Energy Prices: Support for Business
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
No, that is a complete misunderstanding of what is happening. We are protecting all non-domestic users, in addition to domestic users. We are protecting businesses, individuals and charities across the country.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
Lots of SMEs in south Manchester are still worried. I make a particular plea for small and medium-sized bakeries, such as Martins and Barbakan in Chorlton in my constituency, which have been in touch with me and are really concerned. Can the Secretary of State assure us that he is in discussion with those kinds of energy intensive small businesses? Those discussions do not have to wait for three months; I hope they are going on now.
Mr Rees-Mogg
All businesses will benefit, but obviously, the more energy intensive the business, the more it will benefit from this reduction in wholesale prices. As I said, I am very open to receive representations from right hon. and hon. Members to the review that is taking place.
Shale Gas Extraction
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Mr Rees-Mogg
We have had an enormous amount of offshore wind come on, and it is a very important part of renewables. It has been a very effective way of getting very large quantities of power, and that has been the major concentration of Government policy in recent years.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
Who, specifically, will be responsible for measuring and determining local consent for fracking?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The matter will be dealt with in a governmental way, as is normally done when we seek to work out what the consents are. There are perfectly proper processes for establishing the views of local communities.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(2 years ago)
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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)
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
The House’s proceedings are determined by Standing Orders, and the facilities for virtual meetings were created by statute. This was not a decision by MHCL; it is that the temporary statute expires on 7 May. However, as I understand it, a High Court ruling is due before May on what capabilities there are, and the Government will be supporting the action by Hertfordshire County Council, Lawyers in Local Government and the Association of Democratic Services Officers as the case is heard.
Virtual proceedings have helped councils, but they are allowed to meet, because it is a legitimate business purpose. They have to take covid-secure measures, as we are taking in this House to ensure that this House operates. The Government are not unsympathetic to considering how these things operate in future, but the legislation that was temporarily introduced expires on 7 May. My hon. Friend will know that we have a Queen’s Speech coming, and we have a number of Bills going back and forth between the Lords and the Commons, so the ability to legislate between now and then is extremely limited.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab) [V]
Last week, one of my constituents visited a local park with her friend and their two young babies. They both began breastfeeding and before long saw a stranger taking photos of them with a telephoto lens. They confronted him, and the man refused to delete the photos, even when asked to do so by the park warden. They reported it to the police, who said there was nothing they could do, because it was a public place and taking photos is not illegal. It may not be illegal, but it is, as my constituent said, “disturbing and intrusive” and surely unacceptable. Could we have a statement from an appropriate Minister on how we might tackle a problem that left my constituent feeling
“violated and discouraged from breastfeeding outside the house”?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Gentleman raises a difficult issue of privacy in public spaces. It is not easy to legislate for every possible circumstance. People in public are obviously in public and it is hard to prevent from people seeing things that take place in public, but you would expect people, out of courtesy, not to photograph people doing things that are of their nature private in public.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My right hon. Friend knows the level of sympathy I have for that cause, which he has championed so effectively. He, like the Conservative party, is a fantastic supporter of motorists generally. He is a model for how we should back motorists and ensure efficient, fair and well-priced parking, which is one of the essential cogs in our local communities, and much of our local economy depends on it. Rogue private parking firms—they are not always private, it has to be said—have made drivers’ lives a misery, with improper fines, harassment, intimidation and over-zealous enforcement. I am very glad that the consultation has started, and I look forward, as my right hon. Friend does, to the implementation of the parking code of conduct, restoring fairness and accountability, and barring rogue parking firms from accessing Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency data. I hope the rogue parking firms are listening, because it is getting that DVLA data that has allowed them to make such a nuisance of themselves.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
No sector has been harder hit by the pandemic than live music, and research this week says that the UK’s live music sector faces the loss of 170,000 jobs, which is nearly two thirds of the workforce. The culture recovery fund helped to some extent, but we did not help the thousands and thousands of freelancers who make up a big part of the industry. Could we have an urgent statement on what more we can do to help our fantastic, viable—when we are through the pandemic—and world-leading music scene?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Gentleman referenced the culture recovery fund, which is important, at a total of £1.57 billion. The Arts Council has spent £160 million of taxpayers’ money on an emergency package supporting more than 10,000 organisations and individuals. In addition, £3.36 million has already been allocated to 135 grassroots music venues. Action is being taken, but I completely understand the hon. Gentleman’s point that it is particularly difficult for freelancers in this area.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
My hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. Early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children’s social and emotional development. It has been encouraging to see more nurseries and childminders opening to more children each week, and many families sending their children back to early years settings so that they can gain educational and wellbeing benefits of early education. He is also right to raise mental health, because at the heart of the NHS long-term plan is this large expansion of mental health services, which will include additional support for 345,000 children, and I entirely agree with him that this is the right way to be going. As a note, I also remind him that Education questions take place on Monday.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
On Clean Air Day, may I raise an issue that the Leader of the House may have seen reported in the media this week, which is research that finds a link between air pollution and the development of Alzheimer’s? It has been some time since we have discussed dementia in the House, and people living with dementia are some of the hardest hit during the pandemic, so can we have a debate in Government time on support for research into dementia and for people living with dementia?
Mr Rees-Mogg
I am personally extremely sympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman is saying. I had the most touching letter from a constituent who has been able to visit her father only three times during the pandemic. He is in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s, and she had to see him 6 feet 6 inches away with a screen between them. There was no ability to hold his hand or to have any personal contact, and she wrote to me saying that, therefore, her father did not even know that she was there. This is such a sadness in people’s later lives and therefore understanding it better is important. As so often, I cannot promise Government time for this, but my sympathies are very much with the hon. Gentleman’s request.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
I thank the hon. Lady for her marvellous initiative. It is important that we thank people and recognise the incredible outpouring of community spirit that there has been during a very difficult time. She is doing absolutely the right thing. It seems to me that if the Government can piggyback on the work that she has been doing, that would not be a foolish thing to do, so I will certainly bring it to the attention of other Ministers.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
Every year in England, more than 100,000 people in problem debt attempt to take their own lives. It is complex, and there are a range of factors that lead to somebody in debt becoming suicidal, but research shows that a key factor is receiving intimidating letters from lenders. That is a real concern with millions more people facing debt as a result of the crisis. Will the Leader of the House encourage the Chancellor to make a statement outlining how we make provisions for a small change to the rules contained in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 on the content of debt letters to simplify the language and signpost people to advice? I understand that could be done quite simply by statutory instrument, and it could save lives.
Mr Rees-Mogg
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point that should concern the whole House. A great deal of support is available from organisations across the country for people who are in debt that they cannot afford to repay, and the ability of debt counsellors to help debt to be rescheduled and to help to lift the burden from people is there. I agree that it would be helpful if that were more widely known. All of us, as constituency MPs, sometimes point our constituents in that direction. I understand his point about changing the wording. Letters sent out by debt collectors ought not to be threatening. That is quite clear. I understand his point, and I will pass it on to the Chancellor.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
Earlier this week, I chaired a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on mental health. We heard about a worrying rise in urgent mental health referrals and a similarly worrying reduction in routine referrals, flagging up a probable pent-up demand on mental health services. May we have a debate on how the NHS can be helped to deal with the mental health consequences of the pandemic?
Mr Rees-Mogg
This is a matter of concern to everybody across the House and has become a major priority. Mental health funding increased to £12.5 billion in 2018-19, and that will go up by £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24 to support an extra 380,000 adults and 345,000 children. There has been £9.2 million of additional funding to mental health charities during this crisis. This is an issue that the Government take really seriously, as do Members across the House.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(3 years, 10 months ago)
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Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
Last night, we saw once again unsafe bottlenecks in the corridors and behind your Chair, Mr Speaker, as Members queued to vote and then queued to leave after voting. Of course, we had a perfectly good remote voting system that had been developed and refined and was working well until the Leader of the House insisted on abandoning it. Can he tell us the cost of developing that system and the total cost of the various iterations of voting systems that have been developed in recent weeks? If he does not have the figure to hand—I would not necessarily expect him to—I am happy for him to write to me.
Mr Rees-Mogg
That is a matter for the House of Commons Commission. However, the hon. Gentleman should be proud to be back. It is wonderful that this House is back and doing its duty in getting legislation through, and that people are here and we are operating as a proper Parliament, not going for country walks while voting on serious matters affecting the lives of the British people. We should be really proud that we are back.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
The number of post office closures has declined very significantly from an earlier peak, so post offices are now surviving in a way that they were not. I accept that they are very important community hubs, but I think that the specifics relating to an individual post office are best suited to an Adjournment debate.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
There is a growing problem of unscrupulous solicitors who seek out tenants taking out housing disrepair claims against housing associations and public bodies but do not warn their clients that they will be liable for costs when they lose. A constituent of mine was landed with a £12,000 bill having taken out a no win, no fee claim. May we have a debate on how we can protect tenants like my constituent against these unscrupulous solicitors?
Mr Rees-Mogg
That is an important point. There will be questions to Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers on our first day back on 24 February. People should not be subject to unfair and unexpected fees; the fees should be set out clearly. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will raise this on the 24th.
Business of the House
Debate between Jeff Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
The Windrush scandal is a serious blot on the nation’s escutcheon. We should all be deeply concerned about the way in which it has affected individual constituents; that should never have been allowed to occur. Monday is the occasion to question the Home Office in relation to this, and I am glad that the Windrush Compensation Scheme (Expenditure) Bill will be coming forward.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
It is more than two and half years since the House debated the then new drugs strategy. Given that our drugs policy is failing the most vulnerable in our communities, may we have a debate on an update of the strategy?
Mr Rees-Mogg
The drugs strategy is a matter of enormous importance to this country, and there are issues surrounding it and its enforcement. The Government have been pursuing the county lines issue and the policing of it, and have been quite successful in bringing people to justice. That must continue, and the drugs policy must be pursued vigorously.