Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Tuesday 1st October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think that we are about to hear the prodigious knowledge of the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) on the Moray growth deal. Wonders never cease.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

21. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Local growth deals like Moray’s would greatly help regional development. The shared prosperity fund would greatly help with improvements to the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff train line, so will the Minister please meet me to consider that possibility?

Business of the House

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 20th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) judged that the situation had changed since his submission of the urgent question, and presumably it had changed to his satisfaction. I know no further than that. I am not surprised that the Leader of the House did not sit on the hon. Member for Stone, and indeed I should be very surprised if any Member on the Treasury Bench attempted to do so, for there has been one consistent thread in the career of the hon. Member for Stone and that is that he has had a relationship with the Whips characterised by trust and understanding—I do not think he has always trusted them and they most certainly have not always understood him.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says that employers should help their staff to take part in physical activity. This measure would improve mental and physical health, and support our NHS, so may we have a statement from the Government about promoting physical activity in the workplace?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Monday 10th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) is welcome to shoehorn his inquiry, Question 16, conveniently into Question 14, if he so wishes, but it is not obligatory.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

16. I have been working with Gwent police and local residents regarding alleged criminality in the village of Cwm. The local police have been great, but clearer 101 call information would ease victims’ concerns. May I ask the Home Secretary to encourage the police to provide more detailed call centre data, including out-of-hours response times and geographic information, for better public involvement and support for our police services?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Monday 14th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

In calling the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith), I take this opportunity to wish him a very happy birthday—might I suggest the 49th?

[Nick Smith]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is very kind of you to give me your best wishes.

Does the Minister not accept that the number of fully trained personnel in each of the armed services is now lower than it was this time last year, making a mockery of the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to maintain the overall size of the armed forces?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 20th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I think we appreciate the Minister’s candour. There was no dissembling there, and we thank him for that.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Merry Christmas to everybody.

Will the Minister confirm that any future trade agreements will not undermine current environmental and animal welfare standards?

Police Pension Liabilities

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Tuesday 6th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The House will have noticed that the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) has perambulated. He was over there!

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I am trying to get your attention, Mr Speaker. What does the Minister suggest Gwent police do: cut 100 police officer jobs or make local precept payers make up the difference?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Wednesday 24th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

It is always a pleasure to hear the dulcet tones of the hon. Gentleman, but I said “Owen” rather than “Nick”.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is about non-funded pension schemes, not funding pay rises. It was a nice try, and the hon. Gentleman is a cheeky chappie, but we will leave that one there and come to the other Smith, Nick Smith.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

What is the Minister going to do to protect police numbers, given these financial pressures?

Business of the House

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 7th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I hope colleagues will want to join me in congratulating the hon. Members for Southend West (Sir David Amess) and for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) in the week, if memory serves me, that they mark the 35th anniversary of their election to the House. They have served continuously ever since their first election.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

This July sees the 70th birthday of the national health service. Our House should celebrate this brilliant institution and its architect, one of my predecessors, Aneurin Bevan. May we have a debate in Government time to look at the services, the funding and the future of this much loved public service?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 24th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

I am bound to say that Lewisham station is a very considerable distance from Blaenau Gwent, which the hon. Gentleman represents, but perhaps he has a connection with south-east London of which I am unaware and about which I am shortly to be enlightened. Who knows? I call Mr Nick Smith.

[Nick Smith]

Rail accessibility is an important topic, so will the £430 million saved by not electrifying the Cardiff to Swansea line still be spent in Wales?

[Mr Speaker]

Very naughty indeed!

Point of Order

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 3rd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Will you advise us on the best way to introduce money resolutions, so that the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill, which is in the legislative pipeline, can be brought forward as soon as possible?

[Mr Speaker]

The answer to the hon. Gentleman is that money resolutions are brought forward only on the say-so of Ministers. That is the way the system works. I am conscious of some unease on this matter—an unease that should have been heard, and must be heard, on the Treasury Bench. People are awaiting such resolutions, and it would be appreciated if colleagues felt confident that there was a logic and reasonableness to the decision-making process. Nevertheless, I must say to the hon. Gentleman that it is not a decision-making process in which I am involved. The Leader of the House is seated on the Treasury Bench and will have heard what the hon. Gentleman had to say.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Thursday 1st March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Notwithstanding what the Minister said about the hat—he talked about taking his hat off—I would not have thought he would want to do so in the present weather, as a protective function.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Many community transport operators use diesel vehicles, so what representations have the UK Government made to the German Government to hold Volkswagen to account for its emissions scandal?

Points of Order

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. During business questions last Thursday, I asked the Leader of the House about the “eye-watering” interest rates charged by rent-to-own firms. In response, she said that the Financial Conduct Authority

“has capped the interest rates that such companies are allowed to charge”—[Official Report, 1 February 2018; Vol. 635, c. 1002.]

Unfortunately, no such cap has yet been placed on these interest rates. I thought that I would aid the Leader of the House by clarifying the point for the record.

[Mr Speaker]

Well, the hon. Gentleman has achieved his objective. Moreover, he may feel gratified that the Leader of the House is in her place. She is under no obligation to say anything, but she is welcome to do so if she wishes.

Points of Order

Debate between Nick Smith and John Bercow

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the Budget debate, I raised the issue of steelworkers transferring out their pensions. Some financial advisers are fleecing steelworkers, and the regulators have been unco-ordinated and complacent. The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury promised me a response to my speech, but none has been forthcoming. Mr Speaker, do you know whether the Government will be making a statement on this urgent matter?

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his intention to raise that point of order. I recognise that the matter is of considerable concern to him, to many other Members and, indeed, to their constituents. The simple fact is that, as things stand, I have received no indication of any intention on the part of a Minister to make a statement on this matter. Therefore, I am not at present expecting a Minister to offer to do so before we rise for the Christmas recess. However, it is open to the hon. Gentleman to raise the matter at business questions tomorrow, and he is sufficiently experienced in the House to know that a range of mechanisms is open to him to try to secure the attendance in the Chamber of the responsible Minister. I am sure that he will apply what Hercule Poirot would describe as his “little grey cells” to seeking satisfaction on the matter.