Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 29th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

I am sure the whole House would wish to congratulate my right hon. Friend on being made a lay canon of Christ Church cathedral, Oxford, this weekend. This is only the first or second occasion on which a Second Church Commissioner’s work has been recognised in this way. I heartily congratulate my right hon. Friend. May I ask him to turn his big gun on my question? [Laughter.] Does he agree that when money rules, we remember the price of things but forget their value, and that while retail therapy has a role to play, everything should be done in moderation?

[Mr Speaker]

In congratulating the right hon. Gentleman on his new elevation, I can say only that the House is in a state of eager anticipation to witness his big gun.

Infrastructure Bill [Lords]

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 26th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is there, then, an amendment to that effect?

[Mr Speaker]

No amendment is required to prove that there is no amendment. That makes me think that the hon. Lady has been reading Heidegger—“the nothing noths”. There is no manuscript amendment, and consideration of this matter should not be clouded by thoughts of a manuscript amendment. I have been given no indication that there will be a manuscript amendment. It would be extraordinary, to put it mildly, for a manuscript amendment to be proposed or put forward for consideration by me or by professional advisers when the debate has already started. Things need to be dealt with in an orderly manner.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 22nd January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Huw Irranca-Davies. Not here.

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

May I, too, welcome the excellent work of the Backbench Business Committee, which has chosen debates that the hon. Member for North Tyneside (Mrs Glindon) and I have asked for on a number of reports by the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs? The strength of the Backbench Business Committee is that its time is for debating purposes, but will my right hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House consider the possibility of a debate either selected by the Backbench Business Committee or in Government time on how the House deals with the scrutiny of European Union matters? When an implementing regulation comes before the House, hon. Members should be allowed to amend as well as just debate it.

Business of the House

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 11th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[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.

Select committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Commons Chamber

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

On behalf of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, may I say how delighted we are to have secured this time to launch our report on food production and the supply dimensions of food security? I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Dan Rogerson) to his place. The Committee would like to thank all those who contributed to the inquiry, submitted evidence or appeared before us. I give special thanks to the Committee staff who drew all the evidence together and helped us to reach our conclusions.

We believe that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the key to providing leadership on long-term food security. I should say at the outset that the food and drink sector accounts for 3.7 million jobs and 7% of the overall economy. Food security has been described by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as

“when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

That implicitly includes future generations and requires food security methods in the UK and elsewhere to be sustainable.

The UK currently enjoys a high level of food security, but we believe that there is no room for complacency. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and pay tribute to all the farmers across the land who work so hard in all weathers to ensure that we have food on our plates. Food security is under severe challenge from changes in weather patterns, growing populations and rising global demand for food. The report therefore focuses on what food production, supply and systems we need to ensure that we have long-term food security.

What can we do? Our core recommendation is to have a single champion for farming and food security, and we believe that it should be the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. While it is right that other Departments are involved, such as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, there is a real need for cross-departmental communication, and DEFRA should step up to the plate and take the lead. We also urge DEFRA to appoint a food security co-ordinator from the Department to ensure a coherent and co-ordinated approach.

Self-sufficiency is in decline. Over the past 20 years, it has reduced from some 75% to around 62%. We need to stem and reverse that decline. We need to look to become more self-sufficient in food, but also aim to be a major exporter in those products that we can afford to export and that are surplus to demand in this country.

We applaud DEFRA’s efforts and congratulate it on its budget and on the work of the Secretary of State and Ministers here and in the other place in leading a vibrant export campaign to ensure that our farmers export more. On a visit to Denmark that the Committee undertook during the Danish presidency, we were struck by the ability of Danish farmers, often working through co-operatives, but with Government support, to export, particularly milk, cheese and other dairy products. We therefore applaud the Department’s efforts to open up new markets where demand is growing.

However, barriers remain, not least in certain emerging markets. I do not wish to single out China, but let me give a particular example. There is a joint operation between the Malton bacon factory and the Cookstown plant, and there will be many pig parts, such as pigs’ feet, that humans do not eat in this country but for which there is wide demand in China. That is a wonderful opportunity for export and we urge the Government—whether DEFRA, the Foreign Office or the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills—to intervene. Having just removed the barriers to cheese exports, we must act urgently to remove the very real barriers to pigmeat. In my constituency alone, in Malton and the hinterland, that will mean thousands, if not millions of pounds every year. We urge the Government to press for opening up those markets to allow such exports to grow.

The boost to food security is challenged by some food production systems and threats such as the impact of extreme weather events. We call for several measures. We need supermarkets to use shorter supply chains, and we applaud efforts on that and look forward to Professor Elliott’s final report and recommendations. We need to diversify if supply is to be safeguarded against disease, severe weather or other domestic supply disruption, and we must be open to imports where they are needed.

We also call on UK farmers to satisfy home consumer tastes and extend seasonal production of fresh fruit and vegetables in co-ordination with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and working with central and local government. We urge the Government to work hard to reduce dependence on imported soybean or animal feed, as increased demand for protein from emerging economies threatens current supply lines.

I ask the Government to produce a detailed emissions reduction plan for the UK agriculture sector. Agriculture currently accounts for 9% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and livestock production accounts for a staggering 49% of farm-related emissions. The headlines this week mentioned flatulence from animals, and we wish to reduce that wherever we can. The report applauds the work that is going on, particularly that being trialled by Sainsbury’s and other supermarkets, as well as the research that we have heard about to grow high sugar grass that will singlehandedly reduce such emissions.

We also welcome the £410 million that the Government are currently spending on agricultural research, and the £160 million for agri-tech strategy. We urge the Government to act, perhaps as a sort of Cilla Black, and to unite, go out and find partners and bring them to the marketplace—a sort of “Blind Date”, urging research institutes in this country to find other such institutes, including across Europe and internationally, and to ensure that farmers benefit and that research is brought to farmers and to the marketplace.

We believe that there needs to be an urgent public debate to allay public concerns about genetically modified crops, and the Government are best placed to do that. On extreme weather events, thousands of acres of land were flooded and taken out of production during the recent flooding, and we need better long-term forecasting so that farmers know what crops to grow and when. We welcome new entrants and believe that with land in limited supply, and with its conflicting uses such as for housing as well as farming, younger farmers and new entrants will embrace the technology available.

This is the first of two reports and it draws on the work of the previous Government, on which the Committee reported in 2009. I believe that it will be warmly welcomed by farmers, supermarkets and retailers. First and foremost, it is a vote of confidence in British farming, and places DEFRA as the champion for farming and food security.

[Mr Speaker]

I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for her comprehensive statement, and the House is obliged to her for providing Members with a helping hand through her graphic descriptions of what she had in mind. It is always useful, in my experience, to have a bit of information.

[Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab)]

There is much to be commended and debated in this welcome report, and I hope we will have the opportunity to do so in short order, not least the acknowledgement that:

“Food security is not simply about becoming more self-sufficient in food production.”

as well as the imperative for the UK to boost its productivity for domestic and export reasons.

Why does the Committee feel it necessary, as its first recommendation, to urge the Government to

“identify Defra as the lead Department for food security”

given that that should be the Department’s raison d’être and a core part of its mission? Why is it necessary to highlight that, even though it is welcome?

Points of Order

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let me begin by thanking the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, of which, with characteristic courtesy, he gave me notice. Yesterday’s point of order and my response did not address the issue of notification of visits to other Members’ constituencies. The conventions on that matter are clear. Any Member intending to visit another Member’s constituency on official business should give notice of their plans to the constituency Member. What I would like to say at this stage to the hon. Gentleman, and to the House, is that I think that the House has probably heard enough about this matter. I say that in no pejorative spirit but in a factual sense, especially as there is an Adjournment debate on it this evening. Of that fact, of course, the hon. Gentleman is himself keenly aware, for the debate is his. We will leave it there for the time being.

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I rise to seek your advice. The House is obviously privileged to be the subject of a documentary, which is being filmed at present, but I am sure no one would wish to breach the integrity of a ballot that is currently taking place for the position of Chair of the Health Committee. May I seek your advice to ensure that the integrity of what should be a secret ballot will not be compromised?

Points of Order

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 17th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is gesticulating in an eccentric fashion, but we will come to him in a moment.

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

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. It is helpful to have your ruling on the record, but the matter was most certainly not dealt with, because we were advised to wait for the recorded vote to be made available. Your ruling is clear, but one wonders what the situation is now for those who called a vote in false circumstances.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Lady for what she has said. I know that she always seeks to be helpful to the House, and I always listen to her.

Managing Flood Risk

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 3rd March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Just before the hon. Lady moves on to the subject of drainage boards, may I gently say—I am listening to her speech with close attention, as I invariably do—that I am cautiously optimistic that she is approaching her concluding remarks? I say that not because of any lack of attention or interest on my part, but because several other Members wish to contribute to the debate, and I know that she will be as eager as I am to hear their contributions.

[Miss McIntosh]

Indeed. That is the purpose of the debate, Mr Speaker.

I am vice-president of the Association of Drainage Authorities. The Select Committee concluded that drainage boards are best placed to remove the vegetation and to carry out the maintenance that has been mentioned. Indeed, we are grateful that the Government have looked favourably on this opportunity to allow IDBs to use their local knowledge and resources, and to undertake more of the investment. We believe that there is a lost opportunity in relation to funding from private bodies that DEFRA—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 13th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sir Tony Baldry]

Last Friday the Bishop of Taunton wrote to all parishes in the Bath and Wells diocese, giving details of how parishioners could both provide and access much-needed financial and practical support. On the wider question of a relief fund for flood victims, I think my hon. Friend was present on Monday when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government told me that a number of charities were offering help for flood victims and promised that the Government would do more to signpost those voluntary organisations to help people in distress.

[Mr Speaker]

I think we have time for the questions; it is hoped that we have time for the answers.

[Miss McIntosh]

When we had severe flooding in 2000, the then Archbishop of York, Lord Hope, created a Church of England relief fund, through which we were very humbled to receive not just national donations, but donations from Mozambique, which is a very poor country, but it wished to show solidarity. I hope my right hon. Friend will use his good offices to create such a fund through the Church of England, to which both national and international donors will be able to contribute, if they wish to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 3rd February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

It is my pleasure to call Miss Anne McIntosh.

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

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s news today. May the message go out from this House that bullying and harassment will not be tolerated, whether in the military, in politics, or in civilian or any other walk of life?

Business of the House

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 25th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Miss Anne McIntosh.

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

How incredibly kind, Mr Speaker.

Is the Leader of the House aware that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published its draft clauses for revising the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and asked the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to report by 29 April? We stand prepared to do that, but there is the slight problem that the House is not meeting next week to enable us to adopt our formal report. Prorogation is the only time when no Select Committee can meet. I ask the Leader of the House to use his good offices to ensure that the Department does not publish the clauses formally, but awaits the opinion of the Select Committee so that there is proper scrutiny and we do not repeat the situation that gave rise to the 1991 Act, which has caused so much concern that it now needs to be revised.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 14th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are short of time, but I want to accommodate the question on religious belief.

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

8. What her plans are for equalities on the grounds of religious belief.

Offshore Gambling Bill

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Friday 25th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It was, I think, predictable that the intervention of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly) would provoke the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). I simply say to the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) that there is a substantial canvas available to her in offering the House a speech on her Bill, but it does not extend to covering the merits or demerits of an in/out referendum on the European Union.

[Miss McIntosh]

I hope that I might please you, Mr Speaker, even if I disappoint other hon. Members, when I say that I have no intention of going down that path today. I do not wish to enter into a competition about who is the most assiduous or distinguished member of the Select Committee. Suffice it to say that I yield to no one in my admiration for the members of the Committee here today.

Horsemeat (Supermarket Products)

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Notwithstanding the importance and urgency of this matter, I remind the House that business questions are to follow and that we then have two heavily subscribed debates under the auspices of the Backbench Business Committee. I will not be able to call everybody as I usually wish to do, but to maximise the number of contributors, I appeal to colleagues for single, short supplementary questions and to the Minister for appropriately pithy replies.

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

The Minister has to answer the question why this problem was picked up not in this country but in Ireland. Will he take this opportunity to explain what the role of DEFRA is in food safety and where the cross-contamination occurred? I understood that all checks on imported meat, in which we understand the cross-contamination was found, occur at the point of entry. Will he confirm what checks are conducted on meat imports?

Business of the House

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Leader of the House would probably like to lead an Adjournment debate on that matter. He would do so with great force and eloquence, and possibly at some length.

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

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) for drawing attention to our letters to the Environment Secretary about flooding. Since there is cross-departmental responsibility for flood issues, will the Leader of the House call for an early debate, potentially with three Ministers to respond? There is the matter outstanding from the 2007 floods of sustainable drainage systems, recovery under the Bellwin formula and whether capital expenditure will be extended to roads and bridges, as well as reservoir safety guidance. In a week in which north Yorkshire suffered its second worst flooding since 2007, will the Leader of the House commit to a debate to which three Secretaries of State could respond: from DEFRA—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is too long. I am sorry but the hon. Lady is giving a dissertation. I am sure it is very interesting, but it is not a question.

Ash Dieback Disease

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Many Members are seeking to catch my eye and I am keen to accommodate them, but to do so will require brevity from those on Back and Front Benches alike. I am sure that we will be led in this process by the Chair of the Select Committee.

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

I welcome these proceedings and congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister. Will he pass on our thanks to the Food and Environment Research Agency in my constituency for its work and to the Forestry Commission? Will he explain to the House that this disease was already treated as a quarantine pest under national emergency measures? That would help to show that it was already high on the political agenda. Will he ensure that resources are put into urgently investigating the age profile of the disease? Saplings are deemed more likely to die from the disease, but are mature trees equally at risk? Will he also assure the House that none of the other plants that are being inspected by FERA and the Forestry Commission are causing the same concern?

Business of the House

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A very large number of hon. and right hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye, but as the House will know and as I simply remind Members, there is a defence statement to follow and thereafter a heavily subscribed and very important debate. Therefore, it may not be possible for me to accommodate all contributors at business questions in the way that I would usually intend, but maximising the number of contributors depends upon brevity, which will now be exemplified, I know, by Miss Anne McIntosh.

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

Will my right hon. Friend allow time for a debate on the health and social care White Paper and its implications for community hospitals?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th June 2012 Commons Chamber

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

The hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) is absolutely right: we need a register of active fishermen—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House must come to order. The House should be listening to the Chair of the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—listening with respect.

[Miss McIntosh]

—and fisheries. [Laughter.] The hon. Lady is absolutely right that, without a register, we do not know who are active fishermen in Scotland and who are slipper skippers.

Fish Discards

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 14th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If I am to accommodate colleagues, I need short questions and short answers.

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

I congratulate my hon. Friend on what he has delivered and the progress that was made, particularly on regionalisation, which is music to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s ears. Will he update the House on the question of a register for UK fishermen so that we can tackle the problem of slipper skippers, which will also help with discards? Will he confirm that it will be fish caught against quota on which we will proceed, not just fish landed, as that is one of the main issues with discards? Will he confirm that there will be support for fishermen to invest in the selective gear that has been successful in Denmark and Sweden?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Tuesday 12th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Anne McIntosh.

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

The Department of Health is to be asked to sign off the business case for the transfer of services from Lambert Memorial community hospital to the new extra care housing scheme—sometimes called an extra sheltered accommodation scheme—in updated community facilities. Will the Secretary of State give me a personal assurance that there will be no sign-off until the future of Thirsk’s community hospital is guaranteed for its current purposes?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

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

Has the Business Secretary had the opportunity to assess the implication of the growing places fund for infrastructure projects such as that relating to the A64 in North Yorkshire? What criteria will apply to selecting such projects, and how can we guide the local enterprise partnership in the right direction?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know that the Secretary of State’s reply will relate to economic growth and business confidence.

Points of Order

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have given you prior notice of this point of order, which relates to item 23 of the future business on today’s Order Paper—Public Bodies: Scrutiny of Draft Orders. This was due to be debated in the House last week, but the order, as drafted, was defective and so was pulled. It has enormous implications for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in particular, but it also relates to all the orders for the dismantling once and for all of particular public bodies, the vast majority of which relate to the Committee.

If I may, I wish to ask for three things: that the order be debated in an orderly manner in the customary fashion; that, where an order for approval is drafted, it is not to be tabled before the end of the laying period and that additional time be granted to an individual Committee, such as the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, to allow a minimum of 60 to 90 working days to consider it; and that, if necessary, a debate on such an order is allowed on the Floor of the House. This order is monumental in its nature. These public bodies will cease to exist and the members of the Committee would like to have time to consider it fully.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for advance notice of her point of order, and for the point of order itself. Sadly, none of the three requests that she has put to me is a matter for the Chair; all three are matters—her brow is furrowed, but I assure her that I am right on this issue—for discussion perhaps between the Liaison Committee, as the collective representative of Select Committees, on the one hand and Treasury Front Benchers on the other.

I should say to the hon. Lady and to the House, which I am sure will want the issue to be interpreted, that the point at issue is the procedure for Select Committees to deal with proposals made by Ministers under the recently passed Public Bodies Act 2011. I note—she referred to this in passing—that a proposed Standing Order to deal with those draft orders is indeed item 23 in today’s Future Business, section C, and no doubt those on the Treasury Bench, which does not include the Leader of the House or the Deputy Leader of the House at the moment but a number of Whips, who doubtless can convey the relevant information, will have heard her point. I have a feeling that if she does not get satisfaction, she is likely, if precedent is anything by which to judge, to return to the matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

rose— [Interruption]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Members are being very unfair to the Member asking the question and to the Minister answering it. Let us have a bit of order.

[Miss McIntosh]

Does the Minister agree that the direction in which the negotiations on fisheries are going is entirely in the interests of the Scottish and UK fisheries in ending discards and allowing for regional fisheries agreements?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

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

I support the Government’s drive for more prosecutions of rape. Will the Solicitor-General support my move to allocate a centre to North Yorkshire and York to help victims of rape? Were we to have such a centre—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am not sure that this is a priority of the Crown Prosecution Service, but the Solicitor-General can respond to the first part of the question briefly.

Points of Order

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady both for her point of order and her courtesy in giving me advance notice of it. Not only was that courteous, but it gave me the chance to look into the matter, as she would wish. “Erskine May” is helpful on the subject, and I quote from page 443 for the benefit of the hon. Lady and the House:

“There is no rule to prevent Members not connected with the government from citing documents in their possession, both public and private, which are not before the House, even though the House will not be able to form a correct judgment from partial extracts.”

Whether or not, in the words of the late Lord Birkenhead, we are any the wiser, I hope that we are at least, as a result, somewhat better informed.

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You are the custodian and guardian of the courtesies and conventions of the House, so I would be most grateful for your guidance on a matter of which I have given you advance notice. Is it not customary for an hon. Member to inform another Member in advance of a visit to their constituency? Was it sufficient, for example, for the shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs simply to announce at DEFRA questions that she intended to visit, for political reasons, a forest in my area? Would it not have been normal for her to write in advance to inform me of the matter? I am sure that this was an oversight on her part, but your guidance would be most helpful.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. The answer is that if a Member is visiting the constituency of another Member on official or public business, it is courteous for them to notify that other Member of their intention to visit, preferably reasonably in advance. This convention has been breached on both sides of the House, and I hope not to have continually to make the point that it is really a matter of elementary courtesy that we should adhere to this convention.

If there are no further points of order, we come to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) has been patiently waiting. May I appeal that Members who are leaving the Chamber do so quickly and quietly so that these important matters can be addressed?

Flood Defence Allocations

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is considerable interest in this subject, but there are two important statements, and other demanding business, to follow. There is pressure on time, so short questions and short answers are essential.

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

The House will not be taken in by the crocodile tears of the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), whose Government changed the points system in 2005, depriving many towns such as Thirsk of protection from floods. Will the Minister give the House an assurance that any local levy he seeks to raise will not trigger the 2.5% increase that would lead to a local referendum? Will he work with the insurance industry to see whether local resilience measures for houses could be extended to business properties and whether a lower insurance premium could then be attracted?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 14th October 2010 Commons Chamber

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

Will the Business Secretary set out the timetable for the setting up of the local economic partnerships? Will he explain which umbrella body should be used to apply for European funding such as the rural development programme? Will he also guide us on the position on match funding going forward?

[Mr Speaker]

One answer to those three questions will suffice.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Thursday 8th July 2010 Commons Chamber

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

I yield to no one in my admiration for Graham Honeyman, having visited Sheffield Forgemasters when I was shadow Minister following the floods that devastated the company. However, will my right hon. Friend explain why, of all the grants and loans issued by Yorkshire Forward, north Yorkshire gets less than the 11% share to which it would be entitled and—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. That is wide of the question. The short answer is no, Secretary of State.

[Miss McIntosh]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It is wide, and that is the end of the matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Miss McIntosh]

May I congratulate my hon. Friend on his appointment and pay tribute to his predecessor? Will my hon. Friend look at removing the anomaly between the high rate of VAT on church repairs and the zero rate of VAT on new buildings? Will he, indeed, campaign for a lower rate of VAT throughout the European Union—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman replies, I must say that there is still quite a hubbub from Government Back Benchers, and it is being contributed to by members of the Government. Surely they want to hear the answers from the Second Church Estates Commissioner.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness McIntosh of Pickering and John Bercow

Wednesday 16th June 2010 Commons Chamber

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

Q8. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to all who work for the health service, but will he also examine the circumstances in which patients are often discharged from hospital only to be readmitted very soon afterwards? The assessment for continuous health care has become something of a postcode lottery. Will the Prime Minister examine that as well, to ensure that such care is paid for on the basis of clinical need?

[Mr Speaker]

That was two questions, but I think that one answer will do.