Harvey’s Law

Debate between Derek Twigg and John Hayes

Monday 2nd March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Hayes]

The hon. Lady has known me for a number of years, and we have worked together on a number of campaigns. She knows that when I say “ask”, I mean “order”. I have told the Highways Agency that I expect it to do this work. It will be a requirement; it is what will happen. That is how I operate as a Minister, as she knows. I am surprised she doubted me, given our long-standing friendship. [Interruption.] I agree that it is important to put that on the record.

The shadow Minister was right to ask whether the process will be mandatory. I will tell him exactly what it will be; mandatory requirements for identifying and recording domestic animals will be included in the documents for the tenders for new contracts. That applies to Cornwall and Devon, Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, parts of Warwickshire, Rutland, parts of Oxfordshire, Yorkshire and Humberside, Cumbria and parts of Lancashire, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and North Yorkshire. Most of those tenders were issued at the end of February or will be issued in March. Some of the tenders will be issued a little later, as the contracts expire.

I want to go further, however. For those contracts that have already been issued—in Somerset, Avon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Dorset, Wiltshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, parts of Suffolk, the west midlands, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, parts of Gloucestershire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and parts of Lancashire—I have asked for urgent investigation to retrofit mandatory requirements on identifying and recording domestic animals found on the strategic road network. We will commence that process immediately this spring and bring it into operation as soon as we can, following the re-discussion of those contracts. I want the identification and recording to be mandatory, and it will be.

[Derek Twigg]

I assume that the Minister will be bringing in the legislation shortly, but let us be clear: we are about to have a general election, when Parliament will be dissolved. In asking for this process to be done, has he set a time limit?

[Mr Hayes]

I have said that the process will begin straight away, but it is helpful that the hon. Gentleman posed that question, because I am more than happy, following this debate, to write to all the Members who have contributed—I should perhaps put a copy of the letter in the Library of the House—setting out a timetable for the implementation of the commitment I have made today. That would be a fair and reasonable thing to do in response to the debate, to assure those who have been waging this campaign of the absolute certainty of the commitments I have offered. Notwithstanding the hon. Gentleman’s integrity, of which I have no doubt, it is important that I do that before the general election, because I am currently the Minister responsible for this area, and elections are funny old things. We will ensure that the measure is set in stone.

The even better news for those of us who are cat owners is that I want to ensure that where cats are involved in accidents, owners can be confident that we will endeavour to ensure that they are identified. Cats often have means of identification, so where a cat can reasonably be identified, its owner should be contacted in the same way. That is made more complicated—I do not want to be insensitive—by the fact that cats sometimes suffer in high-speed accidents the kind of injury that makes it difficult to identify them, but that will not stop us. We will use every possible endeavour and every practical means to identify cat owners.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Derek Twigg and John Hayes

Thursday 31st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hayes]

I have with me Lincolnshire county council’s statement on exactly that matter. My councillors in Lincolnshire, as wise as they are worthy, and as diligent as they are dedicated, are determined to defend the landscape, and so am I.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

You might recall, Mr Speaker, that in July last year, I raised on the Floor of the House my concern about the Department’s delay in deciding whether to retain the electric lines at the Heath business and technical park in Runcorn. This is important because the delay in the decision is holding up the creation of many hundreds of new jobs and of new housing. We are now told the decision might not be taken until March, because the inspector is busy. Does the Minister think that that is acceptable?

Energy Tariffs

Debate between Derek Twigg and John Hayes

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hayes]

The development of the strategy is challenging. Putting aside what can sometimes be excessively political partisan banter, the Government and the Opposition know that it is essential to put in place a strategy that works. We are planning for a period of between 20 and 60 years, depending on how we measure the lifetime of the types of different generating resource in which we are looking to encourage investment. The issue requires a large degree of consensus across this House, and I hope that I will be able to work to deliver that, in order to ensure that the strategy that the hon. Gentleman describes is meaningful. That is a challenge, but it is one that we must meet, in the national interest.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I think that the Minister is on record as saying that he was not informed about this. He said earlier that he will seek to have a meeting with the energy companies to talk about the price rises—will he explain that? Does it mean that he has not had a meeting previously? Was he not informed by the energy companies about the price rises? If he was not, that would be astounding.

[Mr Hayes]

Again, the hon. Gentleman will know, because of his experience in the House, that when British Gas announced a price rise, as the first company to do so, we of course had a discussion with the company. I had discussions with British Gas at the weekend, and I spoke to other energy companies as well. Of course that dialogue takes place, because I want to be clear about the reasons for these rises. International gas prices comprise a significant reason for them, but I think it is absolutely right that we are robust in our dealings with energy companies; this needs to be a mature and professional relationship. That dialogue will never be better than it has been since I got here, but I tell hon. Members that it will take place on terms defined by the people’s interests and not the interests of any particular commercial organisation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Derek Twigg and John Hayes

Monday 18th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

May I ask the Minister whether it is the case that the further education sector is being asked to find a cut in funding of up to 5% in the next year, or to give an idea of its possible impact? If that is the case, what has been the response and will he resist any cuts to the further education sector, which will impact disproportionately on my constituency?

[Mr Hayes]

The further education sector has been given unprecedented support by this Government. When I think of the Opposition, I am reminded of Eliot’s words:

“Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralysed force, gesture without motion.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Derek Twigg and John Hayes

Monday 15th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

T5. The Minister used to be fond of giving quotations about the education maintenance allowance and saying that we were not listening to heads of colleges and schools or governing bodies, so let me read him a quotation from the principal of Halton Riverside college, who is one of the most respected principals around. He says:“I believe that the Department for Education has made the wrong decision and that disadvantaged young people in Halton will suffer as a result of this decision”.That comes on top of the £1.2 million cut in the education budget in Halton and the almost £100 million cut in Building Schools for the Future, which shows again that disadvantaged areas such as Halton are suffering disproportionately.

[The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes)]

The hon. Gentleman will understand that the Government are acting on the basis of evidence. I assure him that our determination is to ensure that disadvantaged learners are protected. He will know that the evidence conducted for the Department and for the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested that the deadweight costs of the current arrangements were at 90%. That is not acceptable; he must understand that.