Business of the House

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend asks a good and timely question. He may know that the Department for Work and Pensions contract with Post Office Ltd to provide the Post Office card account expires in March 2015. The DWP, Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have begun detailed discussions concerning the future needs of customers beyond that date, to ensure that access to pensions or other welfare benefits is not put at risk. He will also understand that although there is the option to extend the contract for up to two years, the services provided under the contract fall within procurement regulations and would need to be subject to open competition following any period of extension.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

We have an unacceptable situation in Rye, where two giants of the supermarket world co-own one site on which they cannot reach an agreement. For 10 years, my constituents have had to wait to see who can develop it. It is still undeveloped, causing blight and irritation to the whole town. May we have a debate on how to persuade these large corporate giants to act perhaps in the best interest of the community?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point for her constituency. She might seek to raise the issue on the Adjournment at some point, but having raised it in business questions, she would be right to take the opportunity to say to the companies concerned that while it is their decision, she and her local authority might be best placed to try and broker a solution. I encourage the companies to get together, as she asks, and see whether they can do something that is in the best interest of her community.

Business of the House

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome a number of initiatives that we have taken recently. For example, we are extending child care for women who work for fewer than 16 hours a week. Yesterday’s statement by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on the reform of pensions had much in it for women, who tend to have part-time and less well-paid jobs. They will gain from the reforms that we outlined. The hon. Gentleman makes his comments in a week when my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced proposals to change the rule of primogeniture for the monarchy. If one looks across the board, we have taken a number of steps to promote the cause of women.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

The Government have allocated a welcome £20 million to support advice agencies following changes to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. May I press my right hon. Friend for more information on that £20 million so that advice agencies such as mine in Hastings can find out more about when and how it will be allocated?

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is right to say that, in the summer, the Lord Chancellor announced £20 million for those providing advice. Announcements will be made shortly about the allocation of that fund, and I know the anxiety felt by the citizens advice bureaux that are waiting for it. I will remind my right hon. and learned Friend that there is a very strong bid from Hastings.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I hear what the hon. Lady says. The Government have set aside £530 million of funding to increase the roll-out of broadband. We have four pilots already announced that are up and running, and we have received, I think, 25 applications for a second wave of pilots, which we are due to announce at the end of May.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

I am sorry to say that many colleagues and Members may have missed the extraordinary sight of nearly 100 Morris dancers, Green men and Bogies up from Hastings to make the point that we do not want to move our bank holiday, because it is so important to tourism and the commercial reality of Hastings. Does the Minister agree that this strength of feeling demonstrates that he should reflect carefully on whether to move that bank holiday?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (John Penrose)]

I was delighted to accept a petition from the assembled throng of Morris men, Green men and everyone else from Hastings, and I made the point to them at the time that the Government are determinedly neutral on this issue. We want to consult on the various options. The country has not had a proper debate about this for decades, if not longer, and we are therefore consulting from a neutral position, rather than with a preferred option at this point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase) (Con)]

7. What assessment he has made of the role of tourism in stimulating economic growth.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

10. What assessment he has made of the role of tourism in stimulating economic growth.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

13. What assessment he has made of the role of tourism in stimulating economic growth.

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[John Penrose]

I do agree. Britain’s heritage of all kinds—including both natural and built environment—is a tremendously important reason why people visit destinations in our country, both from abroad and as internal tourism, and it will only be to our strength and advantage if we can increase that offer still further.

[Amber Rudd]

The first annual May day bank holiday is very important to my town of Hastings, as we attract more than 20,000 visitors and £5 million in revenue. We are therefore very concerned about the consultation on moving this bank holiday. Will the Minister accept a petition to consider abandoning the proposal—which already has over 1,000 signatures—from me, together with a few morris men and our Mad Jack from Hastings?

[John Penrose]

I particularly look forward to meeting the morris men from Hastings, and I will, of course, be delighted to accept the petition. I should just reassure my hon. Friend that any proposals that are produced are not preferred Government outcomes; they are genuinely options for consultation, and the Government have no preconceptions about any potential solution.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[John Penrose]

As I am sure everybody here knows, taxation matters are for the Treasury not for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. However, I am sure that the hon. Lady realises that any attempt to try to reduce VAT in any one sector will need to come with a fully costed proposal about the impact on this country’s large deficit, which we are trying to bring down. Given the impact of deficits in other countries in Europe, it will be very difficult for anybody, in the short to medium term at least, to advance plans of that kind—without a fully costed proposal—without seeming to be extremely fiscally dangerous to this country’s economy.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

13. What progress he has made on arrangements to support philanthropy in the arts.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Our plans to boost philanthropy include boosting corporate philanthropy, incentivising individual giving and boosting giving in the regions as well as in London.

[Amber Rudd]

Has the Secretary of State considered more specifically how organisations outside London might attract support for their businesses or their charitable organisations, such as Gizmo in my constituency, which provides creative workshops for young people? How can they attract financial support outside London?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. We want to do everything possible to help organisations such as Gizmo, and indeed to help people raise money to support the reconstruction of Hastings pier. The truth is that there is a lot of regional philanthropy; we can look at what Roger de Haan has done in Folkestone, what Sir John Zochonis has done at the Lowry and what Sir Harry Djanogly has done to support the Nottingham Playhouse. But it is not enough. It is much tougher than raising money in London, which is why the package of measures we shall be announcing will aim to make it much easier.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 25th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)]

Absolutely not, because, as the hon. Gentleman will see if he examines the figures, in every year for the next four, the amount of money going to UK Sport and Sport England, with the exception of that to Sport England next year, is greater than it was under the Labour Government—so, no.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Many Members on both sides of the House have been kind enough to share their sympathy with me and my constituents about the devastating fire that afflicted Hastings and its pier recently. However, the reports of its death are exaggerated: the sub-structure is intact, the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust is launching an appeal and we hope to rebuild on top of it. Will the Minister meet a group of us so that we can tell him more about it and learn from his experience?

[John Penrose]

I should be delighted to do so. I confess to some personal experience, in that two years ago Weston-super-Mare pier in my constituency went up in flames, and I am delighted to tell everyone that on Saturday just gone I had the honour of opening it. It was like the first day of the sales, as everybody dashed up to be first through the door. I should be delighted to meet representatives from Hastings and I hope only that they will have a similar renaissance of their pier.

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[Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)]

5. What proposals he plans to put to the House in respect of the structure of the parliamentary calendar for the remainder of the current Session.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

7. What proposals he plans to put to the House in respect of the structure of the parliamentary calendar for the remainder of the current Session.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath)]

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House announced the proposed parliamentary calendar until the end of 2011 last Thursday at the commencement of business questions, and I hope right hon. and hon. Members will have had the opportunity to pick up a copy.

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[Mr Heath]

It is important that the House has the fullest possible opportunity to hold the Government to account. One of the difficulties that we had previously when the House did not sit in September was that there was a large part of the year when the actions of Ministers could not be scrutinised by the House. My answer to the hon. Gentleman is yes, I do think that is the case, but we can still do better. That is why I am convinced that we should continue the discussion about how we can best organise the parliamentary calendar to enable the House to do its job as effectively as possible.

[Amber Rudd]

Does my hon. Friend agree that if we have more transparency and clarity in the calendar, it will stop giving the impression, which we may have got with the previous Government, of legislation being railroaded through?

[Mr Heath]

I agree entirely. If we can make sure that plenty of days are allocated for, for instance, the Committee and Report stages of Bills, which the Government have been committed to doing, and if we can ensure that the House uses that time sensibly and adopts a rational approach to the important things that need to be debated at length and those that may not need to be debated at quite such length, the House can start to look like a grown-up legislature able to do its job effectively.