Oral Answers to Questions

David Heath Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Grant]

They do work, and they have been used very successfully in relation to both Southwark and Barking and Dagenham. I remind the hon. Gentleman that Newham council also used licensing conditions to control unacceptable activities in betting shops.

[Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

In Somerset, we now know which areas will not benefit from the roll-out of high-speed broadband. Some of them have been in the news over the past couple of days. When the Secretary of State distributes the funds that she has available for the last 10% of the population in rural areas, will she please not do so on the basis of an elaborate bidding system, and will she please not ask for match funding from rural areas, where it will simply never happen?

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend, who speaks with passion about this subject, will know that we have already committed ourselves to spending an additional £250 million on starting to address that last 10%, and to an additional £10 million budget for the hardest-to-reach areas. We must of course ensure that the money is used wisely, but I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we need to use it to fill the gaps that the commercial providers simply cannot reach.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Heath Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mike Penning]

The Harrington report referred to that matter specifically. Ensuring that people with hidden disabilities get all the help we can give them is is close to my heart, but the Harrington pilot is on hold because of the judicial review.

[Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

In my part of the world, the work capability assessment and the personal independence payment are administered by Atos. When my constituents finally get an assessment, they find an organisation that is as insensitive as it is incompetent. Would not the best way of improving the work capability assessment be to remove the incapable Atos?

[Mike Penning]

We inherited the contract with Atos as the company running the WCA. We were not happy with the quality of its work, which is why we brought in measures. We accept that that is causing delays to the system, but it is better to have the necessary quality than to get it wrong.