Business of the House

Mark Fletcher Excerpts

Thursday 30th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I reiterate the point I made earlier: there is a £220 million fund to transform our bus services through the national bus strategy, which is a significant amount of money, but the hon. Lady’s point is well made and does not fall on stony ground. There is a widespread feeling that bus services have been the poor relation in the transport system, particularly outside London, and people expect a better service. The Government are providing funding to help with that.

[Mark Fletcher (Bolsover) (Con)]

Residents in Pilsley in my constituency are indebted to Sheila Baldwin, and others, for collecting 600 signatures to oppose the closure of the local health centre by Staffa Health. A lot of the consultation process was done online, and Sheila does not have access to the internet. May we have a debate about online consultations, and about how to ensure that residents in villages, particularly rural villages, are able to take part in consultations on closures?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend makes a good point that not everybody is online, and I commend him for the campaign with which he has been so closely involved. That is a model for how MPs ought to stick up for their constituents. Trying to ensure that those who are not part of the online world are able to make representations as easily and as well as those who are is important. Manuscript petitions can be presented to the House of Commons every evening, and I have often found that a worthwhile thing to do.