11/01/2017 Prime Minister's Questions

Questions to the Prime Minister.

Chris Law.

Number one, Mr Speaker.

This morning, I had meetings with ministerial

colleagues and others.

In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such

meetings later today.

A very happy new year to you, Mr Speaker, and I would

like to extend that to everyone in this House.

It has been more than six months since the European referendum.

Embarrassingly for the Prime Minister, the Scottish government

are the only Administration on these islands to have published

a plan on what to do next.

Has she read it yet?

When will she be publishing her own plan?

I join the honourable gentleman in wishing

everybody in the House, not only members, but all the staff

of the House, a very happy new year.

As I said to the Liaison Committee when I appeared in front

of it before Christmas, I will, in a matter of weeks,

be setting out some more details of our proposals on this issue.

I would like just to remind him, when he talks about

the Scottish Government's plan, that of course it is his party,

the Scottish Nationalist Party, that wants to leave the United Kingdom

and therefore leave the European Union.

Westinghouse's Springfields site in my constituency employs more

than 1,200 people in highly skilled jobs manufacturing nuclear fuel,

which generates 15% of the UK's electricity.

Does my right honourable friend agree that the nuclear industry

is of crucial importance to the north-west economy?

Will she continue to support the construction of a new generation

of nuclear power stations to guarantee jobs in the region?

I certainly agree with my honourable friend that new nuclear does

have a crucial role to play in securing our future energy needs,

especially as we are looking to move to a low-carbon society.

The industrial strategy that the government will be setting

out will have a strong emphasis on the role of regions in supporting

economic growth and ensuring that the economy works for everyone.

Like him, I very much welcome the proposals from NuGen and Toshiba

to develop a new nuclear power station at Moorside in Cumbria.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

continues to work closely with NuGen and other developers as they bring

their proposals forward.

I call Jeremy Corbyn.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

It is nice to get such a warm welcome, and may I wish all members,

as well as all members of staff in the House, a happy new year?

I hope the whole House will join me, I am sure it will, in paying

tribute to 22-year-old Lance Corporal Scott Hetherington,

who died in a "non-combat" incident in Iraq last Monday.

I am sure the whole House will also join in sending its heartfelt

condolences to the family and friends of seven-year-old

Katie Rough, who tragically died in York earlier this week.

I think it is right that we send condolences to her family.

Last week, 485 people in England spent more than 12 hours on trolleys

in hospital corridors.

The Red Cross described this as a "humanitarian crisis."

I called on the Prime Minister to come to Parliament on Monday,

but she did not, she sent the Health Secretary.

But does she agree with him that the best way to solve

the crisis of the four-hour wait is to fiddle the figures so that

people are not seen to be waiting so long on trolleys

in NHS hospitals?

First, may I join the right honourable gentleman

in sending our condolences to the family of Lance Corporal

Hetherington, who, as he said, died in a non-combat

incident in Iraq?

From everything I have seen and read about Lance Corporal Hetherington,

he was a very fine young man.

He delighted in being in the armed forces, and we are proud that

such a fine young man was in our armed forces.

I also join the right honourable gentleman in expressing condolences

to the family and friends of little Katie, who died so tragically.

The right honourable gentleman talks about the pressures on the NHS,

and we acknowledge that there are pressures on the

National Health Service.

There are always extra pressures on the NHS

during the winter but, of course, we have at the moment

those added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex

needs of the population.

He also refers to the British Red Cross's term, "humanitarian crisis."

I have to say to him that I think we have all seen humanitarian

crises around the world, and to use that description

of a National Health Service that last year saw 2.5 million more

people treated in accident and emergency than six years ago

was irresponsible and overblown.

Some 1.8 million people had to wait longer than four hours in A

departments last year.

The Prime Minister might not like what the Red Cross said,

but on the same day the British Medical Association said

that "conditions in hospitals across the country are reaching

"a dangerous level."

The Royal College of Nursing has said that NHS conditions

are the worst ever.

The Royal College of Physicians has told the Prime Minister

that the NHS is "under-funded, under-doctored and overstretched."

If she will not listen to the Red Cross, who will she listen to?

I have said to the right honourable gentleman that I of course

acknowledge that there are pressures on the National Health Service.

The government have put extra funding into

the National Health Service.

The fact is that we are seeing more people being treated in our NHS:

2,500 more people are treated within four hours every day

in the National Health Service because of the government putting

in extra funding and because of the hard work of medical

professionals in our National Health Service.

It is not just a question of targets for the health service,

although we continue to have a commitment

to the four-hour target, as the Health Secretary

has made clear.

It is a question of making sure that people are provided

with the appropriate care for them, and the best possible care for them

in their circumstances.

The right honourable lady seems to be in some degree

of denial about this.

She will not listen to professional organisations that have

spent their whole lifetimes doing their best for the NHS,

but will she listen to Sian, who works for the NHS?

She has a 22-month-old nephew.

He went into hospital, but there was no bed.

He was treated on two plastic chairs pushed together with a blanket.

Sian says that "one of the nurses told my sister that it's always

"like this nowadays."

She says to us all: "Surely we should strive

"to do better than this."

Do the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary think

that is an acceptable way to treat a 22-month-old child

in need of help?

I accept that there have been a small number of incidents

in which unacceptable practices have taken place.

We do not want those things to happen, but what matters

is how you deal with them, which is why it is so important

that the NHS looks into the issues when unacceptable incidents have

taken place and learns lessons from them.

I come back to the point that I was making earlier: the right

honourable gentleman talks about the hard-working health care

professionals, like Sian, in the National Health Service,

and indeed we should be grateful for all those

who are working in the NHS, but on the Tuesday after Christmas

we saw the busiest day ever in the National Health Service,

and over the few weeks around Christmas we saw the day

on which more people were treated in accident and emergency

within four hours than ever before.

That is the reality of our National Health Service.

We all thank NHS staff and we all praise NHS staff,

but the Prime Minister's government are proposing, through

sustainability and transformation, to cut one third of the beds

in all of our hospitals in the very near future.

On Monday, she spoke about mental health and doing

more to help people, particularly young people,

with those conditions, which I welcome, except that last

night the BBC revealed that, over five years, there had been

an 89% increase in young people with mental health issues having

to go to A departments.

Does she not agree that the ?1.25 billion committed to child

and adolescent mental health in 2015 should have been ring-fenced rather

than used as a resource to be raided to plug other holes

in other budgets in the NHS?

If we look at what is happening with mental health treatment

in the National Health Service, we see 1,400 more people every day

accessing mental health services.

When I spoke about this issue on Monday, I said

that there is of course more for us to do, this is not a problem that

will be resolved overnight.

I have set out ways in which we will see an improvement in the services

in relation to mental health, but it is about the appropriate

care for the individual.

As I mentioned earlier, that is not just about accident and emergency.

When I was in Aldershot on Monday, I spoke to service users with mental

health problems who said that they did not want to go to A

The provision of alternative services has meant that the A

locally has seen its numbers stabilising rather than going up.

It is about the appropriate care for the individual.

We want to see that good practice spread across the whole country.

Nobody wants people with mental health conditions to go to A

departments, the A departments do not want them to go there.

Under this government, there are 6,000 fewer nurses and 400

fewer doctors working in mental health.

It is obvious that these people will go somewhere to try to get

help when they are in a desperate situation.

Our NHS is under huge pressure.

Much of that is caused by cuts to social care,

which the Royal College of Physicians says "are pushing more

"people into our hospitals and trapping them there for longer."

Will the Prime Minister do what my honourable

friend the member for Leicester South Jonathan Ashworth

has called for and bring forward now the extra ?700 million allocated

in 2019 and put it into social care so that we do not have this problem

of people staying too long in hospital when they should be

cared for by a social care system?

The right honourable gentleman asked me those questions in the last

PMQs before Christmas.

He may find it difficult to believe that somebody will say the same

thing that they said a few weeks ago, but we have put extra

money into social care.

In the medium term, we are ensuring that best practice

is spread across the country.

He talks about delayed discharges.

Some local authorities, which work with their health service

locally, have virtually no delayed discharges.

Some 50%, half of the delayed discharges, are in only 24

local authority areas.

What does that tell us?

It tells us that it is about not just funding, but best practice.

If he comes back to me and talks to me about funding again,

he should think on this: we can only fund social care and the NHS

if we have a strong economy, and we will only have that

with the Conservatives.

I am sorry to have to bring the Prime Minister back

to the subject of social care, which I raised before Christmas.

The reason I did so, and will continue to do so,

is that she has not addressed the problem.

The government have cut ?4.6 billion from the social care budget.

The King's Fund says that there is a social care funding

gap of almost ?2 billion this year.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister said

that she wanted to create a "shared society."

Well, we certainly have that: more people sharing hospital

corridors on trolleys, more people sharing waiting

areas in A departments, and more people sharing

in the anxiety created by this government.

Our NHS is in crisis, but the Prime Minister is in denial.

May I suggest to her that, on the economic question,

she should cancel the corporate tax cuts, and spend the money

where it is needed, on people in desperate need in social care

and in our hospitals?

The right honourable gentleman talks about a crisis.

I suggest he listens to the right honourable member

for Don Valley, Caroline Flint, a former Labour Health Minister,

who said that, with Labour, "It's always about crisis,

"the NHS is on its knees.

"We've got to be a bit more grown up about this."

And he talks to me about restoring the cuts in corporation tax.

The Labour party has already spent that money eight times.

The last thing the NHS needs is a cheque from Labour that bounces.

The only way that we can ensure that we have funding

for the National Health Service is with a strong economy.

Yesterday, the right honourable gentleman proved

that he is not only incompetent, but that he would destroy

our economy, and that would devastate our

National Health Service.

Cyber-bullying, sexting and revenge pornography are part

of British teenage life today, so is a rapid increase in mental

health problems among our teenagers.

How is the Prime Minister helping to tackle the pressures that

teenagers face in Britain today?

My right honourable friend raises an important point.

One of the things I spoke about, when I spoke about mental health

on Monday, was trying to ensure that we can provide some better

training for staff and teachers in schools to identify the early

stages of mental health problems for young people,

so that those problems can be addressed.

Something like half of all mental health problems start

before the age of 14, so this is a real issue

that we need to address.

We are going to look at how we can provide that training.

We will also review the mental health services provided for young

people to ensure that we can identify what is working and make

sure that good practice is spread across the country.

May I begin with a tribute to Father George Thompson,

who died shortly before Christmas?

He led a remarkable life as a teacher, as a priest and as

the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Galloway.

We extend our sympathies to his family.

All of us in this House and across these islands care

about the peace process and about the democratic

institutions in Northern Ireland, so may I wish the Prime Minister

well and the Taoiseach, the Northern Ireland Secretary

and the political parties all the best in trying

to resolve the serious political difficulties there?

Will the Prime Minister tell us what the consequences will be if no

agreement can be found?

First, may I join the right honourable gentleman in offering

condolences to the family and friends of

the Rev George Thompson, who, as he says, was the MP for Galloway

between 1974 and 1979 and, I believe, was the first former MP

in modern times to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest.

On the issue that the right honourable gentleman raises

about the political situation in Northern Ireland,

we are obviously treating this with the utmost seriousness.

As he will know, my right honourable friend the Northern Ireland

Secretary made a statement in the House earlier this

week on this issue.

He has spoken to the First Minister and the former

Deputy First Minister, and he is urging all parties to work

together to find a way forward.

I have also spoken to the Taoiseach about this issue, so we are putting

every effort into this.

The legislation says that if, within seven days,

we do not have a nomination for a Deputy First Minister,

the matter would go to an election.

The Prime Minister has indicated that she wants to take the views

of the elected representatives and the devolved institutions

on Brexit seriously.

So it stands to reason then that if there is no

Northern Ireland Assembly and no Northern Ireland Executive for much

of the time before the March timetable that she has set

for invoking article 50, she will be unable to consult properly,

to discuss fully and to find agreement on the complex

issues during this period.

In these circumstances, will the Prime Minister postpone

invoking article 50...

Or will she just plough on regardless?

As the right honourable gentleman says, we want to ensure that we do

hear the views from all parts of the United Kingdom.

That is why we have established the JMC European committee

specifically to take views, and the JMC plenary,

which is also obviously meeting more frequently than previously.

I am clear that, first of all, we want to try to ensure that,

within this period of seven days, we can find a resolution

to the political situation in Northern Ireland,

so that we can to see the Assembly government continuing.

But I am also clear that, in the discussions that we have,

it will be possible, it is still the case that Ministers

are in place and that, obviously, there are executives in place,

that we are still able to take the views of

the Northern Ireland people.

Closed question, Mr Michael Fabricant.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Uh...

Apologies for...

The fundamentals of the UK s economy are strong,

including in Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

Employment in Staffordshire has risen by over 20,000 since 2010.

We have protected schools and police budgets.

We see more doctors and more nurses in the Burton hospitals trust.

Of course, we are going further than this in the West Midlands

by giving new powers to the West Midlands

with the devolution deal

and with the election of a directly elected Mayor.

I have to say that I think Andy Street, with his business

and local experience, would be a very good Mayor

for the West Midlands.

Michael Fabricant.

I thank my right honourable friend the Prime Minister for that answer.

Unemployment in my constituency, my beautiful Lichfield

constituency, is around 0.7%, and that is fantastic,

but I want it even lower.

I found out that 24% of my constituents work in the area

of the West Midlands Combined Authority, so can I press my right

honourable friend just a little further about what she thinks

is needed in the West Midlands Combined Authority to improve

employment still more.

I thank my honourable

friend, and, of course,

I have had the advantage of having visited his beautiful constituency.

But in relation to the Midlands, we have a very strong ambition

to make the Midlands an engine for growth in the UK.

That is why we have plans for the Midlands engine

that demonstrate that, when we say we are going to build

an economy that works for everyone, we actually mean it.

In the autumn statement, my right honourable friend

the Chancellor confirmed things such as the ?5 million for a Birmingham

rail hub and a ?250 million Midlands engine investment fund,

and we will shortly be publishing a strategy for the Midlands engine.

But I repeat the point that I made - for the West Midlands,

having the devolution deal, having the Mayor and having

the right person elected as Mayor, who I think will be Andy Street,

is absolutely crucial.

Happy New Year, Mr Speaker.

Sir Ivan Rogers, in his resignation letter, said that people may

have to deliver messages to the Government that ministers

may find disagreeable.

So here is a message that the Prime Minister may find

disagreeable.

Her lack of priority for the single market

is putting jobs in Scotland and the economy at risk.

That means her Government are as big a threat to the Union as the SNP.

Her Government are not worthy of the trust of Scots,

let alone their blind trust, so will the Prime Minister take this

opportunity to apologise for threatening the Union and give

a solemn promise to every single person in this country

that they will not be a penny worse off after a Tory Brexit?

The honourable gentleman will be very well aware

that I want to see the best possible trade deal for the United Kingdom

with the EU and the best possible deal for trading with and operating

within the single European market.

When we enter the negotiations, obviously, that is one of the issues

that I have said that I want to see, and we will be out there

and be delivering on it.

Unlike the sort of downplaying that he

does about the approach that we are taking, I have

to say that it is this Government that is ambitious

for the opportunities that are available to this country once

we leave the European Union.

Cheshire schools in areas of rurality and areas of high

deprivation will receive some of the lowest per-pupil funding

rates in the country under the new proposed funding formula.

Does the Prime Minister agree that these discrepancies must be

addressed to ensure that Eddisbury pupils get the best

possible start in life?

I think everybody recognises that the way that schools

have been funded in the past has been unfair and many pupils

have been missing out.

That is why I think it is right for us to look at bringing forward

a new fair funding formula, making sure that funding is attached

to children s needs.

Of course we recognise the particular issues

of rural areas in this, and that is why, within the fair

funding formula, additional funding for such schools has been included.

But, of course, the Department for Education has this out

for consultation at the moment, and I would urge my honourable

friend to make her representations as part of that consultation.

Dewsbury hospital A is set for a downgrade this year.

Over Christmas, I had constituents who were waiting 20 hours for a bed

in a facility that might not even exist next year.

Would the Prime Minister please face reality and act now

to stop this vital A service from disappearing?

What the honourable lady

is referring to, of course, is the plans that are being put

forward at local level to consider...

Order.

There is far too much noise.

I must say to the honourable member

for Dewsbury that if she were behaving like this

in another public place she would probably be subject

to an antisocial behaviour order.

I return to the point, Mr Speaker.

Decisions about services in the local area are rightly taken

by the local National Health Service, because we believe

that it is local clinicians, and also local patients and leaders,

who know what is best for their areas.

So it is about trying to tailor the services to provide the best

possible services for the needs of local people, modernising

the care and facilities, and making services appropriate

to the local area.

This trust has an extensive improvement plan to ensure that both

hospitals within it can care for patients attending

accident and emergency in as timely a way as possible.

Next Thursday evening, I will host the first session

of the Bedford Community Business School, free of charge and open

to all, with 250 local people sharing a passion

for entrepreneurship and learning tips about business from national

and local business leaders.

Will my right honourable friend ensure that her forthcoming

industrial strategy has at its heart the passion and the interest

of Britain s small business leaders and entrepreneurs?

I can absolutely give my honourable friend that commitment.

What is important is that the industrial strategy will be

looking to the economy of the future - what is the sort of economy

we want in this country?

Crucial to that will be the growth that is generated by entrepreneurs

and by small businesses, by the very passion that he has spoken about.

We want to see an environment in which those who can grow can

emerge and develop to provide future jobs for people and contribute

to the strength of our economy.

That is what the industrial strategy is about.

I absolutely agree

with my honourable friend.

The Prime Minister, I am sure, will understand,

despite the reassurances, that there are genuine and really

serious concerns among staff across the NHS and the care system,

and patients and their families, about the pressure

that they are under.

For that reason, MPs from her own party, from the Labour

party and from my party have come together to call for the Government

to establish an NHS and care convention to engage

with the public, so that we can come up with a long-term settlement

for the NHS and care.

Would the Prime Minister be prepared to meet us to discuss it,

so that she can hear our case?

I recognise, obviously, the interest

and the attention that the right honourable gentleman has

given to these issues and of course, he is a former

Health Minister himself, and I would be happy to meet him

and others, as he suggests.

There can be nothing as distressing for a parent

as the death of their child, particularly where that

child has been murdered.

That is what happened to the two ladies, one of them

a constituent of mine, who set up Justice After Acquittal,

successfully campaigning for voluntary national standards

of support by the Crown Prosecution Service and by the police

for the families of murder victims following an acquittal.

Those standards are due to be launched here next Tuesday.

Would the Prime Minister join with me in paying tribute

to the determination and energy with which they have

campaigned for their cause, and will she continue to ensure,

as she always has done, that the voices of the victims

of crime and their families are always listened to?

My honourable friend raises a very important point.

I am very happy to join him in paying tribute

to these two campaigners.

Indeed, I am sure that the whole House would want to pay tribute

to the work that they are doing.

As he says, I remain committed to ensuring that the voices

of victims are heard.

That is what I did when I was Home Secretary,

if we look at issues such as introducing new measures

to tackle modern slavery, strengthening the Independent Police

Complaints Commission and legislating in relation

to police complaints and discipline systems to strengthen public

confidence in policing, and a number of other actions that

I took.

I am very pleased to say that my right honourable friend

the current Home Secretary is taking that same passion to ensuring

that the voices of the victims of crime are heard and is

taking that forward.

Across the United Kingdom, many banks are accelerating

their closure of local branches, with adverse effects on vulnerable

and older people and adverse effects on the high street.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is closing down branches

across Scotland, including those at Juniper Green and Chesser

in my constituency.

Local convenience stores are taking the strain of processing bills

and often face exorbitant bank charges for the privilege

of doing that.

Will the Prime Minister meet me to discuss how we can realise

a situation where banking across the UK services customers

and the real economy?

The issue of bank branches and, indeed, of the accessibility

of bank services is one that is for individual banks

themselves to take and consider, and of course there are many ways

in which people are now accessing bank services other

than by going physically into an actual bank branch,

but I will certainly look

at the issue that the honourable and learned lady has raised.

Building a country that works for everyone means doing even more

to tackle the economic and social deprivation that has come to afflict

pockets of seaside towns such as Rhyl in my constituency.

Will my right honourable friend therefore support Growth Track 360 -

a locally developed plan to invest in rail infrastructure to help

unlock the true potential of the north Wales and Mersey-Dee

economic region as an integral part of the northern powerhouse,

connected to the rest of the country via the proposed HS2 hub at Crewe?

Can I say to my honourable friend that I welcome

the establishment of the north Wales

and Mersey-Dee rail taskforce and the work that it is doing.

The plan that my honourable friend

mentions sets out an ambitious programme

of improvements for the area, and I am sure it will be

prioritising the most promising options.

I can say to him that the Department for Transport will continue to work

closely with the taskforce and with the Welsh Government

to consider what can be jointly accomplished.

As Pensions Minister, Steve Webb misled the public about the value

of the single-rate pension.

He also gave us the Pensions Act 2011.

He was rightly booted out by the voters, yet is now deemed

suitable for a knighthood.

Does the Prime Minister not understand that,

unless this Government take action to help the struggling WASPI women,

that knighthood is the final insult to these women?

Action has been taken on the issue in relation

to women s pensions.

The Government took action to ensure that the number of people

who were affected and the period for which they were affected

would be reduced, and money was put in to ensure that that was possible.

If the honourable gentleman looks at the new structure

that is being put in place for pensions, he will see that women

will actually be some of the greater beneficiaries of the new structure.

I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has raised awareness

of the importance of child mental health this week, not least

because 65% of young people requiring mental health support

in south Warwickshire last year had to wait over 12 weeks

before starting treatment.

Can my right honourable friend outline how the new proposals

will improve our support network for such vulnerable young people?

Well, my honourable friend raises an important issue,

which was of course alluded to earlier in this session

of PMQs.

We are investing more in mental health than ever before - we

are spending a record ?11.4 billion a year -

and it was of course the Conservative-led Government that

introduced parity of esteem

between mental and physical health, but as I said earlier,

there is more for us to do in ensuring that appropriate care

is available for people.

I cited an example earlier of where I saw excellent work

being done to provide care and support for people in

the community, which was relieving pressure on accident and emergency,

but also ensuring that people were getting the best

possible care for them, and that is obviously

what we want to see.

The strained accident and emergency provision

in my constituency is under review, and the community further up

the Cumbrian coast risks losing 24-hour access to accident

and emergency and to consultant-led maternity from its local hospital.

I understand that the Prime Minister will say that these decisions

are to be made locally, but will she at least say

that she can understand the anxiety of expectant mums who face a 40-mile

journey on difficult roads, which are often blocked,

if they have a difficult birth?

Can I say to the honourable gentleman that I think the problems

that are facing the health service

in Cumbria are widely recognised, and I do understand the concerns

of local people about the services that will be available for them.

We have put robust national support in place to address some

of the long-standing challenges in Cumbria, and we are developing

a lasting plan to deliver the high-quality, sustainable

services that patients rightly expect.

He is right that these specific decisions

are being taken locally, and no final decisions

have been taken.

I recognise the concern that he has raised previously,

particularly about services at West Cumberland Hospital.

There will be considerable involvement in taking those

decisions, but as I say, we do recognise the local concerns

about some of the long-standing challenges for health service

provision in Cumbria.

I know from my career in medicine that the men and women

of our East Midlands ambulance service do a brave and sterling job

for the people of Sleaford and North Hykeham and others,

saving people s lives every day.

East Midlands ambulance service responded to a total of 11,662

999 calls over the Christmas bank holiday weekend alone,

2,500 of which were in Lincolnshire.

Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute

to their dedication, particularly over the busy winter

period, and tell the House what more the Government can do

to support our ambulance services and improve response times in rural

areas like Sleaford and North Hykeham?

Can I thank my honourable friend for her question,

and also for bringing her personal experience as a medical

professional in relation to this issue?

I am very happy to join her in paying tribute to the men

and women of the ambulance service for the dedication and

commitment that they show.

She asks what the Government have been doing.

We recognise that ambulance services are very busy.

That's why we see over 2,000 more paramedics now compared with 2010,

and we are increasing paramedic training places by over

60% this year.

Also, the Department of Health, NHS Employers and ambulance

unions have agreed changes to the compensation for paramedics,

potentially giving them a pay increase of up to ?14,000

as they progress.

But we recognise the excellent work that they do.

Can I commend the Prime Minister

for her considered statement last night and, indeed, for the words

that she has given this afternoon?

She knows our commitment to the institutions

in Northern Ireland, but would she agree that nothing

can be, or should be, gained from threatening the peace

process, the progress that we have made or the institutions

that we have fought so hard to sustain in Northern Ireland?

Well, the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland

has been hard won, and we must all recognise that we don't want

to put that progress in jeopardy.

That is why it is so important for the Government,

and for all parties, to work as hard as we can to see

a resolution to this issue, so that we can see a return

to the power-sharing institutions and ensure,

as we say, that the hard-won progress can be continued.

Can I warmly welcome what my right

honourable friend said

health earlier this week, but may I draw her attention

to another burning injustice?

My constituent Paula Edwards has been battling cancer for four years.

She is recovering from an operation and has taken 28 weeks off work.

She is still employed and is on half pay, yet her working tax

credits have been stopped, which means that she is worrying

about how she's making ends meet rather than on her recovery.

Will my right honourable friend ask the Treasury to look at this,

perhaps in the course of Budget preparations?

I thank my right honourable friend for her comments

about the mental health announcements that I have made.

I'm sorry to hear of the particular difficulties that her constituent

is experiencing and the distress that they have caused her.

Of course, working tax credits provide support for low-income

families in work and are designed to incentivise people

to increase their working hours.

We will be, obviously, with the new universal credit system,

have a system of benefits with single, streamlined payments

that encourages work, but I am sure the Financial Secretary

to the Treasury would be happy to look at the individual case

that my right honourable friend has raised and the issue

that she has set out.

Order.