Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Heidi Alexander and Steve Barclay(1 week ago)
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Heidi Alexander
It is for the new Welsh Government to confirm their own contribution to this project, so that we can get on and deliver it as quickly as possible. To my knowledge, no such confirmation has been provided to date. I am really pleased that we confirmed our contribution in the Budget yesterday, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her campaigning on this issue for her constituents. She was an excellent Welsh Secretary, and it was an absolute delight to work alongside her and start to put right the historical wrongs of under-investment in the Welsh railways.
Steve Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
May I constructively suggest a way in which the Secretary of State could help three Cabinet colleagues—the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, who is building a major reservoir in my constituency; the Housing Secretary, who has big plans within Cambridgeshire; and the Chancellor, who often talks about the Oxford-Cambridge arc? Securing a light rail link to the reservoir will shape the public response to it, but the Department for Transport currently does not seem to be involved at all with the other Departments. I do not expect her to be familiar with the scheme—it is primarily for one of her colleagues—but could she write to me setting out what her Department might do to help those other Departments deliver on their aims?
Heidi Alexander
This Government are investing considerably in improving rail services and public transport connections in Cambridgeshire. I would be happy to follow up on the detail of the right hon. Member’s proposal. I would just say that, with the East West Rail proposals linking Oxford to Cambridgeshire and the opening of the new station at Cambridge South, significant investment is going into this part of the country, but I will come back to him with the detail on his point.
NHS Winter Crisis
Debate between Heidi Alexander and Steve Barclay(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Stephen Barclay
We are in discussion with Health Education England on workforce planning and ensuring that we address concerns about retention and training, part of which is the fact that the Chancellor has lifted the 1% cap as it applies within the health service, and we are of course in active discussions with the trade unions on that point.
Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)
It has been reported to me that out of the 17 cubicles at Lewisham A&E one morning last November, five people were awaiting section with severe mental health problems. One person was there for over 72 hours, another for over 26 hours and another for over 21 hours, and all were there for over four hours. When will the Minister acknowledge that the reason why A&Es cannot cope is that the entire system—from social care and GPs through to mental health—is buckling under the enormous pressure of increasing demand, and when is the NHS going to get the funding it needs?
Stephen Barclay
I have already said that I recognise there is increasing demand, and set out many of the measures we are taking through the 111 service and other areas. The hon. Lady’s own trust has received an additional £3.2 million to address many of those pressures, and the key question is how that will be deployed by the trust to address many of the blockages in the pathways at the moment.