Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I look forward to my hon. Friend’s contribution to the Budget debate. He makes a good point. The bank levy is a permanent levy that will produce in one year more than the one-off net amount raised in tax by the Labour party, which has been overspent many times and will pay for the reduction in VAT, the cancellation of the increase in petrol duty, and a number of other reforms. I hope that we shall be able to have an open debate on how the Opposition’s mathematics add up.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

On Tuesday we heard a welcome statement from the Secretary of State for International Development about his tough value-for-money review of international aid spending. May we have a debate in Government time on the transparency of international aid? Letters in my mailbag certainly suggest that people are still concerned about the fact that international aid money is being used to fund, for example, the limousines of dictators.

[Sir George Young]

The Select Committee on International Development might wish to consider the well-received statement of which my hon. Friend has reminded the House, and, in particular, the arrangements that we are making for transparency. What we have outlined, however, is a more focused and effective regime that will not only provide better value for the taxpayer but enhance confidence by being much more transparent and open about where the money goes, so that people can see that they are receiving value for money for the contributions that are made.

Oral Answers to Questions

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

If the hon. Gentleman had been listening to my earlier response, he would have heard me say that I have the statement here and am happy to deliver it at any time, but Mr Speaker has generously given me a slot at 3 o’clock, when I will address all the issues that he and other hon. Members wish to raise.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

T5. May I add my congratulations to everyone involved in the success of “The King’s Speech”? It has also been a major commercial success, and it was funded partly by lottery funding. Can the Secretary of State give us an idea of how much revenue that will bring in to the UK taxpayer?

[Mr Hunt]

As I understand it, the commercial deal around “The King’s Speech”, which could gross up to £200 million worldwide, means that 34% of the money that it may generate that came from financiers will come back to the UK to invest in future film production, which is an excellent thing.

Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I draw your attention, Mr Speaker, to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a board member of the Social Investment Business. May we have a debate in Government time on yesterday’s fantastic news about £200 million of private sector money going into the big society bank? I am sure that all Members would welcome that and want to attend, particularly the Leader of the Opposition, who tried to get that going in 2007 when he was in the Cabinet Office?

[Sir George Young]

I agree that such a debate would be well supported. My hon. Friend underlines the point that we managed to secure that from the banks, which Opposition Members totally failed to do when in government. The £200 million—a huge sum—will be put to fantastic use by those who believe in the big society.

Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I believe that the replacement of the RDAs by local economic partnerships will save money and be more effective. I will ask my hon. Friend to write to the hon. Gentleman about the £100 million.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I note that the outrageous filibustering tactics of Labour Lords in the other place have still not been brought under control by the Leader of the Opposition. Will the Leader of the House please let us know when we might have a chance to debate the amendments to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before the Leader of the House replies, I wish to say that I recognise that there are real tensions between the two Chambers on this matter, but I remind the House—and this may be of particular benefit to new Members—that we must preserve some basic courtesies in the way in which we deal with the other place, as we expect them to do with us.

Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Foreign Secretary made a statement on Tunisia earlier this week, so it is not the case that the Government do not take that matter seriously. I understand that the vast majority of British nationals have now left Tunisia in line with the advice. The Foreign Secretary has called for a rapid return to law and order in that country. We welcome the efforts of the Tunisian authorities to hold elections as soon as possible, and we hope that those elections are free and fair. I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s view that this House does not place adequate importance on foreign affairs, but it is of course open to the Backbench Business Committee, and indeed to him, to make a bid for specific subjects that it is thought deserve greater attention.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

Will the Leader of the House ensure that the debate on parliamentary reform in Westminster Hall is broad enough to cover the outrageous filibustering tactics of Labour Lords this week in the other place, which does not benefit from the tender ministrations of our Speaker?

[Sir George Young]

As I understand it, the debate is on parliamentary reform—it does not come much broader than that. I share my hon. Friend’s concern about what is happening down the other end. When I came into this House some time ago, all the rough trade was down here, and down the other end there were non-partisan, short, focused debates in a revising Chamber. The rough trade now seems to have gone down the other end. The other place runs the risk of losing the moral high tone if its Members continue to proceed as they are.

Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I reject the assertion that any promises made by Ministers have been broken, but I shall draw the right hon. Gentleman’s assertions to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary and invite him to rebut them in a letter as quickly as possible.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

May we have a debate in Government time on black holes? My constituents were extremely alarmed to hear in the media during the recess about almost £20 billion of unfunded tax cuts promised by the Leader of the Opposition.

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome such a debate. I do not know whether my hon. Friend has looked at The Times or The Guardian today, but apparently at a meeting of the shadow Cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition at last recognised that they had been in deficit denial and they decided to abandon such a policy. I hope that we can have a debate on the black hole and welcome the fact that the Labour party, which was responsible for the black hole, now recognises that. Labour will have no credibility at all until it comes up with some proposals for dealing with it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Monday 25th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

5. What recent progress has been made on the roll out of broadband to rural areas.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

10. What plans he has to roll out next generation broadband to rural areas.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

11. What progress he has made on his plans to roll out next generation broadband.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Superfast broadband in rural areas offers huge opportunities for things such as telemedicine, home education and working from home. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts estimates that when this is done, it will have created about 600,000 jobs. The difference between Government and Opposition Members is that when Labour were in government they had secured £200 million for broadband roll-out, whereas we have secured £830 million. I think the public know who is doing better.

[Harriett Baldwin]

The villages of Ripple, Shrawley and Aston Somerville have all been in touch with me recently about the problem of very slow broadband speeds. Is there anything I can say to my constituents now about what can be done to speed things up?

[Mr Hunt]

What my hon. Friend can say is that this Government have committed to this country having the best superfast broadband network in Europe. Labour Members promised 2 megabit access for the whole country, so they wanted us to be in the economic slow lane, whereas we want to be in the superfast lane.

Business of the House

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I believe that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor said in the CSR statement that there would be a steady cash settlement for the Sure Start programme, and that there would not be any cash reductions.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

Mr Speaker, you were kind enough to grant me a debate in Westminster Hall yesterday on the regulation of independent financial advisers, which was extremely well attended by colleagues and generated an enormous amount of interest nationally. Will the Leader of the House consider holding a debate on the important topic of the regulation of the Financial Services Authority, and its performance against statutory objectives?

[Sir George Young]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her well-attended debate yesterday. The Government will be introducing legislation to reform the FSA, as she knows, and that will provide the House with an opportunity to debate the issues she has touched on.

Information for Backbenchers on Statements

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hollobone]

My right hon. Friend is spot on. It is called spin. We in the House of Commons should be trying to un-spin things and ensuring that when statements are made to the House and new policy initiatives announced, we have the opportunity to fire in those questions. Actually, however, many of our constituents are beginning to say, “What is the point of having Members of Parliament, if you can read all about it in tomorrow’s newspapers?” The journalists are getting better access to Ministers about lots of policy announcements than we are in the House.

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

I would like to make some observations as a new Back-Bench Member on the 24-hour media cycle. One of the things that strikes me is that, because the House does not sit on some days until 2.30 pm, the news media have ample opportunity to coax information out of Ministers that might be better given to the House. I, for one, would like to put it on the record that I would be very willing to come in and go home much earlier for sittings and have a much more family-friendly set of hours.

[Mr Hollobone]

That is a most helpful and excellent suggestion from my hon. Friend, and I am delighted that she has had the opportunity to make it. It would appear to most people outside this place that the hours we sit are in many ways absurd and certainly not family friendly. Furthermore, in many ways they are not the best hours for us to do good business in the House, and anything that would stop journalists getting information before hon. Members would need to be welcomed.

The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) asked what comfort our Committee could offer minority parties. The invitation is open to the minority parties and every other Back Bencher: whatever party they might represent—this goes for independent Members too—they should come and tell the Committee what they would like to be discussed on the Floor of the House.