Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is a member of the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, and he will know that on Tuesday morning there is a meeting between SCIPSA and IPSA—I am sorry about all these initials—where he will have an opportunity to put to the chairman of IPSA the question he has put to me. The chairman of IPSA will now have notice of what is coming and will have in his breast pocket the answer to the question, with specific details of when his board last met.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Whatever happened to the Tory announcement of the school building programme? Several months ago, the Secretary of State for Education, in an answer to me about Tibshelf school in my constituency, said that the statement would be made and that Tibshelf would almost certainly be one of the schools selected. Several months have passed and nothing has happened. Is this programme in the long grass with the equality programme, care of the elderly, building houses, the green deal, and all the rest of it?

[Sir George Young]

We intend to announce this month which schools will be rebuilt through the priority school building programme. It has been necessary to make specific checks, with site visits, on the condition of all the schools that applied, and we want to get it right. An announcement will be made shortly, and the first schools that are rebuilt through this programme will open as scheduled in 2014.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 23rd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My right hon. Friend may have an opportunity in the Budget debate to intervene along those lines with his radical suggestions for a fresh approach to RBS.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House may be aware that I have twice raised the issue of wind farms being built in close proximity to people’s homes. In Scotland there is a rule about how close wind farms can be to homes, but the Department I have raised the matter with has refused on both occasions to think about that. If wind farms are so perfect, why are there none in the backyards of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government? As a bonus, why are there not half a dozen at Highgrove?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman is right that, as the Localism Bill went through Parliament, the Government resisted an embargo on wind farm development within a certain distance from residential units, and we have resisted it subsequently. I will raise his concerns with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Whether to approve applications for wind farms at the exciting locations the hon. Gentleman mentions is a matter for the local authorities. I am sure that they would take on board the support for them that he has just enunciated.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. It sounds as though that decision was reached under the existing rules on Traveller sites. Our view is that the rules are not fit for purpose, so we are consulting on an alternative set of proposals. The consultation closes on 6 July, and I am sure that my hon. Friend will respond to it. I cannot promise her a debate on the subject she raises, but the Localism Bill is now in another place, where there might be an opportunity to debate proposals on Traveller sites.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Leader of the House aware that hundreds of Derbyshire constituents are up in arms at the prospect of there not being an oral statement about the railway contract that went to Siemens in Germany, rather than to Bombardier in Derby? Why are this Government not acting like the Government in Germany, where about 90% of the contracts stay in Germany? About 100% of such contracts stay in France. And do not tell me it is because of what the last Government did; this Government are supposed to be doing something else. I never voted for the free movement of capital and labour, unlike the Leader of the House and thousands of others. Stop rolling over to the EU!

[Sir George Young]

I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman was in Transport questions a few moments ago when that subject was raised.

[Mr Skinner]

I was. I tried to get in.

[Sir George Young]

If he was listening, he would have heard that the terms of the tender were set by the Government who, from time to time, he supported. His point about Ministers not being able to defend the proposition is wholly untrue; we defended it a few moments ago.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concerns, which I will share with the Secretary of State for Health. I understand that Norfolk primary care trust has reopened negotiations with the two GPs who own the now disused St John surgery building, with the clear aim of reaching a settlement which would allow the new GP practice to move in.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Whatever happened to the oral statement on the wholesale privatisation of forests? Sure we could have expected an oral statement on that matter today. Will the Leader of the House answer the questions? Is it going to be a free-for-all? Will the sleazy bankers be able to buy up large chunks? Shall we have a Fred-the-Shed Goodwin memorial park? Will the supermarkets be allowed to buy: Tesco—“Buy two forests, get one free”?

[Sir George Young]

The short answer is no, no and no. It sounds as though the hon. Gentleman has not read the consultative document. It is not a statement of Government policy. Under the previous regime, the Forestry Commission disposed of some 25,000 acres without the sort of precautions that we are including in the Public Bodies Bill.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

So, now that we can assume that personal statements can be made as opposed to other statements, was the junior Minister who answered on Forgemasters last night making a personal statement, a statement on behalf of the Business Secretary, or a statement on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister? What we want are personal statements from the last two to tell the truth about the letters and the whole issue. Get them there at the Dispatch Box and stop this silly nonsense about personal statements.

[Sir George Young]

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has had time to look at Hansard for the debate on Sheffield—

[Mr Skinner]

I was here.

[Sir George Young]

I was here, too—

[Mr Skinner]

Intermittently.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman should not chunter like that from a sedentary position. Let us hear the answer from the Leader of the House.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 8th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend might be familiar with a document that was published in the last Parliament by the Democracy Taskforce, of which I was a member, which addressed the West Lothian question. If he looks at the coalition agreement, he will see that our proposal to deal with this anomaly is to set up a commission to look into the issue and to report back with proposals.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Following on from questions regarding Building Schools for the Future, is the Leader of the House aware that the list referred to the fact that Tibshelf school in my constituency would not go ahead but did not mention that Deincourt school in the neighbouring constituency of North East Derbyshire is due to be closed because the Tibshelf school was expected to go ahead? So, two constituencies are involved, there were plans for a Deincourt school replacement and the net result is that the ripples are still travelling as far as the Tory county council. What are the Government going to do about this? When are they going to sort it out? Why can Tibshelf not have that school?

[Sir George Young]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will be in his place on Monday for Education questions when he can ask that precise question.

[Mr Skinner]

I’ll be there.

[Sir George Young]

I will ensure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is ready for him.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 24th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and I know that this is an important issue for New Forest Members. He might like to put in for an Adjournment debate on this important issue or raise it with Ministers at the next Health questions.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

A few weeks ago, we were told that a statement on Building Schools for the Future would be made so that everybody would know which schools would be able to go ahead. The people living in Shirebrook and Tibshelf in the Bolsover constituency are still waiting for an answer. Several schools were built when the Labour Government were in power; when are we going to have a statement?

[Sir George Young]

As the hon. Gentleman will know from the Budget statement, the comprehensive spending review is now under way and the outcome will be known on 20 October. At that point, the Department will be in a position to see how best to spend its capital programme.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern about the loss of jobs in his constituency. A week today—on 17 June—we will have Transport questions, and I believe that he still has time to table a relevant question on the matter.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Did the Leader of the House knock any sense into IPSA when he met its representatives? Did they give an apology for the breach of security by sending these e-mails to the wrong Members of Parliament, because there was none in the letter that I received? Next time he sees them, will he tell them that a strange paradox is occurring in the House of Commons, as the Back Benchers are taking power to themselves—he referred to that today, right?—yet an oligarchy called IPSA is moving in the opposite direction? Tell it to get in tune!

[Mr Speaker]

I think that the hon. Gentleman is seeking either a statement—preferably now—or indeed a debate.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 3rd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I commend my hon. Friend on his mental arithmetic in coming up with that figure. Clearly, this involves issues relating to those who are already getting paid salaries that exceed the differential, so the policy is easier to implement in respect of new recruits as opposed to existing staff. None the less, I shall raise this issue with the appropriate Minister, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, and see that my hon. Friend is given an appropriate answer.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

This follows on from our initial discussion about IPSA. If the Leader of the House has any discussions with Sir Ian Kennedy, will he remind him that a lot of people in this House are concerned about the safety of the online system? Is the Leader of the House aware, for instance, that this email that I have here has been sent to me when it should have gone to another Member of Parliament? It has names and everything on it—I am not disclosing the name now, but he is welcome to see it if he wants. He should draw this to the attention of Mr Kennedy and tell him that a system that allows this to happen within the space of a few weeks—according to my information, this has also happened to another Member of Parliament—has to stop. Therefore, when the Leader of the House has these discussions he should consider the question of not merely sticking to the online system. While he is at it, will he ask Mr Kennedy whether his expenses details are online? And what are they?

[Sir George Young]

Yes, I will. I take very seriously any breach of confidentiality, particularly on the sensitive matter of Members’ expenses, against the background of all the problems that we had in the last Parliament. I will therefore take up the whole issue of security at the meeting that I will have shortly with the acting chief executive and the chairman. I will ask whether they will consider, even at this late stage, an alternative regime for those who are not comfortable with claiming online.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Dennis Skinner

Thursday 27th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

On the second point, I will raise the matter with the appropriate officials in the House and ensure that my hon. Friend gets a reply. On the first, I would be reluctant to comment on issues relating to security.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

Is the Leader of the House aware that we need a very early statement on the question of Building Schools for the Future? Hundreds of schools up and down Britain are awaiting the knowledge of when the building is going to start, including two in my constituency at Shirebrook and Tibshelf. Instead of waffling on about welfare to work, would it not be sensible to get construction workers back into work, building those schools, and to start a new process—not this daft coalition?

[Sir George Young]

The Chief Secretary did find extra resources yesterday for construction—he announced extra investment in affordable housing. There is a debate on education next week, when I hope the hon. Gentleman raises that matter with Education Ministers and gets an answer.