Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 11th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

I think that that was a question, although I am not entirely sure. In any event, I thank the hon. Gentleman for the sentiment, with which I entirely agree.

[Mr Speaker]

I think that the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) was operating in the spirit of a poet, and we are obliged to him for that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 30th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

I am aware that there is a long-standing flooding issue at Beales Corner and that, as my hon. Friend says, the Environment Agency is trialling temporary flood defence barriers there. I understand that the trial is set to continue until 2017 while longer-term solutions are being considered and the agency, quite properly, consults the community, but if my hon. Friend has further concerns and would like to write to me, I would be happy to discuss those with him.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Michael McCann. He has toddled out of the Chamber. Goodness knows what is going on. Mr Grahame Morris.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 12th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited the area with him during the flooding. Obviously, we will take advice from the Environment Agency and all the local bodies involved when coming up with plans to protect the area better. The Department for Transport will be included in that, given all the work it will be doing around the port of Immingham.

[Mr Speaker]

I am very glad that the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) has recovered his composure. I was genuinely concerned that his sides might literally split.

Water Bill

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Wednesday 7th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 15.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments 16 to 30, 32, 33, 43 to 64, 101 to 103, and 107 to 147.

[Dan Rogerson]

The Lords amendments relate to the subject of market reform, and in particular to retail exits. By that I mean allowing an incumbent water company to exit from the market for retail services to non-household customers.

Lords amendments 15 to 30, 43 to 48, 101 to 103 and 107 to 147 are minor technical or consequential amendments to the market reform provisions in the Bill—for example, changing wording from “a code” to “the code”. Some are minor and technical amendments relating to cross-border pipes. Lords amendments 32 and 33 ensure that the Consumer Council for Water is consulted on water company charges schemes. The Government are keen to ensure that customers are protected, and are grateful to Opposition Members for highlighting the important work done by the council on behalf of customers. We expect it to contribute to all discussions about the future of the industry, and we are pleased to have been able to enhance that in the Bill.

Lords amendments 49 to 52 would implement recommendations made by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee in another place. We are very grateful for the Committee’s scrutiny of the Bill. I do not propose to refer to the amendments in detail, but I shall be happy to respond to any specific queries.

Lords amendments 53 to 64 deal with the issue of retail exits, which we have discussed previously in the House. The Bill seeks to introduce a range of reforms that will enhance and extend competition in the water sector. The Government believe that the development of competition in the sector will bring real benefits to customers. They listened to, and acted on, well-argued contributions to the debate on market reform, especially the calls for incumbent water companies to be able to choose to exit from the non-household retail market.

I think it would be appropriate for me to expand on the retail exit amendments, as the House is not familiar with the clauses involved. The amendments differ in some crucial ways from amendments on the subject that Members have seen before. When drafting the amendments, we were particularly careful to ensure that customers were protected, both the non-household customers who will be transferred to a different retailer and the household customers who will remain with the incumbent. Non-Government amendments tabled by Members here and in another place have not reflected those safeguards fully.

The Lords amendments relating to retail exits contain three core principles. Exits must involve non-household customers only, they must be undertaken voluntarily, and they must ensure the ongoing protection of customers. Any exit will be possible only with the consent of the Secretary of State. Other amendments that the House has considered did not grapple with those key issues. These amendments create broad, permissive powers in what will be a very complex area. Further work will be required to consider the practical implications of exits, and to develop the detailed policies that will underpin the use of the powers. We will therefore be consulting widely with all interested parties as we develop our approach and produce exit regulations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 13th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

My hon. Friend puts together two questions that cover areas for which both my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and I are responsible. As she knows, I will table the regulations on introducing sustainable urban drainage later this year. I am happy to write to her about auditing existing provisions. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary is visiting Newlyn soon to discuss with fishermen the problems they are facing.

[Mr Speaker]

I do not think the hon. Lady is the first person to wrap two questions into one, and I rather doubt that she will be the last.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 9th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing a cultural dimension to our proceedings so early this morning. I share his concern, and that of John Clare, for ancient woodland, and that is why the guidance is very clear. In any discussions about development, the guidance we offer to all local authorities is very clear that ancient woodland should be protected.

[Mr Speaker]

Not for nothing is the hon. Gentleman known as culture vulture Sheerman.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Which tree species does the Minister regard as most at risk from disease?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many very noisy private conversations. It is difficult to hear the questions, let alone the answers. Let us have a bit of order for Mr Dan Rogerson.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

T6. In considering future development in Mali, will the Secretary of State—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I have asked Members to stop doing that. It is rude to the Member on his or her feet. It had stopped for several years. It had better stop in future.

[Dan Rogerson]

I took it as personal support, Mr Speaker, and was very grateful for it.

Will the Department ensure that it considers the position of the Berber people in Mali and the surrounding countries, because those who feel that their culture and language are secure are far more likely to want to be part of a lasting peace and development for the region?

Local Government Finance (England)

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I am very grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for calling me to speak in this debate. I had hoped to be called in the debate that was held a couple of days ago on the specific issue of rural funding, so many of my remarks will concentrate on that issue and how it affects places such as Cornwall.

It is a pleasure, in a sense, to follow the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), who made a passionate plea on behalf of his constituents, as we would expect from any MP. However, I get frustrated with hearing time and again how deprivation is in urban areas; how all the indices, which have been around for some time, to pick up on the real deprivation in urban areas are the only justification for spending; and how we should be looking at this formula and the settlement, and tilting it even more towards urban areas. Those areas have, in fact, historically done much better than areas such as mine.

Cornwall is not what some people might think it to be; it is not a leafy playground full of people wandering around with huge amounts of cash in their back pocket. In reality, it is one of the most deprived parts of the country. Wages are lower than they are in most parts of the country. Even after the accession countries joined the European Union, we are still receiving structural funds to try to help our economy get out of the state it is in. The objective 1 programme existed in many other parts of the country, such as south Yorkshire, but its successor, the convergence programme, is still delivering in Cornwall. After what the Prime Minister told us on Monday, it looks as though it will continue.

Cornwall needs support and investment, but the formula is stacked against it. We often discuss sparsity, on which the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart) has done a great deal of work. The hon. Member for Workington (Sir Tony Cunningham), the hon. Gentleman and I have worked with many other Members on both sides of the House to raise the issue with Ministers.

The funding formula is a very involved beast, but sparsity is one of the factors that has not been fairly reflected over the years. To the Minister’s credit, he has listened to us, and the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr Foster), has also looked at the issue. I hope we can make progress.

The issue is compounded by similar formulae in other areas of public spending. We are rightly looking for ways for local government and health to come together to share costs and investment in services, whether social care or health, but those formulae also clobber areas such as Cornwall. Even when the formula shows underfunding, we have the wonderful damping process, so we never get to where we should be.

I understand the reason for damping. Everybody understands that if an area is shown to be overfunded for whatever reason—population changes, for example—compared with some point previously, and another area is underfunded, we need a period of transition to get things right. What seems to have happened over the years, under the previous Government and before, is that the process never achieves what we set out to do; damping is at such a high level that we do not move in the right direction to resolve the problem.

Cornwall has done what it can to be more efficient. We adopted the unitary local government model, which was painful because there was a lot of cultural and structural change to get seven local authorities down to one, and there were job losses too, but if we had not been through that process we would have been far worse off. We have good local town and parish councils that are taking on responsibility for some services that the county council provided—the things that visitors to Cornwall expect, such as public toilets—but without much revenue.

Council tax has historically been higher in rural areas, while there is also an additional element levied by local councils. In areas such as mine, we have low wages, historically high council tax in some parts—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman is happy to be speaking, but a number of Members have withdrawn from the debate, so I am putting the limit up again. The hon. Gentleman has a couple more minutes if he wants them. He is not obliged to use them, but he can if he wants.

[Dan Rogerson]

I hope my contribution did not put off so many Members that they left the Chamber, Mr Speaker.

Local councils will face pressures too, so we need to look at the amount they add to council tax. There are particular pressures on rural areas, as the Government acknowledged in their consultation last summer, but although they looked as though they were moving in the right direction we have yet to see the fruits of that labour.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

As we are undertaking a Cook’s tour, we might hear about broadband in Cornwall.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I am happy to focus on broadband across rural areas, Mr Speaker.

Will the Secretary of State ensure that all the programmes that the Government are funding, such as the one in Cornwall, which involves European Union structural funds, prioritise the areas that are still on dial-up? I am concerned that we are concentrating on superfast broadband—areas that some companies would have got to in a few years anyway—when we need to prioritise those still on dial-up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Monday 18th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I should explain for the benefit of the House that as the Secretary of State has given what might be called a national answer, slightly opening up Question 3, for which I do not in any way excoriate him, the field is now open.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I thank you, Mr Speaker, and through you the Secretary of State for his generosity. Areas such as Northumberland have sometimes lost out, as the Secretary of State has pointed out, through funding formulae that do not recognise deprivation that is more dispersed. I urge him to ensure that the review takes full account of that, so that areas such as Northumberland get their fair share of national funding and to ensure that the pupil premium continues its progress in tackling deprivation across the country.

Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful case for the need to be mindful at all times of how outdated sewerage systems can cause problems. People may be more accepting of occasional discharges during periods of very high rainfall, but he knows north Cornwall well, and if he considers the area of Trevone he may wish to look again at South West Water’s record on delivering its promises, because in that area discharges have been occurring several times a month, and the company has yet to take action. I have raised that issue with South West Water, and we hope to address it soon, but he is absolutely right that there is a problem not just here in London, but throughout the country.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is a worrying pattern developing whereby the erudition of interventions is equalled only by their length.

Open Public Services White Paper

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. As befits a distinguished former philosophy don, the Minister much enjoys conducting a Socratic dialogue with the House, and we all invariably feel enriched by it, but in the interests of time, we should be grateful for the abridged version.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I very much welcome what we have heard about employee involvement in the running of organisations, and mutuality is a subject that my party has advocated for a long time. I also welcome the greater role for parish councils in local services. I am concerned, however, about local assets being run by community groups and the accountability of that mechanism. Will the Minister ensure that, as these proposals move forward, accountability lies at the heart of any change?

Schools White Paper

Debate between Dan Rogerson and John Bercow

Wednesday 24th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In the light of the performance thus far from both the Secretary of State and the shadow Secretary of State, I must remind the House that this is not a debate; it is a statement in which the Government set out their policy, and hon. Members question the Minister on that policy. That is the situation, and we must get back to it.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement that there will be further cuts in bureaucracy for schools,. The Government have already started that, and it has been welcomed by head teachers. When it comes to exclusion, he talked about trialling ways of ensuring that schools retain responsibility for excluded pupils, which I also welcome. Will there be further recognition for schools that take in excluded pupils from other places to ensure that when they are assessed and the league tables are published, they receive recognition of their extra work?