Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Maria Miller

Thursday 14th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The important thing for the hon. Lady to recognise is that work experience and internships are an incredibly helpful way for young people to get into employment, and evidence from the Department for Work and Pensions backs that up. The hon. Lady will know that the BFI wants to ensure that work experience is available to people from a cross-section of society, and it has advertised its internships in such as way as to ensure that happens.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

14. What steps her Department is taking to improve mobile telephone coverage across the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Maria Miller

Thursday 10th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman is right to focus on the importance of sport in the earliest years. I am sure that he will join me in applauding what the Government have done through the school games and the £1 billion youth strategy, and the role of people such as Ellie Simmonds and Jess Ennis at the Olympic games in inspiring the next generation. Perhaps he should focus on that positive record and applaud the work of the Government.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

5. What progress her Department has made in rolling out rural broadband.

Equal Marriage Consultation

Debate between John Glen and Maria Miller

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

Again, that is an important detail, which I am sure will be looked at further when the Bill is examined in Committee. I can say clearly to my hon. Friend—the consultation document says that there must be clarity on this issue—that no changes to the laws of adultery are proposed and that same-sex couples will have the current laws of adultery available to them if those laws apply. If they do not apply, there will also be grounds of “unreasonable behaviour” for individuals to seek divorce if the behaviour falls short of adultery. I believe that this reflects the current situation for civil partnerships.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

In April this year, when the Scottish National party produced a consultation that allowed anonymous responses, the Conservative party said:

“Nothing the SNP now assert on the basis of a rigged consultation to which SNP members can contribute anonymously and as many times as they like will command confidence”.

Why, then, in the case of this consultation, in which 60% of the respondents were anonymous on a matter that was not in the manifesto and when my constituents do not want this to happen by a factor of 25:1, are the Government pressing ahead with it?

[Maria Miller]

I can perhaps reassure my hon. Friend that the consultation we undertook was carried out correctly and properly, and that proper safeguards were put in place to avoid any multiple submissions. I urge my hon. Friend to consider the fact that while many people who do not agree with the Government’s position may contact him about their views, there may be many others who do agree with it but whose voices are not as strong.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Maria Miller

Monday 10th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

T5. My constituent William Pender approached me to say that the removal of the mobility component of disability living allowance from his son, who resides in a state-funded care home, will leave his son more isolated, because the care home can provide only limited trips out. I invite the Minister to confirm that the full and true nature of my constituent’s mobility needs will be properly catered for under the new system after the reforms.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

Local authorities’ contracts with care homes cover daily living activities, which may include providing access to doctors, dentists and local services such as libraries and banks. In addition, care homes have an obligation to help residents to pursue their independence. Our proposals will therefore remove an overlap in public funding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Glen and Maria Miller

Monday 19th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

18. What steps he is taking together with ministerial colleagues to tackle poverty.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Miller)]

The Government are committed to creating a stronger society based on the principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility. The Cabinet Committee on Social Justice will be the forum in which Ministers look at how to tackle issues around poverty. The Committee will ensure that, for the first time, Departments must thoroughly examine the overall impact of their policies, so that we can avoid unintended consequences and the poorest being hit hardest.

[John Glen]

I thank the Minister for her reply. Last Friday, I visited the Trussell Trust food bank in my constituency, and it became clear in conversation with Chris Mould, the director, that one of the principal reasons why the charity had to make £41,000 in grants of food aid in emergency circumstances last year was that benefits had been delayed. What steps can the Minister take to assure my constituents, and those of other Members, that such delays are minimised so that acute poverty—where people need food—will not occur again during the next five years?

[Maria Miller]

Delays in getting benefits to recipients are obviously critical, particularly for those whose families face the toughest circumstances. I will look into the specific points that my hon. Friend has raised, but I remind him that we are in this position, with 2.8 million children living in poverty, because the previous Government left us with a very difficult legacy, and some of these issues will take some time to address.