Business of the House

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will try, as I always endeavour to do on behalf of Members, to secure a response to the hon. Gentleman as soon as I can.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Commuters on the south coast have been struggling with inadequate transport infrastructure for decades. Gosport is the largest town in the UK without a railway, it takes longer to travel on the fast train from Portsmouth to London than it does to go from London to Doncaster, and the A32 and M27 are virtually at gridlock. Will the Leader of the House arrange a debate on the transport infrastructure in the Solent region?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend might like to pursue the broader question of transport links in her area through an Adjournment debate, if she is able to secure one, but I shall of course get a reply from a Transport Minister, which will reflect the fact that we are making the largest investment in this country’s railways since the Victorian era.

Business of the House

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 9th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I was trying to examine to what extent legislation was brought forward when the right hon. Gentleman was a member of the previous Government, although there is nothing intrinsically good about the number of Bills being brought forward. Fifteen Bills were mentioned in the Gracious Speech yesterday, the same number as in 2012. That is, of course, fewer Bills than in 2010, which was a two-year Session, but more than in 2008 or 2007 and the latter part of the Government of which he was a member.

I would say that the Bills being presented are incomparably more substantial, bold and radical. The right hon. Gentleman should look at what is being presented today on the rehabilitation of offenders—my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice will say more about that in a statement later; at the pensions Bill and what it will mean for removing the absurd and perverse anomaly whereby people were incentivised not to save, and not given reassurance that the state pension would stand behind them so that their savings could add to that without detracting from it; and at the care Bill. I feel proud that we are addressing the reform of social care—something that signally failed under the previous Labour Government —and providing important protections for the carers of those in need. It is a bold and ambitious Bill from a coalition Government who, notwithstanding the difficult decisions we have had to make, have themselves been bold, ambitious and radical.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I am sure the Leader of the House will join me in congratulating Portsmouth News and the Solent local enterprise partnership, which have worked together to introduce a successful “bridging the gap” scheme and used a £2.1 million regional growth fund bid to help generate local growth and boost local business. May we have a debate in the House to celebrate such successful, innovative business growth schemes, and share other innovative ideas for promoting local growth?

[Mr Lansley]

I do indeed join my hon. Friend in welcoming the “bridging the gap” scheme and those who have supported it in her constituency and around Portsmouth and the Solent. It shows how, by working closely with local authorities and businesses, local enterprise partnerships are able to deliver schemes that make sense locally, not least because they are rooted in their local communities and not part of a bureaucracy, which regional development agencies used to be. My hon. Friend draws on a good example of that.

Business of the House

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will ask my hon. Friends about that, as the hon. Gentleman asks. It is also important to improve the quality of the antenatal care, advice and support that is given to women in pregnancy, particularly those who may be more vulnerable and some of the youngest pregnant women. That is where, as I know from my direct experience, the expansion of our health visitor programme across the country is showing tremendous progress, with more health visitors who are devoting more time to providing more antenatal education and guidance.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I am sure many Members of the House will be surprised to learn that one in six of the UK adult population are functionally illiterate. That figure rises to a staggering almost half of the UK prison population. Does the Leader of the House agree that, because this is a cross-departmental issue affecting so many areas of our life, we should have a chance to discuss it in the House?

[Mr Lansley]

As my hon. Friend says, some Members may indeed be surprised to hear those figures. Others of us, I know, have been aware of the situation. She is right. It is important and it extends across a number of Departments. She will be aware of the importance that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education attaches to ensuring that literacy standards are met in schools and the necessity of including additional remedial work for those who are not meeting those standards as they go through school. But we have a legacy of adult illiteracy and we have to tackle it. My hon. Friend, with colleagues across the House, might like to ask the Backbench Business Committee if it will find time to discuss such an important and wide-ranging issue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State for Culture Olympics, Media and Sport was asked—

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

1. What progress she has made in encouraging more children to take part in competitive sport.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Hugh Robertson)]

Before answering, may I record the congratulations of the whole House to everybody involved in London 2012?

[Hugh Robertson]

Wait a moment—the hon. Gentleman is being slightly tedious. I congratulate in particular the athletes of Team GB and ParalympicsGB. Moreover, I would particularly like to record, on behalf of everybody, our congratulations to the right hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Dame Tessa Jowell) on her contribution to the project over many years. I also congratulate—I know that this will please you, Mr Speaker —Andy Murray on his win in New York on Monday.

Through the school games, we are encouraging all schools to offer their pupils the chance to play more competitive sport. More than 14,000 schools have so far signed up to participate and, in addition, 1,600 of our best young athletes had the chance to compete in and around the Olympic park in the inaugural national finals in May. The national governing bodies of sports will use the inspiration of the London 2012 games to encourage more young people to take up their sport. One example is hockey’s “Give it a Go” scheme, which has now attracted more than 20,000 people at more than 600 sites across the country.

[Caroline Dinenage]

I echo the Minister’s words: the Paralympics and the Olympic games showcased all that is great about this country.

On building the fantastic Olympians and Paralympians of the future, it is vital to invest in the infrastructure, skills and facilities that our young people need, particularly in schools. What are the Government doing to that end?

[Hugh Robertson]

Two things in particular. The new youth sports strategy, which has been announced and the figures for which will be announced in December, will involve an investment over the next four years to encourage sport governing bodies to make those precise investments. Separately, the Places People Play programme has now invested in improving more than 700 facilities up and down the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Monday 25th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

Although the overall grant to the Arts Council has gone down by 29%, we have asked the Arts Council to limit the cut to arts organisations to just 15%, and when we take into account the significant increase in funds from the national lottery, the overall cut to the Arts Council will be below 12%. That is very good news, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will congratulate the Secretary of State on such a fine settlement.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Will the Minister please confirm that this Government will not repeat the mistakes of the previous Government and ensure that national lottery funding is kept to its original purpose, which includes funding the arts?

[Mr Vaizey]

I am pleased to reassure my hon. Friend that we will not repeat any of the mistakes of the previous Government.

Business of the House

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 16th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions gave evidence to the Select Committee at length yesterday, and he dealt with those issues then. We also heard a statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer about welfare reform on Monday. The position is that some 30% of public expenditure is on welfare, and there is no way we can balance the books without examining that. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has recognised that he will have to make some savings in his budget, and the House will have to await the outcome of the CSR to discover his conclusions.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I learned this morning that the Blake maternity unit at Gosport war memorial hospital will be closed for a few months over the winter, and I am very concerned that as budget cuts kick in maternity services throughout the UK will be affected, particularly small midwife-led maternity units in remote parts of the country. May we have a debate on maternity services throughout the UK?

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern, and she may like to pursue the matter with the primary care trust in her constituency. She will know that this Government, unlike the previous one, have proposed to exempt the health service from the economies we have been talking about, so there is a better chance of making progress on the issues to which my hon. Friend refers under this Government than under a different one.