Eurotunnel: Payment

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Monday 4th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

If the hon. Lady really, really believes what she just said, it is incumbent on her to vote for the deal.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

The Health Secretary really is taking one for the team in this urgent transport question. Incidentally, where is the Transport Secretary?

[Matt Hancock]

The Transport Secretary is working hard on making sure that we can improve the transport system.

Cambridge Analytica: Data Privacy

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

European Union laws allow for opt-in or opt-out. The Bill is about strengthening people’s consent. To say that names will be taken forward as part of a legal action without their consent unless they opt out is against the spirit of the rest of the Bill. Having said that, we have listened to the debate in the other place and here, and we have said that within 20 months of the Bill coming into force we will review how the opt-in system is working, because we want this to be based on the evidence.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

The chairman of the Electoral Commission, Sir John Holmes, openly warned at the end of last year that a perfect storm is putting our democratic processes in peril. He called for urgent steps to deliver transparency around political advertising. Will the Secretary of State now answer that call as a priority?

[Matt Hancock]

The question raised by the Electoral Commission is a priority that we are considering, and we will have answers in due course.

Sky/Fox Update

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 23rd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. As my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) alluded to, the report does describe the market shares of the different broadcasters, including, of course, the BBC, which is the biggest. We are fully committed to ensuring a sustainable future for high-quality journalism. That is a policy question, and it is also a question of legislation that we will no doubt debate when the Data Protection Bill comes before the House, but it is separate from this decision, which is to be taken specifically within the rules and the law as it stands.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

Five years after the phone hacking scandal broke, some civil cases regarding alleged criminality in the Murdoch empire are still ongoing. There will be victims who were very disappointed with the Secretary of State’s response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband). The commencement of Leveson part 2 would be in the public interest, because it would finally reveal the full scale of hacking and the relationship between the press and the police. When will the Secretary of State follow the CMA’s lead and act to protect the public interest by commencing Leveson part 2?

[Matt Hancock]

These two questions are separate. We have a consultation on the Leveson issues. In policy terms, I really care about making sure that we have a sustainable future for high-quality journalism, but that is separate from this quasi-judicial decision, which has to be done within the existing law, and that is how I will take it.

BBC Pay

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

My hon. Friend brings up reasonable comparisons. I compared the pay of foreign ambassadors with that of BBC editors. All these jobs are in public service, and when one is in the service of the public, restraint is necessary.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

May I take the Secretary of State back to the role and capacity of the Equality and Human Rights Commission? Not only has its funding just been cut, but it is running short of board members because a number of experienced candidates who have been on the board have been vetoed for reappointment as a result of Cabinet Office decisions. What is he doing to talk to his colleagues in the Cabinet Office to ensure that people such as Sarah Veale, former head of equalities at the TUC, are not vetoed for appointment, so we can have expertise such as hers on the board?

[Matt Hancock]

As I said before, it is a question of judgment. I think the EHRC made the right judgment in announcing this morning that it is going to investigate the matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Thursday 16th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

We have been putting a lot of work into trying to ensure that we get a faster roll-out in Northern Ireland, and I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to talk about the details. The passing of the Northern Ireland Budget Bill this week will help to deliver that, and it will help to ensure that we have the structures in place. I am determined to make sure that Northern Ireland continues to get connected.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

6. What recent discussions she has had with S4C on its future funding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Stevens and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. As we said last week, we will not introduce fees because we think that it is important for people to use freedom of information to find out what is going on inside public bodies, including local authorities and more broadly, to ensure, rightly, that taxpayers’ money is spent better because the people who are spending it are held to account.

[Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab)]

12. The Minister has just talked about extending the Act to cover private providers doing public service contracts, and he mentioned small businesses. Clearsprings runs a Home Office contract in my constituency relating to asylum seekers’ accommodation, but it is failing the taxpayer and the thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers living in its accommodation, safe from the scrutiny of the Act. Will he confirm that the Act will be extended to cover large companies such as Clearsprings?

[Matthew Hancock]

I cannot give the hon. Lady that assurance, not least because, having considered this question and listened to representations from both sides of the argument, the commission did not make a formal recommendation on this matter. I can tell her, however, that FOI can be used to scrutinise those who set up the contracts that businesses, large and small, supply into.