Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Lavery and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 5th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

It is very simply this: since 2010, we have become the strongest economy in Europe in film and television, life sciences and technology, and the opportunities are great with a Conservative Government.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

T3. This week, schools have failed to reopen due to the threat of collapse. Worryingly, the danger does not end there, because 95% of schools and public buildings are estimated to contain asbestos, which is described by Mesothelioma UK as a “silent killer”. Will the Chancellor stop ignoring his own Department and commit to providing the necessary funding so that our children can be prevented from being taught in crumbling, asbestos-ridden deathtraps?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Lavery and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; the answer to inflation is to tackle it, not to make it worse.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

T4. Real-terms wages are lower now than they were in 2008, which is a disgrace. The north-east has been hit harder than other regions, worst of all on child poverty. The rates of child poverty have shot up, with the result that we have 67% of children in working families living in poverty. Is the Chancellor’s deliberate, brutal policy of wage suppression working? If so, who for?

[Jeremy Hunt]

We understand the pressures that families are going through up and down the country, but we have responded with generous support this year and last of more than £3,000 for the average household. Not only that, but since 2010 the number of children in absolute poverty has fallen by 400,000.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Lavery and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 9th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

What my Back Benches are queueing up to say is, “Thank you for sorting out the problems that Labour swept under the carpet for years and years.” What did Professor Brian Jarman of Imperial College say about the Department of Health under the last Labour Government? He said that it was a “denial machine”, with all the problems in hospitals being swept under the carpet and not dealt with. What is happening under this Government? Every day, 100 more people are being treated for cancer, 2,000 more people are being seen within four hours at A&E departments and 4,400 more operations are being carried out. There are record numbers of doctors and nurses, and the NHS is safer than ever in its history. We are proud to be the party of the NHS.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

3. What estimate he has made of the number of patients who went to A&E after having been unable to make an appointment with their GP in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Lavery and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

T4. The Secretary of State has admitted this morning that under his watch the NHS and the taxpayer have been ripped off to the tune of somewhere in the region of £1.8 billion for temporary workers and £3.3 billion for agency workers. How many fully qualified NHS nurses could have been employed with that type of finance?

[Mr Hunt]

I will tell the hon. Gentleman what we have done: on my watch, there are 8,000 more nurses in our hospitals to deal with the tragedy of the legacy of poor care left behind by his party. That is what we have done. As part of that, trusts also recruited temporary staff. They have become over-dependent on them, which is why we have taken the measures we announced this morning.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ian Lavery and Jeremy Hunt

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

12. What recent meetings he has had with representatives of the private health care sector.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

In the past three months, I have had two meetings with private sector health care providers, both in China, helping them to win export orders. In the same period, I have had 20 meetings with traditional NHS providers.

[Ian Lavery]

Private health companies with strong links to the Conservative party have been awarded contracts to run NHS services worth about £1.5 billion, which surely raises serious questions about the level of influence of Conservative donors on health policy. In the interests of transparency, will the Secretary of State commit to publishing a list of private health care companies that have made donations to the Conservative party?

[Mr Hunt]

The difference between donors to the Conservative party and donors to the Labour party is that our donors do not write our policies. While we are talking about private sector health care providers, I remind the hon. Gentleman of what an unnamed shadow Cabinet Minister told The Independent last week:

“We all remember when Andy was Health Secretary and happily contracting out bits of the NHS to the private sector… You have to ask yourself what’s changed.”