Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue that I hope the Dilnot report will begin to address. At some point we need a serious discussion about how we will fund residential and social care in future, in order to avoid the sort of decisions to which he has just referred.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have an urgent debate or statement from the Prime Minister on the phone hacking scandal, to give him the opportunity to say how he will remove himself from any inquiry, given his close relationship with the Murdoch corporation? Secondly, will the Leader of the House give an assurance that any investigation will be run by a judge and not by one of the Prime Minister’s cronies?

[Sir George Young]

On the second issue, as I said in response to the shadow Leader of the House, we are consulting Opposition party leaders and others about the precise terms of reference and composition of the inquiry. The hon. Gentleman asked for a statement by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was at the Dispatch Box yesterday, and he indeed made such a statement.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 4th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why it has taken five weeks to deal with this matter? Is an investigation going on to find out why this important legislation has taken five weeks, and is it true that the Government are only acting on the back of the report and legal advice of the Association of Chief Police Officers?

[Sir George Young]

Again, this is rehearsing to some extent the exchange we had on Thursday, and an exchange that can take place again this Thursday. The announcement that I have just made relates to the business we are dealing with on Thursday; the substantive matters will be dealt with on that day.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House is well aware of my concern about the Government’s secret plans to try to privatise my local hospital trust. I am now informed that the trust has expressed concern that if it has to implement the cuts that the Government want, patient safety will be put at risk. The trust has refused to publish those documents. May we have a debate on the secrecy that now surrounds the NHS?

[Sir George Young]

Legislation put on to the statute book by the hon. Gentleman’s own party when in government makes it absolutely clear that it is impossible to privatise an NHS trust. As we have said in earlier exchanges, there will be an opportunity to debate this issue in the context of the Health and Social Care Bill. He has written to me and to the relevant Health Minister several times. If there are any outstanding issues, I will ask the Minister to write to him yet again.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 19th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

We had a statement on that matter this week, and I am sure that my hon. Friend will have read that exchange. Of course the Government will want to table any necessary amendments in good time for the House to see them and, if necessary, for Members to table their own amendments.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Given the poor response to the Deputy Prime Minister’s puny reforms of the House of Lords, may we have a debate on whether it would be better to pass this matter to another Minister who can make more progress?

[Sir George Young]

No.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The Government are committed to reducing the amount of carbon emitted by buildings, and energy performance certificates are an important part of that initiative. Holiday lets are exempt if they are let for more than four months a year. I understand the point that my hon. Friend makes, but landlords will benefit from reduced energy costs if they bring their properties up to standard, so I hope that they will see the other side of the coin.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Despite my writing to the Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), tabling questions and having an Adjournment debate, he has refused to publish the document outlining the proposals to privatise my local trust. May we have a debate on ministerial accountability so that we can raise these important matters?

[Sir George Young]

There is no way that a hospital can be privatised. That simply cannot happen. As the hon. Gentleman knows, he had a debate in Westminster Hall on this issue to which my right hon. Friend the Health Minister responded. I understand that correspondence is now taking place between the two of them. At the heart of the issue is how the hon. Gentleman’s hospital can meet the standards necessary to become a foundation trust and the need to explore the various options, including merger with another trust. I will draw his remarks to the attention of my right hon. Friend and he will write to him.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 5th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

It would be helpful to hold a debate, possibly in Westminster Hall, on the Winsor review. It would be an opportunity for hon. Members on both sides of the House to clarify their position. I understand that an Opposition spokesman told the House in December that £500 million to £600 million of the £1 billion that the previous Government were planning to save in the police service was to come from changes in overtime and shift patterns, so I very much hope that there will not be widespread opposition to some of the proposals in the Winsor review.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May I draw the attention of the Leader of the House to column 305WH of yesterday’s Hansard? As he will see, the Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns) said that he had deliberately not asked his Department to produce documentation on the Government’s plans to privatise some of our hospitals. He has done that to avoid ministerial accountability. May we have an urgent debate on that issue?

[Sir George Young]

I have just announced a half-day Opposition day debate on the NHS, so I can accede to the hon. Gentleman’s request perhaps faster than he had expected.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind words about my right hon. Friend Lord Baker, who listened with interest to yesterday’s statement that there would be not 12 but 24 high-quality, technically oriented UTCs. We are aware—and if we were not, we are now—of Harlow college’s interest in submitting an application. I can tell my hon. Friend that the intention is to select the first round of new technical academies to go forward by the early summer, following a competitive selection process.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have a statement on how the Government intend to ensure that the announced increases in tax on the fuel companies will not be passed on directly to hard-pressed motorists? Are we to take it from the statement that any further increases will be referred for scrutiny before they are allowed?

[Sir George Young]

Of course I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern—but I do not know whether he has had time to look at the regulatory impact assessment carried out in 2006, when his party was in government, on increased taxation on North sea producers. It said:

“Oil companies are price-takers, facing a globally-determined market price for their output, and so will absorb all costs. They will be unable to pass any costs on to consumers, and the impact will be distributed proportionately across producers with no adverse effects on competition”.

I hope that gives the hon. Gentleman the reassurance he was seeking.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand my hon. Friend’s interest. I do not know whether Westminster city council would allow the installation of a giant thermometer outside New Palace Yard on which was calibrated the growing number of commitments made by the Opposition, but in principle I agree entirely.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Given that the Government have already damaged the economy in the north-west by doing away with the regional development agency and cutting regeneration funding by two thirds, may we have a debate on their latest proposals to sell off the assets of the RDA and return them to the Treasury?

[Sir George Young]

I dispute the premise on which the hon. Gentleman bases his question. The OECD report published yesterday states:

“The government is pursuing a necessary and wide ranging programme of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms aimed at achieving stronger growth and a rebalancing of the economy over time.”

That is a somewhat different position from the one that he suggested. If there are surplus assets that can be returned to the Treasury, I am sure they would be gratefully received.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome such a debate, and I very much hope that other local authorities will follow the example of Bromsgrove in dealing with the challenges of coping with a reduced grant without affecting front-line services. It is a model of what a local authority ought to be doing.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on why the Government are standing aside and allowing eight energy companies to rip off British gas and fuel customers? Is it not about time the Government got a grip and did something about the escalating costs of fuel in the UK?

[Sir George Young]

We are operating the regime we inherited from the Labour Government, which deals with energy prices by having a regulator who fixes the tariff, but I will of course share the hon. Gentleman’s concern with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Business of the House

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

That is primarily a matter for the House rather than the Government, and you, Mr Speaker, will have heard the hon. Lady’s request. One can also put in a pink card in certain circumstances and reserve a seat if one serves on a Committee, so there are other ways of reserving a place in the Chamber.

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

Given that hospital waiting lists are increasing as a result of the abolition of a maximum waiting time target for hospitals, may we have an urgent debate so that the Secretary of State for Health can apologise to the sick people who now have to wait longer for treatment?

[Sir George Young]

A debate on the Health Bill will take place in due course on Report, but the Conservative party and this coalition Government are committed to investing more in the NHS than the outgoing Labour Government invested, so there is no reason at all why waiting lists should be higher under this Government than they would have been if the hon. Gentleman’s party had been returned.