Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

Officials from my Department have had constructive discussions with the United States embassy, which has taken on board our points, and those discussions continue. Obviously the US will continue to want to implement its regulations, but it has heard the hon. Lady’s concerns via my officials and we are continuing a constructive dialogue with the US.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T4. I very much welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement of local television and the greater media diversity that it will bring and note with interest the impressive list of cities involved. Crawley finds itself on the cusp of two television regions, so may I put in a bid for it to be considered as a future centre for local television?

[Mr Hunt]

I am sure that Crawley would be an excellent place for a local television station and that my hon. Friend would make a very good contribution to it when it happens. Our plans for superfast broadband, which we talked about earlier, mean that it will be possible to launch a local television station in Crawley with no transmission costs by the end of this Parliament, so I hope that he encourages local media groups in his constituency to take advantage of it.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I commend the hon. Gentleman’s work and that of the all-party group on smoking and health, which has played an active role in campaigning and was very influential in the last Parliament in making progress on the ban on smoking in public places. I cannot promise Government support for his ten-minute rule Bill—he will have to come along tomorrow and see what happens—and I see some difficulties in trying to enforce a ban on all smoking in cars. That might have to wait until public opinion has moved on.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

May we have a debate on the equity of child benefit payments, particularly when parents are separated but still have joint child care responsibilities?

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises a serious issue. Sadly, more and more families are splitting up and there is an issue about whether the child benefit should go to one parent or another. I think I am right to say that at the moment it cannot be split. That is also the case with other child-related benefits. I will raise the question with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has responsibility for it, and see whether there is any way of coming to an arrangement whereby those benefits or tax credits are apportioned in a fair way to reflect the responsibilities that underpin them.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I join my hon. Friend in welcoming that initiative. I am glad the Government are taking it forward. It is the second scheme in this country sponsored by I-Foundation. It will be a free school, but like all schools that have a broad, balanced curriculum, it will build its ethos on the faith values of integrity, respect, courage, empathy, self-restraint and humility. I wish the school and its promoters every good fortune in the future.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Recently a constituent came to me concerned that in the space of five days she had received seven separate letters, almost identical, from the Child Support Agency, each envelope containing an identical large booklet. Can we find time for a debate on the efficiency of the Child Support Agency?

[Sir George Young]

I think we all know from our advice bureaux that the current child maintenance system is not working properly. We have in mind a major child-centred reform promoting, where possible, agreement between the parents on the financial regime. I very much hope that once this new maintenance system is up and running, my hon. Friend will have fewer problems such as the one he has just described.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind the House that we are very pressed for time and I am not likely to be able to call many more Members, so there is a premium on brevity if we are to maximise the number of contributors.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I have recently been dealing with a case on behalf of two constituents who were dismissed from their jobs with a commercial cleaning firm called Jani-King, allegedly for being British. May we have a debate on discrimination against British workers in this country?

[Sir George Young]

If anything illegal has taken place, I hope the appropriate authorities will be notified. I shall share my hon. Friend’s concern with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and see whether anything irregular has taken place.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Of course it is. That is why the Government have tabled an amendment to the Bill that will be debated on Monday.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

You will be aware, Mr Speaker, that this year the Royal Mint is striking a commemorative coin to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, yet, unlike many other commemorative coins, it will not be available in general circulation. Obviously there are many different and varied religious faiths, but the Bible’s publication represents a significant point in the history of the English-speaking world. Can representations be made from the Government to the Royal Mint?

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern. I will raise this with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whom I suspect has overall responsibility for it, and ask him to write to my hon. Friend with a response to his representations about making the coin legal tender.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand that the debate was replied to by a Minister from that Department who has responsibilities for housing, and I am sure that he discharged his responsibilities adequately. The hon. Lady mentioned doctoring the record; it is not, so far as I am aware, possible to doctor the record. The Hansard Reporters report faithfully that which is said.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Can consideration be given to a debate on the future of animal experimentation, particularly in light of the latest statistics, which show that in 2010 the number of experiments increased by 3%?

[Sir George Young]

There will be an opportunity to ask Ministers in the Home Office questions about the number of experiments. I simply add that the experiments are often necessary. If medicines that have life-saving properties are to be brought on to the market, they need to be adequately tested to ensure that they are safe. We must get the right balance and use animals only where there is no alternative.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern about the prospective loss of jobs in his constituency and elsewhere. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will want to do all that his Department can, either to protect those jobs in the way that the hon. Gentleman has just outlined, or to assist in every practical way those who may lose their jobs.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Can consideration be given to holding a debate on the way BT treats its elderly and vulnerable customers? I have recently dealt with a case in which a widow in her 70s was without a domestic telephone service for a month, despite many efforts to resolve the problem.

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry to hear about the inconvenience caused by BT’s failure to restore the service to my hon. Friend’s constituent. I will raise the issue with BT. Speaking as a constituency MP, I can only say that I have found the liaison officer, Clova Fyfe, to have been enormously helpful in addressing such issues when they have arisen in North West Hampshire.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Next Tuesday is a sitting day, and it seems an appropriate day on which to make a statement. I hope that the hon. Lady is not implying that I misled the House in any way in last week’s business statement, when I announced the business that I knew was forthcoming, as I have done this week. In response to an earlier question from the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), I indicated that before the Easter recess the Government would make a statement on the child poverty strategy and deal with the legal situation that she raised with me.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Can consideration be given to a debate on the criteria that mortgage lenders use to approve loans, particularly with respect to those who carry out community work? I have an example in my constituency of a foster carer whose legitimate income from community work is being denied by a major UK mortgage provider. I would very much welcome consideration of that.

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry to hear of the problems that confront my hon. Friend’s constituent. This might be an appropriate subject for an Adjournment debate, or he might like to raise it with Treasury Ministers to see whether they could pursue it with the mortgage lender to which he referred.

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The hon. Gentleman takes me back 15 years to the time when I was Transport Secretary and had the answers to such questions. As he recognises, the question is a matter for the Secretary of State for Transport, to whom I will pass on his concern.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Will consideration be given to having a debate on the future of the gift aid tax initiative, with a view to having an opt-out rather than an opt-in to aid greater charitable donations?

Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I want to speak up for the minority whose names begin with letters between S and Z. Having a name beginning with Y has been a serious disadvantage in every election I have fought, and a small compensation for that is going through the voting Lobby slightly faster than my hon. Friend. It is an advantage that I am reluctant to forgo.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I, too, feel that with a passion.

Recently, the Public Accounts Committee highlighted that over the past nine years approximately £1 billion of waste was incurred by the Highways Agency on upgrading the M25. At a time of public sector constraint in budgets, and when we need greater infrastructure investment, may we have a debate on the auditing of that important agency?

[Sir George Young]

There will be opportunities to debate PAC reports. We welcome the report to which my hon. Friend refers, which was published on 8 February, on the mishandled M25 project. We are determined to get value for money for taxpayers and want to learn the lessons of the report and act on its recommendations.