Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 21st June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to raise that concerning issue. I had the great pleasure of campaigning for the seat of Knowsley South back in 2005, and I well remember some of the housing in Knowsley that could be liable to the risk of fire if not properly protected. He will know that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises and to those areas used in common in multi-occupied residential buildings. Under that order, the responsible person must undertake, and regularly review, the fire risk assessment and put in place adequate and appropriate fire precautions.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

May we please have a debate about how councils deal with Travellers? This week, we have had an enormous invasion in Taunton, which affects my constituency because it is a joint council, at a company called Summerfield. They mucked up the park and ride in another part of the town and have now set up home in the council’s old headquarters, which is costing £11 million to refurbish. We must have a debate on this situation, which is getting worse across councils. May we have time to discuss this thorny issue?

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that there have been a number of debates on this subject and the Government have moved significantly to restrict any losses suffered by women who were born at that particular time. If he wants to raise a further debate on the subject, I encourage him to seek a Westminster Hall debate.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

As the Leader of the House is aware, Public Works Loan Board funds can be used by local councils to borrow money at a very cheap rate. Taunton Deane Borough Council is borrowing £16 million to build a brand new hotel with no operator. We must have an urgent debate on cheap borrowing and the way that Government funds are being used to prop up local government.

[Andrea Leadsom]

The Government have been very keen to help and support local areas to make decisions that are in the interests of their local communities and local residents. We will continue to do so.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady raises a truly harrowing case and I am sure that all Members send their deepest sympathy to the family of the victim. I am happy to take up the lack of response with the Ministry of Justice on her behalf if she would like to write to me.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

Following on from the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope), I have the same situation. May we have a debate in Government time on local democracy? My locals have been stamped on and ignored, and now they are being told by the Secretary of State that they will have what they get. I have total sympathy with the situation in Christchurch, so may we have a debate on local democracy before it is trodden on by this Government?

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend raises an important constituency point. He may wish to seek an Adjournment debate. I also draw his attention to the fact that Ministers from the Department will answer oral questions on 30 April—he may wish to raise the issue directly with them.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 29th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The right hon. Gentleman raises an incredibly important issue. I know there is concern about the intentions of the US Administration regarding the Iran deal. I encourage him to seek an urgent debate in Westminster Hall or a Back-Bench business debate specifically to address this issue with a Foreign Office Minister.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

Cricket is under enormous threat at the moment, because of what has happened with Australia, which is unacceptable. It is our national game, and I also want to mention the British situation. Somerset county cricket club, of which we are all very proud—I am one of the MPs representing the county—has just taken on a chairman who has been done for price fixing in his company and heavily fined. May we have a debate about our national game—in my eyes, it is our national game—which is important to all of us and is enjoyed by many thousands of people across the United Kingdom?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I certainly share my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm for the sport, and his concern about the way in which its reputation is being damaged by recent allegations. I encourage him to seek at the very least an Adjournment debate to address in particular the recent press stories of misconduct.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am incredibly sympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman says and commend him on taking this work forward. He will be aware that the Government are putting a record £1.4 billion into children and young people’s mental health, and we are committed to ensuring that 70,000 more children and young people each year will have access to high-quality NHS care and support when they need it. He raises an important and specific point about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health and I encourage him to seek a Backbench Business Committee debate or Westminster Hall debate so all hon. Members can share their views on it.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

The Government today will announce and approve the takeover of West Somerset by Taunton Deane Borough Council. It has a lamentable record of bad management and, I am afraid, crooked deals. This is no more than a shotgun wedding and would not have happened if Ministers had listened to what some of us were saying. We still need a debate in this place on local government; please may we have it?

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend will be aware that we have had a number of local government debates in recent weeks. I encourage him to seek to discuss this matter, which he has raised on many occasions, directly with Ministers.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I completely share the hon. Gentleman’s concern about childhood obesity. It really appears that we have a massively growing problem in this country. He may well want to seek an Adjournment debate, so that he can talk directly to a Minister about his own ideas.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

As we are aware, we have just approved more housing to be built in this country, and we can all say, “Yes, that’s good.” However, I could name councils—I will not do so this time—that have used private companies and estate agents to further their aims. My council, West Somerset Council, is being dragged into such a situation. May we have a debate on making sure that there is a clear understanding between developers, estate agents, planners and companies? If we do not have such an understanding, situations are going to arise that will not help any of us in our future deliberations.

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of keeping good boundaries. Ultimately, the aim is to produce more homes, so that more people can aspire to owning a home of their own. He may want to raise his specific concerns during questions to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which will happen on Monday 12 March.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 1st March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I do not know where to go with this. If the hon. Gentleman would like to write to me, I will certainly take this up with the Administration Committee. However, I would say that there have been great steps. I know from the House Commission—the hon. Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz) might also recall this—that we discussed the need to speed up the queues, for example, for people to get into this place. Some lengths have been gone to to ensure that people’s ease of access to this place is as good as it can be. On the specific point about what they were wearing, I was not aware of that, so if he wants to write to me, I will look into it.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

Last Monday, the Government approved the go-ahead for Christchurch Council to be amalgamated with other Dorset councils. There was a referendum. I am not getting that in my constituency, which wants a referendum to decide the future of its council. We are being ignored. Democracy is being ignored. Could we please have a debate in this place on the protection of democracy in local councils?

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue about local democracy. I am not aware of the specific concern that he has about his local council, but I am sure that if he wanted to take it up with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers, they would be able to address it.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

On Grenfell, the hon. Gentleman and all hon. Members on both sides of the House will know that resolving the appalling tragedy to enable people to carry on with their lives and to turn around the appalling physical and mental scars from that awful, awful night is an absolute priority for the Government, and it will remain so.

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman was able to enjoy the Brits—the best of British, which is important for someone such as himself—and I am sure MP4 will have their day.

The hon. Gentleman talks about EVEL. He will appreciate that under the devolution settlement it is important that those directly affected should be able to hold the majority on votes affecting only English or English and Welsh situations. Finally, he talks about our life outside the EU, which in my opinion is much less “Mad Max” and far more “Love Actually”.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

I am not even going to try to follow that one, Mr Speaker.

I have just received a report from Data Diligence, which my right hon. Friend will know about, because it pointed out the wrongdoings of Northamptonshire County Council. It has just sent me a report to prove that Taunton Deane Borough Council has been hiding money for years, in financial misprudence. May we please have a debate on this matter? It is important, as it shows that local government is sometimes not worthy of the trust we put in it.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has referred on this occasion to the council. May I just ask him whether he has notified the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) of his intention to raise this matter today?

[Mr Liddell-Grainger]

I wrote to my hon. Friend, in line with your guidance in your letter. I thank you very much for your guidance, which I followed to the letter.

[Mr Speaker]

This is becoming rather tiresome. I did try gently to exhort the hon. Gentleman to pursue other lines of inquiry. I have permitted this today, but my patience is not unlimited.

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I genuinely commend the hon. Gentleman for sorting out that APPG. It is such an important matter. We are seeing a spike in young people with problems that are attributed to the use of social media. We are putting a record £1.4 billion into children and young people’s mental health, and a record 1,440 children’s mental health beds are available. We are also training staff in secondary schools in mental health first aid. There is a lot more to do, but I commend him for his contribution.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

Many local government problems have been laid bare this week and, as the Leader of the House knows, I have warned week in, week out about such problems. May we therefore please have time in the Chamber for a debate on the problems within local government—not just in my area, but throughout England and Wales?

[Andrea Leadsom]

My hon. Friend will be aware that there was a debate yesterday on local government funding, and there are regular opportunities to raise matters of local government in the House. If he feels that a further debate is important, May I encourage him to seek a Backbench Business debate?

Business of the House

Ian Liddell-Grainger Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady raises an issue that is of concern right across the House. Food insecurity is a major challenge, but the Government have ensured that more people get to keep more of their hard-earned cash, raising the personal allowance so that a basic rate taxpayer is £1,000 better off and raising the national living wage to ensure that people are thousands of pounds better off than they were in 2010. It is vital that the Government do everything we can to ensure that people can afford to live well.

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

I want to bring something that affects my constituency to the attention of the Leader of the House. In Taunton Deane, about which we have just heard, the borough council has borrowed a fortune to do up its headquarters. Not only has it not signed a contract, which I think is illegal and pretty silly, but the headquarters will be valued at only half of what was borrowed. It is not a good council, so may we please have a debate on borough councils in the United Kingdom?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Did the hon. Gentleman consult his hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) in advance of asking this question? If he did, so be it, but if he did not, it is rather unseemly.

[Mr Liddell-Grainger]

I did, Mr Speaker. I sent an email.

[Mr Speaker]

Yes. I am not sure that that is very collegiate, but I will have to leave Members on the same side of the House to try to sort out such matters. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman, who is quite an experienced Member of the House, that there is a genuine unseemliness about continued references to another Member’s constituency. In the politest possible way, I exhort the hon. Gentleman, who I am sure has a fertile mind and wide range of potential political interests, to focus perhaps on other interests, rather than on those that might affect his constituency—I do not dispute that and do not have authoritative knowledge of the matter—but which most certainly affect that of his hon. Friend.