Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady has asked that question repeatedly. Let me remind her that this is a Government who get on and deliver on our promises to the people—in particular, on getting Brexit done. I read the other day that she wants to go back into the single market and the customs union. If going back into the EU is the real policy of the Labour party, why will the Leader of the Opposition not admit it?

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Q11. When our family adopted my two brothers in the 1980s, support for adopters, whether that be financial, therapeutic or professional, was minimal. By the time I became a family law barrister in the late 1990s, it really was not much better. Efforts since, particularly the adoption support fund from 2015 onwards, have improved the situation, but, as ever, there is much more that we can do. To that end, will my right hon. Friend look at making self-employed adopters eligible for statutory adoption pay so that they can also have a better and fairer start to family life?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is a great champion of adopters and all those who help to give children a loving and stable home. He is quite right, we have so far focused on supporting employed parents, but local authorities have the power to provide discretionary payments equivalent to maternity allowance for self-employed adopters as well.

Living with Covid-19

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

On that, the hon. Member should wait, as I said to the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey). On the clinically extremely vulnerable, I think it is very important to remember that we will continue—as we have done throughout the pandemic—to look after them with all the therapeutics that we can offer, and with vaccines where that is appropriate. As the House knows, the shielding programme ended in September. What people need to recognise with the CEV—the clinically extremely vulnerable—is that we should treat them with caution, just as anybody with any respiratory disease should treat the clinically extremely vulnerable with caution, respect them and act with responsibility.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

I fully endorse the Prime Minister’s statement, which is a significant step forward. However, while we want to get more confidence back into the country, people will also want consistency, so that they can plan ahead. To that end, will he look at what we do with schools, and education more generally? In particular, will he look at making them an essential part of our national infrastructure, so that on future occasions when we consider restrictions across the country, schools, nurseries, colleges and universities are at the very back of the queue, and we make sure that what happened during this pandemic—the lost learning—does not happen again?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and that is why we are ensuring that schools are as covid-secure as possible. We are sending out 350,000 CO₂ monitors and 9,000 air cleaning units; those are among the steps that we are taking to protect schools. It is very important that we should get the message over to everybody that schools are safe—one of the many things that the Leader of the Opposition got wrong.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 19th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The collaboration across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has been exemplary. I have enjoyed working with our partners and will continue to do so.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement today, particularly the decision to remove face masks from schools. I know many staff, pupils and parents will be extremely pleased that that is now happening.

I know the Prime Minister will share my concern and that of the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, that during the pandemic we have seen many thousands of children become off the radar of schools—off school rolls. Particularly for the most vulnerable children, this causes serious problems through their exposure to crime and exploitation. Will the Prime Minister look again at some of the recommendations in my review of school exclusion in order to try to address this, so that we can track every pupil who is of school age? We should, as a basic principle, know that every child is in school, where they are in school and what their future is to be.

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is an expert in this, and he is spot-on in what he says. I do not want to see excluded kids being locked in a cycle of ever-growing deprivation. He is absolutely right: the best place for kids is in school. That is why we worked so hard to keep schools open and to insist that they were safe.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but the decision is up to the UK Health Security Agency.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

I welcome the ongoing support, financial and otherwise, for our hospitality sector, particularly in cases where it is a critical lifeline, even still. Of course, the best thing we can do for them is to take away all restrictions that remain in place, but we also have to recognise that there may be an opposite scenario where new restrictions are considered in the future. To that end, can my right hon. Friend confirm that weddings and funerals would be exempt from any further restrictions?

[The Prime Minister]

There are no restrictions on them at the moment, and that is certainly the way we wish to keep it.

Covid-19: Winter Plan

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I cannot give the hon. Member a breakdown of the figures now, but what I can certainly tell her is that, actually, NHS Test and Trace has been working hand in glove with local authorities from the beginning. There are, to the best of my knowledge, about 198 local authority testing teams now actively going out there and doing what is necessary. They are doing a fantastic job.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Dr Andrew Wilson and the Cheshire clinical commission group have done a great job maintaining a high standard of care for patients alongside their covid workload. Can my right hon. Friend reassure Dr Alistair Adey at the Tarporley Health Centre that additional support will be made available to GP practices, so they can continue to deliver that standard, alongside any vaccination programme?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, absolutely, and I thank Dr Andrew Wilson and the Cheshire clinical commissioning group, and Dr Alistair Adey from the Tarporley health centre, for everything they have done. GPs will obviously play a crucial role in this vaccination programme, as they do in all vaccination programmes, and they have been backed with £150 million to prepare.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 21st October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con) [V]]

After recent positive progress, covid has disproportionately and adversely affected participation levels in female sport and physical activity. To help to reverse that, will my right hon. Friend lend his support to the development of the first ever women’s and girls’ football national centre of excellence in Winsford in my constituency—a £70 million project that he has previously expressed enthusiasm for—and help to build female grass-roots sport back better?

[The Prime Minister]

This is a very exciting project, and I welcome Cheshire FA’s commitment to providing a new world-class facility for women’s and girls’ football. I look forward to the proposed opening of the centre in Winsford.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Monday 12th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I would be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman about the test centre that he mentions. As I have said, we are increasing test and trace capacity and the number of tests conducted the whole time. As I said, I will be happy to write to him about the particular case he mentions, but it is still the case that this country continues to test more people and conduct more tests than any other country in Europe.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

The decision to place Cheshire in tier 2, and the additional restrictions that that will entail, will inevitably impact on families and businesses across Eddisbury, not least the already decimated wedding industry and its existing supply chain. Will my right hon. Friend look again at what further targeted support can be made available for that industry, which will struggle to remain viable through another six months of effectively being closed?

[The Prime Minister]

I have real sympathy for those in the wedding industry who have been affected. It is a great industry, and times are very tough for them. That is why we are putting in the jobs support scheme and extra grants for businesses. The best way forward is for us to get the virus down and get the spread down, so that we can reopen those types of businesses as fast as possible.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that people have to work from home if they can. That remains the guidance, and of course it is up to employers and employees to decide whether they need to get back to their workplaces to do their jobs. On HMRC and the sad redundancies that the hon. Gentleman mentions, I will certainly look at that, though I think that, obviously, it is also important to cut the cost of government.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

It will come as no surprise to Members to hear that I wholly endorse the Prime Minister’s announcement on the end of the hairdressing hibernation. That has been made possible by the change to the social distancing rules, which will help hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country. To help them further, will my right hon. Friend look at reducing VAT and national insurance contributions for employers, so that we are not just cutting hair, but cutting taxes, too?

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly look at all such measures, but I do not wish to anticipate anything that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor may say,

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 18th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I completely agree with what the hon. Lady says, and I thank her for all the work that she does in the health service. I can certainly tell her that we have stockpiles of PPE equipment and that we are proceeding—it is very important for the House to understand this—in accordance with the best scientific advice, and it is the timeliness of those measures that is absolutely vital in combating the spread of the epidemic, and indeed that is how we save lives. I am delighted that the UK’s approach has been commended today not just by Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, but by Dr David Nabarro of the World Health Organisation.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Q4. The weeks and months ahead will test us all and stretch society to its limits, none more so than the national health service, which is working day and night to care for the sick and to save lives, but together we will get through this. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on his efforts to bring together a coalition of manufacturers to supply the NHS with the ventilators and other essential medical equipment it needs to treat the most adversely affected patients during this pandemic?

[The Prime Minister]

As the House will know, there is already a coalition of British manufacturers that are now working together at speed to supply the ventilators that we need. We already have 8,000, and we are moving rapidly upwards, and I will keep the House informed of developments.

Transport Infrastructure

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are building Northern Powerhouse Rail as fast as we can, but the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that that project is not in the state of readiness of the Birmingham to London route.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

How do we realise more benefits for towns such as Winsford in my constituency by integrating Northern Powerhouse Rail, the conventional rail network and HS2? Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the Cheshire salt mines and the threat of sinkholes will be considered as part of the next review?

[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly confirm that the threat of sinkholes from the Cheshire salt mines will be considered as part of the review.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Timpson and Boris Johnson

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

That is exactly why this Government are investing a record £14 billion more in education, raising funding for primary schools to £4,000 per head and £5,000 per head for every secondary school in the country. We can only do that because we are running a strong and dynamic market economy, and that is what we are going to do.

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

Q14. To help to genuinely spread opportunity across our country, may I encourage my right hon. Friend to have a pre-Budget chat with his Chancellor about extending the Government’s welcome plans to reduce national insurance contributions for employers of ex-service personnel to other groups who find it difficult to get a good job, including care leavers, ex-offenders, those with a disability and the long-term unemployed?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, and I thank my hon. Friend and his family for everything that they do to encourage ex-offenders into work. I will indeed take up that suggestion with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. We cut taxes on working people. We cut national insurance. The Opposition would hike taxes and keep people in welfare.