Commissioners Questions House of Commons

his advocacy that representatives

will be coming in next Thursday and

up we will make sure that they and

their colleagues at the support they

need for the future.

All questions

to the chairman of the Public

accounts commission and the right

Honourable member for those where

presented the House of Commons

commission.

Representing the Church

Commissioners. Gillian Keegan.

Mr

Speaker, I have had many recent

discussions with Government

departments, particularly the Home

Office, not these because of my

marriage registration bill which is

in train and there is an identical

one in the House of Lords which

would achieve the same purpose which

will allow them to sign the bill. I

don't mind which a bill makes it

first, we just need to get it done.

She is seeking to group this

question with numbers two and six.

With your permission, I would like

to do so.

Thank you.

I thank the

Right Honourable member for your

response and there is a feeling that

this needs to change, so will she

make... To use Government time to

get one of the bills to get this

matter past?

Yes, many member is

across this house have sought to

achieve that end and I commend the

honourable member for introducing an

identical bill on a previous bill.

Making sure it is cross-party. I

have a letter in response to mine

from the Prime Minister in April

this year saying that she absolutely

acknowledges the commitment made in

2014 by her predecessor to achieve

this and recognises the need for

primary legislation to make sure

that both parents of the couple can

be on the certificate.

The signing of the register is

currently a valued part of the

marriage service in church across

the country. Could she reassure me

that this will remain unchanged?

Yes, I can reassure the honourable

lady that registers will remain in

the vestry for the all important

photo, but the reality is, under the

new system proposed, the Church has

consulted on it, Vickers will

download a marriage certificate

signed by the couple as it is now

but the vicar will complete the form

by filling the parents' names,

including the possibility of mothers

being on the certificate in the

future.

I am grateful. Can I ask,

have she and the church -- will she

and the Church of England will

support my bill which includes

exactly these requirements, and will

be Church of England also agreed to

back equal civil partnerships to

extended to opposite six

partnerships as well? -- opposite

sex partnerships?

In general, if the

answer is stable, committed and

long-lasting relationships, they are

likely to be beneficial, especially

where children are involved.

Personally, I would support that,

and for that reason I have rolled

forward my bill beyond the date of

the bill to give him an opportunity

to proceed.

I have three daughters

with children, and many

constituents, and wanted to ask

today, why has it taken so long this

simple step forward for equality?

I

ask myself the very same questions.

There have been several attempts and

undertakings including by the

previous Labour government in 2002,

so I would urge colleagues to do

everything they can to make sure we

achieve the change in the law, and

give the went to the marriage

registration Bill.

It is good to

hear what she says, but will she

also topped the Church about making

it easier for people to get married

in church and to have their children

baptised? That would be quality.

In

answering this, on previous

occasions I have given examples of

how the church does reach out to the

surrounding communities, so that the

thought of getting married is not

intimidating, and doesn't need to be

expensive. Getting married in church

is the least part of what it

actually costs to put on a wedding,

but I can put him in touch for the

materials required for people to be

married in church.

Taking into

account the 25% of households are

single-parent, and of these 90% of

those are led by mothers, would she

agree that the marriage certificate

must take into account the large

section of people who are overlooked

and in real life watch over

everything in the home?

He makes a

very important point. This really

came out in the Westminster Hall

debate that I secured. When a number

of honourable members, who are

themselves the children of a single

parent, in most cases the mother,

were really disappointed to find out

that the moment they got married,

the mum who had done everything

possible to bring them up was not at

this point in law able to be signing

the certificate has the parent, and

that is a very strong reason why it

is needing changed.

Her commitment

on this issue is very well-known on

both sides, and it is that both

sides of the houses are supportive

of what she is trying to achieve.

Following on to her answer, can she

reaffirm that the church as it was

set out to me remain supportive of

what we're trying to achieve?

I

would like to clear up any

misunderstanding there might be that

the church is in any way against

making this change, the reverse is

true. The church has consulted on

the question of changing the

marriage registration process. It

will save money as a practical

reality of moving to an electronic

register. There is cross-party

support, institutional support, let

us just get it done.

The National

Audit Office's any all work

programme is a number for the

controller general, but it does not

audit individual police forces. It

published a report in June 15 about

financial sustainability in police

forces.

An independent assessment of

police Force funding would be very

welcome, not just on an individual

level, but as a whole. The NA all

published an effective report two

years ago but the governments have

made claims that they have protected

funding that has been protected, so

an independent assessment would be

welcome, and I would ask the NAO

through the commissioner that he

would make that request.

I will pass

on that request. She's quite right.

Although police forces have reduced

costs since 2011, the report

referred to has recommended the Home

Office work with other bodies on

better information and early warning

on when a force may fail.

The NAO is

continually looking at how it can

save money. The most recent audited

financial accounts show that the NAO

has reduced its net resort cost by

21% in real terms against its

baseline in 2010, 11. This is while

taking on a much greater role in

government at the request of

Parliament.

I have no doubt about

the great work they do as the

spending watch, but what can he do?

We are urging the National Audit

Office to reduce their costs. They

have been very successful. The

National Audit Office saves many

times its own budget in looking at

any other government department to

make sure we get good value for

money. He makes easier point. The

NAO must lead the way in reducing

its staffing costs.

There is no

direct financial subsidy on alcohol

sales served in the House of

Commons. It is sold at events,

achieving 69% gross profit. --

margin. This helps offset the cost

of catering.

I am pleased to hear

there is no subsidy on alcohol

sales. There have been recent well

reported incidents of bad behaviour

in bars on the estate. What steps

are being taken to prevent such

incidents in the future?

He may be

aware of the incident a couple of

days ago in relation to the sports

and social club, which is run by the

House of Lords. There is an

investigation underway into that,

and clearly this is an issue under

review for the reasons the

honourable gentleman has set out.

Professor Charles recommended a

target of a press gallery, such that

neither women or men should be in

receipt of less than 40% of lobby

passes by 2020. As of the 6th of

December, 25.6% of the 246 valid

lobby passes on issue were four

women. As a result of his question,

I will seek the best means of

publishing these figures on a

regular basis.

They really will have

to do better, won't they?

Democracy

matters appear in the press gallery,

and I am glad the commission will

look to publish the diversity data,

but can I encourage them to

implement dredges -- legislation by

publishing data on gender but other

characteristics, to break down the

data and also to set clear target so

that at least by 2020 no men and

women have no fewer than 40% of the

passes for the journalist lobby on

the estate.

She may be aware that

currently neither the Commons

reference group or the commission

have considered the recommendation

of the report, however following her

intervention I will ensure that they

do as soon as possible and look very

specifically at making sure that the

extensive level of detail she has

requested is reflected in reports

that we publish in future.

The good

Parliament report will come to be

seen as a pivotal and seminal

publication in the history of the

free-form and modernisation of the

place. Can he say a bit more about

how the recommendations including

those relating to the press gallery

-- Gallery is making them considered

other opportunities in this place?

One of the measures being placed on

this report is the emphasis the

Speaker and House of Commons

commission are putting on it.

Members of Parliament are actively

tracking this, therefore I am

confident the Commons reference

group and the commission will want

to ensure that due priority is given

and the implemented as soon as

possible.

The church supports

ecumenical agencies like Embrace in

the Middle East, including one for

the Coptic Evangelical Association

for social services in Cairo, which

supports over 2 million Egyptians in

rural communities.

Can I ask what

steps the church is taking to

highlight the importance of cross

departmentally approach to tackling

the persecution of religious

minorities, especially Christians

abroad. Not simply because it is the

right thing to do, but because it is

also important for security at home.

The church regularly facilitates the

opportunity for church

representatives to speak across

different government departments,

this week we facilitated a visit by

the Bishop of Zimbabwe, who spoke to

Foreign Office ministers. But I

would draw your attention to a

speech by the bishops Bishop of

Peterborough this week who spoke

about the hidden victims of

persecution, and she will seek

comfort in the Bishop's speech about

being aware on how this plays at

home.

Does she agree that the

displaced Middle East Christians

need support to make sure they have

a safe environment to love and

flourish in, and hopefully time to

return to their home communities,

and would she join me in commending

open doors further campaign?

I

certainly do commend them, and I

commend to members present that next

week, Wednesday afternoon, they are

running an event called Hope for the

Middle East, encouraging us to

support the plight of those, and

since it is the last question before

Christmas for me, could I wish

everybody happy Christmas and let us

not forget that Jesus was carried in

the arms of his mother all the way

to Egypt, fleeing persecution, so

while we celebrate, let us also

remember those forced to flee from

persecution.

The Electoral

Commission has experienced

undertaking multiple investigations

and is confident that its resourcing

for this year is sufficient.

Nevertheless it recognises its

workload has increased. In 2018, the

submission will submit its budget

for the next financial year for

scrutiny, and it is for the

Electoral Commission to agree the

estimate.

I hope the Speaker's

committee well insured the

commission has the resources it

needs to do this work. As well as

investigating Russian interference

which the Electoral Commission

chairman John Holmes confirmed it

was doing yesterday, can she comment

on whether the commission is

examining if there was collusion

between Vote Leave, Labour leave,

the DUP and veterans for Britain,

and can she also comment on whether

the role of the US hedge fund

billionaire Robert Mercer is being

investigated?

I am grateful to my honourable

friend and I know the commission has

had useful and positive engagement

with him in regards to these areas.

Various investigations are under way

and it will not be possible to

comment further but I can assure my

honourable friend at once any

investigations are complete, the

commission will decide whether any

breaches have occurred and if so,

what further action will be

appropriate. The outcome of