Business of the House
Debate between Mark Francois and Lucy Powell(6 days, 20 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lucy Powell
As someone who follows my hon. Friend on social media, I know that he has had a very busy recess, as have many colleagues; I have looked on jealously at many of the visits that people have been doing over the summer recess. I join him in congratulating the Royal Air Forces Association branch in his constituency on all that it does.
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)
I will be short, as I already am. Can we have a debate about delays in obtaining driving tests? There is a growing problem with unscrupulous operators using bots to sweep up months’ worth of tests then selling them back to very frustrated parents and students at a profit. The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency seems to be in denial about this issue. Can we have a debate in Parliament and try to fix this problem?
Lucy Powell
As ever, the right hon. Gentleman is a very big presence with his short question. He raises a topic that I know we all get many emails and complaints about. The Secretary of State for Transport has given an update to the House on these issues, and we are delivering 10,000 additional driving tests. The right hon. Gentleman raises an important issue about how bots and others are using technology to secure those tests, and I will ensure that he gets a full response.
Business of the House
Debate between Mark Francois and Lucy Powell(2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lucy Powell
I join my hon. Friend in thanking Sir Ian and Lady Dudson for all their service to his community and wish them the very best for their retirement.
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)
May I join the tributes to Lord Tebbit? He was a political giant in his day and far more capable than the “Spitting Image” puppet ever gave him credit for.
May we have a debate in Government time on emerging proposals to cancel education, health and care plans? I say in all sincerity to the Leader of the House that we all know from our constituency work that the special educational needs system is broken and needs reform, but abolishing EHCPs would only lead to a backlash from angry parents and probably a major Back-Bench rebellion. Whatever her Government are going to do, please, in all seriousness, don’t do that.
Lucy Powell
As we have said many times in this Chamber, the SEND system is broken and needs reform. The last Conservative Education Secretary described it as a “lose, lose, lose” situation for parents and children. It is not delivering the outcomes and is not a good process for anyone involved. I hope the right hon. Member is not trying to misrepresent our position or plans in what he just outlined, but I can reassure him, as I have reassured others, that we are working closely with the sector and with parents, campaigners and others as we draw up a White Paper. That White Paper will be published later this year, and will be there for all to see, consider and consult on. We will take that process incredibly seriously because we want to build consensus on how we can bring much-needed reform to the SEND sector.
Business of the House
Debate between Mark Francois and Lucy Powell(3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lucy Powell
I am sorry to hear of the cases that my hon. Friend describes. She is right that the quick spreading of misinformation and disinformation on social media and elsewhere in such cases can be of great concern in relation to safety on our streets and protection of our public servants and others. Indeed, it can cause real problems, as we saw last summer. We are taking action in that regard. The Online Safety Act 2023 was not as strong in this area as it could have been, but we will work to strengthen the laws where necessary.
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)
May we have a debate in Government time on the three flagrant breaches of the ministerial code committed by the Defence Secretary on Monday? For the record, the Opposition received their copy of the strategic defence review mid-afternoon, the media received it at 10.30 am, and defence companies received it at 8 o’clock in the morning. Within minutes, there were share price spikes in a number of defence stocks.
Section 8.11 of the “Ministerial Code” clearly states:
“where commercially sensitive material is involved, no copies should be made available to the media before publication.”