Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Karl Turner and Damian Green(10 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Damian Green
My hon. Friend is correct that this is an important area in which I have had fruitful discussions with Action for Children about the best way to make progress, and I hope to be able to report further on those discussions shortly.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
Why is the Legal Aid Agency expanding the public defender service and recruiting barristers when reports from as far back as 2007 have found that it is between 40% and 90% more expensive than the independent professions? Furthermore, it cannot act in cases of conflict.
Home Department
Debate between Karl Turner and Damian Green(11 years, 6 months ago)
Ministerial CorrectionsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Karl Turner
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the additional cost of police and security as a result of the recall of Parliament on 10 April 2013.
[Official Report, 18 April 2013, Vol. 561, c. 502W.]
Letter of correction from Damian Green:
An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) on 18 April 2013.
The full answer given was as follows:
Damian Green
This information is not collected centrally. The cost of security services on the parliamentary estate is a matter for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
The correct answer should have been:
Border Control Scheme
Debate between Karl Turner and Damian Green(13 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Damian Green
There are two separate issues here, both of which need addressing. One is the vast number of people who arrived legally under the previous Government’s conscious policy of increasing immigration to unsustainable levels. Secondly, there is what we are discussing this morning—the fact that our borders were not sufficiently secure. Just as important as bringing down the legal numbers is making our borders more secure by a number of methods, such as the use of technology, the pilots that we operated in the summer and changing how we look at private flights. The various actions that we are taking are all designed to make the border safer.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
The question has been asked several times, and I know that the Minister is frustrated, but I wonder whether he will give an answer. Does he think it acceptable that on his watch the UKBA could not even check passengers coming off private flights? Any chance of an answer?
Damian Green
I am tempted to revive that old parliamentary chestnut: “I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.” As I keep saying, it is better to do it overseas, which is what we do. It is also safer, and all the experts agree it is safer—and frankly, if the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) were still sitting on the Government Benches, she would be saying that it was safer as well.