Leader of the House

Mark Spencer Excerpts

Monday 4th July 2022 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from Business of the House questions in the Chamber on 30 June 2022.

[Mark Spencer]

The Government are getting on with meeting the challenges and solving the problems that we face. We said that we would recruit over 20,000 more police officers, and we have already recruited 13,500. We are investing a huge amount of cash—£39 billion—in helping people with the challenges of the cost of living.

[Official Report, 30 June 2022, Vol. 717, c. 455.]

Letter of correction from the Leader of the House:

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire).

The correct response should have been:

[Mark Spencer]

The Government are getting on with meeting the challenges and solving the problems that we face. We said that we would recruit over 20,000 more police officers, and we have already recruited 13,500. We are investing a huge amount of cash—£37 billion—in helping people with the challenges of the cost of living.

The following is an extract from Business of the House questions in the Chamber on 30 June 2022.

[Ian Mearns]

I received a letter from Her Majesty’s Passport Office yesterday in response to 17 different inquiries about missing passports on behalf of my constituents. Some of these 17 answers date back to inquiries submitted in March. We are still getting inquiries, on an almost daily basis, from constituents who are worried about their missing passports. The situation does not seem to have improved since I first raised it in the House back in late February or early March. Can we have a statement from the Home Secretary on what is being done to improve the situation? Whatever has been done already is not working.

[Mark Spencer]

I am glad to see the hon. Gentleman back in his place, and I hope his slipped disc is now better. I know how heavy those RMT banners can be, so he should be careful when carrying them.

On the challenges for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents in getting their passports, I hope he will recognise that the Home Office has recruited another 550 staff, with another 600 to come very soon.

[Official Report, 30 June 2022, Vol. 717, c. 457.]

Letter of correction from the Leader of the House:

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns).

The correct response should have been:

[Mark Spencer]

On the challenges for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents in getting their passports, I hope he will recognise that the Home Office has recruited another 650 staff, with another 550 to come very soon.

The following is an extract from Business of the House questions in the Chamber on 30 June 2022.

[Cat Smith]

With the cost of living crisis hitting, I have been contacted by many constituents who live on houseboats, in flats or in park homes who are not eligible for the £400 discount on energy bills. Can we have a debate in Government time on ways in which we can support people who do not pay their energy bills direct?

[Mark Spencer]

The Government are very much aware of this issue, which was raised a number of times at Treasury questions this week. That is why the Treasury is looking at the way in which these things are calculated. It is also why we are investing £39 billion to support people with the cost of living challenge that we face.

[Official Report, 30 June 2022, Vol. 717, c. 462.]

Letter of correction from the Leader of the House.

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith).

The correct response should have been:

[Mark Spencer]

The Government are very much aware of this issue, which was raised a number of times at Treasury questions this week. That is why the Treasury is looking at the way in which these things are calculated. It is also why we are investing £37 billion to support people with the cost of living challenge that we face.