Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

The right hon. Gentleman, as a former Minister in the Department, knows all too well that he and others were cautioned about how they should be using data. When we look at the raw numbers, we see that under the last Conservative Government, reading standards were going down, as were standards in maths and science. One in four children did not reach the required standard at the end of primary school, and one in five young people was persistently absent from our schools. We will drive high and rising standards right across academic subjects, but we will also ensure that all our children and young people have a range of opportunities in music, sport, art and drama, not just those with parents who can afford it.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

T2. As the new school year begins, far too many students in my constituency have not yet been able to secure a school place of their choice. Does my hon. Friend agree that the schools allocation policy needs a desperate overhaul? Many people believe that it is not fit for purpose. Could she tell the House what steps the Government are taking to address this extremely important issue?

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

We recognise the challenges that my hon. Friend raises, which is why the Government will introduce changes, so that state-funded schools can be asked to co-operate with local authorities on admissions and place planning. Local authorities have a responsibility to allocate all applicants a school place on national offer day. If children in his area are still without places, I would be happy to meet him, and to support him in resolving those issues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I will certainly do that. I am delighted that unemployment is so low in my hon. Friend’s constituency. The latest figures show that the UK’s employment rate has seen the largest rise of any G7 country over the past year. Today, there are nearly 1 million fewer people on the main out-of-work benefits and nearly 2 million more people in work in our country. More young people have got into work in the UK over the past year than in the rest of the European Union put together. Those are the benefits of having a long-term economic plan, sticking to a long-term economic plan and ignoring the hopeless advice from the Labour party.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

Q8. Despite the Prime Minister’s fine words and rhetoric, his Government’s cost of living crisis has hammered many families in the north-east. Tens of thousands of public sector jobs have been butchered; we have the highest unemployment level in the UK; we have weekly earnings £71 less than the national average; and our life expectancy is 10 years less than anywhere else in the country. Is it not time that the Prime Minister showed some guts and apologised to the people of the north-east?

[The Prime Minister]

Let us look at what has happened in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. The claimant count has fallen in the last year by 28%, or more than a quarter, and in the last year alone—not over the whole Government—the youth claimant count has fallen by 32%. I thought this was the party that said how important it was to get young people off the dole and into work. That is what the Government have done. Unemployment has fallen in every region of the UK. In the north-east, it has fallen by 21,000 over the last year. That is what is happening. We are creating jobs, generating growth and taking the poorest people out of tax altogether—3 million nationwide. [Interruption.] Labour Members say, “Calm down”. I cannot calm down when I see the success that our long-term economic plan is generating. We have 50 days to make sure that the people who delivered this plan can go on delivering it, instead of the people who would wreck it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

3. What her Department’s role is in the relief effort for people affected by the situation in Gaza.

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

5. What her Department’s role is in the relief effort for people affected by the situation in Gaza.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Swayne]

The hon. Lady is quite right. From our rapid reaction facility, we have specifically earmarked funds for the assistance of children. With respect to encouraging others to step up to the plate as we have done, there will undoubtedly be a donors’ conference soon, but that will be immeasurably assisted by a meaningful peace process.

[Ian Lavery]

The conflict in Gaza has displaced almost 1.8 million people—one quarter of the inhabitants of Gaza—and they are of all ages. Will the Minister say what his Department is doing to provide relief for the mainly disabled and elderly people in Gaza who have been displaced?

[Mr Swayne]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. Some 58,000 people are currently sheltering in UN relief agency schools, and 100,000 people have no home to return to. Clearly, there must be a rebuilding effort, but that will require substantial movement on access into and out of Gaza, and that will require a peace process that can proceed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the issue of how we increase awareness of cancer, because that has an important effect in terms of early diagnosis. NHS England is currently running a pilot in the north-east and north Cumbria to raise awareness about oesophageal and stomach cancers, as part of its Be Clear on Cancer campaign, and we are committing more than £450 million of additional funding to support this early diagnosis. The absolute key is making sure that more people have their cancer discovered from trips to the GP and from their own inspections and self-awareness, rather than finding out these things in an emergency, often when it is too late.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

Q11. There are almost 1 million young people unemployed here in the UK. There are more than 1 million people on zero-hours contracts. In my constituency, people are £1,811 worse off since 2010. How has the Prime Minister the audacity even to suggest that his party is the worker’s party?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me just give the hon. Gentleman the figures for the north-east since the last election. There are 24,000 more people in work in the north-east since the last election. There are 40,000 more private sector jobs since the last election. Unemployment has fallen—[Interruption.] He is shouting because he does not want to hear the answers about the long-term economic plan.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mitchell]

The hon. Gentleman has set up a straw man that he knows to be untrue. We are the first Government in history who have set out very clearly precisely how we will reach the 0.7% target. As I have made very clear, the Bill inevitably has to take its place in the queue behind essential legislation for rescuing the country from the perilous economic condition inherited from the Government of whom he was a part.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

8. What his policy is on the production of biofuels in developing countries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Stephen O'Brien)]

The Government recognise the threats and opportunities for economic growth, poverty reduction and food security related to the expansion of biofuel production in developing countries, and that they are important subjects for analysis and debate.

[Ian Lavery]

Does the Minister agree that the development of biofuels, particularly in developing countries, should not be at the expense of ordinary people’s human rights, particularly with regard to water, insufficient food, health and workers’ rights? Will he outline the Government’s policy on biofuels?

[Mr O'Brien]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right to highlight the challenges and opportunities represented by biofuels, particularly in developing countries, and he ties those issues to human rights. UK biofuels policy is set by the Department for Transport, but I assure him that my Department continues constantly and rigorously to review the evidence on the impact of biofuel production in developing countries, not least in relation to land and water rights.