The Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury (Mr Brooks Newmark)
I begin by thanking the Chief Whip for indulging me this one time by allowing me to speak. As the House is aware, in the Whips Office we take a vow of silence, so I am particularly pleased to be given this opportunity to respond to Members in the area of business, innovation and skills, and to thank everyone for their excellent contributions. I feel a little like Garbo in her first talkie, when the next day’s headlines were, “Garbo Talks”, although when tomorrow’s press reports that “Brooks Talks”, I suspect it will not be about my performance at the Dispatch Box.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for organising today’s debate, in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) for organising the format, which I understand from my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) is known as the Hollobone format, in which there is a rapid-fire series of short debates and short replies—a sort of political speed-dating, in which the Member raises his or her questions and sees whether or not he or she fancies the relevant Minister’s replies. I shall therefore do my best to make the Government as attractive as possible in relation to all the areas covered in the debate.
Before I begin my formal response to hon. Members’ contributions, I congratulate the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie) on his excellent maiden speech, which was delivered with warmth and a deep understanding of the community he represents.
Let me respond first to the hon. Members for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin), for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) and for Leicester South (Jon Ashworth), all of whom rightly drew attention to the important issue of English provision to speakers of other languages. I know that hon. Members have previously campaigned on this issue and have highlighted the importance of English language provision to members of their respective communities. I am sure that they will agree that, although the ability to speak English is important to ensuring integration, if employers wish to recruit abroad—I address this point particularly to the hon. Members for Nottingham South and for Sheffield Central—they must not expect the state to pick up the cost of teaching their workers English. The reforms will target public funding to those in the greatest need and will ensure that higher standards are set for providers, thereby making ESOL provision work better for learners, employers, and taxpayers.
I am sure that hon. Members will have seen the second impact assessment, and yesterday’s written statement by my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, in which he further clarified our policy in this important area. Members will be aware that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will work with the Department for Communities and Local Government to formulate a strategy specifically to target vulnerable communities and particularly women and families who rely on community-based English language learning to help them gain access to public services and to communicate with their children’s schools. That point has been stressed by all the hon. Members who spoke on this issue. The Government are anxious to ensure that women and families do not lose out on this important provision.
My final point on this issue is that my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning has listened to and worked with the Association of Colleges and other key providers to make sure that we make rapid progress in this area—we hope by September when we reconvene—to ensure further and better integration in our communities.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), who has demonstrated his lifelong interest in horology and has done much to promote that sector. I particularly appreciate his concerns about horology training facilities in the UK and the need for small, specialist courses, and I agree that we must support specialist British industries such as the watch-making and clock-making industry. I add that, although there is a British watch maker called Newmark, we are not related. My hon. Friend rightly cited the importance of the Government’s internship programme, and I assure him that the Government are exploring the opportunities for the craft sector to engage with the apprenticeship programme. I have met my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning to discuss this matter, and he will write to my hon. Friend about the progress that the Government are making to boost craft apprenticeships so that Britain will become the international centre of excellence in horology that he so rightly wants it to be.
On regulation, the hon. Member for Falkirk (Eric Joyce) should be commended for his continued focusing of attention on the behaviour of the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, which he has mentioned in this place in the past. I particularly thank him for drawing my attention to the need for greater transparency and good governance, especially for companies dealing with developing countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Government expect and the law requires all UK directors of companies to adopt high standards of business conduct. We rightly focus on bad behaviour and we certainly do not condone criminal offences such as bribery or phone hacking. We need to help directors and shareholders through a strong system of corporate governance. Overall, the current system works well but needs to evolve continually to meet new challenges.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) for highlighting the importance of having a strong town centre and a vibrant community, as well as for continuing to be a strong champion for Swindon and for mentioning the importance of supporting retailers and small businesses in his area. I agree that having a successful and buzzing town centre helps to create and maintain jobs in shops and offices. A vibrant town centre creates a positive image that attracts new businesses and employment. Indeed, we should applaud the work of independent groups such as Forward Swindon and InSwindon which, in conjunction with the local council, have sought to revitalise growth and prosperity in the town centre.
I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) for focusing on Lloyds TSB and the sale of flats in the Cube in Birmingham, and for highlighting the concerns of Mrs Shah and other small investors. He raised the inability of flat owners to secure mortgages, and I assure him that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be made aware of his concerns.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) is right to raise the important issue of Tata Steel and the development of north Lincolnshire. He mentioned the importance of renewable industry in Lincolnshire and the need for improved transport links. The pan-Humber local enterprise partnership has focused on strategic opportunities growth based on renewable energy, ports and logistics, and chemicals among other things. The Humber LEP is bidding for an enterprise zone to support the creation of renewable clusters in the area. I shall of course pursue that matter with the relevant Ministers to ensure that the demands of local people and investors can be met. On Tata Steel, the recent meeting between my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and Members to discuss the issue was cancelled, and will be rearranged, as is the case with a visit by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Prime Minister has expressed disappointment at job losses resulting from reductions at Tata Steel, but he is working hard with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to bring a taskforce together to ensure that we do everything possible to mitigate the impact on local jobs and communities.
My hon. Friend the Member for Central Devon (Mel Stride) is right to emphasise economic growth. He mentioned the importance of not driving growth with debt, and the need to reduce unnecessary regulation. Growth remains at the centre of the Government’s strategy, and the growth review will work throughout this Parliament to address barriers facing industry. The Government’s role is to create the conditions conducive to private sector investment and to make long-term choices, not offer short-term fixes. We continue to listen to businesses to understand how to help them.
Finally, on maternity and paternity leave, Government proposals will allow both parents to take an active, caring role while retaining their attachment to the workplace. Our proposals allow more flexibility, because one size does not fit all firms or families. We will work with businesses to help them to adapt to these changes. My hon. Friend made a specific point about national insurance, and I will ensure that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is made aware of his concerns. Once again, I thank the Backbench Business Committee for arranging this debate, all the speakers for their contributions and wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all Members a relaxing summer break.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Thank you, Minister. Before we move to the health debate, I remind Members who are taking part that page 5477 of the Order paper states:
“Members are expected to attend throughout the debate for which they are grouped.”
That includes listening to the Minister at the end of the debate, so it is regrettable that some Members who participated in the debate that has just concluded are no longer in the Chamber. I am sure that the Whips will inform them.
Health
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)
I should like to start by responding to the hon. Member for Preston (Mark Hendrick), who talked about the impact of shisha water pipes. I entirely agree with his comments about the need to dispel the myths surrounding them. They do endanger health, and it is not the case that they are less harmful than smoking cigarettes. The flavours might hide it, but they can still kill people. The hon. Gentleman was right to bring this matter to the House’s attention today. Water pipe use might actually increase exposure to carcinogens by smokers and those exposed to second-hand smoke. The evidence is clear that water pipe usage can increase the risk of cancers of the lung, mouth and bladder. It is also associated with markers of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and an increased risk of mouth and gum disease.
A number of local councils are already doing work in this area, not least the London borough of Tower Hamlets and Coventry city council, which are implementing enforcement strategies that include information and advice on the health hazards from smoking water pipes. We believe that, as local authorities take on their new public health responsibilities over the next few years in conjunction with Public Health England, they will be well placed to improve awareness of the risks of these practices, and I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing the matter to the House.
My hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter) raised two issues. He highlighted the work of the Hannah Rogers Trust on speech and language therapy, and I can tell him that Health Ministers have been working closely with their Education colleagues on the production of the Green Paper on special educational needs that was published earlier this year. We are now looking at the results of the consultation. He included a well-delivered joke from Ben in his speech, which demonstrated compellingly the importance of ensuring that people have access to appropriate communications technologies, so that they can fully express their views, wishes and feelings and live full lives.
My hon. Friend talked about the differential fee levels that are paid—on the basis, it seems, of ownership rather than anything else. The Government have set their face against that when it comes to the NHS. My hon. Friend rightly raised some issues that need to be looked at. Particularly when local authorities are facing resource difficulties, they need to look challengingly at how they use resources to ensure that they deliver quality, while also delivering value for money for the taxpayer. In that regard, we will certainly look at such issues as part of the work we are doing on the White Paper.
That brings me to the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Tony Lloyd) and his questions about Southern Cross. Here, too, we have work in hand around the need to reform social care in England to make sure that it is genuinely fit for the 21st century. Earlier today, I laid before Parliament a written ministerial statement to update hon. Members on further developments in the restructuring of Southern Cross. The Government’s overriding concern is and remains the welfare and safety of the 31,000 residents in Southern Cross care homes. Whatever the outcomes of the restructuring processes to which the hon. Gentleman referred, no one will find themselves homeless or without care. We expect Southern Cross, its landlords and lenders to continue to work together to secure a consensual, solvent restructuring of the business that meets their collective responsibilities to secure the welfare and care of residents.
My officials continue to maintain close contact with Southern Cross, its senior management, lenders and landlords. We continue to stress to them the need for timely announcements of the sort we saw from NHP yesterday about who will be taking on the operation of homes as we go forward. We need the necessary work to be done by the Care Quality Commission to ensure that the operators meet the necessary standards to be able to operate these homes in the first place. I entirely understand the concerns of hon. Members of all parties about this matter. That is why I have undertaken to keep Members informed while we are in recess. I will do just that as matters progress.
My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) raised issues about the NHS’s contribution to economic growth. As he rightly says, the NHS has huge potential for supporting UK innovation and research. We are increasing investment in health research by more than 8% in real terms over the next four years. That includes the £775 million that we are providing to promote translational research and development through biomedical research centres and units, and an additional £220 million for the construction of the Francis Crick Institute. My hon. Friend is right to say that we are, in a way, passing from the era of industrialised medicine into one of personalised medicine; that will certainly transform these things.
The Health and Social Care Bill, which has been the subject of much of my life over the past few months, includes measures to place duties on commissioners to promote and drive forward innovation and research. We think that that is a crucial way of unlocking the potential of the NHS to secure for patients the full benefit of research in that regard.
The hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) talked about social care funding and resource allocation in the NHS. She will know that in last year’s spending review, the Government identified the need to support the fragile social care system that they inherited. That is why by 2014-15 an additional £2 billion of support will be going into social care. In fact, over the next four years, £7.2 billion extra—over and above what was committed previously—is going into social care.
We recognise that local authorities have to make tough decisions, but some of them ought to be about ensuring real efficiency in the way social care services are delivered. That means looking at things like telecare and reablement, and looking critically, as my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon said, at the way local authorities procure the services they provide for people in need. I think I need to write to the hon. Lady in more detail about the questions she posed about the working of the fair shares toolkit in active case management and the Little Hulton walk-in centre. I will write to her about that.
The hon. Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) raised issues about foreign nationals’ use of the NHS. While we have a clear entitlement to a free NHS based on current residency in the UK, it is not based on nationality. There are exemptions for some categories of visitor, which are set out in the arrangements that have been in place since the 1980s. I commend the hon. Gentleman's research, and, along with my ministerial colleagues, I look forward to seeing the results of his freedom of information requests. As he said, the Government announced back in March that we would conduct a fundamental review of current rules and practices. That work is just beginning, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will contribute to it.
The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith)—I apologise for my mispronunciation of his constituency—made a compelling case for the benefits of exercise. We know that the taking of more exercise is linked to a reduction in the risk factors connected with coronary heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, musculoskeletal conditions, and much more besides. Some of the issues raised by the hon. Gentleman should be addressed to the devolved Administration in Cardiff, but the Government remain aware that a cross-Government approach is needed to issues that involve transport, planning and housing if we are to secure the public health dividends that we need to see.
My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Pauline Latham) raised an important point. Notwithstanding the success of the cancer drugs fund, which has already delivered relief to 2,500 patients, it seems that the situation is different in her local strategic health authority in the east midlands. I will look into the matter carefully, and will seek explanations for the difference. I shall also want to be assured that these processes are genuinely transparent, so that justice is seen to be done and people can gain access to the benefits of the fund.
My hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) talked about mental health. In February, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and I launched “No health without mental health”, a cross-Government strategy. I believe that our “life course” approach sends the clear and powerful message that prevention and early intervention are key mental health priorities for the Government. The strategy also recognises the critical interdependencies between physical and mental health. The bulk of the strategy will have to be delivered by experts on the ground working with service users and their families and carers, but the Government are absolutely committed to integrated services. On the day on which I have launched the consultation on our new suicide prevention strategy, I should make clear the need for us to ensure that we no longer have a health service that patches people up physically while leaving them struggling mentally.
We must tackle stigma. Given that one in four of us in this country suffer from mental health problems, this is not about “them and us”; it is about all of us. We need parity of esteem between physical and mental health services, and that is a task for commissioners as well as those who provide services.
My hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) raised the subject of the independent treatment centre in his constituency, and the consultation that is currently under way. I will certainly undertake to look at the report of that consultation. My hon. Friend rightly raised some of the downsides of “one size fits all” contracting, which cost the taxpayer large sums under the last Administration without delivering any benefit for patients.
This has been a good debate. I will look again at the contributions made by all Members, and if I have not responded to all their points, I will write to individual Members about those points. Let me end by wishing all Members and Officers of the House a healthy, productive and refreshing recess.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
That is not a point of order for the Chair. However, the hon. Lady has taken the opportunity to make the point directly to the Minister. I am sure that he has heard what she has said, and that he fully intends to reply to the points that have not been dealt with today.
Paul Burstow
I entirely take the hon. Lady’s point. I will certainly ensure that I respond to the questions that I did not cover in the debate, and I will ask colleagues in the Department what has happened to the replies to the hon. Lady’s earlier questions.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I am grateful for the Minister’s assistance.
Communitites and local government
Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)
I was privileged to be here earlier, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie) on his maiden speech.
I am sorry that the hon. Member for North West Durham (Pat Glass), who was due to speak, has not managed to get here, which is a great shame.
I shall deal with the speeches in the order in which they appear on the Order Paper—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)
Order. I should inform the hon. Gentleman that the hon. Member for North West Durham (Pat Glass) withdrew and is not required to explain why.
Bill Wiggin
It is a great shame none the less, but thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) spoke about the National Audit Office report on FiReControl and the lessons learned from that disastrous project. I can assure him that the Government will not repeat the mistakes of the previous Administration—mistakes that led, as he rightly pointed out, to £469 million of taxpayers’ money being wasted on an over-complex, centrally imposed solution that was not proportionate to the risks faced and failed to engage with the fire and rescue services. When it was clear that the main contractor, Cassidian, could not deliver the IT system within an acceptable time frame, we had no option but to close the project down last December. We were not going to commit any more resources with no certainty of delivery.
Following the closure we made it clear immediately that we would not impose a central solution. There would be no large-scale national IT systems with such a long lead-in time that the pace of change overtook the promised advantages. Last week the Department for Communities and Local Government launched a new £83 million scheme that builds on locally determined solutions and encourages collaboration and innovation. Every fire and rescue authority can apply—for up to £1.8 million, as a guide—to improve the efficiency of its fire and rescue control services. This will cover the installation of Firelink interfaces to give enhanced voice and data services, which is the priority for most in the sector, according to the Department’s recent consultation.
Through sharing these interfaces, fire and rescue authorities can use the funding for further enhancements that improve the service that they provide for their communities and for firefighters. In addition, we have put aside a further £1.8 million for sector-led initiatives that will deliver benefits to all fire and rescue services. For example, in the recent consultation many responses from the sector emphasised the need for common standards. These would underpin collaboration and interoperability between fire and rescue services, facilitating improved overload and fall-back arrangements. The Chief Fire Officers Association has already indicated its intention to apply.
That brings me to another lesson learned. We have taken careful account of the consultation responses and we are working closely on both the political and the operational sides of the fire and rescue sector. The Department is grateful to the Chief Fire Officers Association and the Local Government Group for their help in developing the new scheme and agreeing to be part of the oversight measures.
My hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson) spoke about the effect of property regulation on holiday lettings. This Government are committed to being the greenest Government ever and improving energy performance by encouraging energy performance certificates, like those that one sees on white goods, showing an A to G range, depending on how energy-efficient they are. We want that process to take place for every building; in this case an EPC is required for the construction, sale or rent of a building. The EPC shows how energy-efficient the property is and includes recommendations about how to improve energy efficiency.
The Government recognise that this issue is important to holiday home owners and creates a problem for that industry. We do not want to impose unnecessary burdens on the industry or to gold-plate this directive, and we are seeking to establish why it has been interpreted in the way it has. We are also prepared to seek further legal advice to ensure that we are not going beyond the minimum requirements imposed by the directive. I have investigated this and it seems to be a classic case of gold-plating. We have made inquiries to establish the position in other European Union countries and it seems that, as my hon. Friend said, EPCs are not required for holiday lets in a number of other member states, including Germany, Sweden and Denmark—he also mentioned France and Scotland. It gives me great pleasure to tell the House that we should have a clearly defined position on this within the next few weeks.
On the issue raised by the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), I think we all agree that there is tremendous value in having a prosperous and diverse high street for all the community. Mill road is undoubtedly an area of local importance and value, and reads extremely well on the internet. Town centres are key to sustainable growth and local prosperity and are at the heart of our neighbourhoods, giving communities easier access to shops and services. The Government gave a clear commitment in the debates on the Localism Bill, most recently on 12 July, and as part of the Budget, that we will put town centres first for new retail development. We will set out planning policies on retail to support competitive town centres through the new national planning policy framework and we are determined to give local communities greater power to shape their areas and to be clear about the balance of uses they want in town centres. We are legislating to introduce new local level neighbourhood plans to give local people greater control over the future of places that are important to them.
Neighbourhood plans are a positive planning tool that will have real weight in the planning process, but we must be clear about what planning can and cannot do. Planning policy on town centres is not pro or anti-supermarkets and it cannot seek to restrict lawful competition between retailers. It is and always has been blind to the issue of who the operator of a retail proposal would be—whether a supermarket or an independent. We want the right scale and type of development in the right location to meet people’s shopping needs. That is what planning policy can support local councils in achieving in a more practical manner than by legislation. Local neighbourhood plans and low rates for small businesses should help in encouraging new shops and businesses so that we do not lack variety—the hon. Member for Cambridge referred to clone towns—in our high streets.
The hon. Member for Chippenham (Duncan Hames) also raised this issue. The Government believe that planning is most effective when local residents, businesses and civic leaders are in the driving seat of planning for their areas and when they can deliver the development they want to see. Neighbourhood planning is a radical new right being introduced by the Localism Bill. It enables communities to shape their local areas in a manner that can respond to local needs and ambitions and is part of our reforms to ensure that the planning system delivers sustainable economic growth and should be used to shape, rather than prevent, development.
Neighbourhood plans and orders are prepared by the local community and can be used in a flexible manner to suit local circumstances. They will result in better, more effective and more locally responsive decisions that will deliver an overall increase in sustainable growth and will change people’s attitudes to development. They will become an important part of the planning toolbox, while existing planning tools will remain entirely open to communities and local authorities working in partnership. The hon. Member for Chippenham asked who will decide. Local councils will have an important role in helping communities to produce plans or orders through a duty to support, and an independent qualified person and the local planning authority will check plans and orders to make sure that they are legally compliant and take account of wider policy considerations.
I shall touch briefly on the national planning policy framework, which will consolidate more than 1,000 pages of planning policy documents into a single, streamlined document. The framework will be strong where it needs to be, and it will include policies that support the Government’s priorities for economic growth and infrastructure. It will also set out the Government’s priorities for environmentally and socially sustainable development. The policies will provide local communities with the tools that they need to protect the environmental and cultural landscapes that people value so much. It will make a presumption in favour of sustainable development, and a working draft was released in June. We have made a commitment to publishing the framework for full public consideration and consultation in July. It is a privilege to answer hon. Members’ questions, and I am sure that the whole House will join me in wanting to wish Daphne Neill a speedy recovery.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr James Paice)
I thank all the hon. Members who have contributed to this debate. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) suggests, I am surprised by some of the issues about which it has fallen to me to respond, and which have—at least for today—fallen under the DEFRA umbrella. I will do my utmost to respond to the points that have been made, in the order in which hon. Members spoke.
The hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead), whom I have always respected for his knowledge of waste and renewables policies, rightly raised the issue of landfill bans. I hope that he will understand that I answer on behalf of Lord Henley, who leads on this issue and is therefore far more acquainted with it than I am. We have immense sympathy with the hon. Gentleman—and in fact there is very little difference in what we are trying to achieve. I know that he chided us a little, and I will try to answer him, but we are trying to prioritise efforts to manage all our waste—not just domestic waste, but also industrial waste. We tend to concentrate on worrying about what councils do with domestic waste and ignore the wider issues of industrial waste, but we are trying to prioritise our efforts in line with the waste hierarchy and reduce the carbon impact of our waste, as well as considering what sort of inheritance we are leaving for future generations in terms of the contents of holes in the ground.
We are rightly concentrating on the higher levels of the hierarchy, including reducing waste in the first place, and then working through reuse, recycling and energy recovery before we end up at landfill. Clearly we want to move to a zero-waste economy in which all our material resources are fully valued or used in one way or another. The hon. Gentleman talked particularly about landfill, and I am sure the House will agree that landfill should be the option of last resort for most waste, especially for biodegradable waste.
We need to move towards eliminating landfill, and landfill volumes have fallen by a third in the last three years. That must be good news and the waste review, to which the hon. Gentleman referred, will play a substantial role in pushing wastes up the hierarchy and away from landfill. We are going further, and that is why we are maintaining landfill tax increases towards a floor of £80 per tonne in 2014-15.
On the specific issue of the consultation on restricting wood waste being sent to landfill, I can say from a personal perspective that I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is a huge waste of a valuable resource. There have been times when I have been known to fumble around some skips to fetch decent bits of timber out for a bit of DIY at home. I commend that approach to other hon. Members—if we all did our bit, perhaps we would not need to ban landfill.
The hon. Gentleman referred to the consultation that was begun under the previous Government—one of a number that they set in train in the last few weeks of their life and left to the new Government to resolve.
The Government were committed to a waste review, which is why we had to respond to the earlier consultation, as the hon. Gentleman mentioned. That consultation—on banning individual items from landfill—was very general, unlike the specific and more targeted consultation on wood waste, which we are talking about now. That consultation allows us to explore in much greater detail the practical implications of dealing with different types of wood. For instance, some wood waste might be treated with toxic materials that we cannot burn. There is a raft of issues. However, he raised a specific point about the previous consultation and criticised us for putting it in the archive. This is not an issue of secrecy; it is just where these things eventually belong. The DEFRA website has been refreshed over the past year under the new Government. The material has not been buried—or even put in landfill—but is freely available in the archive. I can assure him that we take this seriously.
My hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Chris Kelly) referred to the problem of roaming horses. I am sure that that is an issue of which most of us, whether we have urban or rural constituencies, have some understanding, although perhaps not in the fine detail to which he referred. He referred to fly-grazing—horses being chained on the verge. I suspect that virtually every Member has witnessed that and, if nothing else, questioned the welfare of those horses. He rightly listed the three pieces of legislation to which DEFRA Ministers usually refer—in fact, he virtually delivered my speech. I am not going to waste time, or insult him, by repeating them. He also rightly referred to the innovative use of other legislation, particularly by Dudley metropolitan borough council. I congratulate it on that sort of innovation; it is what we expect from local government. However, if he can think of other areas, we would be happy to consider them. He specifically referred to putting guidance online, and I am happy to consider that and respond to him when we have had time to reflect further.
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) was not on my list of speakers—so, not for the first time, I will have to wing it. Fortunately, he spoke about a subject extremely close to my heart, and I could not disagree with any of his points about the value of country sports, not just to the country’s heritage, but to the economy and job creation. There was one important point that he did not make but which I feel strongly about: although country sports might provide only a handful of jobs in a particular area, in a rural area a handful of jobs can be very important. We need to understand that point. He referred to the racing industry. As he knows, I represent the area surrounding Newmarket, where about 7,000 jobs are dependent on the racing industry. I can assure him that the Government strongly support the continuity of country sports and recognise their economic contribution.
My hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish) had the good fortune to raise an issue that we have largely answered today already, so I hope that he will forgive me if I do not wax too lyrical about bovine TB, as it was discussed earlier in the Chamber. I would make one critical point, however. He spoke about the trauma to families of disease breakdown. For the past four years, more than a quarter of the herds in Devon have been under restriction at some time during the year. That is a huge proportion, and demonstrates just how bad the problem is in Devon. Unusually, he underestimated the seriousness of the situation. I think that he said that about 2,000 cattle were slaughtered in Devon, but the actual figure is 5,700. That, too, demonstrates the seriousness of the situation. I cannot tell him the location of the pilots because we have not got to that stage yet. We expect applications for licences to be made, but as I have said in the media today, I would be astonished if one of them was not in the south-west somewhere.
Mr Paice
Even I do not think that Shropshire is in the south-west. Two suitable sites will be selected.
My hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) referred to the green belt. Let me make it absolutely clear that this Government will maintain the green belt, despite some spurious reports about how the national policy planning framework will weaken it. It will not. The Government have no intention of weakening the key protections for the green belt. Inappropriate development should not be approved in the green belt except in very special circumstances. This is a matter for local planning authorities, through the planning process. Clearly my hon. Friend has differences of opinion—on the face of it, it sounds as if I would entirely agree—with his local council about the number of houses. I need to stress, as he did, that our commitment to abolish regional spatial strategies means that there is absolutely no obligation for local authorities to pursue the planning policies that they may have been forced into by the previous Government. Local authorities can stop, as mine has, and start again if they so wish. I wish him success in persuading his local authority to do that.
Finally, my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) spoke about the bioethanol industry. In answer to his final point, the Department that is primarily responsible is the Department for Transport, as he probably knows. The Government strongly support the use of biofuels, as long as they are sustainable. The industry—particularly the ethanol sector, to which he referred—has done a considerable amount to improve its greenhouse gas savings. The latest data suggest that bioethanol from home-grown wheat and sugar beet achieved direct emissions savings of 60% and 77% respectively, compared with fossil fuels, which is a significant gain. However, there are concerns, particularly about the indirect effects of displacing food production, which is why sustainability is so important.
I can also assure my hon. Friend that we are looking carefully at the issue of tariffs, to which he referred. I fully understand what he was saying; it always amazes me that although the United States is very good at telling others to practise free trade, it then introduces its own domestic support—in this case for the ethanol sector, taking something like a third of the corn production in the United States for that purpose. As he said, other countries in the EU have not allowed the use of the chemical tariff for fuel ethanol, which attracts lower duty than the other categories. At present the British Government are examining the legality of that and looking into whether we can learn lessons from the approach taken by other EU countries. Let me conclude by assuring my hon. Friend that we support the domestic bioethanol industry, which has shown the way forward. Clearly sustainability is at the heart of it, but so too is fair and free trade. We must ensure that that does not work against our own domestic industry.
I thank you for the opportunity to respond on DEFRA issues, Mr Deputy Speaker. I wish you and all Members of the House present a very pleasant summer recess.
Home Department
The Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury (Jeremy Wright)
I am delighted to have the opportunity to respond to this short but varied debate. I should apologise to all Members who have taken part, however, as I will not be able to give them the detailed answers their contributions deserve in the time available, but I do want to respond to some of the points they raised.
My hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster) expressed concerns about the drug khat. The Government share his concerns. He rightly pointed out that we do not have a great deal of information about the extent of the use of khat. What we know at present is based on a 2010 estimate that about 0.2% of the population reported using it. My hon. Friend asked about acquiring more information. I can tell him that there are now—since, I think, October 2009—questions in the British crime survey about the use of khat, and I hope that will lead to the Government having more information in making appropriate decisions.
In 2006, the previous Government decided to accept the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs not to ban khat at that point. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to the ACMD in February of this year asking it to review the available evidence now, and to reconsider the question of controlling khat under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. I can tell my hon. Friend that that work will begin in the autumn, and that we therefore expect in the fullness of time to have a good deal of information available from the ACMD and conclusions the Government can consider in deciding what to do next.
My hon. Friend would not expect me to prejudge the outcome of that ACMD review, and I will not do so. However, I can tell him that it will be thorough, and I am also sure that the ACMD will be interested in any evidence he and others can bring forward for its consideration. As I say, the decision that it takes and the decision that the Government then take will be based on evidence.
That brings me neatly to the remarks made by the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas). She made two proposals to the Government, the first of which was that drugs policy should be evidence-based and the second that we should move away from the criminalisation of drug use towards a more health-based model. I shall deal with both of those in turn.
The first point to make is that we already have a balanced drugs policy. It is right that drugs policy should be based on evidence and that it should be balanced, not just on criminalisation but on other issues. The title of last December’s drugs strategy, to which the hon. Lady referred, starts with the words “Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery”. All those elements are important, and we will continue to evaluate the strategy to make sure that it is delivering what it should. The strategy set out, for example, that the commissioning of drug and alcohol treatment services will be a core responsibility of local directors of public health, so there will continue to be a health-related element to the Government’s drugs strategy, and that is as it should be. There will also be an education element to the strategy. It is right to say also that young people need to understand exactly what they are dealing with when faced with a variety of illegal drugs and they need to be discouraged from taking them.
That brings me on to the second area. I understand that the hon. Lady had a very limited time in which to make her case on this important issue. I have an even more limited time in which to reply, so I understand that we are restricted in what we say. However, I disagree with her view that the right answer is to decriminalise the drugs that we are discussing. The simple reason for that is that legalising something that was previously illegal sends out a very clear message, and that message is that society no longer disapproves of this item in the way that it previously did. That would be acceptable only if the effect of these drugs was not as damaging as it is. The hon. Lady says that she is interested in evidence when it comes to drugs policy, so she must accept that the evidence clearly shows that illegal drugs of the type we are discussing are extremely damaging. They are damaging to the individual who takes them and to their family, and to the wider community. Therefore society should not take a neutral view on whether these drugs are a good or bad thing; society should take a strong view that they are a bad thing. The Government’s view is therefore that those drugs should remain illegal.
I will certainly pass to the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone), the invitation from the hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) to visit the Fortalice refuge, and I am sure that my hon. Friend will consider it. The hon. Lady was right to say that the people who work there do a remarkably good job and offer a service that many people find extremely valuable. However, I do not think it is right to conclude that the funding difficulties with which the Government certainly have to contend on a range of fronts mean that these types of services cannot be provided.
The hon. Lady will know that a substantial part of the local funding to refuges such as the one in her constituency comes from the Supporting People programme. In relation to that programme, £6.5 billion-worth of funding has been secured for the current spending review period. Admittedly, that represents a reduction, but the average annual reduction over the four-year period is less than 1% in cash terms. Central funding is also available and the Government are making available £28 million of stable Home Office funding over that period for specialist services, including independent domestic violence advisers, independent sexual violence advisers and co-ordinators for multi-agency risk assessment conferences. Those are all important services that she will recognise, and they co-ordinate with the types of services at the refuge in her constituency that she is describing.
I was discussing the Government’s commitment to preventing violence and abuse against women and girls, not just in the UK but more broadly so I shall move on to deal with the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison). As she said, she has spoken in this House before—and powerfully—on female genital mutilation. She has done so again today and she is right to say that this practice constitutes horrific abuse of often very young children. It remains a crime, as she says, and it has been a crime since 1985. More specifically, under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 the maximum sentence for this offence has been increased to 14 years’ imprisonment. Crucially, as she said, this Act allows the behaviour of British citizens abroad to be punished, whereas previously it could not be. That is an important point for the reason she gave, which is that occasionally such activity was transferred abroad to avoid the effect of the criminal law.
My hon. Friend would probably also agree that there are a number of things we can do. We should look not only to punish those who are responsible for committing these offences but to improve the guidance available to prosecutors so that they can prosecute more often. She is right that there have been no prosecutions, but it is worth noting that there have been some 58 investigations into this offence. If there are difficulties with prosecuting, they might be to do with the types of information and understanding that Crown prosecutors need to have, and later this summer the CPS will therefore be issued with new guidelines to assist, we hope, in taking forward prosecutions where appropriate.
I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that we can do more. We can raise awareness of the issue, which remains in many ways a hidden crime, and we will therefore attempt to get more Government guidelines to teachers, general practitioners and nurses, who need to understand the signs of such offences so that they can identify them. We also need to broaden awareness more generally and we have sent out some 40,000 leaflets and 40,000 posters to schools, health services, charities and community groups, because wider society needs to understand what is happening. We also need to assist victims, which we are doing with 15 specialist NHS clinics offering a range of services, including so-called reversal surgery. Women can go to those centres direct and do not need to be referred. Finally, this is a cross-government issue. It is not simply the Home Office that must act but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Education and the Department of Health.
Let me turn finally to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), who spoke, as he has before, about the tragic and worrying events in his constituency. He is right, of course, that the Government should be very clear about the consequences of knife crime not just for the victim but for the offender. Let me make it very clear that so far as this Government are concerned, those who commit a criminal offence using a knife can expect to go to prison. As my hon. Friend knows, a prison sentence is available not just for adult offenders but for young offenders, and in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is making its way through the House, the Government propose a new offence of having an offensive weapon in a public place and threatening someone with it. That offence will receive a mandatory six-month prison sentence, unless that would be unjust in all the circumstances.
My hon. Friend is also right to point out that we need to ensure that resources find their way to the problem. On that front, he might know that the Home Office has committed £18 million over the next two years, up to 2013, to support police, local agencies and the voluntary sector in tackling crime involving weapons and youth crime more generally. That includes £3.75 million for the three police forces where most knife crime occurs, and, as he would expect, that includes London.
It is also important, as my hon. Friend said, that we support those community projects that help to deter young people from involvement in knife crime. On that front, he will be interested to know that the Government have committed £400,000 to an organisation known as Kids Taskforce, which helps to educate school pupils about knife crime. He may have come across the organisation, because its materials are used by schools in Harrow.
My final point—I know my hon. Friend would support this—is that we must make those who are tempted to carry a knife understand that doing so does not, as they might believe, make them safer but makes them less safe. That is part of our education task when we deal with knife crime. I know that he would wish us to pursue that and that he would hope that it would be pursued in his constituency.
My speech has not covered all the contributions that have been made in the detail that would be justified, but I am grateful to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to respond to the extent that I have. I wish you and all those who work in this building a very prosperous and happy recess.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath)
I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to this debate, which I consider to be the anchor leg of the relay race that is the Hollobone pattern of pre-Adjournment debates. I shall have to sprint even to recognise all the Members who spoke, let alone to respond to them properly. As usual, however, I shall ensure that those to whom I, inevitably, will not be able to give an adequate answer will receive a substantive reply from colleagues in the relevant Departments.
I normally try to weave a connection between contributions, but that is impossible today—they were all on different subjects and there is no logical connection—so I shall simply deal with them as they came. The hon. Member for Carlisle (John Stevenson) talked about the importance of local radio stations, local newspapers and regional television. Of course, he is absolutely right. There is a saying that all news is local. It is essential that we maintain the local media that give people a sense of what is happening in their areas, and the issues that are important to them. I know that he has been a strong advocate of Radio Cumbria. He raised the threat that he perceives to its future, but which I do not think the BBC entirely accepts. I know that he will continue to argue for the existence of that station. I think that Members across the House will recognise the importance of BBC local radio.
The hon. Member for Gower (Martin Caton) raised a matter of particular relevance to myself and the Leader of the House, because we are both more often seen on our bicycles than in a ministerial car. Cycling safety is a crucial issue. I know that the Department for Transport has recently launched the strategic framework for road safety, and that it is particularly conscious of the dangers to cyclists as road users. It strongly encourages a wide range of measures that local authorities and others can take to make the roads safer for cyclists. He has raised a particular issue—that of stricter liability—and he knows that the Department does not currently accept that rationale for a change in the law, but I hope that he will accept that the Government are very aware of the dangers to cyclists and the need to provide better protection. He has raised an important point, which I shall make known to my ministerial colleagues.
My hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson) talked about something on which she has been campaigning very effectively—body confidence. It seems to me a basic tenet of education that we help young people to feel positive about who they are. That is essentially what she is saying. She knows about Reg Bailey’s review of the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. It has reported and the Government have accepted the recommendation that children should always be helped to develop their emotional resilience—the word that she, too, used—in the face of the pressures put on them by what are often impossible images propagated by the press and media. We should support those efforts, because it is important for kids to realise that we do not all have to look the same, and that there is not a “good” sort of person and a “bad” sort of person based on appearance. I hope that she will continue with her effective campaign.
The hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) has a great deal of experience in defence matters, and I listened carefully to what he said. I have to argue with him, however, when he says that it is a disgrace that my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary came to the House to make a statement yesterday. I think that it would have been a disgrace had he not done so, and not made the House aware of the Ministry of Defence’s current thinking. Let us be clear: the strategic defence and security review was a huge challenge, partly because it had not been done by the previous Government. If they had not failed to do what was necessary, perhaps it would have been easier to bring forward sensible planning for our military. However, the decision to take an adaptable posture with flexible forces was right, and has been proved right by subsequent events.
The hon. Member for Keighley (Kris Hopkins) raised an important point about what happened this afternoon. I am not aware of the circumstances, so I make no judgment. I simply say this: it is absolutely and wholly wrong that a witness before a Select Committee should be assaulted in this House. Let us be in no doubt about that. That is a shameful act, and cannot be acceptable in any circumstances.
The hon. Gentleman then raised a number of other issues, which he asked me to pass on to the relevant Secretaries of State, and of course I shall do so. He talked about the teaching of English, and about independence for Keighley from Bradford. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government knows a thing or two about Bradford, and he may have some opinions on that subject. The hon. Gentleman also talked about tax exemption for charities, and Worth Valley young farmers club. I used to be on the executive of a young farmers club in Somerset, and I know the value of the work done by young farmers. The hon. Gentleman also talked about tourism in his constituency, and about Kashmir. He knows that I cannot respond to all those points adequately, but I will ensure that he receives appropriate answers.
The hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) raised work capacity assessments, with which there has been a continuing problem—I remember raising it under the previous Government—and the inability to deal with mental health issues effectively. She knows about Professor Harrington’s review, because she talked about it. That review is an important step forward on the part of this Government.
The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) talked about returning officers. He engendered great sympathy from me—as a Minister without salary in this Government—when he talked about having additional responsibilities without any additional salary. He will be aware that the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 allows the Electoral Commission to withhold all or part of the fee available to counting officers. The Government are considering whether that should apply to returning officers as well. However, on the other hand, returning officers have considerable responsibilities and they have them—to coin a phrase—all the year round, not just at elections.
The right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr Clarke) talked about a number of issues in his constituency. Many of them are devolved issues, as he understands, and are the responsibility of the Scottish Government. However, he made a specific request for a meeting with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. I will pass that request on, and hopefully that can be arranged.
The hon. Member for Southend West (Mr Amess), as always, put in a wonderful performance, in which he managed to include more subjects than I can possibly respond to: constituents with a number of problems, buses—I am afraid that I cannot guarantee that I will attend his public meeting—rate relief for empty properties, animal testing, hepatitis C, midwives, free schools, Parliament square and phone hacking. He knows—because he has enough experience to know—that I will ensure that he receives replies to his queries from the relevant Departments.
The hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) raised some important points about Davenham Trust Ltd. I do not know the answers to those, but I shall pass them to the Treasury to reply to him directly. He also raised an important issue—on which it sounds as if he has been fighting on behalf of his constituent Mr Chatterjee for some years—concerning the Ministry of Defence. Again, I will pass that on to the MOD.
Last but not least, the hon. Member for Tamworth (Christopher Pincher) raised the CSA and CAFCASS. I take careful note of what he said. As for the particular circumstances involving the CSA to which he referred, I will read out the note that I have here: “In short, the situation described can arise only where the income a non-resident parent derives from a property—which must be a second property and not their home—is not declared as part of the non-resident parent’s net income, and if the parent with care of the child believes the non-resident parent has undeclared income and asks the agency to include any such income in the maintenance liability.” I have no idea whether that satisfactorily answers the hon. Gentleman’s point, but if it does not, I will ensure that he receives a more satisfactory response in due course.
The hon. Gentleman also mentioned the Staffordshire hoard. In return, I shall ask him to come and see the Frome hoard, found in my own village, which is on display in Taunton castle.
Mr Speaker, may I wish you and your colleagues, and all Members of the House, a very positive and valuable recess? I also thank all the Officers of the House for all the hard work that they do on our behalf.