Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 22nd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. In calling the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh), I wish her a very happy birthday.

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

4. What assessment he has made of the ability of each local authority to fulfil its statutory care duties by the end of the 2019-20 financial year; and if he will make a statement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rishi Sunak)]

Mr Speaker, I join you in wishing the hon. Lady a very happy birthday—what better way to spend it than at MHCLG questions.

It is the responsibility of each individual local authority to ensure that it can fulfil its statutory care duties. We have, however, supported councils to meet those duties by giving them access to several billion pounds of incremental dedicated funding for this purpose.

[Mr Speaker]

Birthday woman and man in a hurry.

[Louise Haigh]

I am very grateful for those birthday wishes, but I would be even more grateful if the Minister agreed with me that local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that care workers they have commissioned are paid the minimum wage. The all-party parliamentary group on social care has heard increasing evidence that, despite guidance issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, care workers are still not receiving the minimum wage because they are not paid for travel time in between their contact hours. Will the Minister give me a great birthday present by announcing that he will review the way care workers are paid and that he will ensure they are paid the basic statutory minimum wage?

Emergency Summit on Knife Crime

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Friday 22nd March 2019 Commons Chamber

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

(Urgent Question): To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her emergency summit on knife crime.

[Mr Speaker]

Just before I call the Minister to address the House, let me say that the whole House should join in united expressions of good wishes to her as she celebrates her birthday. Clearly, this is a Minister who knows on her birthday how to enjoy herself.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Victoria Atkins)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The urgent question is the gift that keeps giving.

Before I start my reply, may I, on behalf of the Home Office, reflect on the very sad anniversary that we mark today of the events that occurred in this place two years ago and the terrible loss of PC Keith Palmer? Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, and with the wider policing family.

We all want our children and young people to be safe on our streets. As the Home Secretary has said, there is no one single solution; we must unite and fight on all fronts to end this senseless violence. We are listening to what the police need, which is why we are introducing knife crime prevention orders on their request, in the Offensive Weapons Bill; we have increased police funding by up to £970 million next year, including council tax; and in the spring statement we announced there will be £100 million of additional funding in 2019-20 to tackle serious violence. This will strengthen police efforts to crack down on knife crime in the areas of the country where it is most rife. The funding will also be invested in violence reduction units, bringing together agencies to develop a multi-agency approach.

It is important, however, that we recognise that greater law enforcement alone will not reduce serious violence. We have already announced a multi-agency public health approach and will be consulting very soon on a new statutory duty of care to ensure that all agencies play their part. We are investing more than £220 million in early intervention projects to stop the most vulnerable being sucked into a life of violence. We are also addressing the drivers of crime, including the drugs trade, with the launch of our independent drugs review. But we continue to look for new ways to tackle this epidemic.

The Prime Minister announced that she would be hosting a serious youth violence summit. The event will champion the whole community public health model, which is crucial if we are to address the root causes of youth violence, as well as disrupt it in our neighbourhoods and local communities. Given the broad array of experts and interested parties, we have been working across government in recent days to ensure the right arrangements are in place. I am pleased to confirm that the summit will take place in the week commencing 1 April, and that we will provide further details shortly, in the normal way. This underlines this Government’s absolute commitment to tackling knife crime and serious violence with our partners across the country, because we all want this violence to stop.

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 21st March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady has done me the great courtesy of telling me in advance that she wished to raise that matter on a point of order. The short answer, but it is not the only answer, is that it is for Government to decide the Minister and Department answering a question—that is to say, the matter of transfer from one Department to another is within the exclusive cognisance of Ministers. That said, if it is the clear and explicit wish of the hon. Lady to explore the issue from the vantage point that she has described, I think it would be helpful if the Department of Health and Social Care respected that.

The hon. Lady may find that a direct approach to a Health Minister—a private chat over a cup of tea or on the telephone—would help. If that does not avail her, or if she prefers another approach, I suggest that she goes to the Table Office to explore the options, where the brilliant and dedicated staff will seek to help her. She will not be surprised to know that this is not an unprecedented situation—there have been many such examples over the years—but if she follows my usual advice, which is to persist, I think she will find a way through the thicket.

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

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Over two weeks ago at Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister said that she would be hosting an emergency summit in Downing Street on knife crime “in the coming days”. As far as I am aware, no invitations have gone out and no summit has been held. Have you been given any indication of a statement to the House about the Prime Minister’s intention to hold such a summit on the urgent and crucial issue of tackling knife crime?

[Mr Speaker]

I have received no indication that a Minister plans to make a statement on the matter. I note what the hon. Lady says about a past prime ministerial commitment. To be fair, the Prime Minister has many matters on which to focus at the moment, and I cannot say whether the organisation of this event is in train or not. I note that the hon. Lady is indefatigable and remorseless in pursuit of this subject, which is absolutely right and proper, and she will have opportunities to air the issue in the Chamber in the days to come, especially if she is dissatisfied that the event that she anticipated has not yet been arranged.

Child Sexual Exploitation Victims: Criminal Records

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Before I call the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh) to ask her urgent question and the Minister to respond, I must advise right hon. and hon. Members that under the terms of the House’s resolution on matters sub judice, they should not refer to specific cases that are currently before the courts. It should not be beyond the ingenuity of right hon. and hon. Members to find ways of airing the issue without mentioning the specifics in a way that could threaten the legal process.

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

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make a statement on criminal records disclosure for victims of child sexual exploitation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 25th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

No, no, no: as I have just been advised, it would require a cross-country train to make the journey from Northumbria, about which the hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr Hepburn) asked, to either Coventry or Dudley, which doubtless have many merits, and which can be reached subsequently in other circumstances.

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

Residents in Lincolnshire, just like those in Northumbria and many other people across the country, will be paying £24 more on their council tax this year, which the Government have claimed is to fund local policing. However, because the force has spent all of its reserves, which the Minister has repeatedly told forces to do and which we have just heard him do again, the force will be losing 40 officers and 30 police community support officers this year from the frontline. So what does the Minister have to say to residents who will be paying more for a much lesser service because their force has faithfully followed Government policy?

[Mr Speaker]

Lincolnshire is only marginally nearer; there is a degree of latitude for the Front Bench, but that is mildly cheeky.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 31st January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There is a lot to be said for Bicester Village. I have been there many times, and I have an extremely agreeable Zegna tie that I purchased there some years ago. I am not wearing it today, but I will wear it for the benefit of the hon. Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis) on another occasion.

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

Tourism is greatly boosted by our music industry. Sheffield’s musicians are renowned the world over, building their reputations on shoestring-budget European tours that are guaranteed because the movement of music equipment around Europe does not require a customs document known as the ATA Carnet. Will the Minister guarantee that musicians in Europe will not require such a document post Brexit, that the movement of music equipment will be frictionless and that the people of Europe will not be deprived of the Arctic Monkeys of tomorrow?

Visit of President Trump: Policing

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 12th July 2018 Commons Chamber

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

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department—or another Minister, if they care to turn up—to make a statement on policing during the visit of President Trump.

[Mr Speaker]

Has there been a change of plan or anything?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Thank you. Before we proceed to next business, I take this opportunity to remind the House that tomorrow we will be commemorating the Westminster terrorist attack of a year ago, reference to which was made earlier. I propose that we begin our proceedings tomorrow after prayers with a minute’s silence in memory of those who died. There will also be, colleagues, a commemorative event in Westminster Hall at 12 noon and services in the chapel of St Mary Undercroft at 10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm. I hope that is helpful to colleagues.

Although points of order ordinarily come after urgent questions or statements, I understand that this inquiry appertains to exchanges with the Prime Minister. I am not sure whether that was today or on a previous occasion, but let us hear from the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh).

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It does particularly relate to today’s session because police funding was referenced by the Prime Minister today. You may have seen that the UK Statistics Authority issued a statement yesterday reprimanding the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House and the Home Office for making statements that

“could have led the public to conclude incorrectly that central government is providing an additional £450 million for police spending”

this year. Given that the “Ministerial Code” requires that Ministers correct

“any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity”,

would it not have been appropriate for the Prime Minister to apologise to this House and the public for inadvertently misleading us in Prime Minister’s questions?

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order. I confess that I had not seen the UK Statistics Authority communication to which she referred, but obviously her beady eye has focused on it. What I would say to her in respect of the conduct of Ministers is that, as applies to all right hon. and hon. Members, those Ministers are responsible for their own conduct. If they judge that they have made a mistake—communicated incorrect information to the House that has given an incorrect impression—it is incumbent on them to correct the record, but it is not for the Speaker to be the arbiter of whether that is required. To judge by the puckish grin on the hon. Lady’s face, I think she is well familiar with that point, but she has registered her point with her usual force. Doubtless it will be communicated to the people of Sheffield, Heeley and elsewhere.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The challenge is of single-sentence questions and answers.

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

You may recall, Mr Speaker, that I raised earlier in the year the issue of a private mental health hospital in my constituency where a young woman had MRSA and was infecting staff and patients. Since then, there have been numerous inspections in relation to children having access to ligatures and medicines in order to overdose. Will the Secretary of State commit to a policy to ensure that no child or young person is placed in a mental health facility that is deemed unsafe?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Thursday 16th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

There is no doubt at least one in every colleague’s constituency.

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

8. What recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the cost to police forces of policing football matches outside the stadium.

Points of Order

Debate between Louise Haigh and John Bercow

Monday 3rd July 2017 Commons Chamber

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

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You would have heard earlier the Home Secretary and Home Office Ministers stating, in response to questions about reductions in police numbers in specific forces, that police funding has increased in real terms. It is the case that overall funding has been protected since 2015, but I would argue that it is misleading to suggest that that is relevant to numbers of police officers on the ground when it is in fact due to increases in funding for specific issues such as cybercrime and child sexual exploitation. As a result, some forces have not seen a single increase in resources since 2015. Only today, the chief constable of West Midlands police said that the Government need to offer real-terms protection and that policing is getting smaller and smaller. Will you advise me on how I may correct the record?

[Mr Speaker]

It is a pleasure to seek to advise the hon. Lady, in so far as it could in any way be said that she requires my advice. Let me begin by saying to her that she is an individual both sophisticated and wily. Notwithstanding what she regards as effectively—whether by intention or not—misleading statements, it is apparent from the very terms of her point of order that she, unsurprisingly, has not been hoodwinked in any way. She is on to the matter. She is seized of the issues. She is unpersuaded by the rhetorical blandishments of people opposite her.

I know that the hon. Lady is ferociously bright, but I am sure she will not suppose that others are automatically in every case less so, and therefore incapable of comprehending and seeing their way through the thickets in the way that she has so successfully done. In short, I say to her that these are matters of debate, and she has used the ruse—I use the word “ruse” advisedly—of an attempted but utterly bogus point of order to highlight her grave concern about this important matter. In that mission, she has been successful, for she has aired it and she has persuaded me to respond in terms.

We will leave it there for today but, knowing the hon. Lady as I do, I daresay that she will be at it again with vigour and ingenuity ere long.