Oral Answers to Questions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Wednesday 28th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Oliver Dowden)]

This Government are committed to locating economic activity outside London and the south-east. Since 2016, 12 new public bodies have been located outside London, and indeed in the south-west to which my hon. Friend refers. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has set up a regional centre in Bristol, which employs 1,600 people.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

T4. An RNIB report on the general election of 2017 shockingly found that one in four blind and partially sighted people were unable to vote independently and in secret. With just five weeks to go until the upcoming local elections, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that blind and partially sighted people can vote independently and in secret?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

There are already measures in place. For example, there are improvements to the way that the certificate of visual impairment can be shared with local authorities. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss this further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Wednesday 7th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I and, I am sure, everyone in the House will be happy to join my hon. Friend in praising the emergency services for the tireless work that they have been doing to help people during the severe winter weather that we have experienced. She is right to raise concerns about the A379 on the behalf of her constituents, and I am pleased to announce that my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary will shortly confirm that we will provide financial assistance to ensure that repairs to the road are undertaken as quickly as possible.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

Q13. Battersea power station is a £9 billion development pushed through by Tory Wandsworth Council with only 9% so-called affordable homes. Eighty-five per cent. of homes in the development have been snapped up by foreign investors, which is an insult to the thousands of people on the Wandsworth housing waiting list. Is the Prime Minister embarrassed that a Tory council is siding with developers’ profits over the residents of Wandsworth?

[The Prime Minister]

This is a site that was derelict for 40 years. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Wednesday 28th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am sorry that the hon. Lady did not welcome the amazing work we are doing through the delivery of international aid, through so many different organisations, be it in partnership, such as she seems to resent, with our colleagues in the conflict, stability and security fund or by working with colleagues in the health service on their amazing response to the outbreak of disease in camps in the Rohingya crisis.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

6. What recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on enabling refugee families to reunify in the UK.

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

14. What recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on enabling refugee families to reunify in the UK.

[Marsha De Cordova]

Will the Secretary of State urge the Government to back next month’s private Member’s Bill and put the humanity of migrants and the importance of family life at the heart of the Government’s immigration policy?

[Penny Mordaunt]

Obviously, the mandate resettlement scheme allows for that to happen, and there is no quota or cap on that. If we can improve things, I am always open to that on any issue, but I hope we can manage to do these things without primary legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend is exactly right; the point about the industrial strategy, which is a hugely important moment, is to create not just a stronger economy but a fairer economy for decades to come. That is why it is looking forward to 2030; it is a long-term attempt to make sure that we have not just a global, outward looking economy—I completely agree on that—but a modern economy where we can capitalise on our huge research strengths and our huge intellectual strengths to make sure that, unlike so often in the past, we benefit commercially from that for decades to come. That is the route to rising productivity and rising prosperity.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

Q13. This Sunday, 3 December, is the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. So far, the Government have refused to carry out a cumulative impact assessment of their social security policies on people living with a disability. Will the First Secretary now mark this day by doing the right thing for disabled people and carrying out a full cumulative impact assessment?

[Damian Green]

I am sure the hon. Lady, who has great expertise in this field, will know that this Government are spending £90 billion on disability benefits. More to the point, we are being more successful than ever before in giving disabled people a degree of independence. Hundreds of thousands more disabled people are in work than have ever been before. We have a plan to have an extra million in work over the next 10 years. That is an extremely important and practical way to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of disabled people. That is what this Government are doing, and that is what we will continue to do.

Race Disparity Audit

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was quite right to point out that one of the biggest things holding people back is their not being allowed to speak the language of the country. That is why we spent £100 million last year on teaching English to ensure that more people than ever before can have access to it and play a full role in mainstream society.

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

In light of the audit today, will the Government commit to implementing their statutory equality impact assessment on some of their policies and, more specifically, on some social security policies, such as universal credit and the personal independence payment?

[Damian Green]

I am happy to assure the hon. Lady that every policy has the equality impact assessment applied to it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

T4. At the last general election, the Government made very little attempt to ensure that voting registration and participation took place, and large swathes of the electorate were unable to vote properly. Will the Minister outline the steps that will be taken to ensure—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Carry on.

[Marsha De Cordova]

Will the Minister outline the steps that will be taken to ensure that people living with visual impairments are able to vote, and that voting is fully accessible both to them and to those with learning disabilities?

[Chris Skidmore]

A record number of people are now on the electoral register. We have a democracy in which more people are participating than ever before. I shall be delighted to work with the hon. Lady on the question of visual impairments, which I believe is a cross-party issue, and we look forward to presenting proposals to ensure that elections are accessible to visually impaired people.