Gerry Sutcliffe

Labour - Former Member for Bradford South

First elected: 9th June 1994

Left House: 30th March 2015 (Retired)


Gerry Sutcliffe is not a member of any APPGs
Shadow Minister (Home Affairs)
8th Oct 2010 - 7th Oct 2011
Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport) (Sport)
12th May 2010 - 8th Oct 2010
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (Sport)
29th Jun 2007 - 6th May 2010
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
9th May 2007 - 28th Jun 2007
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
5th May 2006 - 8th May 2007
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Trade and Industry) (Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs)
13th Jun 2003 - 5th May 2006
Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
11th Jun 2001 - 13th Jun 2003
Assistant Whip (HM Treasury)
29th Jul 1999 - 7th Jun 2001
Public Accounts Committee
11th Nov 1996 - 21st Mar 1997


Division Voting information

Gerry Sutcliffe has voted in 1551 divisions, and 7 times against the majority of their Party.

11 Mar 2015 - Ark Pension Schemes - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 3 Labour No votes vs 190 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 367 Noes - 113
10 Feb 2014 - Children and Families Bill - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 3 Labour No votes vs 192 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 453 Noes - 24
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 66 Labour No votes vs 139 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 267 Noes - 233
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 51 Labour No votes vs 141 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 280 Noes - 184
20 May 2008 - Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords] - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 56 Labour Aye votes vs 231 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 233 Noes - 304
7 Mar 2007 - House of Lords Reform - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 152 Labour No votes vs 162 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 416 Noes - 163
7 Mar 2007 - House of Lords Reform - View Vote Context
Gerry Sutcliffe voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 111 Labour Aye votes vs 197 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 196 Noes - 375
View All Gerry Sutcliffe Division Votes

All Debates

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Department Debates
Home Office
(40 debate contributions)
Leader of the House
(25 debate contributions)
Department for Education
(23 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(17 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Gerry Sutcliffe has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
View all Gerry Sutcliffe's debates

Latest EDMs signed by Gerry Sutcliffe

17th March 2015
Gerry Sutcliffe signed this EDM as a sponsor on Tuesday 17th March 2015

BRADFORD CITY FOOTBALL CLUB AND THE FA CUP

Tabled by: Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour - Bradford South)
That this House congratulates Bradford City Football Club, the directors, coaches, playing staff and supporters on their magnificent FA Cup exploits this season; and notes they have been a credit to football and have enhanced the reputation of the city.
10 signatures
(Most recent: 25 Mar 2015)
Signatures by party:
Democratic Unionist Party: 2
Labour: 1
Conservative: 1
3rd March 2015
Gerry Sutcliffe signed this EDM on Tuesday 3rd March 2015

REPLACEMENT OF THE ASPIRE CONTRACT

Tabled by: David Wright (Labour - Telford)
That this House welcomes the publication of the Committee of Public Accounts report, HC705, Managing and replacing the Aspire Contract; notes the importance of the Aspire contract in creating a single IT system where previously numerous standalone systems that could not talk to each other had existed, and the 650 …
28 signatures
(Most recent: 25 Mar 2015)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 13
Green Party: 1
Independent: 1
View All Gerry Sutcliffe's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Gerry Sutcliffe, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Gerry Sutcliffe has not been granted any Urgent Questions

2 Adjournment Debates led by Gerry Sutcliffe

Tuesday 28th January 2014
Thursday 24th May 2012

Gerry Sutcliffe has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Gerry Sutcliffe has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 31 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
2 Other Department Questions
10th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumers of decisions by utility companies to introduce charges for receiving information and bills in paper format.

Charges for a paper bill must reflect only the additional costs actually incurred by the business concerned for providing this service. Consumers who believe they have been overcharged should consult the Citizens’ Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06 (www.adviceguide.org.uk).

In many instances, consumers could re-negotiate or find an alternative provider to obtain better value for money overall. Especially for financially or otherwise vulnerable customers, paper bills will not always be the best choice - but any consumer can obtain information from Citizens’ Advice on how to find the best tariff for their needs.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what UK arms sales and of what value there were to (a) Libya, (b) Sudan, (c) Somalia, (d) Argentina, (e) Columbia, (f) Zimbabwe, (g) Sri Lanka, (h) Pakistan and (i) Saudi Arabia in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

We do not hold data on actual arms sales, only on export licences we have granted. They are available to view at:

https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/sdb/fox/sdb/SDBHOME.

10th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of community schools in England have made their sports facilities available to members of the public outside school hours in each of the last five years.

The Department for Education does not collect data on the number of community schools that have made their sports facilities available to members of the public outside of school hours. Schools are not required to report to the Department on how they use their sports facilities.

10th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers at local authority community schools have achieved Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation in each of the last 10 years.

The Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation is run by an independent organisation. The Department for Education does not collect information on which schools have achieved the accreditation or quality mark. Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, individual teachers and heads, as they are in the best position to make judgements about their requirements to help their pupils achieve good outcomes.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of physical education training trainee teachers received in each of the last 10 years.

The information requested is not held centrally.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pupils in England who have participated in outdoor school trips in each year since 2005.

The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of pupils’ participating in outdoor school trips.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate how much of the PE and sport premium for primary schools has been spent on external providers since that scheme began.

The Department for Education cannot provide an accurate estimate of how much of the physical education (PE) and sport premium schools have spent on external providers since funding began in 2013 because schools are not required to provide a breakdown of their spending to the Department.

Independent research has found that 67% of schools have used the premium to employ a new sports coach. 70% of schools reported making changes to staff who deliver curricular PE lessons. There has also been an increase in the number of schools employing specialist teachers from 22% to 54%.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers held the status of specialist primary school physical education teacher in each of the last two years.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have taken up the Cycle to Work scheme in each year since that scheme's establishment.

The Department does not retain data on the uptake of the Cycle to Work scheme. This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data.

Independently of Government however, the Cycle to Work Alliance have published reports containing information on take up of the scheme: http://www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk/news.html.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the beneficial effects of the additional cycling activity generated as a result of the Cycle to Work scheme.

The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the cycle to work scheme because the Department does not collect date on the uptake of the scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit. The Government would like to see an increase in the numbers of people cycling and the number of trips made by bicycle as it is an environmentally friendly and healthy way to get around. The Government actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work, and works with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the government’s sustainable transport objectives are met.

The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the Cycle to Work Scheme because the Scheme is administered by the Cycle to Work Alliance. The Alliance has published a number of research reports, based on extensive surveys of users that have focused on the sustainable transport and public health contribution of the scheme. The reports are available on their website as follows: www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the effect on public health and (b) other effects of increases in the number of people cycling as a result of the Cycle to Work scheme.

The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the cycle to work scheme because the Department does not collect date on the uptake of the scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit. The Government would like to see an increase in the numbers of people cycling and the number of trips made by bicycle as it is an environmentally friendly and healthy way to get around. The Government actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work, and works with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the government’s sustainable transport objectives are met.

The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the Cycle to Work Scheme because the Scheme is administered by the Cycle to Work Alliance. The Alliance has published a number of research reports, based on extensive surveys of users that have focused on the sustainable transport and public health contribution of the scheme. The reports are available on their website as follows: www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of potential loss of trade to independent high street opticians following the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's decision to award its vision testing contract to Specsavers.

In the past, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with many individual opticians on an ad-hoc basis. Although the individual cost per optician was relatively low, the aggregated spend on the service meant that the contract had to be tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union process. This is in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.

As part of the procurement process, the DVLA identified that 2,009 optical practices carried out vision testing services. The new contract means that independent practices are no longer required to carry out on average 20 assessments per year. This equates to around 10 hours of work.

29th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Meningitis B vaccine to be made available on the NHS.

The Department is continuing negotiations with the manufacturer to seek supply of the meningococcal B vaccine, Bexsero® at a cost-effective price as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Imunisation. These negotiations will be completed as quickly as practicable.

29th Jan 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made in price negotiations with the manufacturer of the meningitis B vaccine.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 January 2015 to Question 219778.

16th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any EU member state has objected to the European Commission about the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Product Regulations, as notified by the Government to the Commission on 29 August 2014; and if he will make a statement.

The following Member States provided detailed opinions; Romania, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain. Ireland provided a comment.

Further information about member states respondes can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tris/en/search/?trisaction=search.detail&year=2014&num=427

16th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he, Ministers or officials of his Department have had with the European Commission on the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Product Regulations, as notified by the Government to the Commission on 29 August 2014.

As the Government continues to consider carefully all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products, the Department currently has no plans to place this information into the Library.

16th Dec 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between him, Ministers of his Department, officials of his Department and the European Commission on the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations, as notified by the UK Government to the Commission on 29 August 2014.

As the Government continues to consider carefully all issues relevant to the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products, the Department currently has no plans to place this information into the Library.

10th Feb 2015
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which occasions his Department has received representations on the introduction of special tax arrangements to support a major sporting event since May 2010.

The Government receives representations on a wide range of issues. Providing tax exemptions are often a requirement of the bidding process.

10th Feb 2015
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumer indebtedness of decisions by banks to (a) charge consumers to receive information about their accounts online and (b) encourage consumers to receive information online.

The Government takes the firm view that consumers must be able to easily access clear and transparent information about their accounts. The major current account providers have previously committed to make fees and charges clearer on customers’ monthly statements, and provide an annual statement of charges for each customer.

The Government is continuing to drive forward a wide-reaching and ambitious programme of reforms to make the banking sector more competitive, including enabling innovation in the use of bank data so that customers are able to use online information more effectively. This includes initiatives like the Midata current account tool, which will help customers switch to the best current account for them.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently reviewing cost-cutting initiatives that affect a significant number of customers, including the withdrawal of paper statements.

4th Feb 2015
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times his Department has introduced special tax arrangements to support a major sporting event since May 2010.

The Government has supported a wide range of sporting events held in the UK, including by providing specific tax exemptions for overseas sportspersons competing in the following events:

  • Champions League final (2011)

  • Olympic & Paralympic games (2012)

  • London Anniversary Games (2013)

  • Champions League final (2013)

  • Glasgow Commonwealth Games (2014)

  • Glasgow Athletics Grand Prix (2014)

4th Feb 2015
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax and National Insurance incentives there are for employers who participate in programmes and initiatives related to the physical wellbeing of their employees.

There are a number of reliefs within the tax and National Insurance system for employers who support the physical wellbeing of their employees. For example, a number of benefits in kind that are related to health and wellbeing are exempted from employer National Insurance; these include eye tests, health screening, and medical check-ups.

At Autumn Statement 2013, this government also announced the introduction of a new income tax and National Insurance contributions exemption for employer funding of recommended medical treatments.

12th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what terms and conditions the contract of the Chief of Defence Materiel has been extended.

I am pleased to confirm that the Chief of Defence Materiel’s contract has been extended for a further year on the existing terms and conditions. He will therefore have served a total of five years in post, in line with existing guidelines for senior civil servants of his rank.

As a member of the Defence Board, details of Mr Gray’s salary and bonus payments are published annually in the Department’s accounts.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will meet the Parliamentary Friends of Colombia to discuss the training provided to the Colombian armed forces by British military personnel.

The UK has an on-going programme of counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia.

With regard to your first question I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 210574, if he will place in the Library details of training provided to Colombian armed forces by the British military.

The UK has an on-going programme of counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia.

With regard to your first question I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

4th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 210574, what assessment his Department has undertaken to ensure that the Colombian army units receiving British military training have not committed and will not commit human rights abuses against Colombian civilians.

Ministry of Defence (MOD) has clear guidelines in place to ensure that Colombian army units receiving British military training have not and will not commit human rights abuses against civilians. This includes carrying out Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessments where applicable and liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure MOD's activity is in line with our international obligations. In addition we make regular representations to the Colombian government on human rights, reflecting the UK's deep commitment in this area. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and the Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg) both raised human rights with President Santos during their separate visits to Colombia in February 2014. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) also raised human rights with the Colombian government when he visited in June 2014. In all meetings the President's commitment to zero tolerance of human rights abuses was welcomed while also underlining the importance of taking action on threats to human rights defenders and trade unionists.

14th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British personnel have been deployed to Colombia to participate in training assistance in the last six months.

The Ministry of Defence has an ongoing programme of military support to Colombia in the area of counter-narcotics; however we do not release any detailed information as it would undermine operational effectiveness and would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

10th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of front-of-house staff within the Courts Service to assist with the completion of official documents.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administrative staff provide help to courts and tribunals users directly at court buildings and hearing centres. Help is also provided by staff at call centres and through guidance provided on-line. While HMCTS staff cannot provide any legal advice, they are able to provide general help on procedure, including, where appropriate, guidance on the completion of court documents. Depending on the circumstances staff will also signpost users to appropriate advice agencies for this purpose. Through its budgeting and workforce planning processes HMCTS endeavours to ensure all activities are resourced to meet the demands of the service.

Where a party appears unrepresented in the Magistrates’ Court, the Legal Adviser has a general duty to assist and this includes providing assistance with the completion of court forms.

10th Feb 2015
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to simplify the form EX160 for application for fee remission.

In July 2014 HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) launched a revised fee remission application form and guidance which removed some requirements based on user feedback.

HMCTS is now developing further reforms to the fee remission process which significantly simplifies the application form and guidance, removing the need for applicants to provide supporting documents in most cases. HMCTS expects these reforms to be in place for users by September 2015.