Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Lynne Featherstone]

DFID has a number of great literacy programmes across all states. It works very closely with Save the Children and funds a great many of its projects.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

8. What assessment her Department has made of the implications for its development programmes of recent elections in Bangladesh.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

We are watching events carefully in Bangladesh following the recent elections. We have no intention of rushing into any decisions and have not cancelled any existing programmes.

[Nick de Bois]

Does the Minister agree that much money from his Department is put to good use but that investment in encouraging democracy among the people is wasted when the leaders seem not to wish to practise it?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I would be happy to meet them. We have listened carefully to the Trussell Trust. One thing that it wanted to see done by this Government and the previous Government was to allow food banks to be promoted in jobcentres. We have allowed that to happen. That has increased the use of food banks, but it is important to do the right thing rather than something that might just seem politically convenient.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Q2. The Prime Minister is aware of the tragic case of a two-year-old boy taken to Chase Farm urgent care centre at 3 am for the emergency care he needed. Despite the best efforts of a senior nurse and the paramedics who took him to North Middlesex hospital he was tragically pronounced dead at 4 am. I know that we cannot comment on the case until a full report is published, but does he agree that the effect of reconfigurations, often put through despite local opposition, including from me, is that we are asking people to decide where to go for help at moments of great personal stress? Does he further agree that we must do more to explain the choices to help them decide? On publication of the report, will he meet me to see whether lessons can be learned and changes made?

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. This is an absolutely tragic case. I offer my deepest sympathies to Hashir’s family. Anyone who has taken a desperately ill child to hospital in the middle of the night when the child is at risk knows what an incredibly desperate time it can be. I understand that the hospital is carrying out a full and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances around that poor child’s death. I have asked the Health Secretary to discuss the findings of the investigation with my hon. Friend once it is completed. We must ensure that everything is done to avoid these terrible incidents happening in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Wednesday 26th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

We do that regularly, and—in answer both to that question and the previous question—we also reiterate that Palestinians have access to only 20% of west bank water resources, which means that Palestinians have the lowest access to fresh water in the region. As the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) said, 90% of drinking water in Gaza does not meet international standards. We continue to call on Israel to cease actions that prevent Palestinians from gaining access to the clean drinking water to which we are all entitled.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

7. What assessment he has made of the international development outcomes of the UN General Assembly; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

Our focus at the United Nations General Assembly was threefold: maintaining momentum on the girls and women agenda; driving forward the lessons of the Government’s humanitarian and emergency response review; and ensuring that people focus on achieving the millennium development goals by 2015. Progress is being made in each area.

[Nick de Bois]

I thank the Minister for that answer. A year on from the Secretary-General’s Every Woman, Every Child initiative, launched at last year’s General Assembly, what progress is the UK making on the commitment to save the lives of 50,000 women and 250,000 newborns?

[Mr Mitchell]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comment. We now publish—in the bilateral aid review and the multilateral aid review—precisely who we will support to achieve those objectives and how we will do it. Over the coming years we will be able to demonstrate that we are going further than we set out in the bilateral aid review, and the results that we achieve in all these areas—particularly in saving lives and advancing contraception—point to extremely good progress.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick de Bois Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I know how important the passport office has been to Newport and how many jobs it has provided. Obviously we want to see diverse economies right across our country. That is what the regional growth fund is there to help to achieve in areas that are threatened with public sector job reductions, but I will certainly look at the specific question that the hon. Gentleman asks and ensure that he gets an answer.

[Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con)]

Q9. The Prime Minister will recall his visit to my constituency hospital, Chase Farm, in support of the campaign to prevent the then forced closure of the A and E and consultant-led maternity services. Does he agree that we should keep to our policy of no forced closures, particularly given the fact that our local GPs—our Enfield GPs—are opposed to them, as indeed are residents to the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey strategy?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Any local changes to the NHS have to meet four tests: they have to have the support of local GPs; they have to have strong public and patient engagement; they have to be backed by sound clinical evidence; and they have to provide support for patient choice. There were no tests like that under the last Government, who had all these top-down reconstructions. There are now tests, and they will be adhered to by this Government.