Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 24th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Debbie Abrahams.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

6. What steps he is taking to ensure that residents of Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency benefit from the Government’s constitutional and political reform proposals.

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Thursday 19th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. As you will be aware, for over 18 months I have been looking into the inappropriate use of sanctions by the Department for Work and Pensions. At a Select Committee hearing on 4 February, I questioned the Minister for Employment and one of her officials on peer reviews undertaken by the Department of cases in which claimants have died. I asked whether there were any instances in which DWP actions were considered inappropriate or incorrect. I also asked about their association with sanctions. The answers I was given were inconclusive and opaque. I have since tabled written questions on the same matter, but again I received responses that bore no relation to the questions. Given that Parliament is due to be dissolved in the next few days, I seek your advice on how I can get answers to those very important questions.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. She will understand that the content of Ministers’ answers, whether in Select Committees, in written answers or on the Floor of the House, is not a matter for the Chair. That said, I understand her frustration on the subject. The shortness of time before Dissolution limits the opportunities for her further to pursue the matter. However, the deadline for tabling a question for written answer on a named day is next Monday, so she still has a little time. Eyes can be kept on the matter. In the meantime, she has at least succeeded in putting her concern on the record.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I would have called the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), but she “boinged” too late. I call Kate Green.

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams]

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Clause, by leave, withdrawn.

[Mr Speaker]

Before we come to the next matters relating to the Bill, I have received a report from the tellers in the No Lobby for the Division earlier today at 3.59 pm. They have informed me that the number of those voting no was erroneously reported as 269 instead of 259. The Ayes were 284 and the Noes were 259.

New Clause 5

Independent Complaints Commissioner: reporting duty

‘(1) Section 87 of the Financial Services Act 2012 (investigation of complaints against regulators) is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (9) insert—

“(9A) The complaints scheme must provide—

(a) for the investigator to prepare an annual report on its investigations under the scheme, to publish it and send a copy of it to each regulator and to the Treasury;

(b) for each regulator to respond to any recommendations or criticisms relating to it in the report, to publish the response and send a copy of it to the investigator and the Treasury;

(c) for the Treasury to lay the annual report and any response before Parliament.

(9B) The complaints scheme may make provision about the period to which each annual report must relate (“the reporting period”) and the contents of the report and must in particular provide for it to include—

(a) information concerning any general trends emerging from the investigations undertaken during the reporting period;

(b) any recommendations which the investigator considers appropriate as to the steps a regulator should take in response to such trends;

(c) a review of the effectiveness during the reporting period of the procedures (both formal and informal) of each regulator for handling and resolving complaints which have been investigated by the investigator during the reporting period;

(d) an assessment of the extent to which those procedures were accessible and fair, including where appropriate an assessment in relation to different categories of complainant;

(e) any recommendations about how those procedures, or the way in which they are operated, could be improved.”—(Matthew Hancock.)

This amendment requires the scheme established by the financial services regulators for the investigation of complaints to provide for the investigator to produce an annual report on its investigations. The report must describe any general trends emerging from such investigations, and assess the accessibility and fairness of the regulators’ handling of the complaints investigated.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

Clause 20

Duty on Secretary of State to publish business impact target etc

Amendment made: 27, page 20, line 19, at end insert—

‘( ) The Secretary of State must lay each thing published under subsection (1) or (3) before Parliament.”—(Matthew Hancock.)

This amendment requires the business impact target, the interim target, the determination of qualifying regulatory provisions and the methodology for assessing the target to be laid before Parliament (in addition to the requirement for these things to be published which is currently required by the clauses.

Clause 25

Amending the business impact target etc

Amendment made: 28, page 25, line 10, after “lay” insert

“the thing as amended and”.—(Matthew Hancock.)

This amendment requires any changes made by the Secretary of State to the business impact target, the interim target, the determination of qualifying regulatory provisions and the methodology for assessing the target, to be laid before Parliament.

Clause 37

Regulations about procurement

Amendment proposed: 1, page 35, line 16, at end insert—

“() duties relating to the provision of apprenticeships and training opportunities as a result of procurement;

() duties to publish reports about the amount of expenditure undertaken by the relevant procurement function in relation to—

(i) amount and proportion of expenditure undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises,

(ii) amount and proportion of expenditure undertaken in the local area.”—(Toby Perkins.)

Question put, That the amendment be made.

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I appreciate what the hon. Gentleman has said and the good humour with which it has been said. I first met him, if memory serves me correctly, 25 years and two months ago in Bristol and I have the greatest respect for him. Yes, of course I am aware that there are different views. My responsibility is to hear and seek to heed them. That is what I propose to do.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek your guidance, if I may. On the day Parliament rose for the summer, the Government published the Oakley report on the communication and understanding of jobseeker’s allowance sanctions. This is the first opportunity I have had to raise the matter. How can the House scrutinise the Government when they behave in such an undemocratic way? When can we expect a statement from the Government on the inquiry, which is of immense importance to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country?

[Mr Speaker]

The short answer is that, at the moment, I do not know. I hope that the hon. Lady will be satisfied—it is perhaps helpful to her cause—that the Leader of the House, who is the ultimate parliamentarian, is in his place. He will have heard what she had to say, and no doubt she will have an opportunity to repeat it at business questions. She will find other occasions on which she can air her concerns.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I thought that we were through all the substantive questions with time to spare, but we will take a question from Debbie Abrahams.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I am very grateful, Mr Speaker.

I am pleased that the Government have finally produced a Bill to deal with late payments to small businesses by large companies. It includes some of the recommendations from my inquiry last summer into late payments. However, it does not go far enough and will give little comfort to the small businesses whose viability is threatened. Why are these measures so timid?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Thursday 20th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Nic Dakin—sorry, I mean Debbie Abrahams. We remember his pearls of wisdom.

[Debbie Abrahams]

That is a disappointing response from the Minister. The Government are increasingly bypassing this Chamber by introducing Bills in skeleton form and then pushing them through the House of Lords. The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill left this Chamber 29 pages long, and ended up with more than 200 pages in the Lords. Other examples include the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, and so on. Will the Leader of the House commit to ensuring that that does not happen to future legislation?

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order, but the short answer to her question is that I have received no notification of any intention on the part of the Secretary of State to make a statement. I made an observation a moment ago about tenacity in respect of the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) and, from my experience, am sure that it applies with equal force to the hon. Lady.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 20 November the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), appeared before the Work and Pensions Committee. When I questioned her on inappropriate social security sanctions, she agreed to an independent review being undertaken “on how sanctions in the duration are working”. I subsequently wrote to her and received a letter on 1 February expanding on what she intended to do. However, I have received yet another letter that calls into question whether the independent review on sanctions will now take place. I am extremely concerned that she is reneging on her original commitment made to the Committee and to me in writing. I seek your guidance on how best to hold the Department and the Minister to account.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her attempted point of order. I think that it is fair to say that, on the strength of what I have heard, although the matter is of extreme concern to her, nothing disorderly has occurred. As the Minister is present, she is free to respond from the Dispatch Box if she so wishes, although she is under no obligation.

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit in the Social Housing Sector (Regular Payments)

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

As I understand it, at this stage the matter is essentially the property of the Committee. I readily accept that it is a Committee of this House, as the hon. Gentleman has just advised me. The matter is with the Committee. If the Minister has made a mistake—I make no comment on that, because I do not know—he will have the opportunity to correct it. If the Committee believes that he has made a mistake and wishes to pursue it with him, it is open to the Committee to do so. At this stage, therefore, there is nothing further to add. To the extent that I have already advised, it is a legitimate matter for the Chair because of the involvement of a Committee of this House. I hope that that is helpful to the hon. Gentleman and to all colleagues.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. As a member of the Work and Pensions Committee, I can confirm that that was exactly what the Minister told us this morning, and we will be pursuing the matter further.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady has put the matter on the record. Ever anxious to be helpful in the provision of information, she will feel that she has done her duty. We are deeply obliged to her.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Paul Uppal. Not here.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

T2. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 3rd December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Extreme brevity is now required. I call Debbie Abrahams.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

We welcome the prospect of the EU-US trade deal, but I would grateful if the Minister confirmed that the NHS will be exempt from the trade negotiations, in exactly the same way that Canada achieved such exemption in its EU trade negotiations. I have had confusing correspondence with the Government on this.

Business of the House

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Thursday 28th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I remind colleagues about the pressure of time? If people could avoid preamble and launch straight into their question, and I know we will have pithy replies from the Leader of the House, then we will make good progress, but we must move on.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Given that £1.5 million-worth of donations from private health care companies resulted in £1.5 billion-worth of NHS contracts for those companies, and that the private supper arrangements with the Tory party have resulted in donations of £1.5 million to the Conservatives, may we have a statement from the Leader of the House on who these anonymous donors are and what exactly has been paid for?

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 16th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for withdrawing that word. Beyond that we need not go today. I thank him for that.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Prime Minister made very misleading statements about the impact of welfare reform—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sure that the hon. Lady is not suggesting that any misleading statements were made in this House. Can she just be clear that she is not saying that?

[Debbie Abrahams]

Not in this House.

[Mr Speaker]

Right. If the hon. Lady has a point of order, let us hear it briefly.

[Debbie Abrahams]

Misleading statements were made, not in this House, but in relation to Government business. The Government have been rebuked on a number of occasions, for example by the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, for making misleading remarks. It is unparliamentary behaviour. What action can be taken?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I simply say to the hon. Lady that, although I understand that emotions on these matters are extremely highly charged, where there are references to conduct outside the Chamber, by definition the matter is not parliamentary and, therefore, there can be no question of the Chair being expected properly to rule on the matter. She has made her wider point and it is on the record. I think that we must leave it there for today.

If there are no further points of order, we now come to the ten-minute rule motion, for which the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) has been exceptionally patiently waiting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 2nd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) should not keep prating noisily from a sedentary position. When he was practising at the Bar, he would not have behaved like that in the courts. Due decorum should be observed by the hon. Gentleman.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

This Government’s handling of the proposed changes to legal aid has been absolutely shambolic. Not only are they proposing to restrict access to legal aid—a right that goes back to Magna Carta—but their proposal will actually cost more. When will the Minister get a grip?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I was going to call the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), but she has been perambulating around the Chamber and I had lost sight of her. If she wishes to ask a question, her time is now.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I am very grateful, Mr Speaker. I was going to ask the Secretary of State about legal aid. A vulnerable constituent of mine was charged on four separate occasions, and her solicitor, whom she appointed, was able to support her throughout. That ability is under threat from the legal aid proposals. Why is the Secretary of State proposing restrictions on access to legal aid for the vulnerable and those who cannot afford to pay?

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Monday 13th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I have received no such indication. However, when I think of the hon. Gentleman and an issue of concern to him, I almost invariably think of dogs and bones. Therefore, I imagine that this is a matter to which he will take other parliamentary opportunities to return. We look forward with interest and anticipation.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You may be aware that last Thursday, Andrew Dilnot, the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding his misuse of official statistics on the benefit cap. It was found that, once again, the Department was making claims that were unsupported by official statistics. That follows similar issues regarding the Child Support Agency statistics in February, and also extends to the Secretary of State for Health and his health funding claims last December, and even to the Prime Minister’s use of official statistics last October. The Work and Pensions Committee has also—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I allowed the hon. Lady to pursue—[Interruption.] Order. No assistance from anybody is required. I let the hon. Lady raise her point of order, but it was in danger of becoming an abuse. From what I heard, the matter that she raised is obviously of concern to her and to others, but is not a point of order or a matter for the Chair. There are opportunities, which I am sure she will use, to draw attention to the issue. We will leave it there.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Monday 18th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Lady does not get a second bite of the cherry. She has had one go. She may feel like another, but I am not sure the House will necessarily feel the same way. We are grateful to her; we will bear her in mind for another day.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

T4. Oldham council estimates that more than 2,500 households will be affected by the bedroom tax, yet there are only 500 one-bedroom flats that families are able to move into. Knowing that, why did the Government make funding available for only 100 new affordable homes to be built last year?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I visited the west bank and Israel with colleagues last December, where I saw evidence of the daily indignity and injustice that Palestinians face. A number of EU and UK-funded schools in the west bank are under the threat of demolition orders. What are the Government doing to ensure that our investment is not wasted?

[Mr Speaker]

I think that we need to relate the matter to the question of 0.7%, which the Minister will be dextrous at doing.

Points of Order

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I believe that you have had advance notice of this point. I seek your guidance on how best to elicit a response from the Treasury on a number of questions that I tabled about the average tax paid at different high income levels. On 28 February, I tabled three written parliamentary questions to the Treasury, numbers 97755, 97800 and 97801, for named day answer on 5 March. I received a holding reply and on 27 March I tabled a further named day written question, asking when I would receive a response to the previous written questions. On 16 April, I received a further holding reply. As the House is shortly to prorogue and as there is a danger that the questions will fall if they are not answered before Prorogation, I would appreciate your advice on how I might best receive a response. Whether it was intentional or accidental, this is inexcusable and an insult to democracy and I hope that you can help me.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me advance notice of her intention to raise it. Ordinarily, I would say to the hon. Lady or to any other Member who was dissatisfied with an answer that they should consider taking the matter up with the Procedure Committee, which monitors such matters. In general terms, I stand by that advice. When the objection of the hon. Member is not to the content of an answer being in some way unsatisfactory or out of kilter with the spirit of what the House expects but rather to the fact that there has been no substantive reply at all, that is an extremely serious concern. It was flagged up several times earlier in this Parliament and in the previous Parliament and I hope that the presence of the Leader of the House and the Deputy Leader of the House on the Treasury Bench will suffice to ensure that the relevant Ministers are chased with some urgency to provide substantive—not holding—replies to the questions posed by the hon. Lady before the House prorogues, thereby avoiding the need for the hon. Lady to have to return to the matter in the new Session.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Wednesday 21st March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are far too many very noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. That is unfair to the questioner and deeply unfair to Ministers, who may well be greatly wounded by the experience.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

11. The Government say that they are committed to ensuring that 25% of all Government contracts will be awarded to SMEs, but official figures and the experience of SMEs in my constituency show that the situation is getting worse. When are the Government going to get their act together on this?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

T5. In the evidence session on the Health and Social Care Bill, the Secretary of State told me that he was committed to reducing health inequalities. We also heard from the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Guildford (Anne Milton) on that subject a few moments ago. Will the right hon. Gentleman therefore explain why he made a political decision last December, against the advice of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, to reduce the health inequalities component of primary care trusts’ target funding from 15% to 20%, in effect shifting funding from poor health areas such as my constituency to richer health areas such as his own? The Government are saying one thing—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have got the question.

Welfare Reform Bill

Debate between Debbie Abrahams and John Bercow

Wednesday 9th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I shall be brief, as I know that other Members still wish to speak. We have heard useful contributions from Members on both sides of the House. There is cross-party consensus that the welfare system needs to be reformed, and there is even common ground on the reasons for the reforms, such as making work pay, and on what we need to do about the problem, such as simplifying the benefits system.

I want to put on the record the fact that there have been some unhelpful and unhealthy remarks, particularly statements that equate the reforms on making work pay with, if not a kick up the backside for people who are deemed to be workshy, then its equivalent. I found that particularly objectionable. I began to make a list of the Members concerned, but I ran out of space.

I want to dispel some of the myths perpetrated about worklessness, which includes unemployment and incapacity, whether the result of illness or of disability, and to explain why the Bill not only fails to address key issues such as the taper of the universal credit but, in conjunction with the disasters of the Government’s economic and employment policies, risks increasing both child and pensioner poverty and inequalities, as well as creating a new underclass. We also know that there will be consequences for the health outcomes of the population as a whole.

On unemployment, constituents are coming to my surgeries having either had their jobs threatened or just lost their jobs, and it is insulting that we should consider some of them to be making lifestyle choices. Unemployment is not a lifestyle choice. There is clear evidence that unemployment has profound negative effects on the physical and mental health of not only the people who are directly affected, but their families. Studies suggest that there will be an increase in all-cause mortality as a result of unemployment, so we need to be very mindful of that.

Indeed, if we compare the level of incapacity benefits with health data, we find that it is a good indicator of population health. It is reliable, legitimate and not an indicator of malingering. There is overwhelming evidence that the driver that brings down worklessness is a high level of sustained economic growth, but the current fitful recovery will not help to get people back into work. Given the Government’s cuts, nothing will help those people.

In addition to the Bill’s appalling timing, it lacks an understanding of the importance of appropriate welfare to work programmes and fails to distinguish between job-ready and long-term claimants. That will again hinder people from getting back into work.

My final general point is about the Bill’s direction of travel. When we compare different international systems, we find that those with highly decommodifying state support packages—where state support ensures that a basic standard of living is maintained—have fewer income inequalities, a host of social benefits and no negative impact on health outcomes, as measured in particular by infant mortality.

Welfare systems also have an intergenerational effect. In the US we have seen that evidence, and I see patterns associated with what we have been introducing, and that effect also occurring here. Children inherit their parents’ poverty, and we cannot allow that, so I recommend that we look again at the detail of the Bill.

On the Bill’s specific measures, I have already mentioned concerns about the taper, and I hope that the Government will commit to an annual review of the rate and introduce it at 55% rather than at 65%. In addition, the payment of the universal credit needs to be more flexible, as many of my hon. Friends have said, so that we do not exacerbate child poverty any further.

I would also welcome some clarity about the earnings disregard—the amount a household can earn before they lose their entitlement—to ensure that work pays for all. Members have already mentioned the reduction in the child care costs that the working tax credit covers, and I hope that we can look again at that. Save the Children estimates that some families could lose more than £1,500.

Free school meals are another important source of support to low-income families, and I am concerned that the Bill does not describe how they will be maintained under the universal credit.

The withdrawal of employment support allowance after a year is absolutely disgraceful, and again we should learn from other countries. We have seen what has happened in the States, and the effect on families has been absolutely appalling.

Finally, the conditions, sanctions and penalties associated with the universal credit must be reasonable, take account of specific barriers to work and ensure that work does pay.

So, I will not be supporting the Bill—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady.