Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Let us hear from Members who have not so far been heard.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

I am afraid that the Secretary of State’s answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) was simply not good enough. Can she explain why, after two years, she still has not commenced the law to protect our children from sexual predators?

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I cannot quite believe that I am having to raise Concentrix in the House again, but after the scandal that broke around that company HMRC announced that it would never again use a private provider to deal with tax credits, especially in relation to error and fraud. But today the Government have issued a written ministerial statement saying that they will transfer tax credit error and fraud to the Department for Work and Pensions and will seek an external provider to do so. That is a disgraceful U-turn on Government policy as stated to the House. Can you do anything to ensure that a Minister comes to the House and explains why that U-turn has happened, so that they can be held properly to account?

[Mr Speaker]

Ministers are responsible for their own statements and subsequent adherence to those statements —or not, as the case may be. I do not seek to adjudicate on such matters. The short answer is that it is not for me to say that a Minister must come here today. We have scheduled business that is heavily subscribed. The hon. Lady, with her usual persistence and indefatigability, has put her concern on the record and it will have been heard on the Treasury Bench. Knowing her as I have come to do over the last 21 months, I rather doubt that she will let the matter rest. She may think about it during the recess and if she is dissatisfied with what is said, or not said, by the Government, she will doubtless return to it when we come back.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 21st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On the question about carers, it is now seven months since the minimum wage was increased, but the income threshold for carer’s allowance has not risen in line with the minimum wage. Will the Secretary of State act to raise it by just £5 a week to ensure that carers are not forced to cut their hours because they are caught in this loophole?

[Mr Speaker]

Notably in relation to older workers.

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Thank you. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman, as will the House be. The matter is now firmly on the record.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last Thursday, the chief executive of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs gave evidence to the Treasury Committee in which he said that never again would HMRC outsource to a private contractor anything to do with tax credits. That represents a significant U-turn in Government policy. Do you think it would have been appropriate for a Minister to come to the House to make a statement, not least because that was the day after we had had a full Opposition day debate on Concentrix? Several questions remain outstanding on Concentrix, the contract that is in place and whether compensation will be received for the early release that the Minister said is being negotiated. Will you find a way to encourage the Minister to come back before the House to give a full statement on Concentrix and the outstanding questions that remain, but also on the decision no longer to outsource in relation to tax credits?

[Mr Speaker]

I do not think it would be right for me to engage in public exhortation, and certainly it is for Ministers to decide when to make an oral statement and when to make a written statement. That said, the hon. Lady has made an interesting observation about what appears to represent a change of heart, and indeed of intended policy. In such circumstances, it is commonplace, and invariably appreciated by the House, if a Minister chooses to come to it formally to announce that and to be open to questioning on the matter.

The hon. Lady has made her point with her usual force and eloquence and it will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. At this stage, I say let us await the development of events.

There are no further points of order now, although I have a feeling that one is brewing and we will hear it erelong, at a time the hon. Member in question thinks apposite in relation to upcoming business. Before we get to that, we have a ten-minute rule Bill.

Business of the House

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 8th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think that will be very welcome in the House. The danger otherwise is that there is a recipe for disappointment. There is always unsatisfied demand, but it was very striking this morning. There were huge numbers and a lot were disappointed.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

Further to the question from the hon. Member for Dundee West (Chris Law), I have also been contacted over the summer by hundreds of single women who have been affected by the behaviour of Concentrix. Yesterday I received a written parliamentary answer saying that the contractor had breached its performance standards on 120 occasions over the past 11 months. May we have an urgent debate about the behaviour and performance of this contractor, so that it cannot continue for another day to punish individuals, particularly single women?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but we are running out of time. Last but not least, Louise Haigh.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that, in a briefing on Friday to Department for Business, Innovation and Skills workers whose jobs are at risk in Sheffield, one of the main reasons given for closing their office was:

“because phones and computers don’t work”?

Is the Secretary of State, who is responsible for innovation, seriously saying that the Department responsible for sending people to space cannot find a way to communicate properly with an office 150 miles up the road? Will he now reflect on the way this farcical announcement was made and on the lack of empathy shown to those workers?

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 5th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am genuinely sorry to take up the House’s time today. Over the Christmas recess, we discovered that the Government have stopped the long-standing practice of releasing the historical Cabinet papers to the national archives for the new year. Only a small selection of files covering the 1986 to ’88 period have been provided, and those dealing with issues such as the poll tax and the Black Monday stock market crash remain secret. Given that the Ministers responsible were themselves advisers to the then Government, it is important that we know who made this decision and for what reasons, yet no statement has been made to this House. Apparently they have found a way to reduce the accountability of two Tory Governments in one go. Is there anything you can do, Mr Speaker, to ensure that Ministers come to this House to explain this decision, not just so that they are held to account for themselves but to ensure that the public know about decisions that previous Administrations made in their name?

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice that she intended to raise this matter. I have to say that it is not a matter of order for the Chair but rather a matter for Ministers. As things stand—I do not think she will be surprised to hear me say this—I have received no indication that a Minister wishes to make a statement on the subject. That said, her concern will doubtless have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench and will be relayed to the relevant Ministers. Knowing her as I have come to know her over the past eight months, I am sure that she will use her ingenuity to find ways to pursue the matter through questions or possibly by seeking an opportunity for debate.

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her attempted point of order. I know that she follows this issue extremely closely and carefully, but I am afraid that it is not a point of order for the Chair. I do not want to dilate on matters that take place outside the Chamber, but—forgive me for saying this, but it must be said—we cannot have a situation in which an attempt to raise a matter through an urgent question, for example, which is not granted, is then substituted by an attempt to deal with the matter via a point of order. If every Member did that, we could spend long periods each day with people who tried to get an urgent question but did not succeed thinking, “I’ll deal with this through a point of order instead.”

The hon. Lady asked me honestly for my advice, but I am afraid my advice is for her to table written questions through the Order Paper. If she remains unhappy with the answers—or, as she sees it, the lack of answers—she can try again to deploy the mechanism of an urgent question. It is for her to demonstrate why the matter is urgent for that day, rather than simply a matter of great importance and relative topicality. If she wants to apply for an Adjournment debate she can of course do so.

I think I have shown considerable readiness to grant UQs and hear points of order, and I do not intend any discourtesy to the hon. Lady. She is extremely assiduous in the execution of her duties, but I do not think that I can say more than that today if I am to be fair about it—well, I am being fair about it—[Interruption.] Well I think I’m being fair anyway—[Hon. Members: “Hear hear”] It is quite useful to hear the odd “Hear hear”. If there are other points of order we had better hear them.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last year Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs outsourced some of its functions relating to tax credits to a US-based company, Concentrix. Many constituents have contacted me in desperation because mistakes made by that company have led to arbitrary cancellations of their much-needed tax credits. Timely correction of those mistakes is next to impossible, as there is no way for my constituents to contact Concentrix. The HMRC has a hotline for members, but its staff have told me that they cannot provide an update on the status of a case because they cannot speak for or to Concentrix. A cursory glance at Hansard has shown that Members have been unable to get answers about that company from Ministers. Can you give me any guidance, Mr Speaker, about how we can best represent our constituents, given the obvious failings of a Government agency and its contractor in this matter?

[Mr Speaker]

First, it is an expectation that Ministers will provide answers that are both timely and substantive on matters that fall within their competence—I use that term in the technical sense. If that has not been the case, or if the hon. Lady judges it not to be the case, that is disappointing and I urge her to persist. I gently remind those on the Treasury Bench that answers to legitimate questions should be provided, and that those should not be alternatives to answers—they should be answers.

Secondly, it is sometimes necessary and to be expected that the Government will make certain urgent announcements when the House is not sitting—indeed, if they did not they would probably be criticised, and it is perfectly legitimate for them to do so. Having studied this matter in concert with advisers, I confess that I am sympathetic to the view that has been expressed—not least by the hon. Lady—that the announcement about HMRC closures is of a kind that might reasonably be expected to be made to the House. It is fair to say that over the last couple of days exceptionally important matters have naturally dominated, but I hope that those on the Treasury Bench will have noted what has been said. It is open to Ministers to come forward sooner rather than later with announcements to the House if they are so minded. If they are not, even though I have known the hon. Lady for only six months, I rather suspect that she will pursue the matter with the terrier- like intensity that she has thus far demonstrated to colleagues.

If there are no further points of order perhaps we can move to the 10-minute rule Bill that the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) has been waiting for with stoicism and fortitude.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking to increase the (a) provision and (b) uptake of subject knowledge enhancement courses in chemistry.

[Mr Speaker]

Minister of State Gibb.

[The Minister for Schools (Mr Nick Gibb)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker Bercow.

Subject knowledge enhancement courses allow trainee teachers to build on their existing knowledge to enable them to teach their chosen subject. We have reformed the programme so that the courses can now be delivered by schools and universities, and we are promoting the courses through the successful “Get into Teaching” marketing campaign. The additional training is free of charge and most participants also receive a bursary. New chemistry trainees are also eligible for a bursary of up to £25,000 in 2015-16.

Point of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 15th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will no doubt be aware that on Friday the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced that it would not be investigating the allegations of serious misconduct against South Yorkshire police regarding the events at the Orgreave coking plant in 1984 and suggested that doing so would require a Hillsborough-style public inquiry. In response, the Home Secretary made a statement to the media but not to Parliament. Given that the victims of Orgreave have been waiting for more than two years for this decision from the IPCC, is there any way you can encourage the Home Secretary to make a statement to this House and can you give guidance on how else I can raise this issue with the Government as a matter of urgency?

[Mr Speaker]

Yes. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, and I congratulate her on her ingenuity in raising a point of order so early in her tenure. The question of whether a Minister chooses to make a statement is a matter for the Minister, not for me. That said, her remarks are on the record and will have been heard by those on the Treasury Bench. In response to her specific inquiry about advice about what mechanism she might use to highlight this matter, I would suggest that she goes to the Table Office. There are debates that can be had that would enable her to highlight the matter not just momentarily but very fully. I feel sure that she would be encouraged and supported by a number of her colleagues in so doing. I should say that the Table Office is a friendly place for Members and I encourage them to use it, just as they would want to use the Library. They will not find it unprofitable.