Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Put a copy in the Library of the House and we will all be blessed.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Ministry has released figures showing that the number of incidents of drugs being found in prison more than quadrupled from 2,500 in 2015 to 10,400-plus in 2016, yet the National Offender Management Service does not keep a central register of cell searches, which is where many of these drugs are found. Will that change?

European Council 2016

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Monday 19th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Ah yes—a notable legal egghead: Mr Robert Neill.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

It is accepted that business wishes to see the maximum possible certainty in which to make its investment decisions. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that certainty is not achieved by equivocation or obfuscation about our intention to trigger article 50, but is better served by triggering it promptly and then being flexible and business-focused in the terms of our negotiation and the implementation of the final deal?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Thursday 8th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call James Cleverly. Not here. I assume the hon. Gentleman was notified of the intended grouping. In that case, where on earth is the fella?

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

On the train.

[Mr Speaker]

No doubt.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The late Professor Gary Slapper, the well-known commentator and columnist who sadly died at the weekend, was a considerable crusader for informing the law on corporate responsibility. It would be a tribute to his memory if we were to work on that.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that we should also look at two other matters? The first is the so-called Magnitsky arrangements for freezing the assets of those involved in corruption. Secondly, in order to enforce that, we must maintain the operational independence of the Serious Fraud Office.

[Mr Speaker]

I hope that three points satisfy the hon. Gentleman’s palette.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Tuesday 6th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Well! A one-word answer. Absolutely magnificent. I very much doubt that we shall hear a one-word question, but we can always ask the Chair of the Justice Committee, who is himself an accomplished lawyer. There is a hint there. I call Mr Robert Neill.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Given the Government’s welcome development of a corruption prevention strategy for our prisons, will the Minister look personally at the allegations of systemic corruption raised by BuzzFeed News today on the basis that this presents a serious risk of undermining our prison system?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Finally, the Chair of the Select Committee on Justice, Mr Robert Neill.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State share my concern at the 40% increase in suicides in 2015-16 among offenders undergoing supervision in the community? Will she therefore expedite the Department’s review of the effectiveness of the transforming rehabilitation programme?

Policing and Crime Bill

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Monday 13th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

May I say to my right hon. Friend that, as a former holder of this part of his post, I entirely welcome and support these amendments? The inspectorate is a thoroughly good idea, but may I raise one technical issue? There is provision for delegation to another public body. Many of us think that it would be much better if new schedule 1 were phrased so as to permit the use of external contractors to carry out certain elements of the inspection on behalf of inspectors where outside expertise may not be readily available in a public body. At the moment, the wording of new clause 48 and new schedule 1 does not appear to permit delegation to external contractors, who may well have expertise in operational audit, which is precisely what we need to make inspections robust and independent. Will he reflect on that?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. No one could accuse the hon. Gentleman of excluding from his intervention anything that he thought might at any time, in any way, to any degree be material, and I have a sense that when he practised law regularly he operated in a similar vein.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind the House that Members who came into the Chamber after the statement began cannot expect to be called. Our convention on that matter is very clear and people need to abide by it.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Secretary of State is to be congratulated on having negotiated a difficult minefield with considerable skill. I particularly thank him for his thoughtful approach and for the time that he gave to me, my fellow MPs and my council leader from Bromley when we came to see him. I welcome the fact that he has picked up on the importance of transitional relief in so far as it affects the London boroughs, given the risk that outer London’s particular circumstances can sometimes be lost in the equation. Can he give me details of the timeframe for the operation of the transitional relief? Can he also tell me more about the review of the needs element, which many of us welcome? I regret that we were unable to do that in coalition, but there were many other pressing matters at that time. It is important that the comparatively low unit costs incurred by historically efficient local authorities should be picked up when setting the baseline for retained business rates.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Lord Chancellor’s speech to the Magistrates Association last week was very welcome on a number of counts, particularly his reference to the success of problem-solving courts in New York, such as that at Red Hook, which the Justice Committee has looked at in the past. Will he give us further details of his discussions with the Lord Chief Justice and the judiciary on how we can take that process forward? [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There was rather too little regard being paid to the fact that we were listening to a question from the Chair of the Justice Committee, a point of which I hope hon. Members will take proper note in future.

Points of Order

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Monday 12th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is not an occasion for a debate on this matter, and to be fair I do not think any Member would expect such. The right hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Sir Nicholas Soames) has perfectly properly raised his point of order—I thank him for the terms in which he has done so—and the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) has responded, and we must now leave it there and proceed with our next item of parliamentary business.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I trust that it is on a wholly unrelated point.

[Robert Neill]

It is on a point of general principle, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman must resume his seat. If he seeks to raise a totally unrelated point of order—that is to say, not related to anything that we have just covered and on which I have given a definitive ruling—I will hear him, but I rather suspect from the prevarication that it is not totally unrelated.

[Robert Neill]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman will speak when I give him the opportunity and not before. If he has his opportunity, he had better not be a chancer and he had better not fluff it.

[Robert Neill]

I hope, Mr Speaker, that you will give guidance to Members as to the proper means of raising legitimate concerns about public authorities, to ensure that matters that should properly be raised, which concern all Members of this House, are not handled in such a way as might appear to impinge on the independence of judicial and investigative processes.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman is kind—I have known him for years and he has always been kind—but he somewhat over-interprets my brief and my wisdom. It is not for the Chair in this House to counsel Members as to how to proceed in such matters. We have, as citizens, the same rights as everybody else. In respect of our membership of this House we have certain additional freedoms and privileges, which must be exercised with great care; we also have responsibilities, and I referenced those, as the hon. Gentleman will acknowledge, with particular regard to the code of conduct. I know that the hon. Gentleman only ever seeks to be helpful, and I hope that he is either content or will at any rate today satisfy himself with my response. We will leave it there.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Some of these answers require a bit of practice, because they suffer from the disadvantage of being not just a bit long, but far too long—hopelessly long.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to ensure as many policy holders as possible are identified before the Equitable Life payment scheme closes to new claimants on 31 December 2015.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Neill and John Bercow

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Minister truly is a man of the people.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

13. If he will meet senior management of Southeastern to discuss the reliability of its rail service; and if he will make a statement.