Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 19th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am sorry to hear about what is obviously a difficult situation, which the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise. I encourage him to speak directly to the Department for Work and Pensions, which I urge to take up this specific issue.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House says that the Government are listening, but the only thing they did yesterday was scrap helpline charges. It frankly beggars belief that it takes an Opposition day debate for the Government to decide that 55p a minute is too much to charge cash-strapped people to call the very Department that is making them cash-strapped. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions kept recommending yesterday that claimants visit their local jobcentre, but at the same time the Department is shutting nearly 70 jobcentres across the country. Sheffield’s Eastern Avenue jobcentre is due to close on 17 November, but the Department is yet to publish a cost-benefit analysis for the decision despite claiming that it is based solely on the need to make savings. I am yet to be convinced that the Department has even conducted such an analysis, so can we have a debate in Government time on that decision before the jobcentre is closed, causing misery for claimants in the area?

[Andrea Leadsom]

I gently say to the hon. Lady that she cannot have it both ways. She cannot complain that the Government are not listening to the House and then say that it is not right that the Government should act on the views of this House, rather than independently. That seems a little back to front. On universal credit, the key point is that the Department for Work and Pensions is responding both to its own pauses and its experiences of the roll-out of universal credit to date and to the representations of Members from right across the House. The Government are determined to make universal credit a huge success and to deal with implementation issues as they arise. I assure Members that that is the case.

As for jobcentre closures specifically, the hon. Lady will be aware that we still have a significant fiscal challenge as a result of the state of the economy that we were left with in 2010. We continue to try to take steps to live within our means. I know that Opposition Members do not understand this, but the reality is that every day we continue to spend more than we receive in taxes means another day of debt for which our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay, so we need to live within our means. The reduction in jobcentres is actually being offset by an increase in the number of work coaches, who will provide more support to people who need it. We are merging a number of smaller offices into bigger sites, so that we can save the taxpayer money, but we are not changing the service we offer. Wherever possible, we are improving that service for those who are looking for work.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 29th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady raises the absolutely key priority for this Government, which is of course at the moment to deal with the horrors that have ensued at Grenfell Tower, and to ensure that all residents who live in similar towers or other buildings that could suffer from the same problems with cladding are properly looked after. We therefore need to allow the fire inspections officers to do their work and to make recommendations on what is required for each building ; it will not be a one-size-fits-all, but she can rest assured that the Government remain absolutely committed to keeping all residents in high-rise towers safe.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on antisocial behaviour associated with off-road bikes, quads and mopeds? Some of the parks and estates in Sheffield are like scenes out of “Mad Max”, with masked riders riding around and blighting the lives of local residents. May we therefore have a debate, in Home Office time, on whether the police have the powers and resources to tackle this issue?

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I should probably direct my hon. Friend towards Westminster Hall opportunities for such a constituency case. It is right that these decisions are taken at local level and that we do not try to second-guess every supermarket location from Whitehall, but I am sure that he will be a formidable advocate for his own communities in trying to ensure that the planners reach a decision that takes account of local opinion.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

On “The Andrew Marr Show” last weekend, the Home Secretary said that

“we need to make sure that our intelligence services have the ability to get into situations like encrypted WhatsApp”.

This was a clear departure from stated Government policy. Lord Howe said last October:

“The assertion that the Government are opposed to encryption or would legislate to undermine it is fanciful.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 19 October 2016; Vol. 774, c. 2404.]

May we have a debate in Government time on whether the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is still relevant and whether it is still GCHQ’s guidance to industry to encrypt communications? Will the Leader of the House also enlighten us as to what the “necessary hashtags” are?

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

We are looking at a number of proposed changes to Standing Orders, many of which have come from the Procedure Committee and some from other Committees of the House. It will probably be for the convenience of the House if we can find an opportunity to deal with all those as a block rather than considering them piecemeal, so that is the kind of arrangement I am hoping to secure.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

I am very sorry to be called so late on Kiss a Ginger Day, Mr Speaker. We only get one day a year, after all—I am wondering whether you might be colour-blind.

May we have a debate on the future of our parks funding? Graves park in my constituency receives EU higher-level stewardship funding because of its high value regarding nature conservation, and the park’s budget has already been under serious pressure because of slashed local authority funding. I would be grateful if we could have a debate on this in Government time.

[Mr Lidington]

Questions to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers next Thursday or questions to Communities and Local Government Ministers next Monday might provide an opportunity to raise that matter. Clearly the future of stewardship funding is one of the matters that the Government are considering in the context of the negotiations overall.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. Wearing my hat as the Member whose constituency includes Stoke Mandeville, I think that sport has shown that it can provide one of the best means available for people with disabilities of all kinds to show that they can achieve great things and have those achievements celebrated by the public as a whole. I hope all sports governing bodies and the management of stadiums and other premises will pay close attention to the hon. Lady’s words.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

The Drive for Justice campaign is being led by Sheffield’s The Star and its sister publications, looking at sentences for causing death by dangerous driving. One mother pointed out that the drunken woman who had murdered her 15-year-old son had served only one year in prison, while she described herself as serving “a life sentence”. May we have an urgent debate on sentencing guidelines for causing death by dangerous driving?

[Mr Lidington]

The next Transport questions are not until 12 January, but the hon. Lady will know that the Government have recently put out to public consultation proposed increases to the severity of sentences for dangerous driving. I hope she and her constituents will avail themselves of the opportunity to make their voices heard during that consultation.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

On freedom to travel, and with everything else, it is certainly the case that this Government will stand firm on the principle that citizens of the United Kingdom should be treated on an equal basis, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin. It is a truth in law that the United States, like every other nation state, has the responsibility to determine for itself its rules on whether people are allowed to enter its territory. It is important that we work with the elected President and his Administration, and ensure that we have the best possible bilateral relationship that works in the interests of all British citizens.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

I thank the Leader of the House for his moving words earlier. Given those words, may we have a debate about whether Britain First should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation and banned from standing in democratic elections?

[Mr Lidington]

I cannot offer an immediate debate. As the hon. Lady probably knows, the Home Office brings forwards orders for the proscription of particular organisations, but it must do so on the basis of evidence. There have been cases in which organisations that have been so proscribed have gone to the courts and successfully won a judicial review to say that the evidence on which that action had been taken was not sufficient. I will ensure that her proposal is reported to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but there has to be clear evidence of terrorist involvement for the terrorist proscription to be applied.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 15th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

The hon. Lady has just pointed to a disparity between the apparent practice in different cases. If she would like to write to me with details of her constituency case, I will take this up with the relevant Department.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

Following the welcome news that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will not be renewing its contract with Concentrix, whose performance the Leader of the House last week described as completely unacceptable, may we have a debate in Government time on the payment-by-results model in our welfare system?

[Mr Lidington]

There was a good opportunity to question the Financial Secretary when she made the statement about Concentrix earlier this week. I know that my right hon. Friends at the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions will be doing all they possibly can to ensure that appropriate lessons are learned and that we get the decent standard from contractors that constituents are entitled to expect.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think that will be very welcome in the House. The danger otherwise is that there is a recipe for disappointment. There is always unsatisfied demand, but it was very striking this morning. There were huge numbers and a lot were disappointed.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

Further to the question from the hon. Member for Dundee West (Chris Law), I have also been contacted over the summer by hundreds of single women who have been affected by the behaviour of Concentrix. Yesterday I received a written parliamentary answer saying that the contractor had breached its performance standards on 120 occasions over the past 11 months. May we have an urgent debate about the behaviour and performance of this contractor, so that it cannot continue for another day to punish individuals, particularly single women?

[Mr Lidington]

Clearly, the state of affairs and the number of contract breaches described by the hon. Lady are completely unacceptable. She might want to write to the Financial Secretary, who is probably the appropriate Treasury Minister, to ensure that her constituents’ concerns are being represented directly to those Ministers dealing directly with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, but it seems to me that it is the responsibility first of the HMRC senior management to manage the contract effectively and of the contractor to deliver a decent service to the hon. Lady’s constituents and everybody else’s.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 9th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Of course, anyone who loses a child in unexplained circumstances should have information and should understand what happened. I will make sure that the Secretary of State for Defence is aware of the concerns that the hon. Lady has raised. She might like to write to me or to him giving more details. He will be here on the Monday after the referendum and I am sure he will be happy to take that question and give her a proper response.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

The pub code, which is designed to give some measure of protection to pub tenants against the sometimes appalling behaviour of pubcos, was meant to be implemented on 28 May, but so far the Government have put nothing before the House. When will the Government bring forward a statutory instrument so that we can get the code in place to protect tenants?

[Chris Grayling]

I believe the answer is very shortly, but I will write to the hon. Lady and give her more detailed information about what is planned.

Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

The Government have put forward the national planning policy framework, and a local plan has to take account of appropriate future development. Also, Department for Communities and Local Government Ministers will be here on the first day we are back after the recess.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

The Deputy Leader of the House will be aware of the ropey employment practices that have emerged out of the implementation of the so-called national living wage, from cutting holiday time to abolishing paid breaks. May we have an urgent debate to ensure that employers are complying with the spirit, and not just the letter, of the law?

[Dr Coffey]

The hon. Lady is right to raise this point; it matters that employers play their part. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is sitting on the Front Bench and will have heard her comments. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has also supported those views, and he will be here to answer questions on the Tuesday after we get back.