Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and David Ruffley

Thursday 12th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

As the hon. Lady said, the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), who has responsibility for disability, came to the House to make a statement on Tuesday and answered questions for a substantial time. I do not know whether the hon. Lady was able to get in on that exchange and ask that question, but I shall certainly raise the question of the future of the Remploy factory in Bridgend with my hon. Friend and will ask her to write to the hon. Lady so that we have some clarity on which avenue that factory is going down.

[Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

The Leader of the House referred to the Government’s intention to table a time allocation motion on the House of Lords Reform Bill. Can he confirm that that will be tabled during the September sittings?

[Sir George Young]

The precise wording that I think I used on Tuesday was “in the autumn”. I have announced the business for the first week back. We are sitting for two and a half weeks in September, and I would very much hope that by the time we rise for the conference recess I will be able to give the House further information about our proposals for the Bill.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and David Ruffley

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s concern. I think I am right in saying that there have been occasions when, having written to a Prime Minister, I have received a reply from someone else, which I do not think is wholly unusual. However, in view of the length of time that the right hon. Gentleman has been in the House and the fact that he is a Privy Counsellor, I will raise the matter with the Prime Minister and see whether any changes are necessary in his correspondence office.

[Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

Select Committees will have a vital role in getting to the truth behind the allegations of phone hacking and other corrupt practices, but in modern times this place has not used criminal sanctions against witnesses who lie to Select Committees. In the light of the inquiries announced this week and the public interest, would it be possible to have an urgent debate when the House returns in September on why this is?

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and David Ruffley

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but I cannot accede to that request. When I came into the Chamber to listen to the debate yesterday, Wales was being discussed most of the time, so the notion that it has not been possible to discuss matters relating to Wales simply does not stand up. There will be opportunities on Report to debate the parts of the Bill that were not reached in Committee—but I have to say that if hon. Members want to reach the necessary clauses they should exert some self-discipline, and not speak interminably on certain matters so that key parts of the Bill are not reached.

[Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

Mrs Jan Berry, the independent Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing Advocate, has recently reported that it takes up to 10 police officers to investigate a single burglary. Constituents of mine in Bury St Edmunds, and Stowmarket in particular, are fed up with antisocial behaviour and want to see more police on the streets, not behind their desks. Given that, will my right hon. Friend allow an urgent, and in my opinion long overdue, debate on slashing police red tape?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and agree entirely with what he says. Jan Berry has indeed produced a report, and we are grateful to her for her work on identifying some of the root causes of the sort of red tape that stops officers getting out on the streets, where people want to see them. Police officers should be crime fighters, not form writers, and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is determined to reduce bureaucracy and improve efficiency, so that resources are not wasted and can reach the front line.