Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and David Lammy

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I commend the work that my hon. Friend has been doing on this issue for many years. The Government believe that the most vulnerable children deserve the highest quality of care. We expect a Green Paper on special educational needs to be published very soon, and we would welcome his comments on it.

[Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the Olympic legacy? It has become clear that one of the bids involves a complete dismantling of the legacy to athletics, and that is important to the House. Moreover, much that Legacy Trust UK is doing is being done behind closed doors, in secrecy. It is of grave concern that one bid involves the building of a supermarket on the Olympic site: that cannot be right. We need a debate to discuss the legacy for the young people of this country.

[Sir George Young]

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman. Of course we need a legacy for young people after the Olympics. I cannot promise an early debate, but I will draw his remarks to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. The matter might also be a worthy subject for an Adjournment debate.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and David Lammy

Thursday 4th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The Procedure Committee is indeed carrying out a review of the sitting hours of the House. It will include whether we should sit in September, as well as the actual hours that we sit during the day. That has always been a House of Commons matter on which Members have had a free vote. There will also be an opportunity for the House authorities to raise the issue of the cost to the House if they do not have a long run during the summer recess to carry out certain capital work—although whether that should be decisive in determining whether the House sits in September is something on which I should like to reflect.

[Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will be aware of the huge consequences of trebling fees to £9,000 for students, and of the decision to withdraw funding from arts and humanities teaching throughout our universities. He will forgive me, because I have an arts degree, but surely it is right that we debate not just the fee levels, but the implications for widening participation and the decision to withdraw from the arts and humanities. The debate must be about the entire matter, not solely the fee level.

[Sir George Young]

Yesterday we had an extensive debate on the issue when my right hon. Friend the Minister for Universities and Science made a statement to the House. There will be another full day’s debate on the whole issue, as I said in response to an earlier question. On the specific issue of arts and humanities, which a number of colleagues have raised, I will of course pass on to the Secretary of State their deep concerns about the funding of those faculties.