28/04/2016

:00:00. > :00:00.of the day in both houses of parliament at 11pm tonight. First,

:00:00. > :00:11.questions to the Secretary of State of transport.

:00:12. > :00:24.Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport.

:00:25. > :00:28.Question one. Drones have great potential but it is important that

:00:29. > :00:33.they are used to safely. There are already tough penalties in place for

:00:34. > :00:35.negligent drone use. Including up to five years imprisonment for

:00:36. > :00:42.endangering an aircraft. The Department NT News to work with

:00:43. > :00:48.agencies to assess the safety risks of drones. Should the government not

:00:49. > :00:52.heed the warning of Heathrow, and instead of the complacent position

:00:53. > :00:59.taken, realise the potential of catastrophe by vandals or careless

:01:00. > :01:04.people using drones, and the dreadful possibility of terrorists

:01:05. > :01:06.using drones against stores of flammable material on nuclear power

:01:07. > :01:12.stations? Already drones are being used to take mobile phones and drugs

:01:13. > :01:17.into Wandsworth prison. Shouldn't the government wake up and realise

:01:18. > :01:23.and realise this new menace is potential great threat and take

:01:24. > :01:27.precautions in order to reduce the universal access to drones that

:01:28. > :01:34.exists now? There is no complacency whatsoever. By the government by the

:01:35. > :01:38.use of drones. There is a prison sentence which is available and I

:01:39. > :01:44.will obviously keep the situation under review. It is also important

:01:45. > :01:49.to find out the facts behind certain incidents, so the incident that was

:01:50. > :01:58.reported on the 17th of April, it is now thought that that was not a

:01:59. > :02:02.drone incident. I wonder if the Minister could update the House on

:02:03. > :02:11.the state of investment in the roads in the north-east, in particular the

:02:12. > :02:15.A1, and how that can make progress? Most interesting matter but little

:02:16. > :02:21.distant for the matter of drones, save it for the long summer evenings

:02:22. > :02:27.that lie ahead. There are growing concerns about incidents involving

:02:28. > :02:31.drones threatening public safety. It is not very clear if there is a

:02:32. > :02:35.problem to do with regulations themselves, or the enforcement of

:02:36. > :02:42.those ready nations. Will the secretary of state look at those? I

:02:43. > :02:48.certainly will. I met earlier this week, a planned meeting before the

:02:49. > :02:55.incident on the 17th of April, with BALPA, to discuss this, and also

:02:56. > :02:58.laser pen used, the is causing for civil aviation in this country. But

:02:59. > :03:03.I certainly will keep these things very much under review, and do

:03:04. > :03:09.further work along with BALPA and the industry, and the CAA, on drones

:03:10. > :03:13.and drone use. Can my right honourable friend assure me that all

:03:14. > :03:20.regulations and guidance with regard to drones and air safety will apply

:03:21. > :03:24.and be communicated to appoint outside London -- to airports

:03:25. > :03:27.outside London, so we have a consistent policy across the country

:03:28. > :03:32.with air safety? My honourable friend gives a very good point, this

:03:33. > :03:38.is not just a matter of London airports, it is any airport, also a

:03:39. > :03:40.matter of airport outside London which serve important international

:03:41. > :03:46.connections right across the country. I hear what the Transport

:03:47. > :03:51.Secretary is saying with his engagement with airports, but it is

:03:52. > :03:54.also an issue for stadiums, railway stations and other places where

:03:55. > :03:58.public gather in huge numbers. Can he tell us what discussions he has

:03:59. > :04:04.had with the widest possible range of stakeholders including local

:04:05. > :04:10.authorities with the use of drones? The issue that I was addressing and

:04:11. > :04:15.addressing in this country, this question, was related to aviation.

:04:16. > :04:19.That is the point that I have updated the House on. Of course,

:04:20. > :04:21.there are wider issues across the government and the government keeps

:04:22. > :04:29.these matters consistently under review. I am grateful for that

:04:30. > :04:32.response, even if it was not much of an answer. The Secretary of State

:04:33. > :04:37.briefly touched upon another important issue surrounding laser

:04:38. > :04:41.pens, and in particular the threat that they also pose to airports

:04:42. > :04:45.across the United Kingdom. BALPA have called for all but the lowest

:04:46. > :04:55.strength laser pens to be bound. What is his response to that? -- to

:04:56. > :05:01.be banned. As I said a a few moments ago, I met BALPA this week, they

:05:02. > :05:05.came forward with some issues with laser pens, there is evidence about

:05:06. > :05:10.the way the are used, they fall under the category of being illegal

:05:11. > :05:14.to shine into someone's eyes and there have been more prosecutions.

:05:15. > :05:17.It is something I willing to take further action on wanted to get

:05:18. > :05:27.agreement on what the best way forward is. You may recall that this

:05:28. > :05:29.time last month, I ask the Secretary of State's honourable friend that

:05:30. > :05:32.after three years of talk about working groups, when we would be

:05:33. > :05:36.told what the government was actually going to do about the

:05:37. > :05:46.drones to civil aircraft. His answer left us in lies. -- left us number

:05:47. > :05:55.wiser. This week the minister said in the written answer that he will

:05:56. > :06:02.not even consult on anything until the European aviation agency has

:06:03. > :06:06.consulted. Other countries have already brought in recession schemes

:06:07. > :06:09.and other initiatives so when are we going to see clear proposals from

:06:10. > :06:16.the government, without having to wait for the US president to come to

:06:17. > :06:23.town? Think the point that the honourable member made in his quest,

:06:24. > :06:32.he said it might have Been a drone action. Government acts on what will

:06:33. > :06:38.be the danger, not what might be. We are in discussion with the BALPA and

:06:39. > :06:41.the CAA to develop this. If the honourable member is saying all

:06:42. > :06:46.drones should be banned completely this is something they never thought

:06:47. > :06:54.about when they were in office. Question two. The framework and the

:06:55. > :07:04.amount of Schedule 8 compensation is set by the committee of rails. --

:07:05. > :07:09.the rail regulator. She's welcome to raise concerns with them. I know the

:07:10. > :07:13.Minister has concerns about Schedule 8 payments, as do I. It is

:07:14. > :07:16.scandalous rail operators make millions from rail delays at the

:07:17. > :07:20.expense of passengers are suffering from a poor standard of service. I

:07:21. > :07:24.wonder what immediate steps the government might take to give power

:07:25. > :07:28.to the regulator to insure any net profits made by train operators from

:07:29. > :07:33.unplanned delays and cancellations caused by Network Rail go towards

:07:34. > :07:37.improving rail passenger services across the country? Particularly in

:07:38. > :07:44.light of the very low levels of passenger satisfaction? I thank her

:07:45. > :07:47.for raising this issue very eloquently on several occasions, and

:07:48. > :07:51.I know that these are part of the considerations of the current view.

:07:52. > :07:55.She and I are as one on the view that the rail industry has to do

:07:56. > :07:59.more to improve the current compensation payments which are

:08:00. > :08:02.rather generous in absolute terms but not well advertised Orwell

:08:03. > :08:08.claimed, and I am personally looking forward to bringing forward the

:08:09. > :08:12.policy to reduce the delay threshold to 15 minutes. Our goal should be to

:08:13. > :08:15.get trains running on time so passengers do not have to claim

:08:16. > :08:18.compensation and that is what is underpinning this government's

:08:19. > :08:22.record investment in the railway. Constituent of mine wishing to get

:08:23. > :08:29.back-to-back sale after 9pm on a Monday or Tuesday are having to

:08:30. > :08:32.undertake an large portion of the journey by replacement bus service,

:08:33. > :08:38.that will be going on for the rest of this year. -- getting back to

:08:39. > :08:45.excel. I declare an interest, this affects me. My intentions are ultra

:08:46. > :08:54.stick, will the Minister meets with meal -- Alcester, will she meet with

:08:55. > :09:00.me to see if they can do this work overnight? I will of course meet

:09:01. > :09:06.with him and look at what can be done to speed up the repair of that

:09:07. > :09:13.piece of work. It is the case that passengers are completely

:09:14. > :09:22.inadequately, they did for delays, and I welcome her supporting my

:09:23. > :09:27.campaign to half the delay time. Will she also support my campaign to

:09:28. > :09:34.sack Southern, who have proven completely incapable of running a

:09:35. > :09:42.railway service and should hand it over to TEFL? It is good that he is

:09:43. > :09:45.supporting my campaign, we have discussed the Southern franchise

:09:46. > :09:48.many times, it is difficult, there are record levels of engineering

:09:49. > :09:52.works going on on the slide and we are doing all we can to ensure

:09:53. > :09:54.passengers suffered the least disruption and get the compensation

:09:55. > :10:00.to which they are entitled if their trains do not work on time. Schedule

:10:01. > :10:07.8 compensation is not making it's way to my travelling public, one

:10:08. > :10:11.actively contact me from Acton Main line, where there is no stuff, no

:10:12. > :10:18.way of buying a ticket and no indicating board, one stop from

:10:19. > :10:25.Paddington, it should not be a case of taking your life into the own

:10:26. > :10:30.hands and looking into the Unknown. I am not going to give a boring

:10:31. > :10:37.lecture on Schedule 8, it is slightly different to the point of

:10:38. > :10:41.compensation paid to passengers under delay to pay, and it is right

:10:42. > :10:48.that we bring forward proposals because the compensation threshold

:10:49. > :10:53.is not worth a lot, one that is at 15 minutes is better, but her

:10:54. > :10:57.constituents have a far greater choice of transport than any other

:10:58. > :11:02.parts of the country. That is why we are investing across the country.

:11:03. > :11:08.80% of passengers and title to a refund when their train is cancelled

:11:09. > :11:12.or delayed make no claim, largely because train operating companies

:11:13. > :11:16.make claiming too difficult. To improve passenger compensation

:11:17. > :11:18.arrangements, the office of rail and road recommended that the provisions

:11:19. > :11:23.of the consumer rights act should apply to rail. But this month, the

:11:24. > :11:30.government further delayed this interjection by another year. Why is

:11:31. > :11:33.it that train operating companies should have such beneficial

:11:34. > :11:37.compensation arrangements, while the government intervenes to delay

:11:38. > :11:44.giving passengers their right to compensation? The question that

:11:45. > :11:49.comes to mind is why the honourable gentleman's government did nothing

:11:50. > :11:52.about this for 13 years. Delay repay compensation levels have increased

:11:53. > :11:56.eightfold over the last five years. There is far more to do. The actual

:11:57. > :12:00.amount of compensation that is available is more generous in this

:12:01. > :12:05.country than in all most any other country in Europe, but if I can just

:12:06. > :12:08.assure him on the CRA exemption, the industry had argued for a permanent

:12:09. > :12:11.exemption, I found that completely unacceptable. We have given the

:12:12. > :12:21.industry time to adjust and make sure they get it right. The road

:12:22. > :12:26.investment strategy announced the upgradable remaining sections of the

:12:27. > :12:30.8303 between the M3 and a 358 to June carriage way standard together

:12:31. > :12:36.with the upgrading of the 8358 in Somerset to the M5 at Taunton to the

:12:37. > :12:44.A303 at Ilminster. Three major screams -- schemes are planned to

:12:45. > :12:47.turn to process by 2020. I thank our excellent road ministers for stating

:12:48. > :12:51.quite clearly the improvements from Stonehenge through to Ilminster

:12:52. > :12:55.through to Taunton. Very much welcome. But there is a stretch from

:12:56. > :12:59.Ilminster to harm at, which actually needs a little more improvement.

:13:00. > :13:06.Therefore we have the cooperation of the Blackdown Hills society to give

:13:07. > :13:09.a 60 mph Rd through onto Exeter to make sure we have that second

:13:10. > :13:16.arterial route into Devon and on into Cornwall, so I would like an

:13:17. > :13:19.update from our excellent minister. Detailed disposition from a

:13:20. > :13:25.minister? I fear he probably won't be disappointed! LAUGHTER

:13:26. > :13:28.Obviously I thank my honourable friend for that question. The first

:13:29. > :13:32.road investment strategy did include some smaller scale improvements to

:13:33. > :13:36.that section of the roads to improve safety and Jenny quality but it is a

:13:37. > :13:40.very challenging area to make improvements, it is protected

:13:41. > :13:42.landscape and a very dutiful area, as my honourable friend showed me

:13:43. > :13:45.when he drove me along the route last summer time when I heard first

:13:46. > :13:50.time the opportunity that was presented by investment. We have

:13:51. > :13:55.started the process of the second road investment strategy, and they

:13:56. > :13:59.are developing route strategies to improve that process. I will be

:14:00. > :14:02.taking my honourable friend's contribution into that process and

:14:03. > :14:09.make sure he is raised with on a constant basis. I would like to

:14:10. > :14:14.welcome the upgrade of the A303, but particularly where it joins the

:14:15. > :14:20.A358, and links from the 830. But a recent parish meeting I went to, it

:14:21. > :14:25.was suggested the preferred options would come together by 2018, and

:14:26. > :14:27.there was a certain bit of my drink from the audience about whether the

:14:28. > :14:31.government would actually go ahead and build the road. So could the

:14:32. > :14:40.Minister confirm that this will take place by 2020, as it is so crucial

:14:41. > :14:43.for the wider south-west? I can understand there are some sinners is

:14:44. > :14:48.on a local basis because the scheme has I think been cancelled by former

:14:49. > :14:50.governments. However, let me just provides reassurance there. We are

:14:51. > :14:57.looking at consultation starting next year, and the start of work in

:14:58. > :15:06.early 2020, so I am happy to provide the assurance my honourable friend

:15:07. > :15:09.once. The airports commission assessed the surface access

:15:10. > :15:14.requirements of each short listed airport proposal as part of its work

:15:15. > :15:18.published in July 20 15th, and estimated the cost of up to ?5

:15:19. > :15:25.billion for surface access works in relation to Heathrow Northwest

:15:26. > :15:29.runway. Thank you, Mr Speaker, there are clearly widely differing

:15:30. > :15:34.estimates as to the capital cost of building an additional runway at

:15:35. > :15:37.Heathrow. But what is not in dispute is that building an additional

:15:38. > :15:43.runway at Heathrow will cost significantly more than building an

:15:44. > :15:46.additional runway at Gatwick. So my question, Mr Speaker, is if the

:15:47. > :15:51.government does decide to go ahead with expanding Heathrow, who will

:15:52. > :15:57.pay the difference? The airline passenger or the taxpayer? The

:15:58. > :16:02.honourable lady is absolutely right that some of the estimates that have

:16:03. > :16:06.been forecast for surface access to differ widely, even by the standards

:16:07. > :16:09.of some economists, but one must bear in mind that these three sets

:16:10. > :16:13.of figures includes different things over different time scales. The main

:16:14. > :16:16.difference being the work is required exclusively for airport

:16:17. > :16:20.capacity where the airport would be expected to make a major

:16:21. > :16:24.contribution. Projects that support airport capacity but have wider

:16:25. > :16:27.benefits and those in the TfL figures, which are needed for

:16:28. > :16:33.economic growth over the next 20 or 30 years. Does the government have a

:16:34. > :16:37.view on this, the airport commission figure just 5 billion, 2 billion

:16:38. > :16:43.from Heathrow, the 18 billion from TfL? Is this not just 30 years of

:16:44. > :16:47.disinformation we get out of Heathrow? When is the government

:16:48. > :16:52.going to come to a decision on this and make its nuclear and stop

:16:53. > :16:55.delaying it because of elections? If the honourable gentleman had been

:16:56. > :16:58.paying attention, I did explain that these figures related from things

:16:59. > :17:02.over different time scales. In relation to the decision, perhaps a

:17:03. > :17:07.could wait until my honourable friend for Twickenham poses her

:17:08. > :17:10.question to the Secretary of State. Mr Speaker, can the government give

:17:11. > :17:15.us any indication of a construction time period from a decision taken

:17:16. > :17:20.until a runway either at Gatwick or Heathrow is completed? It is

:17:21. > :17:24.important to note that the additional time we are taking to

:17:25. > :17:29.look at a number of economic and environmental factors will not delay

:17:30. > :17:37.the delivery of a runway at whatever location is decided upon.

:17:38. > :17:44.The government has committed ?600 million in this Parliament for the

:17:45. > :17:48.uptake of electric vehicles. The UK has the largest network of rapid

:17:49. > :17:51.charging point in Europe, with a total of 11,000 public charge

:17:52. > :17:55.points. We will be announcing further details of the next phase of

:17:56. > :18:02.plans to expand the UK's charging next work later this year. --

:18:03. > :18:07.network. I had a meeting a few weeks ago with Nissan, one of the

:18:08. > :18:11.manufacturers here in the UK. They clearly put forward the significant

:18:12. > :18:15.changes there has been in electric cars, better acceleration, better

:18:16. > :18:19.power, longer battery life. I just want to ask this question, if we are

:18:20. > :18:24.going to have better charging points, we need to have them on the

:18:25. > :18:28.high Street, in the shopping centre. Those other ways forward, make them

:18:29. > :18:32.accessible to whether people are and where the electric cars are. The

:18:33. > :18:35.honourable gentleman is absolutely right, there are a much wider range

:18:36. > :18:39.of vehicles to be chosen and many tilt in the United Kingdom. We have

:18:40. > :18:45.seen a big increase last year, than in the last four years combined. I

:18:46. > :18:49.am very pleased that Ulster was one of the UK's eight plug-in places,

:18:50. > :18:55.which received ?19 million of funding from the office of lower

:18:56. > :18:59.emissions vehicles. As the Minister will know, work has finally started

:19:00. > :19:02.on the new Ilkeston train station, where I'm sure there will be at

:19:03. > :19:12.least one charging point for electric cars. Despite this major

:19:13. > :19:16.new -- this major new investment brings -- with this in mind can we

:19:17. > :19:26.establish a new electric bus route to link the station at the town

:19:27. > :19:31.centre? I tell my honourable friend that not only the great advantage of

:19:32. > :19:35.electric cars, but electric buses. I was in Ulster lately at the right

:19:36. > :19:38.bus factory where they have buses now that will go all day on a

:19:39. > :19:44.charge, which would be perfect vehicles for the sort of project my

:19:45. > :19:48.honourable friend suggests. It is not just physical but intellectual

:19:49. > :19:51.infrastructure that is required to support the electric vehicle

:19:52. > :19:53.industry, not least because of the extreme voltage is that I've truly

:19:54. > :19:56.dangerous to people who don't know what they are doing, and because the

:19:57. > :20:05.engines are entirely different from petrol and diesel. As the industry

:20:06. > :20:08.for that -- the Ministry for the motor industry on sporting knowledge

:20:09. > :20:13.of electric vehicles, and it is it something his department might be of

:20:14. > :20:16.support? It is important that people who work in these vehicles are

:20:17. > :20:21.adequately trained but I would caution him to suggest that electric

:20:22. > :20:27.vehicles are more dangerous than the alternatives. Anyone who has seen a

:20:28. > :20:31.petrol tank catch fire would realise that electric vehicles are actually

:20:32. > :20:34.intrinsically safe. A number of important decisions on airport

:20:35. > :20:38.capacity were taken by the government in December, including to

:20:39. > :20:40.accept the case for expansion in the south-east. However, we must take

:20:41. > :20:44.time to get the decision right on the preferred scheme. The government

:20:45. > :20:47.is further considering the environment impacts, and the best

:20:48. > :20:56.possible measures to mitigate the impacts of expansion. Thank you, Mr

:20:57. > :21:01.Speaker. On March 24, as chair of the APPG on Heathrow, I wrote to

:21:02. > :21:05.Secretary of State with 64 questions about his department was network in

:21:06. > :21:10.this area. Unfortunately I have received answers to none. We'll be

:21:11. > :21:14.Secretary of State except that important questions on noise, air

:21:15. > :21:19.quality, deliverability are essential before he makes this

:21:20. > :21:26.decision, in order to give confidence to the decision-making

:21:27. > :21:31.process? When the decision is made, I will be accountable to the house,

:21:32. > :21:35.to the reasons behind why certain decisions were taken, but what I

:21:36. > :21:39.pointed out to my honourable friend in the letter I did reply to her on,

:21:40. > :21:42.it would not be appropriate for me to provide a running commentary

:21:43. > :21:48.until such time that the government has come to a final decision, and

:21:49. > :21:50.that we will do. When we do that, we will be fully accountable for the

:21:51. > :21:56.decisions and the recommendations that we make. Mr Speaker, isn't the

:21:57. > :22:00.Minister at least a little ashamed at the fact that there has been a

:22:01. > :22:03.major enquiry, it made its recommendations under Howard Davies,

:22:04. > :22:07.nothing has happened? At the same time, we are putting all of our

:22:08. > :22:14.national treasure into HS2, and by the time that comes in 2032, we will

:22:15. > :22:18.find the driverless car has made it totally redundant. Mr Speaker, I

:22:19. > :22:22.will take no lectures from a man who supported the government that saw

:22:23. > :22:27.our position in the infrastructure league tables move from seven when

:22:28. > :22:32.they entered government in 1997 down to 33rd by the time they left

:22:33. > :22:36.government in 2010. The honourable gentleman says it was all his fault.

:22:37. > :22:49.Well, that was his words and not mine. LAUGHTER

:22:50. > :22:55.Mr Speaker, in Buckinghamshire, over 700 businesses have chosen to locate

:22:56. > :23:00.their headquarters not least because of the proximity of that excellent

:23:01. > :23:03.local airport, Heathrow. And far from building on the previous

:23:04. > :23:09.question, I think it is fair to point out to the Secretary of State,

:23:10. > :23:15.whereas HS2 brings absolutely no net economic benefit to Bucks, Heathrow

:23:16. > :23:18.does, and it is a long time since Howard Davies reported. Could the

:23:19. > :23:27.Secretary of State therefore get a wig along? LAUGHTER

:23:28. > :23:31.-- get a wiggle on? Mr Speaker, you have chastised a few people this

:23:32. > :23:36.morning for links with airports and HS2. While my right honourable

:23:37. > :23:40.friend refers to Heathrow as her local airport, which I fully accept

:23:41. > :23:45.I have not heard it described before as a local airport but it is a good

:23:46. > :23:47.discretion in particular case, and indeed her constituents are well

:23:48. > :23:51.connected to that particular airport. I also want to see other

:23:52. > :23:54.parts of the country get the same opportunities that London is getting

:23:55. > :24:07.in its transport connections as well. Mr Alan Brown. This decision

:24:08. > :24:14.can impact Scottish airports. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of

:24:15. > :24:15.State's earlier comments, I think the government should provide a

:24:16. > :24:20.running commentary about this important decision, so can the

:24:21. > :24:23.Secretary of State state clearly as to what additional work is doing

:24:24. > :24:26.about air quality, noise considerations, when the work will

:24:27. > :24:31.be completed and what else the government needs to do to come to a

:24:32. > :24:35.decision? I am afraid I disagree about providing a running

:24:36. > :24:39.commentary, for the reasons which I pointed out in my earlier answers,

:24:40. > :24:44.but that work is being done. I hope very soon to be able to come to a

:24:45. > :24:52.house and informed the house and the house of the recommendations the

:24:53. > :24:55.government is making. Thank you, Mr Speaker, the government is committed

:24:56. > :24:59.to delivering the emissions reductions needed to meet our

:25:00. > :25:03.climate change targets, including the uptake of low emission vehicles,

:25:04. > :25:06.reducing emissions from the road freight sector and encouraging

:25:07. > :25:13.sustainable choices such as walking and cycling. A quarter of the UK's

:25:14. > :25:18.greenhouse gas emissions come from transport emissions, which the

:25:19. > :25:21.government has pledged to cut. Will the minister follow the example of

:25:22. > :25:28.the Scottish Government, who are committed to investing ?62.5 million

:25:29. > :25:32.to create low-carbon infrastructure? I will certainly take no lessons

:25:33. > :25:35.from the Scottish Government, in terms of low-carbon infrastructure

:25:36. > :25:38.for stop one only has to look at the electrification programme on RL

:25:39. > :25:41.ways. The fact is we have some very tough targets we are determined to

:25:42. > :25:45.meet and we will set our fifth carbon budget later this year, and

:25:46. > :25:51.we will publish our emissions reduction plan shortly afterwards.

:25:52. > :25:56.Electric cars are a form of low-carbon transport. Given the

:25:57. > :26:02.disaster in Normandy and in Finland by EDF with a nuclear power station

:26:03. > :26:06.there, can the government explain whence the electricity for all these

:26:07. > :26:11.electric cars? Certainly electric cars can benefit from electricity

:26:12. > :26:15.overnight, and use that off-peak electricity very effectively. I for

:26:16. > :26:16.one believe that nuclear generation will be part of our future energy

:26:17. > :26:28.strategy. Too few companies in East Lancashire

:26:29. > :26:36.offer the cycle to work scheme, what can the government do to extend the

:26:37. > :26:40.scheme to areas like mine? We support it enthusiastically, I know

:26:41. > :26:43.many companies can make sure that their employees get information

:26:44. > :26:49.about picking up that scheme which is a great scheme, get a lot of

:26:50. > :26:56.people onto two wheels, and reduces other carbon dioxide emissions and

:26:57. > :27:01.other pollutants. The most low carb on forms of transport are cycling

:27:02. > :27:06.and walking. Extraordinary, the government showed Easter Sunday to

:27:07. > :27:12.release the long-awaited cycling and walking investment strategy, I can

:27:13. > :27:16.understand why they did not want people to notice it because it is

:27:17. > :27:21.long on aspiration but short on investment. Cycle UK have concluded

:27:22. > :27:26.that by 2021, the amount of money spent on cycling outside London will

:27:27. > :27:35.be 72p per head. How far does the Minister think that they can go on

:27:36. > :27:41.72p? We should hang on a minute here. When we came to power in 2015,

:27:42. > :27:46.we were spending ?2 per head, and at the end of the coalition, we were

:27:47. > :27:50.spending ?6 per head. That is a very good record of investment in cycling

:27:51. > :27:53.and in a spending review, the Chancellor confirmed over ?300

:27:54. > :27:58.million for cycling over five years in that spending review. Many of the

:27:59. > :28:01.decisions have been made by local authorities which are still at least

:28:02. > :28:09.some of them run by the Labour Party. I think that is an admissions

:28:10. > :28:19.-- admission of Joe Mattock cut in cycling. Let us move on to walking,

:28:20. > :28:22.as we approach walked to work week, the strategy has no measurable

:28:23. > :28:30.targets were walking at all. When the minister was pressed in written

:28:31. > :28:35.questions, he sidestepped. Why do we have to wait until 2025 to have

:28:36. > :28:39.measurable targets? We are determined to increase levels of

:28:40. > :28:43.walking, both children walking to school and people walking as part of

:28:44. > :28:46.their everyday lives, many people see the importance of walking not

:28:47. > :28:51.only in terms of improving transport infrastructure but also contributing

:28:52. > :28:57.to clean area in our cities. Question ten. As my right honourable

:28:58. > :29:01.friend knows Dorrell travel in this country is booming and a vital part

:29:02. > :29:05.of the grid is ensuring that rail is accessible to all, including

:29:06. > :29:10.passengers of disabilities, at every stage of the journey. The numbers

:29:11. > :29:13.suggest that disabled people are using the railway in ever greater

:29:14. > :29:20.numbers, the disabled Persons Railcard insect nation went up 12%

:29:21. > :29:26.year-on-year, -- in circulation, a growth rate above those without

:29:27. > :29:29.disabilities. The concourse at Birmingham International is going to

:29:30. > :29:32.be improved to provide better access for the disabled, but could the

:29:33. > :29:36.minister put pressure on the Chiltern line, where the gap between

:29:37. > :29:39.the carriages and the platform is very high indeed, and would it not

:29:40. > :29:50.be possible to replicate what TEFL do, I think at Westminster station

:29:51. > :29:53.there is a raised platform in one section? We need a joined up

:29:54. > :29:57.approach, we need the operators and Network Rail to work together. She

:29:58. > :30:02.should be aware that any improvement works carried on the station have

:30:03. > :30:09.two comply with UK disability standards. I am grateful to the

:30:10. > :30:16.reply that she gave earlier. Given that we know that Network Rail have

:30:17. > :30:19.financial issues, and ?50 million is being taken out of the access for

:30:20. > :30:26.all skin, can the minister explained what pressure she can put on Network

:30:27. > :30:31.Rail to make sure that stations like once in my constituency which are

:30:32. > :30:35.not accidental to disabled people are upgraded to everyone can have

:30:36. > :30:38.access to a good rail service? Many of the stations in country date from

:30:39. > :30:45.Victorian times when this was not even an issue. I would like to point

:30:46. > :30:48.out to him that access for all is a scheme of which we offer a proud,

:30:49. > :30:54.almost half ?1 billion has been spent, money will be spent

:30:55. > :30:57.continually, and stations were prioritised based on football. I

:30:58. > :31:02.would be more than happy to look at the station to see if anything could

:31:03. > :31:06.be done. We have to make sure the money is spent where people are

:31:07. > :31:11.travelling. This to me is absolutely part of the railway for the future,

:31:12. > :31:14.vital for people with disabilities to be able to access trains and

:31:15. > :31:23.rolling stock will be fully to civility compliant by 2020. --

:31:24. > :31:28.Philippe disability compliant. I recognise the important role that

:31:29. > :31:31.regional airports play in providing domestic and international

:31:32. > :31:33.connections and admire the contribution they make to the growth

:31:34. > :31:38.of rival contribution they make to the growth

:31:39. > :31:45.of local economies. They operate within the local -- the private

:31:46. > :31:55.sector and it is up to them to get people into them. Inward tourism is

:31:56. > :32:00.very important in my area, my local at Port has no connection to London.

:32:01. > :32:07.From the discussion in this chamber, no sign of a connection to London.

:32:08. > :32:13.But the minister consider a strategy to connect local airports to bring

:32:14. > :32:17.in inward tourists? The honourable lady talks about connections and

:32:18. > :32:30.conductivity into London, that is one of the reasons why the Davis

:32:31. > :32:33.commission was support. -- was commissioned to report. We need to

:32:34. > :32:37.bear in mind regional conductivity and give reassurance to people who

:32:38. > :32:42.want further service from regional airport into London, they will get

:32:43. > :32:44.that opportunity. I am reliably informed that Cornwall Newquay

:32:45. > :32:49.airport is the fastest-growing regional airport in the country, and

:32:50. > :32:52.can I thank the aviation Minister for his support in helping us to

:32:53. > :32:59.open a new route from Newquay to Leeds Bradford. Going forward it

:33:00. > :33:04.will be essential that original air connectivity is in place to make

:33:05. > :33:08.sure that as our economy grows, the benefit of felt across the country.

:33:09. > :33:11.Can he confirm the regional connectivity fund will continue to

:33:12. > :33:17.be available to help small and regional airport open up their

:33:18. > :33:25.roots? Where they are qualifying, I am grateful that the roots do

:33:26. > :33:29.qualify, it is available. It has made an important difference, it is

:33:30. > :33:36.a route that I have used in a number of occasions to go down to his

:33:37. > :33:39.constituency and others in Cornwall. The Minister will know that London

:33:40. > :33:44.Luton Airport is undergoing a substantial and welcome expansion,

:33:45. > :33:52.but there is spare capacity at Birmingham Airport. It could make a

:33:53. > :34:00.significant contribution to the journey if there was an upgrade of

:34:01. > :34:05.the railway line linking Birmingham Airport Crossrail and therefore to

:34:06. > :34:11.Heathrow. I figure the honourable gentleman that he is always making

:34:12. > :34:17.-- I say to the honourable gentleman that he is with making the case for

:34:18. > :34:22.traditional local links and he is not so keen on high-speed links. I

:34:23. > :34:25.commend what is happening at Luiten airport, I was there to see the

:34:26. > :34:28.start of the work a few months ago and the regeneration going on there,

:34:29. > :34:37.it is rain poured and it is proving very important for the area as well.

:34:38. > :34:41.Number 12. This department is providing over ?7 billion to the

:34:42. > :34:45.local growth fund which will fund over 500 local transport projects by

:34:46. > :34:51.the end of the parliament. As part of that fund, we have launched a new

:34:52. > :34:54.?425 million fund for transformational local transport

:34:55. > :34:57.schemes which are too large for the main allocations and we have invited

:34:58. > :35:09.local enterprise partnerships to bid by July. The construction of the 20

:35:10. > :35:13.year weighted by past here will open up employment land and support the

:35:14. > :35:16.regional economy by creating jobs. Will the Minister meet with me and

:35:17. > :35:20.Cheshire East council representatives to discuss the

:35:21. > :35:24.merits of a funding application for this project? I am happy to have

:35:25. > :35:26.that meeting particularly if she involves the local enterprise

:35:27. > :35:30.partnership, who are central to putting together these bits and

:35:31. > :35:34.ensuring that where we do have these types of investments, they are

:35:35. > :35:39.important for the economy to the local region, and some of the

:35:40. > :35:43.Council representatives. With the Minister look carefully at the plans

:35:44. > :35:46.being forwarded by the Mersey the Alliance for a strategic rail link

:35:47. > :35:50.direct to Manchester Airport, which had a dual benefit of speeding up

:35:51. > :35:57.traffic to Manchester Airport but also taking cars of the motorway?

:35:58. > :36:03.That is the kind of project that transport for North will be looking

:36:04. > :36:09.at, and I understand the importance of good surface connectivity so

:36:10. > :36:13.airports can continue to grow. Manchester Airport is an example for

:36:14. > :36:19.others to follow. The government has given considerable amounts of money

:36:20. > :36:22.to the Labour dominated west Yorkshire combined authority who

:36:23. > :36:27.spend most of their money in the Labour heartlands, ignoring the

:36:28. > :36:30.needs of areas such as mine. Things like the Shipley Eastern bypass

:36:31. > :36:34.which is vital for my local economy. What can the Minister do to make

:36:35. > :36:38.sure that the government's money is spent in areas like Shipley as one

:36:39. > :36:42.of the Labour heartlands, or if he cannot persuade them to do that,

:36:43. > :36:50.will heed directly fund a Shipley Eastern I pass that my -- bypass

:36:51. > :36:53.that my constituents need? One of the important changes that has

:36:54. > :36:58.happened since we have moved from the RDA to having local enterprise

:36:59. > :37:01.partnerships is that it is the business and economic considerations

:37:02. > :37:04.that are considered more than maybe some local political objectives,

:37:05. > :37:09.that is a great change we have brought in and far less pork barrel

:37:10. > :37:16.politics going on in Yorkshire, I hope. There are number of major

:37:17. > :37:20.transport projects in the northern powerhouse but they seem to omit

:37:21. > :37:24.West Cumbria. Will the government do to look at how we can prove our

:37:25. > :37:30.transport inks, particularly looking at the nuclear developers we have

:37:31. > :37:34.locally? We understand that all parts of the country including the

:37:35. > :37:42.peripheral parts benefit from transport investment which is why it

:37:43. > :37:45.is good news that this government does understand that, unlike the

:37:46. > :37:52.previous government that did not see it as a priority. Question 13. My

:37:53. > :37:57.noble friend the Parliamentary undersecretary of state has been in

:37:58. > :38:00.discussion with the driver and vehicle standards agency about

:38:01. > :38:03.trialling changes to the practical driving test to make it more

:38:04. > :38:10.effective in modern driving traditions. We have also been in

:38:11. > :38:15.discussion about future provision of the UK driving theory test. I have

:38:16. > :38:19.received a number of concerns from driving instructors and pupils about

:38:20. > :38:25.significant delays in obtaining dates for tests at the Bletchley

:38:26. > :38:29.Centre in my constituency. DVSA said they are investing more resources

:38:30. > :38:36.but it remains an issue. May he take this up urgently with the new Chief

:38:37. > :38:41.Executive? Demand for driving tests have been increasing rapidly, it has

:38:42. > :38:46.gone up by over 50% since 2013 and we expect that to continue. We have

:38:47. > :38:53.seen the same pattern in HGV tests. The DVSA has responded by bringing

:38:54. > :38:58.in more examiners, and improving forecasting, redeploying examiners

:38:59. > :39:02.to those centres of higher waiting times. I would be happy to take up

:39:03. > :39:07.the Bletchley Centre with the new chief executive. We are also getting

:39:08. > :39:14.complaints in Kettering about delays for driving tests and cancellations

:39:15. > :39:18.of appointment, can our excellent road Minister gets on top of this

:39:19. > :39:22.before it gets out of control? I am happy to take forward these issues

:39:23. > :39:32.wherever we have local problems, for any colleague in these houses, with

:39:33. > :39:36.the DVSA. Under 14. On the 27th of March, during the Easter break when

:39:37. > :39:41.people had plenty of time to read it, we publish the draft cycling and

:39:42. > :39:48.walking strategy. We want everyone in the country including those in

:39:49. > :39:50.rural areas to have access to safe and attractive cycling routes. Local

:39:51. > :39:54.authorities have a detailed understanding of their roots and

:39:55. > :39:59.have the best knowledge of where cyclists could be placed on local

:40:00. > :40:04.roads. Safe and attractive cycling routes are important but a number of

:40:05. > :40:08.cyclists have written to me about the problem of potholes and cycling,

:40:09. > :40:12.something of which I have personal experience and the scars to prove

:40:13. > :40:16.it, I do not intend to show my honourable friend where it is. Will

:40:17. > :40:20.he join me in welcoming the 28.4 million that Lincolnshire County

:40:21. > :40:24.Council are receiving in this year for highways maintenance in terms of

:40:25. > :40:27.financial assistance? Will he also encourage highways officers in

:40:28. > :40:31.Lincolnshire to keep doing what they can to reduce the risks to cyclists

:40:32. > :40:36.from the dangerous potholes? Lincolnshire is a wonderful county

:40:37. > :40:43.to cycle in not least because it is relatively flat. The government has

:40:44. > :40:46.allocated substantial funds for the repair of potholes. I would

:40:47. > :40:50.encourage local authorities to concentrate on how effectively they

:40:51. > :40:53.are using that money, there is some good new technology which will mean

:40:54. > :40:57.that not only potholes can be repaired but they will stay

:40:58. > :40:58.repaired. We often hear stories about temporary repairs opened up

:40:59. > :41:08.quickly. Mr Speaker, in the last six years we

:41:09. > :41:11.have electrified five times as many miles of track than the previous

:41:12. > :41:15.Labour government did in 13 years, and almost all of this work has been

:41:16. > :41:20.in the North of England. I call that good progress. Perhaps the Minister

:41:21. > :41:28.can explain to me why the hundred million pound or to Selby privately

:41:29. > :41:34.financed rail electrification scheme has been stuck in the Department for

:41:35. > :41:38.Transport for nearly two years now? Her department is announcing schemes

:41:39. > :41:40.like the 27 billion is the Crossrail two between Hertfordshire and

:41:41. > :41:43.Surbiton but if she is really serious about the Northern

:41:44. > :41:53.Powerhouse, why can she not get a break alarm and get this privately

:41:54. > :41:58.financed scheme actually happening? I think that is Humberside for a

:41:59. > :42:03.wiggle, but I completely share the lady's enthusiasm for faster rail

:42:04. > :42:07.for her constituents, which is why the new franchise that we let last

:42:08. > :42:14.year will give her constituents brand new trains, more services,

:42:15. > :42:16.more direct connections, and Hull is getting 1.4 million for its new

:42:17. > :42:21.station in time for it to take its pride of place in time for the UK

:42:22. > :42:28.city of culture 2017. She should be pleased that. We may be losing our

:42:29. > :42:31.direct link to South Manchester and the airport through Piccadilly. Why

:42:32. > :42:38.is this happening and how is it progress? Mr Speaker, the honourable

:42:39. > :42:46.gentleman is raising a service question to me that I am not a cross

:42:47. > :42:51.but I will get back to him. Topical questions. We continue to do that on

:42:52. > :43:02.issues that affect the motorist. Following the findings last year

:43:03. > :43:08.to ensure that similar devices were not present on other models. The

:43:09. > :43:11.test confirmed that they were not, but the tests did confirm that

:43:12. > :43:16.existing lab tests designed to ensure emission limits were met are

:43:17. > :43:21.inadequate, and this is why we have been at the forefront of securing a

:43:22. > :43:29.tough new European wide real driving test emissions tests. We also have

:43:30. > :43:35.announced further funding to help with the problem of potholes based

:43:36. > :43:39.across the country. Mr Speaker, I recently completed a blindfolded

:43:40. > :43:41.walk with that excellent charity, guide dogs, to try to understand the

:43:42. > :43:47.challenges faced by visually impaired people. I am greatly

:43:48. > :43:52.supportive of their campaign to improve access for guide dog owners

:43:53. > :43:57.with the dogs. It is not right that they can often be refused access to

:43:58. > :44:03.businesses and services because the dogs with them. What steps is the

:44:04. > :44:07.Secretary of State taking to ensure that taxi and private vehicle

:44:08. > :44:10.drivers receive adequate disability awareness training, because there

:44:11. > :44:13.are still a large number of guide dog owners that are being turned

:44:14. > :44:19.away from these vital transport services? Mr Speaker, I am grateful

:44:20. > :44:24.for the point my honourable friend makes and entirely agree with the

:44:25. > :44:27.point she makes. Taxi and private trading higher vehicles are

:44:28. > :44:31.essential for many disabled people. Drivers are required to make

:44:32. > :44:36.reasonable adjustments for disabled passengers, and it is a criminal

:44:37. > :44:39.offence to refuse and assistance dog. Failure to comply with this

:44:40. > :44:48.requirement cameras in prosecution and a fine on conviction up to

:44:49. > :44:53.?1000. A driver was recently fined ?1546 for refusing access to a guide

:44:54. > :44:56.dog, which includes a legal costs, Inc ordering -- in addition to the

:44:57. > :44:59.fine, and I think that message needs to go out right across the whole

:45:00. > :45:08.industry and we will draw it to the attention of the licensing

:45:09. > :45:13.authorities. On Monday, the Ministry of state said Volkswagen Arena fixed

:45:14. > :45:18.any cars yet in this country. Mr Speaker, Knox emissions pose a

:45:19. > :45:22.serious health risk to drivers, and everyone, and as he acknowledged, we

:45:23. > :45:32.now know that all manufacturers produce diesel models that pollute

:45:33. > :45:35.above approved limits. How is he going to affect nox emissions, and

:45:36. > :45:40.will he take further action that when it comes to Volkswagen the UK

:45:41. > :45:46.is not left at the back of the queue? The Ministry of state and

:45:47. > :45:51.myself have been dealing with this matter but before I get to being

:45:52. > :45:53.attacked for not doing sufficient, I think the honourable lady needs to

:45:54. > :46:18.remind who started the - the diesel. He reduced diesel cars to 20% of the

:46:19. > :46:25.UK fleet. Of course those decisions were based on the science at the

:46:26. > :46:30.time. But as he knows, American owners may be entitled up to $5,000

:46:31. > :46:34.in compensation while the owners of 1.2 million VW vehicles in this

:46:35. > :46:38.country are not receiving a penny. Last week, the number ten press

:46:39. > :46:41.machine was assuring us that the Transport Secretary has pressed VW

:46:42. > :46:46.on the specific issue of this discrepancy of compensation. But on

:46:47. > :46:48.Monday the ministry of state said compensation was a matter for the

:46:49. > :46:53.courts and not ministers. Mr Speaker, this is a matter of basic

:46:54. > :46:56.fairness. So when is the Transport Secretary going to step up a gear

:46:57. > :47:02.and fight for a decent compensation deal for UK Volkswagen drivers? We

:47:03. > :47:07.have made it perfectly clear, I have made it clear in meetings I have

:47:08. > :47:11.had, my honourable friend the Minister of State has made it clear

:47:12. > :47:15.not just with box wagon but other manufacturers as well, that this is

:47:16. > :47:18.a subject we take very seriously. We want to see action taking place, but

:47:19. > :47:24.I am glad the honourable lady said that was based when she responded to

:47:25. > :47:28.the huge increase in diesel cars in this country. It was based on

:47:29. > :47:34.evidence at the time. It just shows not the proper research was done at

:47:35. > :47:39.the time. The Minister will be aware the House of Lords has recently

:47:40. > :47:44.completed a review into the impact into the equality act on disabled

:47:45. > :47:48.people, a large part of which focused on accessible at it to taxes

:47:49. > :47:57.and private hire vehicles. Can the house be updated on this? I can

:47:58. > :48:00.indeed update the house. The government is committed to ensuring

:48:01. > :48:03.that disabled people have the same access to transport services and

:48:04. > :48:08.opportunities to travel as everybody is within our society. We plan to

:48:09. > :48:12.comment sections 165 and 167 of the equality act 2010 by the end of this

:48:13. > :48:15.year. I was pleased to see this raised in the Lords report. I had

:48:16. > :48:18.been working on it for some time in this section will require drivers to

:48:19. > :48:25.provide assistance to wheelchair users and a friend from charging

:48:26. > :48:32.extra. Will the Minister take the trouble to come to the north-east

:48:33. > :48:34.and take the train from Lumb for Middlesbrough to Newcastle, an

:48:35. > :48:39.ancient place of train that takes almost 90 minutes, you could almost

:48:40. > :48:42.do the journey quicker by bicycle. If we had a new train every time

:48:43. > :48:45.they had been an announcement that they would be replaced, we would

:48:46. > :48:53.have a whole fleet. But if a minister came and got a wiggle on,

:48:54. > :48:59.it might... LAUGHTER I think I need a bit of mentoring in

:49:00. > :49:08.some dialect that is being used this morning. What I would say is that in

:49:09. > :49:13.the 13 years that the last government were in operation, they

:49:14. > :49:17.did nothing to improve the system. I am very glad to say that by 2020

:49:18. > :49:22.there will be new trains operating on the lines he is talking about, as

:49:23. > :49:26.a result of a decision I took which to override the advice and to

:49:27. > :49:29.instruct the permanent secretary that we would have new trains on

:49:30. > :49:37.that particular line and it is a decision I am very proud. Network

:49:38. > :49:42.Rail, every time I come across it, seems to have a great deal of power

:49:43. > :49:44.but to be utterly unaccountable to central government. As we are seeing

:49:45. > :49:48.in Lincolnshire, that power that Network Rail has can be used to

:49:49. > :49:51.frustrate growth infrastructure schemes which have the support of

:49:52. > :49:55.local authorities. What can be done by my right honourable friend to

:49:56. > :49:57.ensure that Network Rail does not surrender schemes in the best

:49:58. > :50:03.interests of local people and are supported by local authorities? Mr

:50:04. > :50:08.Speaker, the best schemes are those that are strongly supported by local

:50:09. > :50:11.authorities and local businesses, and Network Rail is in a new phase

:50:12. > :50:14.where the root responsibility will be devolved, and they will be

:50:15. > :50:20.working to a set of investment plans agreed based on a very important

:50:21. > :50:24.bottom-up analysis. Over the last ten years, the destination and

:50:25. > :50:27.routes from Scotland have doubled, flights to London have fallen by

:50:28. > :50:33.more than a third. Not only do we need starter routes, but up the

:50:34. > :50:36.frequency in these routes and guarantee them, which would allow

:50:37. > :50:40.them to bed in and be fully established. Will the Minister

:50:41. > :50:43.establish a point-to-point public service obligation, including

:50:44. > :50:49.specific regional hub airports, and do all he can to create BSOs for

:50:50. > :50:57.airports such as in sky in my constituency. We understand that

:50:58. > :51:01.importance. I am very pleased we have seen such a successful uptake

:51:02. > :51:11.of these, and a number of routes have been studied which have not

:51:12. > :51:14.acquired subsidies. The slogan of cross-country trains is going that

:51:15. > :51:17.bit further, and my constituents would be delighted if they did

:51:18. > :51:22.exactly that and instruct did more than three out of 63 trains on the

:51:23. > :51:27.InterCity service between Birmingham and Bristol to stop at the city of

:51:28. > :51:30.Gloucester. Would my honourable friend confirm whether the

:51:31. > :51:33.department would require cross-country to restore decent

:51:34. > :51:38.services on that line is part of their franchise extension? Nobody

:51:39. > :51:44.could be more assiduous in calling for those service requirements, but

:51:45. > :51:49.of course what we must not have his services to cities like Cheltenham

:51:50. > :51:52.lost as a change he is requiring. I can confirm discussions are ongoing.

:51:53. > :51:56.We have asked cross-country to report on the best way to deliver

:51:57. > :52:08.the services he is talking about. I am looking forward to discussing

:52:09. > :52:11.that with him shortly. Despite the Secretary of State's pride, the

:52:12. > :52:16.North remains hugely underinvested in transport terms in comparison

:52:17. > :52:19.with London especially by a ratio of 24 to one. Now ministers are saying

:52:20. > :52:24.they are going to cut the subsidy to the Northern franchise by up to 85%.

:52:25. > :52:29.Does he really think it adds to the credibility of the Northern

:52:30. > :52:34.powerhouse that it takes half a day to cross it didn't trains better

:52:35. > :52:37.suited to a railway museum? What I would like to offer politicians is

:52:38. > :52:42.another briefing about what these new franchises are going to deliver.

:52:43. > :52:44.It sounds a bit like the generation game, Mr Speaker, but her

:52:45. > :52:48.constituents, thanks to my government, are going to get rid of

:52:49. > :52:51.those outdated trains, get many more services and much better quality,

:52:52. > :52:59.and that will be delivered at less cost to the taxpayer. Only a Labour

:53:00. > :53:04.politician could argue for worse services and less subsidy, Mr

:53:05. > :53:07.Speaker. We have been very positive about the new Northern rain --

:53:08. > :53:11.Northern Rail franchise but there are throngs of people who want to

:53:12. > :53:15.get from Leeds to Google, but are incapable of doing that at the

:53:16. > :53:18.moment, and there may even be some who want to get from Google to

:53:19. > :53:22.Leeds. They are unable to the moment. It is the same on the break

:53:23. > :53:27.to Sheffield line. Very underutilised lines. What

:53:28. > :53:30.opportunities and -- are there to get those improved services and will

:53:31. > :53:39.the Minister come and ride the train with us? I think the Honourable

:53:40. > :53:44.Speaker wanted the rail minister, rather than him. LAUGHTER

:53:45. > :53:48.I think he is lumbered with the Secretary of State! What he wants

:53:49. > :53:54.and what he gets, Mr Speaker, our two entirely different points.

:53:55. > :54:00.LAUGHTER I am very grateful to my honourable

:54:01. > :54:03.friend for talking about the need to improve capacity on the networks,

:54:04. > :54:10.and I am very interested here of all the people that wish to travel,

:54:11. > :54:13.lying, I think the new rail franchise given for the North will

:54:14. > :54:17.give a tremendous increase in capacity, and a lot of new routes,

:54:18. > :54:24.and we will see whether his arguments stand up. With the 400th

:54:25. > :54:29.anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers, can we get a helping hand to do up

:54:30. > :54:34.Retford railway station, including the car parking, so that people can

:54:35. > :54:41.see the best of British when they visit my area? Mr Speaker, I think

:54:42. > :54:46.the honourable member is far more familiar with Retford station than I

:54:47. > :54:50.am afraid I am, but it is certainly something that would be considered

:54:51. > :54:56.in the local growth fund, and I would suggest that he goes through

:54:57. > :55:02.the necessary procedures to encourage his Citroen two to apply

:55:03. > :55:06.for it. The road master velocity patch can fill 300 potholes in a

:55:07. > :55:13.day, and Lincolnshire has got one! But we would like more. What can the

:55:14. > :55:19.Minister offer my county council by way of help to either get more, and

:55:20. > :55:23.would he consider incentivising councils to work together so that we

:55:24. > :55:34.can increase the nationwide fleet of these fantastic machines? I am aware

:55:35. > :55:38.of the road master velocity patch. The government certainly supports

:55:39. > :55:51.the use of innovative and efficient methods. -- Roadmaster Velocity

:55:52. > :55:54.Patcher. Valli it includes an element of collaboration, so I would

:55:55. > :55:57.like to see local authorities working with their neighbours right

:55:58. > :56:02.across the country in exactly the same way as my honourable friend

:56:03. > :56:05.describes. The Minister clearly enjoys a life of undiluted

:56:06. > :56:12.excitement! LAUGHTER Mr Carmichael. What is the

:56:13. > :56:18.government doing to stem the flow of job losses amongst British qualified

:56:19. > :56:22.seafarers? And particular, will be shipping minister have a look at how

:56:23. > :56:26.some of our own regulation is operating here? My constituents tell

:56:27. > :56:29.me that the operation of the certificates of the equivalent in

:56:30. > :56:33.confidence for example putting them at a disadvantage, compared to

:56:34. > :56:38.seafarers from other parts of the world.

:56:39. > :56:45.Thank you. We certainly have the best qualified seafarers in the

:56:46. > :56:50.world, not due in no small part to the schemes and funding of ?15

:56:51. > :56:53.million per year. It is of concern if people less qualified are taking

:56:54. > :56:58.jobs and I know of particular problems in the North Sea and this

:56:59. > :57:02.is something I would be very pleased to talk about with the honourable

:57:03. > :57:09.gentleman in more detail. Can my honourable friend reassure me that

:57:10. > :57:13.the Department is investing in in apprentice training programmes so

:57:14. > :57:16.that the country has the skills to carry on without world leading

:57:17. > :57:21.transport programme and improvements? I can indeed give my

:57:22. > :57:27.honourable friend that insurance -- assurance. The strategy sets targets

:57:28. > :57:31.for ensuring apprenticeship throughout the scheme and will

:57:32. > :57:37.deliver them within contracts. One apprenticeship will be created for

:57:38. > :57:43.everyone with ?5 million worth of scheme and they are at the heart of

:57:44. > :57:49.our agenda. I will freely admit I want the Secretary of State and I

:57:50. > :57:56.hope I am going to get him, because he has visited my constituency and

:57:57. > :58:00.he knows it is being used as a slip road off the M25 through a

:58:01. > :58:05.residential area with a very serious accident area -- accident record and

:58:06. > :58:10.a lot of freight coming into North London using it as a wheat to

:58:11. > :58:15.central London. Can I ask him in good faith to meet with me and two

:58:16. > :58:18.of the leading resident representatives to discuss this

:58:19. > :58:28.very, very serious issue and find a satisfactory way forward? Sometimes

:58:29. > :58:31.you get what you want, Mr Speaker. I'm more than happy to meet the

:58:32. > :58:35.honourable member on this. There does seem to be some confusion as to

:58:36. > :58:41.whether it is a matter for transport for London or highways England, but

:58:42. > :58:46.that is no answer to the people suffering the problems. It is a very

:58:47. > :58:53.difficult area to deal with because of all the residential implications

:58:54. > :58:57.but we will have that meeting. I don't really care who answers the

:58:58. > :59:03.question, but from the minister's description earlier, the local major

:59:04. > :59:09.transports fund could have been made for the Southern Link project in

:59:10. > :59:12.Worcester that I understand a bit with the tinfoil and can I say to

:59:13. > :59:19.the Secretary of State and his team that they should be no wiggle room

:59:20. > :59:27.for them in approving this project? I visited almost a year ago to the

:59:28. > :59:33.day the site which my honourable friend refers to. I viewed

:59:34. > :59:39.Carrington Bridge from a site which was previously opened by his father

:59:40. > :59:44.some 30 years before that. I think the point that my honourable friend

:59:45. > :59:46.makes about this being a suitable scheme for the local major 's fund

:59:47. > :59:53.is one that should be considered and I urge the local authority to put an

:59:54. > :59:58.application in for it to be considered. Will the Secretary of

:59:59. > :00:06.State work with the new Labour, obviously, man of London to ensure

:00:07. > :00:08.the effective development of the HS2 Crossrail interchange? Will he

:00:09. > :00:12.revisit the deal that he did with the current Mayor of London in 2014

:00:13. > :00:19.which means that no development can take place on the site unless there

:00:20. > :00:29.is a very expensive movement of the lines almost as soon as they open?

:00:30. > :00:34.Unlike the honourable member, I take no elections for granted but I very

:00:35. > :00:39.much hope the London mayor will be the honourable member for Richmond

:00:40. > :00:44.who will work better with the Government banned the honourable

:00:45. > :00:47.member for teaching. As far as the comment goes, it is important when

:00:48. > :00:52.we talk about the infrastructure where that site is concerned, it is

:00:53. > :00:59.going to be a major transport hub in the United Kingdom and getting it

:01:00. > :01:04.right is very important. The Department has responsibilities to a

:01:05. > :01:11.lumber of local and national transport infrastructure projects

:01:12. > :01:16.and will the member of state right into contracts that we will put you

:01:17. > :01:21.at British Steel for these projects? I am very happy to say that we have

:01:22. > :01:23.made a number of changes to our procurement process to exactly

:01:24. > :01:28.reflect the point is that my honourable friend makes and where

:01:29. > :01:36.ever we can, we should be supporting our own industry. It has to be on a

:01:37. > :01:42.fair basis. There are special cases around British Steel and 98% of the

:01:43. > :01:51.bridge -ish -- this deal we purchase is British Steel. Urgent question,

:01:52. > :01:58.Mr Bernard Jenkin. I am most grateful to ask the Prime Minister

:01:59. > :02:04.if he will ask for an enquiry to be launched on whether discussions

:02:05. > :02:10.between the trade unions and the Labour Party on amendments of the

:02:11. > :02:20.trade union Beale -- trade union bill constitute a breach of the

:02:21. > :02:24.conduct. The Cabinet Office has advised me that there is no breach

:02:25. > :02:30.and nothing for the priming is to's adviser on ministerial interest to

:02:31. > :02:35.investigate. As is customary at such times, ministers have had regular

:02:36. > :02:47.discussions with Jago ministers to discuss possible... On the basis of

:02:48. > :02:52.discussions yesterday evening, I can reassure my honourable friend that

:02:53. > :02:56.we are well on our way to ensuring all of our manifesto commitments.

:02:57. > :03:03.Reforms to the role of the acidification of this, a tightening

:03:04. > :03:07.up of rules around the location time, and introduction of a

:03:08. > :03:10.transparent opt in process and a tightening up of intimidation of

:03:11. > :03:18.non-striking members. The question of compulsory opt in to trade union

:03:19. > :03:23.funds was one of the most contentious, especially in the

:03:24. > :03:27.Lords. The Lords referred it to a special committee. Following the

:03:28. > :03:34.select committee's report, the House of Lords voted by a large majority

:03:35. > :03:38.to accept an amendment to restrict the opt in to new members and

:03:39. > :03:43.exclude current trade union members. My honourable friend will not be

:03:44. > :03:54.surprised to learn that I speak to trade unions and the secretary of

:03:55. > :03:58.the TUC regularly. Trade union support for the campaign to remain

:03:59. > :04:02.in the European Union is not new and should not come aces -- as a

:04:03. > :04:08.surprise to anybody. The TUC declared its support in February, eg

:04:09. > :04:19.you be -- DNB did the same in February, unite in March and Unison

:04:20. > :04:23.in April. We all remember the Prime Minister for telling that the next

:04:24. > :04:28.scandal would be a lobbying scandal and had -- here it is. Trade union

:04:29. > :04:51.members have been complaining that have been unable to campaign for the

:04:52. > :04:56.in... The result of this amendment means that a 19-year-old who has

:04:57. > :05:00.just started a job and is a member of a trade union will now never be

:05:01. > :05:05.asked if he wants his political fund subscriptions to be taken out of his

:05:06. > :05:09.pay packet. The Prime Minister told the House of Commons on the 15th of

:05:10. > :05:13.July last year, there is a very simple principle here. Giving money

:05:14. > :05:16.to a party should be an act of free will, money should not be taken out

:05:17. > :05:21.of pay packets without them being told properly about it. He likened

:05:22. > :05:26.it to mis-selling. The minister in the Other Place described the

:05:27. > :05:30.Labour's amendment, which the Government has accepted, as a

:05:31. > :05:35.wrecking amendment on the 16th of March this year. Yesterday, the

:05:36. > :05:40.Minister's concession was wholly unexpected and my right honourable

:05:41. > :05:45.friend for Grantham and Stanford announced his decision to abandon

:05:46. > :05:49.the opposition to the bill. It is now being reported that these

:05:50. > :05:55.unexpected concessions are linked to the question of a ?1.7 million

:05:56. > :05:58.donation that trade unions make from their political funds, which are now

:05:59. > :06:05.much larger than they would have been, to the Labour remain campaign.

:06:06. > :06:12.Until very recently, the honourable gentleman for Hull West and hassle,

:06:13. > :06:17.was trying to raise ?75,000 for the loons and badges. Now they are

:06:18. > :06:21.getting ?1.7 million. It has been confirmed to me through more than

:06:22. > :06:27.two independent sources that number ten instructed these concessions to

:06:28. > :06:33.be made after the discussions with trade union representatives. This

:06:34. > :06:36.being true would amend -- add to the sale of Government policy for cash

:06:37. > :06:47.and political favours. Lest there be any doubt about the propriety -- the

:06:48. > :06:52.impropriety of this deal, the leader of Her Majesty's opposition should

:06:53. > :06:55.ask themselves this question -- what would they be saying if this

:06:56. > :06:59.Government had altered the bill in order to give money to the

:07:00. > :07:03.Conservative Party or to the Conservative Party's remain

:07:04. > :07:05.campaign? My honourable friend should ask himself this question.

:07:06. > :07:14.What would be the reaction if the Labour Government had changed a bill

:07:15. > :07:21.to favour the Labour's ability to favour it self. This stinks as cash

:07:22. > :07:24.for questions and shows this Government really is at the rotten

:07:25. > :07:29.heart of the European Union. The seven principles of public life

:07:30. > :07:35.requires public office holders, and I quote, to avoid placing themselves

:07:36. > :07:38.under any obligation to people or organisations that might try

:07:39. > :07:44.inappropriately to influence their work. The ministerial code states

:07:45. > :07:48.that ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise

:07:49. > :07:53.between their public duties and their private interests. In this

:07:54. > :07:57.matter, the Labour Party constitutes one of their private interests. Will

:07:58. > :08:03.my right honourable friend the Prime Minister instructed friend on

:08:04. > :08:07.parliamentary interest to launch this investigation. If my honourable

:08:08. > :08:15.friend is right, he has nothing to fear from such an investigation.

:08:16. > :08:19.Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I can start by saying I have the greatest

:08:20. > :08:23.possible respect from the passion and commitment which has lasted not

:08:24. > :08:27.just for years but for decades that my honourable friend has brought to

:08:28. > :08:32.the cause which he is now advocating with such vigour that we should

:08:33. > :08:37.leave the European Union. I have nothing but total respect for that

:08:38. > :08:41.passion and commitment. So I just want to gently correct him on a view

:08:42. > :08:45.points of fact, because he has been focusing so much on the very

:08:46. > :08:48.important question that there are a number of things that he's adjusted

:08:49. > :08:54.which are absolutely correct about the way that the current mechanism

:08:55. > :08:59.for union members subscriptions to the political fund works. The first

:09:00. > :09:03.point to make is to say that it is not the case that somebody who has

:09:04. > :09:08.recently joined a trade union, to whom there for the new requirement

:09:09. > :09:12.for an optimal not apply, is never asked whether they want to pay into

:09:13. > :09:18.the political levy. Very far from it. There is a long-standing legal

:09:19. > :09:23.requirement that they are offered an opt out of that political levy and

:09:24. > :09:28.that that is something communicated very clearly to them and it is not

:09:29. > :09:32.just a one-time thing. It is not something they are offered when they

:09:33. > :09:39.join, it is something they can exercise at any time and need to be

:09:40. > :09:43.reminded of on a regular basis. The other thing to say to my honourable

:09:44. > :09:49.friend is that while estimates vary from different unions, the overall

:09:50. > :09:55.estimate for trade union membership is that roughly 13 to 14% of all

:09:56. > :10:01.members of a trade union joined in the last year. That means that over

:10:02. > :10:06.the time of this Parliament, I'm not going to suggest that all members of

:10:07. > :10:10.trade unions will have needed to opt into the political fund, but a very

:10:11. > :10:15.substantial proportion will have. The argument that was made, and this

:10:16. > :10:22.was not a point made... I'm afraid he is also not correct to say this

:10:23. > :10:26.was an amendment made by Labour. It was made by the honourable member,

:10:27. > :10:32.Lord Burns, someone that I know he has great respect of, who is

:10:33. > :10:35.fiercely independent, and that flowed out of a committee in which

:10:36. > :10:41.there was some this representation of all parties. The amendment was

:10:42. > :10:45.very clearly inspired by Lord Burns when he said that it was not

:10:46. > :10:50.reasonable to ask people who have signed up to an arrangement in good

:10:51. > :10:55.faith to then have to you sign up again through a different process

:10:56. > :10:59.simply because we have changed the law later. I did not agree with that

:11:00. > :11:03.argument and nor did we in this House, but as is often the case,

:11:04. > :11:08.when the House of Lords feels very, very strongly on an issue, there is

:11:09. > :11:14.a very large majority against the Government's position. When an

:11:15. > :11:18.independent member of the House of Lords has moved an amendment which

:11:19. > :11:22.has secured support not just from the official opposition, not just

:11:23. > :11:26.from the Liberal Democrats, but from a huge number of crossbenchers and

:11:27. > :11:31.not just from crossbenchers, but from some very significant members

:11:32. > :11:34.of our own party, and I would simply urge him to look at the people who

:11:35. > :11:41.both spoke in the debate and voted or assertively chose not to vote in

:11:42. > :11:46.support of the garment's position. They include not just the noble lord

:11:47. > :11:53.Cormack and the noble lord boughs, they also include the noble Lord

:11:54. > :11:56.Forsyth, who supports the same campaign in the European Union that

:11:57. > :12:01.he supported and who both privately and publicly said that he thought it

:12:02. > :12:03.was a profound error for us to pursue a compulsory opt in for all

:12:04. > :12:16.existing members. Finally, Mr Speak, my honourable

:12:17. > :12:20.friend suggested that it is inappropriate, of course, for

:12:21. > :12:26.Government to do anything for private interests, in terms of

:12:27. > :12:29.making changes to legislation, further private interests. Of

:12:30. > :12:35.course, he is right. It is not right and not neven the passion of the

:12:36. > :12:39.moment is it fair to categorise the Government's support, the official

:12:40. > :12:45.policy of Her Majesty's Government. We support the proposition that the

:12:46. > :12:49.United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union. He

:12:50. > :12:53.disagrees, but it is not a private interest, it is Government policy.

:12:54. > :13:02.Thank you very much, Mr Speaker and it is very good to have this further

:13:03. > :13:05.opportunity to reemphasise our implacable opposition to the trade

:13:06. > :13:10.union bill it is entirely unnecessary. It is bad for workers

:13:11. > :13:17.and it is also bad for businesses. And, as the minister said, the Lord

:13:18. > :13:21.set up a cross-party committee, to look at the trade union and party

:13:22. > :13:27.political funding and that committee came up with a series of Salisbury

:13:28. > :13:31.convention compliance recommendations, which were voted

:13:32. > :13:37.for by a majority of peers from parties. I wonder if the minister

:13:38. > :13:42.can confirm he met with Lord Burns, who made clear the strength of

:13:43. > :13:47.clearing on the other matter. Can he confirm that he has received

:13:48. > :13:51.overwhelming reputations from all quarters, including the trade

:13:52. > :13:55.unions, which by the way, is hardly surprising, give this is the trade

:13:56. > :13:59.union bill that he should receive reputations from the unions. Is it

:14:00. > :14:04.not the case that all these various reputations made clear that the

:14:05. > :14:08.proposals on political funding were unworkable and breached the long

:14:09. > :14:11.established convention that major changes to the funding a political

:14:12. > :14:17.party should only happen by agreement. Now, it would appear, at

:14:18. > :14:22.least partially, that the minister listened. Well done. But he should

:14:23. > :14:26.have listened earlier and he #23450eds to keep listening, actual

:14:27. > :14:31.limit can I ask him now to have a few more meetings with trade unions,

:14:32. > :14:35.who have made entourly reasonable proposals on E balloting and

:14:36. > :14:41.facility time which remain in the bill. There is still time for him to

:14:42. > :14:44.think again. Mr Speaker, I can confirm what the

:14:45. > :14:50.honourable gentleman has said, which is earlier this week that I did hold

:14:51. > :14:54.a meeting, at my request, with the noble Lord Burn, in which I

:14:55. > :15:00.discussed with him an amendment we put down and we were intending to

:15:01. > :15:05.move to this bill. That amendment was one which would still have

:15:06. > :15:09.aapplied the compulsory option to existing members of trade unions,

:15:10. > :15:14.but would have built in a longer period of transition for trade

:15:15. > :15:21.unions to implement this and would have changed the agraments for

:15:22. > :15:25.renewal of their opt-in to align wit the political ballots that need to

:15:26. > :15:30.take place every ten years. I hoped that was a compromise that the noble

:15:31. > :15:34.Lord Burns would feel, if not enthusiastic about, at least able to

:15:35. > :15:40.indicate that he would not actively oppose when the bill went back to

:15:41. > :15:50.the Upper House in the next stage of ping-pong. And the nobble Lord

:15:51. > :15:54.Burns, who is a man I have huge admiration and liking, was very,

:15:55. > :15:59.very clear to me that he felt that was not an exception able

:16:00. > :16:05.compromise, that not just would he not support it, he would actively

:16:06. > :16:09.the reinstatement of his amendment. He made clear his judgment was not

:16:10. > :16:13.so much a political one or, and certainly not inspired by questions

:16:14. > :16:16.around the balance of party funding, it was simply based on his

:16:17. > :16:20.experience in the financial services industry, which is where he said

:16:21. > :16:26.that it is very, very unfair to ask people to sign up to new things when

:16:27. > :16:29.they have already expressed an opinion on that very same question

:16:30. > :16:33.by a means which was previously legal. He said that applied in this

:16:34. > :16:38.case and he thought that it was wrong and that he could not support

:16:39. > :16:43.it. We then reflected on Lord Burns'

:16:44. > :16:48.position and moved the amendments that we passed last night. As for

:16:49. > :16:54.the honourable member's comments about the rest of the bill, I just

:16:55. > :17:00.have to be very, very clear with him and with honourable members on his

:17:01. > :17:05.side, this bill is going to dramatically improve the state of

:17:06. > :17:12.employment relations and the state of industrial action. At the moment

:17:13. > :17:16.a trade union, like various education trade unions, can hold a

:17:17. > :17:23.strike three years after a ballot has been passed with the turnout of

:17:24. > :17:27.less than 20% of their members and still close over 1,000 colleges.

:17:28. > :17:33.That is currently legal. When the bill, that with the support of my

:17:34. > :17:39.honourable friend, we are passing in this House, and I anticipate the

:17:40. > :17:43.nobble Lords will pass next week, when that achieves royal consent it

:17:44. > :17:47.will not be possible to inflict on hard-working parents the closure of

:17:48. > :17:51.a school in the middle of a week on the basis of a tiny turnout that

:17:52. > :17:55.would secure -- that was secured several years ago. That is why I am

:17:56. > :18:00.proud of this bill. That is why I think my honourable friend can be

:18:01. > :18:03.proud of this bill. We have secured our manifesto commitments for all

:18:04. > :18:08.working people. The THE SPEAKER: The minister has been

:18:09. > :18:13.diverted from the path of procedure vert cho as a result of the cheeky

:18:14. > :18:19.enquiries of the opposition front bench. We cannot now have a third

:18:20. > :18:22.reading on the trade union bill and must focus narrowly instead upon the

:18:23. > :18:29.matter of the urgent question, which I know will be done faithfully by

:18:30. > :18:34.Lord Liam Fox. Thank you, Mr Speaker. In making this change in

:18:35. > :18:39.the trade union bill and following on from our abavendment of our

:18:40. > :18:43.manifesto commitments on immigration by not rethe goshiating freedom of

:18:44. > :18:48.movement, can he tell us of the commitments he referred, which must

:18:49. > :18:54.not be abandoned in terms of trying to seek a vote. Mr Speaker, your

:18:55. > :19:00.cautionary tone is ringing in my ears. So, I will answer my Right

:19:01. > :19:04.Honourable friend's question by narrowly focussing on the measures

:19:05. > :19:09.in this bill, which demonstrate, I believe, as I said at the start of

:19:10. > :19:13.my statement, that we had genuinely secured everything that was in our

:19:14. > :19:18.manifesto. It is a point that came up in my discussion with Lord Burns

:19:19. > :19:23.who knows a thing or two about legislative drafting. He said he was

:19:24. > :19:30.confident having read and re-read the resis words in our manifesto

:19:31. > :19:35.about the transparent opt-in for the political fund. He was very, very

:19:36. > :19:40.clear that the amendment that he moved and it was passed in the upper

:19:41. > :19:47.place fulfilled that manifesto commitment in full. Not only that,

:19:48. > :19:54.that the further introduction of opt-in to apply to existing members

:19:55. > :19:58.was not given cover by the Salisbury convention and he would made it

:19:59. > :20:02.plain in the Upper House if we were to try and restore that position. I

:20:03. > :20:06.mean no commitment of those who wrote our manifesto because it is a

:20:07. > :20:13.wonderful document which will live through the ages. Their wording was

:20:14. > :20:17.not so precisely established as to ekoo our that additional application

:20:18. > :20:24.of the opt-in to existing members of trade unions. Thank you, Mr Speaker

:20:25. > :20:28.and we want to reiterate on these benches our complete opposition to

:20:29. > :20:33.the trade union bill. Can the minister confirm that it would be

:20:34. > :20:37.strange for a piece of legislation that affects six million workers for

:20:38. > :20:41.a Government not to consult with bodies that represent those six

:20:42. > :20:47.million workers? Can he also confirm that the Government were considering

:20:48. > :20:52.concessions as far as as the 26th January, when a memorandum in his

:20:53. > :20:57.name was leaked to many media outlets? What onof going discussions

:20:58. > :21:02.is he having with devolved institutions who have a major

:21:03. > :21:08.problem with this bill and the time and further issues? Thank you, Mr

:21:09. > :21:12.Speaker. The honourable gentleman made a valuable contribution to our

:21:13. > :21:18.deliberations at all stages, perhaps especially in committee. He was

:21:19. > :21:23.vocal and incisive in his commitment of almost every measure in the bill.

:21:24. > :21:26.Of course he is right. We don't just hold discussions with institutions

:21:27. > :21:32.in society about whom we are legislating. I think it would be a

:21:33. > :21:36.little unfair if we didn't. We invited them to give evidence to the

:21:37. > :21:40.committee. We had one of the most terrifying sightsvy seen in long

:21:41. > :21:46.time, which is the General Secretary of Unite, the General of GMB and of

:21:47. > :21:49.the TUC, all sitting in a row, giving evidence to that committee.

:21:50. > :21:54.So, of course it was right to do that. He's also right that we

:21:55. > :22:00.consulted with a devolved administration. I have had a number

:22:01. > :22:03.of conversations on phone and in person with ministers in the

:22:04. > :22:07.devolved Governments who have expressed concern about whether all

:22:08. > :22:09.the provisions in the bill should properly apply to them, although we

:22:10. > :22:14.are confident that all the provisions in the bill relate to

:22:15. > :22:19.observed matters and therefore apply to everyone and every trade union in

:22:20. > :22:23.the United Kingdom. I chaired the trade union bill and committee. If I

:22:24. > :22:27.am not going to comment on the trade union bill, was I can made a

:22:28. > :22:33.constitutional point? There would be concern if, as part of the ping-pong

:22:34. > :22:36.process, any Government, at any time made concessions on a bill, as a

:22:37. > :22:40.result of something which had nothing to do with that bill.

:22:41. > :22:45.My honourable friend is an honourable man and I am sure he can

:22:46. > :22:52.confirm that no Government of which he was a part would ever do that.

:22:53. > :22:57.Mr Speaker, I think I have expressed -- explained clearly what the

:22:58. > :23:03.process was. I speak for myself in simply saying when I met the

:23:04. > :23:06.immovable force of the Lord Burns, I decided that maybe discretion was

:23:07. > :23:10.the better part of valour. That's not to say that Government ministers

:23:11. > :23:14.don't have discussions on all sorts of issues with all sorts of people

:23:15. > :23:23.in society. And it is the Government's policy to

:23:24. > :23:27.support the Remain Remain campaign. The General Secretary of TUC is a

:23:28. > :23:31.member and has been for months and the trade unionsvy have listed have

:23:32. > :23:36.made their positions clear, long before this bill came back to this

:23:37. > :23:41.House or was considered in connection with the opt-in the Upper

:23:42. > :23:46.House. So, I just gently say to my honourable and Right Honourable

:23:47. > :23:55.friends that not every compromise is a conspiracy.

:23:56. > :24:00.THE SPEAKER: Mr Denis Skipper. -- Ski in, ner.

:24:01. > :24:04.Now that the Government are calling to this barmy idea which has been

:24:05. > :24:09.propagated this morning from the right-wing of the Tory Party, now

:24:10. > :24:15.that the Government has seemingly prepared to give way on different

:24:16. > :24:22.subjects, can I ask him, what is the price for dropping this lousy,

:24:23. > :24:27.rotten trade union bill at? -- all together?

:24:28. > :24:31.Mr Speaker, it is the goal of my life to give pleasure to the

:24:32. > :24:38.honourable gentleman. I have to, I am afraid, I have to

:24:39. > :24:42.tell him that there is no price, because we believe in this bill, we

:24:43. > :24:51.believe in our manifesto. And we are well on the way to delivering it.

:24:52. > :24:56.I hope the minister will understand that when we read from a senior

:24:57. > :25:00.political journalist in the Telegraph the following words, "Last

:25:01. > :25:03.night a union source said bosses had always been clear it would be

:25:04. > :25:07.difficult to spend significant amounts on the campaign to keep

:25:08. > :25:11.Britain in the Union, whilst fighting against the trade union

:25:12. > :25:16.bill, but they revealed that unions will now step up their campaigning

:25:17. > :25:20.and funding efforts in light of the concessions." He can well understand

:25:21. > :25:25.why people are asking these questions. Can he confirm right now

:25:26. > :25:29.that this journalist is absolutely wrong? Her sources are incorrect and

:25:30. > :25:34.no such trade took place? Mr Speaker, I am afraid I am going

:25:35. > :25:38.to have to repeat what I have already said, which is there is a

:25:39. > :25:42.natural process towards the end oh of a parliamentary session, where

:25:43. > :25:48.concessions are made on bills in order to secure their timely

:25:49. > :25:52.passage. What trade unions decide to do about their long-standing

:25:53. > :26:02.commitment to back the remain campaign is entirely a matter for

:26:03. > :26:06.them. I think this is a very rare occurrence for the Government to

:26:07. > :26:10.actually listen to the Members of Parliament, both in the Upper House

:26:11. > :26:14.and here. And I welcome that. That is the right thing to do. And it is

:26:15. > :26:20.right that they should meet with trade unions. Of course they should.

:26:21. > :26:27.This legislation is an attack on trade unions and does nothing for

:26:28. > :26:31.employer relations whatsoever. It is a wrecking piece of legislation and

:26:32. > :26:35.any concessions, at all, can only improve this bill and I hope we

:26:36. > :26:41.could see more in the short time left to it.

:26:42. > :26:48.Mr Speaker, the honourable lady is far too kind to me. I didn't want to

:26:49. > :26:54.listen at all. I simply acknowledged that when you have a -- an array of

:26:55. > :26:58.forces which includes most of the crossbench, all of the Liberal

:26:59. > :27:05.Democrat party, all of the Labour Party and some very influential

:27:06. > :27:15.Conservative peers, when you have that, neophytes like me in this game

:27:16. > :27:18.perhaps need to admit defeat. It is true that the noble lord, Lord

:27:19. > :27:28.Cormack, is a very special parliamentarian. As the grandson of

:27:29. > :27:39.a trade union shop steward who went on to become a Conservative trade

:27:40. > :27:43.unionist, I can say that has been opposition on this side of the House

:27:44. > :27:52.and can I thank him for listening to that. The debate can family

:27:53. > :27:58.Conservative manifesto piece to improve situations. I thank my

:27:59. > :28:02.honourable friend and his father, who did not just make it to the

:28:03. > :28:07.Other Place but made it into the Cabinet and was a very significant

:28:08. > :28:12.performer in the area of employment law and industrial relations, so we

:28:13. > :28:17.have much to learn from his work, and he is right about that. I hope

:28:18. > :28:23.it is not breaking a confidence to say that there are other members of

:28:24. > :28:26.this House with whom I've had conversations about the specific

:28:27. > :28:33.provision who were deeply concerned about them and they do include among

:28:34. > :28:38.them, I don't think I should mention their names, they include among them

:28:39. > :28:45.leading supporters of those in the campaign to leave the European

:28:46. > :28:49.Union. Can there be any psychological explanation why so

:28:50. > :28:55.many Tory MPs have such a loathing of trade unions? I do not recognise

:28:56. > :29:04.that loathing and I certainly don't feel it myself. Can I join with my

:29:05. > :29:10.honourable friend from Worcester to say firstly congratulations to the

:29:11. > :29:15.minister in the way that he has handled this bill but also to ask

:29:16. > :29:19.him, again, if it is not the case that he has had conversations with

:29:20. > :29:23.many people on all sides of the House, including this side of the

:29:24. > :29:26.House, both here and in the Other Place about their concerns and that

:29:27. > :29:30.many of those concerns have been addressed without any contributions

:29:31. > :29:37.being made at all to us? I can confirm that and none more important

:29:38. > :29:40.than my honourable friend who had some very serious concerns which he

:29:41. > :29:44.did exactly the right thing, you came to see me privately about them

:29:45. > :29:47.as we were deliberating in this House, he laid an amendment at

:29:48. > :29:51.reports state which he then did not move because I gave him reassurance

:29:52. > :29:57.we would look closely at it as the Bill progressed and while he was not

:29:58. > :30:00.here, I mentioned specifically yesterday that he had been hugely

:30:01. > :30:08.influential in our decision ultimately not to press ahead with

:30:09. > :30:13.the decision to remove the check arrangement from trade unions the

:30:14. > :30:19.public sector. Can I declare an interest as someone who has been in

:30:20. > :30:26.the following level -- for an levy since 1969, and the former head of

:30:27. > :30:31.the trade union. The trade unions are clear. They do not want this

:30:32. > :30:37.bill at all. Even Winston Churchill spoke against what they are trying

:30:38. > :30:43.to do and what ever gossip people are hearing, there is no doubt that

:30:44. > :30:49.the trade unions vote would be Labour Party's remain campaign

:30:50. > :30:54.because they realise that the right-wing reactionaries who would

:30:55. > :31:04.deregulate this nation would be bad for employers -- employees. I think

:31:05. > :31:10.the honourable gentleman's words speak for themselves and they are

:31:11. > :31:13.very helpful. It is a shabby political episode when the

:31:14. > :31:19.Government has been caught violating trade union legislation to sit

:31:20. > :31:24.persuade the trade unions to come on board with a campaign to stay in the

:31:25. > :31:28.European Union. Isn't it now clear that the Government, big business,

:31:29. > :31:32.the BBC and now the trade unions are all hanging up on British people to

:31:33. > :31:40.try to persuade them to stay in the European Union? Mr Speaker, nothing

:31:41. > :31:47.pains me more than to have clearly angered my own furry friend -- by

:31:48. > :31:50.honorary friend because I have extreme liking for him. I always

:31:51. > :31:54.dropped everything to go to his constituency because he is a great

:31:55. > :32:00.man but I do reject what he has said. I think perhaps in this case

:32:01. > :32:04.he is able the bit blinded by his passion for the issue and I would

:32:05. > :32:08.simply point to him that all he needs to do is to look at the front

:32:09. > :32:12.pages and the editorial pages of every single newspaper that is

:32:13. > :32:16.traditionally seen as a Conservative supporting newspaper to see that

:32:17. > :32:23.there is a balance of opinion in this debate. His arguments are being

:32:24. > :32:27.well represented. Given the impact this bill will have on workers

:32:28. > :32:31.rights across the whole of the United Kingdom, can I ask the

:32:32. > :32:36.minister what discussions he had with the devolved administrations

:32:37. > :32:42.since the Lords amendments? I haven't yet had that pleasure but I

:32:43. > :32:46.anticipate it. Thank you Mr Speaker. This is a very simple issue which

:32:47. > :32:51.the Minister could give a straightforward answer to. The

:32:52. > :32:55.allegation is that the trade union bill was watered down for the

:32:56. > :32:59.benefit of the trade unions on the understanding that they would then

:33:00. > :33:03.make a considerable donation to the campaign to stay in the European

:33:04. > :33:08.Union. Can the Minister give us, with the authority of the dispatch

:33:09. > :33:14.box, a clear denial that any such discussion took place and that in no

:33:15. > :33:18.way whatsoever, no discussions with ministers or officials, in no way

:33:19. > :33:22.what any of the watering down of the trade union Bill done with any

:33:23. > :33:26.mention of any funding for the U remain campaign for the trade

:33:27. > :33:33.unions? It is very simple to deny it if it is not true. Mr Speaker, I

:33:34. > :33:37.aspire to be as straightforward as my honourable friend. I have been

:33:38. > :33:39.very clear. We went through a process of negotiation, not just

:33:40. > :33:45.with Shadow ministers but with members of other parties and in the

:33:46. > :33:49.Other House and we have secured a package, which I have to say I do

:33:50. > :33:52.not believe any honourable member on my side of the House would have

:33:53. > :33:57.predicted when we introduced this bill that we would have secured as

:33:58. > :34:00.much of it as swiftly and as easily as we have, because it was probably

:34:01. > :34:08.the most politically controversial bill in our original Queen 's

:34:09. > :34:10.speech. As for decisions by the trade unions to back the campaign

:34:11. > :34:15.for which they have already declared, long before's -- long

:34:16. > :34:19.before yesterday's considerations of the Bill, I think the honourable

:34:20. > :34:23.gentleman spoke very clearly when he said they would support this

:34:24. > :34:27.campaign full heartedly and full throated Lee because they believe it

:34:28. > :34:33.is in the interests of their members to do so. I do not think there is

:34:34. > :34:37.anything so grubby as a deal but if an agreement was reached can I

:34:38. > :34:45.congratulate the opposition Chief Whip on showing how this can be

:34:46. > :34:49.done? Can I ask him to follow the leadership of the trade unions and

:34:50. > :34:55.contact their members to make the case for year up and the terrible

:34:56. > :35:00.threats for growth if we leave a single market of 500 million

:35:01. > :35:08.consumers? Mr Speaker, I'm not sure if you will that I'm likely answer

:35:09. > :35:11.to that question as directly relevant to the question but I will

:35:12. > :35:19.venture until you stop me. I will venture that small companies have

:35:20. > :35:24.beefs about the European Union, so do I, but ultimately they feel it is

:35:25. > :35:28.in our interest to stay will stop I feel all of us should be doing what

:35:29. > :35:32.we can do to encourage people that we represent to see that their

:35:33. > :35:40.interests are best protected by staying in. The person who asked

:35:41. > :35:47.this question speaks passionately on behalf of of his own union which is

:35:48. > :35:53.the general and municipal union of a Brexit bigots. It is extraordinary

:35:54. > :35:58.that he asks for the advisor on ministerial interest to be woken up

:35:59. > :36:02.from his slumber. He has been virtually unemployed since he was

:36:03. > :36:08.appointed when the previous holder of that office resigned, believing

:36:09. > :36:13.that he should have been called in to investigate the conduct of the

:36:14. > :36:21.Member for North Somerset who -- North Somerset who gained absolution

:36:22. > :36:25.by resignation. As the person asking this question, why isn't he asking

:36:26. > :36:29.for an enquiry into the two ministers who gave ?3 million to

:36:30. > :36:34.Kids Company in the face of advice from their civil servants three days

:36:35. > :36:40.before it collapsed? It is because the office of the advisor had been

:36:41. > :36:50.degraded and politicised. Calm down. Calm. For the benefit of yoga -- the

:36:51. > :37:03.benefit of yoga, even for ministers, should not be underestimated. I want

:37:04. > :37:06.to talk about a pause for order. The reason I didn't intervene when a

:37:07. > :37:12.word was used is because I believe it to be a matter of taste. There

:37:13. > :37:17.was no imputation of dishonour. I mean this in no unkind spirit but

:37:18. > :37:26.the honourable member for Harwich and North Essex and other

:37:27. > :37:29.like-minded souls are perfectly capable of looking after themselves

:37:30. > :37:32.and their honour has not been impugned in any way. That is why the

:37:33. > :37:39.remark stands. The Minister must of course reply. Mr Speaker, there are

:37:40. > :37:43.no bigots on this side of the House, least of all my honourable

:37:44. > :37:49.disavowing to disagree with me on this subject. The honourable

:37:50. > :37:54.gentleman does himself absolutely no credit by hurling that kind of

:37:55. > :37:58.Playschool abuse across this chamber. He is a disgrace, the

:37:59. > :38:05.comment was a disgrace and he should withdraw it. The Minister is

:38:06. > :38:14.entitled to his view and I hope the House won't take offence if I say I

:38:15. > :38:24.will judge if a comment should be withdrawn. I think we should leave

:38:25. > :38:28.it there. If I were to intervene on grounds of order every time a

:38:29. > :38:35.question were not answered nothing else would ever happen in the

:38:36. > :38:49.chamber. I must confess, Mr Speaker, I must find myself amused by this

:38:50. > :38:53.question of urgency. I am restating yet again my absolute opposition to

:38:54. > :38:57.this bill. Can the Minister confirm that trade unions remain a part of

:38:58. > :38:59.civil society and they have an absolute right to make

:39:00. > :39:03.representations on the half of them and the two Government irrespective

:39:04. > :39:08.of what right-wing members of his own backbenchers might wish? Of

:39:09. > :39:11.course I can confirm that but I have to say to the honourable gentleman

:39:12. > :39:16.that frankly the position governing strike action the position governing

:39:17. > :39:20.the proper regulation of trade union activities with regards to finances

:39:21. > :39:24.and membership, the position regarding picketing and intimidation

:39:25. > :39:29.of non-striking workers, all of those were frankly not acceptable

:39:30. > :39:35.until this bill was introduced to this House and remain not acceptable

:39:36. > :39:39.until this bill has secured Royal assent. Of course I accept that

:39:40. > :39:43.trade unions have an important role in society but they needed this

:39:44. > :39:47.reform, they will benefit from this reform and I want to put on my

:39:48. > :39:51.record -- on record my gratitude to all members on my side, not least

:39:52. > :39:57.the honourable member who has made comments on this bill, their support

:39:58. > :40:00.of this bill. As today is International Workers Memorial Day,

:40:01. > :40:06.I think it says that they poignant reminder as to why we need good and

:40:07. > :40:12.strong trade unions in our society. I think it's also right that we have

:40:13. > :40:14.the trade union movement opposed to many of the measures contained

:40:15. > :40:20.within this bill which is an attack on how they operate on behalf of

:40:21. > :40:26.their members. In terms of the substantive point of the urgent

:40:27. > :40:31.question today, of course the trade union Bill is not yet legislation.

:40:32. > :40:34.It hasn't been connected, so surely -- it hasn't been an active, so

:40:35. > :40:42.surely the fact that the Labour affiliated trade union has decided

:40:43. > :40:46.to donate some of its money, it's Labour affiliated political fund, to

:40:47. > :40:55.a Labour supported campaign is perfectly within the law? Mr

:40:56. > :40:58.Speaker, he is correct. I am extremely grateful to the Minister

:40:59. > :41:03.and all colleagues. We come now to the business question.

:41:04. > :41:12.Points of order have really come after statements, I would prefer...

:41:13. > :41:18.The honourable gentleman has had a good run. He should be patient. Aam

:41:19. > :41:23.sure his point of -- I am sure his point of order can be heard later.

:41:24. > :41:27.Mr Speaker, will the lead ore of the House give us the forthcoming

:41:28. > :41:36.business? So, Mr Speaker, on Monday 2nd May

:41:37. > :41:42.the House is not sitting. It is the Mayday bank hole dasmt Tuesday 3rd

:41:43. > :41:48.we will sit Monday hours, not Tuesday hours, when we will debate a

:41:49. > :41:52.motion to approve a ways and means resolution to the Housing Bill,

:41:53. > :41:58.followed by considerations and amendments of the planning bill. On

:41:59. > :42:03.the 4th May, an Opposition Day Debate. That will be followed by a

:42:04. > :42:08.motion relating to education funding in London. A subject determined by

:42:09. > :42:16.the backbench committee. Thursday 5th, there'll be a debate on

:42:17. > :42:20.contributions of faith sector to local communities. Friday 6th May,

:42:21. > :42:23.the House is not sitting. The provisional business for the

:42:24. > :42:27.following week, commencing Monday 9th May, will include on the Monday

:42:28. > :42:31.a debate on the motion of Government departments outside London and the

:42:32. > :42:34.subject of this debate determined by the Backbench Business Committee,

:42:35. > :42:40.followed by consideration of Lords' amendments. I should like to inform

:42:41. > :42:46.the House that the business in Westminster Hall will be a debate on

:42:47. > :42:53.an e-petition relating to the Government's referendum leaflet. Mr

:42:54. > :42:57.Speaker, Ed Balls, do we actually, Mr Speaker, have a Government at

:42:58. > :43:01.all? They are all over the place. We all thought the referendum was a

:43:02. > :43:06.simple question of EU in or out? This week it got much more

:43:07. > :43:11.complicated as we learnt it is all about the ECHR in or out as well. So

:43:12. > :43:16.the Home Secretary is an in-out, but the hostage-taker is an out-in and

:43:17. > :43:20.the Chancellor is an in-in, along with the Attorney General and the

:43:21. > :43:32.Solicitor-General, but the lead ore the House is an out-out. As for me,

:43:33. > :43:41.I am out for in. Mr Speaker, the Health Secretary tells us he's in

:43:42. > :43:45.his last big job in politics. I hear with an impending reshuffle several

:43:46. > :43:49.ministers have been scouring the job market. I heard rumours of

:43:50. > :43:56.Government postings to overseas territories being planned.

:43:57. > :44:03.Boris is off to cultivate his that polyian complex and for the Health

:44:04. > :44:07.Secretary there is the island known as "inaccessible island" which is

:44:08. > :44:19.probably where the junior doctors want to send him anyway. 33-1 to be

:44:20. > :44:28.the next chancellor of the Exchequer. On this day in 1789

:44:29. > :44:34.Fletcher Citian mutinied on the bounty. He ended up on an island

:44:35. > :44:41.9,000 miles away from here. I can imagine the leader of the House as

:44:42. > :44:45.the governor of Pitcane, dressed in his white socks and sandals, Lording

:44:46. > :44:49.it over the inhabitants, all 56 of them. If he wants I can put in a

:44:50. > :44:54.word with the Prime Minister for him because the Prime Minister is trying

:44:55. > :44:58.to advance my career, I see. Can we, Mr Speaker, have a debate on

:44:59. > :45:04.irresponsible politics? I suspect the leader may never have heard of

:45:05. > :45:13.Avon Jones, but he tweeted, I think we should have a protest where

:45:14. > :45:21.thousands of us have send e-mails with the words bomb, Iran... He may

:45:22. > :45:25.be a crank but he's the Plaid Cymru condedate for Police and Crime

:45:26. > :45:29.Commissioner in North Wales. Can we have a statement from the Home

:45:30. > :45:34.Secretary on the worrying break down of the E border systems on 13th and

:45:35. > :45:40.14th June last year? We need to know, have there been other break

:45:41. > :45:44.downs? Were full index warnings checked? Why did the Home Secretary

:45:45. > :45:47.cover this up for so long? The leader of the House says we should

:45:48. > :45:53.leave the EU so we can control our borders. Surely the lesson is the

:45:54. > :45:59.greatest threat to our border is frankly Tory income I pi tense. The

:46:00. > :46:03.leader said we should -- incompetence. As I walked into

:46:04. > :46:07.Parliament this morning the police were moving two homeless people on

:46:08. > :46:11.who had been sleeping on the doorstep of this parliamentary

:46:12. > :46:15.palace for the last week. Under the Tories, rough sleeping has doubled

:46:16. > :46:19.and funding for those who are sleeping rough has halved. Now, we

:46:20. > :46:25.believe this bill will make the housing crisis in London even worse.

:46:26. > :46:30.Will this Government, at least ensure for heavens sake that for

:46:31. > :46:36.every single social housing unit sold off another is built in its

:46:37. > :46:42.place? Mr Speaker, on 29th November, 2012, the Prime Minister said of the

:46:43. > :46:44.Leveson Inquiry there would be a second part to investigate

:46:45. > :46:48.wrongdoing in the press and the police. I listened to the Home

:46:49. > :46:52.Secretary very carefully yesterday. She made an excellent statement. She

:46:53. > :46:57.said we have always said a decision on lef son will be made when all the

:46:58. > :47:01.investigations have been completed. That is not right, Mr Speaker. Up

:47:02. > :47:08.until now the Government position, the Prime Minister's position has

:47:09. > :47:12.always been that Leveson will start, but should start as soon as the

:47:13. > :47:17.police and prosecuting authorities have finished their work. Surely one

:47:18. > :47:20.of the many lessons we must learn from Hillsborough is when the

:47:21. > :47:24.relationship between the police and the press gets too close it corrupts

:47:25. > :47:31.them both. After all, some have argued that the law of liable means

:47:32. > :47:34.there's no need nor a strong press regulator, but the 96 whose

:47:35. > :47:43.reputation was dragged through the mud by the police, by the Sun and

:47:44. > :47:50.the Spectator, couldn't sue for libel, could they? As passover ends

:47:51. > :47:56.on Saturday, let me say again, as clearly as I can, anti-Semitism is

:47:57. > :48:01.wrong, full stop, end of story. I am sick and tired of people trying to

:48:02. > :48:05.explain it away and yes, I talking to you Ken Livingstone. Of course

:48:06. > :48:10.the illegal settlements are wrong and the Palestinians deserve a

:48:11. > :48:14.better deal. Rocket attacks are wrong and Hamas and Hezbollah must

:48:15. > :48:20.acknowledge the right of Is hail to exist. I was taught -- of Israel to

:48:21. > :48:26.exist. I was taught not to judge people by the colour of their skin,

:48:27. > :48:31.their gender but their character. I also say it is no better when a

:48:32. > :48:38.senior politician looks at the President of the United States and

:48:39. > :48:43.only sees the colour of his skin and his part Kenyan ancestry, or when

:48:44. > :48:46.the Tory candidate for Mayor of London runs a racially-charged

:48:47. > :48:53.campaign against his Labour opponent. It is irresponsible. I off

:48:54. > :49:01.fendss the decency -- it off fends the decency of the British people. I

:49:02. > :49:08.say racism and racial peg disare not welcome in our political parties.

:49:09. > :49:20.I will come back and I share most of the sentiments just raised let me

:49:21. > :49:26.start by wishing you and the Shadow Minister a happyEd Balls day. I

:49:27. > :49:30.never thought they would miss him as much as they would. He didn't talk

:49:31. > :49:33.about all over the place policies. That is what the Labour Party's

:49:34. > :49:37.position is on this. They don't want prisoners to have the vote. They

:49:38. > :49:41.don't want to change our human rights laws. They ought to be smrt

:49:42. > :49:48.enough to know those two position -- smart enough to know those two

:49:49. > :49:54.positions are income pat tibl. He raised the subject of big jobs in

:49:55. > :49:58.Government. We will remind the gentleman opposite, he does not see

:49:59. > :50:02.his job as the last in Government, as the Prime Minister reminded him

:50:03. > :50:07.yesterday. He talked about jobs for the future. I suspect the odds on

:50:08. > :50:13.him becoming the speaker of this House are longer than the odds of me

:50:14. > :50:18.becoming the manager of Liverpool Football Club. On that subject, can

:50:19. > :50:23.I say a couple of things? I served when we were in opposition as shadow

:50:24. > :50:28.member for Liverpool. I have enormous regard for that city, its

:50:29. > :50:32.people and resilience. I would pay a tribute to all of the Hillsborough

:50:33. > :50:36.families and all the people in Liverpool who supported them through

:50:37. > :50:41.their long years of struggle. They, this week, achieved justice. I would

:50:42. > :50:48.like to pay a trib boo to the member for Lee, who I thought was -- a trib

:50:49. > :50:54.boo to the member for Lee, he deserves credit for what he's done.

:50:55. > :50:58.The honourable gentleman talked about LevesonII. We will not move

:50:59. > :51:01.forward until the cases are complete. That is the right thing to

:51:02. > :51:06.do. We will continue to stick to that position.

:51:07. > :51:11.He made the point about Mr Jones - yes I know who he is. The views he

:51:12. > :51:16.expressed are objectionable. It is my hope in that part of North Wales

:51:17. > :51:22.he is not elected as police and crimes commissioner. On the borders

:51:23. > :51:26.issue I would remind him when Labour were in power the e-Borders

:51:27. > :51:29.programme was supported to arrive and be put into effect. It didn't

:51:30. > :51:33.happen because they failed to deliver the programme. When they

:51:34. > :51:38.talk to us about what we have done in Government, they were in power

:51:39. > :51:42.for 13 years. They started by dismantling our exit check borders

:51:43. > :51:51.and they failed to put in place an alternative. Mr Speaker, he talked

:51:52. > :51:56.about homelessness. Let me remind him of his party's record. They

:51:57. > :52:03.built fewer council Houses than we did in office. Let me talk about

:52:04. > :52:07.anti-Semitism. He has been a voice of reason and common sense. He

:52:08. > :52:14.deserves credit for that. I wish all his colleagues saw things the same

:52:15. > :52:20.way. He is right to talk about Ken Livingstone. His matters suggest

:52:21. > :52:24.they were not anti-accept mettic, they were disgraceful. I do not

:52:25. > :52:26.understand as many Labour MPs do not understand how Ken Livingstone is

:52:27. > :52:29.still today a member of the Labour Party. He should be suspended from

:52:30. > :52:35.the Labour Party for the things that he said.

:52:36. > :52:41.But I also think there's some any evety on those benches, a member

:52:42. > :52:46.said on the Today Programme she regarded the events as trial via

:52:47. > :52:49.Twitter. She clearly does not fully

:52:50. > :52:54.understand the gravity of the situation. Mr Speaker, despite the

:52:55. > :53:00.wise words of the shadow leader, and I disagree what he said about my

:53:01. > :53:04.honourable friend for Uxbridge, he nonetheless makes a powerful point.

:53:05. > :53:09.He is a beacon of sense in this party. Where is the sense on the

:53:10. > :53:15.rest of his benches of what is a deeply, deeply serious matter?

:53:16. > :53:22.A number of my constituents have been the victims of who appears to

:53:23. > :53:26.be a financial scam. The police have referred them to action fraud. The

:53:27. > :53:30.contact they have had with Action Fraud is minimal. And they are very

:53:31. > :53:35.dissatisfied. Could the leader arrange for a debate on the work of

:53:36. > :53:39.Action Fraud? Well, Mr Speaker, my honourable

:53:40. > :53:43.friend makes an important point. We are aware across our society of a

:53:44. > :53:47.range of different scams. Often it is vulnerable people in our society

:53:48. > :53:51.who are the victims. I pay tribute to him for raiding this issue. I

:53:52. > :53:54.would say the Secretary of State and the business department will be here

:53:55. > :53:58.next week. I hope he will take advantage to make sure it is on his

:53:59. > :54:02.radar as well. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Can

:54:03. > :54:09.I thank you for the business for next week. Forget aboutEd Balls --

:54:10. > :54:13.about Ed Balls, but we remember all those killed in the workplace.

:54:14. > :54:17.Remember the dead and fight for the living has been considered. The

:54:18. > :54:21.trade union bill, that is very apt words for the business we are

:54:22. > :54:27.considering. Will the Government just now not do it? Will it now do

:54:28. > :54:37.the right thing when it comes to accepting uncompanied child refugees

:54:38. > :54:40.in number of camps. Even the Daily Mail are calling for the Government

:54:41. > :54:45.to accept these children. For the Daily Mail to say this, surely the

:54:46. > :54:48.time has come for this, even this, the most callous of Governments to

:54:49. > :54:52.reconsider its position and do the right thing? It has its chance, it

:54:53. > :54:56.looks like on May 9th the amendment will come back to this House again.

:54:57. > :55:00.Will the Government look at this positively and for the sake of this

:55:01. > :55:03.country, for all the people, even the right-wing press, will it do the

:55:04. > :55:11.right thing for these children? When I was growing up in Scotland, and we

:55:12. > :55:15.sometimes got an announcement which would preview the programmes, it was

:55:16. > :55:20.not for viewers in Scotland. I was sort of thing maybe we could

:55:21. > :55:25.resurrect this and apply it to Prime Minister's Questions. For most of

:55:26. > :55:29.the last two sessions it has been about English schools, not for

:55:30. > :55:33.viewers in Scotland or most other parts of the UK. The leader of the

:55:34. > :55:40.opposition can raise whateverish shoo shoe he wants. It is up to him

:55:41. > :55:44.-- whatever issue he wants. The time has testimony coreview Prime

:55:45. > :55:48.Minister's Questions to make it -- the time has come for a review of

:55:49. > :55:52.Prime Minister's Questions. Maybe the Leader of the House could

:55:53. > :55:57.support that call, Mr Speaker. Can we have a debate on the Government's

:55:58. > :56:01.commitments on the spending on the Clyde shipyards? I remember only too

:56:02. > :56:05.well during the independence referendum and some of the things

:56:06. > :56:09.which were said and I remember a leaflet that went around, which was

:56:10. > :56:14.designed by the Labour and the Tory alliance and a bit together, it was

:56:15. > :56:19.separation kills shipyards. It is what they said. It was a neat

:56:20. > :56:23.slogan. It was all with the union and doom and gloom for secured

:56:24. > :56:27.independence. We know that for the nonsense it is. It is not

:56:28. > :56:33.independence that is killing shipyards, it is the union who is

:56:34. > :56:38.killing it slowly and painfully by administering these yards and

:56:39. > :56:42.delaying the start of works T Scottish people feel duped. Can we

:56:43. > :56:47.have a debate where the Government can explain what is going and an and

:56:48. > :56:52.ensure we get this work started on time. Lastly, I am sure the House,

:56:53. > :56:57.as leader of the House, has full access to the Prime Minister's

:56:58. > :57:00.diary. Can he explain why there's no visit to Scotland from the Prime

:57:01. > :57:05.Minister in advance of a Scottish election? It is probably the last

:57:06. > :57:11.person that Ruth David son would like to see if she has division and

:57:12. > :57:16.beating Labour into third place in Scotland. We would love to see him.

:57:17. > :57:21.Every time he appears it is an extra 2% for the Scottish National Party.

:57:22. > :57:25.Can he encourage the Prime Minister, even his good self to come to

:57:26. > :57:28.Scotland. The more Tories in Scotland the better for the Scottish

:57:29. > :57:34.National Party. Mr Speaker, as the Honourable

:57:35. > :57:39.Speaker knows I have great regard for him as a parliamentary colleague

:57:40. > :57:43.but I do think sometimes his rhetoric lets him down. The idea

:57:44. > :57:46.when he describes this as the most callous of Government, we are

:57:47. > :57:52.providing the second largest amount of aid to all the refugee camps

:57:53. > :57:55.around Syria, doing as much as any nation in the world by the United

:57:56. > :57:59.States to try to help the people affected. We are taking 20,000

:58:00. > :58:03.people not from other European countries but from the refugee camps

:58:04. > :58:06.where they are the most vulnerable. And when he talks about

:58:07. > :58:10.unaccompanied children, we are talking unaccompanied children not

:58:11. > :58:14.from other EU countries where they are safe, but from the camps where

:58:15. > :58:18.they are safe. Surely that is the sensible, wise on the thoughtful and

:58:19. > :58:23.considerate thing to do? It is not saying no, we won't assist. It is

:58:24. > :58:27.providing assistance to those not able to make it to Europe and that

:58:28. > :58:30.is a policy with resolutely stand-by. He talks about by

:58:31. > :58:35.ministers questions and the discussion about education. I would

:58:36. > :58:38.simply remind him that is the consequence of devolution. This is a

:58:39. > :58:42.United Kingdom Parliament but it is true that in his constituency,

:58:43. > :58:46.education matters are not a matter for him but for the Scottish

:58:47. > :58:50.parliament. That is something we have debated over time, but the

:58:51. > :58:55.reality is that it is a consequence of the Doully volution championship

:58:56. > :59:04.-- devolution that he has championed over time. He talks about shipping.

:59:05. > :59:09.He wants a debate and a chance to vote, he will soon have a chance to

:59:10. > :59:15.vote on removing from Scotland one of the biggest defence facilities in

:59:16. > :59:22.the United Kingdom, very moving jobs, and removing part of the

:59:23. > :59:27.nation's defences and when he can explain his thought on that with

:59:28. > :59:31.regards to Scotland, I will take him seriously. He talks about

:59:32. > :59:35.conservatives in Scotland and I have been to Scotland since the start of

:59:36. > :59:38.the election campaign and I am delighted to see the Conservatives

:59:39. > :59:41.moving up in the polls, though I am sure there is no connection between

:59:42. > :59:46.the two, and all of us on the side of the House believes we have the

:59:47. > :59:49.best leader in Scotland and we believe she will play a crucial part

:59:50. > :59:53.in its affairs over the coming years as people come to realise that the

:59:54. > :00:00.SNP Government in Edinburgh may make a lot of noise, but it's actually

:00:01. > :00:04.incapable of getting the job done. On the 12th of May, the Prime

:00:05. > :00:08.Minister is hosting an anti-corruption Summit in London

:00:09. > :00:13.which has never happened before and I think it will have far reaching

:00:14. > :00:16.impact. Can we have a debate conferred -- concerning the British

:00:17. > :00:24.Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies on a process for

:00:25. > :00:27.benefit information. This is a subject to be debated in Westminster

:00:28. > :00:30.Hall shortly but by honourable friend is absolutely right about the

:00:31. > :00:34.role this Government has played in the last six years, bursting

:00:35. > :00:39.coalition and then on our own. We have delivered -- inevitable change

:00:40. > :00:47.than any previous Government and we should be proud of that. I thank the

:00:48. > :00:51.leader for the announcement of the business and with this afternoon's

:00:52. > :00:58.business which is nominated by the backbench business committed and the

:00:59. > :01:03.half day and day next week that he has announced, we are inching ever

:01:04. > :01:07.closer to the 27 days which the backbench business committee are

:01:08. > :01:12.entitled to within the parliamentary session and I do thank the Leader of

:01:13. > :01:16.the House for that. As has been mentioned, today is Workers Memorial

:01:17. > :01:22.Day and it is a day that is commemorated by the TUC and trades

:01:23. > :01:28.councils all around the country and in my own constituency there will be

:01:29. > :01:35.a memorial service at noon today. We say, remember the date -- the dead,

:01:36. > :01:40.remember the living. It is for those who die within their workplace. I

:01:41. > :01:46.wonder if the leader would consider recognising Workers Memorial Day in

:01:47. > :01:50.the future Parliamentary calendar? Well, Mr Speaker, can I say first of

:01:51. > :01:53.all on the subject of Workers Memorial Day that this country is a

:01:54. > :01:59.better place than it was in the past? He is right, representing an

:02:00. > :02:04.area where there have been great industrial accidents in the past, to

:02:05. > :02:08.recognise the progress made but also to recognise those who died before

:02:09. > :02:12.that progress was made. None of us would want to go back to those days

:02:13. > :02:16.and even though we often debate the complexity of health and safety, I

:02:17. > :02:22.put on record that in my view it is in no way in the interest of anyone

:02:23. > :02:25.in this country to have an environment where people are at risk

:02:26. > :02:30.in the workplace. When industrial accidents happen, as tragically

:02:31. > :02:34.happened at Didcot power station recently, we all regret it and I pay

:02:35. > :02:38.tribute to him and all sides of the House for the work they do to mark

:02:39. > :02:45.this occasion and that has never go back to a time when these things

:02:46. > :02:50.were commonplace in our country. With regards to the Parliamentary

:02:51. > :02:54.character, I am sure he will find an opportunity to recognise this

:02:55. > :02:58.important day but also to ensure that in coming years, the same

:02:59. > :03:05.opportunity is there for members of the House. -- the Parliamentary

:03:06. > :03:09.calendar. Macy, a nine-year-old girl in my constituency is not well at

:03:10. > :03:14.the moment. I think she was taken into hospital again last night. To

:03:15. > :03:18.make her completely better, she's going to have to go to the United

:03:19. > :03:21.States and the NHS are providing for that. But there was a problem

:03:22. > :03:24.because she couldn't get her passport. She doesn't have a

:03:25. > :03:28.passport and her mother doesn't have a passport and it would have taken

:03:29. > :03:34.up to six weeks for this to have occurred. Thanks to the intervention

:03:35. > :03:40.by my friend, the honourable member for Northampton North, and a

:03:41. > :03:44.personal intervention of the Home Secretary, the passports are now

:03:45. > :03:51.going to be sorted out tomorrow. Macy asked if I could thank the

:03:52. > :03:55.House for that and in particular the Home Secretary. So perhaps we could

:03:56. > :03:58.have a general debate sometime in the future about how the Government

:03:59. > :04:04.can, at times, work together for common sense? Mr Speaker, I think my

:04:05. > :04:10.honourable friend's words say at all. We wish her all the very best

:04:11. > :04:14.for her treatment and her recovery. It is nice to see. Very often the

:04:15. > :04:18.image of this place is one of political debate and confrontation,

:04:19. > :04:23.but actually behind the scenes there are decent people on all sides of

:04:24. > :04:25.this House, of whom he is one, working under half of their

:04:26. > :04:28.constituents, trying to solve problems like this one where all of

:04:29. > :04:34.us would want the right thing to be done. Mr Speaker, the Leader of the

:04:35. > :04:38.House will know that Calvin Thomas is retiring today after 26 years

:04:39. > :04:41.great service to the House, including six teen years as a

:04:42. > :04:45.doorkeeper and in the special gallery since 2009. I know Calvin

:04:46. > :04:49.well personally because we have sometimes been confused with each

:04:50. > :04:55.other due to our similar if different names. He has been

:04:56. > :05:02.consistently charming in carrying out his duties as a valued member of

:05:03. > :05:05.our staff, so may I raise the banks of all the members of the staff and

:05:06. > :05:10.wish him a happy retirement on our behalf? The honourable gentleman has

:05:11. > :05:15.had said it eloquently on behalf of all of us and I would echo his

:05:16. > :05:18.words, not only to which Calvin a very happy retirement but also to

:05:19. > :05:22.express thanks to our doorkeepers who are great servants to this

:05:23. > :05:26.House, treating us all with great courtesy and good humour, performing

:05:27. > :05:33.valuable work for us and we value what they do enormously. As my right

:05:34. > :05:37.honourable friend may know, the UK sepsis trust has been working for

:05:38. > :05:43.some time with the Secretary of State for Health to try to establish

:05:44. > :05:49.a public awareness campaign. This. Sepsis currently claims around

:05:50. > :05:52.44,000 lives in the UK a year and the symptoms of the disease are

:05:53. > :05:59.still not well recognised. Do you think we could have a debate on what

:06:00. > :06:01.could be done to introduce a sepsis specific awareness campaign for both

:06:02. > :06:06.children and adults because I believe it would save the lives of

:06:07. > :06:11.thousands of people every year? Mr Speaker, can I start by

:06:12. > :06:14.congratulating my honourable friend on the work she is doing in this

:06:15. > :06:17.important area and say I am aware that the Secretary of State is

:06:18. > :06:22.taking this issue enormously seriously. He has had meetings about

:06:23. > :06:26.the kind of work she is talking about and I am sure he will wish to

:06:27. > :06:31.take that forward. It is of course a very serious matter and it is

:06:32. > :06:35.beholden upon us, Mr Speaker, as representatives of our constituents

:06:36. > :06:44.as well as members of the Government to deal with challenges like that. I

:06:45. > :06:47.would ask the Leader of the House to condemn the Labour PCC candidate in

:06:48. > :06:50.North Wales for the appallingly callous Twitter comments which can

:06:51. > :06:57.only be interrupted by right thinking candidates as marking

:06:58. > :07:07.Hillsborough families. I tend to this. We'll be Leader of the House

:07:08. > :07:13.presently Business Secretary to make a statement to ensure Port Talbot

:07:14. > :07:19.workers that this Government priorities -- prioritises their

:07:20. > :07:25.future indeed as well is worth? All future decisions will be made on

:07:26. > :07:29.evidence -based research? Mr Speaker, I can ensure the honourable

:07:30. > :07:31.lady that this is a matter the Government takes enormously

:07:32. > :07:34.seriously. The Secretary of State for business will be here next week

:07:35. > :07:37.and I would say to her this is something the Government has taken

:07:38. > :07:41.interest in from the Prime Minister downwards. He has taken a personal

:07:42. > :07:44.interest and none of us want to see Paul Tolbert disappear. We all want

:07:45. > :07:56.to make steel and we will all make sure that it continues. Can we find

:07:57. > :08:00.time for a debate on the conduct of the EU referendum campaign so far?

:08:01. > :08:05.Can this thing in the south-west I have filed local residents

:08:06. > :08:10.absolutely angered by the intervention of the outgoing

:08:11. > :08:18.president and the intervention of national affairs and the ?9 million

:08:19. > :08:21.which has been spent on the leaflet and think the booklet making

:08:22. > :08:25.predictions for 2030 is crazy, when just like weather forecasters they

:08:26. > :08:35.cannot get their projections right for the next day? My honourable

:08:36. > :08:39.friend is a vigorous campaigner on these issues and he will be able to

:08:40. > :08:48.take part in a debate on the 9th of May. The interesting thing is, will

:08:49. > :08:56.be factors he has described have an impact on the poll he is describing?

:08:57. > :08:58.We have heard from the Shadow Leader of the House this morning that a

:08:59. > :09:03.British Airways computer system despite -- designed to stop the

:09:04. > :09:09.movement of terrorists crashed for 48 hours last year. I have also

:09:10. > :09:12.learned that an outsourcing programme at BA threatens 800

:09:13. > :09:18.skilled workers, skilled workers who are working to protect our country.

:09:19. > :09:21.May we therefore have a debate to discuss the role of outsourcing in

:09:22. > :09:26.this event and to stop BA from threatening our national security to

:09:27. > :09:30.save money? The Government takes our national security enormously

:09:31. > :09:34.importantly and of course, while the failure she talks about to Place,

:09:35. > :09:37.border control checks do and will always remain in place. Passports

:09:38. > :09:41.are checked when people arrive in this country and the new border

:09:42. > :09:45.system is mostly about trying to check people when they leave the

:09:46. > :09:54.country. It is something we hoped would happen many years ago but it

:09:55. > :09:59.never came to pass. Can we have a debate in Government time on the

:10:00. > :10:02.implications for the United Kingdom of the five presidents report on

:10:03. > :10:06.economic monetary union, because as my right honourable friend will be

:10:07. > :10:10.aware, under the guise of single market legislation, the proposals

:10:11. > :10:19.are to take Intel can signal, company law and is property rights,

:10:20. > :10:23.so don't we have a duty to talk about the consequences of remaining

:10:24. > :10:28.in the European Union? The five Presidents report is a major

:10:29. > :10:33.document which sets out the visions of the institution for the next ten

:10:34. > :10:37.years and it has and will provoke a lively debate about the future of

:10:38. > :10:40.this country and the European Union as a whole. If my honourable friend

:10:41. > :10:46.feels it is a matter that should be debated in this House, I would

:10:47. > :10:51.suggest, and I suspect they would be time available, and I would suggest

:10:52. > :10:58.a debate on the subject would attract widespread participation.

:10:59. > :11:01.Last week during prime ministers questions I raised a very serious

:11:02. > :11:07.issue of food banks increasing in the last year alone of 20% and this

:11:08. > :11:14.is precisely due to benefit delays and even more criminally benefit

:11:15. > :11:17.sanctions. One person had been sanctioned for three whole years.

:11:18. > :11:21.The reply I got from the Leader of the House was, this could only

:11:22. > :11:25.happen if three reasonable job offers had been turned down so I

:11:26. > :11:31.want to return to this issue to answer a question. Paul was on ?36 a

:11:32. > :11:36.week. He was on three sanctions you to not filling out his job log but

:11:37. > :11:41.correctly. He turned up ten minutes late due to problems getting a bus

:11:42. > :11:45.and thirdly, he was waiting for an hour at the Jobcentre which he had

:11:46. > :11:49.two expresses dissatisfaction for. Living on ?36 a week for three whole

:11:50. > :11:54.years, I would like them to consider as a matter of urgency a debate on

:11:55. > :11:57.the sanctions on an increasing number of people are having to

:11:58. > :12:03.depend on the Sanctuary -- the charity of others.

:12:04. > :12:09.I suggest the honourable gentleman looks at the circumstances of the

:12:10. > :12:14.case closely because I produced the sanction and it was a judge is for

:12:15. > :12:17.people who are on three separate occasions turned only reasonable job

:12:18. > :12:20.offer, people who refused to work, and it remains my view that people

:12:21. > :12:22.who refuse to work and refuse to work again and again should not be

:12:23. > :12:27.entitled to carry on receiving support from the benefit system.

:12:28. > :12:33.Last week in the excellent news, really welcome news that my

:12:34. > :12:35.honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and safeguard

:12:36. > :12:43.the qualifications and teaching of community language. Gujarati,

:12:44. > :12:51.Bengali, who do, Japanese, Arabic, modern Greek, modern Hebrew,

:12:52. > :12:53.Portuguese and Turkish. That means we have safeguarded the

:12:54. > :12:58.qualifications and the teachings of these vital languages in the modern

:12:59. > :13:03.world so that everyone can communicate. Unfortunately, the

:13:04. > :13:06.Secretary of State was not able at Questions this week to regale the

:13:07. > :13:09.good news and I don't think something like this should be left

:13:10. > :13:13.to wither on the vine so surely we should have a statement on this

:13:14. > :13:19.position so that we can actually make sure that everyone understands

:13:20. > :13:22.that from 2018, these languages are safeguarded our education system. Of

:13:23. > :13:26.course this is enormously important and why we have the benefit of this

:13:27. > :13:30.country and the news we had to an international language and English,

:13:31. > :13:35.it is right and proper that as a cosmopolitan society we champion

:13:36. > :13:38.languages that not only preserve the communities that live here but also

:13:39. > :13:41.open enormous opportunities for Britain around the world saw my

:13:42. > :13:44.honourable friend makes an important point and I have no doubt she will

:13:45. > :13:49.look into the different channels available to him to make sure these

:13:50. > :13:58.matters are debated a lot more in this House. Last week I spoke in the

:13:59. > :14:01.introduction of the national living wage debate to highlight the

:14:02. > :14:06.injustice of the decision to deny the living wage to under 25 is. A

:14:07. > :14:12.young person could start work at 18 and be in a role for seven years

:14:13. > :14:14.before being paid the same as their older and potentially less

:14:15. > :14:20.experienced colleagues. Can we give members the time to write this wrong

:14:21. > :14:27.and extend a living wage to people under 25? It was the policy of this

:14:28. > :14:31.Government and previous Government to differentiate between older and

:14:32. > :14:35.younger workers precisely because when a young worker enters the

:14:36. > :14:39.workplace, the employer is making an investment decision as well as a

:14:40. > :14:49.recruitment decision. The employer takes responsibility for training

:14:50. > :14:52.and developing that worker. Many young people who start on the

:14:53. > :14:56.national living which will live on through success either in their own

:14:57. > :14:59.workplace or moving to another job to move up the pace skill but I

:15:00. > :15:07.think it is important to do everything we can to incentivise

:15:08. > :15:13.employers to take on young people. As we're talking about the dodgy

:15:14. > :15:19.behaviour of PCC candidates, a number of folks standing for

:15:20. > :15:22.election next week are previous coppers who are trading on the

:15:23. > :15:26.record as police officers. Does he agree with me that they should bring

:15:27. > :15:30.forward proposals to make sure that those standing to be PCC makes their

:15:31. > :15:36.police service records available for scrutiny? My honourable friend makes

:15:37. > :15:41.an important point, I am aware of allegations around the Labour PCC

:15:42. > :15:45.candidate in Humberside. It is absolutely the case that if the

:15:46. > :15:49.story alleged is true, he is unfit for public office and it is a matter

:15:50. > :15:55.of public interest that the two should be known before election day.

:15:56. > :16:02.Back in 1847 when Lord John Russell was Prime Minister, our taxi

:16:03. > :16:06.licensing laws were developed. We now have a problem in the North West

:16:07. > :16:11.of England where one particular local authority is handing out

:16:12. > :16:15.Hackney taxi licences like sweeties. The problem we've got is that once

:16:16. > :16:21.you have a hackney license, you can operate as a private hire a anywhere

:16:22. > :16:25.in the country so there are no taxis on this local authority operating as

:16:26. > :16:29.far afield as Bristol without appropriate checks and balances so

:16:30. > :16:34.can we have an urgent debate on how we bring up to date our taxi

:16:35. > :16:39.licensing regime? The honourable gentleman makes a good point and I

:16:40. > :16:43.was not aware of the situation. I will make sure that as John to the

:16:44. > :16:51.attention of the Secretary of State who was also unaware I'm sure I will

:16:52. > :16:53.look at the matter seriously. The Secretary of State for communities

:16:54. > :16:56.and local Government has threatened to introduce legislation which would

:16:57. > :17:02.make it illegal for those in my constituency to charge on Government

:17:03. > :17:10.and organise sporting event which attracts the few hundred people to a

:17:11. > :17:13.small part every weekend. I think it is a tad hypocritical. Could I ask

:17:14. > :17:18.my honourable friend if we can have a debate on the power of local

:17:19. > :17:22.councils the freedom to charge organisers who run sporting events

:17:23. > :17:26.in their parks? I am not aware of the proposal my honourable friend

:17:27. > :17:30.refers to it but I understand his concern and I can see why he would

:17:31. > :17:35.raise this as a matter of importance in the House today. What I would say

:17:36. > :17:38.to him is that I will draw that to the Secretary of State. Clearly we

:17:39. > :17:43.want to encourage local authorities to support and develop and underpin

:17:44. > :17:45.events like this that bring communities together. He makes an

:17:46. > :17:51.important point about his own constituency. I'll make sure we get

:17:52. > :17:57.the proper response for you. This week seen a dispute between the

:17:58. > :18:03.other place in this chamber and instead of leading to accompanied

:18:04. > :18:06.refugee children being allowed in, it will lead to more cronies in the

:18:07. > :18:10.House of Lords. The leader said there is no appetite for proper

:18:11. > :18:13.reform. I would like to ask him to make a statement, asking when is the

:18:14. > :18:18.public appetite for even more cronies and donors in the 800 that

:18:19. > :18:23.exist at present and where does the manifesto commitment to continue

:18:24. > :18:25.stuffing that other place? I do think the honourable gentleman and

:18:26. > :18:31.his colleagues opposite insult many of the very deserving and very

:18:32. > :18:37.effective people operating the other place, people who represent the

:18:38. > :18:39.disability lobby who have serious disabilities themselves, people who

:18:40. > :18:45.represent the arts world who have long track record in the arts,

:18:46. > :18:49.people from the business world. I think the expertise and the other

:18:50. > :18:52.place brings something significant to our parliamentary system even

:18:53. > :19:01.though sometimes the two houses disagree over issues are weak -- as

:19:02. > :19:09.we are currently. Given the delays my constituents have faced in reform

:19:10. > :19:13.payments, could we have a debate on farmers whose land crosses the

:19:14. > :19:15.English and Welsh borders and Scottish and English borderers who

:19:16. > :19:23.always appear to be at the back of the queue? This of course remains an

:19:24. > :19:28.issue. I have spoken to the department about this and it is true

:19:29. > :19:32.across the country that the vast majority of payments have now been

:19:33. > :19:34.made but I hear the point my honourable friend makes an owl make

:19:35. > :19:37.sure the Secretary of State is aware of his concerns and she will be here

:19:38. > :19:44.next week and will be able to respond to him fully. The Leader of

:19:45. > :19:50.the House will be aware of the emerging crisis at the yards on the

:19:51. > :19:53.Clyde tasked with building the type 26 frigate. A late start of the

:19:54. > :19:59.project and uncertainty over the future workflow threatens hundreds

:20:00. > :20:02.of jobs at Govan in Scotstoun. Can we therefore have a debate on

:20:03. > :20:06.Government time to allow members of this House to discuss in depth the

:20:07. > :20:13.future of the Klein ship building industry -- Clyde, and give a voice

:20:14. > :20:18.to those workers and should of the future? The reason the Clyde

:20:19. > :20:22.shipbuilding industry has a strong future is twofold, firstly because

:20:23. > :20:25.they remain part of the United Kingdom and therefore benefit from

:20:26. > :20:28.the United Kingdom's defence spending and the second is because

:20:29. > :20:32.this Government has committed to the 2% spending level is part of our

:20:33. > :20:36.commitment to Nato. If those things were not happening, of course the

:20:37. > :20:40.future would be much more uncertain but I'm convinced that the Clyde

:20:41. > :20:45.shipyards have a strong future. They are an essential part of and we need

:20:46. > :20:52.to make sure they continue to flourish. I have a statement about

:20:53. > :20:54.the treatment of Idaho is about politicians, petitions that

:20:55. > :20:57.attracted large number of signatures. As the leader knows,

:20:58. > :21:01.there's going to be a debate on the 9th of May about the petition to

:21:02. > :21:14.stop the Government spending sums of public money on pro Remain EU

:21:15. > :21:20.referendum. 2072 have so far signed as a few moments ago but that debate

:21:21. > :21:25.will be held in Westminster hall were no vote can be held. Should it

:21:26. > :21:32.not be a possibility for the backbench business committee to hold

:21:33. > :21:35.such debates in the main chamber because otherwise petitioners will

:21:36. > :21:42.be disappointed to find that although their concerns get debated,

:21:43. > :21:46.the House is unable to vote on them? My honourable friend makes an

:21:47. > :21:48.important point and not only on the subject, there are others, I do

:21:49. > :21:54.think I would encourage discourse between the two honourable members

:21:55. > :22:00.who cheer the business and backbench committees to see how well it

:22:01. > :22:03.petition reaches a certain level of public interest that the debate can

:22:04. > :22:08.be brought to the front of the House. Perhaps I can see from the

:22:09. > :22:11.chair, I think that would be a very good thing. I wouldn't dream of

:22:12. > :22:17.taking sides on the issues but in terms of the link dream Parliament

:22:18. > :22:22.and the people, I think it is very important that it be not just

:22:23. > :22:26.tangible but meaningful and a little scope for progress there so I very

:22:27. > :22:33.much appreciate what the Leader of the House has said. On that topic of

:22:34. > :22:38.democracy and having votes, the House divided last week on a motion

:22:39. > :22:42.to ask the UK Government to bring to the UN security council the issue of

:22:43. > :22:51.genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other people. The House 4278

:22:52. > :22:53.votes to zero. What the House do to bring the Government to account to

:22:54. > :22:57.make sure that it respects the democracy of this place and do what

:22:58. > :23:02.it has been asked to do and make sure that we take crimes against the

:23:03. > :23:08.people in these countries to the UN Security Council as major action is

:23:09. > :23:11.taken? The Government's position as one of shock, horror and

:23:12. > :23:16.condemnation about what has taken place, that is an unreserved

:23:17. > :23:18.statement, and I know that my honourable friend the Foreign

:23:19. > :23:22.Secretary is taking careful note of the view of the House as expressed

:23:23. > :23:28.in the debate that the honourable gentleman refers to. I recently had

:23:29. > :23:31.cause to write to the president of the European Commission asking him

:23:32. > :23:36.to clarify the role his commission is playing in her EU referendum. I

:23:37. > :23:41.have had no answer but given the fact that the commission spent ?560

:23:42. > :23:47.million directly promoting itself in 2014, that the commission interfered

:23:48. > :23:53.in the Irish referendum in 2009, could we have a statement from the

:23:54. > :23:56.Government as to whether it believes EU interviewers in this referendum

:23:57. > :24:02.as well, not? As I understand, it has no powers to prevent the EU

:24:03. > :24:07.being an unwelcome active participant in our democratic

:24:08. > :24:10.process. I can confirm that that is the case. However, I'm sure there

:24:11. > :24:13.will be different opinions in this House as to whether such an

:24:14. > :24:20.intervention would be helpful or unhelpful to either side of the

:24:21. > :24:26.argument. The minister who spoke from that dispatch box less than a

:24:27. > :24:33.year ago is now employed by industry in China, presumably using his

:24:34. > :24:40.insider knowledge with firms that bring competition with British

:24:41. > :24:43.industries. 70% of former civil servants on income tax are now

:24:44. > :24:55.working in the retirement tax avoidance industry, there should be

:24:56. > :25:04.a fierce, Rottweiler watchdog but there is nothing but a poodle

:25:05. > :25:14.without teeth or clause, Bart -- bark or bite and it is useless. Tell

:25:15. > :25:18.us what you really think! I'm not sure if my memory is correct but if

:25:19. > :25:22.I remember rightly, the committee to which she referred was set up by the

:25:23. > :25:26.party of which she is a part and I would remind him that it was a

:25:27. > :25:29.senior member of his own party who describe themselves after leaving

:25:30. > :25:42.office and well in pursuit of commercial opportunities as a taxi

:25:43. > :25:45.for hire. I visited the rugby junket is project in my constituency under

:25:46. > :25:50.the inspirational dealership of Annette Callier for amazing young

:25:51. > :25:54.people who play a part in the care of family members so I was concerned

:25:55. > :25:59.to hear that Warwickshire Young carers Project will lose funding

:26:00. > :26:04.that affects those under 18 and it will have an effect in rugby. Can I

:26:05. > :26:08.ask for a debate in the importance of properly supporting these young

:26:09. > :26:13.people? My friend makes an important point. One of the most invisible

:26:14. > :26:19.drips of yours are our young carers. None of us understand it until we

:26:20. > :26:23.come across it, how a child can be a full-time carer for a parent. I have

:26:24. > :26:28.a young carers in my constituency which does enormously valuable work.

:26:29. > :26:32.His grip plays an important role clearly and I'm sure he will do

:26:33. > :26:34.everything he can to make sure its future is guaranteed because it is

:26:35. > :26:39.important to the communities represents.

:26:40. > :26:45.I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the discriminatory language

:26:46. > :26:50.that has been used in the chamber recently the Education Secretary

:26:51. > :26:55.called the opposition death, using deafness as a pejorative term, which

:26:56. > :26:58.I think is unacceptable. The Prime Minister used the term pond see,

:26:59. > :27:02.which many people think is homophobic. I wonder if we could

:27:03. > :27:10.have a statement about the language that we use in this chamber. Mr

:27:11. > :27:13.Speaker, I think people here in words what they want to hear but the

:27:14. > :27:19.one thing I would say is that nobody could accuse the pie Minister of

:27:20. > :27:22.homophobia. The man who bought this House and saw through same-sex

:27:23. > :27:28.marriage is not somebody who could ever be described as homophobic. We

:27:29. > :27:34.know that there has been a very thorough committee meeting on the UK

:27:35. > :27:38.steel industry but will be Leader of the House organised a statement to

:27:39. > :27:41.be put out next week so that all members are able to put questions to

:27:42. > :27:48.ministers on behalf of our steel towns, because it is very important

:27:49. > :27:51.that both we and our constituents know exactly what is happening and

:27:52. > :28:00.what process -- progress is being made to secure the industry? All of

:28:01. > :28:04.those who represent steel towns have done a great job in recent weeks to

:28:05. > :28:09.remind us of the importance of that industry and I commend them for

:28:10. > :28:12.that. I can lay on just such an opportunity because next week is the

:28:13. > :28:17.Business Secretary them skills questions and he will be -- he will

:28:18. > :28:23.be able to put it to the Secretary of State then. Heart of the press

:28:24. > :28:27.this morning is early day motion 1432 which backs up the bill I

:28:28. > :28:32.produced on Tuesday to abolish hereditary peers rights to vote and

:28:33. > :28:35.speak in the House of Lords. Given that there are now the same number

:28:36. > :28:38.of members on the front bench of the Government as they were voting in

:28:39. > :28:45.the election of hereditary peers last week, is there not -- is it not

:28:46. > :28:52.time we had a debate to and this farcical process? The party opposite

:28:53. > :28:58.was endowment for 13 years but didn't address the issue they are

:28:59. > :29:00.calling for change on. We all admit that there is something curiously

:29:01. > :29:06.quaint about the Liberal Democrat electorate of three and one has to

:29:07. > :29:10.cut them a bit of slack because there are so few of them these days,

:29:11. > :29:15.but my view is that there are pressing issues facing this country

:29:16. > :29:22.and probably dealing with three people is not top of them. Can I ask

:29:23. > :29:27.the Leader of the House if we can have a debate on the London licensed

:29:28. > :29:30.taxi trade? My black cab drivers in my constituency offer a lots more to

:29:31. > :29:39.London and their community than Uber does. Mr Speaker, my honourable

:29:40. > :29:42.friend makes an important point and in the free market, London taxi

:29:43. > :29:45.drivers do face challenges, but I believe they are the best in the

:29:46. > :29:49.world. I believe they bring something of immense value to our

:29:50. > :29:53.city and I don't believe anything that any of us in politics, either

:29:54. > :29:59.at this level or at the London level, would wish to jeopardise

:30:00. > :30:04.that. Because of statements made in the back page business debate a

:30:05. > :30:10.couple of weeks ago in this House, I presume the Government will see for

:30:11. > :30:15.security review the Chilcott report last week. Can the Leader of the

:30:16. > :30:19.House are daters when we can expect a debate in the House? I am aware

:30:20. > :30:23.that it is now going through what I hope are the final processes before

:30:24. > :30:26.publication and I have said to this House before there is not a person

:30:27. > :30:29.on our side of the House who would not wish to see that report out and

:30:30. > :30:34.published. We were not in power at the time so the issues in their do

:30:35. > :30:36.not affect us. We want to see the truth out there and we want to learn

:30:37. > :30:46.lessons about the Chilcott process in the event of this other having to

:30:47. > :30:53.happen again. Could we have a debate on making it easier for metropolitan

:30:54. > :30:57.councils to switch to all-out elections or elections by halves,

:30:58. > :31:02.said that councils like Dudley can cut the cost of local politics but

:31:03. > :31:06.Mr Speaker, it is of course an important issue. They have the

:31:07. > :31:12.bleeding to do that. It is a matter for local councils as to whether

:31:13. > :31:16.they have elections in thirds, hard or individually and my personal view

:31:17. > :31:20.is that it is a real hike for a local council to do elections every

:31:21. > :31:29.year and I prefer all out elections by self but that is down to local

:31:30. > :31:32.decision-making. Every year on the Sunday closest to St George's Day

:31:33. > :31:39.Enfield Scouts and guides take part in St George 's date parades through

:31:40. > :31:44.Enfield town and I am normally there with them. It is a fantastic day. I

:31:45. > :31:50.want to pay to be to be Scouts and the guides but particularly to all

:31:51. > :31:53.the volunteer leaders who enable Scouts and guides to happen for our

:31:54. > :31:58.young people and what a good job they do. I am very concerned that

:31:59. > :32:03.with the cuts that the Government is passing down to local authorities,

:32:04. > :32:08.youth services are severely at risk and I would ask for a debate in

:32:09. > :32:14.Government time to consider this problem that is affecting our young

:32:15. > :32:18.people and their families. Mr Speaker, can I also pay tribute to

:32:19. > :32:22.the honourable lady for what she had said about anti-Semitism in her

:32:23. > :32:25.party. It brings credit to her as it does to the Shadow leader. Can I

:32:26. > :32:29.also say to her that I absolutely at tree with her on the role of the

:32:30. > :32:32.Scouts and guides but I would say that of course what they represent

:32:33. > :32:36.is the best of our voluntary sector and I think that sometimes we look

:32:37. > :32:39.to depend too much on the Government and public sector for the best work.

:32:40. > :32:43.That work is happening without any involvement of the Government and

:32:44. > :32:49.has done in the centuries since the Scouts and guides movement was

:32:50. > :32:54.formed and long may it continue. The Jewish immunity has a history with

:32:55. > :33:01.Scotland going beyond 200 years -- 's Jewish community, and I know

:33:02. > :33:05.members of this House will want to send a message that we value the

:33:06. > :33:10.contribution they have made not just in Scotland but across the United

:33:11. > :33:14.Kingdom. With that in mind and given events this week, can we have a

:33:15. > :33:19.debate on the valuable contribution that they have made to civil society

:33:20. > :33:22.in this country and, equally important, how we retard

:33:23. > :33:28.anti-Semitism in our political discourse in this country? The

:33:29. > :33:35.honourable gentleman makes a clearly important point and we have heard

:33:36. > :33:43.important contributions on that subject today. This is not just

:33:44. > :33:48.about anti-Semitism. It is about as phobia and prejudices against other

:33:49. > :33:52.groups in our society. There is no place in our society for racial

:33:53. > :33:58.prejudice. It has no place and we should unreservedly condemn it

:33:59. > :34:06.whenever we find it. I would like to ask if we could possibly in light of

:34:07. > :34:10.changes to the railways have a debate about how community groups,

:34:11. > :34:15.such as mining Berry, could lead to discuss how they can drive forward

:34:16. > :34:18.local ownership of railway assets that are to be disposed of so that

:34:19. > :34:23.local people get a say in what happens in their locality? This is

:34:24. > :34:28.actually a very important point and we have to be very careful about

:34:29. > :34:33.disposing of our assets for two reasons. One, as she has described,

:34:34. > :34:40.and the other because local authorities often have a vision to

:34:41. > :34:44.bring transport back into the locale and if that is sold off, that option

:34:45. > :34:49.is taken away. One of the things I am proud of is the reopening of

:34:50. > :34:52.railway lines and railway corridors of the last 15 years. You will be

:34:53. > :34:58.aware, Mr Speaker, that recently a new service was opened from Oxford

:34:59. > :35:01.to London Marylebone across lines which were previously disused and

:35:02. > :35:05.have been brought into operation again and Chiltern Railways. She

:35:06. > :35:08.makes an important point because had decisions being made to dispose of

:35:09. > :35:15.those facilities, that route would not have been possible. We'll ready

:35:16. > :35:18.see the reopening of the line from Cambridge, said she makes an

:35:19. > :35:23.important point about heroin constituency but it is applicable

:35:24. > :35:31.across the country. Last month in business questions I raised the

:35:32. > :35:35.point of Mike constituent -- of my constituency who took a drug which

:35:36. > :35:39.left her children with birth defects. I was advised to raise this

:35:40. > :35:43.at health questions but unfortunately I wasn't successful

:35:44. > :35:50.and I wonder if you have any advice for me on how I can raise the issue

:35:51. > :35:56.of this drug? The health minister has just arrived in the House, so

:35:57. > :36:00.that opportunity, and will probably have heard what she said, but I will

:36:01. > :36:04.raise this with the Department of Health for her at the end of this

:36:05. > :36:08.session and I will ask the appropriate minister to respond to

:36:09. > :36:15.her. She makes a good point and it is one we must be clear of. Many

:36:16. > :36:17.drugs make a difference to our society but when there are side

:36:18. > :36:24.effects like that that she refers to, we must be very careful I am

:36:25. > :36:34.most anxious that the Minister on the Treasury bench should have an

:36:35. > :36:37.opportunity to regain his breath. He is a very welcome arrival. He has

:36:38. > :36:44.just done the marathon. That might be why he is out of breath. Mr

:36:45. > :36:47.Speaker, could we have a debate to discuss the crazy situation I faced

:36:48. > :36:51.in Bexhill and Battle where our local authority has parking

:36:52. > :36:57.enforcement matters the responsibility of the police, who

:36:58. > :37:00.have stated that they can no log do this because they are required to

:37:01. > :37:05.look after policing matters. The local authority refused to take it

:37:06. > :37:08.on and this is driving our residents and business people absolutely mad.

:37:09. > :37:14.Could we have a debate about whether the men should step in and end this

:37:15. > :37:17.madness? Before I answer that, in relation to the arrival of my

:37:18. > :37:20.honourable friend for North East Bedfordshire, can I pay tribute to

:37:21. > :37:24.him but to all the members of the House he ran the marathon last

:37:25. > :37:34.weekend and emerged with medals around their neck, and in the past,

:37:35. > :37:40.but I'd like to focus on this year, please, and I commend all those who

:37:41. > :37:45.raised funds for charity, raised awareness of charities and they

:37:46. > :37:50.deserve a collective pat on the back from people of this House. What I

:37:51. > :37:53.would say from my honourable friend is that he is right. I can

:37:54. > :37:57.understand the frustration that local businesses have I would urge

:37:58. > :38:00.him to be double the on local authorities. If they have enough

:38:01. > :38:04.people coming behind him and what he wants to achieve, in the end, they

:38:05. > :38:08.will have to give way. I am grateful to the Leader of the House and I

:38:09. > :38:11.join him in congratulating the Minister on the front bench on

:38:12. > :38:17.running the marathon again and all other participants in the marathon.

:38:18. > :38:23.But the Leader of the House said is both right and greatly appreciated

:38:24. > :38:26.by colleagues. We come now to the first of our two debates under the

:38:27. > :38:34.auspices of the backbench business committee. This first debate on the

:38:35. > :38:39.subject of World Autism Awareness Week. The precise timings have yet

:38:40. > :38:43.to be determined but I should just say to the House there is a very

:38:44. > :38:47.sharp imbalance in favour of the first debate as against the second.

:38:48. > :38:52.A lot more people trying to take part in this debate and that will

:38:53. > :38:57.influence the judgment of the chair as to how long this debate should be

:38:58. > :39:01.allowed to run. In short, there will be an allocation of time for the

:39:02. > :39:06.second debate, but it will very properly be a lesser allocation of

:39:07. > :39:14.time. To move the motion, I called Mrs Cheryl Gillan. I beg to move the

:39:15. > :39:17.motion that this House notes that World Autism Week was held from the

:39:18. > :39:22.second to the 8th of April when we were on recess and we believe there

:39:23. > :39:26.is a lack of understanding into the needs of autistic people and their

:39:27. > :39:29.families and calls on the Government to improve diagnosis waiting time

:39:30. > :39:35.and support a public awareness campaign so that people can make the

:39:36. > :39:40.changes that will help the UK become autism friendly. I would like to put

:39:41. > :39:45.on record, first of all my thanks to members of the backbench business

:39:46. > :39:49.committee that have granted this debate this afternoon, and also to

:39:50. > :39:52.the chair for indicating that he may be willing to extend the debate

:39:53. > :39:56.because of the demand for people wanting to speak in the debate and I

:39:57. > :40:01.know there are conflicting committee is going on in other parts of the

:40:02. > :40:06.House which is going to give some problems for people to speak in this

:40:07. > :40:11.debate. Also to put on record my thanks as chairman of the all-party

:40:12. > :40:18.and to group for the Deonarine -- for the genuine cross-party support

:40:19. > :40:22.I have received from members of all parties. It is commendable the House

:40:23. > :40:31.should work in this way and it is nice to record that the group, the

:40:32. > :40:35.all-party group on autism, has one of the largest memberships. In 2015,

:40:36. > :40:41.the National Autistic Society carried out a you got pole and found

:40:42. > :40:45.that over 99.5% of the people in the UK had heard of autism. That means

:40:46. > :40:50.that more or less we are all aware of autism which is a jolly good

:40:51. > :40:55.thing. But just 16% of autistic people and their families, who the

:40:56. > :41:00.National Autistic Society spoke to as part of their research, said that

:41:01. > :41:05.the public had a meaningful understanding of autism. Despite all

:41:06. > :41:11.this progress, there remains this enormous golf between awareness and

:41:12. > :41:13.understanding. The key point here is that more understanding may seem

:41:14. > :41:18.like a soft issue that everyone across the House can get by without

:41:19. > :41:23.that much thought, but this issue goes to the core of what people with

:41:24. > :41:26.families who live with autism everyday have to deal with. I give

:41:27. > :41:37.way to the right honourable lady. I congratulate her on all the work

:41:38. > :41:41.she has done on this crucial subject and she mentioned the National

:41:42. > :41:46.autistic Society, please go to them as well for their wonderful work.

:41:47. > :41:50.Would you agree that stigma is still something holding back in the

:41:51. > :41:53.general public and in institutions and in educational institutions

:41:54. > :42:01.amongst so many employers, the stigma around autism still holds us

:42:02. > :42:04.all back as a society? That's true to a greater or lesser extent but I

:42:05. > :42:10.would also want to balance it that in some areas, people on the

:42:11. > :42:16.autistic spectrum are welcomed into the world of work, whether it is at

:42:17. > :42:22.organisations that can take advantage of people from the

:42:23. > :42:29.autistic spectrum and their abilities. I think she is right,

:42:30. > :42:32.hence the debate. I patiently to the work she does and also the minister

:42:33. > :42:36.who met some constituents of mine this week although they don't wish

:42:37. > :42:40.to be named in public. Does she agree on this issue of awareness

:42:41. > :42:45.that she has raised that it is also important that that awareness is in

:42:46. > :42:50.our criminal justice system, too, and particularly in relation to

:42:51. > :42:54.adults with autism? Sometimes it can come into contact with the criminal

:42:55. > :42:58.justice system and there is an inappropriate level of understanding

:42:59. > :43:05.of issues which may have led to that occurring. That is an astute

:43:06. > :43:07.observation and in my speech I will come to the criminal justice system

:43:08. > :43:11.because what they are hoping to do is set the scene across a range of

:43:12. > :43:15.India is because there isn't a part of Government that I don't think

:43:16. > :43:19.autism touches and their implications for, particularly

:43:20. > :43:21.criminal justice were people with autism, I believe, are

:43:22. > :43:29.disproportionately represented in many areas. For people and families

:43:30. > :43:31.who live with autism every day, improving understanding is

:43:32. > :43:34.fundamental to ensuring good levels of health and well-being and an

:43:35. > :43:40.ability to participate in society and the implications are all too

:43:41. > :43:48.real. In the same survey I was talking about, 79% of artistic

:43:49. > :43:54.people feel socially isolated -- autistic and sometimes 50% of people

:43:55. > :44:04.don't go out because they're worried about her public body react to the

:44:05. > :44:09.family. 28% of artistic people have been asked to leave a public area.

:44:10. > :44:15.To help tackle the isolation, I think many people in the House now

:44:16. > :44:26.there has been a campaign launched starting with Too Much Information

:44:27. > :44:32.Sentence --. I was glad to support that in Parliament. The cornerstone

:44:33. > :44:36.is that short film, shot from the point of view of a child with autism

:44:37. > :44:40.which tries to give you a sense of what it's like living in the

:44:41. > :44:45.overwhelming world that someone with autism works in every day. Many

:44:46. > :44:49.parliamentary colleagues actually joined me for the event and I was

:44:50. > :44:53.glad to report, this is almost unbelievable but it is a good sign,

:44:54. > :44:58.to date this video has been viewed online 50 million times but the film

:44:59. > :45:01.only marks the very start of the campaign and clearly there is much

:45:02. > :45:06.more that must be done to help tackle social isolation amongst the

:45:07. > :45:16.nearly 80% of people on the spectrum who say they feel isolated. Over the

:45:17. > :45:21.years, Government has shown huge leadership on the awareness of other

:45:22. > :45:27.issues, with more than ?2.3 million spent on dementia awareness and ?20

:45:28. > :45:40.million on mental health awareness. Thank you so much! I wish it was

:45:41. > :45:44.gin! Wells my honourable friend helped herself to water, which she

:45:45. > :45:49.agree organisations that help people with people with Asperger's that

:45:50. > :45:53.help them to socialise can play really important role in helping to

:45:54. > :45:57.build the confidence of those people and making sure the have the support

:45:58. > :46:01.they need to go into the working world? I'm doubly grateful to my

:46:02. > :46:07.honourable friend but he's absolutely right, the achievements

:46:08. > :46:12.of these programmes should be congratulated by all of us across

:46:13. > :46:16.the House. I think action is also needed for the 700,000 people in the

:46:17. > :46:21.UK on the autism spectrum and their families and I'm aware that the

:46:22. > :46:28.Government has invested 325,000 on autism awareness work but this is a

:46:29. > :46:32.drop in the ocean if our aim, as I believe it should be, that this

:46:33. > :46:36.generation of autistic children goes up in the world that understands

:46:37. > :46:38.them. I would like to pay tribute to the Minister on the front bench

:46:39. > :46:44.because he has honestly attended every autism meeting and function

:46:45. > :46:50.that I have asked him to 90 shares a great deal of understanding in this

:46:51. > :46:54.area so I am looking for two... -- foreword to a meaningful response

:46:55. > :47:02.from him. More leadership is needed from Government and I hope... Give

:47:03. > :47:08.way. I'm grateful to the honourable lady and work she does on this

:47:09. > :47:14.subject. Does she agree with me only 15% of adults suffering from autism

:47:15. > :47:20.and then employment and that is worrying? And she think it should be

:47:21. > :47:24.right that Government should support organisations for autism to help the

:47:25. > :47:30.transition that could be crucial for so many? I think she is absolutely

:47:31. > :47:37.right and I will mention some organisations at the end but

:47:38. > :47:40.Ambition For Autism is one of many that are trying to help people with

:47:41. > :47:46.autism into employment because it is a very important part so I will

:47:47. > :47:49.mention it later. Holding on the intervention from the honourable

:47:50. > :47:53.gentleman on the criminal justice system, I recently visited Her

:47:54. > :48:03.Majesty's Young offenders Institute in Feltham receiver myself

:48:04. > :48:06.first-hand -- to see for myself first-hand how adjustments can help

:48:07. > :48:11.someone on the spectrum. The present recently went to accreditation and

:48:12. > :48:13.the prison staff's enthusiasm to helping the young people in their

:48:14. > :48:22.charge is admirable and really wonderful to see. I really hope that

:48:23. > :48:29.members of the APPG are going to come and see what has been done.

:48:30. > :48:32.Autism can be dramatic but without specific adjustments and will be

:48:33. > :48:43.much harder for them to re-engage in their abilities -- rehabilitation.

:48:44. > :48:49.Producing posters to help overstimulation I just mull things

:48:50. > :48:53.that can do a great deal to help autistic prisoners. I would like to

:48:54. > :48:56.put it into the Minister for prisons who wrote to every single prison in

:48:57. > :49:01.this country asking them to undertake autism accreditation.

:49:02. > :49:10.Currently over 20 have been back in touch with the NAS and four more are

:49:11. > :49:13.going through the process. Its first king of Government leadership we

:49:14. > :49:20.want. We want this kind of leadership sustained and when I ask

:49:21. > :49:24.Government to do more for awareness of autism, it is this kind of

:49:25. > :49:29.response I expected get. More to be done on the criminal justice system,

:49:30. > :49:36.particularly in the courts. Following the example of Feltham, I

:49:37. > :49:40.think the public should do more to make sure its buildings are

:49:41. > :49:43.accessible to autistic people so their families can be confident in

:49:44. > :49:47.visiting public buildings and using public services in the same way as

:49:48. > :49:56.everyone else. I was really pleased to be for example over the weekend

:49:57. > :50:00.that Asda is piloting a quiet hour in Manchester where they will turn

:50:01. > :50:05.off the music and screens to create a shopping experience for those with

:50:06. > :50:09.autism that is more comfortable. That is to be commended. It would be

:50:10. > :50:12.remiss of me not to mention that Parliament is working under the

:50:13. > :50:17.leadership of the Speaker to want an autism access a word and to make

:50:18. > :50:20.sure that autistic visitors in our place of work feel confident they

:50:21. > :50:28.will be understood and treated well -- artistic award. I hope the

:50:29. > :50:35.Minister will meet with me again and members of the APPG to discuss how

:50:36. > :50:39.together we can build on the early successes of the Too Much

:50:40. > :50:41.Information campaign and ensure that all public buildings will become

:50:42. > :50:53.accessible to people on the spectrum. On of the biggest issues

:50:54. > :50:59.is the time it takes to get an autism diagnosis in the first place.

:51:00. > :51:03.Recent research suggests more than two years is what adults are having

:51:04. > :51:09.to wait for a diagnosis and four children the figure stands at 3.6

:51:10. > :51:13.years. An autism diagnosis can be life changing and can explain use of

:51:14. > :51:17.fuelling different and help unlock professional advice and support and

:51:18. > :51:23.Government guidelines say a diagnosis shouldn't be a barrier to

:51:24. > :51:28.getting the right support in place but 15% of people on the spectrum

:51:29. > :51:33.have told the NAS that a diagnosis directly led to getting new or more

:51:34. > :51:39.support and how can the late to support the identified without

:51:40. > :51:42.clarity on a diagnosis? It is fabulous to be having this debate

:51:43. > :51:48.here today. Can I back up on this point about the delay for diagnosis?

:51:49. > :51:51.I've spoken to many families in my constituency waiting for months for

:51:52. > :51:57.a diagnosis for a child on a child could and should be having help with

:51:58. > :52:01.the enormous difficulties, not years being wasted, yet you can't even get

:52:02. > :52:06.the data from the county council of the NHS about diagnosis and not only

:52:07. > :52:11.are there delays but also a lack of transparency about the waiting times

:52:12. > :52:14.for diagnosis. It is clear that despite the best intentions of

:52:15. > :52:24.Government, getting that diagnosis is still crucial. Give way. I will

:52:25. > :52:30.for the last time. Can I join in and tribute to her for the work she has

:52:31. > :52:35.done? It is an incredibly important subject. I don't know whether she

:52:36. > :52:38.sought an in-depth report in the Economist but it reports on a

:52:39. > :52:43.Swedish study which found that the cost of lifelong care for someone

:52:44. > :52:47.with autism could be cut by two thirds with early diagnosis and

:52:48. > :52:54.treatment so the moral case at economic case is overwhelming for

:52:55. > :52:58.doing this. I think NHS England should collect and publish and

:52:59. > :53:02.monitor key information on how long people are waiting for diagnosis and

:53:03. > :53:05.how many people are known to their GP to have autism and they should

:53:06. > :53:09.ensure that waiting time standards on mental health currently in

:53:10. > :53:14.development reflect national guidance that no one waits longer

:53:15. > :53:18.than three months after being referred for diagnosis. I think the

:53:19. > :53:21.Government must share this commitment and ensure that NHS

:53:22. > :53:25.England meets its aims because timely access to autism diagnosis

:53:26. > :53:29.should be written into the Government's mandate on NHS England.

:53:30. > :53:33.I want to touch on autism and mortality. A report highlighted

:53:34. > :53:37.distressing findings from Sweden. The research found that autistic

:53:38. > :53:41.people taken as a population have a lower life expectancy than the

:53:42. > :53:46.overall average. The research from Sweden shows that autistic people

:53:47. > :53:49.and at risk of dying younger from almost every cause of death but on

:53:50. > :54:00.average this was 18 years earlier than the general population. For

:54:01. > :54:05.artistic people with a learning to -- disability it is even larger.

:54:06. > :54:08.They are dying 30 years before their time on average. People who have a

:54:09. > :54:14.learning disability are more likely to die a live from epilepsy and

:54:15. > :54:19.those without a learning disability are at a greater risk of suicide. It

:54:20. > :54:22.is worth remembering the Swedish health care system is different to

:54:23. > :54:26.ours but given the seriousness of this research, it is vital to

:54:27. > :54:30.understand this is also the case in the UK and in so that we understand

:54:31. > :54:34.the reasons. The report calls for this to be investigated as a matter

:54:35. > :54:40.of urgency and I urge the Government to keep this call. I would also like

:54:41. > :54:46.to make some brief comments about the Department of Health endorsed

:54:47. > :54:51.autism hospital passport. It is to help people on the autism spectrum

:54:52. > :54:57.to communicate their needs to doctors and nurses. It was greeted

:54:58. > :55:01.why Baroness Browning in collaboration with the NHS. When it

:55:02. > :55:05.comes to health care, it enables people on the spectrum and their

:55:06. > :55:08.families to have a much better experience of their interaction with

:55:09. > :55:12.the health service and gain better, more timely, more fitting health

:55:13. > :55:18.care at the right time and in the right place. Again, I now want to

:55:19. > :55:21.turn to education because they just want to touch on the various areas

:55:22. > :55:26.in those opening speech that I hope other members will pick up on. Where

:55:27. > :55:29.we have the special schools on autism, for instance the NHS is

:55:30. > :55:36.about to open a new one in Epping Forest supported by the Anderson

:55:37. > :55:41.foundation, we have no fears about the ability of the teachers to

:55:42. > :55:46.understand autism but the training they receive on autism has to be

:55:47. > :55:49.looked at carefully. Only 60% of children who responded to a survey

:55:50. > :55:54.said the single factor that makes school better for them was that if

:55:55. > :56:00.teachers understood autism and teachers agree that they want this

:56:01. > :56:05.training, a survey conducted in 2013 found that 60% of teachers believe

:56:06. > :56:10.they did not have enough training in autism and work is going on to

:56:11. > :56:14.create core content for teacher training courses but we do need to

:56:15. > :56:19.make sure that no teacher enters the classroom without the tools they

:56:20. > :56:25.need to support those in their charge. One of the interventions

:56:26. > :56:29.touched on employment and I want to turn to what Jordan on the spectrum

:56:30. > :56:36.want after they leave education. They want the same things as we all

:56:37. > :56:39.want out of life, stable, secure, fulfilling opportunities that allow

:56:40. > :56:43.them the same opportunities to lead independent lives that we have.

:56:44. > :56:48.However, currently too few people on the spectrum enjoy the opportunity

:56:49. > :56:51.to find a job to help maintain that independence. The Government has

:56:52. > :56:55.pledged to have the disability employment gap which has welcomed on

:56:56. > :56:58.all sides of the House and we await the Government's soon-to-be

:56:59. > :57:01.published paper and a secular state for the Department of Work and

:57:02. > :57:06.Pensions's recent addition is that this is a key priority.

:57:07. > :57:13.Research by Scope has showed that disability employment has remained

:57:14. > :57:17.static in the last year, on the Government cannot rely on the

:57:18. > :57:21.improving economy to fix this issue, and more will need to be done to fix

:57:22. > :57:28.this gap. The autism employment gap is even worse. The latest data

:57:29. > :57:34.indicates 15% of autistic adults are in full-time paid work, and 26% of

:57:35. > :57:39.graduates on the autism spectrum are unemployed, by far the highest of

:57:40. > :57:48.any disability group. The Government 's mainstream employment schedules

:57:49. > :57:55.do not fit the long-term needs of people with the autistic spectrum.

:57:56. > :57:58.Research shows them to be successful, for example, research

:57:59. > :58:01.into one specialist support scheme is found that 70% of adults find

:58:02. > :58:06.work when supported by autism professionals. So the All Party

:58:07. > :58:09.Parliamentary Group on Iran is to return to this work later this year,

:58:10. > :58:15.but in the meantime, I have several questions. Will the Government's

:58:16. > :58:19.disability white paper include proposals for ensuring people can

:58:20. > :58:23.access special support, in seeking to halve the disability employment

:58:24. > :58:26.gap will the Minister report on progress by condition, so low

:58:27. > :58:30.employment rates are people with conditions such as autism can be

:58:31. > :58:33.specifically tackled. And crucially, will the Minister in sure that the

:58:34. > :58:42.new records, whether someone on the programme is on the autism spectrum,

:58:43. > :58:45.are recorded? It is difficult to address all the areas today, and I

:58:46. > :58:50.haven't touched on social care, mental health, or benefits. But I

:58:51. > :58:55.know there are many colleagues that want to speak, and I really do not

:58:56. > :58:58.want to take up too much more time. In summing up, I would like to

:58:59. > :59:02.return to the public awareness of the condition. Survey after survey

:59:03. > :59:05.of people on the spectrum tell us that better understanding of the

:59:06. > :59:08.condition amongst both the public and professionals would be the one

:59:09. > :59:13.thing that would help them feel more secure and allow them to have

:59:14. > :59:15.fulfilling lives. People on the spectrum are reasonable. They don't

:59:16. > :59:20.expect an ordinary member of the public with no knowledge of the

:59:21. > :59:23.condition to be aware of the technic details about the diagnostic

:59:24. > :59:25.criteria, but they feel that a little more understanding,

:59:26. > :59:31.compassion and awareness would make all the difference to their lives.

:59:32. > :59:35.If you see a I having a meltdown in a supermarket, or an adult acting a

:59:36. > :59:40.bit differently on the train, stop and think for a moment. They may be

:59:41. > :59:46.autistic and need your kindness, not your judgment. And before I

:59:47. > :59:49.conclude, I just want to thank all the organisations who have been

:59:50. > :59:52.involved in contributing to the knowledge of members in this House

:59:53. > :59:56.today, particularly those charities and groups with whom we work

:59:57. > :00:04.closely. The National Autistic Society who provide the secretary at

:00:05. > :00:06.the APB BG, the children's services development group and the many

:00:07. > :00:12.individuals that have got in touch with me and with all of you in the

:00:13. > :00:15.past week. I hope together we can improve the lives of those with

:00:16. > :00:21.autism, and make some real progress in this area. The question is as on

:00:22. > :00:27.the order paper, we will start with a speech limit of six minutes and

:00:28. > :00:32.see how we get on. Madame Deputy Speaker, anticipating today's debate

:00:33. > :00:34.and in his customary eloquent way, the guardian columnist John Harris

:00:35. > :00:37.wrote a summation of some of the issues around autism just last

:00:38. > :00:42.Saturday, and he ended his peace with these words. Our culture still

:00:43. > :00:46.too often catches autism in terms of pity or fear, as in centrally

:00:47. > :00:49.Victorian sensibility lingers on, but we are moving towards a new

:00:50. > :00:52.world in which autistic the Bill and their families advocate for

:00:53. > :00:55.themselves. For them, the current noise about autism highlights an

:00:56. > :00:59.inevitable phase of any struggle against ignorance. The point at

:01:00. > :01:05.which you know you have, long way but still have light years to go.

:01:06. > :01:09.When we consider the debate in legislation in this House, we too

:01:10. > :01:12.have come a long way, and a considerable part of this is the

:01:13. > :01:20.work of the loyal member for Cheshire and Amersham. I thought I

:01:21. > :01:30.would focus on a couple of areas in mice short contribution. First on

:01:31. > :01:33.diagnosis delayed, is something we all have countless example is of.

:01:34. > :01:38.The children, as we have heard, average diagnosis now stands at some

:01:39. > :01:44.three and a half years. In my experience, talking to parents and

:01:45. > :01:47.experts, this is partly down to insufficient training, cost

:01:48. > :01:54.pressures within the system, and the reality that the parents, not

:01:55. > :01:59.knowing where to turn, it is not known how to access the services.

:02:00. > :02:02.People are dealing with a system of immense complexity buckling under

:02:03. > :02:07.the cuts with no single point of contact marked autism within the

:02:08. > :02:10.system. For many it is simply bewildering and very often very

:02:11. > :02:13.scary, and finally I was going to highlight some of the amazing people

:02:14. > :02:20.and campaign work done at local level, people such as my constituent

:02:21. > :02:22.Fae how who only last week led a large demonstration demanding better

:02:23. > :02:27.services support for autistic people and their families. I also wanted to

:02:28. > :02:31.make a couple of points regarding the nature of research and where

:02:32. > :02:33.this might develop, both to help our overall awareness but most

:02:34. > :02:37.importantly help autistic citizens and their families. Recent figures

:02:38. > :02:42.suggest 1% of population has an autistic spectrum condition, a 20

:02:43. > :02:50.fold increase in the 50 years since the first study. Given this need, we

:02:51. > :02:55.need more and better research, and we can detect, especially in the US,

:02:56. > :02:59.a dramatic expansion in autism research, for example the 2006

:03:00. > :03:03.combating autism act authorised millions of dollars for autism

:03:04. > :03:06.research over a five-year period to develop screening, early diagnosis

:03:07. > :03:10.and children's intervention strategies, and it has been

:03:11. > :03:17.estimated that in 2010 alone, autism research in the US exceeded some 400

:03:18. > :03:22.million US dollars. Here in the UK, research suggests that public and

:03:23. > :03:27.private funding organisations in vests on ?21 million into autism

:03:28. > :03:31.research between 2007 and 2011, amounting to a significant increase,

:03:32. > :03:34.but the question is whether this research is being focused on the

:03:35. > :03:38.correct issues, and does it tally with the needs of autistic people

:03:39. > :03:44.and their families. I refer to an article in autism entitled what

:03:45. > :03:46.should autism research focus on? And they suggested that research

:03:47. > :03:50.activities should be broadened to reflect the priorities of the UK

:03:51. > :03:54.autism community, focusing in particular on research that helps

:03:55. > :03:57.people live with autism. It would appear obvious that research should

:03:58. > :04:03.maximise its impact on the life experiences of those affected, are

:04:04. > :04:06.constituents, so why might this apparently self-evident objective

:04:07. > :04:10.not be the case? When we look at the debate about the research, there

:04:11. > :04:14.appears to be a tension between projects that focus on the basic

:04:15. > :04:22.science, cognitive systems, genetics and risk factors, and on the other

:04:23. > :04:24.hand, research that focuses on the understanding and promotion of how

:04:25. > :04:29.families function of the services the families need. Evidence suggests

:04:30. > :04:34.that in the US they realise this and achieve a growing diversity of

:04:35. > :04:39.research funding to the direct benefit of autistic citizens and

:04:40. > :04:41.their families. In contrast, evidenced here suggest the

:04:42. > :04:45.diversification of funding has not occurred here in the UK. This

:04:46. > :04:50.suggests both in terms of numbers project and total research grant,

:04:51. > :04:53.but project in the areas of biology, brain and cognition outstripped all

:04:54. > :04:59.other areas of autism research by a vast margin. The effect is very

:05:00. > :05:03.little research funding directed into identifying effective services

:05:04. > :05:07.for autistic people and their families, on services, treatments,

:05:08. > :05:10.intervention and education. This is not just an academic issue, it

:05:11. > :05:13.relates directly to all of the questions discussed this afternoon

:05:14. > :05:18.regarding autism awareness. Research at the centre of research in

:05:19. > :05:21.autistic education suggest the families of autistic people do

:05:22. > :05:26.indeed value the research into the underlying causes of autism, but

:05:27. > :05:33.need a more balanced distribution that redirect attention onto their

:05:34. > :05:36.daily lives, needs and services. Can I congratulate the honourable member

:05:37. > :05:45.for Cheshire and Amersham on achieving this debate. I had a

:05:46. > :05:50.secondary school for young people with autism in my constituency, and

:05:51. > :05:56.their governing body has written to me, and I wonder if my honourable

:05:57. > :05:58.friend has the same concerns, that with the Government consulting on

:05:59. > :06:02.changes to the national school funding formula, including the

:06:03. > :06:07.formula for high needs. They are worried there will be a levelling

:06:08. > :06:12.down of fun that will be drawn away from these schools which would be

:06:13. > :06:15.very damaging. That is precisely what some of us were going to

:06:16. > :06:17.mention in the debate that was cancelled on Monday evening around

:06:18. > :06:22.pressures on the systems regarding special-needs children. This takes

:06:23. > :06:25.us back to the point I was going to raise regarding problems with

:06:26. > :06:29.diagnosis, entry point into the system, the cuts being experienced.

:06:30. > :06:34.These are all linked to the research based around autism in terms of

:06:35. > :06:37.effective public will see making. It links to commissioning of services,

:06:38. > :06:41.decision making a front-line staff as well as dilemmas facing autistic

:06:42. > :06:43.people and their families. The evidence base that exists for

:06:44. > :06:48.decisions around autism and public service provision. I look forward to

:06:49. > :06:52.a reorientation in the research priorities around autism, to balance

:06:53. > :06:56.out research funding of projects like we appear to have achieved in

:06:57. > :06:58.the US, to balance out the scientific research with

:06:59. > :07:02.understanding that leads to the most effective support offered to our

:07:03. > :07:04.autistic citizens and their families, as well as greater

:07:05. > :07:07.coordination around autistic research which they appear to have

:07:08. > :07:11.again achieved through strategic oversight in the US. And finally, in

:07:12. > :07:16.the involvement of autistic people and their families in the strategic

:07:17. > :07:20.decisions. There are some basic issues of democracy involved in this

:07:21. > :07:23.debate. To conclude, it is great we are having this debate today,

:07:24. > :07:26.another sign of progress, but to return to the words of my friend

:07:27. > :07:29.John Harris, whose family have tried to navigate this system for many

:07:30. > :07:32.years, we appear to be at the point which we know we have come a long

:07:33. > :07:39.way, but still have light years to go. Thank you very much. I would

:07:40. > :07:44.like to congratulate my right honourable friend from Amersham and

:07:45. > :07:49.Cheshire for securing this debate, because it is a very important bait,

:07:50. > :07:54.and I only relative important it was just before the last election when I

:07:55. > :07:57.met a group of parents in my constituency who were talking about

:07:58. > :08:00.the problems that they had had. Before that I had obviously met

:08:01. > :08:05.people with autism, but I hadn't understood the pressures that

:08:06. > :08:14.parents and families are put under by the diagnosis or even not having

:08:15. > :08:37.the diagnosis of their children's problems. I met people who had never

:08:38. > :08:39.had a diagnosis and didn't think that they would ever have a

:08:40. > :08:41.diagnosis because nobody seemed to recognise that their child had

:08:42. > :08:43.autism, but it was clear that what they said that the children were not

:08:44. > :08:45.suffering from a form of autism, but it had never been recognised, and

:08:46. > :08:48.they were at the end of their tether and did not know where to turn to

:08:49. > :08:50.next. Also it isn't just mothers that have the problem, there were a

:08:51. > :08:52.lot of dads there as well, and it isn't just when they are children,

:08:53. > :08:54.it is often when they become adults as well, when there is even less

:08:55. > :08:57.support than there is for children. So it is whole families that are

:08:58. > :09:01.affected, and it can have such a big strain that it affects the marriage

:09:02. > :09:10.or the partnership of the parents, and many of those situations break

:09:11. > :09:13.down when people have one, two or three children with autism, and I

:09:14. > :09:18.want to focus more on local situations in Derby and Derbyshire,

:09:19. > :09:21.where I feel that the system is failing the children who need a

:09:22. > :09:51.diagnosis, and need the help in the schools. And I have met so many

:09:52. > :10:03.people now through then, an active in the area who have autism and who

:10:04. > :10:05.have children who have autism. And in fact, last year and this year

:10:06. > :10:07.during National autism week, they have shown people in the area that

:10:08. > :10:09.there is a problem, and to highlight National autism week, and I commend

:10:10. > :10:10.them for that. Yes, of course. Interesting and powerful points are

:10:11. > :10:12.being made, although she has mentioned a number of times the

:10:13. > :10:14.problem that autism faces, and I am someone who has employed and had in

:10:15. > :10:16.my office someone who was on the autistic spectrum. She agree with me

:10:17. > :10:20.that we need to change the narrative, because people on the

:10:21. > :10:22.artist expects from -- on the autistic spectrum have special

:10:23. > :12:17.skills, and it is important that This is far too long when you have a

:12:18. > :12:26.child having problems in school with their behaviour. They need the help

:12:27. > :12:28.now. The children and families act 2014 mandate of local authorities to

:12:29. > :12:31.move from special educational needs statements which outlined their

:12:32. > :12:35.chance and needs and have a help that would be given to an education

:12:36. > :12:40.health and care plan for each child. It also reduced the amount of time

:12:41. > :12:46.children with special educational needs had to wait for an education

:12:47. > :12:54.care plan from 26 weeks to 20 weeks. However, the average in Derby is 35

:12:55. > :12:57.weeks. That is after waiting a year. Derby local authority did not make

:12:58. > :13:05.sufficient plans to prepare themselves for the change and have

:13:06. > :13:09.been on the back foot ever since. Until February 2016, only 12% of

:13:10. > :13:12.statements have become education health and care plans, which is

:13:13. > :13:18.really unhelpful for families. And the gap in between the causes delays

:13:19. > :13:23.in education and the development of the child and additional stress on

:13:24. > :13:28.the family caring for them. Some local authorities, and I believe in

:13:29. > :13:30.Derby city are now asking for schools to complete the education

:13:31. > :13:35.health and care plans even though they are not meant to. And the

:13:36. > :13:39.training given by Derby city to its own staff and school staff on the

:13:40. > :13:45.changes in the law has been labelled by some parents as diabolical. Admin

:13:46. > :13:48.staff as schools do not understand the difference between a special

:13:49. > :13:51.education needs statement and education health and care plans,

:13:52. > :14:01.because they often just copy and paste it. Without an EH C P,

:14:02. > :14:10.autistic spectrum children are being managed by inexperienced stab at a

:14:11. > :14:13.fundamental of ASD. Derby are having to employ consultants to help make

:14:14. > :14:19.changes to know what they are doing a costing for times as much as the

:14:20. > :14:23.usual school administrative staff. -- four times. It seems to me that

:14:24. > :14:29.all local authorities claim to being short of money wasting money, except

:14:30. > :14:31.if it does get its still more quickly for families and children

:14:32. > :14:37.with autism, it is obviously better for them. But this money could be

:14:38. > :14:42.better spent on mental health care for autistic children and their

:14:43. > :14:44.families. Now, if local authorities would consistently ask the schools

:14:45. > :14:49.themselves to do with the care plans, as is happening in Derby, we

:14:50. > :14:55.need to ensure that schools are given the funds and training needed

:14:56. > :14:59.to be able to do this. There is no obvious legal accountability if

:15:00. > :15:08.deadlines are not met. Now, we need to support parents and siblings

:15:09. > :15:11.affected with the children with ASD. Early diagnosis is absolutely key to

:15:12. > :15:15.avoid mental health problems associated with not knowing what is

:15:16. > :15:19.wrong and being able to deal with it. We need to move faster than help

:15:20. > :15:27.these children and families deal with the problems that they have.

:15:28. > :15:31.Brendan O horror. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you to the

:15:32. > :15:42.chair for indulging me to call me to this this spate -- debate. I'm

:15:43. > :15:46.grateful for being called so early. Thank you to the member for

:15:47. > :15:50.temp-macro for securing this very, very important debate. Autism is a

:15:51. > :15:54.spectrum condition, meaning that no to autistic people display the same

:15:55. > :15:57.characteristics. Some people live with autism live a relatively

:15:58. > :16:01.independent lives while others at the other end of the spectrum may

:16:02. > :16:06.need lifetime specialist care and support. And that demands every

:16:07. > :16:13.single person living with autism is treated as an individual and that

:16:14. > :16:17.society affords each individual the respect and dignity that they

:16:18. > :16:26.deserve. Absolutely no doubt that we as a society in to do that. But the

:16:27. > :16:30.question is, do we actually do that? I recently met with the National

:16:31. > :16:35.Autistic Society at the launch of their too much information campaign.

:16:36. > :16:38.A campaign designed to help people recognise autistic behaviour and to

:16:39. > :16:43.better understand how they should respond to it. It is an excellent

:16:44. > :16:47.report and sometimes makes sport uncomfortable reading, but I commend

:16:48. > :16:54.it to all members of the House. Because contained in that report, a

:16:55. > :16:58.society publishes its figures from a wide ranging survey which they have

:16:59. > :17:03.commissioned looking at public attitudes to those with autism. The

:17:04. > :17:09.findings suggest that we as a society have a long way to go and --

:17:10. > :17:14.in affording people living with autism the respect and dignity they

:17:15. > :17:18.most certainly deserve. Although almost every single person in the

:17:19. > :17:24.United Kingdom had heard of autism or were aware of it, only a fraction

:17:25. > :17:29.actually recognised what it meant and there is indeed a chasm between

:17:30. > :17:34.the public awareness of autism and the public understanding of autism.

:17:35. > :17:38.And it is this lack of public understanding of autism that is

:17:39. > :17:43.causing great distress for those living with the condition and their

:17:44. > :17:49.families. My right honourable friend has given a sum of the findings, but

:17:50. > :17:52.I think they are worth repeating. As 87% of parents say they have

:17:53. > :17:58.experienced people stopping and staring at their children while

:17:59. > :18:04.displaying autistic behaviour. 74% of parents have experienced public

:18:05. > :18:10.expressions of disapproval at their children displaying autistic

:18:11. > :18:14.behaviour. What is important about this survey was the National

:18:15. > :18:19.Autistic Society spoke to people living with autism and what they

:18:20. > :18:25.discovered, I think, was pretty depressing. 84% of people living

:18:26. > :18:30.with autism feel they have been judged by the rest of society -- are

:18:31. > :18:38.being judged by society as being and I quote, strange. Yes, I will give

:18:39. > :18:43.way. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Would he not agree that

:18:44. > :18:47.that reaction by people to those in our society with autism, but also

:18:48. > :18:53.their broader family, actually then leads, as Michael Stich and said, to

:18:54. > :18:59.a fear of you not going out? That then means as we know, particularly

:19:00. > :19:02.with autistic children, as they transition into adults, there is a

:19:03. > :19:06.social isolation for them and very often their primary carer that is

:19:07. > :19:13.not adequately recognised across the board. My honourable friend is

:19:14. > :19:19.correct and I will touch on that in a moment. But looking at the

:19:20. > :19:27.statistics, 70% of people living with autism believe the public see

:19:28. > :19:30.them as being anti-social. One third, almost one third people

:19:31. > :19:37.living with autism have been asked to leave a public place because are

:19:38. > :19:42.displaying behaviour is associated with their condition. And as a

:19:43. > :19:46.result, as my honourable friend has just said, for in every five people

:19:47. > :19:52.living with autism in the UK feels isolated from society and half of

:19:53. > :19:56.people with autism do not go out for fear of how people will react to

:19:57. > :20:00.their condition. As I said, Madam Deputy Speaker, it makes pretty

:20:01. > :20:03.depressing reading and I think they should force us all to look at our

:20:04. > :20:09.own behaviours and question what we are doing as a group and as a

:20:10. > :20:15.community to our fellow citizens that makes them view social

:20:16. > :20:20.isolation as being preferable to how they are currently treated by the

:20:21. > :20:26.public, ourselves including. It is not all bad news, there is good news

:20:27. > :20:30.within the National autistic report, the Society report and it does show

:20:31. > :20:35.that their research shows they have greater knowledge and a better

:20:36. > :20:44.understanding, the public will behave generally with much greater

:20:45. > :20:49.empathy towards autistic people. Perhaps one of the pieces of good

:20:50. > :20:52.news is that many areas of Scotland are blessed with speech and language

:20:53. > :20:57.therapists who understand well at the condition and can give

:20:58. > :21:01.particular support in schools for example for those with particular

:21:02. > :21:06.communication challenges. I thank my honourable friend for the

:21:07. > :21:09.intervention, I know he's a specialist in that area commend what

:21:10. > :21:18.has been done throughout Scotland and soon I hope, throughout the UK

:21:19. > :21:21.in that field. There is much to look forward to and be hopeful about. It

:21:22. > :21:26.is about getting the key messages out to the public and of those key

:21:27. > :21:32.messages are that people with autism may need extra time to process

:21:33. > :21:37.information and respond to people. People with autism can become

:21:38. > :21:43.anxious in social situations, people with autism can become anxious when

:21:44. > :21:48.faced with unexpected changes and unscheduled events. People with

:21:49. > :21:53.autism are also very often hypersensitive to noise, light,

:21:54. > :21:57.smell or colour. And do you know what? When things get too much,

:21:58. > :22:04.people with autism can sometimes have a meltdown. Deal with it. I

:22:05. > :22:09.conclude, Madam Deputy Speaker, if I may, by quoting from the Scottish

:22:10. > :22:15.Government's strategy for autism and the line I'd like to quote says the

:22:16. > :22:19.Scottish Government's vision is that individuals under the autism

:22:20. > :22:23.spectrum are respected, accepted and valued by their communities and have

:22:24. > :22:27.the confidence and ease services to treat them fairly so they are best

:22:28. > :22:32.able to a meaningful and satisfying lives. I think that is something on

:22:33. > :22:46.which this -- this entire House can unite around. I would

:22:47. > :22:52.The tireless work she has done over so many years, to start a change

:22:53. > :22:57.Government rarities on autism and those of our country who are not

:22:58. > :23:00.newer atypical. It has been really moving to hear comments from my

:23:01. > :23:06.honourable friend from Bury St Edmunds and the honourable member

:23:07. > :23:09.for Argyll and Bute to describe in detail some of the actualities of

:23:10. > :23:15.families and those who suffer from autism. It was as my right

:23:16. > :23:19.honourable friend's autism act was going through this House that I was

:23:20. > :23:24.battling to find diagnosis from my own son at the time. It was evident

:23:25. > :23:29.to me that my bright and articulate young boy was not like other boys of

:23:30. > :23:32.his age. He had an extraordinary level of concentration, extremely

:23:33. > :23:36.high reading skills, and could convert and length with adults in a

:23:37. > :23:41.most unusual way. But he was also very anxious, fearful of noise,

:23:42. > :23:45.bright lights, unable to cope with anything unexpected in his day,

:23:46. > :23:49.literally the slightest change to what time we left the House and all

:23:50. > :23:53.hell broke loose. And so once he started his schooling at the age of

:23:54. > :23:59.three, his young life became increasingly more challenging, and

:24:00. > :24:06.school life, which demands conformity, became something he

:24:07. > :24:10.could not cope with. We struggled on for years because nobody seemed to

:24:11. > :24:20.have any ideas, teachers just occasionally asked me to pick him up

:24:21. > :24:22.early and if it got too much. They would say, could they not feed him

:24:23. > :24:30.with every body else, there was a problem in the canteen. I was a man

:24:31. > :24:32.who had a little boy who had so many talents, but eventually, my GP,

:24:33. > :24:37.wonderful man, referred us to a child psychologist, whose failure to

:24:38. > :24:47.correctly diagnosed my son is autistic was nothing short of

:24:48. > :24:53.shocking. Not only did he not see what my son was suffering from, but

:24:54. > :25:06.he tried to medicate him with Ritter Linford ADHD -- with Ritalin for

:25:07. > :25:09.ADHD. It was only because I fought back against the medical

:25:10. > :25:14.profession's failure that my son was not inappropriately drugged. It was

:25:15. > :25:16.only because with huge financial support from my family that we

:25:17. > :25:21.eventually found a team of paediatric doctors based at Great

:25:22. > :25:25.Ormond Street Hospital in London, 350 miles from our home in

:25:26. > :25:32.Northumberland. They quickly diagnosed my boy is an Asp urges

:25:33. > :25:37.syndrome sufferer, we received support and were empowered to

:25:38. > :25:42.challenge schools and regulations so that we could once again enjoy and

:25:43. > :25:50.thrive in the learning environment. I have to say there have been two or

:25:51. > :25:53.three teachers in our lives for whom medals are not adequate, who have

:25:54. > :26:00.learned for themselves what it means to be an autistic little boy, and

:26:01. > :26:10.you have other children come through the system afterwards. The pressures

:26:11. > :26:14.which normal life puts on our autistic children should not be

:26:15. > :26:17.underestimated. No right-thinking person would ask a child with a

:26:18. > :26:21.broken leg to run up the stairs, but the invisibility of autism means

:26:22. > :26:28.that these children are asked to do things which that hypersensitivity

:26:29. > :26:32.or gaps in your neurological sensitivity means too much for them.

:26:33. > :26:37.Isn't it true that your son was lucky because he had a mother who

:26:38. > :26:41.was prepared to fight, and the ability to fight? There are many

:26:42. > :26:45.parents like that who will fight for their children, as most parents want

:26:46. > :26:49.to do. But there are some who do not have the ability to do that all the

:26:50. > :26:59.confidence to do that, and they are the ones that are really being let

:27:00. > :27:03.down by the system. That is part of the reason why I am here, I decided

:27:04. > :27:09.that advocacy was needed for those who are not able to access the

:27:10. > :27:14.system, how to fight back or are too honest and quiet folk trying to get

:27:15. > :27:16.on with their day, muddling on with difficult job situations, convex

:27:17. > :27:20.family environments, and it is just too hard to fight what seems to be

:27:21. > :27:28.an implacable system in so many parts of our country. The reality is

:27:29. > :27:32.that my right honourable friend's act has brought us on from those

:27:33. > :27:36.battles I was having, and the general population is becoming aware

:27:37. > :27:38.slowly of this invisible disability. The challenge is that it is

:27:39. > :27:43.invisible until it becomes visible through a crisis. Many of our great

:27:44. > :27:47.artists and scientists have been on the spectrum, men and women who see

:27:48. > :28:00.the world differently from those of us who are near

:28:01. > :28:08.-- neuro-typical, as my son calls me. He says it as an insult! The

:28:09. > :28:14.great Alan Turing's genius brought us the computer, possibly the

:28:15. > :28:17.greatest leap since the steam engine. He was shunned and

:28:18. > :28:23.misunderstood throughout his life. The damage society inflicted on him

:28:24. > :28:26.and a blatant disregard for his differencing character highlights

:28:27. > :28:29.what we must reverse 70 years on to ensure that knows child on the

:28:30. > :28:33.autistic spectrum is lost to us or our nation. Small changes to the

:28:34. > :28:37.school environment, support for families bringing up autistic

:28:38. > :28:41.children with day-to-day tasks that can reduce the stress is on them

:28:42. > :28:44.only to positive and thriving outcomes for these wonderful members

:28:45. > :28:48.of our communities, but most importantly, we had team of

:28:49. > :28:53.paediatric experts across every part of our country who can diagnose our

:28:54. > :28:56.children early on, and councillors in schools who are trained and

:28:57. > :29:00.flexible in supporting these children to fulfilling lives. I

:29:01. > :29:05.recently met with a family in my constituency with three boys, two

:29:06. > :29:11.for our diagnosed. I have in my county council are passionate

:29:12. > :29:15.advocate for all our special needs children, and it is very difficult

:29:16. > :29:19.for him to meet the needs of each and every autistic child, there is

:29:20. > :29:22.not enough flexibility for him to provide preventative and creative

:29:23. > :29:26.solutions for individual families which will provide practical

:29:27. > :29:29.support. If he can reduce the day-to-day pressures for parents

:29:30. > :29:33.with low-cost, early interventions, we will increase the chances of

:29:34. > :29:36.these families staying together. There are obvious long-term value

:29:37. > :29:40.for money arguments and investing in these families early on to stop

:29:41. > :29:44.long-term costs of the state of family breakdown of we fail these

:29:45. > :29:48.children and their families early. I call on our Government to encourage

:29:49. > :29:52.these families to be creative and forward-thinking in their support

:29:53. > :29:57.for our autistic children, that firstly by getting the speedy

:29:58. > :30:01.diagnosis that support can follow. It is a pleasure to follow that

:30:02. > :30:08.speech by the honourable lady, and I would like to add my congratulations

:30:09. > :30:13.to the right and buffer Chesham and Amersham -- The right honourable

:30:14. > :30:16.member. We have touched upon awareness and understanding, and I

:30:17. > :30:21.would like to focus my remarks on something that hasn't been

:30:22. > :30:24.mentioned, and that is acceptance. As honourable members have noted,

:30:25. > :30:28.the public awareness about autism has grown dramatically in recent

:30:29. > :30:32.years, aided by a proliferation of books, media articles and albeit not

:30:33. > :30:38.always accurate portrayals of people with autism on television and in

:30:39. > :30:43.film. This explosion of information about autism spectrum disorders and

:30:44. > :30:46.the Corporation of individuals with autism into everyday culture has

:30:47. > :30:51.helped familiarise people with the condition, and it is right that we

:30:52. > :30:53.celebrate that achievement. Essential as it is, awareness alone

:30:54. > :30:59.has not necessarily lead to a greater understanding of ASD or

:31:00. > :31:04.prevented the perpetuation of stereotypes and cliches as even a

:31:05. > :31:08.cursory Google search will attest. Awareness alone has not kept people

:31:09. > :31:11.with autism from being abused, has not helped them find jobs or

:31:12. > :31:19.supported them to live independently. We cannot overcome

:31:20. > :31:23.ignorance and help those with autism live independent lives by increasing

:31:24. > :31:26.awareness alone. I am lucky enough to have in my constituency a

:31:27. > :31:32.fantastic organisation called Greenwich Parent Voice. It is a

:31:33. > :31:37.group of exceptional parents, some of whom are in the calorie today,

:31:38. > :31:39.who came together to support each other and fight for their children,

:31:40. > :31:45.each of whom have special disabilities. They have not only

:31:46. > :31:51.helped deepen my understanding of ASD and the challenge faced by those

:31:52. > :31:54.with autism and their parents, but have over the course of many

:31:55. > :31:59.meetings made clear to me that what is really required is acceptance of

:32:00. > :32:03.autism. Anyone who has sat and listened to parents or carers of

:32:04. > :32:06.children with autism, or adults with autism for that matter even a short

:32:07. > :32:09.time will know that the system that we have in place at the moment,

:32:10. > :32:14.despite some recent improvements, still does not work. Whether it is

:32:15. > :32:17.problems in transferring from statements to health and care plans,

:32:18. > :32:21.the difficulties trying to secure specialist support in the care

:32:22. > :32:26.system, or the strain of supporting children with autism into adult

:32:27. > :32:33.hood, the system... I am happy to give way. He and others have been

:32:34. > :32:38.making very powerful speeches, but does he agree with me that we need

:32:39. > :32:42.also to translate that awareness into some very hard practical action

:32:43. > :32:45.in terms of service delivery, whether it is about education or

:32:46. > :32:49.housing, and he like other member is of Parliament here I'm sure have

:32:50. > :32:56.been dealing with parents of autistic children forced to share

:32:57. > :33:00.rooms, live in tower blocks, because housing policy does not reflect the

:33:01. > :33:04.needs of autistic children. So we do actually need to build on greater

:33:05. > :33:09.awareness, but also resource that into some practical action. I thank

:33:10. > :33:13.my honourable friend about intervention, she makes a very good

:33:14. > :33:17.point. I have dealt with allocations cases myself, and though does need

:33:18. > :33:20.to be some detailed policies put in place that are based on the

:33:21. > :33:23.recognition of the particular needs of autistic children and their

:33:24. > :33:28.families, because it does cause those families unimaginable stress

:33:29. > :33:34.and anxiety to navigate the system as it stands. Those with sharp

:33:35. > :33:38.elbows necessarily navigate that system, but they do so at great

:33:39. > :33:42.personal cost, and not everyone, as the honourable lady opposite said,

:33:43. > :33:46.has the ability to do that. The range of challenges faced by those

:33:47. > :33:51.with autism and their families is vast, and this isn't the debate to

:33:52. > :33:54.delve into any of those in detail in particular, but my sense is that our

:33:55. > :33:58.collective readiness to do something about the would be stronger if we

:33:59. > :34:02.were not only aware of autism and understood it, but if we were more

:34:03. > :34:09.accepting of it as a society. I suspect if we were more success in

:34:10. > :34:12.-- accepting, we would look at the lack of suitable childcare provision

:34:13. > :34:16.of autistic children, the fact that too many schools are still not

:34:17. > :34:19.autistic friendly and too many children are not getting the support

:34:20. > :34:24.they require. We would be compelled to more urgently address the

:34:25. > :34:27.prevalence of mental health conditions, and the isolation young

:34:28. > :34:31.people with autism to frequently face in school. We would be

:34:32. > :34:36.compelled to address the cliff edge in support that still faces autistic

:34:37. > :34:41.people into many parts of the country as they transition to adult

:34:42. > :34:46.hood, and we would be compelled to address the huge challenges that

:34:47. > :34:50.still face autistic adults in terms of diagnosis, employment and

:34:51. > :34:53.housing. I have no doubt that over time, these challenges will be

:34:54. > :34:59.overcome, not least because more and more people with autism and their

:35:00. > :35:03.families, like those who have helped establish Greenwich Parent Voice in

:35:04. > :35:07.my constituency, are advocating more strongly for themselves, but I

:35:08. > :35:09.believe that each of us in this chamber and in the wider country can

:35:10. > :35:13.hasten the process by working towards a society where most of a

:35:14. > :35:18.survey has said are not only aware of autism and understand it, but

:35:19. > :35:21.celebrate them and their contributions, not only as family

:35:22. > :35:28.members and friends, but as classmates, colleagues and members

:35:29. > :35:31.of our communities. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I also

:35:32. > :35:36.congratulate my right honourable friend the Chesham and Amersham not

:35:37. > :35:38.only on securing this debate but securing the excellent worksheet

:35:39. > :35:43.does is chairman of the all-party group, and also for her wonderful

:35:44. > :35:48.work piloting the autism act through this House, which was a

:35:49. > :35:51.ground-breaking piece of legislation, and which has done a

:35:52. > :35:59.tremendous amount to improve the lot of adults with autism in England. I

:36:00. > :36:02.must say in passing it is a matter of concern to me that that

:36:03. > :36:05.legislation has not been followed in Wales, but the good news is that all

:36:06. > :36:08.parties in the current Welsh Assembly elections apart from the

:36:09. > :36:14.Labour Party sadly have committed to a Welsh autism Bill, and it is hoped

:36:15. > :36:18.that the Welsh Labour Party will work with their colleagues.

:36:19. > :36:23.Notwithstanding the passing of the act in 2009, there is still much

:36:24. > :36:26.work to be done to ensure that people with autism and their

:36:27. > :36:31.families receive the support that they need, but also crucially that

:36:32. > :36:35.understanding of the condition continues to develop. We must

:36:36. > :36:41.remember that autism is a condition was not formally recognised until

:36:42. > :36:48.the late 1940s, and serious research on it didn't begin in earnest until

:36:49. > :36:55.the 1960s. So in 1970, an American study concluded that one child in

:36:56. > :37:02.14,000 was autistic. More recent US studies have shown that one child in

:37:03. > :37:12.68 has some form of autism. And interestingly, a very recent study

:37:13. > :37:16.in Korea, a study of school tranche of the population, concluded that

:37:17. > :37:20.one child in 38 between the age of seven and 12 had some degree of

:37:21. > :37:23.autism. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that this is a

:37:24. > :37:30.condition that is far more prevalent than any of us expected. My right

:37:31. > :37:38.honourable friend mentioned that in the United Kingdom, estimates are

:37:39. > :37:42.that some 700,000 people are affected by autism, approximately 1%

:37:43. > :37:48.of the population, and this has an economic as well as human cost. A

:37:49. > :37:53.study by the LSE in 2014 estimated the cost of autism to the British

:37:54. > :37:59.economy at approximately ?32.1 billion. Put that into perspective,

:38:00. > :38:03.estimates of the cost of cancer are around ?12 billion per annum, heart

:38:04. > :38:10.disease ?8 billion, stroke ?5 billion, so the economic cost of

:38:11. > :38:12.autism is a very significant indeed. And if we had greater awareness and

:38:13. > :38:16.more understanding of the condition, more of us wrap might realise as

:38:17. > :38:19.other honourable members have pointed out that people with autism

:38:20. > :38:27.are a very much underutilised resource. The article that the

:38:28. > :38:35.honourable member for North Norfolk mentioned from the Economist, that

:38:36. > :38:38.people with autism frequently have a high-level focus, meaning they can

:38:39. > :38:42.spot patterns and errors in data that are not readily recognised by

:38:43. > :38:48.other people, making them attractive employees for software firms. And

:38:49. > :38:51.even people more significantly affected by autism can also hold

:38:52. > :38:55.down jobs successfully. They often benefit from working in a highly

:38:56. > :39:01.structured working environment, sometimes thriving on jobs of a

:39:02. > :39:05.repetitive nature. And what really is necessary is for employers to

:39:06. > :39:08.realise that that resource can be tapped, and that means frequently

:39:09. > :39:14.creating the right conditions in which people with autism can work.

:39:15. > :39:20.For example, employers must understand the need for people with

:39:21. > :39:23.autism to receive clear instruction, and my right honourable friend

:39:24. > :39:28.mentioned the excellent NAS video, too much information, which shows a

:39:29. > :39:32.boy with autism being overcome by the general sounds that one

:39:33. > :39:36.experiences in a shopping centre. Employers should start to realise

:39:37. > :39:41.that people with autism may benefit from quieter working conditions, the

:39:42. > :39:44.sound of a telephone or chatter around people with autism can prove

:39:45. > :39:50.distracting to the extent of being unendurable. More therefore needs to

:39:51. > :39:57.be done to improve the understanding of this condition. Since 2014, the

:39:58. > :40:02.Government has spent some ?325,000 on limited awareness work, and that

:40:03. > :40:08.is really a very small sum indeed. A lot more needs to be done. A lack of

:40:09. > :40:14.understanding on the part of employers and potential colleagues

:40:15. > :40:18.is a key barrier for autistic citizens to finding employment and

:40:19. > :40:22.staying in, and the DWP have set up a joint unit to support people with

:40:23. > :40:27.autism to find and stay in work whilst also improving their health.

:40:28. > :40:32.These are important initiatives. But more needs to be done, and may I say

:40:33. > :40:37.finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, more work must be done in attempting to

:40:38. > :40:40.identify the causes of autism. They are still not well understood.

:40:41. > :40:45.Research on twins indicates that genetic conditions may be a cause,

:40:46. > :40:49.but there are also suggestions that there may be environmental causes

:40:50. > :40:57.such as for example exposure prenatally to viruses, to air

:40:58. > :41:00.pollution. Continued research is essential, but currently, the United

:41:01. > :41:08.Kingdom spends just ?4 million per annum on autism research, as