Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am an enormous fan of children’s centres. They were a fantastic initiative and have certainly provided a huge amount of support for children. I am sure the hon. Gentleman will be aware that this Government have invested enormously in nurseries and childcare, enabling many more parents to benefit from up to £5,000 a year of tax-free childcare. More nursery care and qualified childcare is enabling more families to go back to work with the reassurance of knowing that their children are well cared for.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will be well aware of legislation passed last year to prevent the mass farming of tickets by ticket touts, but when we read that tickets for “Hamilton”, for example, are now being retailed at £6,000, which is absolutely outrageous and ridiculous, is it not time that we had more comprehensive legislation dealing with ticket touting? Can we have an early statement from the relevant Department on that?

[Andrea Leadsom]

Having tried to get “Hamilton” tickets recently, I know that they are at a premium; I completely agree. The hon. Gentleman seems to offer me some tickets from his inside pocket. He is right that ticket touting is an enormous problem, and I certainly encourage him in the first instance to seek an Adjournment debate, so that he can raise his concerns.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 21st December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I think the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that, in the last few weeks, the Chancellor has seen many hon. Friends every night in the Lobbies. How often the Chancellor comes across his colleagues is really not a matter on which to hold the Government to account.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House commit to arranging an early statement on the astonishing and unacceptable threat by the United States ambassador to the United Nations that note will be taken of countries, like our own, opposing the move of the Israeli capital to Jerusalem and that consequences will follow?

[Andrea Leadsom]

We are aware of Donald Trump’s comments, but the UK’s long-standing position on Jerusalem has not changed. The UK’s position is that the the status of Jerusalem should be determined through a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that it should ultimately be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 14th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I will look closely at my hon. Friend’s suggestion.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

I declare a registerable interest, having travelled to Bangladesh with Muslim Charity to see the Rohingya refugee camps.

May we have either an early statement or a debate on the situation of the Rohingya? There were a number of debates focusing on the crisis as people fled Myanmar, but the situation now is that 800,000 people are living in camps, including 36,000 unaccompanied children and 30,000 women who have been raped and are now pregnant. They need clean water and help to address the problem of refuse. What will be the ongoing commitment of our Government and of Ministers in the Department for International Development to help to address the plight of the Rohingya?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for going to see the camps for himself. A number of hon. Members from both sides of the House have been to lend their personal support, for which I commend them all. This is a harrowing case. We have had three debates and urgent questions on this subject since September, and the Government are watching the situation incredibly closely. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has announced a further £12 million of UK aid to help to support the Rohingya people, bringing the UK’s total support to £59 million. I commend the generosity of the British people who have personally contributed millions of pounds to help to support the Rohingya people.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 2nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

As he often does in the Chamber, the hon. Gentleman raises a very concerning issue about a specific constituent. I obviously do not know the particular circumstances of this case, but it sounds very concerning, so I encourage him to take it up directly with Home Office Ministers, perhaps at oral questions, so that they can see what can be done.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will not know that I wrote to North West Ambulance Service in August to point out that when Rochdale infirmary’s accident and emergency unit was closed, a commitment was given that there would be paramedic cover on ambulances taking my constituents to other hospitals. I am yet to receive a reply, so may we have a debate on the ambulance service in the north-west? It is not good enough, and nor are its officers up to speed with the need to be accountable.

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that issue. We all have challenges with and concerns about the way in which services are delivered in our constituencies. This is exactly the right way to raise them, so I commend him for doing so. He may well wish to seek an Adjournment debate so that that particular situation can be closely examined, with a Minister present to respond.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 26th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

There is a very good service on universal credit from the DWP. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, Ministers are committed to incremental improvements. Every time they hear of some problem, they are determined to resolve it. We have seen in recent weeks that Ministers are responding. The roll-out of universal credit is slow and assured; 8% of benefit recipients are now on universal credit. That is expected to be up to 10% by January when the next pause is due to look at what more needs to be done. The hon. Gentleman has put his concerns on the record, and Ministers will be listening to them.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

Ministers have said recently that the pay cap on public sector workers has now been scrapped, but the reality on the ground is that there will be no more money for the public services that have to find extra pay. Can we have a debate on the flaws at the heart of the Government’s pay policy to make sure that we do not see the erosion of our police and our other important public services?

[Andrea Leadsom]

Our public servants do a fantastic job for which we are all incredibly grateful. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that our economy is still struggling to recover from the state in which it was left in 2010. We are still spending far more money than we take in tax revenues every year. We have a choice: we can either tackle it ourselves in this generation or we can leave our children and grandchildren to deal with the problems of this generation, which were left to us by a Labour Government. What is absolutely vital is that we listen carefully and take the advice of the independent pay review bodies, which is what we are doing.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 7th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

As the hon. Lady would expect, in such circumstances there is normally some kind of ministerial statement, either written or oral. Alternatively, she may wish to organise a Back-Bench debate when the plan is published.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

The question of the shortage of nurses in Rochdale—which reflects the national shortage—was raised with me during the summer. May we have a debate in Government time about how the Government plan to increase nurses’ pay, and also to ensure that we are training enough nurses?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the number of nurses on wards is up by nearly 12,000. We are increasing investment in the NHS, increasing the number of training places, and so on. If the hon. Gentleman wants to raise issues relating specifically to Rochdale, it might be a good idea for him to do so during Health questions.

Business of the House

Debate between Andrea Leadsom and Tony Lloyd

Thursday 20th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend again raises an important local constituency matter; he may well wish to seek an Adjournment debate to explore it further.

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

Further to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore), may we have an early debate about rail transport? The rail system from Rochdale is grossly inadequate—the quality and quantity is not acceptable for a town such as Rochdale. We need an early debate so that the Secretary of State for Transport can explain the Government’s strategy for not only Wales but the north of England.