Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman on the importance of the memorial for Sunday and that it should not be disturbed. I will, of course, use whatever influence I can bring to bear and speak to my colleagues in the Government and the Mayor’s office to try to secure the action for which the hon. Gentleman asks.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

We are all very keen that young people in Britain should be more engaged in the political process. I understand that you have given permission, Mr Speaker, for the Youth Parliament to meet in this Chamber during Parliament week to debate its “Curriculum for Life” campaign. May I suggest that we should have a debate ourselves about the outcomes of that debate?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I was tremendously impressed by the quality of last year’s UK Youth Parliament debate and in particular the choices it made in pursuing the “Curriculum for Life” campaign. We are looking forward to its sitting in the Chamber on Friday 15 November and I am sure hon. Members will find it a very interesting debate. We may have opportunities ourselves to debate the points it raises. I remind hon. Members that Parliament week, which this year runs from 15 to 21 November, seeks to connect people across the whole country with parliamentary democracy and that this year there will be a special focus on women in democracy, which I know Members will wish to support.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has been assiduous in coming to the House to make statements on how he is trying to secure the best quality of care for patients and tackling failures, some of which are of very long-standing. The right hon. Gentleman will know that I have visited Leicester University hospitals in the past, and I am very familiar with the circumstances that he has described. I will not go into detail, but I will say that if we are going to make the progress that we need to make in many of our hospitals, we need to bring new leadership to the fore in the NHS. Some of our measures to promote a leadership college in the NHS were particularly designed to bring more clinicians to the point at which they will be able to take chief executive posts across the NHS. There are some excellent examples, including Julie Moore at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, and we need more like her who are in a position to give the hospitals the leadership that they need.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Plymouth university’s Peninsula medical and dental schools have been a great success, and the university is keen to expand its excellent health student offer by establishing a new school of pharmacy to help to address health inequalities in the region. Some might say that we are producing too many pharmacists in the UK, but may we have a debate on pharmacy schools, to give us a better understanding of which regions are losing out?

[Mr Lansley]

I have had the benefit of visiting the Peninsula medical school, and seen some of the work being done there alongside Derriford hospital and the dental hospital in Truro. I wish it well in its work. We are working towards reforming pharmacists’ pre-registration training in line with the recommendations of the modernising pharmacy careers programme board. I cannot promise a debate at the moment, but my hon. Friend is right to suggest that there is a case for a discussion on pharmacy numbers and training. The House has not considered the matter for some time, and it would be relevant to do so.

Paid Directorships and Consultancies (MPs)

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr Lee]

I think it does and I will come to that.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Can my hon. Friend help me? Is it the case that as a doctor, he has to practise a bit in order to keep his licence going?

[Dr Lee]

Yes, it is true. With reference to the comments from the shadow Minister, I point out for the record that I applied to the Speaker’s office this morning at 10 o’clock to speak in the debate. On medicine and maintaining professional skills, yes, one has to practise but it is not actually prescribed, so there is a difficulty in determining how many hours I would have to practise as a GP. Indeed, I am currently going through revalidation.

After I was elected, I appeared in that esteemed organ, Private Eye, under the “New Boys” column, which listed my income and suggested that this was wrong. I was challenged at a public meeting—I hold regular public meetings in my constituency—by somebody waving the article at me and telling me that I was a part-time Member of Parliament. I pointed out to him that like most Members in the House, I do upwards of 50, 60 and sometimes 70 hours a week. It is rather different from any other job I have done in my life because I do not feel that I stop working. I am constantly thinking about this role and the challenges that we all face.

I asked the man a series of questions. I asked whether he was a parent, to which he replied yes. I asked, “Do you think that is a full-time job?” and he said yes. I asked him a second question. I said, “In the unlikely event that I am asked to be a Minister, should I say yes or no?” He said, “You should say yes.” I said, “Do you think it is a full-time job being, say, the Defence Minister, the Foreign Secretary or the Prime Minister? Do you think those are full-time jobs?”—not that that is on the horizon. He said, “Of course they are full-time jobs.” I said, “So what you are saying is that being a Minister is a full-time job, being a father is a full-time job, and you are having a go at me for doing about four hours a week as a GP, when I am doing about 60 hours a week as an MP. I think your argument is flawed.”

With reference to whether I should be paid for that or whether I should volunteer, I get the impression that I should be giving my time for free. I think that is a perverse argument. There are Members who want to do voluntary work in addition to their jobs and I congratulate them on that, but the idea that I should not be paid to be a doctor is, I believe, not widely held in my constituency or across the country. Most people would say that I should be paid to undertake that work.

Moving on to the question about what I bring to the Chamber as a doctor, I shall give one example, which is very relevant today. The Care Quality Commission issued a report today on the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a trust that rather bizarrely secured foundation trust status in 2007. The trust is financially unviable and has significant clinical problems, according to the report. I highlighted this at the Department of Health shortly after arrival. My continuing work at the time was in Slough. I was working as a GP and I knew there was a problem. I contacted Monitor, I contacted the CQC, I spoke on the telephone to that fantastic individual, Cynthia Bower, and pointed out to her that there was a problem. I am slightly surprised that it has taken three years for the CQC to conclude that there is a problem, but the fact that I was still working in the area gave me evidence and first-hand experience of what was going on, and my constituents recognise that.

The other example that I can give the House is of the hospital that I would like to see built in the Thames valley. That is based on the experience of working throughout the constituency. In the register of interests, I have various entries because I do not work in just one practice. I work all over the place—whoever will take me—and from that experience I have a regional perspective on the health economy in the Thames valley, a perspective that is almost unique, particularly if one adds to it the fact that I am also a Member of Parliament in the Thames valley. The two together make me a better Member of Parliament for the Bracknell constituency. So although I recognise what the shadow Front-Bench team is trying to do, this is the wrong way to go about it. I ask the Front-Bench team to reflect on that.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Hemming]

I accept that this is about conflicts of interest, and there is a problem when external bodies control what Members of Parliament do. I am a member of a trade union, so I am not anti-trade union, but if the unions are controlling what the Labour party is doing, that is not a good environment.

Similarly, there is a problem with having a second job as a Minister. That really creates a conflict of interest, because Ministers can lose their ministerial salary if they do not vote along party lines in Parliament. We accept that as part of our constitution, but it clearly involves a conflict of interest, in that Ministers have to support the Government. I am lucky as a Back Bencher; people say that I can afford to be independent. I will not lose any income if I happen to rebel against the party.

[Oliver Colvile]

Does the hon. Gentleman remember that, at the beginning of the 20th century, people had to resign their seat if they wanted to become a Cabinet Minister? That must have been pretty devastating at the time.

[John Hemming]

The last such resignation was in the 1960s, when the practice went against the then Government and was brought to an end. The second job of being a Minister is clearly demanding, and it undermines that Member’s constituency activity.

The wording of the motion is absolutely dreadful in that it would pick up one of my businesses but not the other. Why is that? What is the sense in picking up one structure of ownership and not another? The Opposition are also suggesting that we should not take the earned money, but they have no problem with those Members who are shareholders taking unearned income. Traditionally, Labour Members thought that earned income was more acceptable than unearned income, but they now seem to be arguing that we should have our unearned income. That is easy enough for me to structure, as I am in control of my corporate structures, but it is difficult for other people in other circumstances. The whole thing is frankly absurd. It drives us on again to what I think the hon. Member for Derby North was arguing for—the development of a political class. He did say that. He said that the Labour party wants a political class—a concept according to which we work only in politics and do not have any experience outside it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Buckland]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that. I am not the first person to do this—many former Labour Members, including a number of distinguished ones I can think of, did exactly the same and brought great experience to this House. They probably brought greater learning than I do. If we lose touch with that experience, this place will become the poorer. In the race to the hair shirts, we will throw out a lot of the beneficial influences that can be brought into this place.

[Oliver Colvile]

rose—

[Mr Buckland]

I had better not give way any further because I am running out of time. I accept that it is for individual Members to make judgments about the balances they have to strike—believe you me, Madam Deputy Speaker, I view it as a great honour and privilege to serve the people of my constituency, and I think about that every working moment. However, I do feel that I strike a fair balance in the work I do. I am available for my constituents and I work as hard as any other MP to fight for their interests. Bringing into this place the work that I have done in the past and the experience that I have gained, and keeping in touch with it in the way I do during the recess is beneficial.

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Flynn]

The answer is a resounding yes. I am sure that members of the public will write to the hon. Gentleman, because he explained earlier that he left Parliament, playing truant, to go to court and defend someone in a case, and no doubt he was paid a huge sum to do so, but for that period he was paid to be an MP, even though he could not possibly have performed his duties to the full extent that he should have done. Do the public resent that? Yes they do.

[Oliver Colvile]

Earlier this year I had to appear in the jury at the Old Bailey and so had to be away from this place for a week—[Interruption.] Some Members might think that I was there on trial, but I was actually doing my civic duty, and Members of Parliament are now required to do that.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. Mr Colvile, I am not sure that quite fits with paid directorships and consultancies, so I think we will let your good duty in court go—[Interruption.] Sir Edward, I do not think we need any help from you either.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn). I wanted to ask him what he thinks constitute an MP’s hours of salary. He made his case eloquently, but he did not say whether he, when writing his books—I have read some and really enjoyed them—was actually working as an MP. However, that is for another day.

This is another example of how the Opposition suddenly noticed in June 2010 that we have to make lots of changes in this country. Their argument today follows 13 years in which they could have done what they are trying to do today. In fact, in 2009 they backed plans to have greater openness but not a ban on second jobs. As someone who does not have a second job, I suggest that more flexibility is a good thing. I believe strongly in being flexible in our approach but also transparent about it. I think that we have enough transparency. We have the excellent Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, with which we are all acquainted, and the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, in which every Member must list their interests.

[Oliver Colvile]

I have shares in the company I set up. I do no work for it, but I put that in my entry in the register. Should that also be prohibited?

[David Morris]

That makes the point that the whole motion is very badly written. My hon. Friend should be remunerated if he works. My hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies), who was here earlier, is a farmer, and he made a good point. If he earned money from his farm but had to give it away, how would his farm stay open and profitable? He is a Member of Parliament but he has to be a farmer as well.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 11th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Like the hon. Lady, I heard my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State speaking about precisely that issue during Work and Pensions questions. The situation is not as simple as she characterises it. It is clear, as the Trussell Trust itself rightly says, that the availability of food banks has increased, and they have been advertised through jobcentres, which was not the case before the election. The number of people accessing food banks increased by many times before the election and it has increased since.

What I think has been a particularly pointed issue is whether benefit processing times and delays were themselves leading to people accessing food banks. I tell the hon. Lady that benefit processing times have improved over the past five years. The number of benefits processed on time—that is, within 16 days—is up 4% since 2009-10.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Following an unannounced inspection of Derriford hospital in Plymouth, the Care Quality Commission said yesterday that the hospital had failed to meet five of the nine nationally required standards in protecting patients undergoing surgery. Although I know that the chief executive of Derriford hospital is doing a very good job in trying to get this right, may we have a statement from the Secretary of State for Health on the progress being made to ensure that we are not producing any more “never events”?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Health Secretary and his colleagues will answer questions on health matters next Tuesday. Having visited Derriford hospital, I know that it is a big hospital with a lot of dedicated staff who are trying to do an excellent job. When I was Health Secretary, we instituted professionally led, unannounced inspections by the CQC and it is important that they take place. They expose where standards are not what they ought to be and I know that the staff will try to respond.

As Health Secretary I extended the list of “never events” and introduced the open publication of the number and character of them by trust, so that we can see what is happening. I think that that transparency in itself will, as it does in so many other ways, help us drive down the number of such events in the future.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

Many Members listening to what the hon. Lady says will be interested to learn more. If I may, I will contact my colleagues at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the first instance to see how they might respond to the issue that she rightly raises.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Following the Chancellor’s announcement in last week’s comprehensive spending review that the Government will use the LIBOR fines to fund charities such as Combat Stress, and yesterday’s announcement that the Ministry of Defence will make greater use of reservists in defending our country, may we have a debate on mental health, especially for reservists but also for regulars?

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot promise an immediate debate, but I hope that the mental health services that we provide through the NHS and in support of the armed services are not only comprehensive and effective but continually improving. We are continually seeking to improve them. My hon. Friend will recall that my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), who is now the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, produced the “Fighting Fit” report. In implementing it, we have put in place a number of measures that will deliver additional support to any service personnel or veterans who have mental health problems. I hope we will follow through on that as fully as we can.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am sure that many Members share the hon. Lady’s concern about the situation in Zimbabwe, as they have done for many years. I will of course talk to my hon. Friends at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about what form of statement might be made, if appropriate, to update the House. In respect of a debate, I should point out, perhaps not for the first time, that it is clear as a consequence of the Wright Committee reforms that, as significant areas are priorities for the House to debate as Members feel strongly about them, time has been made available to the Backbench Business Committee to accommodate them. It is therefore to the Backbench Business Committee that Members should make their representations. I am happy to stand at the Dispatch Box and be the intermediary to enable that message to be heard by the Committee, but Members should also make the case directly to the members of the Committee that there is a priority for such debates to take place.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that money would be put into helping problem families. Plymouth has a significant number of such families, and that number has stubbornly remained high despite the very best work of Plymouth city council and the various agencies. May we have a debate on this matter, so that all of us who represent challenging inner-city areas can have a conversation about it and share best practice?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend raises an important aspect of the positive announcements made by the Chancellor yesterday. There are now many local authorities —Plymouth clearly is one—that are making increasingly effective use of the resources provided to the troubled families programme. Some £448 million over three years was announced in December 2011 by the Prime Minister, and the extension now announced for funding in 2015-16 enables a further expansion. I cannot offer time at the moment, but my hon. Friend makes an interesting point. Many hon. Members may now feel that they are starting to understand the benefit of this programme and the opportunity that the extension might give, and they are probably starting to think that it is time for them to start sharing that knowledge in this House so people can see the progress we are making.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I confess I do not know the difficulties to which the hon. Gentleman refers, but I will, of course, raise the point with my hon. Friends at the Ministry of Defence and ensure that he secures a reply.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

In 2020, Britain will commemorate and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the pilgrim fathers leaving Plymouth on the Mayflower to go and found the American colonies. Unfortunately, a number of other cities and towns are trying to claim that they should be the centre of celebrating this main historic event. Please may we have a debate on Britain’s relationship with the USA, so that everybody can be aware that Plymouth is the unrivalled home of the start of the special relationship, and a potential prime contender for hosting the G8 in 2020 when it comes to Britain?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend takes a fantastic opportunity to promote Plymouth’s ambitions in that regard. Being from East Anglia, it is not for me to judge these matters, but having been in Massachusetts and gone to Plimoth Plantation, it seems obvious where those who named it that way thought they had come from.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 18th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

That is a very important point. I will talk to my right hon. and hon. Friends, not least at the Department for Work and Pensions, who I hope are aware of what the hon. Lady has described through their Jobcentre Plus network, to see what action they and local authorities can take.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

May I say how much I am looking forward to welcoming you to Plymouth tomorrow, Mr Speaker, to meet HMS Heroes and members of the Youth Parliament?

Does my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House agree that there is only one word to say about yesterday’s funeral of Baroness Thatcher, and that that is “Britannia”?

[Mr Lansley]

In St Paul’s cathedral, where so many heroes of this country are memorialised, I thought yesterday that we were taking our leave not only of a woman who inspired many and achieved so much, but of the first woman Prime Minister. She will figure high among great Britons in future.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

What we want to do is not only to secure best value in procurement, but to ensure that British manufacturers and companies are best placed to deliver it. Today offers an excellent opportunity for the hon. Gentleman to debate growth and, indeed, Michael Heseltine’s important review, with my right hon. Friends and others.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Last month, the all-party group on pharmacy, of which I am the vice-chairman, held an open meeting on the decriminalisation of pharmacists for dispensing errors. As my right hon. Friend will know, pharmacists can be sent to prison for that offence, but unfortunately it appears that general practitioners cannot. Could we have a debate so that we can try to clear up this anomaly and get the Government to announce the timetable for doing so?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, which I know has been of continuing concern to pharmacists for a number of years. I have been concerned to make progress on the issue and the Department of Health has established a programme board to examine the balance between medicines legislation and pharmacy professional regulation in order not only to deliver protection for the public, but to deal with an issue of great concern to pharmacists, and rightly so, because inadvertent errors could leave them vulnerable to criminal prosecution. I hope that that work will be taken forward and I will ask the Department to get back to my hon. Friend about the timetable.

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sadiq Khan]

I need to make some progress but will give way later.

We need to be sure that the completeness and accuracy of the register has not been damaged by the move. As has been said, the Electoral Commission estimates that about 6.5 million eligible voters are currently missing from the register—a truly startling figure. That is enough for almost 90 parliamentary constituencies. The current situation in which we find ourselves is bad enough; it should be imperative on us to do all we can to rectify it.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that if he is successful today, he will be re-creating rotten boroughs, which were got rid of in the 1830s?

[Sadiq Khan]

I think that the Electoral Commission, the Boundary Commission and electoral registration officers will be quite offended by the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I am sure that, on reflection, he will want to withdraw those remarks.