Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

This is a classic socialist point of view—that we should not have done anything to get PPE in urgently and, to go to the hon. Lady’s earlier question, that we should have just sat comfortably upon our hands and allowed PPE not to be provided around the country. The Government got on with doing the job that was necessary, and of course they ensure value for money. Let anyone who has overcharged us be in no doubt: we are after them.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

3. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the planned closure of her Department’s offices.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mrs Heather Wheeler)]

The Department for Work and Pensions locations plan is in line with the wider Government Places for Growth programme. That programme aims to deliver a more geographically diverse civil and public service that will better serve the public. The recent announcements will support the DWP’s delivery of a strategy that will, over the next 10 years, reshape how, where and when it delivers services. These closures are not part of a plan to reduce headcount.

[Jeff Smith]

The moving of 411 jobs from Chorlton in my constituency will have a serious impact on the district centre and the shops and services that they help sustain; undoubtedly, the same will apply to the other 40 offices in towns and suburbs across the country. How do those office closures contribute to the Government’s stated aim of spreading civil service jobs around the country and, indeed, to levelling up?

[Mrs Wheeler]

People are being asked to move either three miles or eight miles away. They are having one-to-one bespoke meetings asking them how they would like to carry on working. As I say, all 411 jobs will be staying in the civil service because such important back-office jobs are needed. People are being asked to find where the best place is for them to work. If they want to carry on working in other civil service jobs in the area, they can transfer.

Sue Gray Report

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No, we are going to get on with the job.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister was wrong in something he said earlier: the Sue Gray update can be both damning and incomplete. Most of us can only guess how much more damning the full report will be. His colleagues should worry about that. I think he knows how bad it is going to be, because he knows what has gone on. Is that not the real reason why he will not commit to publishing the report in full when the police have completed their investigation?

[The Prime Minister]

No. The hon. Gentleman is totally prejudging the whole thing. He needs to contain himself and wait for the police to complete their inquiries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

The net zero strategy has committed to provide a public update every year from 2022 on progress against the delivery pathway to net zero set out in the strategy, and this will include an update on progress against the targets and ambitions that have been set out.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

T3. A third of people globally do not have access to a waste management service, and 90% of waste in lower-income countries ends up being either dumped or burned and causing emissions. Can the President confirm that waste management will feature on the agenda at COP26, and what plans are there to allocate climate finance for this problem?

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

The Government are clear that there is absolutely no place for inequalities or racism in our society. If anyone experiences that in the NHS’s support or approach, that is obviously something that we are deeply concerned about. The Minister for Women and Equalities has been consulting with senior midwives and clinicians from ethnic minorities to discuss how we can improve the experience for all. Discussing targets and so on will be part of that ongoing process, and I am sure that they will look forward to meeting my right hon. Friend to discuss the matter further as we work towards improving the system for all.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

3. What assessment the Government has made of the impact of the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan on women and girls in that country.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

11. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting women in Afghanistan.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Wendy Morton)]

All those at risk of persecution in Afghanistan, including religious and ethnic minorities, are eligible to apply to the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, which will welcome up to a total of 20,000 vulnerable Afghans to the UK over a five-year period. The impact of the crisis in Afghanistan on women and girls and on other vulnerable groups, including religious and ethnic minorities and LGBT+ people, is of deep concern and has been discussed frequently by the Cabinet. The Taliban must respect the rights of all minority groups, both now and in the future, and we will hold them to account for their actions.

[Jeff Smith]

I agree with the Minister on that. It has been a depressing week in Afghanistan, with primary school students returning to gender-segregated classes, older girls excluded altogether, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs closed down and female employees told not to return to work. How, specifically, can we use our leverage, particularly our financial and economic leverage, to hold the Taliban to account for their promises?

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch)]

The former LGBT advisory panel’s tenure ended on 31 March 2021. I am grateful to its members for the important insights that they have provided on important policy areas such as ending conversion therapy and the impact of covid on LGBT people. The Prime Minister has appointed Lord Herbert as special envoy for LGBT rights. That role will have an international and domestic focus, and I am confident that we will be able to work with our international partners on this issue. We believe that the current provisions in the Gender Recognition Act 2004 Act allow for those who wish legally to change their genders to do so, so that it is safe to be them and they have the right to be themselves. We have therefore decided, as we have said before to my hon. Friend, that the Act will not be changed.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab) [V]]

My constituent Julia was breastfeeding her child in a park when a stranger started taking long-lens photos of her. She and I were shocked that there was nothing that could be done about this unwelcome intrusion. Does the Minister think this is an acceptable situation and, if not, will she support action to prevent this kind of voyeurism?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Victoria Atkins)]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this very important topic. This is totally unacceptable behaviour and I hope he will welcome the Government’s forthcoming violence against women and girls strategy, which we will be publishing later this year, drawing in the views of more than 180,000 members of the public to help shape our policies for the coming decade. This is unacceptable and we will deal with it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

What steps he is taking to support businesses subject to non-tariff barriers to trade with the EU.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

What steps he is taking to support businesses subject to non-tariff barriers to trade with the EU.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)]

What recent progress he has made on securing frictionless access for UK goods to the EU; and if he will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that offer. I am always happy to meet businesses. My noble Friend Lord Frost and I are looking at ways that we can gather information more swiftly and in real time from businesses that are facing difficulties. I would be very happy to follow up with the hon. Gentleman after this session.

[Jeff Smith]

Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton tells me that

“the notion that no tariffs means no problem is not the case at all. We still have to deal with agent fees, phytosanitary certificates and organic certificates. The admin fees are the same whether it’s a box of broccoli or a pallet of broccoli.”

These barriers are going to cost Unicorn £170,000 a year. What are the Government going to do to reduce the administrative burden, or support the small businesses that are disproportionately affected?

[Penny Mordaunt]

We have already provided financial support to compensate sectors that are suffering particular issues. We have also put in place a framework whereby we are able to work through these problems. While we do that, we are obviously looking at what we can do to mitigate and reduce prospective burdens that other businesses might be facing, such as stretching out the timetable by which people would have to comply with other rules and regulations. Again, I would be very happy to look at any specific cases, and that offer is to all Members.

Covid-19 Update

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As I say, it has been one of the few consolations of this pandemic to see the way the country has come together to fight it, particularly to see the way that great national institutions—great UK institutions—such as the British Army have been absolutely indispensable in Wales, in Scotland and around the whole of the UK in fighting this pandemic. I know that it is appreciated across the whole of the UK.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab) [V]]

In Greater Manchester, there are 20,000 pupils out of schools and with no decent access to online learning. Can the Prime Minister assure me that the £300 million that he has just announced in catch-up and tutoring money will be targeted at areas like Greater Manchester, where pupils have suffered disproportionately because of deprivation and because of high rates of infections that cause multiple periods of isolation, keeping them off school?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes, indeed. The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the problem of differential learning. Unquestionably, some kids, and some families, in some parts of the country have suffered more of a break in their education than others; there is absolutely no doubt about it. That is why we are going to focus so much on the catch-up funds that I have identified. Of course, Greater Manchester will be targeted for all the measures that we have outlined this morning and more to come.

Covid-19

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend will have studied the JCVI’s list of priority groups, and my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary will be setting out a programme for rolling those vaccines out beyond the first four that I have already described.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab) [V]]

My constituent Ross has had no work since the first lockdown and is one of the people who have fallen through the gaps in the self-employed support scheme. His only income now is £598 per month universal credit. His rent, council tax and bills are £590 a month, so he is living on £8 a month. Could the Prime Minister live on £8 a month? If not, will he ask the Chancellor to look again at how he can help the people excluded by the self-employed support scheme?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that this has been raised many times already today by Members from across the House, but I must repeat what I have said: £13.7 billion has gone to support the self-employed already. I have no doubt that further measures will be forthcoming, but the overall package of support is £260 billion across the whole of the country.

EU Withdrawal Agreement

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

In the withdrawal agreement that we concluded before the last election and which this House voted on—not every Member, of course, supported it, but a majority did—we made it clear that within the Northern Ireland protocol there would be a limited portion of the acquis relating to goods in the single market that would apply in Northern Ireland. It was the aim of this House and the aim of this Government to ensure that we could reach a satisfactory arrangement on the protocol in line with the principles that we laid out in the Command Paper, and that is what we have done. That upholds the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom and the ability of every citizen of the UK to benefit from all the opportunities that Brexit provides.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

Will the Minister comment on the UK Government’s commitment to the Peace Plus programme, which, as he will know, has played such an important role in underpinning peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland?

[Michael Gove]

We are totally committed, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will be saying more about that in the coming days.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab) [V]]

On Monday, the Prime Minister was asked why people in Greater Manchester were offered less support under tier 3 than is available under the new restrictions, and he said that these were different measures, and so required different support packages, but if your work- place is closed under tier 3 restrictions, you lose your income just as surely as you do if your workplace is closed under the new national lockdown. So why should people receive less help from the Government if we go back into tier 3 after 2 December?

[The Prime Minister]

They are not going to. The furlough scheme, as the hon. Gentleman knows, was extended until the end of October. We are putting in measures now to support people across the whole UK throughout this period until 2 December, and that is the right thing to do. We are putting our arms round the people of this country to get them through the pandemic and beyond.