Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Steve Barclay

Thursday 30th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

We are debating the Finance Bill for two days next week, including on Third Reading. It may be appropriate for the hon. Gentleman to raise the subject in those debates. However, in the meantime I will alert my Treasury colleagues to his concern and see whether we can take any additional action to prevent the sort of manipulation to which he refers.

[Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

May we have a debate on the lack of transparency in the annual accounts of many arm’s length bodies? For example, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust increased its management costs by 23% in its last accounts, but when I asked for an explanation, I was told that I would have to submit a freedom of information request. Can my right hon. Friend look at how we better hold to account senior executives for the spending choices that they make?

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry that my hon. Friend has had that problem. His request sounds perfectly reasonable, and it is one that someone charged with safeguarding the taxpayer’s interests is entitled to make. I would hope that we can get the information that he has asked for without going down the FOI route, and I will ask my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health to see whether he can make some progress on it.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Steve Barclay

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I note the hon. Gentleman’s concern. Energy prices have risen by about 50% over the past 12 months. We have taken a number of initiatives: the cold weather payments are being maintained at their higher level, and we also have winter fuel payments, Warm Front and the green deal. We are doing all we can to reduce energy costs, particularly for poorer-income households, at a time of rising prices.

[Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Further to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr Evennett), I welcome the announcement of 114,000 new apprenticeships and pay tribute to the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning for his sterling work on that. However, may we have a debate or a statement on why so many publicly funded organisations—such as the Charity Commission and the Met Office—currently offer no apprenticeships whatever?

[Sir George Young]

I would be very grateful to my hon. Friend if he would let me have a list of the public bodies he thinks are not pulling their weight in offering apprenticeships, and we will, of course, then pursue the matter through the appropriate Minister.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Steve Barclay

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Many Members with rural constituencies will have had representations, as I am sure my hon. Friend has, about the high cost of oil over the Christmas holidays. I believe that the matter is being taken up with the Office of Fair Trading, to see whether there is a case for investigation, but I will ask the relevant Secretary of State to write to my hon. Friend, outlining the action that the Government are taking to make sure that consumers are not ripped off.

[Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

May we have a debate on opening up Network Rail to full scrutiny by the National Audit Office? Due to the bizarre legal entity set up by the previous Prime Minister, it stands to report to a small number of members, including train companies, and answers directly neither to Parliament nor to company shareholders.

[Sir George Young]

The governance of Network Rail is an extraordinary constitution, and of course it is right that it should be exposed to full audit. I will raise with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport whether we have any proposals to change the governance of Network Rail that may solve the problem, or if we have not, whether we have any other proposals to make sure that its accounts are looked at properly.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Steve Barclay

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

It sounds to me as though that is an appropriate subject for an Adjournment debate or a debate in Westminster Hall. I believe in localism and local government, and if that is what the local authority wants to do, we should be cautious about second-guessing it here.

[Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Will the Leader of the House find time for a debate following this morning’s Care Quality Commission report into out-of-hours GP services, so that we may learn the lessons from the unlawful killing of my constituent Mr David Gray and ensure that EU-qualified doctors working here are both medically competent to use NHS equipment and able to speak English to their patients?

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue, and I suspect that he may have seen the written ministerial statement this morning commenting on the CQC’s report. Out-of-hours care needs urgent reform and GPs are best placed to ensure that patients get the care they need when they need it. That is what our health reforms will deliver.