European Council

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The Scottish Government’s proposals have been considered in detail, including through the JMC process. In the last month, there have been a series of technical meetings on the content of the proposals. Officials in the Scottish Government have met UK specialists in trade, customs, the single market, law, devolution, and goods and services, so close working is going on.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that we currently have access to the widest free trade area through our membership of the European Union? Will she agree that it is extremely important to have transitional arrangements in place? If we lose access through the World Trade Organization, does she accept that, overnight, we will lose access to the free trade agreements negotiated by the EU? Will she use her good offices to ensure that we continue to have free trade access that we currently enjoy under transitional arrangements, until such time as a permanent agreement is agreed?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We want to have reached an agreement about our future partnership by the time the two-year Article 50 process has been concluded. From that point onwards, we expect a phased process of implementation, in which both Britain and the EU institutions and member states prepare for the new arrangements that will exist between us.

Disabled Children: Tax Credit

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Wednesday 30th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Cookham]

I understand the problems of these 28,000 families, by definition with a disabled child and on low incomes, who have failed to get up to £5,000 a year. All I can say is that, if I were still in another place and one of those 28,000 families came to see me at my advice bureau, and I knew there was a legal problem, my advice to them would be to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that this is precisely the type of case for which the ombudsman was set up? I hope those who, like the Minister and myself, have served in the other place as Back-Bench MPs—although my noble friend has come to high office once again—will take note. This is just the type of case that any Back-Bench MP could present to the ombudsman, and I hope the Treasury—my noble friend has certainly shown himself to be a man of honour—will abide by the ruling of the ombudsman in such a case.

Infrastructure Improvements: Funding

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd November 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the National Infrastructure delivery plan 2016 to 2021, what assessment they have made of the ability of the private sector to part-fund infrastructure improvements.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

In referring to my interests on the register, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

My Lords, the private sector plays a vital role in the financing and delivery of our infrastructure. The private sector will deliver around half of the projects due to complete in the next five years. The Government will continue to create the right environment to encourage private investment.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering]

Given the 2% increase in the insurance premium tax and the major housebuilding programme announced today, will my noble friend commit not to build any houses in inappropriate places, such as flood plains, but to undertake a major sustainable drainage building programme and invite more money from the private sector to fund flood defences, in particular the insurance sector and pension funds?

[Lord Young of Cookham]

My noble friend has asked three questions. On building on flood plains, whether planning consent is given for a particular development is a matter for local planning authorities, but my noble friend will be aware of the National Planning Policy Framework, which—I paraphrase—basically discourages development in inappropriate areas and encourages development away from areas at high risk of flooding. On drainage schemes, the Government have committed £2.5 billion of investment between now and 2021, and I believe that the Chancellor announced a further increase in the Autumn Statement a few moments ago. Finally, on private finance, the Environment Agency and local authorities can bid for private finance for schemes that are outwith the public sector scheme and, subject to value for money, they have a good chance of succeeding. There is a new partnering scheme whereby local communities and landowners can bid for funds alongside Defra and make progress with schemes which would not be able to go ahead if they were solely dependent on public finance.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

That is a very important issue. The hon. Gentleman makes a point about whether the parliamentary agenda is full between now and Dissolution, and I think it is, since there are many Bills that will come back from the House of Lords, there will be a Finance Bill to consider after the Budget and the Backbench Business Committee has utilised all its opportunities for further debate. But of course this will continue to be an important issue during and after the general election. The Government have a strong record on it: funding for mental health is estimated to have increased by £302 million in the last financial year compared to the previous one, and we have legislated to ensure that improving mental health and treating mental illness is given the same priority as treatment for physical health. So this Government have a strong record, but further debate is now most likely to take place in the next Parliament.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware of the concerns of potential fracking across Ryedale. There is a grey area as the law currently stands, because the regulations to apply the Infrastructure Act 2015 will not now be brought forward until July, yet an application may be lodged by the end of this month. Will my right hon. Friend use his good offices to ensure that this grey area does not remain in place? The grey area relates to whether or not there will be opportunities to frack, or whether there will be protected areas. All the concessions that were given to the national parks, the sites of special scientific interest and the areas of outstanding natural beauty were withdrawn in the Lords.

[Mr Hague]

Well, we have of course now passed the relevant legislation through Parliament, after considerable debate over the last few months. There will be further opportunities to raise these issues with my ministerial colleagues, because in the remaining days of the Parliament there will be questions to the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Communities and Local Government. That will provide the best opportunity for my hon. Friend to seek clarification on these issues.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The shadow Leader may not be in a strong position this week to talk about party leaders since this is the week in which the Doncaster Free Press released its power list and revealed that the Leader of the Opposition was the fourth most influential person in Doncaster, ranking, interestingly, behind the star of One Direction who just happened to grow up in Doncaster. The right hon. Gentleman is regarded as having less influence on the town than that. We will return to these matters in a moment.

On the hon. Lady’s specific questions, she asked, rightly, about international women’s day, which we look forward to commemorating on Sunday. She referred to the pink bus that has caused so much amusement around the country and asked what the Government have been doing. We have been achieving more women in work than ever before in history—up by 839,000 since May 2010. There are more women-led businesses than ever before in the history of the country and 37% of start-up loans are now going to women. There are more women on FTSE boards than ever before in the history of the country, with no all-male boards remaining. More than half the people lifted out of income tax altogether—58% of them—are women, and the state pension reforms have particularly benefited women, who have historically done poorly under the complicated two-tier system of pensions. That is a tremendous record of achievement, which is superior to any previous Government’s record in assisting the welfare of the women of this country.

The hon. Lady mentioned students—rather bravely, in a week in which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that Labour’s proposed reform of tuition fees

“sounds progressive. . . Sadly, it isn’t.”

It

“will mainly benefit mid- to high-earning graduates who would otherwise have been repaying all or most of their loans.”

That is the position bizarrely adopted by the Labour party on which it is now condemned to fight the election.

It was brave of the hon. Lady, too, to mention migration, as it was a completely open door under the previous Government which brought millions of people to settle in this country.

Following my extensive translation of civil service-ese at the Press Gallery lunch, the hon. Lady did a translation of Prime Ministerial statements, but I have my own translation of what the Leader of the Opposition was saying yesterday when he was calling for a debate, which means, “I am desperate because the election is slipping away from me and I have nothing else to ask about at all.” That is the translation of that. When I was Leader of the Opposition in 2001, I recall asking Tony Blair for a television debate. There was not even an offer of a debate from Tony Blair, not even the pretence of a debate. There was a very clear “No debate whatsoever.” This Prime Minister is offering a debate and that is an offer that should be taken up, which was never offered by Tony Blair in similar circumstances.

Talking of debates, the hon. Lady asked about the debate on the plain packaging of cigarettes. As she knows, because of EU procedures it has been possible to lay regulations but not to make them until after 3 March. That is the reason for the timing. It is normal for such statutory instruments to be considered in a Committee after going through the scrutiny procedures and, subject to the deliberations of that Committee, it will then be possible for the whole House to vote on the outcome of that Committee’s deliberations.

I should have thought that the hon. Lady would welcome the Government’s move in the other place on ticketing. She did not ask about the economic situation in the country, but what has defined the past couple of weeks is what has happened on the economy. Today we heard that new car sales for February were up 12% on last year. This week we heard that average household incomes have returned to pre-recession levels. In the past two weeks we have seen growth in manufacturing and construction up, public sector borrowing fall, and small firms win more than a quarter of Government contracts—the highest percentage ever. That is very clear evidence as we move to the end of the Parliament that a long-term economic plan is right for this country and is working.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is known for writing bestsellers, in one of which he wrote about the history of Parliament sitting in York. One of the issues that will exercise both Houses in the next Parliament is where to sit while major works are taking place here. I hope that he will look no further than his and our main city of York for that purpose.

[Mr Hague]

The suggestion is dear to the hearts of all us Yorkshiremen, although I have to tell my hon. Friend that it might not go down very well in Lancashire. If it becomes necessary for the House to move, I suspect that somewhere closer to its current location might be found. The important decisions on restoration and renewal need to be made in the next Parliament—it would not be appropriate to make them now—so I cannot give her a definitive answer.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

May I join my right hon. Friend in aspiring for Yorkshire to govern the world? Does he accept that we are slightly handicapped by not necessarily having a good mobile signal in the hills, and that in some cases, in his area and mine, just under 20% will still not have broadband? Given the short window for applying for basic farm payments, will he join me in applying for a debate in this Parliament on superfast broadband for north Yorkshire?

[Mr Hague]

North Yorkshire has led the way on superfast broadband in rural areas, which is a great credit to local councillors and others who have worked on that. However, as my hon. Friend rightly says, there are areas where it remains difficult to provide and where mobile phone coverage is not good. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is doing fantastic work on addressing the lack of mobile coverage in parts of this country. It is DCMS Question Time on the first Thursday back after next week’s recess, on 26 February, so she might wish to pursue the matter then.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

There have been many debates in the House on such matters over the years. Ministerial responsibility for them rests in the Cabinet Office and there will be Cabinet Office questions on Wednesday, so the hon. Gentleman will have the opportunity to pursue the matter on the Floor of the House. The increase in spending limits that has been introduced for the coming election is the first increase in a long time. It is necessary in a thriving, robust democracy for the voters to be informed. There should be no criticism of the discussion of elections on social media, because that is how much of the world now conducts its discussions. Other parties will have to catch up.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

The whole country has been shocked by the animal cruelty at the Bowood Yorkshire Lamb abattoir at Busby Stoop, which was the site of hangings at the time of Dick Turpin and so is known for historic reasons. An investigation is rightly ongoing, but will my right hon. Friend permit the earliest possible debate on animal welfare provisions, particularly in slaughterhouses, and on the European provisions for the labelling of meat produced for halal purposes? It is essential that farmers are assured that the high levels of animal welfare that they respect are not let down at the last moment at the point of slaughter.

[Mr Hague]

The whole country takes this matter very seriously. This country rightly has a high reputation for animal welfare, and that must be preserved. Investigations into the matter are taking place, as my hon. Friend says, and those are important. The Crown Prosecution Service is considering the evidence for a possible prosecution. On labelling, we support the EU study that is looking at consumer opinions on methods of slaughter labelling. That study has been delayed, apparently, but it is now expected in the next couple of months. We will be able to review the options at that point and I am sure that the House will want to debate them.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 29th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Gentleman says, without much more detail none of us can know the merits of individual cases, but he is clearly concerned about this case, and he could pursue it with Home Office Ministers, not only through correspondence but at questions. The next Home Office questions will be on Monday 9 February, so I encourage him to raise it directly with them, but I will inform Home Office Ministers of the concerns that he has expressed today.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

I welcome the news that the regulations empowering the Groceries Code Adjudicator to levy fines have been laid. Will my right hon. Friend use his good offices to ask the Prime Minister to clarify his welcome remarks, in response to a question, on extending the adjudicator’s remit to, as I understand it, the whole dairy industry chain, so that processes will be brought within the supply chain? That will be a very welcome move indeed.

[Mr Hague]

I know that those remarks by the Prime Minister were warmly welcomed in different parts of the House, and the Government are considering how to take that forward. My hon. Friend is quite right that the relevant related regulations have been laid. The Ministers responsible, particularly at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will be able to expand on this when the decisions have been made.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The Government accept that there is an issue with the recruitment of HGV drivers, which is a significant concern to the industry. We welcome the steps that the industry has taken to recruit a new generation of hauliers. The Government are working with the industry to identify ways to improve the situation. On facilities, there is a Department for Transport circular requiring all motorway service areas and truck stops that are signed on, or from, a strategic road network to offer free toilets with hand-washing facilities and free parking for two hours, so I hope there will be an improvement. My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this matter.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

May I just ask the hon. Lady whether she has been here throughout?

[Miss McIntosh]

I slipped out to get a report, Mr Speaker, but I was here at the beginning.

[Mr Speaker]

We cannot have Members slipping out, but on this occasion we will accommodate the hon. Lady, who is an illustrious denizen of the House.

[Miss McIntosh]

The report is pertinent to my request, but I will take note and behave better in future, Mr Speaker.

Will my right hon. Friend find Government time to debate the recent annual report from the Government chief scientific adviser, “Innovation: managing risk, not avoiding it”, which concludes that, like thalidomide and asbestos, fracking could carry unforeseen risks? Such a profound allegation should be considered in Government time before any fracking applications are considered locally.

Business of the House

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I clearly cannot offer such a debate at present, although the hon. Gentleman is well aware of how to pursue such a debate, and he can raise the matter at Health questions. I do not want to be drawn into a controversy within the dental profession in any comment that I make now, but there clearly are some concerns and the hon. Gentleman will be able to pursue the matter in all the normal ways in the House.

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

I support the points made about the groceries code adjudicator. The only power she has is the power to levy fines. The fact that the statutory instrument has not been laid means that that important groceries code is toothless.

[Mr Hague]

None of us wants to see a groceries code entirely toothless. There are clearly concerns on both sides of the House about this, so, as I said when the matter was raised by the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick), I will ask Business Ministers for a report of progress on it.