Holiday Pricing
Debate between Baroness Burt of Solihull and Justin Tomlinson(10 years, 9 months ago)
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Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)
I am following closely what the hon. Gentleman is saying. Once a child has been away on holiday for two weeks, would there not be a lot of catching up to do when they came back? Children would be trying to catch up at different times.
Justin Tomlinson
That applies to general discretion. There is a plus and a negative with any suggestion, which is why my personal choice would be rotational, flexible term times, because that would help children, parents and teachers, and the tourism industry. To me that is a win-win, across the board. Long gone are the days when we all needed to be available for harvest time.
It is a pleasure to participate in this debate, which has caught the public’s imagination. It is a serious issue. I do not think that we will necessarily get all the solutions today. I think that the key to this—my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley mentioned it—is that the Education Committee should now pick up the baton after this debate, taking on board the speeches and comments that we have made, and we will happily forward all suggestions and comments from constituents who have contacted us. This can be looked at. The Government could, by looking at this proactively, innovatively and constructively, make a real difference to people’s lives.
Small Businesses
Debate between Baroness Burt of Solihull and Justin Tomlinson(14 years, 3 months ago)
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)
My hon. Friend has been making some excellent points, and I am sure that all of us will relate the various issues he has raised to our constituencies and businesses. The holy grail for the banks seems to be to provide customer relationship managers. Does my hon. Friend feel that they will really be given the flexibility and authority to make decisions about lending money? Do they have applied business experience to enable them to make the right decisions?