Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Thursday 11th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The first thing to say is that, as the hon. Lady knows, more than 99% of the goods that were supplied were capable of being used in the NHS and, as she also knows, the National Audit Office reference to paying “over the odds” reflected the fact that, in a global pandemic, when demand was dramatically outstripping supply, prices rose for every nation—every developed nation. That is one of the reasons why the Government asked Lord Deighton to ensure that we could have domestic PPE capacity, and his amazing work has contributed to making sure that our economy overall has become more resilient. Of course it is the case that, whether or not a recommendation was made for a contract from a Member of Parliament such as the hon. Lady or anyone else, every contract had to go through the same appropriate process of due diligence, and it is of course the case that every contract will be published and is being published by the Government so that there can be appropriate scrutiny of value for money.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

Local elections are going to play an important part in this country’s democracy. At the end of play, after the polls have closed, there are the counts, which involve staff from the council, observers and candidates moving around indoors for hours at a time. How is the Department going to ensure that people fulfilling these roles will be kept safe from infection?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point, and my hon. Friend the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution has been working with local authorities, returning officers and others to ensure that we can have counting carried out in a safe way. That will mean the results of elections will be a little bit later than we might normally have expected, but it is more important to be safe than sorry in these circumstances.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

You are absolutely right. I lament all these absences, but I am even more grateful for the presence of my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Tom Randall), who has asked his second question in this session. It is a very good one because he is absolutely right. The increasing and welcome support for the spread of real ale has meant that necessarily, as pubs have closed and moved towards takeaway, we have lost some of that production, and those in the hospitality sector have faced very difficult times. He is absolutely right that we need to work more closely with the hospitality sector to understand the pressures that they face at this very difficult time, and I am grateful to him for raising this issue.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

Derbyshire is a fantastic place to live and work. It has an all-round economy and great culture. Will the Minister tell us what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of the civil service based outside London and when they will be coming to Derbyshire?

[Michael Gove]

I can only agree with my hon. Friend: Derbyshire is a great place to live. It rivals Lancashire in the many attractions that it has for people of good taste. Early in the new year, we will be announcing steps that we are taking to move more jobs and more civil service responsibilities out of Whitehall and into locations such as Derbyshire, Lancashire and, of course, Teesside.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Monday 4th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is the responsibility of all of us to do everything we can to ensure that we have visibility on the need for PPE. That is why NHS trusts and others report on their stocks and the additional requirements that they have. It is also why we have ensured that, across our resilience forums that are responsible for the distribution of PPE to more than 58,000 settings, we have seen something like 57 million pieces of PPE distributed, but, again, he makes an important point about improving the visibility that we all have, and I will talk to my right hon. Friend the Secretary State for Health and Social Care about just that.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking with UK manufacturers to increase the supply of ventilators to the NHS.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove)]

My Department and the Department of Health and Social Care have been working with a variety of UK manufacturers in order to increase the supply of ventilators to the NHS. We have placed an order with one in particular, Penlon, for 15,000 additional ventilators. I am pleased to see so many UK manufacturers and medical supply companies working so well together to ensure that we can increase domestic supply.

[Mrs Latham [V]]

Will my right hon. Friend tell the House how many companies have risen to the challenge to make the extra ventilators needed—companies that do not normally make them such as Dyson or Rolls-Royce?

[Michael Gove]

Yes, of course. We have been working with 11 new potential, or existing potential, suppliers, but more than 5,000 businesses have been involved, offering to provide services, because, of course, when producing a complex machine such as a ventilator, we need to make sure that we source everything from the appropriate batteries, the appropriate valves and the appropriate other technology. As I say, 5,000 businesses, including Rolls-Royce, have been involved in the manufacture.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Wednesday 23rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It is very interesting to hear from the hon. Gentleman. He does not believe in devolution; he believes in smashing up our United Kingdom, so I will take no lectures from him on making our UK institutions work in the interests of all.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Derby is only a short train ride from London and is a welcoming city for business. Will the Minister see which Departments could be moved out of expensive accommodation in London to much better value-for-money offices in Derby?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Thursday 26th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The Government are absolutely committed to banning the use of wild animals in circuses, and we will work with all parties across the House to expedite legislation to that effect.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

T4. The Secretary of State is doing incredibly well with the banning of the ivory trade, which is helping endangered elephants, but what is he doing about other endangered species, such as gorillas, lions, giraffes and leopards, to name but a few?

[Mr Speaker]

Let us hear about the gorilla situation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Thursday 26th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Conversations between the Chancellor and myself are fruitful. They are fruitful because they are intimate and therefore I cannot say any more.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

T7. Is the Minister planning to set a date for when all food packaging will be recyclable?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Tuesday 8th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to improve education in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Michael Gove)]

As the House will know, I have asked Dame Sally Coates to bring forward the publication of a report on how we can improve education in prison. Crucial to the direction of travel that Dame Sally is recommending is more control for governors to decide the type of curriculum that prisoners should enjoy while in custody.

[Pauline Latham]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that too much emphasis is placed on the quantity of education in prisons rather than on its quality?

[Michael Gove]

I could not agree more. Inmates are often cycled through a series of low-level qualifications, none of which, after it is initially passed, secures any additional employability gains for the individuals concerned. I was very impressed on Friday, when I visited the military corrective training centre in Colchester, to see how our services have a prison that succeeds in helping individual prisoners to acquire more qualifications en route either to being reintegrated into the services or entering civilian life. That model could be applied with success in the civilian estate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Tuesday 8th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

There are some formidable organisations that want to improve the quality of education in our prisons. In my previous role as Education Secretary, I saw how a wider diversity of education suppliers can help to raise standards for all, and particularly for the most disadvantaged. I would like to see the same reforming vigour applied to the education of offenders.

[Pauline Latham]

I welcome the written ministerial statement that the Secretary of State mentioned earlier. He will be aware that some prisons, in addition to educating their inmates, provide educational opportunities whereby outside people come into the prison to help and give ex-offenders jobs when they leave. That is a way of preventing prisoners from reoffending, but the practice is declining. Will my right hon. Friend look into this, please?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. One aspect of Dame Sally’s critically important review will cover engagement with employers. I am delighted that the chief executive of Timpson, one of the most inspirational organisations employing ex-offenders, is part of the team that will help Dame Sally to ensure that education, employability and rehabilitation are all operating together.

School Funding Reform

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

We have benefited from looking at some of the PFI schemes that were inaugurated under the previous Government. The James review drew various appropriate lessons about how we could ensure, through standardised design and more effective procurement, that we can save money right at the beginning of any process. My colleagues in the Treasury have today published a report revealing how it has managed to bear down on costs in existing PFI schemes, never mind new ones. Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to Ministers in the Treasury, and to the campaigning energy of my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman). Together, they have ensured that we will make sure that PFI works in the interests of the whole public.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement of the fair funding formula, which is something I have been championing for more than 20 years, since local management of schools let the genie out of the bottle, with local authorities publishing school spending. It is not fair that one school gets £4,000, while another gets £8,000, for the education of young children. Can I get an assurance from the Secretary of State that he will look into rural funding and so-called leafy suburbs, and that they will not be left out? They have always been penalised in the past by local authority funding. Will he also look at the funding for Lees Brook school, which takes a lot of pupils from my area, and is falling down? I have sent him the documentary evidence of that.

[Michael Gove]

A case for fairness well made, which we will seek to meet.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Monday 15th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. I have had the opportunity to meet Baroness Campbell on a number of occasions; I have had dinner with her and I also met her at a school in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes). The crucial question for all schools is, “Do you want more freedom or less?” We are giving schools more freedom. All schools that wish to continue to enjoy specialist status, be they specialist sports, science or technology schools, will have that freedom. What we have done is remove the bureaucratic prescription that went alongside it, and that is because we on this side of the House trust professionals, whereas those on that side of the House continually sought to fetter them.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

I welcome the fact that the Secretary of State is giving more freedom to schools, because they really do need it, and the fact that there will be a national funding formula. How soon is that likely to be introduced? Many schools, including those that became grant-maintained and foundation schools, have been waiting for it for many years, and I know that academies are looking forward to it as well.

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, and I want to underline that we have been consulting on moves to a national funding formula. The former Prime Minister and Member for Sedgefield was himself keen to move towards a national funding formula in order to eliminate some of the inequities within the schools system. We want to ensure that, as we move towards such a formula, schools themselves have their voices heard, so that we can do everything possible to eliminate the inequities that existed under the previous Government.

Education Policy

Debate between Michael Gove and Pauline Latham

Monday 18th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s remarks this afternoon. Will he assure me that he will ensure that the pupil premium gets to every child, no matter where they live?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s point. It is crucial that we ensure that disadvantaged children across the country receive the money that they need. One of the inefficiencies in schools funding under the previous Government was that disadvantaged children, particularly those in rural areas, often did not receive the support that they needed to achieve their full potential. We want to ensure that poverty knows no boundaries, and that the ways in which we will tackle it know no boundaries either.