Browse content similar to 05/05/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Hello, and welcome to Thursday In Parliament, | 0:00:12 | 0:00:17 | |
our look at the best of the day | 0:00:17 | 0:00:19 | |
in the Commons and the Lords. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:21 | |
On this programme, a minister annonces a pause in the | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
introduction of controversial new contracts for junior doctors. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:26 | |
Peers react positively. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:30 | |
My Lords, I am surprised but delighted after the | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
initial news this morning. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:36 | |
The public will greatly welcome the magnanimity | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
of Her Majesty's Government. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:41 | |
Of course, I would make the point that most junior doctors | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
work seven days a week anyway. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:45 | |
There's condemnation of David Cameron's tactics | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
at Prime Minister's Questions. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
Yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions showed to | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
me, if to nobody else, that there ain't no gutter low | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
enough for the Prime Minister to slop around in. | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
And the moment the Farming Minister had | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
to state a Government position he doesn't agree with. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
The Government position is that we should remain in | 0:01:04 | 0:01:06 | |
the European Union. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:11 | |
You will also be aware that I have exercised the option | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
granted by the PM to disagree with the Government on this | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
particular issue. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:17 | |
But first, a breakthrough in the long-running | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
junior doctors dispute in England has been | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
signalled in the House of Lords. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
Many thousands of hospital operations have been postponed in | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
the several days of strike action carried out by the junior doctors, | 0:01:29 | 0:01:33 | |
who are unhappy about new working contracts. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
In particular, they are asking for improved rates of pay | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
for weekend working. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
Two months ago, the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said | 0:01:40 | 0:01:43 | |
he would impose the new contract if no agreement was reached. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:49 | |
A health minister in the House of Lords has | 0:01:49 | 0:01:51 | |
announced an important new development in the dispute. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:53 | |
My Lords, my right honourable friend, | 0:01:53 | 0:01:58 | |
the Secretary of State for Health, will write to the Academy of Medical | 0:01:58 | 0:02:01 | |
Royal Colleges later this morning explaining that we are willing to | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
pause introduction of the new contract for five days from Monday, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:13 | |
should the Junior Doctors Committee agree to focus discussion on the | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
outstanding contractual issues, namely unsocial hours | 0:02:17 | 0:02:18 | |
and Saturday pay. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:20 | |
My Lords, I am surprised but delighted after the initial news | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
this morning that the Department of Health has agreed to enter into | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
discussions with the junior doctors. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:31 | |
I hope that both sides will enter this discussion in the spirit of | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
finding a resolution, rather than finding faults | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
in the discussions. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
I'm sure the talk will resolve the issue because, as far as I am | 0:02:39 | 0:02:43 | |
concerned, striking is not the answer. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:47 | |
Anything that prolongs that exercise is detrimental to patient care. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
Is my noble friend aware that the public | 0:02:50 | 0:02:52 | |
will greatly welcome the | 0:02:52 | 0:02:53 | |
magnanimity of Her Majesty's Government? | 0:02:53 | 0:02:54 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:02:54 | 0:02:59 | |
In willingly going forward to have further discussions | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
over a short period. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
But at the same time, and I can only speak from | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
having talked to some of my former constituents | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
in Northampton, the public | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
does want to know what is the benefit | 0:03:14 | 0:03:16 | |
to both the public and the | 0:03:16 | 0:03:17 | |
junior doctors from this new contract? | 0:03:17 | 0:03:23 | |
The Government's approach has been cack-handed | 0:03:23 | 0:03:24 | |
throughout the process. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
It would have been much better if, instead of | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
initially rejecting this proposal, the Government had accepted it | 0:03:30 | 0:03:35 | |
rather than actually now setting some new conditions. | 0:03:35 | 0:03:38 | |
Obviously, we hope the outcome of this will be | 0:03:38 | 0:03:40 | |
successful and it will be resolved. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
The question I put to the noble lord, | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
the minister, is this, at the | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
end of this process, we are left with thousands of junior doctors | 0:03:49 | 0:03:54 | |
disengaged from the service because of the circumstances of the dispute | 0:03:54 | 0:03:59 | |
and the alarmist statements issued by the Secretary of State. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:04 | |
Will my lord's part of the discussions look | 0:04:04 | 0:04:06 | |
at how the junior doctors | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
are to be brought back into the fold and given the support they | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
so richly deserve? | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
My Lords, I think there is a general recognition that many of | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
the issues that have lain behind the dispute over the contract | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
are not actually involved in the contract | 0:04:21 | 0:04:24 | |
itself, it is about how junior doctors are trained, | 0:04:24 | 0:04:27 | |
how they are valued, how they are integrated into | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
hospitals and into the workforce. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:36 | |
While the whole house welcomes this pause, | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
I hope whatever happens there will be an opportunity for an | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
independent review to look at the very | 0:04:44 | 0:04:45 | |
points that were made earlier on | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
about the lack of value, lack of appreciation, | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
lack of support for junior doctors. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
If there is one thing that this dispute last week | 0:04:55 | 0:04:59 | |
has shown is that when consultants actually | 0:04:59 | 0:05:00 | |
man the front door of the hospital, | 0:05:00 | 0:05:02 | |
the services are very much better. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:07 | |
Does the Minister accept that what he said this morning, | 0:05:07 | 0:05:10 | |
welcome though it may be, is really rather too late? | 0:05:10 | 0:05:13 | |
Trust is the most important element when it comes to | 0:05:13 | 0:05:15 | |
provision of medical services. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
The Secretary of State has lost the trust | 0:05:19 | 0:05:21 | |
already, not only of the junior doctors, | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
but also of a very large percentage of the general | 0:05:24 | 0:05:29 | |
public and it has to be said, actually, | 0:05:29 | 0:05:31 | |
the BMA has also lost the trust | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
of a certain percentage of the public. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:34 | |
Of course, I would make the point | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
that most junior doctors work seven days a week anyway. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
But will the Minister accept that the | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
imposition of this contract, if it is done at the end of the pause | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
period, is not the only way of achieving | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
the Government's objective? | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
And further discussions with those who actually provide those | 0:05:50 | 0:05:55 | |
services may very well find an even better way of providing those | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
seven-day services to the patients? | 0:05:58 | 0:06:02 | |
All I would say today is that we have an opportunity over the next | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
five days for the BMA and the Government | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
to find a resolution to this | 0:06:07 | 0:06:10 | |
and I think if we can find a resolution to this | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
issue, it will make the implementation | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
of seven-day working across the NHS much easier. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
Does the Minister remember the EU Working Time Directive, | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
which was, a few years ago, touted as being disastrous for | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
the training of junior doctors and would make it | 0:06:25 | 0:06:31 | |
completely impossible for junior doctors to be trained? | 0:06:31 | 0:06:38 | |
Now that the Government is trying to push our junior doctors to work | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
longer hours over more days, does it mean all the fuss over the | 0:06:41 | 0:06:47 | |
EU Working Time Directive was a myth? | 0:06:47 | 0:06:47 | |
Or is this in an entirely different category? | 0:06:47 | 0:06:48 | |
No, I think the noble lord has misunderstood the contract. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:53 | |
The number of hours are actually coming | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
down, not going up. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:56 | |
Lord Prior. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:01 | |
The ugliest Prime Minister's Questions in years, that was how one | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
Westminster sketch writer summed up Wednesday's exchanges at | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
the Dispatch Box between David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
The Prime Minister repeatedly accused Labour's | 0:07:11 | 0:07:12 | |
candidate for London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, | 0:07:12 | 0:07:14 | |
of sharing platforms with | 0:07:14 | 0:07:15 | |
Islamist sympathisers. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:19 | |
Jeremy Corbyn suggested the Conservatives had | 0:07:19 | 0:07:22 | |
problems with racism and said they should set up an enquiry. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:27 | |
One day on, the Shadow Commons Leader made | 0:07:27 | 0:07:29 | |
plain his views about David Cameron's tactics. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
Yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions showed to me, | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
if to nobody else, that there ain't no gutter low enough for the | 0:07:36 | 0:07:39 | |
Prime Minister to slop around in. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:41 | |
That kind of despicable smearing of one's | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
opponents, I think, degrades the whole of politics. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
And I would just say gently to the Government that those | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
who live by the gutter die in the gutter. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
I am absolutely certain that | 0:07:53 | 0:07:54 | |
kind of politics is not welcome for the British voters. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
What a year it has been(!) | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
Every single economic target missed! | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
Growth forecast constantly downgraded, debt up, | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
homelessness up, the use of food banks up by 19%. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
Absolute child poverty set to rise. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
NHS waiting lists up, libraries closed. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:14 | |
Mr Speaker, what a load of twaddle we | 0:08:14 | 0:08:17 | |
have just head from the Shadow Leader. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
Let's be clear, what we have spent the last 12 months doing is | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
fulfilling the trust the public put in us at the general election | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
last year when we defeated the Labour Party. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
Mr Speaker, if you look at the things this Government | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
has actually done, we have introduced new powers to turn around | 0:08:34 | 0:08:36 | |
failing schools, we have paved the way for | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
the Northern Powerhouse, we have passed | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
the EU Referendum Act, we have provided substantial new | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
powers of devolution to Scotland. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
We have paved the way for | 0:08:45 | 0:08:47 | |
the national living wage. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:49 | |
We have passed English votes for English laws. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:51 | |
We have passed a childcare act, which | 0:08:51 | 0:08:53 | |
doubles the amount of free childcare each week. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:55 | |
We have taken further important steps to consolidate peace | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
in Northern Ireland. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
Mr Speaker, we need an urgent statement on what is | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
going on with the investigation of the Conservative Party for breaking | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
campaign spending rules in last year's general election. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:09 | |
Mr Speaker, the claims are absolutely | 0:09:09 | 0:09:15 | |
extraordinary and centres round Conservative candidates, | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
28 Conservative candidates, failing to register the use | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
of a battle bus for local campaigning and something | 0:09:20 | 0:09:22 | |
like ?38,000 of accommodation for local campaigns. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
Mr Speaker, if anybody is found guilty of such a charge, | 0:09:26 | 0:09:30 | |
it could result in one year imprisonment and an unlimited fine. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
Surely we must now hear what the Government's view on this | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
is and there must be no whiff or suggestion | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
that this Government cheated its way to power. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
It is for proper authorities to address issues | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
whenever they arise and I have been very | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
careful to say that that is the case | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
where those issues affected | 0:09:48 | 0:09:49 | |
the Scottish Nationalists as well, | 0:09:49 | 0:09:50 | |
as we have seen in recent months. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:51 | |
Chris Grayling. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:55 | |
Now, is it the source of the vast majority of problems that British | 0:09:55 | 0:10:00 | |
farmers face or is it a crucial market for meat exports? | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
Both views of the European Union were on | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
display at Environment Questions, coming from two different ministers | 0:10:06 | 0:10:08 | |
in the same department. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:13 | |
The exchanges began with a Conservative MP, who supports a | 0:10:13 | 0:10:15 | |
British exit from the EU, asking about the contribution that | 0:10:15 | 0:10:20 | |
technology could make to increasing the productivity of farming. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:25 | |
Will he agree with me that the implementation burden of vast | 0:10:25 | 0:10:28 | |
changes, like this year's common agricultural policy, make it | 0:10:28 | 0:10:30 | |
difficult to realise all these benefits? | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
And can he agree with me that there is a simple solution, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
which is to vote to leave the EU? | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Mr Speaker, as my honourable friend knows, | 0:10:41 | 0:10:44 | |
the Government position is that we should remain | 0:10:44 | 0:10:45 | |
in the European Union. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:50 | |
He will also be aware that I have exercised | 0:10:50 | 0:10:52 | |
the option granted by the PM | 0:10:52 | 0:10:55 | |
to disagree with the Government on this particular issue. | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
From a personal perspective, I would simply | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
say that the vast majority of problems that farmers complain to me | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
about are the consequence of dysfunctional EU legislation. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:09 | |
But his boss, the Environment Secretary, | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
took a rather different view when it was her turn | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
to answer questions. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
The farming community of Lincolnshire will be gathered | 0:11:17 | 0:11:23 | |
together on the 22nd and 23rd of June for the Lincolnshire Show. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:25 | |
If my right honourable friend is not doing anything | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
on those particular days, and if she will find time to come to | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
Lincolnshire, I could introduce her to a group of farmers who oppose | 0:11:31 | 0:11:34 | |
membership of the EU. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:37 | |
Could she find time in her diary to do that? | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
I thank my honourable friend for his question. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:45 | |
I couldn't possibly imagine what anybody might be doing | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
on the 23rd of June but what I would say, | 0:11:49 | 0:11:52 | |
and this is for all farmers, is that the EU | 0:11:52 | 0:11:54 | |
and the single market has brought massive benefits for | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
food and farming. | 0:11:56 | 0:11:57 | |
If you look at exports of beef and lamb, 97% of | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
exports of lamb go into the European Union. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:06 | |
92% of beef exports go to the European Union. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:10 | |
There would be a real risk to the future | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
livelihood of those industries if we were to leave as we weren't | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
able to export our fine products to those | 0:12:17 | 0:12:19 | |
European countries any more. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:21 | |
A Labour MP was more concerned about the problems already facing | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
a different group of farmers, those in the dairy industry. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:29 | |
Food-secure Britain needs British farmers to be | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
able to make a living and, with milk prices | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
plummeting in March this year, | 0:12:33 | 0:12:34 | |
we saw them at the lowest level they have been since 2009, | 0:12:34 | 0:12:37 | |
with some farm-gate prices as low as 16p per litre. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:50 | |
you | 0:12:50 | 0:12:50 | |
and | 0:12:50 | 0:12:50 | |
you and | 0:12:50 | 0:12:51 | |
This is coming at a time when British dairy incomes | 0:12:51 | 0:12:54 | |
are dropping and are forecase to drop by almost | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
half for this year. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:57 | |
I am disappointed that there was nothing for dairy farmers | 0:12:57 | 0:12:59 | |
in this year's budget. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:00 | |
What action will the Minister take now, working with supermarkets | 0:13:00 | 0:13:03 | |
and retailers and farmers, to ensure a future for | 0:13:03 | 0:13:05 | |
the British dairy industry? | 0:13:05 | 0:13:06 | |
MPs on the other side of the Commons were worried as well. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
In North Yorkshire, for the last 15 years we have lost 15% of our dairy | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
farmers and 90 cent of those still in business are losing money | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
despite subsidies, does the Minister agree that now is the time | 0:13:15 | 0:13:19 | |
for the supermarkets to start paying a fair price to British | 0:13:19 | 0:13:22 | |
farmers for British milk? | 0:13:22 | 0:13:27 | |
I understand the point that my honourable friend is making, | 0:13:28 | 0:13:33 | |
these are very difficult times for farmers and I know that some | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
people often lay the blame at supermarkets but we have | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
to recognise that the root of this problem is a worldwide issue | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
of low commodity prices. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:48 | |
We are seeing very low prices in New Zealand, far lower | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
than here and many people have been driven out of business | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
there as well. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:55 | |
This is a global challenge, some of the supermarkets have | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
stepped up to the plate and offered aligned contracts and many of them | 0:13:57 | 0:14:00 | |
are selling their milk at a loss and I think we should recognise | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
and give credit where it is due, but we are always trying to improve | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
the position for farmers. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
Another Conservative had a question about another part | 0:14:10 | 0:14:12 | |
of the British breakfast. | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
Weetabix which is based in my constituency is a great | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
British breakfast cereal, she launched the great British Food | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
Unit at its headquarters, will she ensure that | 0:14:20 | 0:14:29 | |
at all the DEFRA breakfast meetings and international trade symposiums | 0:14:29 | 0:14:31 | |
that her department organises around the world, that Weetabix is always | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
served at these breakfast meetings? | 0:14:34 | 0:14:39 | |
Well, my honourable friend is absolutely right that Weetabix | 0:14:39 | 0:14:41 | |
is a fantastic product and not only is it exported around the world, | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
all of the wheat grown is from 50 miles of the Weetabix factory | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
so it is a real example of linking to farms. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:50 | |
I proudly display my own box of Elizabeth Truss Weetabix | 0:14:50 | 0:14:52 | |
on my desk at DEFRA for all visitors to see when they | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
arrive in my office. | 0:14:55 | 0:15:05 | |
Liz Truss telling us about her breakfast preferences. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:13 | |
You're watching our round-up of the day in the Commons | 0:15:13 | 0:15:15 | |
and the Lords. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:16 | |
Still to come... | 0:15:16 | 0:15:17 | |
Peers hear warnings that financial problems may force thousands of care | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
homes to close. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
A former Education Secretary says that the digital revolution | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
is going to destroy far more jobs than it creates. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:29 | |
Lord Baker told peers that the government had | 0:15:29 | 0:15:31 | |
to improve skills training dramatically if the UK | 0:15:31 | 0:15:35 | |
was going to maintain its place in a rapidly changing world. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:39 | |
He was contributing to a House of Lords debate on how to address | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
the technical skills gap. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
The digital revolution is happening and I am one of those | 0:15:47 | 0:15:50 | |
who believes that everything, artificial intelligence, | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
data, driverless lorries, drones, all of that area | 0:15:52 | 0:15:56 | |
is going to destroy many more jobs than they are creating. | 0:15:56 | 0:16:02 | |
In the past industrial revolutions have always created more | 0:16:02 | 0:16:07 | |
jobs, I made speeches, when I was a minister | 0:16:07 | 0:16:12 | |
for information technology. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:13 | |
I am now persuaded that the disruptive technologies | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
of the digital revolution are going to destroy many others. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:23 | |
There are reports from McKenzie and Davos saying that they will be | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
absolutely larger than that. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:31 | |
Faced with that, the government wants to improve skills training | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
dramatically in our country. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
Another former Education Secretary referred to the ending of the era | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
of the polytechnics. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
We lost out on that notion of the sandwich course | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
which was very much a part of the polytechnic and we lost out | 0:16:46 | 0:16:50 | |
I think on that emphasis on learning through doing. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:55 | |
Because if you look at a lot of the older polytechnics now, | 0:16:55 | 0:16:58 | |
what they have done is, new universities, they have | 0:16:58 | 0:17:01 | |
expanded in what I call classroom bound courses. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:08 | |
It was cheaper to put on a law course or a history course | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
or a business course for a polytechnic that became | 0:17:11 | 0:17:13 | |
a university and wanted to expand than it was to do a vocational | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
course or skills course because they were more expensive | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
by nature of the equipment. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:24 | |
And that I think in some way accounts for the lack | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
or the wrong skill sets that we are hearing of now. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:32 | |
If we need to address our technical skills and we clearly do, | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
please let's be wary of doing it in another Polytechnic experiment. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:44 | |
Let us do it through encouraging the best technic departments | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
to expand and not relocate elsewhere. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:51 | |
If necessary, to set up new, just technical colleges, | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
if we can find enough good teachers. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
I read somewhere that last year one third of all graduates were working | 0:17:58 | 0:18:02 | |
in menial jobs after graduating. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:07 | |
And at the same time, the Royal Academy of Engineering | 0:18:07 | 0:18:09 | |
tells us that we are in need of 40,000 engineers each year. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:15 | |
My Lords what we need is a technical education system in which businesses | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
and colleges work closely together with political | 0:18:18 | 0:18:20 | |
support from all sides. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:24 | |
So when we publish our plans for education reform we will do | 0:18:24 | 0:18:26 | |
so with the spirit of consensus. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:30 | |
We want to seek the widest possible support and as we have heard today, | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
I think everyone agrees on the challenges and the need | 0:18:33 | 0:18:36 | |
to make sure we get this right and ensure that the worlds | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
of business and education come together. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
The core theme of the debate today is the institutions for advanced | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
technical education and broadly this government takes the view that | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
at present we do not have the right pattern of institutions to teach | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
high-level technical education programmes | 0:18:52 | 0:18:53 | |
at the level we all want to see. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:59 | |
Lady Evans. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:02 | |
MPs have been told about the continuing grave concern held | 0:19:02 | 0:19:04 | |
by faith groups over plans to subject out-of-school | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
activities for young people to Ofsted inspections. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:12 | |
The issue arose during a backbencher's debate | 0:19:12 | 0:19:14 | |
in the Commons on the contribution of faith groups to | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
the voluntary sector. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:21 | |
Those proposals would mean that a Christian youth group which plays | 0:19:21 | 0:19:24 | |
sport or games one day a week or meets one evening | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
to discuss their faith plus perhaps on a Sunday could have Ofsted | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
inspectors coming to see if their activities are compatible | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
with a list of British values drawn up by the government and to check | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
whether or not they are extremist. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
Mr Speaker, I submit to you that there is nothing less | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
British than the government restricting the expression | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
of religious faith based on a set of values drawn up in Whitehall. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:52 | |
It is the very opposite of what I understand | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
Conservatism to be. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:56 | |
Ofsted inspectors will likely not be looking for illegal activities, | 0:19:56 | 0:19:58 | |
they will be looking for activities which fit into a vaguely | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
defined set of ideals, such as non-violent extremism. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:09 | |
I agree with everything that she has just said, | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
including her criticism of the government proposal, | 0:20:11 | 0:20:20 | |
in effect to Ofsted being a regulator of religion, | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
I think that would be dreadful and I hope the criticism will be | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
heeded by the Minister and that in due course that proposal | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
will be abandoned. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:34 | |
My honourable friend also raised the issue of Ofsted and Ofsted | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
inspections and I listened carefully to what she had to say. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education are clear | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
that the registration will not apply to organisations and Sunday schools, | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
we are not proposing to regulate institutions like Sunday schools. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:53 | |
We have to ensure that organisations do the right thing, | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
meet the standards we should expect but she raised legitimate concerns, | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
the concerns to which I have listened and of which I am aware | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
and I'm sure they will be drawn to the attention | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
of the Education Secretary today. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:09 | |
New research by the BBC indicates that one in four | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
care homes in the UK, around 5000 institutions, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:16 | |
may have to close because of financial hardship. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
Potential closures were raised at Question Time in the Lords. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:23 | |
Lady Bakewell, a champion for older people under the previous Labour | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
government, warned that a crash was on the way and urged | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
the government to make contingency plans to protect frail | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
and vulnerable residents. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:34 | |
Is he not conversant with the BBC research published yesterday showing | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
that 5000 care homes at risk of closure over the next three | 0:21:40 | 0:21:45 | |
years, or the recent Stevens report showing a 34% increase in care home | 0:21:45 | 0:21:51 | |
insolvencies over the past few years or indeed another estimate | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
of ?2.9 billion funding gap in adult social care by the end of the decade | 0:21:53 | 0:22:00 | |
and in the face of these figures, why does the government continue | 0:22:00 | 0:22:02 | |
to assert the incredible proposition that it is possible to increase | 0:22:02 | 0:22:05 | |
wages, increase regulatory burdens and not increase real | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
terms per capita funding? | 0:22:07 | 0:22:14 | |
When will they end this dangerous fantasy and actually start | 0:22:23 | 0:22:26 | |
addressing the serious crisis in adult social care? | 0:22:26 | 0:22:32 | |
I think the increase in the minimum wage from ?6.70 to a living wage | 0:22:32 | 0:22:36 | |
of ?7.20 has been universally welcomed by most | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
people in this house. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:43 | |
I think care workers, people who work in care homes do | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
an incredible difficult job and ?7.20 does not seem to me | 0:22:46 | 0:22:49 | |
a small fortune to pay people like that. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:55 | |
The cost of that, that will increase the cost of people in the care | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
sector, and there is some evidence that some care homes are closing, | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
the figures I have in the last two years, 2000 beds have | 0:23:01 | 0:23:04 | |
closed in the care sector. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:08 | |
600 domiciliary care agencies have opened in that time | 0:23:08 | 0:23:10 | |
so there is going to be a switch in the way that care is delivered | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
from residential care to domiciliary care. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:20 | |
It is very difficult to know sometimes what land | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
ministers live on. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
My Lords, that is an extraordinarily complacent answer. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
The survey yesterday showed a quarter of all care | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
homes are facing closure because of the financial squeeze. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:37 | |
A study into funding social care five years ago commissioned | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
by the government opposed capping the cost of care in England. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:46 | |
His government decided unilaterally to postpone probably forever | 0:23:46 | 0:23:48 | |
but certainly by four years the introduction of the care cap | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
which proved massively disappointing too many people. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:56 | |
The government put into the forward programme spend plans of 6 billion, | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
why not use some of that money to help the viability | 0:23:59 | 0:24:01 | |
of the care home sector? | 0:24:01 | 0:24:07 | |
My Lords, if I sounded complacent, I did not mean to. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
I recognise that there is a tremendous pressure on many | 0:24:14 | 0:24:17 | |
providers of adult social care, particularly those funded by local | 0:24:17 | 0:24:19 | |
authorities, it is for that reason, disappointingly, | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
it has been postponed. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:29 | |
We wanted to bring it it in but we decided the cost | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
of bringing it in was too great for local authorities | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
to finance in the short term. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
Given that this is a crisis and there is going to be a crash, | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
we know that the care sector has warned us that it is coming, | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
the government has made concessions of course, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:46 | |
but can it have contingency plans in place so that when the crisis | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
actually hits, old and vulnerable people are not suddenly thrust | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
into a crisis that they do not know how to deal with. | 0:24:52 | 0:25:02 | |
The noble lady is absolutely right, the whole focus must be | 0:25:04 | 0:25:06 | |
on the residents of these homes, rather than the owners | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
of the care homes. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
There are a number of very highly regarded providers in the sector | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
who have high levels of debt and often very expensive debt. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:22 | |
The CQC is keeping a close watch on them and when there are early | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
warning signs of difficulties, then the CQC and the local | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
authorities will put in place alternative plans. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:34 | |
Lord Prior. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:35 | |
That is it for this programme, do join me for The Week In Parliament | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
when we will have the best of the last three days | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
in the Commons and the Lords. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:42 | |
Until then, from me, Keith McDougall, goodbye. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 |