Business of the House

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I did not know the precise number, but I am not surprised. I think many Members will know, as my hon. Friend does, how difficult the consequences have been of the very unusual—exceptional—weather we experienced this winter, and, indeed, the previous winter, both of which have had a substantial impact on the quality of our roads. That is one of the reasons why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer provided the additional £200 million to address the problem of potholes, £168 million of that being made available to councils in England. I would just remind my hon. Friend and the House that that is additional to the over £1 billion provided to local authorities this year for tackling highways maintenance. Of course local authorities must decide their priorities, but much of that money will go towards repairing the quality of these roads.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The Department of Health confirmed this week that in Halton the ratio of patients to GPs is much higher than the English national average. May I ask the Leader of the House to arrange for a debate so the Department of Health can tell us what it is doing to increase the number of GPs in disadvantaged areas such as Halton?

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot promise a debate immediately, but I will ask my hon. Friends at the Department of Health to contact NHS England about that. One of its responsibilities is to commission those primary care services, and it has a statutory requirement to try to secure equal access to services, so equal access to general practice is one of the central objectives it has to meet.