Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Tom Brake]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question, which he has put in measured terms. I understand why he has put it on behalf of his constituent. He may be aware of Sativex, a cannabis-derived mouth spray licensed in the UK in 2010 as an additional treatment for moderate to severe spasticity in multiple sclerosis. He may also be aware that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is updating its clinical guideline on the management of MS in primary and secondary care. Sativex is one of the new interventions that NICE has identified for inclusion in its updated guidelines, which it expects to publish in October 2014.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May I support the call made by the shadow Leader of the House for a debate on energy, so that the Government can clarify whether they are in favour of the warm homes programme, the renewable energy programme, Labour’s cap or John Major’s windfall tax? Those points need to be clarified. May we have that debate?

[Tom Brake]

Obviously, the Labour party has Opposition days that it could use to secure such a debate. Earlier there was a statement about the nuclear industry and in the course of a number of exchanges, including Prime Minister’s questions and Business, Innovation and Skills questions earlier today, we have made clear the Government’s position on energy and why we do not believe that what the Leader of the Opposition proposes is a sensible or feasible approach.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Tom Brake]

Clearly, we want to ensure that those on low incomes and middle incomes benefit first from the recovery, and that is exactly what is happening in the tax measures we are introducing. I am pleased that my hon. Friend is detecting good news economically in his constituency. Some 1.4 million more people are in work today in the private sector than there were at the time of the general election. On a whole number of indicators things are moving in the right direction. There should be no room for complacency, but we are beginning to see very positive indicators in the economy generally.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have an urgent debate on the ever-increasing cost of in-work benefits, given that it would appear that the taxpayer is having to subsidise employees of companies that are earning millions of pounds in profits? It is not about time that they paid decent wages and cut the welfare bill?

[Tom Brake]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that where employers are in a position to pay the living wage, they should do so, but that should not be at the expense of jobs. So he makes a valid point, but how employers address that is a decision for them.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about funding. If he has an opportunity to speak in today’s debate, I am sure that it will be relevant. I will say two things. First, while small local authorities have a valuable role in ensuring that democracy is accessible and relevant to their populations, many such public authorities have successfully explored ways of sharing costs and back-office services with other authorities, and that is very useful. Secondly, the BBC survey discovered that it is possible to secure more and better services with less money. That point will be important in this afternoon’s debate. It illustrates how public services have responded to the tough times that we inherited from the Labour Government and is a credit to those who are running local authorities.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Given that the general public think their regulators are ineffective, can time be found for a debate on whether we should replace the current regulators with organisations that can stop British consumers being ripped off?

[Mr Lansley]

It is particularly important that we ensure that regulators and the competition authorities are effective. Competition is what delivers for consumers, and regulators have access to concurrent competition powers with the competition authorities. We need to be sure that those powers are being used to deliver the benefits for consumers that competition should deliver.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I have seen the early-day motion to which my hon. Friend refers. He knows, as hon. Members will understand, that HMRC is vigilant in ensuring that companies, including Thames Water, pay the taxes that they are legally obliged to pay. In this context, I would add one further point that it is important to bear in mind. The benefits from investment relief and tax relief enjoyed by water and sewerage companies to encourage infrastructure investment are passed on to customers through lower bills via the regulator Ofwat’s five-yearly price reviews. Those reviews, if they are also vigilant, can ensure that those benefits do reach consumers.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on loan sharks and the increasing number of payday loan companies that are springing up in our communities, and an explanation of why the Government are failing to control them? Could it be that one of them is bankrolling the Tory party?

[Mr Lansley]

No, I do not think the hon. Gentleman is right about that at all. The evidence is to the contrary. The Government are serious about this. That is why we announced in March a strong action plan with immediate and longer-term measures relating to evidence of abuse of payday loans, which is not to say that such short-term loans are wrong, but they must not be abusive or harm consumers. One of the things that we therefore wait to find out is whether the Office of Fair Trading intends to refer the matter to the Competition Commission.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 18th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

We have not seen any detailed proposals. It is important to say that the Government will not support any actions that contravene the United Nations drugs conventions or the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Permitting premises to be used for consuming or possessing substances controlled under section 8 of the Act is illegal. As I say, we have not seen detailed proposals. The establishment or operation of drug injection rooms risks encouraging illicit trafficking and carries a significant risk of harm in local communities.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have a debate in Government time on the future arrangements for the funerals of ex-Prime Ministers, given the fact that we have spent extravagantly— £10 million or £20 million—on Mrs Thatcher’s funeral? May we have a debate on future rules for future Prime Ministers, and can the Government publish all the detailed costs to aid that debate?

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As he will know, I am aware of this issue, having been the responsible Secretary of State when that written ministerial statement was made. I do know—this was true before I moved from the Department of Health last September—that we were encountering complex issues relating to the preparation of this legislation. The interface with EU legislation is one such issue, but it is not the only one. We need to get the legislation right, and I know that my colleagues in the Department are working on it and will, of course, make an announcement as soon as they can.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Now that we can all see that the Prime Minister is in the pocket of Murdoch, may we have the Prime Minister making a statement explaining to the families, including the Dowlers, why he has gone back on the pledges he made?

[Mr Lansley]

I do not accept for a minute what the hon. Gentleman says. I think that what the Prime Minister has described this morning as the proposals that will be brought forward for discussion in our proceedings on the Crime and Courts Bill next Monday is the toughest structure of press regulation this country has seen. I think it is entirely consistent with the Leveson principles, not least in the link with the Crime and Courts Bill and the introduction of a system of exemplary damages.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I understand the point that my hon. Friend is making. These matters are discussed through the usual channels and determined by the House collectively. I will of course take the opportunity to discuss with colleagues whether there is a case for any change.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the millionaires’ tax cut, and can it be led by the Prime Minister so that he can clarify whether he will benefit directly from the cut?

[Mr Lansley]

The Opposition have decided to debate tax fairness next week, so the hon. Gentleman might like to contribute to that debate. Government Members will also be able to contribute to it, and to highlight the fact that somebody on the minimum wage who is working a full week will have seen their income tax halved under this Government as a result of the increase in the personal allowance.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight that, and I am sure the Pennine Sailing Club and the Valley Bowmen of Huddersfield archery club are very deserving recipients of lottery funding support. Some 400,000 groups and organisations across the country have now benefited from lottery funding since the lottery was established in 1994. There are some very good mechanisms for organisations to access lottery funding, including the funding search tool at lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/funding.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

At yesterday’s Prime Minister’s questions it was clear that the Prime Minister had no idea about the implications of his bedroom tax. May we have an urgent debate on that, so the Prime Minister can get up to speed?

[Mr Lansley]

On the contrary, the Prime Minister absolutely understood that housing benefit has risen dramatically and that it is essential to control it. He was absolutely clear, too, that under the last Labour Government the kind of rules that were applied to social housing had been applied to private rented accommodation, and that raises the question of why there should be a difference. He was also very clear that, as resources are finite in the current circumstances, we should ask why we are funding almost 1 million unused bedrooms in the social housing sector when there are 1.8 million people on the social housing waiting list.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 31st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend and I share a common understanding that the decisions that we have had to make on the defence budget were not ones that we sought but ones that were effectively forced upon us by the financial circumstances that we were left in. None the less, they have been responsible decisions. For example, we have looked at the simple fact of dealing with the £38 billion black hole in the defence budget. Today, in a written ministerial statement, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has set out a future equipment plan for the Ministry of Defence, including a degree of contingency, that is extremely encouraging, compared with the past. He and the rest of the Government are committed to delivering the Future Force 2020 plan that we set out, notwithstanding the fact that it has involved some difficult decisions. I know that there will be opportunities for the House to debate that matter, but we in the coalition Government have committed ourselves to achieving those aims.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

I recently took a delegation to the previous Housing Minister to discuss the bedroom tax. At that meeting, it was clear that the Minister did not understand his own policy. Yesterday, the Prime Minister again showed that no one understands the implications of the tax that the Government are introducing. May we have an urgent debate on the issue, so that Ministers can turn up and listen to the implications of the tax for ordinary people in our constituencies?

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The FSA—I am grateful to my hon. Friend for prompting me. The FSA is investigating the matter. As we have discussed at business questions before, it is important to try to help small businesses in the interim, but it is particularly important that the FSA pursues its investigation with rigour. I know it will.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have an urgent debate on the Government’s red lines on their negotiations with Europe? We know that the Prime Minister is going to take a tough line on this issue, but we do not know what he is taking a tough line on. Will he make a statement to clarify what the red lines are?

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman will have noted that I announced a general debate on Europe next Wednesday. I know that one key aspect of that debate will be the Foreign Secretary setting out how the balance of competences review is under way. The Government are pursuing that now. The first set of reports covering four semesters has already been published and is open for consultation. I hope Members will have an opportunity to respond before February.