Joint Enterprise (Significant Contribution) Bill

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

2nd reading
Friday 2nd February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Sheerman]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. What is going on? There is a feeling at the moment that junior Ministers will not take interventions, which is against the whole spirit of a Friday open debate. What is the matter? All I want to know is whether the Minister is content with the joint enterprise situation at the moment. Will he please tell the House that?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. It is the decision of the person who is on their feet as to whether or not they take an intervention. The Minister has decided not to.

Combined Sewer Overflows

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Wednesday 13th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Sheerman]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I know that the Secretary of State is under great pressure today—she seems to be out of her depth in quite shallow water—but she misquoted me. In a question I asked a few moments ago, I said a “senior executive of Yorkshire Water”; I did not say “the chief executive of Yorkshire Water”. That is on the record and Hansard will show it. I want an apology from the Secretary of State.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

That stands on the record. [Interruption.] Secretary of State, do you wish to respond?

Business of the House

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Thursday 20th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Hear, hear.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I know the Leader of the House is new to the role and that she has a great combative style, but I hope she will reflect on what she said to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Anna McMorrin), because I think she was very unfair in her response. On forthcoming business, the Leader of the House knows that all Members of Parliament will be very busy, as I am in Huddersfield, working with a whole network of charities, local people and local organisations, because it will be a long, hard winter for many people who will not be able to afford to heat their house or feed their family. Support groups will have to be organised. Can she make sure that we get the right Ministers here—from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities or whichever—to talk about how the Government can help us with the resources to build those networks so that we can provide that food and those warm spaces, and so that MPs can actually roll up their sleeves and help?

Higher Education Reform

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Will Members please go straight to their question, with no preamble?

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

My only preamble, Mr Deputy Speaker, is that every Member who has spoken so far has had free higher education, including me, the Secretary of State and you, I believe. Anyone in their right mind knows that this is an area that we should look at—of course we should, so I am glad that it is open to discussion. I have a vested interest: in a former life I was a university academic. Indeed, I taught you at university, Mr Deputy Speaker.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Sheerman]

Obviously not very well.

I am also a visiting professor and have a long-term interest in this area, and I have worked with the Secretary of State before. I am worried about some of the unintended consequences of this. I am worried about the long-term impact on many, many people’s lives of higher tax burdens. I am not thinking of the high-fliers, such as those who go into high finance and merchant banking; I am thinking of the core of our skills, the people who became teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers. May I ask him to make this inclusive and, as far as possible, to secure all-party agreement on some of the aspects? As for lifelong skills, many people have tried it but no one has really cracked it. Please value FE as well as HE.

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

That was completely not what I asked Members to do—bad man.

Motor Vehicle Tests (Diesel Particulate Filters)

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

1st reading
Tuesday 8th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to set standards as to the emissions particulate sensing technology to be used in roadworthiness tests for diesel vehicles; and for connected purposes.

As you know, Mr Speaker, I have been a Member for a very long time, but it is 20 years since I last moved a ten-minute rule motion, so I hope everyone will be tolerant of me today.

I declare my interest as chair of the Westminster Commission for Road Air Quality, as an active member of the all-party parliamentary group on air pollution and as chair of the World Health Organisation’s global network for road safety legislators.

Throughout my career in this House, as many colleagues may know, I have been a passionate campaigner for the environment, and I know that colleagues on both sides of the House share the view that we and all our constituents have an inalienable right to breathe clean air. It is now clear that toxic air is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time, affecting pregnant women, the elderly and our children and grandchildren. No one is exempt from breathing poisonous, polluted air in our country.

As a former Chair of the Select Committee on Education, and in much of my other work, I have always believed in pursuing good, evidence-based policies. On air pollution, the experts and the science are crystal clear. The challenge cannot be overestimated and it urgently requires not just a joined-up approach, or just a cross-party and cross-sector partnership, but a recognition of the huge scale of the challenge we face.

The Government are fully aware, because they have the records, that up to 36,000 people a year are dying from breathing polluted air. Indeed, it was linked to over 150 deaths in my Huddersfield constituency in 2020. Not only is it a tragic loss of life to this invisible killer but there is a huge economic cost, estimated at £20 billion annually, from the accumulation of treating health conditions and days missed at work.

This is a challenge that we are morally obliged to solve, but reducing air pollution is also vital to our economy, to our health and to the general wellbeing of our society. I am particularly proud to have worked over the past few years with Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, one of our greatest experts on this issue.

It is estimated that just short of 30% of our noxious emissions come from the transport sector, and over 90% of these emissions come from road transport vehicles—the cars, vans and lorries we see every day. Many of the challenges we face on air pollution will take major research, innovation and intervention, which will take considerable time and resources, but we also have an opportunity to seek more rapid, achievable wins. This Bill is at the top of the list.

Tackling diesel emissions can be achieved relatively speedily and, if this House so chooses, the Bill would have a profound impact on air quality in our towns, cities and communities in the short term. The World Health Organisation has made it crystal clear that diesel emissions have a dangerous impact on human health, especially respiratory health.

My hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) is familiar with the scale of the challenge, given the tragic case of Ella Kissi-Debrah. Ella’s death and the evidence linked to her case shows just how devastating toxic air can be in urban spaces. Her mother, Rosamund, continues to campaign passionately for change to the law, and we must not let her efforts be in vain.

This brings me to the core purpose of my Bill. All diesel vehicles need to be fitted with fully functioning and fully operational diesel particulate filters—DPFs. A DPF captures and stores dangerous emissions released by the vehicle. If DPFs are not working and are not checked properly, that is how we get the pollution. Independent research shows that a single faulty filter produces the same amount of pollution as a three-lane, 360-mile-long traffic jam with vehicles that have proper, functioning DPFs fitted. That is the distance between my constituency of Huddersfield and Land’s End.

To be fair, as a country, we have made some moves in the right direction. In 2014 and 2018, MOT tests became marginally more rigorous to ensure the proper working of these filters. But now, in 2022, we are being left behind and our MOT tests in this area are once again insufficient and out-of-date. Governments in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany are making faster progress in reducing the levels of ultrafine particulate matter through simple improvements in MOT testing. This is of particular concern to me because one of the things that this does is to accelerate the ageing process. Looking around the Chamber, that concerns some of us very much indeed. In the Netherlands, 10 improved models of devices that test the efficiency of these filters are already set to be approved by this July. The Dutch, using more sensitive technology, are picking up on the real efficiency of these filters. The revised test would require improved sensing technology set at 250,000 particles per cubic centimetre. The current testing system in the UK picks up only 1% of faulty filters. With the higher standard used in the Netherlands, it is estimated that 15% more filters would be identified as faulty.

Checks on diesel particulate filters do make up part of the current requirements for diesel vehicles, but at present the test seeks only to determine if these filters are obviously defective or actually missing. I have been in touch with the Secretary of State for Transport and his ministerial team about this issue on several occasions and have always been told, “We already have safeguards in operation.” However, the fact is that thousands of vehicles are falling through the cracks of this out-of-date testing system, to the serious detriment of air quality and public health nationwide. So, in essence, my Bill would bring the UK up to the highest possible standards in MOTs. It would introduce new sensing technology that would identify less obviously defective but still dangerous filters. It would ensure that vehicles are roadworthy and fit for Britain’s roads. Finally, these more stringent tests would protect the health and wellbeing of millions of drivers, passengers and pedestrians throughout our country.

This Bill is entirely realistic in its ambitions. Its proposal is tried, tested and has been rolled out repeatedly in other countries. It is a small change to make but it would potentially have huge, life-saving impacts. Other countries’ experience has shown the best practice that we can achieve. It is now clear that all we must do is to follow these examples and build consensus across this House and across industry to get these emissions down. In my experience, so many of our constituents want to play a role in addressing the climate change crisis. They may not be Greta Thunberg, David Attenborough or Bill Gates, but they want to help to make a difference in their communities and in our constituencies.

I believe that responsible citizens would readily change their behaviour and support these efforts if they were made aware that their vehicle had a broken filter and was poisoning the air we all breathe. Last week, I presented a Bill to the House that would put a duty on every local authority to audit the quality of its air and annually report this to Parliament. With the support of this House, MOT providers, road users and pedestrians would be able to proceed in the confidence that these changes can be brought into effect without unsustainable costs for garages or for drivers.

What is clear is that we cannot afford to wait. We are making advances in technologies such as hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel—with the help of Lord Tebbit’s son, William Tebbit—and hydrogen and battery technologies are moving forward, but not fast enough. The UK should not be a follower in making MOT tests more rigorous; it should be a leader. We continue to hold the presidency of COP26 and there is still a window to show decisive, bold and thoughtful leadership. Let us take this step together and move closer towards achieving a goal that we should all share across this House: that our children, grandchildren, friends, family and loved ones are united in the right to breathe clean air.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That Mr Barry Sheerman, Clive Efford, Christine Jardine, Geraint Davies, Kim Leadbeater, Dr Philippa Whitford, Huw Merriman and Sir Robert Goodwill, present the Bill.

Mr Barry Sheerman accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the first time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 252).

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Barry taught me politics at Swansea University, so it is wonderful to be here for his ten-minute rule Bill.

Catch-up Premium

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Tuesday 15th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Thank you for calling me, Mr Deputy Speaker. At least I have a claim to fame that not only did I teach for a living for some part of my dim and distant past, but I taught you at university.

I am participating in this debate because I was absolutely furious when I saw that Sir Kevan’s recommendations had been so watered down. He had every reason to resign. I was also very angry because Yorkshire did so badly out of even the measly amount of money that the Government are putting in. We face a national education emergency following a national health emergency, but the Government are not bringing resources forward for this emergency; they are not doing the job properly. Those resources, and the sense of this being an emergency and fixing it for kids who will never get another chance at education, seem to be utterly lacking from the Government’s determinations.

Secondly, there is a lack of leadership. Where is the Secretary of State when we want him? Why isn’t he, in the Cabinet, really doing the job for education? Dare I say it, we need a big beast in education. I would have been happier with Ed Balls; I would even have been happier with his successor on the Conservative side, because they were both big beasts. We have not got a big beast in education. We have a run down, truncated, demoralised Department for Education, and we have education departments in local authorities that have also been run down and sidelined. The fact of the matter is that we have not got the leadership; we have not got the imagination. I am sorry, but even though the Minister was a member of the Education Committee when I chaired it, he is part of the problem: he has been there too long. He is a time-server and has lost the imagination to understand what it was like.

There is real opportunity here with the right leadership. We could co-operate across the Benches. What about having a national volunteer scheme that volunteers retired teachers and retired sportspeople? The people who care about our education would come out of the woodwork like never before and do something for kids who need that help, support and backing at this very moment.

We are lacking the essentials because this Prime Minister and this Government do not care about the education of our children in the state sector.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Thank you, Barry, and yes, you did teach me at Swansea University—and what an incredible job you did.

I call Christian Wakeford.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Thank you so much, Mr Deputy Speaker—I am, I think, unmuted.

First, I thank my constituents, not only for sending me back to Parliament yet again, but for being so forthright in what they want me to do when there is a Budget speech. I have been present at many Budgets and spoken in most of the Budget debates; I am a bit of permanent feature. I have seen a lot of aspirant merchant banker types—the George Osbornes who come and do their bit on the Front Bench and then go on their way to the next stage in their career. I just hope that this time, this merchant banker, who is the wealthiest Member of Parliament we have ever had, will stay the course. I do not usually trust merchant bankers because I trade as an economist and I would prefer an economist’s view of our country’s future.

My folk in Huddersfield tell me that what they want is pretty simple: good jobs on good pay, a good health service, a good education service, a clean environment, and a modernised welfare state that is up to date. One of the things this country can be proudest of is a welfare state that really looks after people when they are sick or out of work. The covid crisis has pointed out to us that there are some severe deficiencies in our welfare state. If someone is thrown out of a job and has no employment, the support and the income they get are dramatically lower than in most of our competing nations. This Budget should have addressed that, bringing the NHS up to date—I will not even go into the shameful 1% pay rise that is in fact not a pay rise—and looking thoroughly at equipping it for the future after it has been systematically cut and cut again since 2010, but also looking at the welfare state in its entirety.

Many people have talked about the green economy. Our good science, good technology and good manufacturing have meant that we have sorted covid and we are winning against this global pandemic. Now we have the science, the technology, the partnerships and the manufacturing capacity to set about saving our planet from climate change and global warming, so let us do that. This Budget should have taken a lead. It should have shown passion, partnership and a real ability to build relationships that work. I only hope that this Chancellor will stay on and do a proper job for a change.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

We will now see if the technology and science are going to bring us Kate Osamor.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Mr Barry Sheerman.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Mr Deputy Speaker, my former student—thank you. I say to the Secretary of State that we are talking about human beings working systems, and I warn him that there will be more glitches. Technology means glitches, so I am worried about him, because we have a long, hard winter ahead. Does he agree with me that what we are doing in Huddersfield, in Kirklees—working together as a council, a local university and a local health trust, putting party political issues to one side—is what we must do this winter? We have to beat this virus, and we have to work together in order to do that.

Business of the House

Debate between Barry Sheerman and Nigel Evans

Thursday 1st October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

By video link, my former university lecturer, Barry Sheerman.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

It might surprise the Leader of the House to learn that I miss him dreadfully. As an active parliamentarian, I miss so much the ability to ask him questions on a Thursday, but, as I have the chance this morning, can I ask him for an early debate on the future of new buildings in Parliament and the holocaust memorial and learning centre? Can we have an environmental impact assessment of all the contracts? Can we start using the River Thames so that it goes back to being the conduit that it was—the heart of our transportation system? Can we have a debate on that?

Secondly, I am a pretty new boy on the Select Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union. These are hazardous and tumultuous times for my constituents and those of the Leader of the House, and it seems strange that this all-party Committee, which does such good work, will be wound up at the very time we will need the scrutiny of this House as we move into uncharted territory. Is there anything we can do to prolong the life of the Committee?