Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Mike Amesbury

Monday 11th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Despite my private Member’s Bill on statutory guidance to reduce the cost of school uniforms—the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021—far too many schools require a plethora of logos and branded items. When can we expect more robust intervention from Ministers to deal with this issue?

[Damian Hinds]

Schools should be reasonable in what they do and that is what our guidance sets out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Mike Amesbury

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. He and I have met, along with the other MP for Reading, my right hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Sir Alok Sharma). As he is aware, a sale is progressing, and of course there is commercial sensitivity attached to that, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that assurances for purchase will be required by solicitors and all required due diligence will be undertaken. I will be happy to talk with him further.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

Louise and her family are facing unnecessary and quite challenging delays in the local coroner’s service in Cheshire. This seems to be happening far too often at the moment. What more can Ministers do to speed up that process?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Mike Amesbury

Tuesday 21st February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

If I may start at the end of the hon. Lady’s question—no. I do not think that we will be taking lessons from the Opposition Front Benchers when it comes to clamping down on crime and standing up to criminals.

The people who work in the prohibition service do a unique and immensely difficult job, making difficult judgments and helping to support people, but also determining when it is necessary for them to be recalled to prison. It is important that when things do go wrong we learn lessons, and we have been learning those lessons. Let me also gently say to the hon. Lady that, sadly, serious further offences, although rare among people who have come out of prison on probation, happen every year, and it is important that we bear down on them and seek to learn lessons whenever they occur.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

3. What recent estimate he has made of the size of the backlog of criminal court cases in Weaver Vale constituency.