for Highland city

:30:04. > :30:07.region deal. Those discussions are ongoing, they are positive and

:30:08. > :30:10.constructive, I hope they will lead to the outcome that I'm sure the

:30:11. > :30:14.honourable member hopes for. They are right to raise the issue. They

:30:15. > :30:19.are a great driver for growth and help us realise economic potential.

:30:20. > :30:23.That is what we want to see. Highland Council has submitted a

:30:24. > :30:27.detailed plan for the deal investment with the support of the

:30:28. > :30:31.Scottish Government. Will be minister committed to advancing

:30:32. > :30:37.discussions and indicate a timescale for finalizing the process to allow

:30:38. > :30:41.the deal to get under way? Discussions are already under way.

:30:42. > :30:44.Officials met with local representatives on the 2nd of

:30:45. > :30:47.December, we will continue to work through those plans to ensure that

:30:48. > :30:51.they are robust and will deliver what is needed and that they meet

:30:52. > :30:54.the requirement that we look to place on such deals and that they

:30:55. > :30:59.have the support they need in order to continue. We wish to see them

:31:00. > :31:03.progress positively. That is the assurance I can give at this time,

:31:04. > :31:06.these things need to be done properly and thoroughly as they are

:31:07. > :31:12.taking forward. Number 14 Mr Speaker. I will be presented in

:31:13. > :31:18.local government financial settlement for 2016 and one the 17th

:31:19. > :31:21.of the house. I will show how we will lay out a sustainable

:31:22. > :31:27.settlement and pave the way for future reforms, providing growth and

:31:28. > :31:34.efficiency, such as local government has requested. Research by the dose

:31:35. > :31:39.of lounging foundation has so that there are some areas that have great

:31:40. > :31:45.need and have seen a large cuts in government funding. This is broken a

:31:46. > :31:48.historic link. Over the last five years, councils have had severe cuts

:31:49. > :31:54.to their funding while other areas have seen an increase. Forecasts

:31:55. > :31:59.suggest that they will be at least a lost by 2020. What's with the

:32:00. > :32:03.government do to make sure funding for local authorities to reflect the

:32:04. > :32:06.needs of the people who live there? What I would say is that she would

:32:07. > :32:12.wait to see what the settlement has in store. But what she should know,

:32:13. > :32:20.from the last two years is that the spending power for rural, and ?2240

:32:21. > :32:32.per dwelling is 70% above the national average at average. It is

:32:33. > :32:39.higher than it was in 2010. Fistulas in my area, pay an average of ?80

:32:40. > :32:44.more and Council tax, yet receive ?130 length and government funding.

:32:45. > :32:47.This impacts local services. Does the Secretary of State agree it is

:32:48. > :32:55.time to look for fairer funding for all taxpayers? What I would say is

:32:56. > :33:01.that Iraq demise because of the delivering services in areas with a

:33:02. > :33:08.very smart area is high for obvious reasons. The role services delivery

:33:09. > :33:14.Grant was used to reflect those cross. It has been increased since

:33:15. > :33:18.it has been introduced. When we came to make the financial settlement, I

:33:19. > :33:27.will put that in mind as he make the assessment of what is needed? The

:33:28. > :33:34.report found that there was a limited understanding of authorities

:33:35. > :33:37.five sustainability. Can be Secretary and advises house of his

:33:38. > :33:43.understanding of load taxpayer authorities. And the in

:33:44. > :33:48.sustainability with the percentage across the board cut. Does he

:33:49. > :33:52.understand that the removal of the grant completely and the retention

:33:53. > :33:56.of all business tax without distribution will drive these

:33:57. > :34:00.authorities right under the ground? As a former council leader, I would

:34:01. > :34:05.have thought that the honourable lady with the inmate position to

:34:06. > :34:13.welcome the settlement for local government. Not only provided over

:34:14. > :34:16.the course of the four years a protection for the local government.

:34:17. > :34:21.We did what the local government requested which was to make money

:34:22. > :34:25.available for the care of the elderly duties also care preset. I

:34:26. > :34:35.would have thought that her experience would have author of two

:34:36. > :34:39.that. Does this reflect the pressures on top-tier authorities

:34:40. > :34:43.for social care costs and restate the opportunities for greater

:34:44. > :34:49.integration of health and adult social care spending in this area

:34:50. > :34:53.has supported by others? He is absolutely right. I had a

:34:54. > :34:58.communication from the local Government Association that said

:34:59. > :35:02.that they estimated the gap is unaddressed would be to .9 billion

:35:03. > :35:09.in the spending review settlement, the Chancellor allocated three and a

:35:10. > :35:14.half billion to reflect the needs of helping our elderly population. That

:35:15. > :35:17.was a significant result for local government. Has become too big

:35:18. > :35:20.settlement for individual authorities, we will make sure that

:35:21. > :35:30.that is in the hands of local people. At least 340 unaccompanied

:35:31. > :35:34.child asylum seeker disappeared in this country between January and

:35:35. > :35:39.September. That is twice as many as the calendar year before. This leads

:35:40. > :35:43.them at terrifying risk of abuse, sexual exploitation and

:35:44. > :35:47.radicalisation. Councils they funding cuts means that they don't

:35:48. > :35:52.have the resources to protect these children. Why is the government

:35:53. > :35:56.going ahead in these circumstances with a further cut to the

:35:57. > :36:02.unaccompanied child asylum seeker grant? What I would say is that

:36:03. > :36:05.these are important strategy responsibilities of local

:36:06. > :36:08.authorities. It is vital that they do start seven. To the settlement,

:36:09. > :36:11.the Chancellor has made available funds to local government to make

:36:12. > :36:16.sure that the cast supplemented by the end of the period, the financial

:36:17. > :36:23.spending review period is the same as the beginning. That is a positive

:36:24. > :36:28.result for local government. Number 15 Mr Speaker. Thank you Mr Speaker,

:36:29. > :36:34.the number of local authorities that have resettled Syrian of refugees

:36:35. > :36:43.and changes as more arrived. I don't think it is practical to give a

:36:44. > :36:46.number on the authorities participating, around 50 local

:36:47. > :36:53.authorities confirmed places before Christmas. Does the ministers share

:36:54. > :37:04.my concerns about the rise of a phobia in the country filled by

:37:05. > :37:10.right wing of? How should they deal with and how should they support

:37:11. > :37:18.refugees? I do share his concern about Islam a phobia, as far as the

:37:19. > :37:21.refugees who have arrived here, I have gotten nothing but a warm

:37:22. > :37:28.welcome from all parts of the UK. I'm certain that will continue.

:37:29. > :37:32.Local authorities seem to be confused about their role in this,

:37:33. > :37:41.is there anything the Minister can do can add clarity and hurry things

:37:42. > :37:45.along? Dealings with local authorities is on particular cases,

:37:46. > :37:51.we do not have any power to insist that refugees go to certain places

:37:52. > :37:56.but we are working with, County councils and district councils, and

:37:57. > :38:00.a metropolitan borough areas. It is a very flexible system, all I can

:38:01. > :38:03.say is it it has worked very well. The number of places that have been

:38:04. > :38:12.offered is the equivalent to the number of refugees that are

:38:13. > :38:16.arriving. Planning appeals are determined in accordance with

:38:17. > :38:21.development plan, unless said otherwise. Once brought in, and

:38:22. > :38:25.neighbourhood plan is part of a development plan. As the Minister

:38:26. > :38:29.won no, a few weeks ago, villages were going to the polls to vote on

:38:30. > :38:34.the referendum on their neighbourhood plan. At the very same

:38:35. > :38:39.time, a Secretary of State was allowing a housing, a planning

:38:40. > :38:43.appeal in their area. How can the Minister and Sun Microsystems after

:38:44. > :38:54.all of the world that they put it, what assurance can they put in that

:38:55. > :39:01.work is worthwhile? I'm happy he took interest in local matters as

:39:02. > :39:09.does the. He he will be happy that I cannot comment on individual cases.

:39:10. > :39:13.The letter provided with them sent out the difference between them. And

:39:14. > :39:16.why it has been done, the Secretary of State will always give

:39:17. > :39:27.appropriate weight to neighbourhood plan. It is a important part of our

:39:28. > :39:32.vetting process. We welcome them. Thank you Mr Speaker, we will be

:39:33. > :39:37.presenting our proposals for a sustainable and fair 2016 and 17

:39:38. > :39:41.local government finance settlement to the house. We propose to consider

:39:42. > :39:49.our approach from being dependent, to benefiting from promoting local

:39:50. > :39:56.growth. Spending on adult social care has fallen by ?65 per person in

:39:57. > :40:00.the most deprived communities. Prepared -- compared to other

:40:01. > :40:07.communities. And one of the councils I represent, the shortfall in

:40:08. > :40:12.funding is ?20 million. ?2 million can be raised by increasing council

:40:13. > :40:16.tax by 2%. Isn't it true that allowing an ask her rise in council

:40:17. > :40:26.tax devolves the blame without fixing the probable? The local

:40:27. > :40:30.government settlement that will come very shortly, we will announce

:40:31. > :40:34.changes to local government finances to rebound support including those

:40:35. > :40:38.authorities with adult social care responsibilities. By taking into

:40:39. > :40:46.account the main resources available to councils including counsel back

:40:47. > :40:53.tax and business rates. We are speaking with Southeast balance a

:40:54. > :40:57.look at proposals, it is welcome that so many parts of Scotland

:40:58. > :41:03.aren't keen to be part of the process of delivering city deals.

:41:04. > :41:14.They will agree in such a way that will drive economic growth. Despite

:41:15. > :41:20.the obvious wealth,... 21% of children and a proposed for the

:41:21. > :41:26.region are living in poverty. The economy is not being held by

:41:27. > :41:34.government positions. Can be minister tell us what he thinks is

:41:35. > :41:37.going to help? The time and never makes an important point about the

:41:38. > :41:46.diverse nature of the area of which he talked. We want to ensure that we

:41:47. > :41:49.can deliver the growth so that it can realise its potential. We will

:41:50. > :41:54.continue to have talks, which I think have been productive and

:41:55. > :41:57.constructive. We will continue to work constructively to the liver

:41:58. > :42:01.that city deal if it can be delivered in the right way. These

:42:02. > :42:10.things must be decided properly. That is the process that is under

:42:11. > :42:15.way. The housing and planning bill does contain measures to tackle and

:42:16. > :42:19.go further with landlords than any before. We want to roll out

:42:20. > :42:22.landlords who rent out substandard accommodation and do all we can to

:42:23. > :42:39.make sure that tenants have a good and safe environment. A tougher

:42:40. > :42:42.fitter proper person test. ... Over the past five years, despite

:42:43. > :42:49.privately raised in homes, rents have sorted, and are a fit higher

:42:50. > :42:54.than they were in 2010. Why have is the government not taken any steps

:42:55. > :43:03.with the soaring rents? And she looks at the rents over the last

:43:04. > :43:09.five years, it has been a lower. We are going a lot further than ever

:43:10. > :43:16.before in terms of cracking down on landlords. We all want to see cross

:43:17. > :43:20.party put out of business. An important part is making sure that

:43:21. > :43:24.landlord understand their obligations and that tenants

:43:25. > :43:30.understand what is available. What is the action they are taking to

:43:31. > :43:39.understand that they understand their responsibilities? He makes a

:43:40. > :43:44.good point. Apart from what we aren't doing to publicise, we have

:43:45. > :43:50.published a guide for tennis to look at so that they can understand the

:43:51. > :44:00.rights they have. We should be clear, and tenant should be happy

:44:01. > :44:08.with it? . Order! Thank you Mr Speaker. Before Christmas, I wish

:44:09. > :44:12.everybody a happy Christmas. Since the last questions, the spending

:44:13. > :44:16.review has announced the biggest affordable housing programmes in the

:44:17. > :44:25.1970s. Delivering them many affordable homes, we have agreed

:44:26. > :44:28.devolution deals with Liverpool and the West Midlands and completed the

:44:29. > :44:34.committee states of the housing and planning bill. We will continue to

:44:35. > :44:39.develop new devolution deals with communities in order to give off

:44:40. > :44:43.more power and resources across the country. As my right honourable

:44:44. > :44:49.friend might know, I am running a campaign to save the hedgehog. Can I

:44:50. > :44:53.ask my right honourable friend, and he will ask his department, to

:44:54. > :44:58.provide guidance to local authorities on how to make the

:44:59. > :45:02.gardens and the new feels more hedgehog friendly and ensure that we

:45:03. > :45:11.can actually have a hedgehog superhighway. What I would say, I

:45:12. > :45:17.know this is a prickly issue for him, let me get straight to point. I

:45:18. > :45:22.want the issuing guidance on the protection of hedgehogs, but I will

:45:23. > :45:26.draw members attention to the excellent publications of the

:45:27. > :45:32.British hedgehog preservation Society, and their guide to looking

:45:33. > :45:40.hedgehog. I would recommend for any Honorable members who want to curl

:45:41. > :45:44.up this Christmas and read it. The words hedgehog, superhighway did not

:45:45. > :45:53.trip off the Secretary of State Tonka. Maybe he is preserving them

:45:54. > :45:56.for another occasion. Why is it that those councils who have the highest

:45:57. > :46:01.number of vulnerable children are the same councils that have seen the

:46:02. > :46:09.highest level of budget cuts under his government? I would say to the

:46:10. > :46:15.Honorable Lady, that if she looks at the figures, it is quite apparent,

:46:16. > :46:22.that the local authorities with the highest spending power are the local

:46:23. > :46:26.authorities that she refers to. Councils will see a rise in their

:46:27. > :46:34.resource in cash terms over these parliament from 40 billion to 40.5

:46:35. > :46:43.billion. The Honorable Lady will see the outcome of the local government

:46:44. > :46:53.finance settlement. Will do all join me in welcoming the plan of for the

:46:54. > :46:57.tearing down of a building. It's being replaced by hundreds of new

:46:58. > :47:04.homes of many different types including some 260 badly needed

:47:05. > :47:08.assisted living apartments. He has given a great example of a local

:47:09. > :47:17.authority making good use of Brownfield land to provide housing

:47:18. > :47:22.that their constituency needs. And a hasty attempt to reverse the office

:47:23. > :47:32.of housing statistics, ministers were reported that there was a cell

:47:33. > :47:39.of... Two private investors. Housing Association has made sure that they

:47:40. > :47:46.will oppose such a move. It is an unhelpful distraction. Can a

:47:47. > :47:57.minister and store the house that a...

:47:58. > :48:05.Lasher, councils local development plan was adopted with new green belt

:48:06. > :48:10.boundaries, will they and sure confidence and the plan to make sure

:48:11. > :48:13.that the policy for his determination, or any application to

:48:14. > :48:17.the point from the plant by giving itself planning permission to build

:48:18. > :48:24.on the green belt that was so recently confirmed? I think my

:48:25. > :48:28.Honorable friend outlines an important part. He is right, that a

:48:29. > :48:32.local authorities who has its plan in place, I am sure that this is

:48:33. > :48:37.local authority were to take an opportunity to go outside a local

:48:38. > :48:44.plant he would be the first to request myself or the Secretary of

:48:45. > :48:48.State to consider that application. Some authorities have had to close

:48:49. > :48:55.the local where affairs assistance schemes altogether. Food banks are

:48:56. > :48:59.in need of. Will does government preside over 5 million people, will

:49:00. > :49:07.the Secretary of State commit to protect future funding and reinstate

:49:08. > :49:09.the law? It is important to local authorities take their

:49:10. > :49:15.responsibilities seriously, when we have the local government finance

:49:16. > :49:19.settlement, I'm sure there will be happy to see and recognise. The

:49:20. > :49:24.people of Lincoln shared know what is best for the people of

:49:25. > :49:32.Lincolnshire. Can my honourable friend outlined the deal. And tell

:49:33. > :49:36.us how the bid is going. My honourable friend is well-placed to

:49:37. > :49:43.represent the views of people of link share. He does it effectively.

:49:44. > :49:49.Areas are different and local people know best what they need to drive

:49:50. > :49:54.economic improvement and improve the lives that they represent.

:49:55. > :49:57.Discussions are going well. They include discussions on skills,

:49:58. > :50:08.transport, housing, and water management. What discussions has the

:50:09. > :50:12.Secretary of State has with the business sector for still

:50:13. > :50:14.communities and how they can use imaginative and creative approaches

:50:15. > :50:21.to support the steel industry through this difficult time? I have

:50:22. > :50:26.had discussions with the business secretary and his colleagues. It is

:50:27. > :50:33.important that we and power of those communities to act in support of the

:50:34. > :50:38.businesses and the employees, through the extension of the

:50:39. > :50:42.enterprise, he will see that practical support has been given to

:50:43. > :50:50.make sure that the prosperity of those regions continues to grow

:50:51. > :50:54.despite these challenges. I am delighted to see the extra supply of

:50:55. > :51:00.affordable housing, as a result of the housing and planning bill. A key

:51:01. > :51:05.to that is supplied. Will he agree with me that the London land

:51:06. > :51:08.commission is keen to do this. And we keep under review all the plans

:51:09. > :51:15.that they need to make sure of the land comes in. Like? I am honoured

:51:16. > :51:17.to be joint chair of the London land commission, I can give them

:51:18. > :51:22.assurance that we will make sure that the land does come forward and

:51:23. > :51:27.plays an important part to deliver housing to London. When we get to

:51:28. > :51:31.the 12 month point from where it started, we will do a review to make

:51:32. > :51:39.sure it has the power it needs to deliver. On Saturday, I was out with

:51:40. > :51:48.Caroline Pridgen who is a London Mayor candidate. Kill me makes so

:51:49. > :52:02.that PCS cells continue to play the role that they play in keeping our

:52:03. > :52:05.streets safe. I'm glad he remembers the name of his candidate, I think

:52:06. > :52:12.it is spent most of us in that's how. I'm very happy to confirm the

:52:13. > :52:19.importance of all of our police, and keeping our streets safe. Simon

:52:20. > :52:24.Stevens has described social care funding as unresolved business. With

:52:25. > :52:28.the Secretary of State agree with him that it is time to have a

:52:29. > :52:34.rethink on how we fund the social care in the future? She has a deep

:52:35. > :52:39.and long-standing interest in this and she should know that the funding

:52:40. > :52:42.adult social care is something that should be done jointly between local

:52:43. > :52:47.councils and the NHS. The health secretary and I are working closely

:52:48. > :52:51.to make sure that the funds at the Chancellor has made available is put

:52:52. > :52:54.to good use so that our elderly people are properly cared for rather

:52:55. > :53:01.they are in charge of councils or in our hospital. Does the government

:53:02. > :53:12.have any plans for initiatives other than that business, to help people

:53:13. > :53:16.in small suburban shopping centres especially in my constituency? I

:53:17. > :53:20.think the Honorable Clement for that question, this government is doing a

:53:21. > :53:24.number of things to help the type of traitors, that the Honorable Tillman

:53:25. > :53:33.refers to, we have a principled planning changes to allow them to

:53:34. > :53:36.respond more flexibly. We are tackling overzealous parking

:53:37. > :53:40.practices, and I am working closely with retail worker migrations of the

:53:41. > :53:45.future of the form to develop strategies that will enable our high

:53:46. > :53:51.streets and communities to beat the future needs of the consumer. I

:53:52. > :53:57.would like to commend Staffordshire fire and rescue service for there

:53:58. > :54:02.will work in fire prevention which has conjured to falling call-outs.

:54:03. > :54:06.Does he agree with me that further integration between police, fire and

:54:07. > :54:12.other services with help to more effectively identify vulnerable

:54:13. > :54:16.people which would lead to better outcomes for the public and

:54:17. > :54:23.efficiency savings? I agree, closer collaboration between our blue light

:54:24. > :54:29.services offers better services to make efficiencies. I would encourage

:54:30. > :54:32.to the consultation that we have for her and her colleagues to make their

:54:33. > :54:39.representation so that we can do that without the current barriers.

:54:40. > :54:44.On the last consideration of the housing bill, the Conservatives

:54:45. > :54:48.passed an amendment to bring to an end, secure tendencies and social

:54:49. > :54:51.housing, that was done without consultation or any impact

:54:52. > :54:56.assessment. Can the Secretary of State tell me where he won councils

:54:57. > :55:00.senates that this was in a conservative manifesto? Actually, I

:55:01. > :55:06.would say, that that was outlined in the summer budget, they are not

:55:07. > :55:09.affected by this. The provisions of the housing and planning bill made

:55:10. > :55:16.on the 7th of December, prevent councils from offering new tenants

:55:17. > :55:22.lifetime tenants in the future. Some areas such as the Isle of Wight will

:55:23. > :55:25.have a much more difficult task, to increase their income by increasing

:55:26. > :55:29.the business rate base. Blow my honourable friend meet the Isle of

:55:30. > :55:38.Wight Council to discuss this matter? Delighted to meet the Isle

:55:39. > :55:43.of Wight to speak. And taking 100% of business rates to local

:55:44. > :55:46.government, it is important that we agree that places who don't have

:55:47. > :55:54.good business rates are not going to lose out? Many of my concerns were

:55:55. > :55:58.dismayed when I went back, after hearing last week that my honourable

:55:59. > :56:02.friend suggested that you are going to limit competencies, what are you

:56:03. > :56:05.going to say to those members of Mike is interesting that are

:56:06. > :56:09.dismayed that this government has pulled this on them and what they

:56:10. > :56:16.considered to be their rights as citizens? I would refer to her to

:56:17. > :56:20.counter that with gave a few minutes ago. They are not affected by this.

:56:21. > :56:29.It is about new tenants. It is the right thing to do. With the previous

:56:30. > :56:31.member who was our cabinet secretary, I'm sure many taxpayers

:56:32. > :56:40.would wonder if that is a good expenditure. South Gloucestershire,

:56:41. > :56:50.work very well as a functional unit does my my honourable friend...

:56:51. > :56:56.Should be regarded as a betrayal. I can assure my right honourable

:56:57. > :57:09.friend I have no intention of free introducing the front door back door

:57:10. > :57:14.or. After a replacement for Right to Buy was funded, the UK government

:57:15. > :57:21.what would the consequences for Scotland beat? As I said earlier,

:57:22. > :57:25.despite his government is saying a increase in its capital budget as a

:57:26. > :57:32.result of a announcement at the spending review. Individual policies

:57:33. > :57:36.are rotten through and delivered, the British Government will meet its

:57:37. > :57:44.obligations, in that regard. And will continue to do so.

:57:45. > :57:57.Urgent questions. I wish to ask the Minister responded to make a

:57:58. > :58:04.statement on the sports PLC and its compliance with the national minimum

:58:05. > :58:07.wage legislation. Thank you very much, I assure the right honourable

:58:08. > :58:11.departments concerned that working people are paid the full amount that

:58:12. > :58:16.the law requires for every hour that they work. And welcomed his urgent

:58:17. > :58:20.questions. We take the minimum low-wage laws very seriously which

:58:21. > :58:28.is why we have increased the budget from a to .1 million to 13 million

:58:29. > :58:33.and 2015. What I am not able to comment on the individual players, I

:58:34. > :58:37.can reassure the house that her majesties revenue and customs

:58:38. > :58:43.followed up with the put in place that they receive. I would encourage

:58:44. > :58:50.any employee or worker was concerned that these laws are not being

:58:51. > :58:55.complied with to contact either the people to the hotline. They also

:58:56. > :59:00.undertake targeted enforcement activity in the most high-risk

:59:01. > :59:03.sectors of the economy. As the Prime Minister announced in September, the

:59:04. > :59:10.government is taking steps to crack down on employers that are not

:59:11. > :59:20.paying workers minimum wage. We have increased the... And from April

:59:21. > :59:26.2016, the government will double the penalty you to 200% of the employers

:59:27. > :59:30.comply with the law. Furthermore, a new team of compliance officers will

:59:31. > :59:33.be established to investigate the most serious cases of employers

:59:34. > :59:41.applying the relevant minimum wage. The team will have the power to use

:59:42. > :59:44.all available sanctions including criminal investigation. The one name

:59:45. > :59:49.employers who did not pay their workers what they are entitled to.

:59:50. > :59:54.At the government, our message to employers is straightforward. We

:59:55. > :00:00.will work to cut regulation and taxes. We expect employers to pay

:00:01. > :00:06.working people a legal minimum. The national wage and the national

:00:07. > :00:11.living wage for workers aged 25 and over. I will ensure the house that

:00:12. > :00:16.we will not hesitate to crack down hard on both employers large and

:00:17. > :00:23.small who break the contract by failing to pay the wage.

:00:24. > :00:27.I think the Minister for his apply and I am proud that the last Labour

:00:28. > :00:31.government in the face of the opposition opposite, introduced the

:00:32. > :00:35.national minimum wage in the first place when people in our country

:00:36. > :00:40.were earning as little as ?1 an hour. I am also proud that the

:00:41. > :00:44.overwhelming majority of reduce businesses, notwithstanding any

:00:45. > :00:51.legal acquirement, seek to treat their workers with dignity and

:00:52. > :00:54.respect. We know enough about the practices at sports direct PLC,

:00:55. > :00:59.which has a branch in mind constituency, to conclude that, Nick

:01:00. > :01:04.is a bad advert for British business -- this company is a bad advert for

:01:05. > :01:06.British business and one of culture of fear in the workplace which we

:01:07. > :01:10.would not want to see repeated elsewhere. As the Institute of

:01:11. > :01:15.directors has said it is a star of British business. I appreciate what

:01:16. > :01:20.the Mr said about not being able to response in specific instances, but

:01:21. > :01:24.can I ask... HMRC enforces national minimum wage and a complaint has

:01:25. > :01:37.been made by the union of which I am a member against sports direct,

:01:38. > :01:42.accusing them of being in... Of course it cannot be confirmed but

:01:43. > :01:46.many of them are refusing to come forward for fear of repercussions

:01:47. > :01:50.that will follow. Why can HMRC not go-ahead and carry out an

:01:51. > :01:52.investigation in this case? It surely will render other evidence

:01:53. > :02:00.without workers being required to put their necks on the line.

:02:01. > :02:03.Secondly, can ask a generic listing? And issue has come up here where

:02:04. > :02:08.employees are required to go through body searches to check for potential

:02:09. > :02:14.theft. That is not time which they spent going through what he

:02:15. > :02:17.searches, for which they are paid. The law is unclear in this area. Can

:02:18. > :02:21.you give industry and indication whether antigovernment's view time

:02:22. > :02:25.spent going through the body searches would count as working time

:02:26. > :02:33.for the purposes of this legislation? Secondly, we have a

:02:34. > :02:37.situation where employees face having 15 minutes of working time

:02:38. > :02:44.redacted if they clock in just one minute late. -- deductive. In that

:02:45. > :02:48.situation the law is not entirely clear again. Does the government not

:02:49. > :02:51.believe that if an employer was to engage in those kinds of practices

:02:52. > :02:59.it would not be at least in keeping with the spirit of the legislation?

:03:00. > :03:04.Can I also just finally ask: Of course the enforcement of national

:03:05. > :03:08.minimum wage legislation is not carried out by his department, it is

:03:09. > :03:11.carried out by HMRC. How can we expect HMRC to do the work we

:03:12. > :03:17.require them if the government is pushing through this 18% real terms

:03:18. > :03:22.cut in HMRC's funding over the course of the spending review

:03:23. > :03:25.period? Finally come a Mr Speaker, I think no doubt the reaction of the

:03:26. > :03:28.employee concerned in this case will be to say we comply with the law.

:03:29. > :03:32.But surely what they need to understand is actually the British

:03:33. > :03:37.public expect a lot more from them. We often don't do things that we are

:03:38. > :03:40.allowed to do by the law because we don't think that is the right way in

:03:41. > :03:45.treating our fellow citizens. Surely that should apply to the company in

:03:46. > :03:49.this place. Hear, hear! Mr Speaker, the right honourable

:03:50. > :03:52.gentleman asked a series of very important and good questions. The

:03:53. > :03:57.first point I'd like to make is if any employee of any company has any

:03:58. > :04:01.fear of repercussions I can reassure them that the hotline is genuinely

:04:02. > :04:06.confidential and I'm sure he would the willing to endorse the fact that

:04:07. > :04:09.it is an absolutely resolutely independent organisation. So there

:04:10. > :04:16.is no fear that they should have from calling out of hours to that

:04:17. > :04:22.hotline and reporting a practice. I did say in my brief response that

:04:23. > :04:28.HMRC enforcement is entitled to conduct targeted enforcement

:04:29. > :04:33.activity in sectors of concern. So it is entirely open to HMRC to

:04:34. > :04:39.actively proactively, investigate in sectors where they feel that

:04:40. > :04:42.breaches may be an evidence. So in that sense, they don't necessarily

:04:43. > :04:47.need to wait for a specific complaint to be able to investigate

:04:48. > :04:52.breaches. He asked about this question and I did read the article

:04:53. > :04:56.that revealed some of the allegations being made about sports

:04:57. > :05:00.direct. He mentioned the question of the search and the time that that

:05:01. > :05:03.takes and whether it is working time are not. He will know that this is

:05:04. > :05:08.an intensely vexed legal questions. As a former employment law

:05:09. > :05:13.practitioner, he will know how much time is this taking up of his former

:05:14. > :05:18.leagues. I cannot give an absolute pronouncement, but what I can say is

:05:19. > :05:25.that anything that counts as work, as part of somebody's employment

:05:26. > :05:28.contract, must be compensated at least at the level of minimum wages.

:05:29. > :05:34.So the question is whether that search counts as work as part of

:05:35. > :05:38.their employment contract. That is a position that can be explored

:05:39. > :05:44.legally. He mentioned the second thing that was made about employees

:05:45. > :05:51.being docked 15 minutes for being one minutes late. While it is

:05:52. > :05:54.legally permissible for time to be docked for late arrival, it is

:05:55. > :05:58.important that every honourable member understands that the minimum

:05:59. > :06:04.wage legislation will apply to the 14 minutes as well as the rest of

:06:05. > :06:09.time that people are working. So therefore, they cannot be not

:06:10. > :06:14.compensated for those 40 minutes if that would bring their overall wage

:06:15. > :06:18.rate down below the national minimum wage -- 14 minutes. I hope that goes

:06:19. > :06:23.to reassure him. He makes a point about the cut in funding for HMRC,

:06:24. > :06:26.up 18% over the spending review period. I will have to take his word

:06:27. > :06:29.because I don't have the global figures to hand, but I did point out

:06:30. > :06:33.to him the very significant and dedicated increase in funding for

:06:34. > :06:38.the enforcement team, the minimum wage enforcement team, which has

:06:39. > :06:42.gone up by more than 50% since 2010. And it is going up by 3 million

:06:43. > :06:47.pounds and this year alone. So I can reassure them whatever else is going

:06:48. > :06:51.on in HMRC, this is a priority which we are investing in and will be

:06:52. > :06:55.beefing up the activity of its. He is absolutely right to make the

:06:56. > :07:00.general point that obeying the law is the minimum that we expect. We

:07:01. > :07:06.expect employers to behave response to believe and to be good citizens

:07:07. > :07:10.and we would hope they would not be sabbaths. Mac satisfied just with

:07:11. > :07:16.obeying the law, but would want to go a great deal from it -- not be

:07:17. > :07:21.satisfied just with obeying the law. I know there is even greater than

:07:22. > :07:25.that of the others. I'm glad the Minister graciously welcomed the

:07:26. > :07:29.urgent question, but unfortunately the Treasury he wrote to me this

:07:30. > :07:32.morning to say the matter was not urgent and shouldn't be aired. I've

:07:33. > :07:40.included upon examination that it was and should. And we look forward

:07:41. > :07:43.very much I think to these changes. Mr Peter was standing, but the right

:07:44. > :07:51.honourable gentleman has thought better of it. Thank you Mr Speaker.

:07:52. > :07:57.My constituents have approached me on several occasions with concerns

:07:58. > :08:02.about sports direct since the election. It appears that they

:08:03. > :08:09.sometimes can have a somewhat aggressive use and attitude towards

:08:10. > :08:11.flexible working, which is something that can suit some but doesn't

:08:12. > :08:16.always suit other people. I wondered if my right honourable friend has

:08:17. > :08:23.considered some thought to a general anti-avoidance rule when it comes to

:08:24. > :08:31.these employment laws. Such as, we are considering and the tax sphere.

:08:32. > :08:34.Mr Speaker, you know it would be a career limiting move for me to the

:08:35. > :08:36.part in any way from the script laid down to my colleagues at the

:08:37. > :08:41.Treasury. An hour plead that I welcome the

:08:42. > :08:44.question and was glad to have an opportunity to answer it. Cannot

:08:45. > :08:48.think my honourable friend for his suggestion. I am not going to

:08:49. > :08:51.pretend that we have given thought to that. But he is not treated such

:08:52. > :08:56.thoughts and I will be happy to have a discussion with him about how it

:08:57. > :09:03.might work. We will come to Mr Skinner, who is because to join, but

:09:04. > :09:07.for now... Thank you Mr Speaker. These allegations against sports

:09:08. > :09:17.direct are concerning and we Aco because for eight Union for a HMRC

:09:18. > :09:20.investigation. We stand in unity because these can do nothing to

:09:21. > :09:25.engage employees and make them feel positive about the place in which

:09:26. > :09:28.they work. Allegations of such a serious nature must be taken very

:09:29. > :09:33.seriously by the UK government. And the government must do much more to

:09:34. > :09:37.support the living wage employers. The Scottish Government has

:09:38. > :09:39.encouraged over 400 living wage employers in Scotland. We have the

:09:40. > :09:46.second-highest proportion of employees played the living wage --

:09:47. > :09:50.paid the living wage. We on these benches want to know the government

:09:51. > :09:54.will commit wholeheartedly to support of HMRC investigation into

:09:55. > :09:57.the business practices. Can I ask the Secretary of State what lessons

:09:58. > :10:00.are going to be learned from this case? Especially when the UK

:10:01. > :10:03.government is gearing up to implement the new minimum wage

:10:04. > :10:07.premium which is not a living wage. If it can't enforce the current

:10:08. > :10:14.minimum wage -- living wage, how will it enforce increases? I welcome

:10:15. > :10:18.the contribution from the honourable lady representing the Scottish

:10:19. > :10:22.national party. Of course it is absolutely the job of the

:10:23. > :10:25.enforcement team in HMRC to follow up any concerns that they have, both

:10:26. > :10:31.in relation to specific complaint and about particular sectors where

:10:32. > :10:36.they feel that abusive minimum wage legislation. And indeed other

:10:37. > :10:40.employment legislation is rife. She will ensure that I cannot comment on

:10:41. > :10:45.a particular case, but if I may add would like to add that in general I

:10:46. > :10:48.suspect, and I don't often welcome an investigation by the Guardian

:10:49. > :10:54.newspaper, but in this case I think it is vitally important that media

:10:55. > :10:56.organizations do investigate these things because government is never

:10:57. > :11:01.going to be able to proactively investigate every single employer in

:11:02. > :11:07.the country. If they can uncover things then I can promise you that

:11:08. > :11:12.the government will be sure to review their findings and enforce

:11:13. > :11:17.the laws were necessary. Thank you Mr Speaker. Can I echo the comment

:11:18. > :11:21.to the Minister regarding the hotline. I have called the hotline

:11:22. > :11:28.with one of my constituents who came to my surgery who have been under

:11:29. > :11:31.the minimum wage, -- have been paid under the minimum wage and I find it

:11:32. > :11:37.extremely professional. Cannot question the Minister about upcoming

:11:38. > :11:42.change to the minimum wage with introduction to the living wage copy

:11:43. > :11:49.I read this survey of a thousand employees, strongly welcome the

:11:50. > :11:52.living wage and said it would boost in morale and productivity of their

:11:53. > :11:57.employees copy four out of ten said they had not communicated with their

:11:58. > :12:04.staff regarding upcoming attention arises in pay. I think eight out of

:12:05. > :12:08.ten still haven't updated their payroll and created new procedures

:12:09. > :12:11.to implement it. Could the Minister comment on that so legitimate

:12:12. > :12:17.businesses are ready and don't get into similar situations? The

:12:18. > :12:20.honourable gentleman conducted a adjournment debate on the subject. I

:12:21. > :12:27.didn't realise he had just done so. Is to speak of copy may

:12:28. > :12:34.may I thank the honourable member and that said or how good the

:12:35. > :12:36.hotline is a. There is a substantial government communication campaign

:12:37. > :12:43.that is going to be starting in the new year. We have felt it is in the

:12:44. > :12:47.months leading up that medication will be most effective in making

:12:48. > :12:51.sure employees and employers know that it is coming in and know what

:12:52. > :12:59.is required and begin to work out how to do this in their systems. The

:13:00. > :13:01.sports direct an occurs even though the national minimum wage has become

:13:02. > :13:06.a kind of national treasure. Everyone supports it now. But like

:13:07. > :13:12.all great social reforms it had to be fought for all-night opposition

:13:13. > :13:17.in this house. Before reform and become part of the political

:13:18. > :13:21.consensus have to be for four and the battle to sustain and minimum

:13:22. > :13:25.wage must be a continuous one and one that requires more than just

:13:26. > :13:31.warm words for ministers. The TUC estimate, at least 250,000 workers,

:13:32. > :13:36.are not being paid the minimum wage. What is the Minister's estimate? Or

:13:37. > :13:40.has the government even made one? Last Parliament it was revealed that

:13:41. > :13:43.just nine firms have been charged for noncompliance with the minimum

:13:44. > :13:49.wage. Cannae update the House on how many legal proceedings are currently

:13:50. > :13:51.under way against firms for noncompliance -- can he update?

:13:52. > :13:55.Denney tell us how many workers have received the money that they are

:13:56. > :13:59.will hold after a notice of under payment has been issued by HMRC,

:14:00. > :14:03.because up until now the government has failed to provide that data.

:14:04. > :14:06.Will now order an urgent investigation to sports direct,

:14:07. > :14:10.concerning the alleged abuses which have led the directors to label it a

:14:11. > :14:13.scar on British business? He says he is acting, but where are the

:14:14. > :14:19.results? How will he get results with the close of so many HMRC

:14:20. > :14:27.offices? Mr Speaker, is easy to talk the talk am OK, but it means nothing

:14:28. > :14:29.to millions of low-paid workers whose labour employees feel they can

:14:30. > :14:33.turn on and off like a tap unless ministers walked the walk on the

:14:34. > :14:38.minimum wage. When will we see some real action to enforce this? Hear,

:14:39. > :14:41.hear! I am happy to acknowledge that the

:14:42. > :14:47.national minimum wage was one of the great achievements of the government

:14:48. > :14:49.led by Tony Blair. I note that there are more supportive of that

:14:50. > :14:58.government's achievement on this side of the House as there are on

:14:59. > :15:03.his. I also look forward to receiving the same acknowledgment

:15:04. > :15:08.from members opposite when, in next April, we introduced the national

:15:09. > :15:11.living wage which is significantly higher than any increase in the

:15:12. > :15:16.national minimum wage that he and his colleagues proposed during the

:15:17. > :15:20.last election campaign. He asked very good and proper questions about

:15:21. > :15:25.enforcement. He glided over the fact that the budget for enforcement has

:15:26. > :15:32.gone up by more than the 2% since his party was in government has more

:15:33. > :15:35.than 50%. We have increased the level of penalties. We have

:15:36. > :15:38.increased the powers and we have stepped up the programme of naming

:15:39. > :15:45.and shaming companies, large and small. We have in 2014-15, 705

:15:46. > :15:53.employers receive penalties totalling over 934 thousand -- 900

:15:54. > :15:56.?34,000. We have set up a team to focus on tackling the most serious

:15:57. > :15:59.breaches and consider whether directors of employers who breach

:16:00. > :16:10.persistently in the legislation should be disqualified. In 2014-15,

:16:11. > :16:14.we identified with 12 9 million of which 26,018 workers we conducted

:16:15. > :16:26.735 successful investigations and charged 705 penalties,

:16:27. > :16:31.worth ?934,000 in total. If he wants to suggest any further activity we

:16:32. > :16:37.can take I am happy to hear it, but fortunately we are doing a lot more

:16:38. > :16:40.for the government he was part of to defend one of the only achievements

:16:41. > :16:42.they are still willing to talk about -- then the government he was a part

:16:43. > :16:50.of. Hear, hear! IQ. There are reports that some

:16:51. > :16:52.large retail businesses have already increased their hourly salary for

:16:53. > :16:57.employers above the minimum wage. Could the Minister that housing is

:16:58. > :17:02.in the standing of this? I have heard such reports that the Volokh

:17:03. > :17:08.and not all the talk -- off the top of my tongue, speak that it is

:17:09. > :17:11.extremely welcome news. Is the point made by an honourable gentleman

:17:12. > :17:16.opposite that we expect more than just the obedience and faith of the

:17:17. > :17:19.law. We ask that social response ability and employers to see the

:17:20. > :17:24.benefits to them in terms of improved morale and retention that

:17:25. > :17:29.come from paying people better wages. I don't think the Minister

:17:30. > :17:33.should expect any social responsibility from the man that

:17:34. > :17:40.controls sports direct. In my constituency. At the warehouse,

:17:41. > :17:46.Abshire broke him a -- at sire broke. That man has not made ?6

:17:47. > :17:51.million because he is a considerate employer. He is a monster of a man.

:17:52. > :18:04.That does not even reply to him these letters. I have sent him many.

:18:05. > :18:08.-- MPs latest copy he has got ?6 billion because he is the type of

:18:09. > :18:14.man who will not take notice of HMRC unless this government really means

:18:15. > :18:17.business. This man might actually, would think very masterfully on

:18:18. > :18:28.millionaires roll along with his house. -- pals. This will be a test

:18:29. > :18:35.of the Minister's metal. Get working. Mr Speaker, I never had the

:18:36. > :18:38.pleasure of being encouraged that by the honourable gentleman before, but

:18:39. > :18:42.I promise to follow up on it. I want to be clear. I don't care how famous

:18:43. > :18:47.an employer is. I don't care how well connected they are. I don't

:18:48. > :18:52.care, friendly, how much money they have made. They need to obey the law

:18:53. > :18:55.and if they do not then we will enforce the law. We will find them

:18:56. > :19:02.and disqualified directors if necessary. Hear, hear!

:19:03. > :19:05.Thank you Mr Speaker. As well as strong enforcement for the

:19:06. > :19:10.government is should be possible for those who are employed by bad

:19:11. > :19:14.businesses to vote with their feet and moved to better employers. So

:19:15. > :19:21.what is being done to help create more and better jobs for those

:19:22. > :19:27.employed by sports direct? And communicate the availability of

:19:28. > :19:30.those jobs to them. I thank my honourable friend for bringing us

:19:31. > :19:35.back to the important constant theme of this government which is an

:19:36. > :19:40.economy that is creating new jobs at an unprecedented rate. Most of those

:19:41. > :19:43.jobs now are full-time. And most of them are paying more, not just the

:19:44. > :19:47.minimum wage, but then the national living wage which will be coming in

:19:48. > :19:50.in April. Ultimately it is through a dynamic economy that will create

:19:51. > :19:53.opportunity for anyone who does not feel that they are getting a square

:19:54. > :19:58.deal from their current employer. Thank you Mr Speaker. When sports

:19:59. > :20:02.direct announced they would be building their factory at sire

:20:03. > :20:09.broke, able in North Derbyshire have been delighted. It employs nearly

:20:10. > :20:13.3000 people, it is said that it should have a terrible reputation.

:20:14. > :20:15.What would he take to communicate with that company and trying to

:20:16. > :20:18.enter in the future the success of the organisation does not come at

:20:19. > :20:25.the expense of the constituents of my honourable friend? Mr Speaker, I

:20:26. > :20:28.am delighted that the honourable gentleman has pointed out how

:20:29. > :20:31.important they are as an employer in his constituency. It is important

:20:32. > :20:35.that we acknowledge that sports direct employs a great many people.

:20:36. > :20:42.I am sure a great many people are very happy to work there. I

:20:43. > :20:44.reinforced the point that no company director and no company owner is

:20:45. > :20:49.going to want the House of Commons to be discussing any times that we

:20:50. > :20:54.are discussing, the kind of priest was alleged in this newspaper

:20:55. > :20:57.article. -- the kind of breach. I am certain that when faced with the

:20:58. > :21:01.kind of enforcement action that I have set out that any employer,

:21:02. > :21:05.including those in his own constituency, will want to sort

:21:06. > :21:09.themselves out. Mr Speaker, would message of business tier does my

:21:10. > :21:15.honourable friend have for all those people who are self-employed and

:21:16. > :21:17.earning far less than the minimum wage? -- Christmas cheer. But are

:21:18. > :21:25.faced with having to submit a quarter of their returns to HMRC

:21:26. > :21:28.instead of annual ones? I am full of admiration for anyone who is

:21:29. > :21:33.self-employed. It brings many rewards, but money is not always one

:21:34. > :21:36.of them. And I am absolutely clear that the government must do

:21:37. > :21:40.everything it possibly can to reduce the burden of regulation on those

:21:41. > :21:44.who are self-employed. Does the Minister recognise what is so

:21:45. > :21:50.disturbing about the newspaper report? Is the fear amongst many

:21:51. > :21:56.working people there, in some instances apparently, women are not

:21:57. > :22:01.willing to stay away from work, even if their child is sick for the day,

:22:02. > :22:05.simply because they may lose their job. Is it not totally unacceptable

:22:06. > :22:13.to have such fear and exultation in a company like this? It reminds one,

:22:14. > :22:17.does it not, of the early years of the last century when workers were

:22:18. > :22:22.treated in such a contemptible way. Finally, why was the advice given to

:22:23. > :22:26.the Speaker if this was not an urgent question? If the Minister is

:22:27. > :22:31.so keen on coming to the House and welcoming the Guardian

:22:32. > :22:33.investigation, why did he try and stop the question being asked in the

:22:34. > :22:38.first place -- why didn't he? Hear, hear!

:22:39. > :22:43.It is for you always to judge whether a question is urgent, Mr

:22:44. > :22:47.Speaker. I knowledged that this question is important which is why

:22:48. > :22:52.am so delighted to answer it. On the broader point of the honourable

:22:53. > :22:57.member has made, Bob is government beliefs and deregulation, believes

:22:58. > :23:00.and reducing the burden, we have made clear that there are certain

:23:01. > :23:05.laws that are absolute -- while this government,. They must be adhered

:23:06. > :23:08.to. Minimum-wage legislation is one along with health and safety

:23:09. > :23:15.legislation and a whole slew of other protections and we want to

:23:16. > :23:21.protect those robustly. Thank you Mr Speaker. According to the ONS, a

:23:22. > :23:25.quarter of a million people are not paid the minimum wage. According to

:23:26. > :23:28.the Minister, HMRC have found that 6000 of them. What with the Minister

:23:29. > :23:35.do in order to bridge the gap? -- 26,000. Can I suggest that to not

:23:36. > :23:40.pay the minimum wage is a criminal offence. Why are they not been

:23:41. > :23:43.prosecutions taken out against these directors who are not paying the

:23:44. > :23:47.minimum wage and the department that is responsible for taking out

:23:48. > :23:50.prosecutions in the attorney generals office has been cut for the

:23:51. > :23:55.last three years. And there has not been a single prosecution during

:23:56. > :23:59.that time. Mr Speaker, the honourable Lady always comes to this

:24:00. > :24:05.house knowing the complete answer to every question. But it might help or

:24:06. > :24:09.sometimes issue would actually listen to the list of the measures

:24:10. > :24:12.that we have been introducing which both significantly further than any

:24:13. > :24:16.enforcement activity that the government of which she was a

:24:17. > :24:24.brought forward to defend their minimum wage. When that set of

:24:25. > :24:29.enforcement measures has worked as well as it is doing currently, I see

:24:30. > :24:33.no reason to take any instruction however helpfully phrased from the

:24:34. > :24:35.honourable Lady. This is an extremely important matter but we

:24:36. > :24:41.have other important business to follow, so amplifier brief questions

:24:42. > :24:44.and answers -- I am looking for. This is a disturbing case and the

:24:45. > :24:47.Guardian. With the Minister agree that one good piece of news is

:24:48. > :24:50.whatever else happens, in April of next year, sports direct will have

:24:51. > :24:59.to pay these people 11% more than they are getting now? Yes, and that

:25:00. > :25:03.has happened because the majority of the conservative government that has

:25:04. > :25:06.allowed the economy sufficiently well, that we can expect to do that

:25:07. > :25:13.and still prosper. Hear, hear! The Minister has pointed out that

:25:14. > :25:15.HMRC conducts risk space enforcement whether it's a higher risk of work

:25:16. > :25:19.is not getting the legal minimum wage. That the secretary and which

:25:20. > :25:28.voice direct operate already comes to a high risk sector? Isil, Jaime

:25:29. > :25:34.Bracht of initiatives have HMRC lost -- if so, how many initiatives have

:25:35. > :25:41.been launched? The sectors that are targeted for this type of approach

:25:42. > :25:43.are either low-paid, there are a large number of employers who are

:25:44. > :25:46.close to the boundary of minimum-wage, or those where there

:25:47. > :25:50.have been significant breaches in the past and therefore there is a

:25:51. > :25:54.good reason to expect there might be such breaches in the future. I can

:25:55. > :26:01.argue the specific answer to how many investigations, and I will be

:26:02. > :26:08.happy to write to him and place a copy in the library. On the 14th of

:26:09. > :26:12.October two -- on the 14th of October at, a minister up to me

:26:13. > :26:17.however he could not confirm which companies are under investigation or

:26:18. > :26:20.on the approach of investigations. What he said about being started

:26:21. > :26:22.with the owners and managers and directors of these companies, would

:26:23. > :26:26.he be started with my home care which were previously run by the new

:26:27. > :26:39.Tory Baroness, MacGregor Smith,? I don't think it is a job of the

:26:40. > :26:42.Minister of the crime to lay individual companies and cases that

:26:43. > :26:47.have not been found definitively to preach the law. I have been as clear

:26:48. > :26:52.as I possibly could be about any employer large or small who does so.

:26:53. > :27:00.I hope that he can apply that to any particular case. Everyone knows in

:27:01. > :27:04.our area are you cannot get a job anywhere else in the sports direct

:27:05. > :27:10.if you are an English native speaker despite a 3000 people working there.

:27:11. > :27:17.When a baby is born, in the toilet there. Why is it that there were 80

:27:18. > :27:21.and a pleasant visit over two years to sports direct, and is the

:27:22. > :27:27.possibly the case that employees are too scared and are not allowed time

:27:28. > :27:34.off to go to the Doctor? And therefore, there is a myth dioxin of

:27:35. > :27:39.NHS resources. Made also be the proper possibility that housing

:27:40. > :27:43.nearby, people are too scared to speak that they are provided with

:27:44. > :27:49.the house to live in, and the rent to it and the transport they have to

:27:50. > :27:54.play to get to work, there needs to be an investigation. -- pay. Not

:27:55. > :28:01.just for sports direct but the agencies underneath them who they

:28:02. > :28:05.employ. If the ombudsman or any Honorable member has any allegations

:28:06. > :28:08.and evidence of bad practice and relation to when the ways of the

:28:09. > :28:11.placed or any other legislation, that they would like to bring to my

:28:12. > :28:17.attention, I would welcome a. I would like to add this, the right

:28:18. > :28:22.honourable gentleman, mentioned that a trade union had been involved and

:28:23. > :28:26.bring to his attention, concerns of this particular employer. If Xavier,

:28:27. > :28:32.and despite what we said about the hotline being confidential, if they

:28:33. > :28:36.fear that those employees that they don't trust those governments one

:28:37. > :28:42.lines, if they would like to submit their evidence to the Union, on the

:28:43. > :28:47.other hand, I am sure all honourable members will understand that they

:28:48. > :28:51.need to be willing to engage with officers to evidence. Government has

:28:52. > :28:58.to act on a basis of evidence, however well researched to the

:28:59. > :29:03.garden article, that is not enough. Isn't it time that the government

:29:04. > :29:06.looked at introducing a criminal offence for exploitation, which they

:29:07. > :29:12.have refused to do in the modern slavery bill in the last Parliament?

:29:13. > :29:21.I think we have enough criminal event moves, -- offences. That is

:29:22. > :29:28.the increase in the budget by 50%, the new powers we are giving, that

:29:29. > :29:31.is what it will achieve. My understanding is that the trade

:29:32. > :29:40.unions have made representations on behalf of staff, who fork very good

:29:41. > :29:43.reason what to remain anonymous. Should the HMRC continue to ignore

:29:44. > :29:47.representations on behalf of legitimate trade unions, or should

:29:48. > :29:52.they just act now and searched the offices of sports direct with blue I

:29:53. > :29:57.think I had been clear, if there are any individual complaint that will

:29:58. > :30:01.need to be assessed for validity, it does not need to be possible for

:30:02. > :30:06.HMRC to follow it up. I have also been clear that HMRC has undertaken

:30:07. > :30:12.targeted enforcement activity, which does not wait for a complaint in the

:30:13. > :30:16.sectors of concern. They will be listening to this debate. The

:30:17. > :30:21.Minister said that ultimately, it is a growing dynamic up economy that

:30:22. > :30:24.should give people confidence to find good job. Good employment

:30:25. > :30:30.practice and legislation always gives people confidence copy a

:30:31. > :30:38.number of resident Mike of the strength, use tips and service

:30:39. > :30:42.charges to pop up wages. Kilometre of the Minister would be with me and

:30:43. > :30:50.some of the campaign is from the GMB union to look further into these

:30:51. > :30:58.practices. And a looking at how these wages will be beneficial to my

:30:59. > :31:02.local community. And my experience, the Honorable Lady is on two things

:31:03. > :31:08.before the rest of us. I would be delighted to meet with her. What a

:31:09. > :31:13.good fellow he is. We are grateful to him. I thank him for engaging

:31:14. > :31:18.with those questions so comprehensively. We come in out of

:31:19. > :31:27.the statement by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

:31:28. > :31:31.It gives me great pleasure to report to the house on the United Nations

:31:32. > :31:36.conference of parties in Paris last week. There has been delivered a

:31:37. > :31:41.historic new global climate change agreements that takes a significant

:31:42. > :31:46.step forward towards reducing on a global scale the image that cause

:31:47. > :31:50.climate change. For the first time, nearly 200 countries have made a

:31:51. > :31:55.commitment to act together and to be held accountable. In a doing so,

:31:56. > :32:00.that's integrated help protect not just our environment for our

:32:01. > :32:15.national and economic security. Now and for generations to come.

:32:16. > :32:18.As the Minister said in his speech, instead of making excuses tomorrow

:32:19. > :32:21.to our children and grandchildren, we should be taking action against

:32:22. > :32:23.climate change today. Mr Speaker, I am proud to say there aren't no more

:32:24. > :32:29.excuses. We have committed to action. This unequivocably in the

:32:30. > :32:35.interest of brand. It moves towards a level playing field. The Society

:32:36. > :32:42.of business has thrived as we transition to a low carbon economy.

:32:43. > :32:46.This is a deal we are committed to, recognises that action by one state

:32:47. > :32:51.alone cannot and will not solve climate change. And is what we do

:32:52. > :32:56.together that can copy I would like to say that all parties in the house

:32:57. > :33:02.can take significant credit for this. To gather, we passed the 2000

:33:03. > :33:07.and climate change act that set an example to the world of what

:33:08. > :33:13.ambitious action looks like. To gather, since Copenhagen in 2009, we

:33:14. > :33:16.have supports a long and difficult complex negotiation that has brought

:33:17. > :33:21.us to this point. I want to pay tribute not to sue the Prime

:33:22. > :33:24.Minister and my colleagues across government, but to my predecessors

:33:25. > :33:28.as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for all of the hard

:33:29. > :33:34.work that they put in to bring us to this point. As a country, we should

:33:35. > :33:42.be proud of the role we have played, leading into the EU, working closely

:33:43. > :33:46.with major global players including the United States and China, and

:33:47. > :33:49.leaving many negotiations. My department has worked tirelessly to

:33:50. > :33:56.build political conditions and the capacity to enable countries to act.

:33:57. > :34:03.The UK team in the Paris show a commitment, passion, and resilient.

:34:04. > :34:09.They asked me to chair a finance session at 4am on Friday morning, I

:34:10. > :34:13.was well supported, when I left at 6:30am, they stayed to write up the

:34:14. > :34:20.conclusions and send them to the presidency. That was commitment. The

:34:21. > :34:22.UK played a key role in building alliances and share positions

:34:23. > :34:30.especially with the most vulnerable country to ensure that it can be

:34:31. > :34:36.maximised. This was not done to us, it was done by us. Indeed, it

:34:37. > :34:41.reflects many elements that we as a country has committed to as part of

:34:42. > :34:47.the climate change act. Of course, Paris is not the end of the road. We

:34:48. > :34:52.cannot sit back and say job done, we are far from that. Paris is the

:34:53. > :34:55.beginning, now the hard work to implement the agreements began. That

:34:56. > :35:06.may turn to what the countries have agreed to. First, we have set up a

:35:07. > :35:14.net zero emissions abide the end of the century. The ship to global

:35:15. > :35:18.antelope carbon economy will happen and provide the confidence needed to

:35:19. > :35:22.drive the scale of investment required. We have confirmed our

:35:23. > :35:31.collective ambition to limit global temperature rises, to below 2

:35:32. > :35:34.degrees. We have agreed a further aspiration of 1.5 degrees. The

:35:35. > :35:40.current level of commitment by individual countries will not meet

:35:41. > :35:46.this ambition. Crucially, countries will come back to the table to

:35:47. > :35:54.assess overall progress toward the 2 degrees goal in 2018 in every five

:35:55. > :35:57.years thereafter. As an grass investment grows and the cost comes

:35:58. > :36:07.down, the parent process will provide not just the opposite sea,

:36:08. > :36:10.but the political process. Starting in 2020, countries are expected to

:36:11. > :36:14.update their own plans to cut emissions and will be legally

:36:15. > :36:20.applied it to do so again every five years. Best, providing regular

:36:21. > :36:25.political moment to scale up ambition. Disagreement is not only

:36:26. > :36:30.comprehensive, it also recognises the role of both the developed

:36:31. > :36:38.economies and emerging economies, helping the poorest and most

:36:39. > :36:48.affordable to transition to a low carbon economy. Over the last five

:36:49. > :36:52.years, the UK's climate fund has been helping millions of the world

:36:53. > :36:57.for to withstand weather and rising temperatures. At the summit in

:36:58. > :37:05.September, the Prime Minister announced a uplift to increase

:37:06. > :37:08.financing by 50%, with ?5.8 billion of climate finance over the next

:37:09. > :37:14.year is to support for invulnerable countries to adapt to climate

:37:15. > :37:23.change. This is part of a global commitment to mobilise 100 billion

:37:24. > :37:28.dollars per year for the public and private sector and support economic

:37:29. > :37:33.growth through 2020. Germany, France, Japan, the United States,

:37:34. > :37:38.and Canada has increased an increase in their climate finance as well. As

:37:39. > :37:43.important as the parents agree with is, we will only achieve our

:37:44. > :37:47.ultimate ambition if it acts as a capitalist, from all parts of

:37:48. > :37:52.society is. That is why it has been so important to see real action over

:37:53. > :37:56.the last month from business and civil society. For example, a new

:37:57. > :38:05.initiative, Mr innovation will see some of the economies doubling

:38:06. > :38:09.investments in clean energy research and development. Private investors

:38:10. > :38:15.will join us and is endeavored to bring down the cost of low carbon

:38:16. > :38:18.technologies. Here, in the UK, we have committed to double spending

:38:19. > :38:24.and clean energy research development so that by 2020, will be

:38:25. > :38:29.spending in excess of ?400 million. This has been amassed by 19 other

:38:30. > :38:33.countries worldwide. This is in recognition of the fact that the

:38:34. > :38:41.wildly tackle climate change if we find technologies that are both

:38:42. > :38:43.clean and cheap. Let me tell you, the announcement I made last month,

:38:44. > :38:50.that I would set out proposals to close the hole by 2025 and restricts

:38:51. > :38:56.use by 2023 added to momentum in Paris. The Paris agreement marks a

:38:57. > :39:01.historic turning point. It builds on protocol and for the first time as

:39:02. > :39:03.it provides a comprehensive framework and words not only

:39:04. > :39:08.developed countries, but nearly every country of the world, has

:39:09. > :39:13.committed to the global action needed to solve global problems. Of

:39:14. > :39:16.course it was hard fought, and it required a compromise to bring

:39:17. > :39:23.everybody with us, it has not solve every problem in the one ago. Now,

:39:24. > :39:27.we have to implement the commitments made. We should not underestimate

:39:28. > :39:31.the significance of what has been achieved. All parties have

:39:32. > :39:37.recognised that economic and global security required us to tackle

:39:38. > :39:41.climate change. All have come together to commit to a single goal.

:39:42. > :39:46.Net zero carbon emissions by the end of the century. All have agreed to

:39:47. > :39:50.set out plans to curb emissions and be held accountable for their

:39:51. > :39:54.actions. We have made a huge step forward in meeting our

:39:55. > :40:01.responsibilities, to this and our future generation. As the excellent

:40:02. > :40:13.executives Terry to the... Said, I used to say we can't, we must, we

:40:14. > :40:16.will, now I can say we did. Can I start by thinking the Secretary of

:40:17. > :40:23.State for her statement. And footage of you that she paid for the success

:40:24. > :40:28.of Secretary of State. She is right to recognise that the crockpot is

:40:29. > :40:33.consensus that has existed since 2008, helped to build that road to

:40:34. > :40:37.Paris and gave the UK its voice in the negotiations, it is a precious

:40:38. > :40:41.legacy for all of us. We must not allow it to fraction now. For the

:40:42. > :40:46.first time, leaders from nearly every country in abroad have come

:40:47. > :40:52.together, to cut carbon pollution and a of to a path for a cleaner and

:40:53. > :40:57.greener future. We have a common goal of building a carbon neutral

:40:58. > :41:02.global economy with a generation to reduce pollution, switch to cleaner

:41:03. > :41:06.energy, and all countries have agreed as she rightly recognised to

:41:07. > :41:13.raise their ambition every five years into the future until the job

:41:14. > :41:16.is done. In is welcome of the Secretary of State made the point

:41:17. > :41:22.that the developed world would do with her share to ensure that 100

:41:23. > :41:27.billion are financed to us is poorer and more portable country. This is a

:41:28. > :41:31.moment to celebrate. Not because this is sufficient, we must be

:41:32. > :41:35.honest that the pledge is put forward by each country do not add

:41:36. > :41:44.up to a commitment that will keep temperature rises below 2 degrees, a

:41:45. > :41:51.gives us enough to take a us much closer to climate safety. The error

:41:52. > :42:01.of unchecked fossil you'll uses, to him and. We are stronger and safer

:42:02. > :42:05.when we work together both at home and abroad. Our voice has been heard

:42:06. > :42:09.because we have worked closely with our friends and the European Union,

:42:10. > :42:14.we have spoken to go there with them, and united with one voice. Our

:42:15. > :42:27.voice has been heard because, two of the heart of work and... They have

:42:28. > :42:30.worked tirelessly with the diplomats and the foreign office to secure

:42:31. > :42:35.this agreement. I would like to place on record our thanks for what

:42:36. > :42:39.they have achieved. And to command the dedication to the British

:42:40. > :42:43.scientist and the campaigners and evade groups in the business

:42:44. > :42:47.leaders, and civil society organizations to mobilise public

:42:48. > :42:50.support for this global deal, last month, myself and my Honorable

:42:51. > :42:55.friend Swan hundreds of thousands of people to march peacefully through

:42:56. > :43:01.the streets of London, and Edinburgh and other major cities of to ensure

:43:02. > :43:09.that our voice was heard in the rooms of Paris. The question now is

:43:10. > :43:13.what this deal means for Britain's. In recent months, the government has

:43:14. > :43:18.made a series of decisions that have set us back on the road to climate

:43:19. > :43:23.safety. Ministers have attacked the cheapest options for achieving

:43:24. > :43:29.carbon targets which means that energy bills to household may rise

:43:30. > :43:33.as a result. Last week, during the Paris negotiations, ministers

:43:34. > :43:36.decided to raise household and energy bills again to the capacity

:43:37. > :43:41.market auction which was the hundreds of millions of pounds, go

:43:42. > :43:46.to energy companies to keep open power stations that would have been

:43:47. > :43:50.opened anyway. It is difficult to see, how this is consistent with

:43:51. > :43:56.what the Secretary of State said today and her claim to be acting to

:43:57. > :44:00.control costs. Can she explain this today? And equally, ministers have

:44:01. > :44:17.undermined our progress on the cob and stories which will be crucial.

:44:18. > :44:20.In Yorkshire and Scotland, communities and engineers are

:44:21. > :44:26.reeling from the chancellors assistant to ask ?1 billion fund.

:44:27. > :44:30.Can see tell us today that this will be reverse? The government has

:44:31. > :44:35.wasted no time and blocking of new wind farms even where they enjoy

:44:36. > :44:39.strong local support of. They have made severe and short-sighted costs

:44:40. > :44:44.for energy efficiency and solar power scheme. Thousands have lost

:44:45. > :44:50.their jobs, thousands more could still. Millions will goal in this

:44:51. > :44:55.winter facing cold homes and high energy bills, in this country that

:44:56. > :45:00.is avoidable. The damnest to human life and the damage to the planet

:45:01. > :45:03.for these positions if the Mets. Following the prime minister of

:45:04. > :45:09.words in Paris, will she sell the house that the government as a whole

:45:10. > :45:12.will listen? To stop the sell-off of the green investment bank, in a

:45:13. > :45:17.manner that removes the mandate and means it is free to invest in fossil

:45:18. > :45:34.fuels, to stop the tax on more efficient vehicles and to stop

:45:35. > :45:38.another tax rate on the renewable energy industry, these are all steps

:45:39. > :45:40.that will take us back on climate change and jeopardise British jobs

:45:41. > :45:42.and industries for the future. Is raises the question, what is this

:45:43. > :45:44.government plans for meeting rings climate change. The committee form

:45:45. > :45:52.that British energy policy is failing and only this morning, it

:45:53. > :45:58.was called for more clarity. News of the Paris deal and the goal it

:45:59. > :46:02.contains, they told the BBC that businesses want to see domestic

:46:03. > :46:06.policies that demonstrate commitment to this goal. Can the Secretary of

:46:07. > :46:12.State confirm whether her governmental recent string, of the

:46:13. > :46:17.Carina will be reviewed in light of the new assurances that we have sent

:46:18. > :46:21.every country will play its part in addressing climate change. Secondly,

:46:22. > :46:26.candy and at his secretary confirmed that the UK will continue to support

:46:27. > :46:32.raising European targets on reducing carbon pollution by 2030 to ensure

:46:33. > :46:36.that they're making our fair constitution, and grasping the

:46:37. > :46:41.maximum potential for our economy for granted industries. Finally,

:46:42. > :46:45.will be an undersecretary asked the independent secretary on climate

:46:46. > :46:48.change to review the adequacy of Britain's existing carbon reduction

:46:49. > :46:54.targets and lights of the new international goal of limiting

:46:55. > :46:59.global temperature rises well below 2 degrees, I want to know more. Two

:47:00. > :47:04.weeks ago, the prime minister said, when we look back, we will ask what

:47:05. > :47:08.was it that was so difficult when the world was in peril. The

:47:09. > :47:14.Secretary of State said in her statement to the house there are no

:47:15. > :47:18.excuses. I look forward as to all my Honorable friend asked to hearing

:47:19. > :47:25.how she intends to breathe life into this historic landmark agreement.

:47:26. > :47:30.Low I thank her for her questions. I really welcome her support for the

:47:31. > :47:37.overall deal. And answered her questions I would point out to

:47:38. > :47:42.point. The first is that the UK's emissions are 1.2% of the world. Our

:47:43. > :47:46.emphasis must go on making sure that we get an international deal. That

:47:47. > :47:51.is why we were so committed. That is why we spent the past week trying to

:47:52. > :47:55.achieve its. Working to ensure that we got China into the deal which is

:47:56. > :48:02.26% of the world the mission was more than the EU in the US combined,

:48:03. > :48:07.we remain committed. And we commit to making sure that we golf forward

:48:08. > :48:10.on a low carbon future. There is no value in it if we do not have

:48:11. > :48:16.influence in the rest of the world, that is what we achieved this week.

:48:17. > :48:21.Making sure that that influence was absorbed and taken on, so that we

:48:22. > :48:25.could receive agreement while very late on Saturday night. In tones of

:48:26. > :48:29.answering her question on our position, we are committed to the

:48:30. > :48:34.climate change act and to our goals, and to our carbon budget. But the

:48:35. > :48:39.difference between her side of the house and ours, is that the will not

:48:40. > :48:44.risk the security of supply, and be will not put additional costs on

:48:45. > :48:47.consumers copy she asked about the capacity market and I am afraid that

:48:48. > :48:52.her and I am afraid that her interpretation is wrong. The

:48:53. > :48:56.capacity market is to take no risk when security of supply, that is

:48:57. > :49:01.what we have done and we are proud of doing that. In terms of the

:49:02. > :49:05.actions on renewables, this is about ensuring that our consumers that

:49:06. > :49:09.they pay the rent price for the renewables that we remain committed

:49:10. > :49:13.to. As the cost of renewables come down, it is absolutely right that

:49:14. > :49:21.the subsidies come down, it is completely wrong to characterize the

:49:22. > :49:28.eyes of -- is of having anything negative at all. We remain

:49:29. > :49:33.committed. It was a tight spending round with the spending review with

:49:34. > :49:37.the treasury, this was ?1 billion, and the fact that we made an

:49:38. > :49:41.invisible not to proceed with it, I believe that CCS will have a

:49:42. > :49:48.important part in the colonising in the future. Article he on industrial

:49:49. > :49:52.CCS. Will work internationally to make progress on that. This

:49:53. > :49:57.government is absolutely committed to the a low carbon future that is

:49:58. > :50:06.valued for money and costly provide security to consumers and families.

:50:07. > :50:12.As far as I'm aware, there are only two peer-reviewed studies which have

:50:13. > :50:19.computed the total reductions for admissions promised by the members

:50:20. > :50:23.Paris. Fan of them through the standard climate model and

:50:24. > :50:30.calculated the impact on future temperatures. Both have concluded

:50:31. > :50:39.that the temperature on 2100 as a result of this treaty will be a

:50:40. > :50:44.point to degrees of what it would be. With the joy of the pound be

:50:45. > :50:51.spent on as a small achievement be better spent on the alleviating

:50:52. > :50:57.poverty and eradicating disease? I think the right Honorable Thompson

:50:58. > :51:00.and for his questions. However, at the core of his question, is then

:51:01. > :51:07.suggested that what we are doing here does not alleviate poverty. On

:51:08. > :51:10.that, he cannot be more wrong. It is through climate finance and the

:51:11. > :51:14.investment that will be coming to the private sector as well that the

:51:15. > :51:18.government will be able to leverage, that we will help to alleviate

:51:19. > :51:26.poverty that we will provide energy and areas of Africa and India that

:51:27. > :51:32.had never happened before. I should gently point out that all of our

:51:33. > :51:36.right Honorable members who were not present at the start of the

:51:37. > :51:41.Secretary of State famous and not because. Now that I have made that

:51:42. > :51:51.point, it will be unseemly for them to continue to stand, as well as

:51:52. > :51:55.fruitless. I would like to add my thanks to the Secretary of State,

:51:56. > :52:01.her team, and all of those who have made this possible both at home and

:52:02. > :52:05.abroad, the term historic has been I think rightly so in terms of the

:52:06. > :52:10.rhetoric around this. Who will be judged not by the words, led by the

:52:11. > :52:14.deeds. If I can comment on that in this response to the statement. We

:52:15. > :52:19.very much welcome the money that is being contribution it to climate

:52:20. > :52:27.change, and those that contribute Alize to it. This deal is not

:52:28. > :52:31.perfect, it has been an that it is not enough. There needs to be an

:52:32. > :52:39.upping of our game at home and abroad if we will be meeting the

:52:40. > :52:49.target of 2 degrees or below. And any major upping of our game if we

:52:50. > :52:53.will meet 1.5 degrees. One gave an eloquent statement about the low

:52:54. > :52:59.carbon economy and the one who answered the questions and

:53:00. > :53:01.reiterated some of the appalling betrayals that the economy has

:53:02. > :53:07.suffered at the hands of the government. There is no excuse in

:53:08. > :53:18.the statement. For the last six months I have heard so many excuses.

:53:19. > :53:24.On carbon capture and storage, excuses. The green investment bank,

:53:25. > :53:27.more excuses. Will she rethink these policies, will she reinvest in them,

:53:28. > :53:45.or are we to hear more excuses the possibilities are enormous. Yet,

:53:46. > :53:52.we seem determined to throw away the lead that we have in various

:53:53. > :54:00.technologies, at a time when we are following the work that my Honorable

:54:01. > :54:08.friend have said, the government is penny wise but pound foolish. I have

:54:09. > :54:12.had to question my hearing that this carbon capture is going to have a

:54:13. > :54:16.Bright future. It may, but it will be technology developed by others,

:54:17. > :54:22.and others will make money out of it. That is sold short sighted, it

:54:23. > :54:26.is beyond belief. Scotland wants to play the part, had we can't play the

:54:27. > :54:32.part, but be required of government to match the weather up with it the.

:54:33. > :54:39.-- will she allow us to play our part or will we hear more excuses? I

:54:40. > :54:45.do not agree with the characterize patients. I share his enthusiasm,

:54:46. > :54:48.for the low carbon economy but we are going about this in a different

:54:49. > :54:52.way, we are making sure that we deliver better value for money, and

:54:53. > :54:57.we are investing in the future in a way that has not been done over the

:54:58. > :55:00.25 years. For instance, with nuclear, and also with offshore

:55:01. > :55:04.wind, which I'm sure he would support. We must support the low

:55:05. > :55:09.carbon economy while also maintaining security of supply. I'm

:55:10. > :55:14.sure he would also continue to support

:55:15. > :55:21.My right honourable friend who called me to my concerns and they

:55:22. > :55:23.talk about other countries commitments to climate targets. What

:55:24. > :55:27.will my right honourable friend tell me ahead to encourage other

:55:28. > :55:33.countries to meet their climate targets? I think the honourable Lady

:55:34. > :55:37.for that question. She is right that not all countries have the same

:55:38. > :55:40.resources as we have to meet those targets. I am happy to say that we

:55:41. > :55:44.have a number of tools of which we offer to work with other countries,

:55:45. > :55:47.which is very helpful for them, such as the global calculator which helps

:55:48. > :55:53.them work out what steps they need to take to meet their targets. We

:55:54. > :55:58.expect to step up that engagement to help them meet their targets. Mr

:55:59. > :56:03.Speaker, can the Secretary of State for her role in this agreement. In

:56:04. > :56:07.particular, the formation of the so-called high ambition Coalition

:56:08. > :56:09.between developed countries and vulnerable countries, which is such

:56:10. > :56:13.an important part of getting the deal that she did. If I can put it

:56:14. > :56:16.this way, I think we want her on this site am I to be part of a high

:56:17. > :56:23.ambition Coalition at home as well as abroad. In that context she

:56:24. > :56:26.mentioned zero emissions and the important goal of net zero emissions

:56:27. > :56:29.that is contained in the agreement, I believe the second half of the

:56:30. > :56:34.century. Canty confirmed that that will apply not just globally come

:56:35. > :56:38.about will apply to the tent every country that his signature he to be

:56:39. > :56:42.agreement? I thank the right honourable gentleman for his words

:56:43. > :56:44.and I share his enthusiasm nationally for high ambition.

:56:45. > :56:48.Perhaps less of a Coalition for now. I would also say it is a great

:56:49. > :56:54.achievement to have the zero emissions target. Within the

:56:55. > :56:58.long-term goal. For now I think as far as the UK's concern we will

:56:59. > :57:07.continue to focus on our climate change targets for 2015. Thank you

:57:08. > :57:12.Mr Speaker. Given the UK's climate change laws are stricter am a down

:57:13. > :57:16.to the obligations agreed in Paris, does my right honourable friend

:57:17. > :57:21.agreed that there is a really risk of bridges business being put at

:57:22. > :57:23.eight competitive disadvantage -- a competitive disadvantage if we do

:57:24. > :57:30.not cut the cost of energy, particularly for energy intensive

:57:31. > :57:35.companies. He is right to highlight the issue of competitiveness. Defect

:57:36. > :57:37.is getting this global deal is a way of addressing the issue of

:57:38. > :57:41.competitiveness, because other countries will have to step up and

:57:42. > :57:45.make the same sort of plans that we are doing -- the fact is. The best

:57:46. > :57:49.way to reduce the cost of energy is to make sure that the energy itself

:57:50. > :57:54.is less costly by driving down the cost and the sort of actions that

:57:55. > :57:57.this government has taken. Thank you Mr Speaker. And all the acres of

:57:58. > :58:03.media covers with the Paris agreement, I think it's on the test

:58:04. > :58:05.as comparison to what could have been a Mirko, by comparison to what

:58:06. > :58:10.it should have been it's a disaster. I welcome the inclusion of the goal,

:58:11. > :58:13.but that is meaningless without to deliver it. In particular keeping

:58:14. > :58:17.the vast majority of fossil fuels on the ground. Can she tell us how the

:58:18. > :58:22.government's recently agreed duty to maximise economic recovery of oil

:58:23. > :58:25.and gas is anything other than completely incompatible with what

:58:26. > :58:32.she just signed up to in Paris? Good to interpret that as a cautious

:58:33. > :58:35.welcome from the honourable Lady. There is an element of this deal

:58:36. > :58:39.which you must agree is rather extraordinary, having 200 countries

:58:40. > :58:45.participate copy the answer to your question is that we cannot take any

:58:46. > :58:47.risk at all with energy security. Maximum economic recovery is

:58:48. > :58:51.absolutely a commitment from this government. We have to get a balance

:58:52. > :58:57.right. We have to make sure that we can protect energy security while

:58:58. > :59:06.growing our low carbon economy. Mr Speaker, we can do both. Thank you

:59:07. > :59:09.Mr Speaker. I congratulate the Secretary of State and her team for

:59:10. > :59:12.what they achieved in Paris. She will be aware that since 1990 the UK

:59:13. > :59:18.has decreased emissions by around 10%, faster than the EU. Other

:59:19. > :59:20.countries within the EU, had difficulty achieving anything like

:59:21. > :59:26.that. In the Austria, Holland, Maine, Portugal have all increased

:59:27. > :59:31.commissions since 1990 -- Spain. What policy exists as within the EU

:59:32. > :59:36.to make sure that is not allowed to continue? Mr Speaker, the honourable

:59:37. > :59:41.gentleman who is so experienced in this field has highlighted the issue

:59:42. > :59:46.of the use sharing response abilities which we will move to next

:59:47. > :59:49.year. I don't doubt this will be a challenging negotiation, but the

:59:50. > :59:51.UK's experience is that we can demonstrates our leadership by

:59:52. > :59:56.showing that we have driven down emissions while growing our economy

:59:57. > :00:01.and we hope we'll be able to demonstrates at two other countries

:00:02. > :00:05.and encourage them to follow suit. Chair of the select committee. Hear,

:00:06. > :00:08.hear! Firstly, can I thank the Secretary

:00:09. > :00:13.of State for a statement and congratulate her on the involvement

:00:14. > :00:16.in the Paris talks. Will she take the chance to review and reset the

:00:17. > :00:22.last six months of policy of our government? The cheapest funds of

:00:23. > :00:27.the generation, renewable generation, energy efficiency and

:00:28. > :00:29.CCS, all cut. Will she look again at the diesel generator loopholes and

:00:30. > :00:38.make sure that transportation plays a full part with Mike I feel that

:00:39. > :00:41.this government has been, as they viewed to government has cost to

:00:42. > :00:44.date rather than saving for the future. Especially when it comes to

:00:45. > :00:48.be clear. Just what will change in her department due to be Paris

:00:49. > :00:51.talks? Hear, hear! I am happy to say that the Paris

:00:52. > :00:55.agreement allows us to continue on the path that this government has

:00:56. > :01:01.set. In terms of delivering a low carbon future and sticking to our

:01:02. > :01:04.climate change act commitment, but also always make a show that we take

:01:05. > :01:12.no risk with security and provide value for money for consumers. Thank

:01:13. > :01:16.you Mr Speaker. May I congratulate my right honourable friend on what

:01:17. > :01:20.has been achieved and also the French government for magnificent

:01:21. > :01:24.hosting of this summit. Given that, a lot of the climate finance pledged

:01:25. > :01:33.by the wealthy nations is likely to be classified as ODA. Given many of

:01:34. > :01:35.our friends in Europe so no sign of increasing the percentage of ODA

:01:36. > :01:39.that they are giving as a percentage of their gross national income. Is

:01:40. > :01:43.she concerned that some of this climate finance may be actually

:01:44. > :01:47.taking away from the amount available on a for instance, for the

:01:48. > :01:51.refugee crisis in Syria and other concerns around the world? Mr

:01:52. > :01:54.Speaker, the honourable gentleman is right. My honourable friend is right

:01:55. > :02:00.to praise the French government, who managed this in an extraordinarily

:02:01. > :02:06.able way with great diplomatic skill. I would say the issue of the

:02:07. > :02:09.$100 billion to be mobilised by 2020 is a challenging one for everyone

:02:10. > :02:13.involved. And it is something that we will constantly return to to

:02:14. > :02:17.ensure that it is delivered, but do not forget it is also mobilised. Is

:02:18. > :02:20.not entirely the government to deliver it is also an attempt to

:02:21. > :02:26.generate private-sector influence as well. Thank you Mr Speaker. I would

:02:27. > :02:30.like to add my congratulations to all those involved in these

:02:31. > :02:36.important talks in Paris. One of the most are mockable things about the

:02:37. > :02:39.aspirations to hold reductions to one and a half degrees --

:02:40. > :02:45.remarkable. As it was said, the Paris process adds political

:02:46. > :02:48.pressure to emissions reduction. Would she like to apply some of that

:02:49. > :02:53.political pressure to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, who said the other

:02:54. > :03:00.day that he hadn't inherited anything and the decision of carbon

:03:01. > :03:05.capture is not to cut. I think I will welcome the honourable Lady's

:03:06. > :03:09.comments. About the ambition that we have, which was also referred to

:03:10. > :03:13.earlier, in terms of the 1.5 degrees which was achieved in working

:03:14. > :03:19.closely with the high ambition Coalition. Mr Speaker, it is no

:03:20. > :03:26.longer a question of whether but when will tackle man's impact on the

:03:27. > :03:29.climate. It is a huge achievement to have included developing economies

:03:30. > :03:35.in the ambition. Moreover to make that ambition a relisted one. What

:03:36. > :03:40.part having play in accelerating our need for game changing technology,

:03:41. > :03:46.and what part of clean energy that will produce at Hinkley Point in

:03:47. > :03:55.Somerset will happen in the process? He is right. The distinguishing

:03:56. > :03:57.factor is that it includes developing countries. We are

:03:58. > :04:01.committed to ensure that we work across other governments to develop

:04:02. > :04:04.new energy sources in our particular programme of mission innovation, but

:04:05. > :04:09.I do also agree that nuclear, including Hinkley Point which is the

:04:10. > :04:12.first nuclear deal to be commissioned for 25 years, is going

:04:13. > :04:19.to be an important part of the low carbon future. The Secretary of

:04:20. > :04:22.State is correct in wanting a level playing field between this country

:04:23. > :04:28.and other countries. At the failure of Paris to reach the aspirations of

:04:29. > :04:34.the German conference to have legally bought binding limits on

:04:35. > :04:37.carving dioxide admissions for all countries, so he puts us at when we

:04:38. > :04:46.do have legally binding commitments. We've already lost great talks of

:04:47. > :04:50.the Armenian industry. How to produce that level playing field to

:04:51. > :04:55.the advantage of our industries? Hear,

:04:56. > :04:59.The honourable Bob gentleman raises an important point. I would say

:05:00. > :05:02.although there are some elements that are not legally binding, there

:05:03. > :05:06.are plenty that are. The fact is that every country has to come at

:05:07. > :05:10.every five years and did demonstrate what they are doing. There will be,

:05:11. > :05:15.I help, and political moment at that point. NGOs, civil society,

:05:16. > :05:18.businesses, watching and campaigning to make sure that we always make

:05:19. > :05:22.progress. Countries cannot go back on the commitments, that can only go

:05:23. > :05:26.forward. I say do not yet underestimate the impact this will

:05:27. > :05:30.have internationally. Thank you Mr Speaker. Can I add my

:05:31. > :05:34.congratulations to the Secretary of State and all those who worked many

:05:35. > :05:37.years on achieving an impressive outcome. But can the Secretary of

:05:38. > :05:40.State confirm whether the success criteria set before the conference

:05:41. > :05:47.were actually achieved at the conference? A good question from my

:05:48. > :05:50.honour will friend. I can say that most of our criteria were met. But

:05:51. > :05:53.nobody will have left that conference saying that all of that

:05:54. > :05:57.criteria were met. That is how we got a deal. Everybody had to cover

:05:58. > :06:03.my day little. That was the achievement of the agreement. I

:06:04. > :06:06.thank the Secretary of State for what is a landmark statement and

:06:07. > :06:13.congratulate her on her personal stamina at 4am, and what she paid to

:06:14. > :06:17.her predecessors of all political parties. I think she will agree that

:06:18. > :06:24.the fact that Europe spoke at the one voice was a significant part of

:06:25. > :06:27.the process -- but as one voice. Nonetheless, there is still

:06:28. > :06:30.consistency needed. Does he agree it is essential that we go to harass

:06:31. > :06:36.and sign up ambitious targets, but yet the inconsistency had a

:06:37. > :06:41.meaningful role, signed in a last Parliament to deal with climate

:06:42. > :06:47.change back at home? I would say that the success of the Paris

:06:48. > :06:50.agreement was intended nationally determined contributions that each

:06:51. > :06:54.country had to make and come forward with to participate. Almost every

:06:55. > :06:59.country had done that by the date of the agreement. These are voluntary.

:07:00. > :07:03.Very few countries criticised each other. Each country delivers in

:07:04. > :07:10.their only. That is what the UK is going to do and that is what we will

:07:11. > :07:13.continue to do. Mr Speaker, on current taint of uncontrolled

:07:14. > :07:16.immigration, this country will have a population of 30 million more by

:07:17. > :07:23.the end of the century -- current change. What effect does he think

:07:24. > :07:26.that will have on our emissions? I can reassure the honourable

:07:27. > :07:32.gentleman that the big influence, the most of our CO2 emissions, it is

:07:33. > :07:36.generally from the power sector and from industry and we will constantly

:07:37. > :07:42.be monitoring them in order to enable us to have continued

:07:43. > :07:44.reductions. And I commended the Secretary of State and her officials

:07:45. > :07:48.for the part they played in securing the Paris agreement? With that

:07:49. > :07:52.agreement now in place, printable if anything need to be born ambitious

:07:53. > :07:54.when it comes to emissions reductions -- Britain's. And we have

:07:55. > :07:59.been. Yet we know the government are struggling to meet their renewables

:08:00. > :08:03.target, when it comes to heat and transport. As in certain areas we

:08:04. > :08:06.know be chancellor ultimately cause the shots copy will she let the

:08:07. > :08:10.House know what progress she has made in persuading her honourable

:08:11. > :08:13.friend to do more to the that sector? Hear, hear!

:08:14. > :08:17.The honourable gentleman is absolutely right with the renewables

:08:18. > :08:21.target, the talented heat and transport. I can ensure that I am

:08:22. > :08:25.working closely with the Secretary of State for Transport and local

:08:26. > :08:31.government to put together a plan to ensure that we can make that target.

:08:32. > :08:36.Thank you Mr Speaker. Secretary of State will be aware that a large

:08:37. > :08:39.percentage still come from coal-fired power. Get to give some

:08:40. > :08:43.results as she moves to our low carbon future that consumers prices

:08:44. > :08:51.will remain affordable as well as the continued to supply, but also

:08:52. > :08:55.carbon linkage? I can reassure my honourable friend that we would in

:08:56. > :08:59.no way sacrifice our security of supply as we move towards a low

:09:00. > :09:03.carbon economy. But I can also tell him that putting and end date is an

:09:04. > :09:08.important part of making sure that we do meet our low-carb future --

:09:09. > :09:11.low carbon future. We should be proud that this is the first

:09:12. > :09:18.developed country to put an end date on it. Hear, hear!

:09:19. > :09:24.Can I ask the secretary of state whether she has full confidence that

:09:25. > :09:26.there really will be adherent in terms of the funding commitments and

:09:27. > :09:31.the action plans that governments have signed up to. And I commend her

:09:32. > :09:38.on her statement on the work that went down to this agreement which

:09:39. > :09:42.uses human rights language in a stronger way than before. And any

:09:43. > :09:50.environmental agreement. How confident is she? The honourable

:09:51. > :09:53.gentleman is right that the financial contributions, the $100

:09:54. > :09:57.billion by 2020, were a key element of bringing on developing countries

:09:58. > :10:01.would have never participated before in this sort of commitment. I would

:10:02. > :10:05.say to him that it is one side of the agreement and it is absolutely

:10:06. > :10:09.essential that we do deliver on that. But it is not just governments

:10:10. > :10:14.who would do it, but businesses as well. I think the success of the

:10:15. > :10:20.business, of the agreement over the next 5-15 years will be tested if it

:10:21. > :10:22.doesn't happen. Thank you Mr Speaker. I congratulate the

:10:23. > :10:25.Secretary of State and her whole team for the part they played in

:10:26. > :10:29.reaching this historic deal. She will know that it is not only about

:10:30. > :10:33.acting globally, but locally. I wonder if she would join me in

:10:34. > :10:39.paying tribute to community groups all around the country who are very

:10:40. > :10:44.keen to meet with her to talk further about the role they can play

:10:45. > :10:50.taking these goals further. I would always be delighted. She is of

:10:51. > :10:53.course right that it is much more effective if these actions are taken

:10:54. > :11:00.locally, nationally, but above all not top-down, internationally. Will

:11:01. > :11:08.she bridge her rhetoric to reality by announcing investments in the

:11:09. > :11:13.Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport, title game which will exploit and for the

:11:14. > :11:20.first time ever, neglect immense power of the tides which are

:11:21. > :11:32.entirely predictable and when linked to power schemes, are response will

:11:33. > :11:39.that? Tidal power is green, not carbon, and eternal. The honourable

:11:40. > :11:43.judgement is right that we are looking closely at the opportunity

:11:44. > :11:47.for title power. We are in due diligence now. If we meet the

:11:48. > :11:52.targets of being secure, clean, and affordable that we will certainly be

:11:53. > :11:58.taking it very seriously. Thank you Mr Speaker. What assessment has she

:11:59. > :12:06.made of the UK energy markets capacity to replace innovative call

:12:07. > :12:09.by the cutoff date of 2020? I think my honourable friend for the

:12:10. > :12:12.question. We will be doing a consultation at the beginning of

:12:13. > :12:16.next year in order to address that. I have been very clear in the policy

:12:17. > :12:21.choices I said out that we expect to bring on more gas in order to cover

:12:22. > :12:26.some of that call that will be coming off. Thank you Mr Speaker.

:12:27. > :12:30.Investors in renewable energy tell me that they want a certainty from

:12:31. > :12:34.the government's energy policy. I wonder if the Secretary of State

:12:35. > :12:40.could the David Teague -- could set out the key milestones consider any

:12:41. > :12:46.Paris agreement for the announcement to be made in renewables? A lot of

:12:47. > :12:49.our targets have not changed as a result of the Paris agreement I'm a

:12:50. > :12:52.although of course I would discuss with them closely within my

:12:53. > :12:59.department. We have already set up our plans. We will be setting out

:13:00. > :13:04.shortly our plans for solar. Thank you Mr Speaker. The Scottish first

:13:05. > :13:08.Minister announced a ?12 million adjustment in addition to the

:13:09. > :13:14.Scottish government's announcement. What new money for adaptation is

:13:15. > :13:20.being used as a world so -- result of the agreement? Is the Speaker, I

:13:21. > :13:23.think my right honour will friend, the Prime Minister, has been

:13:24. > :13:27.cleared. As I said my earlier comments he has already announced a

:13:28. > :13:35.50% increase in our climate fund. That is being welcomed by developing

:13:36. > :13:38.countries. Thank you Mr Speaker. With the Secretary of State agree

:13:39. > :13:43.with me that this is really good news? The really hard work now

:13:44. > :13:50.begins, turning aspiration into action. Will I tell her, and will

:13:51. > :13:53.she agree with me, that we've got to maintain the view that this country

:13:54. > :14:00.has had for some time of sharing intellectual property and innovation

:14:01. > :14:06.with many other countries, entering to a Council committee on

:14:07. > :14:10.sustainable production. Shares with other countries innovation that

:14:11. > :14:13.could reduce their carbon emissions. He is like. Having that shared

:14:14. > :14:19.vision across different countries is essential. Actually, the technology

:14:20. > :14:22.section within the agreement is very important to some of the developing

:14:23. > :14:27.countries to give confidence and. I would also add that we have doubled

:14:28. > :14:31.our spent on innovation spending and energy to join the Americans and

:14:32. > :14:34.other developed countries with image innovation, which is all about

:14:35. > :14:42.sharing, investment and technology discoveries. Thank you Mr Speaker.

:14:43. > :14:46.Can I congratulate the Secretary of State on her role in achieving this

:14:47. > :14:51.historic agreement. But in doing so, can I say to her that she except

:14:52. > :14:57.that if the government is going to meet its commitment and show some

:14:58. > :15:02.leadership in the world, then it's got to challenge the process of

:15:03. > :15:05.renewable energies. In particular, onshore wind. It was a cautious

:15:06. > :15:09.parliament from the honourable gentleman. I would say that is not

:15:10. > :15:12.what I found internationally. When I discussed it with other ministers,

:15:13. > :15:16.what I found was a lot of interest in what we were doing to drive down

:15:17. > :15:20.the cost of renewables. Renewables should not have a subsidy for ever.

:15:21. > :15:25.The point is to try and engage with the industry so that they have a

:15:26. > :15:31.lower-cost. The success of a truly deep carbonized low carbon,

:15:32. > :15:35.international economy will be when Green energy really reduces and

:15:36. > :15:41.cost. I have long been a supporter of cooperative immunity renewable

:15:42. > :15:44.energy schemes. Met with one such company last week they tell me the

:15:45. > :15:49.uncertainty that the government provided has caused problems for

:15:50. > :15:52.planning any future. How will she provide policy certainty photos who

:15:53. > :15:55.want to play our bit in meeting this agreement? Hear, hear!

:15:56. > :16:00.I would remind the honourable gentleman that costs increases for

:16:01. > :16:06.solar panels over the last 20 years have come down by 80% -- costs for

:16:07. > :16:08.solar panels. I will surely be making an announcement about what

:16:09. > :16:12.that will be coming down to going forward. I'm sure he will be

:16:13. > :16:18.interested in that result. A statement. The Secretary of State

:16:19. > :16:22.for Transport. With permission, Mr Speaker, I'd like to make a

:16:23. > :16:25.statement about airport policy. Aviation is a British success story.

:16:26. > :16:30.Today we have the third-largest aviation network in world. Second

:16:31. > :16:35.only to be United States and China. Went with that success comes

:16:36. > :16:42.charges. Heathrow is down, Gatwick is going up. The entire London

:16:43. > :16:46.system will be full by 2014. Yet we need new connections to new cities

:16:47. > :16:49.in the new economies. There are other challenges too. Airports

:16:50. > :16:55.create jobs and opportunities. Technology is changing. Planes are

:16:56. > :16:59.becoming quieter and more efficient. But there is still inevitably, and

:17:00. > :17:05.environmental impact. For some, the argument seems simple. Opposed all

:17:06. > :17:10.expansion anywhere, or back it but always somewhere else. Yes, there

:17:11. > :17:17.are opportunities in the network of the national airports with global

:17:18. > :17:19.connections from cities such as Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow,

:17:20. > :17:24.Manchester, and Newcastle. But growth year will, alongside world in

:17:25. > :17:28.the Southeast. -- growth here. Not instead of it. Which is why in

:17:29. > :17:34.September 2012, Sir Heron Davis was asked to leads the commission. His

:17:35. > :17:37.final report was published less than six months ago and made a strong

:17:38. > :17:43.case for expansion in the Southeast. We have considered that evidence.

:17:44. > :17:46.The government accepts the case for expansion. And the government

:17:47. > :17:51.accepts that the airports commission short list of options or expansion.

:17:52. > :17:56.Will begin work straightaway on preparing the building blocks from

:17:57. > :18:01.airport national policy statement in line with the planning act of 2008.

:18:02. > :18:07.Thing this new framework in place. Will be essential groundwork for it

:18:08. > :18:11.implement them of the decision we take, wherever the new capacity is

:18:12. > :18:16.to be built. That is the issue I want to turn to now. To Howard Davis

:18:17. > :18:21.and his team produced a powerful report. Heathrow airport scheme was

:18:22. > :18:25.recommended by the airports commission, but all three schemes

:18:26. > :18:30.were deemed viable. We are continuing to consider all three

:18:31. > :18:36.schemes. We want to see action. But we must get the next steps right.

:18:37. > :18:40.Also those, keen to push ahead with expansion and for those who will be

:18:41. > :18:45.affected by it. So we will undertake a package of overwork. First, we

:18:46. > :18:51.must deal with air quality. I want to build confidence so expansion can

:18:52. > :18:54.take place within the legal limits. So we will accept the environmental

:18:55. > :19:00.audit committee's recommendation to test commission's work against the

:19:01. > :19:03.government's new air quality plans. Second, we must deal with concerns

:19:04. > :19:09.about noise. I want to get the best possible outcome for this, for local

:19:10. > :19:13.residents. So I will engage further with the promoters to make sure the

:19:14. > :19:18.best package of noise mitigation measures are in place. Third, we

:19:19. > :19:24.must deal with carbon emissions, so we will look at all the measures to

:19:25. > :19:25.mitigate urban impact and address the sustainability concerns

:19:26. > :19:31.particularly during construction. Fourth, we must manage the other

:19:32. > :19:34.impacts on local communities. I want people who stand to lose their homes

:19:35. > :19:38.to be properly compensated for the impact of expansion. And I want

:19:39. > :19:44.local people to have the best access to the opportunities that expansion

:19:45. > :19:47.will bring, including new jobs and apprenticeships. So we will develop

:19:48. > :19:52.detailed community mitigation measures for each of the short list

:19:53. > :19:56.options. We expect to conclude this package to work by the summer.

:19:57. > :20:02.Critically, this means delivering the timetable for the additional

:20:03. > :20:07.capacity set out by Sahara, does not alter. The commission reported that

:20:08. > :20:14.an additional runway would be a requirement I2030 and we intend to

:20:15. > :20:17.meet that. I am fully aware that some will wish we will go further.

:20:18. > :20:21.And others will wish we are making no such progress at all. We are

:20:22. > :20:28.prepared for that. I want to get this decision right. That means

:20:29. > :20:32.getting the environment respond right and in the meantime, getting

:20:33. > :20:36.on with the hard work to build a new capacity to the timetable set out by

:20:37. > :20:42.Sir Howard in the commissions report. Mr Speaker, I commend the

:20:43. > :20:47.statement to be housed. Hear, hear! Speaker Mac I think the Secretary of

:20:48. > :20:50.State for the side of his statement. He should not have fallen to

:20:51. > :20:53.announce that the Prime Minister has broken the clear promise he gave to

:20:54. > :20:59.the House in July. When he said that the guarantee that I can give is

:21:00. > :21:02.that a decision will be made by the end of the year. So my first

:21:03. > :21:07.question is simple. Why is it the Prime Minister explaining his own

:21:08. > :21:12.U-turn? Mr Speaker, my response is very limited due to the brevity of

:21:13. > :21:17.his statement, but I want to register our protest to the

:21:18. > :21:20.government's decision to announce this decision through the press. The

:21:21. > :21:24.Secretary of State said that when an announcement is to be made he would

:21:25. > :21:28.make it in the House, but instead we got a last-minute note from our

:21:29. > :21:34.crisis Prime Minister explaining why he couldn't meet his own deadline.

:21:35. > :21:36.That shambolic announcement on Thursday has rightly been condemned

:21:37. > :21:41.by businesses and honourable members on both sides of the House. Hear,

:21:42. > :21:44.hear! Mr Speaker, we need a new runway in

:21:45. > :21:48.the southeast, but the environmental concerns have been known since July.

:21:49. > :21:52.So what has he been doing for the last six months? The government's

:21:53. > :21:56.announcement was such in shambles that the secretary of state do not

:21:57. > :22:02.do is basic information about the new environmental and mitigation

:22:03. > :22:06.more. What are the areas east believes still need to be addressed

:22:07. > :22:10.-- he believes? Who will be leading this work? What are the terms of

:22:11. > :22:14.reference and will look report? If you cannot answer these basic

:22:15. > :22:19.questions, is it not confirmation that the government has amended

:22:20. > :22:21.everything but the pretense of following due process? And that the

:22:22. > :22:26.Prime Minister broke this promise because he is avoiding a by election

:22:27. > :22:31.in Richmond ahead of the national interest? Hear, hear!

:22:32. > :22:34.Turning to another issue raised by a statement, the government has always

:22:35. > :22:38.said that the subcommittees recommendations will be subject to a

:22:39. > :22:41.full Cabinet discussion. Has that discussion taking place? Or have his

:22:42. > :22:47.colleagues been left as much in the dark as the rest of the House?

:22:48. > :22:51.Finally, what steps is he now taking to address the plight and

:22:52. > :22:57.uncertainty that this lake politically motivated delay will

:22:58. > :23:01.cause? Hear, hear! Mr Speaker, I find it rather hard to

:23:02. > :23:07.except from the honourable lady that somehow we are taking too long with

:23:08. > :23:13.this matter. Perhaps I would like to go for a little bit of the history.

:23:14. > :23:15.In 2001, Labour ministers reported to be seriously considering building

:23:16. > :23:20.a third runway. LAUGHTER At Heathrow. To relieve the

:23:21. > :23:25.increasing congested in London. In December 2003, the then transport

:23:26. > :23:29.Secretary publishes a white paper pulling for a third runway in a six

:23:30. > :23:35.Tom Reynolds at Heathrow to be included within 12 years -- six

:23:36. > :23:40.runway. In 2007, a public consultation document firmly in

:23:41. > :23:46.favour of Heathrow to accommodate a new runway of 220,000 flights a

:23:47. > :23:51.year. In 2009, the government approves a third runway taking the

:23:52. > :23:57.number of flights and all by the airport from 480 house and --

:23:58. > :24:01.480,000 to more than 700,000 a year. So I don't think the party opposite

:24:02. > :24:08.complaining about the time that we are taking to come to a decision on

:24:09. > :24:16.a very thorough report is worthy. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition

:24:17. > :24:20.seems to think so as well. Because he gave an interview on sky

:24:21. > :24:25.television last Thursday. And he was asked a question by a correspondent,

:24:26. > :24:28.I think people are a little confused at the moment about exactly what

:24:29. > :24:32.labour's policy on Heathrow specifically is. Can you clarify for

:24:33. > :24:37.us? It is the labour position? Leader of the Opposition. The

:24:38. > :24:42.position is that we put these questions on how we go ahead with

:24:43. > :24:45.airport expansion on the basis of capacity across the Southeast copy

:24:46. > :24:48.on the basis of need for a hug and of course the effects on

:24:49. > :24:52.neighbouring communities. And the environment noise. Those answers

:24:53. > :24:56.have to be given before any decision can be taken. About where expansion

:24:57. > :25:02.should be going. There we are then. A gets better. So correspondence, so

:25:03. > :25:06.at the moment you don't have a position on Heathrow specifically.

:25:07. > :25:10.Leader of the Opposition, at the moment, that is our position.

:25:11. > :25:16.LAUGHTER Was it yours? Mr Speaker, I don't

:25:17. > :25:21.think I will think too many lectures about getting the timescale right.

:25:22. > :25:29.What I said in my statement and what I stand by and the statement is so

:25:30. > :25:33.Howard said that there needs to be a conclusion on the runway available

:25:34. > :25:37.for operation by 2013. Even on the timetable I've announced today that

:25:38. > :25:42.is well within possibilities of the programme that we are talking

:25:43. > :25:50.specifically, in right demand light of the 2008 planning act, which is

:25:51. > :25:54.was of course has by the last labour government -- in light of the 2008

:25:55. > :25:58.planning act. The previous commission led by Lord Justice

:25:59. > :26:02.Roscoe, his recommendation was not accepted by the government of the

:26:03. > :26:08.day. Is it not right to take time to consider two aspects. One is the

:26:09. > :26:13.very weak section of the environmental aspect of developing

:26:14. > :26:19.Heathrow. But also to address the fundamental contradiction that if it

:26:20. > :26:20.is right to have a hub airport in London, Paris runways simply doesn't

:26:21. > :26:30.suffice? I am grateful to my Honorable friend

:26:31. > :26:34.who has covered this issue for a lot longer than anybody else in the

:26:35. > :26:39.house. The points he makes are valid points which we need to address.

:26:40. > :26:44.There are no doubts about the capacity to what is happening as far

:26:45. > :26:48.as aviation and airport and aircraft movements are concerned. It is

:26:49. > :26:51.something that I am incredibly grateful, not only to Davis, but to

:26:52. > :26:55.the rest of the commission for the work that they have done in

:26:56. > :27:03.producing a valuable report on which he will be able to come to

:27:04. > :27:09.conclusions in due course. Can I think the Secretary of State for the

:27:10. > :27:13.early sight of his statement? In Scotland 90% of international

:27:14. > :27:19.visitors travel by air, a third of those come through Heathrow has a

:27:20. > :27:28.hub. Salmon, shelve this, and whiskey are vital to the economy in.

:27:29. > :27:34.-- shellfish. The UK government have known all of long all of the

:27:35. > :27:37.environmental issues, they could have chosen Heathrow, Gatwick or

:27:38. > :27:43.something new. All with environmental conditions. They could

:27:44. > :27:46.have chosen nothing at all, indecision stops everybody from

:27:47. > :27:51.action. It keeps people and communities, it is not just in

:27:52. > :27:58.Scotland, it is not just me saying this. Let me quote the Minister of

:27:59. > :28:05.State from June 2015. He said, "We cannot afford to stall on making a

:28:06. > :28:10.position any longer, travel industry when driving indicates a thriving

:28:11. > :28:15.economy. They must support the growth of the travel industry. " as

:28:16. > :28:22.the Prime Minister of the head of the government has made clear, by

:28:23. > :28:26.the end of this year, 2015, and D the Secretary of State in October

:28:27. > :28:34.2012, when he said, he will be able to make recommendations in 2013.

:28:35. > :28:39.Some people say it will take a long time, it will not take that long,

:28:40. > :28:46.once they get under way. As he said to the conservative party, in

:28:47. > :28:53.October 2012 in his speech, there is another area where we have to help

:28:54. > :28:56.businesses as well. That the will be to compete internationally. The

:28:57. > :29:01.runways are filling up at the Jets are circling our skies. That it's

:29:02. > :29:05.hitting our prosperity, it is bad for the environment, it is putting

:29:06. > :29:12.off investors and costing jobs. It is holding Britain back. This piece

:29:13. > :29:20.to the conservative party conference, I do not have the

:29:21. > :29:25.talents met a deputy speaker. The Prime Minister has told this house

:29:26. > :29:44.that we will have it this implies. Let me ask this. Hear, Hear order!

:29:45. > :29:48.Order! The Secretary of State. I was taken, I'd thought the Honorable

:29:49. > :29:54.member was still in his various announcement. One of the things that

:29:55. > :29:58.my Honorable friend has just said, he was in a holding position, one of

:29:59. > :30:04.the things that he did not tell us was which scheme he supports, or

:30:05. > :30:08.indeed which airport he supports, he has failed to do that, what I have

:30:09. > :30:15.said is that it is right, this is a very big issue, it has with the

:30:16. > :30:19.government for many will years. We do want to do further work on some

:30:20. > :30:22.of the environmental impacts, bearing in mind of recent

:30:23. > :30:26.developments which have happened. I would have thought that, the house

:30:27. > :30:31.would have accepted at that bearing in mind that on the 26th of

:30:32. > :30:34.November, there was a committee report from the environment which

:30:35. > :30:38.was just looked into. Saying that we should take a fresh look at certain

:30:39. > :30:45.issues, that is what we will do. Before we come to a position in the

:30:46. > :30:51.summer. What my right honourable friend except, that there is a need

:30:52. > :30:56.to reach a decision, on our airport expansion, but that should not be

:30:57. > :31:05.done at the expense of environmental considerations. We have to get it

:31:06. > :31:10.right, as he said, Sir David has accepted since he published his

:31:11. > :31:14.report, the issue of air quality has moved on. Those changes must be

:31:15. > :31:25.examined to make sure that we take edifice of that is like for like. I

:31:26. > :31:28.certainly agree and thank my right honourable friend who took a great

:31:29. > :31:33.deal of interest in this particular issue when he was in the department,

:31:34. > :31:37.he is absolutely right. We have moved significantly further than

:31:38. > :31:49.what has been with the been the case. Not only that, excepting the

:31:50. > :31:53.recommendations which have been put forward, I think that enables us to

:31:54. > :32:01.look at some of the issues which come about as a result. Says the

:32:02. > :32:07.report was published but also from other applications that will affect

:32:08. > :32:10.communities. And what implications we can put in for those affected to

:32:11. > :32:19.make this a more acceptable position in the longer term. Luke over two

:32:20. > :32:22.years ago, the transport select committee supported the expansion of

:32:23. > :32:29.capacity, in the national economic interest. Back Heathrow with

:32:30. > :32:32.environmental safeguards, the Davids commission which was supported six

:32:33. > :32:36.months ago came to very similar conclusions. It appears that the

:32:37. > :32:42.government has done no work or very little work since that time, we are

:32:43. > :32:47.now six months on, according to the CPI, the UK economy is losing out.

:32:48. > :32:50.We are losing out about ?1 billion a year because of the lack of

:32:51. > :33:00.long-haul capacity. Will be a position ever be taken? I think in

:33:01. > :33:04.fairness to the Honorable Lady, she was part of every government affairs

:33:05. > :33:07.for many years to make edifice and as far as where the extra capacity

:33:08. > :33:13.was concerned. The point I would make the Honorable Lady is this, it

:33:14. > :33:18.is important that we have the new capacity up and available by 2030.

:33:19. > :33:24.What I have talked about today is still within that timetable, having

:33:25. > :33:28.that capacity available by 2030. I think, taking a little longer,

:33:29. > :33:31.actually some of the work that we will be embarking on, some of the

:33:32. > :33:39.work on air quality has not been done. We have maybe slow the process

:33:40. > :33:47.down rather than we that of. -- speed it up. The Labour Party may

:33:48. > :33:57.not have done is completely irrelevant. It has no interest to

:33:58. > :34:04.us. What he agree that this position not to make a division is truly...

:34:05. > :34:09.It is absolutely no way to run what he is calling a world-class

:34:10. > :34:14.transport system to support a world-class economy. Can he tell me

:34:15. > :34:19.exactly, wife and the day commission reported absolutely clearly to what

:34:20. > :34:26.their preferred position was without any prevarication, would he tell me

:34:27. > :34:30.what was the point of it? A number of what's, I am sorry that my right

:34:31. > :34:35.honourable friend of mine think that the situation is a fact of no action

:34:36. > :34:41.from a previous government, previously irrelevant. I do not

:34:42. > :34:46.accept that. The simple fact is, I think what the David's commission

:34:47. > :34:51.has done, is identified a report that extra capacity is needed. There

:34:52. > :34:55.are options that can be considered and we are right to consider those

:34:56. > :35:08.three options. I hope very much, that by the summer, we will be able

:35:09. > :35:13.to favour that. The Secretary of State knows I hold him in high

:35:14. > :35:18.regard even when I heckle him. But it took them a few months to get

:35:19. > :35:23.past the global Democrats and red light for the increase, it took the

:35:24. > :35:29.David's commission three years to get beyond the commission and about

:35:30. > :35:32.another six months to avoid having a statement until today, lie doesn't

:35:33. > :35:37.the Secretary of State just admit that this is a political fix to get

:35:38. > :35:41.us past another election and London, and own up giving his own activity

:35:42. > :35:50.in honesty that the has nothing to do with the national interest. I

:35:51. > :35:55.don't mind the occasional hackle from the Honorable member, by now

:35:56. > :36:00.I'm quite used to it. What I would say is that when he says of it is

:36:01. > :36:04.just a fixed path the mayoral election, if it had been a fix to

:36:05. > :36:10.get past the election, we would have said that when David was published

:36:11. > :36:15.that we weren't going to respond for 12 month. My Honorable friend has

:36:16. > :36:21.always been perfectly clear and where he stands on this particular

:36:22. > :36:26.matter. Like the Honorable member, when he was a minister of state

:36:27. > :36:35.attending cabinet in 2009, said that he was firmly in favour of Heathrow.

:36:36. > :36:41.My right honourable friend has held office since the commission received

:36:42. > :36:45.its own destruction. -- instructions. And they will know

:36:46. > :36:48.that the commission urges the government to make an early decision

:36:49. > :36:53.on its recommendations, further delay will be increasingly costly

:36:54. > :36:56.and will be seen, nationally and internationally as a sign that the

:36:57. > :37:00.United Kingdom is unwilling or unable to take the steps needed to

:37:01. > :37:06.maintain its position as a well-connected open trading economy

:37:07. > :37:11.in the 21st century. I know that my Honorable friend is a decent and

:37:12. > :37:17.loyalty player, and is loyally preventing the team position today.

:37:18. > :37:20.Does he understand, that when the conservative team imitates the

:37:21. > :37:24.Labour candidate for Mayor of London, by putting personal and

:37:25. > :37:33.party interests ahead of the national interest, we all lose. I

:37:34. > :37:38.say to my Honorable friend, who is a distinguished chairman of a select

:37:39. > :37:41.committee, I always expect his select committee to listen to with

:37:42. > :37:47.the respect at eight select committee should be listened to. I

:37:48. > :37:49.would refer him to the environmental committees recommendations where it

:37:50. > :37:54.is recommended that the government takes more time to address the on

:37:55. > :37:59.air quality. On a quality, the government needs to re-examine the

:38:00. > :38:04.commissions findings in light of his finalised air quality strategy. This

:38:05. > :38:08.is a report that was published on the 26th of November. I point out

:38:09. > :38:15.that today is the 14th of December. Even with the best in the world, it

:38:16. > :38:23.would be impossible to a, expect and respond to what it has said. I say

:38:24. > :38:28.to my Honorable friend, I am giving another select committee the kind of

:38:29. > :38:40.respect that he would expect for his own select committee. The government

:38:41. > :38:49.has made a mess of this. It does not come well with other decision. The

:38:50. > :38:58.government is completely... What reassurances can they give that they

:38:59. > :39:03.will be able to take those long-term decisions for competitiveness of our

:39:04. > :39:08.nation and will not be defrauded by short-term considerations? The

:39:09. > :39:16.national infrastructure committee will be subject to the decisions

:39:17. > :39:20.that this house takes. If that was even the case, and the way that the

:39:21. > :39:28.national infrastructure committee set up by the labor opposition if he

:39:29. > :39:31.succeeded in the general election. I think the truth is that the

:39:32. > :39:38.Honorable member is right and that these are big issue. Setting up the

:39:39. > :39:43.issue is vague way forward It will still be for this house, and for the

:39:44. > :39:48.government to make sure that it is abiding by other legal requirement

:39:49. > :39:54.such as air quality and other issues that we have to take into account

:39:55. > :39:58.the making the position. May I commend the Secretary of State for

:39:59. > :40:01.his statement, may I also applaud the government for putting

:40:02. > :40:07.environmental impact as an important issue, as part of that work, will

:40:08. > :40:11.the government also investigate, current noise and air pollution

:40:12. > :40:20.problems, with two runways at Heathrow? I understand the

:40:21. > :40:24.conditions faced by my Honorable friend constituents, I did mention

:40:25. > :40:27.noise, I hope I mentioned noise and my statement as one of the

:40:28. > :40:30.considerations that we have got to get right, but also with the

:40:31. > :40:37.advances of technology as well. The planes are becoming quieter. She is

:40:38. > :40:40.right and she represents the constituency very closely affected

:40:41. > :40:44.by this, it has to be done by looking at the mitigation measures

:40:45. > :40:50.which will be put in place by any of the three scheme promoters. The

:40:51. > :41:01.Secretary of State is an honourable puzzlement, he is my constituent. --

:41:02. > :41:05.honourable gentleman. Can I ask him, he talks about the best possible

:41:06. > :41:11.outcome for local residents, would he accept that my constituents may

:41:12. > :41:14.be considered as local residents for Heathrow but it is important that

:41:15. > :41:16.they are taken into consideration because they live under a

:41:17. > :41:25.early-morning noise pollution which is shopping. And asked runway will

:41:26. > :41:36.make that much worse. -- an extra runway. We are made put an end to my

:41:37. > :41:41.flight back to referred to. B are things that have to be taken into an

:41:42. > :41:54.account. I don't exercise my vote there. Either the government has

:41:55. > :41:59.decided to go ahead with Heathrow expansion but delaying the

:42:00. > :42:12.announcement to avoid embarrassing it... Or it needs more time. Is it

:42:13. > :42:19.worth to told today that is a cowardly and pathetic way to make

:42:20. > :42:23.this an issue? Here is some who has taken a view on the position before

:42:24. > :42:27.the government has made the decision. That is typical what he

:42:28. > :42:31.does. I have an opal with the house as to their reason for the extra

:42:32. > :42:34.work that needs to be done. There are people who have been incredibly

:42:35. > :42:36.consistent on this matter, there are people on the other side of the

:42:37. > :42:44.house that have been less consistent. As I went to the whole

:42:45. > :42:51.programme, of where we actually got to, as far as the times tables are

:42:52. > :43:01.concerned, I think it has been wasting time. Does my Honorable

:43:02. > :43:06.friend understand the dismay and the frustration in the Southwest as a

:43:07. > :43:10.result of this latest delay. Our infrastructure comes to the west of

:43:11. > :43:15.London, he himself has been responsible for a massive rail

:43:16. > :43:21.investment. Since his letters to label impact investment in our

:43:22. > :43:24.region, what confidence can we have that the decision will be arrived at

:43:25. > :43:30.next summer because this is not a London issue than the national

:43:31. > :43:35.issues. I agree that this is a national issue, I am grateful to

:43:36. > :43:38.him, for pointing out the amount of infrastructure investment that this

:43:39. > :43:44.government can point out. The fact that we are increasing investment in

:43:45. > :43:48.infrastructure by 50% in this Parliament, so that I am proud of.

:43:49. > :43:52.When my Honorable friend comes to say that this delay will not allow

:43:53. > :43:56.us to meet what the commission report says, I disagree with him.

:43:57. > :44:00.Even the will with what I'm saying, which is a decision by the summer of

:44:01. > :44:07.next year, we will be in a position to need the time table of extra

:44:08. > :44:19.capacity by 2030, which is when they said it is physically needed by. --

:44:20. > :44:28.desperately. It puts the political career of the Taliban member for

:44:29. > :44:33.Richmond Park -- Honorable member. He cannot even be in this place, he

:44:34. > :44:46.was not in his place at the beginning. Can I say to the

:44:47. > :44:52.Secretary of State, I do not believe, perhaps he can tell, that

:44:53. > :44:55.there are any new or later and environmental considerations, that

:44:56. > :45:01.weren't known, or have not been known to the government over the

:45:02. > :45:06.last ten years or so? Well, I am very much regretting the position

:45:07. > :45:10.which the Honorable member takes, he served on the transport select

:45:11. > :45:14.committee for a long time. My Honorable friend for Richmond

:45:15. > :45:17.position on the expansion of Heathrow has always been perfectly

:45:18. > :45:25.clear. I don't think anybody can be in any doubt. His presence and the

:45:26. > :45:32.chamber is more that can be said for the right Honorable member for two

:45:33. > :45:37.things. Which I pointed out and said that in 2009 in the evening standard

:45:38. > :45:42.that he was in favour of Heathrow expansion, he was a transport

:45:43. > :45:46.minister attending cabinet. My Honorable friend has always been

:45:47. > :45:55.very specific on where he stands on this particular issue. I think his

:45:56. > :46:03.question was unworthy. My right on over friend is right to nail down

:46:04. > :46:11.environmental issues for. With that said, last week, the chief executive

:46:12. > :46:18.of Heathrow Airport indicated that Heathrow is full for flight

:46:19. > :46:23.purposes. We are now losing business to Dubai, and Frankfurt. We have to

:46:24. > :46:27.take some action now. It will be 15 years before there will be any

:46:28. > :46:31.wheels on new comment anywhere in the southeast. Will my right

:46:32. > :46:36.honourable friend do his utmost to get the other airport open again to

:46:37. > :46:44.relieve the pressure on Heathrow and paper to forward. -- Britain. My

:46:45. > :46:47.Honorable friend has been leading his campaign and never misses an

:46:48. > :47:01.opportunity to mention the Manchester Airport. The point he

:47:02. > :47:06.makes, however about what they said on the today programme last Friday,

:47:07. > :47:10.he was talking about the capacity at the moment flying from Heathrow

:47:11. > :47:15.Airport and the people using the planes which are currently flying

:47:16. > :47:20.out, for the movement of freight. What he is talking about is stepping

:47:21. > :47:32.up a completely new operation. I wish him well in his campaign. I

:47:33. > :47:38.believe that the delay is not from political experience these. The

:47:39. > :47:44.Secretary of State from transport has recognised that I have known, is

:47:45. > :47:54.the expansion of Heathrow is too difficult. Mattern Dep to Speaker, I

:47:55. > :48:01.would the Secretary of State to address the business case for which

:48:02. > :48:06.the Airport commission has had some differences among each other. I

:48:07. > :48:13.would like him to address the ground security risk and crash risk. And

:48:14. > :48:18.that they are properly assessed. They are not in the Airport

:48:19. > :48:23.commission report. I would ask that he forced London, Heathrow Airport

:48:24. > :48:30.to declare where the fly-past will be. And also the differences between

:48:31. > :48:35.the airport commission is recommending and what the Heathrow

:48:36. > :48:39.Airport is prepared to accept. I think I may need an adjournment

:48:40. > :48:43.debate to answer those questions. Those are points which the Airport

:48:44. > :48:48.commission has looked at in detail. Love the questions she has asked I

:48:49. > :48:55.have said. Extra work is being done on that. That is the right thing to

:48:56. > :49:00.do. As one who publicly supported an increase of the movement in my

:49:01. > :49:06.constituency, may have my right honourable friend, to confirm to the

:49:07. > :49:18.house and that the government is not ruling out additional capacity, at

:49:19. > :49:23.the Gatwick and Heathrow. Could he tell us if he thinks that the

:49:24. > :49:31.Heathrow hub proposal would be far less destructive and stands a better

:49:32. > :49:35.chance than it previously did? I think, I have said, and will say to

:49:36. > :49:41.my Honorable friend that all three options are options which are under

:49:42. > :49:45.consideration, that is a third runway at Heathrow, or a second

:49:46. > :49:50.runway at Gatwick. That is a position and it remains a position.

:49:51. > :49:53.My Honorable friend who is a keen aviator himself will know that some

:49:54. > :50:02.of the difficulties, which are a phase and have to be addressed. That

:50:03. > :50:05.is the right thing to do. I admire the Secretary of State explaining

:50:06. > :50:12.that the Prime Minister has decided to be indecisive, can he explain

:50:13. > :50:17.why, if he is so keen to give further consideration to the

:50:18. > :50:22.environmental considerations of air pollution, his government has been

:50:23. > :50:31.so heavily in the European commission, lobbying. They have

:50:32. > :50:35.whole is that we have been indecisive, he was a member of a

:50:36. > :50:38.government who can make the official whatsoever on this particular

:50:39. > :50:43.matter, the whole question of where we stand on various issues within

:50:44. > :50:48.the European commission and the European Parliament, on matters of a

:50:49. > :50:57.whole issues and not necessarily one individual or small items. My right

:50:58. > :51:02.honourable friend that justifies his delay by saying quite rightly that

:51:03. > :51:07.he wants to get this position right. It just occurs to me that if we had

:51:08. > :51:17.done so with a test to, it could have been cheaper and less damaging.

:51:18. > :51:24.That does not need a reply. I think I should give Rogers for record. --

:51:25. > :51:29.I think I should give one just for the record. The route has gone

:51:30. > :51:41.through considerable improvement for HS two.

:51:42. > :51:48.Something straight from the Minister. What do we want, Airport

:51:49. > :51:54.expansion, when do at the appropriate juncture, and the good

:51:55. > :51:59.time, after reports and a cost of millions of pounds of the taxpayers

:52:00. > :52:04.off for a by election in Richmond Park. Is used to be indecisive but

:52:05. > :52:14.now he is not so sure. Will the government get on with it. Met him

:52:15. > :52:19.Speaker, I am still waiting to hear, it may be just a simple easy answer

:52:20. > :52:24.what the SMP's position is on this matter. Whiskey and do they support?

:52:25. > :52:28.They are silent on its. They want everybody else to give their answer

:52:29. > :52:31.of once a decision is made of a wide packet and say that they would go a

:52:32. > :52:36.different product because that seems to be the only point of the SMP in

:52:37. > :52:39.this chamber. Wait for this is to be made and then attack a. No wonder

:52:40. > :52:47.there is such a difficult position today. At the affects of a hub

:52:48. > :52:55.airport in the Vatican and the strengths to other parts. Those who

:52:56. > :53:01.wish to travel transatlantic and get seeds cannot because the first fight

:53:02. > :53:05.is around midday. The capacity is vital to the economy. I want to

:53:06. > :53:14.place on the record, that I believe that the options before us are the

:53:15. > :53:23.wrong option. Take this opportunity to look again the. Before I call the

:53:24. > :53:26.Secretary of State, we are asking questions not making statements,

:53:27. > :53:33.those questions should be a lot shorter. The Secretary of State. I

:53:34. > :53:47.hear what my Honorable friend says, but the cause for most people, I

:53:48. > :53:52.think it may take longer. Ivo Madam Deputy Speaker, given the high risk

:53:53. > :53:59.that the Secretary of State has announced today, it does not bring

:54:00. > :54:09.the Heathrow claim any closer. Why does the Secretary of State not

:54:10. > :54:15.revert to the Gatwick option, it will be ready Ray before 2030. And

:54:16. > :54:22.will allow Birmingham to complement Gatwick. Well, I did say in my

:54:23. > :54:25.statement of the importance of other airport in the United Kingdom. I

:54:26. > :54:33.haven't seen them grow and the more services being offered from both

:54:34. > :54:46.services. -- have seen. Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, and others I

:54:47. > :54:54.think the point is well made. Services from other airports are

:54:55. > :54:57.also very important indeed. The Secretary of State said that the

:54:58. > :55:00.government accept the case for expansion but that is why they set

:55:01. > :55:03.up the commission and the first phase, so it did not need three

:55:04. > :55:09.years to tell the government that. He goes on to say that the

:55:10. > :55:13.government accept the short list of option. He present the cases as

:55:14. > :55:18.though there are three equally short list of options by the Airport

:55:19. > :55:22.commission, is it not the case that the Airport commission made an

:55:23. > :55:29.unequivocal recommendation. Said the government not be open about that?

:55:30. > :55:32.Is he aware that last week the chief executive was expressing concerns

:55:33. > :55:37.about the cost of Heathrow said, there is no case for expanding

:55:38. > :55:41.Gatwick, very few airline support the proposal and no one would move

:55:42. > :55:54.so why Heathrow remains open. I think my Honorable friend could have

:55:55. > :55:57.some other quotes from Mr Wass. If we are going to the games of just

:55:58. > :56:00.quoting from a Willie Walsh I think we will find that there are many

:56:01. > :56:06.quotes that we can have on this particular subject. What I think is

:56:07. > :56:09.correct, is for the government to look in light of the environmental

:56:10. > :56:14.work that we are going to be doing in light of the mitigation, all

:56:15. > :56:16.three options, and then come to the house once we have divided on which

:56:17. > :56:27.of the By the way he has responded to

:56:28. > :56:30.questions here. Making it an issue of party ping-pong and hold us

:56:31. > :56:38.responsible for what the light. Let's be absolutely clear. I welcome

:56:39. > :56:41.his remarks about air quality which is very important for Heathrow. But

:56:42. > :56:47.he has heard me speak about the fact that there are more European

:56:48. > :56:51.headquarters for multinational companies that in Scotland, Wales,

:56:52. > :56:56.Northern Ireland put together. What research has he done on how view of

:56:57. > :57:02.such companies will remain in the UK in the UK as a result of the delays

:57:03. > :57:08.which are going on about this decision? I'm sorry that she was so

:57:09. > :57:12.disappointed with the way I respond to. I respond and partly to the

:57:13. > :57:16.labor front bench attacked the indecision is that the government

:57:17. > :57:22.was making. I realised the honourable lady has presented a

:57:23. > :57:26.petition to support the expression of Heathrow Airport. But this is a

:57:27. > :57:31.thing something which does the black colleagues and parties. Advocate a

:57:32. > :57:39.front for the government to measure the proper environment work is done

:57:40. > :57:43.before any move forward is taken. I have to observe that the government

:57:44. > :57:49.has a seven to have rather of the in regards to this issue. But at least

:57:50. > :57:52.they have might friend's to dig them out of such a whole. Can my friend

:57:53. > :57:59.assured me that this decision will be taking and that decision will

:58:00. > :58:08.favour the Davis commission, which had a clear recommendation to build

:58:09. > :58:12.a runway at Heathrow? The Shadow Chancellor said to say stop digging.

:58:13. > :58:27.He should learn lessons from his own bench. Can I say to my friend as far

:58:28. > :58:31.as the point that he makes, the important part of the Davis

:58:32. > :58:36.commission was too after capacity in place by 2030. I believe given what

:58:37. > :58:48.I have said the date we are on schedule to be able to deliver. To

:58:49. > :58:54.indicate my frustration at somebody who supports the expansion of

:58:55. > :58:57.Heathrow and the progress has been cut up an internal conservative

:58:58. > :59:00.holding pattern, but the Secretary of State has now three occasions

:59:01. > :59:05.this evening reiterated the commitment to the 2030 time scale.

:59:06. > :59:09.Cannot ask him to assure us in this house that is six months' time, that

:59:10. > :59:17.decision will be taking for the diamond Road? I hope to come back

:59:18. > :59:20.the House in the summer. I am not going to say exactly where that

:59:21. > :59:25.leads us as far as today's date is concerned, but I think that the

:59:26. > :59:30.Honorable member says, and I fully accept the point, the whole point

:59:31. > :59:37.about services to Northern Ireland is incredibly important. Northern

:59:38. > :59:40.Ireland is already well-connected to London, there are around the 17th

:59:41. > :59:46.out of place between Belfast and London in 2014, and of these around

:59:47. > :59:50.6000 were to Heathrow. I do not underestimate the importance to

:59:51. > :59:53.another island and to Scotland as far as connectivity and connections

:59:54. > :00:02.and to are concerned. -- Northern Ireland. That the decision on the

:00:03. > :00:04.due room rate is met on the mission of environmental data that has

:00:05. > :00:10.nothing to be robust, that will simply lead to delays and legal

:00:11. > :00:15.challenges for longer than would happen if decision proceeded

:00:16. > :00:18.straightaway. London Gatwick have a pretty brief me on the concerns

:00:19. > :00:24.about the quality of the Davis commission data. Love my friend

:00:25. > :00:28.ensure that the neck two months will ensure that people look at all the

:00:29. > :00:30.data that habit as robust as possible so that for the decision is

:00:31. > :00:37.made, it can be enacted straightaway? He is absolutely

:00:38. > :00:42.right. If there are any lessons learned from the preparations of

:00:43. > :00:48.HS2, is to make sure that all process go through diligently and

:00:49. > :00:52.properly. There are a number of efforts to get judicial reviews as

:00:53. > :01:01.far as HS2 was concerned. And nearly all of them fell. The Secretariat

:01:02. > :01:05.they have come to the house today to hoodwink us and thinking that he is

:01:06. > :01:09.the most incompetent and indecisive Minister Secretary of State that has

:01:10. > :01:12.ever been. But no one is told by his attempt to take airheads on behalf

:01:13. > :01:17.of the Honorable member for Richmond Park. This is a fixed for next

:01:18. > :01:31.years's mayoral election and nothing else. And nothing in the national

:01:32. > :01:36.interest. I'll go do it again. The Shadow Chancellor has just said that

:01:37. > :01:39.with a compliment. I think I would say to the Honorable member, and he

:01:40. > :01:44.has been here for all the exchanges, is that it's not my friend for

:01:45. > :01:48.Richmond less changed his position on but that he Heathrow should be

:01:49. > :01:54.are not. And that's a good member from from to think, who was one he

:01:55. > :01:57.was a chessboard minister, support that Heathrow is that it he was

:01:58. > :02:05.firmly in favour of Heathrow 's expression. As far as the Merrill

:02:06. > :02:09.elections, if we have wanted to put off until after the barrel election,

:02:10. > :02:15.we have simply has said that we were not going to have a decision on this

:02:16. > :02:20.for 12 months. The very fact that we are making progress is important,

:02:21. > :02:27.but by 2030 and that is what we should do. No matter how skillfully

:02:28. > :02:34.the Secretariat they tried to pretend otherwise, we all know that

:02:35. > :02:40.announcements is all about trying to get the Conservative Party and the

:02:41. > :02:46.Member for Richmond Park over next May in that particular line. Is no

:02:47. > :02:49.way for government to make decisions and make announcements. The

:02:50. > :02:56.government talked about the Northern powerhouse as it, which am sure

:02:57. > :02:59.that. He must know that expecting Heathrow is essential for the

:03:00. > :03:04.northern powerhouse, so will he please act in the national interest,

:03:05. > :03:11.rather than just making at a announcement to benefit London and

:03:12. > :03:17.are excellent mayoral candidates? I am very glad that my friend is shown

:03:18. > :03:20.support to the northern powerhouse. Into something that is important to

:03:21. > :03:23.me as very important to the government as well. We are back and

:03:24. > :03:29.that with huge amounts of investment as far as lead electrification and

:03:30. > :03:33.new trade services, two new franchises which were announced last

:03:34. > :03:35.week will allow a very beneficial effect as far as transport

:03:36. > :03:41.connectivity between our major cities in the north. That is vitally

:03:42. > :03:47.important, as is getting the whole question right about future aviation

:03:48. > :03:54.capacity. A pathetic way to make decisions about infrastructure in

:03:55. > :04:00.our country. Doesn't be Secretary of State just feel shamefaced about

:04:01. > :04:02.this mother subjugating painful example of political

:04:03. > :04:07.procrastination, despite the obvious national interest to get on with it

:04:08. > :04:15.at Heathrow. On a scale of one to ten, how does how embarrassed it the

:04:16. > :04:21.Secretary of State? Political procrastination, Mr Speaker. 2001,

:04:22. > :04:27.Labour ministers are reported to be seriously considering a third

:04:28. > :04:33.runway. 2003, the Transport Secretary publishes a wide paper.

:04:34. > :04:37.2007, the government publishes a public consultation document for

:04:38. > :04:40.expecting Heathrow Airport. 2009, the government approves a third

:04:41. > :04:45.runway at taking the number of flights have culled from the airport

:04:46. > :04:51.from 480,000 to more than 700,000. I will take no lectures on deck and

:04:52. > :04:53.big issues, but that the docking of the big issues was done when he was

:04:54. > :05:01.a member of the last labor government. -- docking. I'm pleased

:05:02. > :05:06.to Secretary of State recognises the importance of original airports,

:05:07. > :05:12.will walk more and more capacity is developed in the Southeast. Can't my

:05:13. > :05:20.friend say what he is doing to encourage more airlines to fly on

:05:21. > :05:26.more routes from Manchester Airport? I think he is right. When we talked

:05:27. > :05:29.about Manchester, I also talked about Birmingham, Newcastle,

:05:30. > :05:32.Edinburgh and Glasgow. I think it is essential to try and get more

:05:33. > :05:37.connectivity for airports so that people do not necessarily have to

:05:38. > :05:40.travelled to London -- Heathrow or Gatwick to get the flash that the

:05:41. > :05:49.one. I think it is important and the. -- flights. I like the

:05:50. > :05:53.Secretariat, so I feel for him. -- Secretary. The more he tries to act

:05:54. > :06:00.as a result, the more effectively becomes. To help him, and I suggest

:06:01. > :06:08.that he take the opportunity to abandon environment to plans, budget

:06:09. > :06:11.instead to improve server and accessed to other airports to get

:06:12. > :06:16.better use of spare capacity there. And secondly that he delivers on HS2

:06:17. > :06:27.so that we can see far more people travelling by rail instead of taking

:06:28. > :06:32.short flights. Pundits remind him that the Davis commission will set

:06:33. > :06:35.up by the Coalition Government to make the case and examine the case

:06:36. > :06:41.fully to what we should do for the future. I was proud of server in the

:06:42. > :06:44.Coalition Government, I was proud of a lot of things that it achieved.

:06:45. > :06:47.The Davis commission setting that was just one of them and I have

:06:48. > :06:49.wanted us to back away from the difficult questions which oppose us

:06:50. > :06:54.to back away from the difficult questions which oppose this was.

:06:55. > :07:00.That she opposes to us. Can he confirm to me that the independent

:07:01. > :07:06.and impartial airports commission clearly stated that Heathrow was the

:07:07. > :07:11.best option and that if the government and the future decides

:07:12. > :07:16.against that it wishes to expand and guess what, I get guarantees that

:07:17. > :07:21.they should never that will be required in housing, hide ways, and

:07:22. > :07:27.a broad network, and health care and all other public services will be

:07:28. > :07:31.forthcoming? There is already significant commitments as far as

:07:32. > :07:37.Gatwick and improving the infrastructure to Gatwick that

:07:38. > :07:40.already taking place. For Douglas Camp will be coming on board over

:07:41. > :07:45.the next few gears. So it is important that we get the access to

:07:46. > :07:51.our airports correct, that is something which we are dealing with

:07:52. > :07:55.over a period of time. If the decision should go towards deadwood,

:07:56. > :07:58.would there be other consequences? That is the case in almost all the

:07:59. > :08:06.options that we choose. Of course we want to look at those issues which

:08:07. > :08:11.are the ones we want take forward. And I said to the government, while

:08:12. > :08:15.our development some capacity for hot air balloons in the process of

:08:16. > :08:22.trying to get, or mining, rather than just talking about this issue,

:08:23. > :08:26.Birmingham has turned up capacity and a bread to find ways to do with

:08:27. > :08:35.current issues about rather than waiting for it. I concur in which

:08:36. > :08:41.Birmingham has gone about. At the expense of both of the runway and

:08:42. > :08:44.the airport. A broad thing HS2 will have a very important impact for

:08:45. > :08:54.Birmingham airports as well. I agree with him. The secretary as they give

:08:55. > :08:59.us an assurance that there will be a decision and the summer, because my

:09:00. > :09:06.constituents asked whether this thing will actually be decided upon

:09:07. > :09:09.or not. About said to the house, a bigot is very important that we

:09:10. > :09:15.stick to the timetable of Sir Howard's report. That is as ours

:09:16. > :09:25.have a capacity available by 2030. Hubble will to follow the timetable.

:09:26. > :09:29.-- I will want to. And the Secretary of State clearly state what

:09:30. > :09:33.additional works have been undertaken to refine every SSD air

:09:34. > :09:41.quality, and doors? Who is going to do that and who is going to assess

:09:42. > :09:50.it? Can I ask of a Scotsman, can his mind... And I would point out that

:09:51. > :10:02.not once did he ever states what summer, what gear you're going to

:10:03. > :10:05.started? To try and reassure the gentlemen, there is yet another

:10:06. > :10:15.Scottish Nationalists who have got up not said what he supports. What I

:10:16. > :10:18.have been clear about, is that we will stick to the timetable which

:10:19. > :10:29.gives the extra capacity that is needed by 2030. I normally try to be

:10:30. > :10:34.very supportive of my friend, but I have struggled somewhat on this

:10:35. > :10:39.occasion. Can he give an absolute assurance that if further work on

:10:40. > :10:44.air quality and noise were to go against Heathrow, that the default

:10:45. > :10:53.position will be to accept Gatwick and not waste more years by setting

:10:54. > :10:58.of yet another commission? If my Honorable friend looks at my

:10:59. > :11:01.statement, I made quite clear that the government assisted three

:11:02. > :11:07.options that have been performed by the commission, are the right

:11:08. > :11:12.options as far for body -- capacity is concerned. The answer to this

:11:13. > :11:21.question is yes I do except that. I do not fully answer all the other

:11:22. > :11:28.questions from the S member. -- S Garbean there will be done by

:11:29. > :11:35.the Department for Transport. -- they were. But that we all except

:11:36. > :11:38.that the Secretary of State is right to say that this is a national

:11:39. > :11:41.infrastructure project that affects runway capacities throughout the

:11:42. > :11:46.country and aviation capacity throughout the country. And we have

:11:47. > :11:53.the opportunity, will he commit to meeting with those regional

:11:54. > :11:56.airports? He has not included East Midlands and his response so if he

:11:57. > :12:02.can squeeze that in as well, but wouldn't commit to meet those

:12:03. > :12:07.represents, should that we plot the... Will forget the extra

:12:08. > :12:12.capacity in the shop is? I did I mention every airport in the

:12:13. > :12:22.country, but I did try to -- did not. I did talk about Manchester,

:12:23. > :12:26.Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham. Glasgow to. I did not mention East

:12:27. > :12:31.Midlands, which is just down the road from where I am, but when I

:12:32. > :12:39.like to see what services from them? The answer is yes. -- what I like. I

:12:40. > :12:48.welcomed the decision to delay the statement. Are collies are in

:12:49. > :12:52.negotiations with the child was coming into Heathrow over the

:12:53. > :12:55.valley. What he agreed with me that the resolution of these issues is

:12:56. > :13:03.crucial to our future support that Heathrow? Sunday my Honorable friend

:13:04. > :13:08.that's a good point about the fact that aviation, capacity does not

:13:09. > :13:12.necessarily a threat the areas that are not most of all. To have a wider

:13:13. > :13:20.impact around the rest of economy and country. In light of the Paris

:13:21. > :13:23.conference to we just had a statement on, what recent

:13:24. > :13:27.discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for climate

:13:28. > :13:31.change and the committee on climate change about how important that the

:13:32. > :13:40.will affect the UK's ability to meet its reduction targets? As one of the

:13:41. > :13:47.people who served on the commission,... With did try to

:13:48. > :13:55.methods into account that Davis commission. Obviously, a system that

:13:56. > :14:00.has been for the development. The BW scandal. We should does our response

:14:01. > :14:07.on new information that will become available. -- the judge. That is

:14:08. > :14:13.something that I want to see addressed. I still believe we can't

:14:14. > :14:20.deliver on the timetable set out in the commission's report of 2030.

:14:21. > :14:27.Does he agree with me that this decision original airports, which I

:14:28. > :14:34.recently visited. -- original airports. We may even see a second

:14:35. > :14:42.runway and Brengle in the future, as well as a just the two of? -- the

:14:43. > :14:49.Birmingham. She never misses an opportunity to. Don't think I'll be

:14:50. > :14:55.promoting them at the whole thing I will disagree with her arm, is a

:14:56. > :14:57.downward work without the airports, Birmingham, Newcastle, East

:14:58. > :15:05.Midlands, Glasgow at regional airports. -- as. Cannot think of the

:15:06. > :15:10.government the government will not outsource these issues to other

:15:11. > :15:13.committees, and will not be rushed into making a decision about a

:15:14. > :15:18.planned weight that will not be operational until 2030? Can he

:15:19. > :15:22.confirm that is a third runway is to consider, it will only be considered

:15:23. > :15:26.with the three caveats that faith is placed on it in terms of a fourth

:15:27. > :15:34.runway, night flights, and meeting EQ quality limits? At whatever

:15:35. > :15:40.decision is taken, as I say there are still three options that are

:15:41. > :15:44.being discussed. We must get the best mitigation bills out for the

:15:45. > :15:50.people affected by those by possible. But the point that he said

:15:51. > :15:55.would be very important consideration for any decision which

:15:56. > :16:02.is taken. If the decision should be Heathrow, there are three options we

:16:03. > :16:07.are looking at. Consistently that the government has to position.

:16:08. > :16:16.Either we have accepted the Davis commission, subject to certain out

:16:17. > :16:19.these environmental issues. Core, we have now we have 3-D glasses, have

:16:20. > :16:28.looking at all three from scratch. Which of the two are going to go

:16:29. > :16:37.quiz yellow. We have accepted Davis as far as the fact that the reaction

:16:38. > :16:41.that we are looking for. Another Davis commission supported one in

:16:42. > :16:47.particular, but the government has had to look at all three of the

:16:48. > :16:50.options available. And hit the pins, given that we have not built a full

:16:51. > :16:57.runway in the southeast of England since 1946, -- and defenses copy of

:16:58. > :17:02.one of the Secretary of State does make the decision and summer of

:17:03. > :17:04.2016, when he comes to make the decision was made in the interest of

:17:05. > :17:09.the whole country, including the night and half would to residents of

:17:10. > :17:21.the Midlands, who he and I represent and not just the denizens of West

:17:22. > :17:25.London? I think if one looks at the record of this government, we have

:17:26. > :17:30.always acted in the national answer. We have done as far after capacity

:17:31. > :17:35.on the rower roads, and going as far but is it for concerned. But they

:17:36. > :17:39.are always controversial and it is right in this day and age that would

:17:40. > :17:46.take every measure that we can to mitigate the environment and impacts

:17:47. > :17:50.of any decisions that we make. Top prospects in the Southwest and in

:17:51. > :17:55.the rest of the country outside of the southeast would be in my view

:17:56. > :18:01.very best enhanced by an expansion at Heathrow. Plan is to be legally

:18:02. > :18:04.secure. Does my friend agreed that sometimes, it could be best to

:18:05. > :18:12.actually have a very thorough look at this and add a stitch in time in

:18:13. > :18:15.this case might save... Up in one of the things that I have learned

:18:16. > :18:18.taking through some of the bigger infrastructure projects, which I've

:18:19. > :18:24.been responsible for, it is absolutely bright incorrect to make

:18:25. > :18:30.sure all possible work and challenges that you are facing on

:18:31. > :18:34.whatever decision you take it that we can prove that we have done the

:18:35. > :18:42.right amount of work and perforation for decisions that we are going to

:18:43. > :18:47.put before the House in due course. What drives air quality is car

:18:48. > :18:52.emissions. -- the drives Heathrow has far more rapid transport,

:18:53. > :18:56.including for rail links. Gatwick has one, was the Secretary of State

:18:57. > :19:01.is aware is not the best in the country. Will he please give us an

:19:02. > :19:07.assurance that any analysis of air quality, able understand will be

:19:08. > :19:11.taken that will result in the bass interest of passengers if Gatwick

:19:12. > :19:19.were to get the option. But also for the employees required that employed

:19:20. > :19:22.a Gatwick, none of them locally. Of a bill off was that the be put

:19:23. > :19:31.forward and addressed in the work that we're going to do this over the

:19:32. > :19:36.coming months. A lot of this work has been covered by a Davis, but

:19:37. > :19:42.there is to a lot more to be done. I think my friend is right to show his

:19:43. > :19:46.concern. And to also point out that there is actually no easy or

:19:47. > :19:50.straightforward answer as far as aviation capacity is concerned, but

:19:51. > :19:55.also accepting that for this country aviation is a very important

:19:56. > :20:03.industry, which employs many, thousands of people right across the

:20:04. > :20:14.supply chain. On that basis, I hope my friend will accept my insurance

:20:15. > :20:24.is. -- assurances. I think you are in the chair when the member accused

:20:25. > :20:28.my Honorable friend, the Member for Richmond Park, who has sat quietly

:20:29. > :20:33.and respectfully throughout this exchange, not being in his place.

:20:34. > :20:38.Although my friend for Bridgeman is completely wrong on that everything

:20:39. > :20:45.could do with runways, it is extremely unfair for his

:20:46. > :20:47.constituents and his future supporters in the mayoral elections

:20:48. > :20:54.that they should think he was not here for the whole of the time. I

:20:55. > :21:01.thank the gentleman for that point of order. Also hot that it was very

:21:02. > :21:04.clear from the response from the government benches that he was here

:21:05. > :21:08.have been here throughout. I think even at the time that that point was

:21:09. > :21:16.made, and he has made it once again and is now firmly on the record.

:21:17. > :21:19.Further to the point of order. I'll would like to point out that at the

:21:20. > :21:23.point the Secretary of State started his statement, the Honorable member

:21:24. > :21:29.for Richmond Park was not in his place. That is also on the record. I

:21:30. > :21:37.was not the chair when that happened. It was with complete over

:21:38. > :21:42.that I've read in the papers disagreed allegations that a British

:21:43. > :21:47.official was present in January 2002 or am I was tortured. For the

:21:48. > :21:54.officials apprised at the Baghdad air base on the same plan of then

:21:55. > :21:59.Prime Minister. -- surprise. Such serious activation of a government

:22:00. > :22:03.being complicit in torture, not only brings... But causes great concern

:22:04. > :22:06.around the UK Government's record of upholding the Universal declaration

:22:07. > :22:11.of human rights and honouring historic values and the bride to a

:22:12. > :22:14.fair trial. I am looking forward to the government to make and are just

:22:15. > :22:20.a bit of this and call the Prime Minister to honour his word from

:22:21. > :22:26.2010 when he said the public confidence, party and parliament is

:22:27. > :22:29.right judge led inquiry. He added that is what we need to need to get

:22:30. > :22:34.to the bottom of the case, the fact that it is led by a judge will help

:22:35. > :22:37.assure that we get it done properly. I thank her for her point of order

:22:38. > :22:41.and also for the noticed that she had given the chair for the point of

:22:42. > :22:45.order. Not a method for the chair, but as you can see a Foreign Office

:22:46. > :22:49.minister is off the bench and will have heard what she has said that

:22:50. > :23:01.I'm sure will respond in due course. There are no more points of order,

:23:02. > :23:23.will not regard as of the date. -- orders of the day. Order!

:23:24. > :23:32.Order! . We will begin with clause one, which will be completed to

:23:33. > :23:40.debate class to study the question is back clause one stand part of the

:23:41. > :23:46.bill. For approval by Parliament for two draft legislative measures as

:23:47. > :23:52.required under section eight of the EQ act 2011. Such approval is needed

:23:53. > :23:56.because both measures are made under Article 352 of the Treaty on the

:23:57. > :24:00.function of the European Union. By section eight of the act does

:24:01. > :24:04.provide for exceptions in order to avoid the requirement of an act of

:24:05. > :24:10.Parliament, the measures had to that full fastball without any of the

:24:11. > :24:17.exempt purposes. Clocked at two turtle instead of the bill, is

:24:18. > :24:20.commencement date and short title. Subsection one of clause two

:24:21. > :24:25.provides that the bill to extend to the whole of the UK, subjection to

:24:26. > :24:30.provide that the bill will, to fall task force on that day. Subsection

:24:31. > :24:37.three provide to the build's short title. I beg to move that clause one

:24:38. > :24:49.and class to stand part of the bill. -- clause to. The question is that

:24:50. > :24:54.clause one stand part to the. I think the eyes back haven't. The

:24:55. > :25:06.question is that class to stand part of the bill. The contrary, no. I

:25:07. > :25:12.think the ayes haven't. I do not report the bill to the house without

:25:13. > :25:20.the amendment. -- now. The ayes haven't.

:25:21. > :25:51.The committee has gone through the bill and reports the same with that

:25:52. > :25:59.amendment. The question is that the bill now be read a third time. I beg

:26:00. > :26:08.to move that the bill now be read a third time. I think the brief

:26:09. > :26:11.explanation that... At the beginning of this session covered the points

:26:12. > :26:15.that needed to be made about this very short bill and the purpose and

:26:16. > :26:22.reason as to why they are required. A second reading stage, we covered

:26:23. > :26:28.some points raised in the session, but I think it is fair to say that

:26:29. > :26:34.this bill and debate have covered the two clauses sufficiently. I

:26:35. > :26:37.think it is worth reflecting that the bill before us forms part of the

:26:38. > :26:43.ability of parliament examine and give it the light give advice and

:26:44. > :26:48.clearance of protection and oversight of the European Union act

:26:49. > :26:53.that it affords us. Bills such as this give another layer of

:26:54. > :27:00.protection with the European union legislation... I will give way. I am

:27:01. > :27:07.grateful Madam Deputy Speaker because as my right honourable

:27:08. > :27:12.friend likely says, the only point of concern about this bill is why it

:27:13. > :27:16.is that such trivial matters are being dealt with by way of an act of

:27:17. > :27:22.Parliament. Would my right honourable friend agree with me that

:27:23. > :27:25.while these might be trivial matters, the public might be

:27:26. > :27:30.concerned that they are being dealt with by Parliament, the public

:27:31. > :27:38.should be equally concerned that such major matters such as the

:27:39. > :27:44.turkey re-installment in the European Union will go through the

:27:45. > :27:48.same installment. I thank my honourable friend for his remarks. I

:27:49. > :27:51.think it is right to say that when it comes to debating and discussing

:27:52. > :27:55.matters of this nature, I would not quite use the same terms that my

:27:56. > :28:03.honourable friend has used, trivial, much as this and other assets of the

:28:04. > :28:09.European Union. As he has pointed out, the exception of Turkey which

:28:10. > :28:12.will have debate and at the same time there will be engagement with

:28:13. > :28:16.the European committee and other debates will take place in this

:28:17. > :28:20.house, I am delighted to see the chair of the committee in his place

:28:21. > :28:26.this afternoon as well. I think it is important for me to emphasise two

:28:27. > :28:31.points in particular. I want to go back to the second reading point as

:28:32. > :28:33.well. I was clear when we had a second reading that obviously there

:28:34. > :28:40.were concerns about what this legislation meant, what the cost of

:28:41. > :28:45.the taxpayer will be, I emphasise that there are no burdens and costs.

:28:46. > :28:48.Administrative costs or extra cost to the taxpayer but I think it is

:28:49. > :28:53.important to say that when reading this bill -- bringing this bill to

:28:54. > :29:06.the House, a covers two clauses, these clauses relates to DTS S and

:29:07. > :29:11.the other relates in particular to the Republic of Macedonia as a

:29:12. > :29:14.observer in the work of the EU funding rights agencies and on that

:29:15. > :29:19.basis these are two very straightforward causes and are part

:29:20. > :29:28.of a very straightforward bill. I commend this bill to the House. I

:29:29. > :29:35.must admit, I find myself called to the dispatch box today. We are here

:29:36. > :29:40.to debate to matters, the first is whether a new position should be

:29:41. > :29:46.established within the organisation in the name of the former Yugoslavia

:29:47. > :29:50.and Association Council, establishing this new position I

:29:51. > :29:55.understand in some way facilitates the admission of Macedonia to the

:29:56. > :30:02.European Union agency for fundamental rights as an observer.

:30:03. > :30:08.The second point of this bill... I think that is why I am here. There

:30:09. > :30:13.appears to be a need for me to update the formal basis, recognising

:30:14. > :30:23.the fact that its function now relates to "The gender from -- the

:30:24. > :30:28.agenda for growth". Can the Minister held me and is this really so. If so

:30:29. > :30:35.the substance of this bill is almost the definition of bureaucratic my

:30:36. > :30:39.new shop. While it is my understanding that both of these

:30:40. > :30:43.relate to the draft of the European Council which need to be approved by

:30:44. > :30:47.each member of the state as well as Parliament, I do find the use of

:30:48. > :30:50.this quite extraordinary. Particularly at a time when the

:30:51. > :30:57.government is hacking away at the social safety net via second

:30:58. > :31:00.legislation it is a uphill struggle to get ministers to agree to even a

:31:01. > :31:04.short debate in the core door. It does not appear that the government

:31:05. > :31:11.in my view has this right. Anyway, here we are. I will use the time we

:31:12. > :31:16.have to be free recap these proposals. Which I do not expect to

:31:17. > :31:20.be the subject of raging controversy in this debate. The first part of

:31:21. > :31:24.the bill as we have heard relates to the omission of Macedonia as an

:31:25. > :31:28.observer at the European Union agency for fundamental rights. This

:31:29. > :31:31.follows a report from the European commission which was published

:31:32. > :31:37.earlier this year and set out a number of recommendations to revive

:31:38. > :31:42.Macedonia's stalled candidacy for access to the EU. My honourable

:31:43. > :31:51.friend will be aware that the Greeks... Maybe she might use the

:31:52. > :31:58.full name to not upset our Greek colleagues? The honourable gentleman

:31:59. > :32:03.is right and I apologise and hope that the council will get it right

:32:04. > :32:07.even if I do not. This process was initiated in 2005 and has been put

:32:08. > :32:10.on hold as a result of widespread concerns more recently over the

:32:11. > :32:18.country's deteriorating record on human rights. The admission of the

:32:19. > :32:24.former Republic of Yugoslavia known as Macedonia to the EU's agenda for

:32:25. > :32:27.fundamental rights as an observer was one of the number of

:32:28. > :32:31.recommendations made in the European commission's recent report. As

:32:32. > :32:38.explained in the debate on second reading, it is hoped that"

:32:39. > :32:44.observers... And assistance on fundamental rights, issues, to help

:32:45. > :32:48.tackle its reform challenges and provide assistance and help to the

:32:49. > :32:54.country on human rights issues." I have to say that at the rate this

:32:55. > :32:56.government is going, with them removing the requirement to respect

:32:57. > :33:01.international law for ministerial code and pressing ahead with their

:33:02. > :33:05.plans to repeal the Human Rights Act, perhaps a theatre of colleagues

:33:06. > :33:14.up to join a Macedonia delegation and learn a few lessons. ... For

:33:15. > :33:24.growth and employment. Bills note described as the... European

:33:25. > :33:28.commission and the Council to enable high-level discussion between the

:33:29. > :33:34.three parties of social aspects of the European agenda for jobs. Beyond

:33:35. > :33:37.these exceptionally vague generalities, further details of the

:33:38. > :33:42.summits roles are surprisingly hard to come by. Nevertheless, any

:33:43. > :33:47.discussion of jobs and growth is hardly objectionable and certainly

:33:48. > :33:51.not objection by me. In fact, should the representatives of the UK take

:33:52. > :33:55.part in any upcoming meetings, it might provide an ideal opportunity

:33:56. > :33:59.for ministers take on board some the valuable lessons our European

:34:00. > :34:03.friends have to offer in terms of jobs and growth. At a time when our

:34:04. > :34:08.jobs market is not the envy of the entire continent, the government

:34:09. > :34:12.should welcome such change. We have a high proportion of graduates doing

:34:13. > :34:16.jobs that they are overqualified for, 59% in any other country in the

:34:17. > :34:20.European Union, apart from Estonia and another country. We have a

:34:21. > :34:26.higher rate of underemployment where a 10th of our entire workforce worse

:34:27. > :34:32.life than they want to, lower than any other European Union country

:34:33. > :34:36.other than a couple of them. This appears to be getting worse. In most

:34:37. > :34:41.recent employment figures from the oh in S show that even a number of

:34:42. > :34:46.people working in the UK has risen, the total number of hours worked by

:34:47. > :34:50.the UK have actually fallen. Perhaps a European counterpart could teach

:34:51. > :34:55.us a thing or two. We do not intend to oppose this bill and I welcome

:34:56. > :34:58.it. As least as far as a ghost. Because it offers us some reminder

:34:59. > :35:03.that of the things that we have to be grateful for, not least the

:35:04. > :35:06.protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, including some of the most

:35:07. > :35:10.basic rights of the workplace which many of us take for granted but

:35:11. > :35:14.would not be there without the European Union. At a time where the

:35:15. > :35:16.government is undermining these rights, particularly in the trade

:35:17. > :35:20.union bill, we should welcome the opportunity that this debate

:35:21. > :35:24.provides to remember the positive role of the EU can play in our

:35:25. > :35:28.lives, particularly when it comes to protecting dignity in the workplace.

:35:29. > :35:37.It is disappointing that the government does not seem to share

:35:38. > :35:39.these values. I am sure members from across the House will be delighted

:35:40. > :35:47.to hear the SNP will be supporting this bill today. They will be more

:35:48. > :35:51.delighted to hear that I am making my comments as brief as possible.

:35:52. > :35:56.The most popular thing I think I has said as a right dock regular member.

:35:57. > :36:00.Stanton has been a great success and it is good to see our friends and

:36:01. > :36:03.colleagues across the European Union working more closely together,

:36:04. > :36:09.particularly pleased to see Macedonia joined the EU agency as an

:36:10. > :36:12.observer. It is particularly helpful to them as we'd deal with the

:36:13. > :36:15.refugee crisis and I hope they will get some benefit from that will stop

:36:16. > :36:20.it is also a reminder of those countries that have the biggest

:36:21. > :36:24.burden they have to deal with in terms of the refugee crisis that

:36:25. > :36:30.they can certainly do more. On the second point, we wholeheartedly

:36:31. > :36:34.support any dialogue between the EU institution employers and worker

:36:35. > :36:43.representatives. And through the apartheid... We need to remain part

:36:44. > :36:47.of the European Union, benefits of remaining a part of the European

:36:48. > :36:53.Union as money members will agree and we moved to support this bill

:36:54. > :36:58.today. It seems this is going to go through without too much

:36:59. > :37:01.controversy, but I think it is worthy of commenting on on the state

:37:02. > :37:07.of employment across the whole of the European Union including Ukraine

:37:08. > :37:14.as we ring attentive to our own problems. I remember Britain before

:37:15. > :37:22.some of you were born. We headed biggest investors in history. The

:37:23. > :37:33.bill seeks approval for members to be made France additional made that.

:37:34. > :37:40.The TSS organisation is meant to discuss increasing the employment

:37:41. > :37:47.rates, investing 3% of GDP and development and reducing... These

:37:48. > :37:49.are worthy things. But they are living in a dream world if they

:37:50. > :37:58.think it is doing anything economically. There is an credible

:37:59. > :38:02.risk of unemployment. Widget that was repeated in Britain, we would

:38:03. > :38:09.have four and a half unemployed not 1.8 as thereby says at the moment.

:38:10. > :38:13.It is in a bad way and indeed some the larger companies are quietly

:38:14. > :38:20.suffering, particularly France. People in France are fighting and

:38:21. > :38:31.are nervous about their futures. But if we think everything is fine and

:38:32. > :38:34.dandy, I think it is just... If people in the European Union believe

:38:35. > :38:41.that to be the case, I think they are living in this dream world. The

:38:42. > :38:45.reality is that the EU is failing, Greece, Italy, France as I

:38:46. > :38:52.mentioned, but also Finland has very serious problems. Problems of

:38:53. > :38:57.printing billions of euros to try and stop their country from seeking.

:38:58. > :39:02.So their are serious economic problems inside the euro zone and

:39:03. > :39:06.the European Union. The only way they are going to get the growth

:39:07. > :39:14.we're talking about is for them to be able to regard their economies on

:39:15. > :39:16.a national basis, the value of their currency in relation to other

:39:17. > :39:24.currencies and their interest rates and indeed there own fiscal policies

:39:25. > :39:30.as well. When they can do that, when they can regroup behind their own

:39:31. > :39:35.barriers, then we should see Europe as a colony growing again and see

:39:36. > :39:41.millions of people who have been out of work from a long time to back

:39:42. > :39:45.into work. It is an innocuous bill, some the points it is covering, jobs

:39:46. > :39:50.and growth, I think we ought to just focus on those occasionally to show

:39:51. > :39:58.how badly that they are. When I was a young person, everyone had a job,

:39:59. > :40:02.we had full employment. We had a Labour shortage, we have living

:40:03. > :40:08.centres like we have not seen before. Or since then it has gone

:40:09. > :40:16.rapidly wrong and as I said more crises are to come, more serious

:40:17. > :40:19.crisis are to come. I think the European Union has been economically

:40:20. > :40:25.growth and stability in jobs I think growth and stability in jobs I think

:40:26. > :40:29.they are living in this dreamworld. The question is that the bill not be

:40:30. > :40:37.read a third time, as many of that opinion say I on the contrary say

:40:38. > :40:41.no. Motion number two on relocation of migrants for international

:40:42. > :40:49.protection opt in decision, Minister to move. Thank you Madam Deputy

:40:50. > :40:54.Speaker. This motion covers a series of EU proposals on the relocation of

:40:55. > :41:00.migrants within the EU. These proposals or an essential response

:41:01. > :41:03.to the ongoing migration conserves... And indeed have been

:41:04. > :41:06.summoned to previous debates in this house. The current migration can't

:41:07. > :41:12.do my crisis has been described as the worst refugee crisis since World

:41:13. > :41:15.War II are thought to. As does the ability of the Member States to

:41:16. > :41:19.provide a comprehensive and sustainable response, one which is

:41:20. > :41:22.both able to support those Member States under most pressure and

:41:23. > :41:28.ensure protections are provided for those in real need of it. This has

:41:29. > :41:32.been a competent fast-moving situation, proposals have been

:41:33. > :41:39.adopted extremely quickly and ministers have met him almost weekly

:41:40. > :41:43.basis. As soon as proposals were adopted they were almost superseded

:41:44. > :41:47.by others. Since the crisis began, the government has been very clear

:41:48. > :41:51.on our views of relocation, it is the wrong response. It is absolutely

:41:52. > :41:54.nothing to adjust the underlying causes of the crisis, it does

:41:55. > :41:59.nothing more than move the problem around Europe. Relocation also...

:42:00. > :42:01.Process applications and Process applications and

:42:02. > :42:07.strengthening borders. It encourages more migrants to travel illegally

:42:08. > :42:11.into the EU. We must ensure the relocation proposal does not reduce

:42:12. > :42:16.the opposition on all Member States to have a functioning border and

:42:17. > :42:19.asylum systems. We have stated that the UK will not alter measures

:42:20. > :42:23.whether temporary or permanent. I apologise to the House that on these

:42:24. > :42:30.relocation measures we have had to override scrutiny. The commission

:42:31. > :42:34.broke the Mike brought forward... The trimester and home secretary

:42:35. > :42:37.were required to make the government views on such measures clear and

:42:38. > :42:43.hastily arranged EU Council meetings. The debate on relocation

:42:44. > :42:46.continue within the EU, only a tiny number of people have been relocated

:42:47. > :42:49.under the agreed temporary measures and many Member States are now

:42:50. > :42:53.stepping back on commitments they have previously made and the concern

:42:54. > :42:59.is growing on the merits of the permanent mechanism. I will give

:43:00. > :43:04.way. I am grateful to my friend for giving way, does my honourable

:43:05. > :43:13.friend agreed with the position of Slovakia who believe this decision

:43:14. > :43:16.should have been taken by unanimously. We are not party to

:43:17. > :43:21.these arrangements in using our opt out but I think my honourable friend

:43:22. > :43:24.of easily does highlight some of the issues that have been risen since

:43:25. > :43:31.the mid-measures were put into place. Indeed, I am aware that to

:43:32. > :43:34.like in Hungary have filed challenges in the Court of Justice

:43:35. > :43:39.against the relocation scheme. I think that there are those kinds can

:43:40. > :43:44.-- those concerns that these proposals are geared bike

:43:45. > :43:52.ill-conceived. Using them as a tool ill-conceived. Using them as a tool

:43:53. > :43:57.to manage the crisis I give way. Could he explain under this scheme

:43:58. > :44:01.that was agreed, if a migrant is allocated to a given country to

:44:02. > :44:04.settle but then this could stomach decides to live in another EU

:44:05. > :44:10.country, what is stopping them from moving? And issue my friend has

:44:11. > :44:15.highlighted is an issue that we remain conscious of, what might be

:44:16. > :44:20.described as secondary movement. There is secondary movement within

:44:21. > :44:24.the Schengen area, but we maintain our own border controls and visa

:44:25. > :44:26.requirements and therefore is within the Schengen area that that may

:44:27. > :44:29.operate but I think there are those practical issues that have been

:44:30. > :44:34.highlighted in terms of the operation of the scheme and indeed

:44:35. > :44:46.to date I think it is only 160 people have been relocated under

:44:47. > :44:52.these measures the sparse. Bar. We continue to make the case that this

:44:53. > :44:56.is not just an EU problem, it is an international issue which needs

:44:57. > :45:03.action from a whole range of parties. I am grateful to you for

:45:04. > :45:07.giving way, is the problem on secondary movement that once they

:45:08. > :45:10.become citizens of the EU state, the free movement of people means they

:45:11. > :45:18.are entitled to get anywhere and under our law, asylum seekers get in

:45:19. > :45:23.the queue. I think my honourable friend makes an important point in

:45:24. > :45:29.respect of the citizenship stopping he will equally know that there are

:45:30. > :45:32.certain things we have adopted in relation to the character

:45:33. > :45:36.requirements and other steps that we take to assure ourselves in respect

:45:37. > :45:39.of those who may be granted citizenship will stop at a something

:45:40. > :45:45.that is conducted over a number of years before somebody would be so

:45:46. > :45:49.entitled, therefore it is not a symptomatic and underlines the point

:45:50. > :45:53.that I made which means we maintain our own border requirements and

:45:54. > :46:02.adhere to that very clearly for those who are not EU citizens. No

:46:03. > :46:06.problem, one of the refugees do not want to go to the countries which

:46:07. > :46:09.they have been allocated? If they are put and forcibly sent to

:46:10. > :46:18.countries they do not like or want to go to, that certainly has echoes

:46:19. > :46:20.of uncomfortable... I think he makes an honourable point on the operation

:46:21. > :46:27.of the scheme, that is something that has been a practical issue that

:46:28. > :46:29.EU Member States who are party to this have found. In terms of

:46:30. > :46:37.actually working with the migrants who have displayed an unwillingness

:46:38. > :46:39.to participate in terms of some of the relocation arrangements,

:46:40. > :46:43.contemplated by the measures subject to the debate this evening,

:46:44. > :46:48.therefore some of those practical issues that are having to be

:46:49. > :46:52.confronted. The situation in relation to the migration conscious

:46:53. > :46:56.my crisis is causally changing and requires a flexible response. Our

:46:57. > :47:01.approach has been designed to route diaper tag UK interest while making

:47:02. > :47:05.eight countries and to those in need and addressing the unprecedented

:47:06. > :47:08.challenges faced by partners. This is not proving to be successful.

:47:09. > :47:12.Time would be better spent on measures that would make a real

:47:13. > :47:15.difference, we must secure the border and provide protection to

:47:16. > :47:18.those who need it and return to those who do not. That is where the

:47:19. > :47:26.focus of this government will remain and I trust the House will be

:47:27. > :47:29.mindful and support the notion. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker, I'm

:47:30. > :47:36.glad we got the opportunity to debate this important issue today.

:47:37. > :47:39.Clinical unrest and widespread violations of human rights have led

:47:40. > :47:47.to millions of people being displaced. The UNHCR are saying

:47:48. > :47:52.there are millions of Syrian refugees alone and as the Minister

:47:53. > :47:55.said, the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War

:47:56. > :48:01.ended as the most important issue facing the EU. Over the last nine

:48:02. > :48:06.months, the EU have seen unprecedented levels of migration,

:48:07. > :48:12.with over 812,000 asylum seekers in the EU up to the end of September

:48:13. > :48:16.and the UNHCR are saying there are over 3000 the bulk tragically dead

:48:17. > :48:22.or missing from attempting crossings of the Mediterranean. The vast

:48:23. > :48:27.majority of the pressures of these incoming migrants has fallen on

:48:28. > :48:32.Italy and Greece with 99.5% of migrants crossing the Mediterranean,

:48:33. > :48:38.arriving in these two countries and that is the background to the EU

:48:39. > :48:45.proposed programme of relocation within the UK. Britain has rightly

:48:46. > :48:49.had an opt out in relation to migration matters and has decided

:48:50. > :48:58.not to opt back in on these measures. While we support that

:48:59. > :49:04.decision, it is disappointing that it has taken over six months of

:49:05. > :49:08.repeated prompting by the scrutiny committee to secure this debate on

:49:09. > :49:12.the floor of the House. We of course recognise that there are often

:49:13. > :49:15.fast-moving situations that the government should not be

:49:16. > :49:19.constrained, but we do think the government should reflect on the

:49:20. > :49:25.approach it has taken so far as the procedure is concerned. Let me turn

:49:26. > :49:31.to the substance, why we do not want to see Britain opt in to mandatory

:49:32. > :49:35.quotas, we do believe that we should still take an active role in

:49:36. > :49:40.tackling the migration crisis across the EU as well as on our doorstep.

:49:41. > :49:47.Here we take issue with the government's response. Just as we

:49:48. > :49:52.have joint military operations to play our part in tackling Isis, so

:49:53. > :49:58.we have a moral responsibility to work with EU states to help deal

:49:59. > :50:03.with the large number of refugees fleeing the barbaric conditions in

:50:04. > :50:08.Syria elsewhere. The government has of course pledged to accept 20,000

:50:09. > :50:12.refugees over the course of this Parliament, 4000 refugees a year.

:50:13. > :50:15.Labour calling the government to Labour calling the government to

:50:16. > :50:21.take action, this is undoubtedly a welcome step by the House.