Fisheries Council

Debate between Lord Benyon and Stephen Gilbert

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay) (LD)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on resisting the more extreme ideas that came from the summit over the weekend. Does he accept, though, that one of the dangers is that as a result of the cuts in the number of days at sea, fishermen may not be able to catch their full quota? Will he undertake to keep the position under review and, if that proves to be the case, go back to Brussels in a year and argue for changes?

[Richard Benyon]

One of the most ridiculous outcomes of the penalty that was due to be imposed on British fishermen was that they would not have had enough days at sea to catch the quota they were allocated. We managed to stop that. We will constantly keep that under review and we are working hard to make sure that the problems that the fishing industry faces through the reductions in days will not continue in future years.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Benyon and Stephen Gilbert

Thursday 12th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

If the hon. Gentleman can curtail his enthusiasm for a few weeks and wait to see what is in the natural environment White Paper, I think he will rejoice that this Government get outdoor learning. The Department is working very closely with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and others, and is engaging with great visionaries such as Kate Humble and others for whom this is a passion, which we share.

[Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay) (LD)]

T3. Early this morning, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State committed to publishing the waste review in June. It is obviously going to be a landmark document for the United Kingdom, so will she commit to bringing it to the House for debate?

Flood Defence Allocations

Debate between Lord Benyon and Stephen Gilbert

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

The statement of principles relates only to properties built before 2009, so for a large number of households it already does not apply. That is a major concern. We have debated this issue in the House, and the hon. Lady’s constituents who were flooded in 2007, like mine, have a right to see the road ahead on this issue. Not only are their premiums rising but their excess charges are rising too. Some of my constituents, frankly, have no insurance because they have excess charges of £10,000. She is absolutely right to ask about this issue, which we will take forward in our negotiations with the ABI. The most important thing is that we are talking. There is a lot of agreement and I believe we can find a way forward and find solutions. The insurance industry is in a state of change and we will see more specialist providers coming through this process.

[Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay) (LD)]

One of the lessons from the flooding in Cornwall before Christmas was that community flood plans and community flood wardens can make a real difference in protecting people and property. Can the Minister assure me that there is money within the settlement to continue the establishment of such groups in vulnerable areas?

Water Bills (South-West)

Debate between Lord Benyon and Stephen Gilbert

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

As my hon. Friend did in her earlier intervention, she points out the important and urgent need to represent the needs of the most deprived and poorest households in the south-west. I shall discuss WaterSure in a moment and I am conscious of the amount of time available to me, but I must say that she rightly points out that when we address the urgent needs of the poorer families in the south-west we may have to examine the WaterSure provision.

Anna Walker estimated that, if water charges in the summer were four times higher than they are for the rest of the year, the average bill for all households in the region would be reduced by £60 a year. The other options identified in the review focused on providing additional support for vulnerable or low-income households, both in the south-west and elsewhere. My hon. Friend will be interested to learn that that includes a proposal to revise the national WaterSure tariff and to discount the bills of all low-income households or of low-income households with children.

Let me add that the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 enables water companies to offer social tariffs to households that struggle with their bills. However—this will be of concern to hon. Members from the south-west—the cross-subsidy under WaterSure or under social tariffs would have to be met by other customers in each company’s operating area.

As Anna Walker’s report made clear, the options are complex and, contrary to what I believed before I came to this side of the House, there certainly are no easy answers.

[Stephen Gilbert]

We have heard a lot tonight about the options, but Members in the south-west are keen to know when the Government might present an option that we can decide on for addressing the problem. Can the Minister help me with a time frame?

[Richard Benyon]

Certainly; the hon. Gentleman raised this earlier, and I am loth to give him a specific date, but I assure him and all Members of the House that I do not intend to be standing at the Dispatch Box in Adjournment debates in the dim and distant future because I have been unable to give a resolution, as best I can, to this matter. It is clear that I will not be able to satisfy every Member of the House or every one of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, but I will do my best and the Government will do their best to get a speedy resolution to this.

I see the issue very much in two parts. First—this is the point I was making to my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris)—there is an urgency. People are coming to hon. Members’ surgeries in real difficulties and there is work to be done to address their concerns. As we take Walker through the legislative process, following those options, I hope that we will be able to find other solutions on a more medium-term basis. I can only assure hon. Members on both sides of the House that I will meet them to try to resolve these matters and that I will keep them informed as best I can.

I understand that hon. Members who received the briefing from Ofwat earlier today will have heard about the merits and otherwise of the options that have been put forward. There is a fundamental question about who should pay for any new affordability measures. The options are the Government, which means the taxpayer, as the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View has said, and which brings difficulties at this time, or water customers, either at company-specific level or nationally. The hon. Lady will appreciate the need to reduce Government spending to tackle the budget deficit, and she will also be aware of the very strong resistance identified in the Walker review to any suggestion that water customers nationally should subsidise special measures for those in the south-west. The Government will need to take those factors into account when deciding which of the Walker recommendations to take forward.