Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and delighted to hear of the initiative to which he has referred. On our first Monday back, there might be an opportunity to develop this further in the context of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. One thing we wanted to do with enterprise zones was to encourage investment and employment growth in those parts of the country that had suffered from the recession. I am pleased to hear that that initiative is now having success, with companies locating in enterprise zones, taking advantage of the tax breaks and other incentives available there.

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

Given that my hospital trust has still not been allocated its budget despite the fact that the Government have carried out three financial appraisals of the hospital, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, may we have a debate on the incompetence of Health Ministers?

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity on Tuesday 12 June, shortly after the House returns, to put questions to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. In the meantime, I will make some inquiries to see why the hospital trust in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency has not apparently had its allocation for the current year.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 1st March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. There may be an opportunity in the context of the Budget debate to discuss that matter further. He is right to point out that from January 2011 to April this year, the one-in, one-out system will result in the net change in domestic regulation remaining at or close to zero. Eleven of the 14 Departments report a net reduction or no change in the regulatory costs to business. The red tape challenge has so far considered more than 1,200 regulations, and has agreed to scrap or improve well over half of them.

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

More than six weeks ago, the Department of Health’s propaganda machine put out an announcement that private finance initiative hospitals, including my own, will get an additional allocation of £1.5 billion. No prior warning was given to the trusts or to MPs who are interested in this issue. Six weeks on, the allocation has not been made. May we have a statement from the Department of Health about when the allocation will be made to those hospitals, so that they can get on with planning for the future?

[Sir George Young]

I would have hoped that the hon. Gentleman would preface his remarks with a tribute to the Government who are seeking to put right the disastrous PFI contracts that the previous Government entered into. None the less, in a conciliatory mood I say to him that I will pursue the issue of any resources that might be made available to his authority to give it the assistance it needs to cope with the ongoing debts incurred by the previous Administration.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman will know that advice from civil servants to Ministers is not normally published, but he raises an issue that has been raised by some of his hon. Friends. I have got the message: they want some response from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I shall do what I can to secure that.

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

We already know that the Ministry of Defence will no longer support British industry and jobs. This week, Merseyside police authority decided to purchase a fleet of cars with no manufacturing base in the UK. May we have a debate on whether the Government and public services overall need to do a lot more to support British industry and jobs?

[Sir George Young]

There will be a debate on the police grant next Wednesday. The hon. Gentleman will know that it is not the Government but the police authority that purchases police cars in his constituency. He will have an opportunity to raise the issue on Wednesday and I shall ensure that the Minister replying to the debate knows that the matter will be raised by the hon. Gentleman.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 26th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s point, and many of us are aware of concern in our constituencies about communication masts, although my impression is that there is much more sharing than there used to be. There was consultation last year on a national planning policy framework, which included a section on communication masts. That consultation has ended, and the Government will announce their conclusions shortly. I cannot promise a debate, but there may be an opportunity for further discussion when that process is complete.

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

In answer to a question about cuts affecting disabled children asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Mrs McGuire), the Prime Minister said that she was “wrong”. We now know that she was in fact correct. Will the Prime Minister come to the House to make an apology and correct his inaccurate statement?

[Sir George Young]

My right hon. Friend was quite right in what he said yesterday. I have made some inquiries, and under the introduction of universal credit there will be transitional protection to ensure that there is no cash loss for those whose circumstances otherwise remain the same when they migrate from their existing benefit. The Prime Minister was absolutely right in what he said.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. Some of the issues he raises are a matter for Ofgem, with which the Government are working, for example, to have greater transparency on tariffs and to make it easier for consumers to switch from one to another. We have taken some steps already—we plan more—to give Ofgem more teeth in its transactions with electricity suppliers. I hope my hon. Friend will welcome yesterday’s and today’s announcements by two major companies of tariff reductions, and that that will take some of the pressure off the consumers he referred to.

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

Given that the Prime Minister guaranteed that rail fares would not increase by more than 1% above inflation, and that many are in fact increasing by up to 11%, can we have a statement or debate on the Government’s failure to control rail prices—and on the Prime Minister’s ability not to keep his promises?

[Sir George Young]

I am not sure where the hon. Gentleman was yesterday, but I think we had a debate on rail fares. We have already had half a day’s debate, and I remind him that in 2009, under the regime of the previous Government, rail fares were allowed to go up by 11%.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s interest in that important subject. I very much hope that our new approach to the penal system of payment by results will also benefit women in prison, that new contractors with an interest in finding long-term, secure employment and accommodation for those leaving prison will come forward, and that we will be able to improve our record so far and help those women rebuild their lives after leaving prison.

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

May we have a debate on why the Government have decided to increase the funding for transport in London while slashing it across the rest of the country? Are they trying to buy some votes for Boris?

[Sir George Young]

Certainly not. Our policy on rail fares applies throughout the country. We have changed the formula from RPI plus 3 to RPI plus 1, which will benefit travellers in whichever part of the country they travel. As far as the capital programme is concerned, if the hon. Gentleman looks at the announcements my right hon. Friend the Chancellor made on Tuesday, he will see that every region in the country will benefit from infrastructure projects being brought forward.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am delighted that yesterday’s protest went off peacefully. I commend the work of the Mayor of London on reducing crime in the capital and ensuring that there are more police patrols, for example by having single patrolling. I am sure that Londoners will recognise the wisdom of his administration when they go to the polls next year.

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

Two weeks ago, the Chancellor told me and this House that he had no intention whatsoever of bailing out the euro. We now know that he will use the International Monetary Fund to put billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into bailing out the euro. May we have a debate or a statement on this issue?

[Sir George Young]

We have had a statement on that issue. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was at this Dispatch Box a week ago and he answered the precise question that the hon. Gentleman has put. I refer him to Hansard.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

We would welcome such a debate, and I hope that the Opposition, who have an Opposition day or two in the weeks ahead, might choose education as a subject for debate. We heard yesterday their somewhat confused position whereby they are in favour of free schools individually, but oppose the policy that generates them.

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

Given the fact that the Prime Minister on three separate occasions refused to list the powers that he wants to bring back from Brussels, may we have an urgent statement on the matter so that he can spell out clearly to the British people which powers he wants to bring back from Brussels? Is he afraid to do so?

[Sir George Young]

The Prime Minister answered questions on this matter for an hour on Monday and he answered questions yesterday. If the hon. Gentleman looks at the coalition agreement, he will find a specific example of where we want to get powers back—it concerns the working time directive.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I agree that it is an important report, and I understand the wide concern that exists. I cannot promise my hon. Friend a debate in the very near future, but he might like to try his luck with the Backbench Business Committee.

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

We now know that the former Defence Secretary’s private office and the permanent secretary knew that he was breaking the ministerial code. We are led to believe that the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister did not know. May we have a statement on why they did not know and what action is going to be taken against the officials for not reporting this breach?

[Sir George Young]

We dealt with this at some length yesterday. The subject is covered by the Cabinet Secretary’s report, which addresses the issue raised by the hon. Gentleman and comes up with recommendations to ensure that if there is a recurrence the necessary steps will be taken and the Cabinet Secretary and, if necessary, the Prime Minister will be notified.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend and neighbour might have seen the written ministerial statement that has just been published in the name of the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Steve Webb), in which he says that he will

“today table Government amendments to the Pensions Bill”,

which we shall discuss on Tuesday,

“including one that caps the maximum increase in women’s State Pension age at 18 months, relative to the legislated timetable.”

I am sure that Members on both sides of the House will welcome that announcement.

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

May we have a debate on whether the funding of a charity or an individual to further the political interest of a Minister constitutes a donation in kind?

[Sir George Young]

That sounds like one of the issues to which I referred in my response to the hon. Member for Wallasey, and which may arise from the ongoing inquiry by the Cabinet Secretary. I honestly think that it makes sense to await the outcome of the inquiry, and in the meantime to allow the Secretary of State for Defence to get on with his job.