Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 13th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will ask my hon. Friends at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to respond to my hon. Friend on that point. In addition, issues relating directly to this matter are being debated during the House of Lords consideration of the Water Bill, so we may have an opportunity to consider them when the Flood Re provisions come back from the House of Lords.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

Businesses in Telford want a link between the M54 and the M6 northbound and the M6 toll road, and are concerned about the fact that the project is being significantly delayed. May we have a statement from a Minister about the plans that are being made?

[Mr Lansley]

I am very interested in this subject, because I often use, as it were, that road—

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is right to welcome, as I do, the right hon. Lady’s report on complaints. I hope that it will be taken up by the NHS not only in England but in Wales, not least because of the circumstances that gave rise to her serious concerns. I hope that the NHS in Wales will recognise that the NHS in England is making changes in regard to listening and responding to complaints, and that it will emulate the steps we are taking to deliver services on which patients can rely. Cutting the budget in Wales, which Labour is doing, is undermining the delivery of those services.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is increasing parking charges at the two main hospital sites in Shropshire. I am against parking charges at hospitals—they are a charge on the sick—and is not this the wrong time to introduce such increases anyway? May we have a debate on the cost of living, in that context?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman will know that parking charges at hospitals in England are a matter for the individual trusts. In Wales, this is a devolved matter and the relevant bodies can make their own decisions. I personally find it astonishing that the Welsh Administration thought it appropriate to abolish parking charges—

[David Wright]

My constituency is not in Wales.

[Mr Lansley]

I know. I am just making the contrast. If the hon. Gentleman thinks it appropriate to abolish those charges, he will have to find the money from somewhere else. In Wales, they have cut the money for patient services and care in order to subsidise car parking, and that cannot be the right decision.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is right, and I join him in expressing appreciation for the tremendous progress that Plymouth university has made and the standards that it is achieving. He and other Members will be well aware not only of the comparative strengths in our higher education system, which are dramatic, but of the contribution that they are making to our economic recovery and our future prospects. If we are going to win the global race, it will be on the basis of knowledge-based industries. The connection between universities and higher education and the new industries of the future is critical.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the privatisation strategy, which colleagues have mentioned, with a particular focus on Royal Mail? Many people feel that that sale is outrageous and that a lot of smaller investors have been locked out of the process by the fee level.

[Mr Lansley]

This House passed legislation that permitted the privatisation to go ahead, and many small investors will have seen the advantage in seeking to be party to that privatisation and part of the future of Royal Mail—a future that will be stronger by virtue of its access to private capital.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Secretary of State for Transport will be at the Dispatch Box next Thursday to answer questions. Nobody is writing a blank cheque—that is the whole point. That is why, in the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill, we have clearly set out a budget with contingencies, as people would expect. They expect us to plan, as we did for the Olympics—a good example—to have a clear budget rather than one that keeps moving, and a budget that has sufficient contingency so that the project is entirely deliverable within it.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

May we have a statement from the Secretary of State for Health on the continuing controversy over the reorganisation of A and E services in Shropshire? Telford people want to retain full 24-hour A and E services in Shropshire. I believe the people of Shrewsbury want the same. Should not health services be designed around the needs of people and not the needs of health bosses?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman and I agree that health services should be designed around the needs of people—that has always been our view. It is important that commissioning organisations—the new commissioning organisations, with general practitioners who know their population and patients best—have the influence necessary to make that happen. As he knows, Sir Bruce Keogh is undertaking a review generally of A and E services. I cannot comment on the specifics in Shropshire, although I remember them well, but I am sure the Secretary of State will have an opportunity before too long further to update the House on that review.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I wish that I could have announced a debate for that purpose, but the pressures on business are such that I could not. Such a debate would have enabled us to compare the record of this Government with that of the previous Government, under whom the national debt doubled and the gross domestic product of the country fell by 6.3%, and who borrowed one pound in every four that they spent and left us with the biggest budget deficit in the developed world. In contrast, the deficit is now down by a third, more than 1.25 million more people are working in the private sector and, last year, employment grew faster in the UK than in any other G7 country. I hope that we have an opportunity to debate that contrast.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

Returning to the subject of films, people in Shropshire feel like it is groundhog day because the rail service that they had hoped would be provided to the county has been blocked. I associate myself with the remarks of the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard), who on this matter, as on many others, is my hon. Friend. May we have a statement from a Minister about the direct rail service from Shropshire to London, because it is important for the local economy and local people really want it?

[Mr Lansley]

I will, of course, raise the point made by the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) with my friends in the Department for Transport, and ask them to respond directly to all Shropshire MPs about the rail service to that area.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 14th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My right hon. Friend will have been listening carefully to what I said in my statement. I freely acknowledge that we do not always satisfy everybody in terms of the time made available, but I did say in my statement that colleagues must expect business on Monday to go beyond the moment of interruption, and I fear that will have to be the case. That will allow a debate, and without dwelling on precisely how we achieve that, my and my colleagues’ purpose, through the usual channels, will be to ensure that this House can have the debate—including the votes—that will enable it to resolve the issue, I hope very positively, so that all of us who are concerned to ensure that the Leveson report is implemented in principle see that happen. The Prime Minister set out some very clear proposals that will enable that to happen. I do not suggest for one moment that we will vote on those and not on other amendments, if others are presented. But the House should be given that opportunity.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

May we have a full ministerial statement on the bedroom tax, which affects thousands of people in Telford? A number of them will be single people looking for one-bedroom accommodation. When I checked, two such properties were available on the social housing register, and only 175 have been available all year. How are those thousands of people supposed to downsize? This is about them paying more money.

[Mr Lansley]

The House and the hon. Gentleman will have heard my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State explain repeatedly that the spare room subsidy is about bringing fairness into the system. It comes in the context of a £23 billion housing benefit bill and circumstances where a large number of people in this country are living in overcrowded accommodation while many are receiving a subsidy in under-occupied property. Although the Labour party, over many years, was perfectly happy to see exactly the same principles applied to those in receipt of housing benefit in privately rented properties, Labour Members do not see that it is perfectly fair to carry that analogy forward into social housing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Both sides of the House have an interest in getting business through, as well as respecting the rights of Back Benchers.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

Could we get rid of Deputy Prime Minister’s Question Time, because he is hopeless, and introduce a format enabling Boris Johnson to come and give evidence to the House, because he clearly has more influence over Government policy?

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Yes, I will ask my hon. Friends to respond on that. The Government welcome the role of military cadet forces, which can help tremendously to engage young people. We recently announced a £10.5 million-plus expansion of school-based cadet forces, which will create a further 200 units by 2015. Of course, free schools and academies have the flexibility to extend such an ethos in their schools. I am sure that the Department for Education and the Government would welcome that.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

The coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics on television was outstanding and brought the country together. Can we have a debate on free-to-air sports productions for UK consumers? Many people feel locked out from being able to watch major sporting events, such as the Ryder cup and test match cricket, live. Can we look again at the events that are on the national register?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Lansley and David Wright

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Yes. My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I promise I will discuss with John Heyworth of the College of Emergency Medicine precisely the point that my hon. Friend has raised. The College of Emergency Medicine says that it does not recognise what an urgent care centre is. From its point of view, hospitals should either have an emergency department or an A and E or they should not. If they do not, it is very important to be clear that they do not. I feel that we need to be much clearer about the nature of the service provided in A and E departments and the distinction between that and the service provided in minor injury or minor illness centres.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

Do not the reorganisation plans for the NHS, coupled with cuts to local authority budgets, mean that public health projects in this country will effectively be binned?