BBC

Debate between Maria Miller and Lee Scott

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

Management of the current situation is very much for members of the BBC executive. I see day in, day out their desire to get to the bottom of the issues, which I have encouraged them to do rather than look for any easy way out. The hon. Gentleman is right that we must ensure that we put the safeguarding of children at the heart of what the not only the BBC but every public organisation does.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, even after the shoddy journalism we have seen at the BBC, the most important thing is getting to the bottom of who perpetrated those crimes and ensuring that the police are allowed to get on and do their job? That journalism should not cloud the situation or do anything to stop the police.

[Maria Miller]

My hon. Friend is right that our focus needs to be on the welfare and safety of children, and on ensuring that the dreadful events we have heard about could never happen again.

Specialist Disability Employment

Debate between Maria Miller and Lee Scott

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

What I know is that proper scrutiny has taken place, and that we need to ensure the programme makes good progress so that we can ensure that the people affected are informed in a timely manner.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that getting young people with special needs into work in front-line jobs is vital? Will she join me in congratulating another employer that yesterday came on board with the project to get young people into work in my area?

[Maria Miller]

I am glad to commend my hon. Friend’s work and I am looking forward to visiting the project in his constituency. He highlights the importance of supporting young disabled people into employment. I was pleased in the past couple of weeks to announce that Access to Work will also be available in future to young people undertaking work experience.

Disability Benefits and Social Care

Debate between Maria Miller and Lee Scott

Wednesday 20th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Lady will know that that 40% figure is an absolute truth. She will also know that the majority of the increase has nothing to do with demographics. She should look at the figures more carefully. Unfortunately, now that Labour is in opposition, it is more willing to engage in the petty politics we have just heard—points scoring—than in a meaningful debate about how to transform disabled people’s lives.

We must not forget that for disabled people independent living is about far more than disability benefits or social care alone: it is about individuals having choice, control and freedom in their daily lives; it is about attitudes, and making sure disabled people receive equal treatment; and it is about us in society, and the make-up of the communities in which we live. I hope that in the winding-up speeches Labour will answer more fully why it still believes in the segregated employment that my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) mentioned earlier.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

As we are discussing some of the most needy and underprivileged people in our society, does my hon. Friend agree that we should look at projects such as one that is running in my constituency, through which we, together with employers, the National Autistic Society and local parent groups, are going to get young people into work in front-line jobs—not hidden away? I thank my hon. Friend for the Government’s support for that project.

[Maria Miller]

I commend my hon. Friend for his work in this area. I hope to visit his constituency to see the work he has been doing, ensuring that the disabled people he represents have the job opportunities I know they want.

Shamefully, much of what we have heard today has been scaremongering. Nothing illustrates that better than the claim by the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, as stated in the motion,

“that the Department for Work and Pensions has dropped the aim of achieving disability equality”.

That is an outrageous and unfounded claim, intended to frighten some of the most vulnerable people in society.

This Government enacted the Equality Act 2010, which applies to disabled people. Our approach is set out in our equality strategy, which states that

“equality will be a fundamental part of the Government’s programmes across the UK”,

and the DWP business plan explicitly states that we will

“enable disabled people to fulfil their potential”.

That is a clear and practical expression of how we have made equality a reality, rather than merely the warm words offered by the right hon. Gentleman.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Maria Miller and Lee Scott

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. I am not privy to those sorts of commercial details, but I will be working as hard as I can—as, I am sure, will he—to ensure that there are more credible bids so that, if possible, factories such as the one in Wishaw, which supports some 20 disabled people, can continue. However, I also remind him that there are more than 11,000 disabled people in his constituency, and we are trying to ensure that the available money is helping all of them.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very important to get young people with special needs into work, and does she welcome the scheme to be piloted in the borough of Redbridge in my constituency to get young people into work, and congratulate Interface and local businesses on playing their role in that?

[Maria Miller]

I commend the work my hon. Friend has been doing. He has done so much to support disabled people in his constituency get into work, and I look forward to continuing to follow the work he is doing.