Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

T7. It has been reported that half of charities are planning to cut their work force or expenditure in the next 12 months. What real steps will the Minister take to help those charities to carry out the valuable work that they do throughout our country?

[Mr Maude]

The hon. Lady will know that, to give one example, my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary is proposing to open up the whole of rehabilitation services so that particularly charitable and voluntary organisations and social enterprises will be able to bid on a payment-by-results basis to win that business. We have created a growing social investment market, supported by big society capital, which will enable those groups to get for the first time access to capital to fund those projects.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. As a result, Members are not attending to the answers that are being given by Minister Maude, and that is unsatisfactory.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

T2. May I encourage Ministers to work across parties to achieve a strong and robust register of lobbyists, rather than proceed with the proposal which the chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations has described as so weak that it is not worth joining?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Miss Chloe Smith)]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. We are continuing to analyse the responses received from the consultation on that matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

2. What steps he plans to take to measure the social impact of Big Society Capital.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

9. What steps he plans to take to measure the social impact of the Big Society Capital.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr Nick Hurd)]

Big Society Capital exists to make it easier for charities and social enterprises across the UK to access capital. It has two measures of success: growth in social investment and the social impact of its investments. It is required to report annually on both the social and financial performance of those investments.

[Mr Hurd]

Big Society Capital is a fundraising organisation with a social mission and exists to correct a market failure. It will support innovation and grow the new social investment market and will invest across a range of products. All we have asked it to do is ensure that it secures a sufficient return to cover its costs.

[Ann McKechin]

In a written answer to me on 11 June, the Minister stated:

“The Investment and Contract Readiness Fund applies to England only.”—[Official Report, 11 June 2012; Vol. 546, c. 218W.]

Given that Big Society Capital is for the whole United Kingdom, how will companies in other parts of the country be able to secure the same assistance?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Ample time will be allowed, but we should keep this in proportion. This is not something that the vast majority of people in the country care about a great deal. That does not mean that the Government cannot do more than one thing at once, and I have to say to those, perhaps including the hon. Gentleman, who want to block up all parliamentary business because they object to this simple reform that the burden is on them to explain why they want to protect an unsustainable and indefensible status quo.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg)]

As Deputy Prime Minister, I support the Prime Minister on the full range of Government policies and initiatives. I take special responsibility for the Government’s programme of political and constitutional reform, including reform of party funding. Let me briefly update the House on that issue. I wrote to party leaders in February asking them to nominate representatives for cross-party discussions on party funding. Meetings took place on 11 and 30 April. Representatives are meeting again today, and will hold a further discussion next week.

We all know the parameters. This is not about reinventing the wheel. The Kelly report provides a sound basis for agreement. We simply need to demonstrate the political will to make progress, and I hope and expect that to be possible before the summer recess.

[Ann McKechin]

This week the Deputy Prime Minister spoke of the wasted talent in the country caused by the lack of social mobility, and I concur with his comments. However, given the direct link between poverty and some of the indicators that he will be using, such as birth weight, why are the Government pursuing cuts in tax credits and benefits, which will simply lead to more children living below the poverty line?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

As the hon. Lady knows, our welfare reforms are based on the simple principle of ensuring that work always pays. That is what these controversial reforms are about, and that is what universal credit is about. For years and years under Labour the welfare budget ballooned and the incentive to work diminished. That is what we are seeking to change through our welfare reforms.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney-General]

I have absolutely no doubt that if there is more money to spend, one may get greater results—but it is also worth pointing out that since the 2008 de Grazia review the SFO has been transformed. Investigation times have been significantly reduced, conviction rates remain high, and very substantial sums of money are being recovered from the proceeds of crime. From that point of view, the SFO is well fulfilling the mandate it has been set. However, I take the hon. Gentleman’s point: it is always possible to argue that priorities in government should be substantially altered, but if that is to be done, far more funds will have to be found.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

9. The Attorney-General will be aware that the Department for International Development’s annual review states that the Government’s record on investigating international corruption suffers from incoherent strategic direction. Can he tell the House how he will improve that record and increase the number of prosecutions?

[The Attorney-General]

It is worth bearing in mind that, so far as international corruption is concerned, the benchmark legislation is the legislation passed in 2011. As the hon. Lady will appreciate, for reasons that are obvious, that legislation is not retrospective. Therefore, although investigations are now under way into offences that have taken place from that time on, not many cases—or no cases—will have come to court. It is therefore a bit difficult at the moment to make an assessment of how successful this work will be. What I can tell the hon. Lady, however, is that between 40% and 50% of the Serious Fraud Office’s investigatory case load relates to bribery and corruption.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Wednesday 8th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. A large number of very noisy private conversations are taking place in the Chamber, even as I speak. Some involve very senior Members who ought to know better.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

8. What assessment he has made of the effects of changes to public procurement on the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to secure contracts.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of new suppliers to Government working groups in making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for Government contracts.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)]

We want 25% of the value of Government contracts to be awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises, and we have made significant progress towards that. This has so far led to a more than doubling in the amount of direct spend awarded to SMEs in the first half of the current year.

[Ann McKechin]

The Minister will be aware that his own commercial representatives of SMEs have said that it will take up to two years before SMEs stop being excluded from Government contracts. Does he agree that that is utterly unacceptable? What is he going to do to make better use of EU exemptions that protect local economies?

[Mr Maude]

I fully accept that it will take a little time to get things fully sorted out following the mess left after 13 years of the hon. Lady’s Government, so rather than chiding us for the progress that we are making why does she not congratulate us on our progress and start apologising for the mess her Government left behind?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

Given that all successful constitutional change in this country post war has taken place on the basis of cross-party consensus, does the Deputy Prime Minister not consider it a serious error not to have sought cross-party meetings or discussions in order to obtain agreement on the terms of reference for the inquiry?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

Needless to say, once the commission, which is entirely independent of any party and of the Government, produces its report, we will be keen to enter into cross-party discussions. But at the moment we do not know what the commission is recommending, and it is very difficult to have a proper cross-party discussion without knowing what the recommendations will be.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

This is not something that has been looked at as closely as my hon. Friend would perhaps wish. We have set out our ideas in the White Paper. As I said earlier, they are now being subject to scrutiny by the Joint Committee, and the Government will make their final views known shortly thereafter.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

T5. Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree that any future referendum held in the United Kingdom or in any part of it should be carried out under the supervision of the Electoral Commission? If so, what is he going to do to ensure that?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ann McKechin Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Commons Chamber

The hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission was asked—

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

4. What discussions the Electoral Commission plans to hold with electoral registration officers in Scotland on the conclusions of its recent report on unregistered voters.

[Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon)]

The Electoral Commission is concerned about the levels of voter registration in the United Kingdom, including Scotland, and it has met the electoral registration officers who took part in its recent research. It has met also all electoral registration officers in Scotland to discuss the recent findings and to seek improvements in Scotland’s registration levels.

[Ann McKechin]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his reply. He will be aware that the report revealed that more than 100,000 of Glasgow’s citizens were not registered. That is three times the entire electorate of Orkney and Shetland. Will the Electoral Commission request an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State for Scotland to ensure that proper resources are now provided as a matter of urgency in order to resolve that disgraceful position?

[Mr Streeter]

I shall certainly pass on the hon. Lady’s comments to the Electoral Commission, but it is already working with electoral registration officers in Glasgow. She is right to point out that the recent research demonstrated worrying levels of voter registration, and it seems that that has been going on for some time. Everyone is working hard to try to put that matter right, but the primary focus is on the electoral registration officers in Glasgow. However, I shall pass her comments on to the Electoral Commission.