Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Beresford Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

3. What recent progress has been made on the Northern Estate programme.

[Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley)]

Work has started on changes to Commissioner’s Yard Gate, where an additional secure vehicle access point for deliveries and construction traffic is being constructed. Planning approval and listed building consent have been obtained for preparatory work on 1 Derby Gate. This building will be refurbished and adapted to make it suitable to be used for accommodation for Members, and I believe work will start around the end of this month, when the last occupants are moved out.

[Christian Matheson]

We missed an opportunity with the refurbishment of the Elizabeth Tower, when the work was given to a known blacklisting company. May I therefore ask the hon. Gentleman and the House of Commons Commission whether consideration will be given in the contracts being drawn up for the Northern Estate project to ensuring that companies that are unrepentant blacklisters are not allowed to do work on this site?

[Sir Paul Beresford]

I think we will continue with the procedures we have used before and pick the suitable candidate to do the suitable work on the basis of a number of measures.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

I know from speaking to a number of parliamentary colleagues that certain aspects of the estate, including the Northern Estate, are not great for people with disabilities. What work is being done to make sure this place is more accessible, particularly for colleagues who have a disability?

[Sir Paul Beresford]

Sorry—this must be something to do with my antipodean background—but could the hon. Gentleman please repeat the question, because I did not follow it?

[David Linden]

I am very popular today. I was saying that a number of parliamentary colleagues who have disabilities find it difficult getting around certain parts of the estate. Given that we are doing this refurbishment work, what can be done to make sure that those with a disability are able to move around more freely and that this place is accessible?

[Sir Paul Beresford]

Sorry, but could the hon. Gentleman please do it very slowly, in an antipodean English?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Lindsay Hoyle)]

I think the answer might be that the hon. Gentleman could reply in writing, when he reads the record.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Elmore]

I am Welsh, so God help the hon. Gentleman. Will he confirm that, as part of the Northern Estate refurbishments, he will be doing his utmost, as will the commission, to make sure that we use local procurement, find as much of the workforce as we can from within the United Kingdom and make sure that where there are skills gaps we work with the further and higher education sector to find training for local employees and groups?

[Sir Paul Beresford]

That makes eminent sense to me. I know one of the firms particularly well and it is using that approach, particularly for training, including of apprentices, so that we can benefit as a community as well.

The hon. Member for Gainsborough, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission, was asked—

--- Later in debate ---

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What estimate the Commission has made of the cost to the public purse of emergency childcare provision for Members and House staff.

[Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley)]

It costs some £54,000 annually.

[Meg Hillier]

The measure to introduce emergency childcare fills me with some nervousness. If Officers of the House or, indeed, Members need emergency support, we should be inculcating a culture of providing those Officers of the House with time off to deal with their children, rather than encouraging them to buy in childcare when that may not be the right thing to do. In addition to the costs, how many Members or members of the House staff have availed themselves of and drawn down this emergency childcare provision?

[Sir Paul Beresford]

My cynicism matches the hon. Lady’s cynicism, but it is a trial. I shall write to her with the actual figures because I was not able to get them, although I was staggered to find out that the service gives parents in the House the opportunity to access 1,450 nurseries, 2,900 child minders, 1,000 holiday clubs and hundreds of nannies. As a parent, which the hon. Lady is, she will realise that sometimes everything goes wrong with childcare and, going by my experience with my children, who are now grown up, it is always at the last, disastrous minute.

The hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, was asked—