Business of the House

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Excerpts

Thursday 19th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

That is a very good idea. Perhaps we could suggest it to the Backbench Business Committee. The national lottery is a great Conservative achievement from 21 years ago, and perhaps we could use a debate to celebrate a great Conservative achievement today. Finally we have a Government who are really determined to drive up economic activity in the north, compared with the last Labour Government, under whom the proportion of manufacturing industry in our economy fell by half and the north bore a disproportionate brunt of it.

[Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

In this age of austerity, I am sure the Leader of the House is as astonished as I am that my local authority, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which is run by a City Independents and Conservative coalition, has reportedly just spent £500,000 on getting rid of its chief executive. May we have, as a matter of urgency, a debate in Government time on golden parachutes in the public sector?

[Chris Grayling]

Every local council is accountable to its local electors for the decisions it takes. None of us would ever wish to see local authorities spending money unnecessarily, but, of course, I have no idea about the nature of the contract and the circumstances behind that pay-off, so it would be wrong of me to comment on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Tracey Crouch]

We all share the view that football fans are the lifeblood of the club they support and many people feel frustration about club ownership. I have been pleased with the level of engagement with the supporters’ representatives group and I am confident that the final report will provide a structured approach for greater collaboration between clubs and fans. That might well include some of the issues that the hon. Gentleman has raised. The working group report will be published next month and before his ten-minute rule Bill comes before the House in December. I hope that he will look at the report and support us in implementing the recommendations.

[Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

6. What steps he is taking to increase the participation of women and girls in sport.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tracey Crouch)]

Women’s participation is up by more than 500,000 since we won the Olympic bid in 2005, but recent figures show the beginning of a decline since the high point in 2012. We know that lots of women regularly take part in physical activity that is not measured at present, but we also recognise that various obstacles put women and girls off playing sport. The new sports strategy will help to remove those obstacles.

[Ruth Smeeth]

My great city of Stoke-on-Trent will be the 2016 European city of sport. That is brilliant news for my constituents, but we need to ensure a strong legacy from that accolade. Research suggests that families on low incomes have only £2.55 a week to spend on active leisure activities. Young women prefer to participate in organised indoor sports, but many are precluded from doing so on the basis of available funds. What is the Minister doing to ensure that young women are actively encouraged to participate, regardless of their parents’ pay packets?

[Tracey Crouch]

I feel very strongly about this issue, having coached a girls football team for many years. As a football club, we have made sure that cost is not a prohibitive factor in involvement. It is important that we ensure that there are many activities out there in which women and girls can participate, and Parkrun has become one of the fastest growing. It has a huge amount of support from women and girls all over the country. There are many different reasons why women do not participate in sport and cost might well be one of them, but we must consider all those issues as part of the wider sports strategy.

Business of the House

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Excerpts

Thursday 28th May 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The Secretary of State will be here for Education Question Time. We start the timetable for daily oral questions next week, and a few days after that there will be an opportunity to put that question to her. I am proud of the progress we have made in our education system over the past five years. Standards are rising and young people from all backgrounds have a better start in life and better chances. This country is rising up the international education league tables, and I want that progress to continue in this Parliament.

[Ruth Smeeth (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

In Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove and across the country there have been alarming reports of children returning to school malnourished. I would be grateful if in Government time we had a debate to discuss this urgent situation in my constituency and across the country.

[Chris Grayling]

I welcome the hon. Lady to the House. She makes an important point. We recognise that there are still some deep-rooted social problems in our communities. That is why we established the troubled families programme and why we will do everything we can to improve the situation in those families. It is a central part of what the Government have worked on and will continue to work on. The best way of ensuring that all families in all parts of the United Kingdom have the chance to prosper is by getting more people into work and getting our economy growing so that everyone shares in that prosperity.