Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Chris Ruane. He is not here; therefore, the grouping with Question 12 falls, and questioner 12 will have to come in at that point.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

5. What steps the Government are taking to (a) enforce payment of the minimum wage and (b) encourage firms to pay the living wage.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

9. What steps the Government are taking to (a) enforce payment of the minimum wage and (b) encourage firms to pay the living wage.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jo Swinson)]

The Government are taking tough action on employers that break minimum wage law. We have made it simpler to name and shame employers that do not pay the national minimum wage properly, and have increased the financial penalty that employers pay for breaking the law. The Government will always support and encourage businesses to pay higher than the national minimum wage, where they can.

[Diana Johnson]

The Sunday Mirror has reported that Greencore, which has a factory in Hull, is recruiting 300 Hungarians to undercut local jobseekers and is resisting a 6p an hour pay increase. It is part of a growing trend of low-paid work that removes people from the official jobless figures, but not from poverty. An estimated 300,000 workers earn less than the national minimum wage. How can Ministers claim to be serious about promoting the living wage, when they fail to enforce the minimum wage properly?

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Lady is right to highlight the importance of businesses and employers paying the national minimum wage properly. We absolutely agree. We have invested extra money in enforcement and are helping more employees. Indeed, last year, £4.6 million of arrears was secured for workers who had not been properly paid. We have also increased the penalties and the resources to enforce the penalties, and we are now naming and shaming companies that offend.

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[Jo Swinson]

Clearly, we are concerned about such scenarios, where people not only evade taxation law but do not have proper employment rights. I will happily look into the specific case that my hon. Friend raises and see how we can ensure that the rules are properly enforced.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T4. Is the Minister responsible for employment relations, consumer affairs and equalities, and the only woman in the Department, ashamed that since her Government introduced tribunal fees we have seen an 84% fall in equal pay claims, putting barriers in the way of justice at a time when the gender pay gap is increasing? So much for the sisterhood.

[Jo Swinson]

Although I share the hon. Lady’s desire for gender equality, I have to put her right on a couple of points. I am not the only woman in the Department: Baroness Neville-Rolfe plays an important role in the other place. The gender pay gap is falling and fell significantly in the figures announced only yesterday. That is good news, but of course more needs to be done. That is why we are ensuring that we support women in the workplace through initiatives such as “Think, Act, Report” and through our reforms of flexible working and shared parental leave. It is this Government who are introducing such initiatives, which her Government failed to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 16th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

It is not appropriate for me to comment on the commercial issues surrounding the decision of the owners of Phones 4u to put the company into receivership, but it is possible to purchase mobile phones not just through the operators’ shops but on the high street and from online outlets; and mobile virtual network operators are also providing a great deal of competition.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Question 2, Mr Speaker.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

Funding decisions for the arts are made independently of Ministers by the Arts Council England, but I am delighted to say—

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[Mr Vaizey]

Mr Speaker, I am incredibly grateful for your guidance. You are quite right that, with your permission, I would like to take this question with Question 3, which I also hotly anticipate. Thank you for correcting me. My eagerness got ahead of me in wishing to communicate to the hon. Lady that for the first time—[Hon. Members: “Get on with it!”] I have been asked to get on with it; things are going from bad to worse, aren’t they?

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of Government funding decisions on the arts and culture outside London.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

3. What recent assessment he has made of the balance of funding for arts organisations in the English regions.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

Funding decisions for the arts are made independently of Ministers by Arts Council England, but I am delighted to say that 53% of the funding that the Arts Council recently allocated to non-profit organisations will go outside London. It is the first time that the majority of that funding will have gone outside London.

[Diana Johnson]

But public funding for the arts in London is 15 times greater than for outside the capital, and Hull city council has seen a 25% cut to its funding during this Parliament. How does the Minister expect Hull to deliver the national city of culture in 2017 with these unfair funding formulas?

[Mr Vaizey]

I have to say that the hon. Lady’s colleagues in Hull are much more bullish about being the capital of culture and are looking forward to delivering it in 2017. They have received £3 million of funding from the Arts Council. Indeed, the Arts Council has set up a pop-up office in Hull to assist with the capital of culture.

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[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, I call Diana Johnson.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

I am very intrigued by the answer that the Minister has just given. Is she or is she not in favour of compulsory sex and relationships education? That is what I am really interested to know.

[Nicky Morgan]

I am very pleased that the hon. Lady is so interested in what I say. I think that sex and relationships education is extremely important. Many schools already do it well, and we can do more to help schools teach it even better.

Birmingham Schools

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend certainly has my assurance on that. I totally approve of, and support, the role of faith-based schools in our system. My hon. Friend might want to know that none of the schools inspected by Ofsted were faith schools.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State agree to publish an overview of the work the Department has done on the Government’s Prevent strategy since 2010?

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 26th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

Yes, indeed. We are already doing that, and I am discussing the matter with the Minister with responsibility for care. The problem with domiciliary care is that there is almost certainly an avoidance by companies to pay the minimum wage, and that overlaps with the problem of zero-hours contracts. We recognise that there are some very specific problems for workers in that sector.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

3. What contribution the regional growth fund has made to rebalancing the economy across regions.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

Some £765 million of regional growth fund support has been paid to companies throughout England, which has leveraged £1.8 billion of private money. This combined investment of £2.5 billion in areas that need private sector growth has already delivered or safeguarded 97,000 jobs. Round 6 was launched last week and I encourage hon. Members to support companies in their constituencies in applying for funding.

[Diana Johnson]

In paying tribute to the hon. Member for Cardiff Central (Jenny Willott), perhaps the Secretary of State could put in a good word for her to get another job—there are so few Liberal Democrat women Ministers in the coalition Government.

Humber local enterprise partnership has been among the best in showing that it needs to go further than Ministers are with Lord Heseltine’s agenda on devolved funding, distributing £30 million of round 3 RGF funding to more than 80 companies, mainly small and medium-size enterprises. The funding ends in March 2015, and the fact that future rounds will be open only to larger businesses and universities with a minimum bid of £1 million will exclude many SMEs that are vital to the future of Hull. Will Ministers look again at this matter?

[Vince Cable]

On the hon. Lady’s first point about women in senior roles in Government—of course I want to add again compliments to my colleague—she may have noticed that the last of the FTSE companies that did not have a woman on the board, Glencore, has listened to our clear advice that it should proceed, and Mr Glasenberg appointed a woman director this morning. On the £30 million, which is of course the local fund that was hitherto administered through the local enterprise partnership but will come under the local growth fund when it is available from 2015-16, the local enterprise partnership will have discretion over how to use the funding available to it. I am sure that it will, as before, continue to support development in Hull.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and to do everything I can to ensure both that the need for a new school is met and that the concerns across the community that he highlights are properly addressed.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Can the Secretary of State explain exactly what “security grounds” means when used to turn down a free school application?

[Michael Gove]

All free school applications go through a rigorous process that is policed by the Department’s due diligence and counter-extremism unit and will ensure that any inappropriate application that is put forward is not accepted.

Birmingham Schools

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I could not agree more. We must proceed on the basis of facts and evidence, and ensure that that evidence is rigorously assessed and judged fairly. My hon. Friend makes an important point about Islamophobia. I tried in my statement, and I will try on every platform I am given, to emphasise the fundamental difference between Islam as a great faith that brings spiritual nourishment to millions and inspires daily acts of generosity by thousands, and the narrow perversion of that religion, which is extremist Islamist ideology.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The Government fund Prevent co-ordinators in 30 local authorities where there is a perceived view of extremism. What work does the Secretary of State expect those co-ordinators to do in local schools? Over the past year how many reports were made by those co-ordinators to his Department?

[Michael Gove]

I salute the work of Prevent co-ordinators. Immediately after these concerns were expressed, Birmingham city council sought funding from the Home Office for an additional Prevent co-ordinator to work with schools, which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary authorised. A Prevent co-ordinator from east London has now joined Ofsted to ensure that all Ofsted inspectors who deal with issues of this kind are trained to deal with the signs of extremist, Islamist ideology. I am, of course, more than happy to work with the hon. Lady and others to ensure that we augment the good work of those Prevent co-ordinators who have been successful in dealing with problems of that kind.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 10th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

Let us be absolutely clear what today’s IFS report shows. It shows that people on lower earnings throughout their working lives are going to pay back less. That is a deliberate feature of our reforms which means that they are fairer and more progressive than the system we inherited from the Labour Government. Meanwhile, people who earn a lot during their working lives as a result of going to university will pay back more. That is what we intended with these reforms, and that is what the IFS shows we are delivering.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

3. What progress he has made on rebalancing the economy across the UK.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

The regional growth fund plays a key rote in stimulating private investment and employment in areas dependent on the public sector. Today, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has announced 50 further projects and programmes that have been awarded regional growth fund support in round 5. Together they will share £300 million of RGF support and have pledged to deliver £1.9 billion of private sector investment and to safeguard or create 37,000 jobs. We have also increased resources under the strategic direction of local enterprise partnerships to at least £20 billion until 2020-21.

[Diana Johnson]

In 2011, Hull voters kicked out the Lib Dem councillors who had delayed setting up the Humber LEP. From then on, the Labour council, MPs, local businesses and the LEP took the lead in working together to bring to the city Siemens, City of Culture, and rail electrification. Does not that show the potential of real devolution to the regions? Why does the Secretary of State block the plans that are set out in the Heseltine review?

[Vince Cable]

I certainly welcome devolution and the cross-party approach that we have adopted to attracting Siemens. I remember going to Hull in 2010 and 2011, when an excellent Liberal Democrat council was laying the foundations for the bid for Siemens that is now happily realised.

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[Matthew Hancock]

Yes, I will. Only this week, we took through the statutory instrument to expand the start-up loans scheme and ensure that the funding is available. Fifteen thousand people have now had the benefit of using the scheme, but it is not just about the money; it is about the mentoring and the wider support that come with a start-up loan, and I commend everyone to have a look at the scheme and commend it to their constituents.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State share my concern that, following the closure of the Insolvency Service office in Hull, there will be a gap between Newcastle and Ipswich with no Insolvency Service offices between those two areas? Will he agree to meet me to discuss this matter?

[Jenny Willott]

I am happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss this issue. The Insolvency Service is having to look at the way in which it manages its estate. The number of insolvencies has been dropping significantly year on year, and it has to make the best use of its resources.

School Funding

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)]

Order. If Opposition Front Benchers insist on speaking, it should be sotto voce and not so that the House can hear exactly what the hon. Gentleman has said. He had his go at some length—at sufficient length, in my judgment.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

It is very interesting that the Minister is able to give the allocations that are relevant to Government Members, but not those that are relevant to Opposition Members. Will schools in Hull gain from his proposals?

[Mr Laws]

I have mentioned many of the authorities represented by Opposition Members that will gain from the proposals, including Blackpool and many other parts of the country. Of the 153 authorities, 62 will gain. I do not believe that Hull is one of the authorities considered to be underfunded. The hon. Lady can check the precise figures in the papers that are in the Vote Office.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Can the Minister confirm that the business support money that is available is capped at £5,000? That might meet the needs of smaller businesses, but for medium-sized or larger businesses that is quite a small amount considering many of them lost very expensive equipment.

[Michael Fallon]

The cap is £2,500 for the business support scheme, although there are other schemes available and the hon. Lady will be aware that I wrote to her on 25 February pointing out that Hull has been allocated some £230,000, the fifth largest allocation anywhere in the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. A third of teachers do not feel they know exactly which sanctions they are able to use. That is why the Secretary of State outlined sanctions such as writing lines, running around the school playing field and picking up litter, so that proper discipline can be imposed. It is vital that students are able to learn and that there is an end to low-level disruption in the classroom.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

The Facebook drinking game Neknomination has gone viral, and very sadly young people have died as a result. What role do schools have in building resilience in our young people to resist peer pressure?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

The hon. Lady is right to be concerned about some of the ever-changing risks, as well as opportunities, for young people through the internet. That is why we have brought in the teaching of online safety at every key stage so that from the earliest opportunity children are getting the benefit of sound advice. It is also important that parents play their role so that children are getting a consistent message both at school and at home.