Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

It gets a bit rich, doesn’t it—the Labour party talking about debt. The debt would have been so much worse if we had carried on in the profligate way of the Labour Government. We came together as a coalition Government recognising that in the national interest we have to reduce the deficit. We have reduced the deficit by a quarter. It is a programme set out by the Chancellor in his original Budget in 2010 and maintained ever since to eliminate the structural deficit. It is a formidable task. It will not happen in one year. It will happen by 2017, and from that point we will stop the growth of the national debt, which doubled under the previous Government.

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

Plymouth university, the city council and the chamber of commerce are all seeking to bid for the Government’s city initiative. Will my right hon. Friend consider holding a debate on how such Government initiatives are helping cities and towns such as Plymouth, where 38% of working people work in the public sector, and how that can help to rebalance the economy?

[Mr Lansley]

The initial city deals in the largest cities demonstrated how those can energise economic potential by bringing people together and allowing them to think not in terms of what local authorities, universities, chambers of commerce, local enterprise partnerships and central Government do individually, but to put all that together. I will not be parochial, but Cambridge is also submitting an expression of interest in the next round of city deals. I will talk to my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury about whether we might find an opportunity for some of the cities that are coming forward with new expressions of interest in city deals to have, in effect, a shop window to say how they would use that flexibility.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

If the hon. Gentleman specifically wants to raise abuses, I am sure my right hon. and hon. Friends at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would be interested to hear from him. I encourage them to respond to him about the nature of those contracts. In some cases—for example, in relation to the NHS—I looked at some of those contracts, and they can play a part in the effective management of a work force and may sometimes be in the interests of workers themselves, as well as their employer. It is all a matter of what the appropriate circumstances are. The hon. Gentleman might like to look for an Adjournment debate or some other opportunity in order to raise these issues.

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

In the light of the recent rioting in east Belfast, some have suggested that some of the youngsters involved feel that they are not included in the decision-making process. At what stage does my right hon. Friend think Parliament should assess progress on the Good Friday agreement, especially as far as community relations are concerned?

[Mr Lansley]

I further remind the House and my hon. Friend of the opportunity to raise such issues with my right hon. Friend the Northern Ireland Secretary and her colleagues on Wednesday next week.

My hon. Friend will be aware that the 1998 Belfast agreement clearly set out the constitutional position in Northern Ireland and the accountability mechanisms that follow from it. I also say to my hon. Friend that the violence and public disorder in Belfast is completely unjustifiable; I do not think it is justified or excused by reference to any issues of that kind.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 10th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The Queen’s Speech foreshadows legislation; it always says, among other things:

“Other measures will be laid before you.”

Indeed, in this Session we have introduced a number of Bills, which were desired for a number of reasons, that were not foreshadowed in the Queen’s Speech—the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, the HGV Road User Levy Bill and the Bill relating to infrastructure guarantees —and that will continue to be the case in future.

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

As my right hon. Friend may know, climate change week this year is between 4 and 10 March. During the course of Christmas, Devon and Cornwall were badly flooded. May I ask for a debate on climate change during climate change week?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. He and other Members might like to discuss this with the Backbench Business Committee. Debates of this character, enabling us to look at such issues, are often more suitable for Back-Bench time rather than Government time, given the way time is now structured in the House; nevertheless, I entirely understand and he quite properly raises the issue with sufficient time for it to be considered.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I do not know whether we have any immediate opportunity for such a debate. I recall that when the Chancellor of the Exchequer came here and made a statement announcing that appointment, it was welcomed right across the House, including by the hon. Gentleman’s Front Benchers. The truth of the matter, as the Chancellor clearly stated, is that if we want to get the very best person in the world for this job, we have to be prepared to put in place the contract to make that happen.

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

There has been a great deal of speculation in the press that the Government are going to review the inflation target that they set for the Bank of England. Indeed, the Bank of England has failed for some while now to hit that target. May we kindly have a debate or a statement on the criteria that the Treasury will use to work out the inflation target that the Bank of England should be trying to hit?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend knows, I hope, that we have no plans to change the inflation targeting framework that was set out in the Bank of England Act 1998. As he rightly says, for a significant period that target was not being met, but the framework makes that transparent because it requires the Governor of the Bank of England to write to the Chancellor to explain why it has not happened. Inflation has substantially reduced in the past year or so. Alongside the fiscal credibility of the Government, that gives international markets and businesses confidence in the credibility of our monetary policy too.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 13th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I have seen the letter my right hon. Friend sent to schools, in which he made the absolutely fair point that, on the basis of ballots in which there was a very poor turnout, there is a minority of teachers who are prejudicing the interests of children in schools. My right hon. Friend was not saying that he was going to do anything; instead he was making it very clear that the Government support schools, as the employers of teachers, in making the right decisions on behalf of their children.

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

Everyone knows somebody who has been affected by dementia. On Monday I attended a seminar at Stoke Damerel community college organised by Ian Sherriff, a well-known campaigner based at Plymouth university, which was also led by the well-known broadcaster Angela Rippon. May I add my support to calls for a debate in Backbench Business Committee time on dementia, as it is an important issue? Will my right hon. Friend also tell us what progress has been made with the Prime Minister’s dementia challenge?

[Mr Lansley]

The Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel), is present and will have heard my hon. Friend’s request for a debate on dementia. I was with the Prime Minister when we launched the dementia challenge in the early part of the year. I will not give my hon. Friend a complete and comprehensive list of the many things that are happening, but the dementia-friendly community part of the challenge is resulting in the launch of a new dementia friends scheme, the delivery of awareness sessions on dementia to 1 million people, and some £54 million being made available to support dementia diagnosis in hospitals, because we know that there is under-diagnosis in this country, and we need to improve the situation. A substantial capital fund is also being created to support dementia-friendly health and care environments.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 6th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me for not remembering the precise date, but an Adjournment debate was initiated by the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on fire stations and the fire and rescue authority. These are matters for the fire and rescue authority and the Mayor of London, but I do recall that Ministers responded to the debate. If there is anything to be added since it took place, I will ask Ministers to correspond with him.

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

Last week, Plymouth and Cornwall were cut off by rail due to flooding and landslips. I welcome yesterday’s announcement by the Chancellor that he will spend £5 billion on investing in our infrastructure and that part of the A30 in Cornwall will be dualled. Please can we have a wider debate on infrastructure in the south-west to discuss the railway line from Exeter to Plymouth, improvements to the A38 and the potential dualling of the A303?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Perhaps he would consider seeking an Adjournment debate on economic performance and infrastructure improvements in the south-west to see how they are linked. Having lived in Exeter for four years, I have some sympathy with him. I remember how the A303 was back in those days. It is better now than it was then, but there are still a few bottlenecks.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I thought that I had made that clear in response to an earlier question. Both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister will be making statements this afternoon on behalf of the Government—they are ministerial statements.

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

As my right hon. Friend may know, at least 12 male Members of Parliament and a number of the House’s staff are taking part in “Movember” to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer charities. I am doing so on behalf of the Chestnut Appeal in Devon and Cornwall. May we have a debate to discuss the importance of tackling prostate cancer?

[Mr Lansley]

We are now right at the end of “Movember”, so this is an opportunity to thank my hon. Friend, other colleagues and members of the House service who have given such a splendid tonsorial display in support of research into better treatments for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and so on. Members from across the House will know of friends or loved ones who have suffered from prostate cancer. There are real opportunities, both through earlier diagnosis and in the development of further treatments. Treatments such as brachytherapy and robotic surgery have improved significantly the chances of those who suffer from prostate cancer, and there is more that we can achieve.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will, of course, discuss the matter with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. I have had occasion to meet, by way of example, members of the Plymouth Brethren in my constituency, who have raised these issues with me, and I will of course discuss them with my colleagues.

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

Earlier this year, the all-party group on pharmacy published its report on the shortage of medicines from local pharmacies. The group had a meeting earlier this week with my noble Friend Earl Howe, the Health Minister responsible for pharmacy, to give us an update on the Department of Health’s progress, which was not as fulsome as I would have liked it to be. May we please have a debate on that important issue, so that my constituents can know where they stand on the future supply of the important medicines on which they depend?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend will be aware, because we discussed the subject when I was Secretary of State for Health, that the supply chain for medicines is very complicated, and that it can be a very small number of medicines that are in short supply at any given moment, sometimes for reasons outside anyone’s control. For example, recently there were fires in Italy, which led to the inability to access the right medicines at the right time; but in so far as it can be managed, the Department has been pursuing supply chain initiatives that are intended to enable that to happen. I will talk to my hon. Friends at the Department of Health. I know they will want to be as helpful as they possibly can be in showing how we can improve reassurance for patients about their access to medicines.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

With the police and crime commissioner elections coming up next Thursday, there is a great opportunity for us not only to raise the public’s sense of accountability in policing but morale among the police. The police can take pride in what they have achieved in reducing the levels of crime by 10%. That is the measure of what we ask of them and the measure against which they are performing. Additionally, by strengthening the engagement between police services and local communities, the police and crime commissioner elections offer a tremendous opportunity.

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

Next year, Zimbabwe will face a general election. May we have a debate on how the proceeds from the Marange diamonds are being used by ZANU-PF to intimidate Zimbabweans in the run-up to the general election?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. He will recall that the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), described in a Westminster Hall debate in July how we are approaching the issues relating to the militarisation of diamond finance. We are continuing to work with the non-governmental organisation Global Witness and other partners to consider the evidence prior to discussions with EU partners and, where appropriate, we will seek to retain or add names to the EU targeted measures list if there is a compelling legal justification to do so. I shall ask my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary further to update my hon. Friend.

Business of the House

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Thursday 25th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I will of course talk to my hon. Friends at the Department for Work and Pensions, so that they reply specifically to the hon. Gentleman, but my understanding is not that the changes to universal credit rule out the possibility of direct payment, but merely that it is important that they be assessed and examined to ensure they are appropriate. Wherever possible, we want those in receipt of universal credit to feel like they are in work. We do not want to change the sense of that, so that they get their pay and it is their responsibility to live within their means.

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

Earlier this week, I attended a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Glasgow. One issue discussed was that of marine and renewable energy. It appeared that few people were aware of the role that the south-west was playing in delivering that. May we have a debate on this important issue, so that we can promote the south-west and its contribution in this area?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, not least for attending the BIPA, which I know is valued on both sides of the Irish sea. I hope that we will have the opportunity for that debate. He might want to look to have it when we consider the Energy Bill. The Government attach considerable importance to this matter and have invested more than £17 million in testing and academic facilities for marine energy in the south-west, and are encouraging the region to become the first UK marine energy park. I am sure he will want to illustrate that contribution to our future energy requirements and security during our debate on the Energy Bill.