Points of Order

Debate between Karin Smyth and Nigel Evans

Wednesday 28th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have informed the relevant Member of my raising this point of order. On 10 January, the hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Steve Tuckwell) asked the Prime Minister an oral question about Hillingdon Hospital in his constituency. He said that

“the new Hillingdon hospital has full planning permission and full funding and enabling works are well under way.”—[Official Report, 10 January 2024; Vol. 743, c. 295.]

However, a freedom of information request has revealed that

“the total funding for the redevelopment of Hillingdon Hospital is to be confirmed”.

I further understand that the start date for the procurement of a contractor and for the construction of the hospital is yet to be confirmed. Given that the hon. Gentleman may have unintentionally misled the House on a matter of great concern to his constituents, I seek your assistance, Mr Deputy Speaker, in asking him to set the record straight on this matter.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order and for giving me forward notice of it. She has clearly made public her views on this matter. While I am not responsible for the content of Members’ questions, I draw the matter to the attention of those on the Treasury Bench so that if a Member has unintentionally misled the House, they can be advised to correct the record as soon as possible.

Online Safety Bill

Debate between Karin Smyth and Nigel Evans

Report stage
Tuesday 12th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I will only allow three more points of order, because this is eating into time for very important business. [Interruption.] They are all similar points of order and we could carry on with them until 7 o’clock, but we are not going to do so.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. At the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee this morning, Sir John Major presented evidence to us about propriety and ethics. In that very sombre presentation, he talked about being

“at the top of a slope”

down towards the loss of democracy in this country. Ultimately, the will of Parliament is all we have, so if we do not have Parliament to make the case, what other option do we have?

Education and Local Government

Debate between Karin Smyth and Nigel Evans

Tuesday 14th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.

I will move briefly to climate change. Following Labour’s motion in the spring, we are agreed as a House that we face a climate emergency. The Government have a target but no path to achieving it. I suggest that if they start to align a strategy on skills and apprenticeships to the green jobs of the future, that will be of tremendous benefit to the people of Bristol South.

Bristol is home to some great innovators and enterprises working on the green agenda—for example, in the construction industry. I have supported the City of Bristol College, the West of England Combined Authority and the Government to bring the Construction Skills Centre to Bristol South. In fact, when the right hon. Member for Harlow visited Bristol South we pointed to a piece of land that we wanted to ensure was used for the centre; we hope to cut the turf on the site at Hengrove later this month.

Bristol and the west country are building, but we are short of labour. Good training in construction jobs and apprenticeships will directly help my constituents into jobs. At the centre we need training for the future, including training in green building and green technology, so that we meet the climate change targets. Currently there is little investment in training on new materials, techniques and technology, which will equip young people for the jobs of the future. The Construction Skills Centre in Bristol South provides a tremendous opportunity; I am willing to work with the Government to make the most of it.

Finally, the Government stated in the Queen’s Speech that there will be a constitution, democracy and rights commission. In my view that is long overdue. In my speech in 2015, I warned that we all needed to heed the message from the Scottish referendum; that was before the Brexit referendum. As vice-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, I warned throughout the Brexit debate of the dangers of ignoring voices from across these islands, but also the voice of England within the United Kingdom.

In July the Public Accounts Committee report into funding in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland noted that the baseline funding and the Barnett formula were set some 40 years ago and that spending per head of population on public services in England is the lowest in the four nations at £9,080. It is not just the money. My English constituents have no democratic control or accountability over our health service, our schools, our transport or our skills. The core institutions of our community are run by unaccountable and labyrinthine bodies, be it clinical commissioning groups, multi-academy trusts, local enterprise partnerships or the many ad hoc partnerships that have grown up over the last 10, 20 or 30 years. These bodies are a law unto themselves and their civil servant masters in London have no accountability to us locally.

I will continue to support apprenticeships, early years and the City of Bristol College to provide post-16 adult opportunities. We desperately need to secure decent funding to support young people at their post-16 transition, to help them to make the right decisions and nurture them, as we do those transitioning into reception classes and into year 7. We need the combined authority to better use its influence to get providers to work together to make use of the available funding. Public service infrastructure is vital to reversing the education and skills deficit, and the Government need to be much bolder about the ambition for devolution in England so that we can build the western powerhouse that I talked about four and a half years ago and give people in Bristol South the opportunity that they deserve.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Will Members observe the usual courtesies, please? To make his maiden speech, I call David Johnston.