Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend is right. Ever since the 1930s we have had the so-called Macmillan gap, which is the absence of secure capital funding for small and medium-sized enterprises. Other countries, such as the US, have bonds that are available to small companies. Credit easing, more details of which will be available in the autumn statement, has as its objective not just helping SMEs to provide growth and employment but creating a new market in capital for them by possibly generating a new market in bonds.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

Six hundred and fifty young people from all parts of the world were stunned by the sudden closure of the TASMAC London business school. Many of them had been asked to pay up front their fees not just for one year but for the full three years, and the company has now sought to go into liquidation. I have asked for an urgent meeting with the Minister for Immigration, because the Home Office insists that those young people have only 60 days to find a new course, pay new fees and establish their credibility as students in this country again. They have been victims of what many believe to be a serious fraud, and the Government need to treat them as such. Will the Leader of the House ensure that that will be done?

[Sir George Young]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman will support the Home Office’s work to close down bogus colleges. I have great sympathy with those who find themselves in the position he describes, and I will contact my hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration to see whether there is any flexibility in the situation.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I think I am right in saying that my hon. Friend the Minister for Immigration has taken steps and we are now increasing the number of people repatriated after committing crimes. However, I will draw my hon. Friend’s remarks to the Minister’s attention to see whether there is further action that we might take.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

After months of campaigning, only two of the big six energy companies are still maintaining the practice of cold sales on the doorstep. Will the Leader of the House find time for a debate so that Parliament can put real pressure on E.ON UK and Scottish Power, which are being so recalcitrant over this important issue?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the profile of this issue. I will certainly see what action can be taken further to discourage the sort of cold-selling tactics that he has outlined, and I will ask my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to write to him.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

We have published new guidance for teachers, which is greatly reduced in volume from 600 pages to 52. It restores adult authority to the classroom and makes it clear that teachers have a legal power to use reasonable force to remove a pupil who is disrupting a lesson or to prevent a child from leaving a classroom. I hope that that sets a new tone in the classroom and enables teachers to teach and children to learn.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

Given that a rating agency has suspended its classification of US sovereign debt pending a review and given the problems in the Italian bond market and the rest of the eurozone, may we have a debate on the adequacy of reserving policy in UK banks before, rather than after, any economic disaster?

[Sir George Young]

The UK banks have been stress tested. I cannot offer the hon. Gentleman the sort of debate that he has asked for. However, he reminds the House of the importance of having adequate fiscal policies to ensure that we do not suffer the same problems as Greece, Portugal, Ireland and other countries.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the initiative he has taken in raising funds for the stained glass window—I have sent an envelope with something in it to the appropriate authorities. You will have heard what my hon. Friend has said, Mr Speaker, and I am sure that when we come to celebrate the event, there will be an appropriate opportunity for an Address to Her Majesty.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

In the past 24 hours, Portuguese Government debt has been downgraded to junk status. At a time when the Government are increasing their contribution to the IMF from £10 billion to £20 billion this year, may we have an urgent debate to ensure that taxpayers in this country are protected from the contamination in the eurozone?

[Sir George Young]

It is worth remembering that it was exactly to avoid the problems that confront Portugal that this coalition Government had to take some difficult decisions last year to clear up the mess that the hon. Gentleman left behind. There will be an opportunity to ask questions to my hon. Friends at the Treasury, but what Moody’s has done to Portugal is a reminder that we need responsible housekeeping here in the UK.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s advocacy of an enterprise zone for his constituency, and I commend his zeal in bringing it forward. There might be an opportunity on Monday and Tuesday next week to discuss the incentives that we have produced, including a moratorium on domestic regulations, abolishing the jobs tax, the small business rate relief, the enterprise finance guarantee, the growth capital fund and many similar initiatives.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

Following the announcement by Scottish Power of its price increase of up to 20%, consumer organisations have said that, should other utility companies follow suit, 4 million households in the UK could be driven into fuel poverty. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a debate on electricity market reform, so that we can address the vertical integration of the companies and the lack of transparency, and ensure that that does not happen?

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 23rd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

On the specific issue that my hon. Friend mentions, we were following a precedent established by the previous Government. In December 2009, for example, Labour published its “smarter government” strategy via a written ministerial statement; it was then followed by a detailed speech by the then Prime Minister and an oral statement took place later in the afternoon. I have, of course, heard what you, Mr Speaker, said on both 14 and 21 June. I recognise that there is a balance to be struck between observing the proprieties of the House and informing the public. I will draw the attention of my ministerial colleagues to both those rulings and to my hon. Friend’s point.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

May we have a statement on compliance with UN resolution 1973? We found out this week that the war in Libya is costing £0.25 billion and that this country’s military leadership believe that our armed forces are overstretched in engaging in that endeavour. May we now have a debate to find out why British troops are not enforcing the ceasefire on both sides, but acting as the military wing for the rebels in a civil war?

[Sir George Young]

The Government have done all they can to keep the House in the picture on Libya—and, indeed, on Afghanistan and other issues. There will be an opportunity on 4 July to raise these issues again with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

If the Government are to help to make substantial progress at the United Nations framework convention on climate change in December, they will have to get their submissions in before the summer recess. May we have a debate in Government time on the Floor of the House before the recess to discuss the UK’s contribution to Durban?

[Sir George Young]

We have just had Energy and Climate Change questions; I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman had an opportunity to ask that question then. I will certainly undertake to ensure that any submission is made in good time, and I will pass on his concerns to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I announced in the forthcoming business two days of Report stage on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, and my hon. Friend may have an opportunity either to table amendments or to take part in the debates so that he can ventilate his concern and urge the Government to do even better.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

I have a letter from the Comptroller and Auditor General, in which he states:

“It is not acceptable practice for those commissioning a service subsequently to be remunerated as contractors for that service…and it is not appropriate for one group of providers to have exclusive power to determine the value of that portion of the contract for which they will become the contracted party.”

In the light of that advice, will the Leader of the House ensure that there is a statement from the Health Secretary about probity and procurement in a health service with GP contractors?

[Sir George Young]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman is not casting any aspersions on the integrity of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, but I will share with my right hon. Friend the concern that he has just mentioned and seek to reassure him that there are no irregularities at all in the arrangements for GP commissioning.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I welcome the work that my hon. Friend is doing in that area, taking on the mantle of Anthony Steen, our colleague in the former Parliament. As my hon. Friend knows, last June the Government decided not to opt in at that stage to the directive. We have reserved the right to opt in, now that the directive has been finalised, and he might have heard my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary deal with that on an earlier occasion. We hope to come to a decision quite soon on whether to opt in.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

Before budgetary purdah kicks in, will the Leader of the House intervene to ensure the publication of the national ecosystems assessment? He will appreciate that, before the Budget, it is important that we know the clear state of play as to the natural wealth of the country and the environmental resources available to us.

[Sir George Young]

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, and I will pass his request on to the appropriate Minister in either the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Business of the House

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

In a sense, we had that debate on Tuesday, when the Chancellor took the shadow Chancellor to task. For the shadow Chancellor to deny that there was a structural deficit even before the banking crisis is simply to deny reality.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

Yesterday, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, launched the Foresight project’s report on global food and farming futures. May we have a debate in Government time to consider the implications of the report and its effects on climate change, biodiversity, poverty, hunger and water shortages throughout the world?

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern. It is an important report. I suggest that he apply for a debate in Westminster Hall, which I am sure would be well attended in view of the importance of the subjects that he has raised.