:00:28. > :00:37.Lord Jordan. I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the
:00:38. > :00:40.order paper. My Lords, the government is introducing
:00:41. > :00:45.legislation increasing the penalties for using a hand-held mobile phone
:00:46. > :00:50.while driving from three to six penalty points and from ?100 to ?200
:00:51. > :00:57.when a driver is issued with a fixed penalty notice. We are also thinking
:00:58. > :01:01.of introducing a think tank campaign and drivers also need to understand
:01:02. > :01:09.it is unacceptable to put lives in danger. I would like to think them
:01:10. > :01:17.minister for his reply and declare an interest of the Vice President.
:01:18. > :01:21.We all welcome the Prime Minister's commitment to make this dangerous
:01:22. > :01:29.and potentially devastating practice socially unacceptable. The increased
:01:30. > :01:34.penalties, the proposals that drivers who kill while using a
:01:35. > :01:41.mobile phone could face a life sentence, should be a real deterrent
:01:42. > :01:56.to this growing and seemingly obsessive addiction. But previous
:01:57. > :02:01.increases in penalties... I need to make this point. Previous increases
:02:02. > :02:09.in penalties have not had a lasting impact. Will the Minister tell us
:02:10. > :02:16.what plans the government house to ensure that adequate performance
:02:17. > :02:21.enforcement is in place? The noble Lord makes an important point. Rules
:02:22. > :02:27.are only as good enough when they are enforced. We have seen a rising
:02:28. > :02:36.tide of use of mobile phones of drivers behind the course. We will
:02:37. > :02:40.be working very closely with both the police and crime commissions as
:02:41. > :02:46.one as the police forces to ensure more effective enforcement. If the
:02:47. > :02:53.maximum sentence is increased to life imprisonment, but my noble
:02:54. > :02:57.friend remind people that that would be discretionary rather than mandate
:02:58. > :03:05.it? And given the fact that courts currently post sentences that fall
:03:06. > :03:11.far short, it is unlikely that the overall sentences would increase to
:03:12. > :03:15.any very great extent. My noble friend is of course referring to the
:03:16. > :03:18.consultation launched today by the Ministry of Justice in this respect
:03:19. > :03:23.and that will be open for the next 12 weeks. He also makes the
:03:24. > :03:27.important point that when it comes to the actual sentencing itself,
:03:28. > :03:32.that is determined on a case-by-case basis and the judge looking at the
:03:33. > :03:37.circumstances prevailing each case. Increased sentences will no doubt
:03:38. > :03:41.help but as the noble Lord has recognised, a change of culture is
:03:42. > :03:48.really what is required and I wonder whether his department has
:03:49. > :03:53.considered introducing, in addition to a penalty for mobile phone
:03:54. > :03:59.offenders, mandatory attendance at mobile phone awareness courses, paid
:04:00. > :04:05.for by the offenders, rather than offering such courses as an optional
:04:06. > :04:11.alternative to points and penalty as a present. The issue the noble Lord
:04:12. > :04:14.refers to about courses has been practised and has been left at the
:04:15. > :04:18.discretion of the police to offer that. However, it is the
:04:19. > :04:22.government's view that this issue has been scaled up and we are
:04:23. > :04:27.promoting the fact that those courses and offered but to raise
:04:28. > :04:32.awareness through campaigns and increase awareness of vice penalties
:04:33. > :04:36.implicated as song on caught. If you use your mobile phone, it is not
:04:37. > :04:49.hands-free in your using it and you are caught, it is a criminal
:04:50. > :04:53.offence. My Lords, I think your lordship's house would appreciate
:04:54. > :04:58.this is quite a difficult subject to regulate and I am grateful for the
:04:59. > :05:05.noble minister outlining what plans he has but, given that the motoring
:05:06. > :05:09.organisations seem to be dubious safety of using hands-free equipment
:05:10. > :05:14.in a motorcar, I am wondering whether or not the government has
:05:15. > :05:22.got any plans to car manufacturers' ability to produce this equipment,
:05:23. > :05:27.which is distracting and can cause accident? He phrases an issue on the
:05:28. > :05:30.manufacture of motor cars. The government is not talking
:05:31. > :05:35.specifically on this issue. The issue of hands-free mobile phone use
:05:36. > :05:38.is of course very difficult to regulate and enforce and I would say
:05:39. > :05:44.to the right reverend that there are other distractions which are often
:05:45. > :05:48.available in the car, the use of loud music, indeed being a father of
:05:49. > :05:53.five children, all three in the back seat at the same time. But on a more
:05:54. > :05:57.serious point, we are looking to ensure that we inform the public and
:05:58. > :05:59.campaigns I believe will take forward the importance of not using
:06:00. > :06:12.mobile phones in your hand when driving. I am very pleased to hear
:06:13. > :06:17.that the Minister has adopted such a kepi reasoned approach in the
:06:18. > :06:21.responses he has given so far and can I suggest to him that the reason
:06:22. > :06:29.he must do that is first of all to increase sentences too, even though
:06:30. > :06:33.they aren't discretionary, excessively leads to sentencing
:06:34. > :06:40.inflation? With the position in our prisons which we have today, we
:06:41. > :06:44.cannot afford to have further sentencing inflation. Secondly,
:06:45. > :06:51.Tories will not conflict if they think that the sentences are
:06:52. > :06:54.inappropriate. -- cherries. The real thing is you have got to change the
:06:55. > :07:03.culture, as has happened with drink-driving. The noble and learned
:07:04. > :07:07.had lowered its right to inform your lordship's house about our justice
:07:08. > :07:10.system and the pressures on both the justice system and prison system but
:07:11. > :07:14.I do believe going back to an earlier point I made, we have
:07:15. > :07:19.learned over time, particularly if we look at issues of drink-driving,
:07:20. > :07:22.that informing and educating the public are an important part in
:07:23. > :07:31.ensuring we can eradicate people from the illegal use of such
:07:32. > :07:34.foreign. Have ministers considered the circumstances in which it might
:07:35. > :07:42.be appropriate to introduce an mandatory basis mobile phone signal
:07:43. > :07:50.jamming equipment, which is currently available on the Internet?
:07:51. > :07:53.You can Google it. Would it not be wise to consider that? The noble
:07:54. > :07:58.Lord makes an important point but I am sure he would also acknowledge
:07:59. > :08:03.that whilst that is being looked at, and in preparing for this question,
:08:04. > :08:07.we all use flight mode, there will be others in the car who may well
:08:08. > :08:10.use a mobile phone quite legitimately and of course when you
:08:11. > :08:14.are travelling great distances, if the drivers are not using the mobile
:08:15. > :08:21.phone and others are, that can sometimes be a great Lifeline of
:08:22. > :08:30.certain issues that may arise during the trip. I declare an interest as
:08:31. > :08:35.the co-chair of the all-party group on a fit and healthy chartered. We
:08:36. > :08:39.want all pupils to be healthy and active and have the opportunity to
:08:40. > :08:45.engage in sport and physical activity from young age. That is why
:08:46. > :08:50.PE remains a compulsory subject or four Key stages in the national
:08:51. > :08:58.curriculum. In 2017, we will double the primary PE and sport premium to
:08:59. > :09:03.?231 million a year and there are issues to improve physical activity
:09:04. > :09:11.levels in children. My Lords, Britain has the most unfit children
:09:12. > :09:17.in the world and the latest report from my all-party group on a fit and
:09:18. > :09:23.healthy childhood shows the urgent need to revise the teaching of PE,
:09:24. > :09:29.which has not changed since the 1940s. If PE is to play a part in
:09:30. > :09:34.children's well-being. There is no overall strategy for teachers to
:09:35. > :09:39.deliver PE, a subject often sidelined in the curriculum. For the
:09:40. > :09:44.government consider establishing a national PE task force to correlate
:09:45. > :09:50.examples of good practice, reset training for PE teachers? And ball
:09:51. > :09:54.he agreed to meet to discuss the recommendations in this constructive
:09:55. > :10:00.PE report? I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for her work. And to
:10:01. > :10:07.the other members of that group. And we will definitely take what they
:10:08. > :10:12.say into account. However, we do not think that a new PE task force is
:10:13. > :10:21.necessary. Officials already work closely with associations and my
:10:22. > :10:24.colleague has for a number of years chaired a cross ministerial board to
:10:25. > :10:34.inform the government's strategy for PE. We have no plans to review the
:10:35. > :10:40.curriculum. It was last reviewed in 2014 and developed the range of
:10:41. > :10:53.experts and we will review it again in 2018 or reviewing the activity
:10:54. > :10:57.list following the first exams. There has been a dramatic cut in the
:10:58. > :11:02.amount of money available for grassroots sport. Would it not be
:11:03. > :11:10.better spent their than an excellence? We have substantially
:11:11. > :11:18.improved responding this fool 's board and has had a dramatic effect.
:11:19. > :11:23.And also the number of qualified specialist PE teachers. The number
:11:24. > :11:35.of teachers has gone up by 50%. But we regard this is very important in
:11:36. > :11:42.all aspects. My Lords,... Yes, of course, physical education is hugely
:11:43. > :11:51.important, but should we not also be thinking of parity of esteem for
:11:52. > :11:54.mental health? If that is to be achieved, how will the government
:11:55. > :12:01.plan to ensure that schools treat mental well-being on an equal
:12:02. > :12:06.footing the physical well-being? The noble lady raises a very important
:12:07. > :12:11.issue and we know that mental health is an increasing issue in schools.
:12:12. > :12:17.Last year, we funded associations possibly macro guidance on how the
:12:18. > :12:22.teacher mentor health. There is also a range of training on specific
:12:23. > :12:27.issues available for people who work with young people and we have been
:12:28. > :12:33.testing and other places the concept of the single point of contact in
:12:34. > :12:41.schools to improve collaborative working across schools in the
:12:42. > :12:44.services. The Minister said that physical education is compulsory for
:12:45. > :12:51.all children between the ages of four and 16 but rather at odds with
:12:52. > :12:54.that is the fact that the Department for Education guidance merely
:12:55. > :13:01.recommends a minimum of two macro hours curriculum PE for each pupil
:13:02. > :13:04.each week. I may anticipate something the noble Lord for Sabre
:13:05. > :13:08.independent schools would laugh at the suggestion there are only two
:13:09. > :13:12.macro hours of PE per pupils each week and the government should not
:13:13. > :13:16.accept anything less for state school pupils. Can you say what
:13:17. > :13:21.proportion of schools meet that DFE recommendation and also say what
:13:22. > :13:23.role the physical education and sport premium for primary schools is
:13:24. > :13:35.happening in increasing the figure? The law does specifically prevent
:13:36. > :13:38.the Secretary of State from dictating how much time schools
:13:39. > :13:42.should spend on PE or any other subject, that is entirely a matter
:13:43. > :13:47.for them, I don't believe we've got the figure on what the schools are
:13:48. > :13:55.meeting but we anticipate most of them are. The point about
:13:56. > :13:59.participation, it's quite clear that it has had a substantial impact on
:14:00. > :14:02.primary schools and we find that 87% of them are reporting that it's had
:14:03. > :14:08.a substantial increase in the number of activities they engaged in
:14:09. > :14:11.including extracurricular activities and 50% increase in the number of
:14:12. > :14:18.specialist PE teachers teaching in primary schools. I was told that
:14:19. > :14:22.school playing fields are subject to strong statutory protections but
:14:23. > :14:26.isn't it the case that sales of school playing fields have been
:14:27. > :14:29.increasing in recent years and is that compatible with the strategy
:14:30. > :14:37.for child health and well-being for which the question asked? My friend
:14:38. > :14:41.raises an extremely good point and I am the Minister that signs off on
:14:42. > :14:45.playing field disposals and something we feel strongly about it
:14:46. > :14:50.shouldn't happen except where it is absolutely necessary, we have a very
:14:51. > :14:53.rigorous process in place and most have either closed or are merged and
:14:54. > :14:58.a lot of them are very small bits around playing field land and we're
:14:59. > :15:04.very clear that we want a low playing fields to be disposed of
:15:05. > :15:09.unless it's absolutely necessary. From the fact that only 18% of girls
:15:10. > :15:13.and 21% of boys achieve the government's recommended level of
:15:14. > :15:18.physical activity and in the light of the cuts to local government in
:15:19. > :15:23.recent years with shrinking sports programmes, does the government has
:15:24. > :15:29.any plans to expand the range of opportunities not just in schools,
:15:30. > :15:31.but in local communities so that all children can have several
:15:32. > :15:37.opportunities to participate in physical activity. I'm sure the
:15:38. > :15:43.noble lady will be pleased to hear that of course we fund sporting
:15:44. > :15:50.decide how to invest in the national lottery funding and part of their
:15:51. > :15:54.strategy, they funded what's called inspired facilities scheme that's
:15:55. > :15:57.invested over 100 million to allow clubs to make major improvements in
:15:58. > :16:04.more than 2000 facilities and as part of their strategy towards an
:16:05. > :16:07.active nation they have set aside a new ?40 million investment which
:16:08. > :16:12.they will use to get more families and children active and they set up
:16:13. > :16:22.a new dedicated fund of 120 million to tackle an activity in the next
:16:23. > :16:26.four years. There are no plans to conduct a formal annual review, the
:16:27. > :16:33.government is committed to providing high-quality early education for all
:16:34. > :16:38.children, we are in investing in addition ?1 million extra a year.
:16:39. > :16:42.Last week we published the National funding form which ensures that this
:16:43. > :16:47.funding is allocated fairly transparently. We will monitor the
:16:48. > :16:52.implementation and are clear that getting the funding right is
:16:53. > :16:57.critical to its successful delivery. I thank the Minister for his reply
:16:58. > :17:03.and for the extension of 30 hours for free childcare to working
:17:04. > :17:09.parents. Given the huge benefits to education and cognitive skills so
:17:10. > :17:16.important to business and industry to physical and mental health in
:17:17. > :17:19.adult hood to remediating poverty, disadvantaged children including
:17:20. > :17:27.looked after children to productivity and high-quality child
:17:28. > :17:31.early years education, will the Minister listen carefully to the
:17:32. > :17:34.concerns of the sector that after this year funding may not be
:17:35. > :17:40.sufficient, his answer was reassuring to some extent. Given we
:17:41. > :17:45.consider that investing in the highest quality early years care and
:17:46. > :17:51.education is essential to an infrastructure for successful
:17:52. > :18:00.economic development. I couldn't agree more that is why we are
:18:01. > :18:04.spending over ?6 billion per year by 2019-20 more than any other
:18:05. > :18:10.government in this country ever. We know we need to get the funding
:18:11. > :18:13.right, our announcement last week for local authorities paid for with
:18:14. > :18:20.additional investment shows we're listening to the sector and the cost
:18:21. > :18:22.of childcare review whilst very thorough and indeed the National
:18:23. > :18:29.Audit Office says it was for a wide-ranging. I declare a sort of
:18:30. > :18:33.interest is a relatively new grandfather. My daughter-in-law has
:18:34. > :18:34.just gone back to work and I know the costs of childcare and how it
:18:35. > :18:57.affects young couples today. We're making good progress. In this
:18:58. > :19:10.area. Last week we confront our funding. Regulations being laid
:19:11. > :19:13.early last month. We've also awarded a new delivery contract of ?3
:19:14. > :19:20.million to childcare works to support local authorities and eight
:19:21. > :19:23.early implementers which are implementing one year early have
:19:24. > :19:30.already delivered over 3500 new childcare places. The family trust
:19:31. > :19:36.argues that the new funding welcome as it is doesn't focus sufficiently
:19:37. > :19:42.on improving quality provision in the settings most likely were
:19:43. > :19:49.disadvantaged children who are particularly need quality care. What
:19:50. > :19:54.is the government doing to improve the quality of care in such settings
:19:55. > :19:59.to ensure that disadvantaged children get that quality provision?
:20:00. > :20:11.I agree with the noble lady on the importance of ensuring this
:20:12. > :20:14.high-quality and for we have an additional needs factor factored
:20:15. > :20:20.into the early years funding formula to better target funding with local
:20:21. > :20:24.authorities whether higher proportion of children with
:20:25. > :20:28.additional needs and the final funding policy confirmed last week
:20:29. > :20:34.it was a new disability access fund worth ?615 per child per year to
:20:35. > :20:36.support disabled three and four-year-olds and a requirement for
:20:37. > :20:43.all local authorities to have inclusion funds to channel
:20:44. > :20:46.additional support to children. Given that supplying appropriate
:20:47. > :20:51.childcare to children with additional needs is expensive, more
:20:52. > :20:56.expensive for the setting itself, but it's also more expensive to
:20:57. > :20:59.train people to be able to recognise children's special needs and be able
:21:00. > :21:04.to deliver appropriate care. What are the government doing to make
:21:05. > :21:07.sure that sufficient early years practitioners are being trained to
:21:08. > :21:11.work with these particularly needy children whose needs have been
:21:12. > :21:17.ignored for many years. We are focused on that. As the noble lady
:21:18. > :21:21.will now we have a massive investment in this area and
:21:22. > :21:29.improving the quality of people coming into the profession and in
:21:30. > :21:33.terms of specific details I will add to her. Investment in early years
:21:34. > :21:44.childcare is one of the most effective means of increasing social
:21:45. > :21:48.mobility. In July 2015 the childcare Minister announced a consultation on
:21:49. > :21:53.the sure start centres that would begin that autumn and we still
:21:54. > :21:59.waiting for the consultation and two weeks ago his successor could only
:22:00. > :22:04.say in a waffling Parliamentary answer that an announcement would be
:22:05. > :22:07.made in due course. The Minister has been there throughout the Minister,
:22:08. > :22:10.is he not embarrassed having to defend our government reneging on a
:22:11. > :22:16.commitment that was so important for the future of children centres? I
:22:17. > :22:20.know that the party opposite always raises this point, an independent
:22:21. > :22:25.study made it quite clear that the number of people accessing the
:22:26. > :22:28.centres had remained remarkably consistent over the last two years
:22:29. > :22:34.even though a number have merged and a number have closed. The important
:22:35. > :22:37.point is the quality and the location and then refer back to the
:22:38. > :22:44.point that no government history has ever invested so much in early years
:22:45. > :22:48.and childcare in this way. I beg leave to ask the question standing
:22:49. > :22:54.on my name in the order paper and draw attention to Mike Commonwealth
:22:55. > :22:59.related interests in the register. In planning the Commonwealth heads
:23:00. > :23:03.of government meeting in 2018 the Department will engage with a full
:23:04. > :23:06.range of Commonwealth stakeholders through our High Commissioner
:23:07. > :23:09.network we have regular discussions with parliamentarians across the
:23:10. > :23:14.Commonwealth. I welcome the CPA conference and its focus on the
:23:15. > :23:16.collaborative Commonwealth. Unfortunately overseas travel
:23:17. > :23:23.commitments prevent my attendance but I do look forward to meeting CPA
:23:24. > :23:27.UK and CPA in January as part of my engagement with Commonwealth
:23:28. > :23:30.organisations. I thank my noble friend for her and Sir, many
:23:31. > :23:34.Commonwealth parliamentarians seem to come here to the UK specifically
:23:35. > :23:38.to be trained in a key part of the role which is how they hold their
:23:39. > :23:43.governments to account. Coming noble friend please outline what mechanism
:23:44. > :23:46.the UK will be modelling to ensure that parliamentarians can indeed do
:23:47. > :23:49.that so they can address the assembled foreign ministers and
:23:50. > :23:57.heads of government whilst they are in the United Kingdom building on
:23:58. > :24:04.CPA UK's work. I welcome the idea my noble friend proposes. About how the
:24:05. > :24:08.parliamentarians from overseas may use them itself. It's important
:24:09. > :24:13.indeed that our colleagues around the Commonwealth, the other 51
:24:14. > :24:18.countries are exposed to the views of their own parliamentarians and
:24:19. > :24:20.take note of them but exposed to the views of civil society and in my
:24:21. > :24:24.negotiations with my contacts and colleagues around the Commonwealth
:24:25. > :24:28.as we will talk with them and consult with them about the agenda I
:24:29. > :24:38.will certainly take forward my noble friend 's idea. Since the
:24:39. > :24:42.Commonwealth consists almost entirely of Parliamentary democracy
:24:43. > :24:48.is, shouldn't there be much more involvement of Parliament. There is
:24:49. > :24:51.very little at the moment and has been very little, surely the
:24:52. > :24:55.opportunity of meeting in the United Kingdom provides as with that
:24:56. > :25:03.opportunity to set a very good example? I had just expressed the
:25:04. > :25:14.view that it's important that Parliamentary democracies do have a
:25:15. > :25:19.way of communicating with the event. The noble Lord will know from his
:25:20. > :25:23.previous experience the agenda itself is agreed by consensus with
:25:24. > :25:27.all members of the Commonwealth and what I have just said is that
:25:28. > :25:30.listening to my noble friend and indeed to the noble Lord in my
:25:31. > :25:36.discussions with my colleagues around Chobham around the membership
:25:37. > :25:39.of the Commonwealth will certainly take forward the idea how best we
:25:40. > :25:44.can ensure there is Parliamentary engagement. A number of developing
:25:45. > :25:49.countries in the Commonwealth and worried that Brexit may damage their
:25:50. > :25:54.ability to trade into the EU especially with the removal of the
:25:55. > :25:59.mighty kingdom and the protective shield that has given them. Given
:26:00. > :26:05.that, does not this meeting seem an excellent time to be assuring them
:26:06. > :26:13.that their interests are being addressed. The lady raises a vital
:26:14. > :26:21.idea but my Lords, throughout the summer, my engagement as High
:26:22. > :26:25.Commissioner with foreign ministers, I have made it clear that I'm
:26:26. > :26:28.listening to their concerns. Although there is no formal
:26:29. > :26:33.consultation process it's absolutely crucial that just one of the members
:26:34. > :26:42.of the Commonwealth we do take their views into account and we should
:26:43. > :26:49.continue to do so. I declare an interest as member of the Royal
:26:50. > :26:54.Commonwealth Society and I want to congratulate my noble friend for
:26:55. > :26:57.raising this issue but can I ask the Minister for the Commonwealth
:26:58. > :27:00.whether she read an interesting speech by the foreign and
:27:01. > :27:05.Commonwealth Secretary last Friday, a strategic speech talking about but
:27:06. > :27:12.in being at the centre of the global network. Doesn't she agree it's
:27:13. > :27:16.rather a pity that no point in that speech it the Foreign Secretary
:27:17. > :27:20.mentioned the Commonwealth, spoke about many Commonwealth countries
:27:21. > :27:23.but no mention of the Commonwealth, when she goes back to the office
:27:24. > :27:31.could she pointed to the Foreign Secretary this unfortunate omission.
:27:32. > :27:36.I find the Foreign Secretary great to work with, great team leader,
:27:37. > :27:42.prepared to listen and give as good as you get. Ministerial team
:27:43. > :27:47.meetings are highly productive and I will certainly reflect upon my noble
:27:48. > :27:51.friend. I should point out for the degree of accuracy, my Minister for
:27:52. > :27:53.the Commonwealth as an institution, my other Minister for the
:27:54. > :28:01.Commonwealth countries and the Caribbean directly but of course
:28:02. > :28:04.other of my colleagues in the Foreign Office have geographical
:28:05. > :28:08.responsibility for individual countries, that's why we're able to
:28:09. > :28:18.engage so consistently and completely with all Commonwealth
:28:19. > :28:21.countries. The spoke compellingly about the engagement of civil
:28:22. > :28:27.society in changing attitudes. Will the noble lady the Minister
:28:28. > :28:33.undertake to repeat a similar roundtable exercise that was
:28:34. > :28:37.undertaken about LGBT rights, particularly a summary countries in
:28:38. > :28:45.the Commonwealth criminalise LGBT people. As I mentioned a moment ago,
:28:46. > :28:50.the agenda is agreed by consensus, but the noble Lord raises a vital
:28:51. > :28:58.point. I can certainly make it clear that having committed ourselves very
:28:59. > :29:00.closely indeed to combating discrimination and violence against
:29:01. > :29:05.LGBT throughout the Commonwealth and having used every opportunity last
:29:06. > :29:10.time to highlight I believe the Commonwealth must stand up for human
:29:11. > :29:14.rights including LGBT rights and I will say that we are working out our
:29:15. > :29:17.plans to ensure that these important messages are indeed delivered when
:29:18. > :29:28.we host them in 2018. Many Commonwealth countries
:29:29. > :29:37.expressed a desire for children to be held in the UK by outside London
:29:38. > :29:45.as there is concern that the Commonwealth is becoming a London
:29:46. > :29:51.centric organisation. In light of this and expertise in countering
:29:52. > :29:56.violent extremism, the main point in the upcoming agenda, what
:29:57. > :30:04.consideration has the government given to children in 2018 to be held
:30:05. > :30:12.in Belfast? The noble lord i-mate has a very strong case for the idea
:30:13. > :30:16.that children should be held outside of London on this occasion and I
:30:17. > :30:22.note the representations have been made very strongly from other parts
:30:23. > :30:25.of the United Kingdom, including for example Manchester and Birmingham,
:30:26. > :30:30.and I know that Downing Street is very carefully considering all those
:30:31. > :30:35.propositions that are being made. During the discussions, will the
:30:36. > :30:40.government put on the agenda the issue of frozen overseas pensions
:30:41. > :30:45.which are really affecting the Commonwealth countries, especially
:30:46. > :30:51.the poorer countries, and the overseas territories? With regard to
:30:52. > :30:54.children, there is an agenda, but it would be something that other
:30:55. > :30:58.members would wish to raise. They have certainly come forward with
:30:59. > :31:06.these issues before. And regarding the overseas territories, we have
:31:07. > :31:10.heard very strongly in the joint ministerial Council in November and
:31:11. > :31:11.I was very pleased that a minister was present to be able to listen to
:31:12. > :31:17.those views and respond.