Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Those are important issues and are part of our agenda to diversify the supply of electricity generation. We had a debate yesterday on Department of Energy and Climate Change-related issues and we have just had questions to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and his team of Ministers, so I cannot promise another immediate opportunity to address these issues. Later in the Session, there will be a Bill on electricity market reform, which may be an opportunity for my hon. Friend to develop his theme.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House have noted that today is the international day against homophobia and transphobia. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a debate on tackling homophobic bullying in schools, because my constituents report that it remains a significant problem?

[Sir George Young]

That is an important issue. I wonder whether it would be appropriate for the hon. Lady to make an early application to the Backbench Business Committee to see whether we could have a debate on bullying in schools and the particular type of bullying to which she has referred. We can be proud that the UK has been recognised as the No. 1 country in Europe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights by the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Obviously, this is an unacceptable risk to other road users, and of course we want to take any steps we can to promote road safety. I will raise this issue with the appropriate Minister and ask him or her to write to my hon. Friend, just to make sure that local authorities have all the powers necessary to prevent this unnecessary hazard in his constituency.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House arrange for us to be updated on electricity market reform? A delay in getting final announcements is causing considerable uncertainty for developers of new plants, including the developers of the Carrington power station in my constituency.

[Sir George Young]

This is an important matter. I cannot anticipate the Loyal Address, but there may be an opportunity when we have a debate on it for hon. Members to speak about how we are undertaking electricity market reform, which is a vital measure necessary to secure energy supplies in the medium term.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I should welcome such a debate. Within the budget of the Department of Health, research is a priority. As for the specific issue of cancer, we have created a £200 million a year cancer drugs fund to help cancer patients gain more access to the life-extending drugs that they need, which has financed more than 10,000 treatments. I know that my hon. Friend will welcome that.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House arrange a debate on dignity at work in Parliament? Last night I was disturbed to learn that the guest beer in the Strangers Bar is called Top Totty, and that there is a picture of a nearly naked woman on the tap. As well as arranging a debate, will the Leader of the House join me in asking for that beer to be withdrawn from the bar immediately?

[Sir George Young]

I was not aware of that particular picture in the bar. I will raise the matter with the appropriate Officer of the House through the House of Commons Commission, and I am sure that appropriate action will be taken. I should very much regret it if any offensive pictures were on display in any part of the House.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

That, if I may say so, was not the question I was expecting from my hon. Friend, but it is of course a much easier one, and the answer is yes, the Foreign Secretary will be able to pass on the views of the House when he goes to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting later in the week.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

On 18 July, the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning announced that he was working with colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government and with the Association of Colleges on new forms of support for community-based ESOL—English for speakers of other languages—learning for those in settled communities who are not in receipt of eligible benefits, but colleges have had no funding for such courses since August. Will the Leader of the House arrange for an urgent statement from the Minister updating us on his discussions with CLG colleagues so that funding can be secured?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the importance of securing that funding for continuity of education. I cannot promise a statement, but I will contact my hon. Friend and ask him to write to the hon. Lady with a response to the important issue that she just raised.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The coalition Government made a commitment that the previous Government did not make—that we would introduce a House business Committee. We remain committed to doing that within three years of the commencement of this Parliament. We propose to review how the Backbench Business Committee has worked after its first year, and then have discussions about the introduction of a House business Committee.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House ensure that we have a statement next week on the Government’s child poverty strategy? Under the Child Poverty Act 2010 the Government are required to publish such a strategy by tomorrow, yet in a written answer from the Minister with responsibility for disabled people earlier this week, I was informed that she has not yet even seen fit to appoint the commission that is intended to advise on such a strategy.

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Lady has made a valid point, which has been addressed in a written ministerial statement. I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will want to regularise the position as soon as he can, and I will ensure that he informs the House in the near future of how he proposes to do that.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity on Monday to raise that matter with the Secretary of State for Defence. I understand that following the strategic defence and security review, the Harrier aircraft were retired from service on 15 December, and that at the moment, there are no plans to retain them as a reserve or emergency capability. The decision to retire the fleet was agreed collectively by the service chiefs. As I said, my hon. Friend will have an opportunity on Monday to share his concerns with my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House arrange a statement on the replacement for the financial inclusion fund, which funds independent advice agencies to give debt advice, and which we have learned will close at the end of March? That means that the local citizens advice bureau in my borough of Trafford will be forced to reduce the number of cases that it can handle by 500. Please can we urgently be told what Ministers intend to do to ensure that good-quality debt advice can be continued?

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Lady is quite right that the Government have decided that the fund to which she refers will be wound up. We are in the process of developing a free, national finance advice service, and I should like to write to her, or to ask the Minister responsible to do so, with further details of that service.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern on behalf of his constituents. There will be questions to the Secretary of State for Transport on 27 January, but in the mean time, he and other Members for south-east London might like to apply for a debate in Westminster Hall or an Adjournment debate. Let me say finally that the comprehensive spending review provided a generous settlement for rail investment. That has to be funded and I think it is legitimate to look to travellers to pay their part in funding that investment.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the overall impact of Government policy on disabled people and their families? Some constituents came to see me last Friday, very concerned about a range of policies on employment, benefits, social care and local authority services. Will the Leader of the House consider which of his Front-Bench colleagues could respond on behalf of the whole Government to reflect the cumulative impact of the changes on disabled people and on those who care for and love them?

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 28th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I think that my hon. Friend is seeking to draw me into areas related to privilege which are very much above my pay grade, but you, Mr Speaker, will have heard what he has suggested. I have written to him in the last day or so, suggesting other ways in which he might pursue his concerns.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

A response from the Government to a consultation on the use of body image scanners at airports is overdue. Will the Leader of the House urge his colleague the Secretary of State for Transport to publish a response as soon as possible, so that concerns about the appropriate balance between the protection of privacy and dignity on one hand and security on the other can be addressed?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Lady’s point. At its heart is the balance between security and dignity to which she has referred. Transport questions took place earlier today, so the opportunity may not occur again for three or four weeks, but in the meantime I will write to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and see whether he can shed some light on when the outcome of the consultation will be known.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

There will be Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions on 9 September and an opportunity next Tuesday for my hon. Friend to share his concerns with the House.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Yesterday in my constituency, we learned that a number of Playbuilder schemes in children’s parks are to be cancelled. We are not sure whether that is because the funding has been removed entirely or whether it is merely because of the removal of ring-fencing. Will the Leader of the House encourage ministerial colleagues who make statements about financial plans to ensure that the House is fully informed about those plans’ impact on children, who are most deserving of our protection?

[Sir George Young]

It is important that local authorities should know in advance what their budgets are likely to be. However, how they spend their budgets and balance their responsibilities for children with other responsibilities is essentially a matter for local government rather than central Government.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 24th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Along with many other hon. Friends, I had occasion to visit Crewe railway station some two years ago, in order to secure his election to the House. He will have heard my right hon. Friend the Chancellor refer in his Budget statement to a generous regional investment fund to take forward transport and other infrastructure projects that will lead to jobs. My hon. Friend will also know that we favour much longer railway franchises, which will enable the train operating companies to take a longer-term view and therefore afford major investment projects such as that in Crewe railway station.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Yesterday the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government informed me that he would not be calling in a planning decision for a mega-Tesco in my constituency. Although gains in jobs will be welcome in the local economy, just down the road in Stretford town centre, there is a shopping centre in deep financial difficulties as a result of the Tory council’s failure to invest and support it. Can we have a debate on how this Government intend to support and regenerate local town centres, which is something that I know is of concern across the House?

[Sir George Young]

I will of course draw to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the failure to call in a particular planning decision, but I have to say to the hon. Lady that one of the thrusts of the coalition Government’s policies is to devolve decision making down to local communities—to local councillors who are answerable to local people for the decisions that they take on planning and others matters.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Kate Green

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Whether it would save money to sit in Birmingham, rather than in London, given some of the costs involved for some Members, is a moot point. So I am afraid that the motion on September sittings, which I have tabled, presumes that the House will continue to sit here. But may I commend the hon. Gentleman? He is the first Opposition Member who has made a proposal to save money.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will be aware of the significant concerns among hon. Members about the business practices of banks, in which, of course, we now hold a substantial stake. The Royal Bank of Scotland in Partington—one of the most deprived areas of my constituency—has just announced closure plans. Will he ensure that there is time to debate the future of the banking sector and to discuss economic and social responsibilities, and emphasise to his colleagues in the Treasury team that the House will want that to be covered?

[Sir George Young]

I was sorry to hear about the proposed closure of the bank in the hon. Lady’s constituency. She will have heard me announce that the Budget statement will be made on Tuesday week, after which there are a number of days to debate Budget resolutions. That will provide an opportunity for her to raise this concern with Treasury Ministers.