Business of the House

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Thursday 11th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will raise that point with my colleagues and ask them to respond to the hon. Gentleman.

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

Youth unemployment in my constituency is down 15% since the last election. May we have a debate on the success of the Government’s economic policies and on what more can be done to ensure that all young people have the dignity of work?

[Mr Lansley]

Youth unemployment is down by 43,000 this quarter and 60,000 since last year, and I am pleased to hear what my hon. Friend says about additional youth employment in Croydon, which is important. I cannot promise a debate immediately, but the Opposition could always take up the issue in the Opposition day debate next Wednesday.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Thursday 10th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point and mentions the tragic case of his constituent. He will be aware of the Prime Minister’s speech recently on crime and justice, when he said that the Government would be looking at toughening up knife sentences and at the use of cautions. The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice are working together to review the punishments available for carrying a knife. We strengthened sentences in relation to this under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and the Home Office has committed £18 million to support police agencies and the voluntary sector in tackling knife, gun and gang-related violence and in preventing youth crime.

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

Yesterday, the Mayor of London published his draft police and crime plan, which offered Croydon an extra 117 police officers by 2015. May we have a debate on what others could learn from the Mayor of London about reducing running costs, concentrating resources on the front line and showing that, in a time of austerity, it is possible to protect front-line services?

[Mr Lansley]

That is an important example for others to follow. In Cambridgeshire, I might say, we are also seeing resources being focused on the front line and an increase in police numbers. It is important to achieve that. There are good examples, and I hope that we can find opportunities when they can be set out for others to follow.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Thursday 1st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I remind the hon. Lady that we will—not immediately, but at a future date—have an opportunity to discuss the appointments of further lay members to IPSA, which might enable her to raise such issues. On the specific point about the temporary chief executive, I should point out that it was very much a temporary appointment, with a contract for a short period of time, and those are precisely the circumstances in which, as is the case in business life, one would tend to have a special contracting procedure.

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

With help from the Government and the Mayor of London, Croydon council is today announcing a package of nearly £9 million to regenerate west Croydon and the London road area, which was so badly affected by last year’s riots. However, many businesses are still waiting for compensation through the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 or from their insurance companies. May we have a debate about how government—local and national—and the insurance industry have helped the areas affected by those riots?

[Mr Lansley]

I am sure that the House will welcome what my hon. Friends says about the support being given by Croydon council to west Croydon as a consequence of the riots. I will ask my colleagues at the Home Office to write to him about what is being done in relation to the Riot (Damages) Act.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot answer the hon. Lady’s question at this moment, but I will ask my colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions to respond to her.

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

With the economy growing, inflation lower than expected, public borrowing lower than expected and more people in work than at any time in our history, I am sure the Opposition will use the next Opposition day to talk about the economy, but if for some inconceivable reason they do not, will the Leader of the House ensure that Government time is made available?

[Mr Lansley]

Yes; I reiterate my hon. Friend’s extremely good point and commend it to the shadow Leader of the House when she considers the business on—I believe— 7 November, when the Opposition will no doubt take the opportunity to debate the latest positive figures on growth, employment and the reduction of inflation, and the simple fact that since the Government came to office, we have cut the deficit we inherited by a quarter.

NHS Future Forum

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 14th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

This Bill and our proposals were never to support privatisation; they are not to support privatisation and they will not be to support privatisation. The hon. Gentleman should have attacked the Labour Government who gave the private sector £250 million for operations it never carried out; they paid it 11% more than they would have paid the NHS for that. They tried to push the NHS out of the provision of services when it could have provided them and competed. The Labour Government did that, and we shall legislate to make it illegal for a Secretary of State or any regulator to engage in that kind of preferential treatment for the private sector in future.

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

I welcome the revised proposals, in particular the focus on competition not as an end in itself but on informed—[Interruption.]

[Gavin Barwell]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I welcome the focus not on competition as an end in itself, but on informed patient choice to improve patient care. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, unlike the Opposition, the Government believe that NHS patients in my constituency deserve the best that the public, private and voluntary sectors can offer them?

[Mr Lansley]

I understand. What my hon. Friend says is absolutely clear. We know that informed choice for patients is a serious contributory factor in improving outcomes for patients. When there is informed choice, of necessity we must have a diversity of providers to support it. There is no doubt that to that extent competition is an essential part of delivering improving care in the future, but it is not an end in itself. It should not be elevated to that point, over and above delivering the integrated services that best give patients the care they need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Barwell and Lord Lansley

Tuesday 7th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley)]

The Department is currently in the process of working with NHS London to establish timetables for each NHS trust and agree the actions required to achieve foundation trust status by April 2014. This work is ongoing; once it is finalised, plans will be published locally.

[Gavin Barwell]

In 2010-11 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust delivered an operating surplus of £4.5 million. May I commend its FT application to my right hon. Friend in the hope that in future years, that money can be reinvested in local health services in my borough?

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I understand and entirely sympathise with my hon. Friend’s desire to see Croydon Health Services NHS Trust achieve foundation trust status. He will know that the trust was recently the subject of a responsive review visit by the Care Quality Commission, which revealed areas in which further assurance will be needed ahead of its foundation trust application going forward. He will appreciate, as I do, that in the past foundation trust status did not depend sufficiently on the achievement of high-quality services, rather than merely viable services. We intend that in future, foundation trust status will depend on both.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

T6. Croydon University hospital recently took on responsibility for community care, which will allow much better integration of acute and community services. What scope does my right hon. Friend think exists for wider application of that model in our NHS?

[Mr Lansley]

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear today, we continue to believe that we can achieve more integrated services for patients, and we are determined to do so. That must be at the heart of the way in which reform and modernisation of the NHS deliver improving outcomes for patients. For patients, the results of care, and indeed their experience of it, will be greatly enhanced if it is designed and integrated to meet their needs. We know that that is effective, we know that it works for patients, and we are determined to make it happen. My hon. Friend has given just one example, and an important one, of the way in which hospital and community services can be integrated.