Point of Order

Penny Mordaunt Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order, to which I was about to respond, but I see that the Minister in question is on the Treasury Bench and is anxious to catch my eye. I do not want to disappoint her.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Penny Mordaunt)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. In my answer, I said:

“My hon. Friend the Minister for Employment has met all the MPs who are concerned about those locations across Glasgow, and my hon. Friend the Minister for Welfare Reform has met Scottish Ministers to discuss the issue.”—[Official Report, 9 January 2017; Vol. 619, c. 15.]

I was referring to the Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Delivery, and I should have said “the Minister for Welfare Delivery”. The Minister for Welfare Reform is in the House of Lords. For that, I profusely apologise. On these matters and others, not least the devolution of welfare, our doors are always open for meetings with Scottish Ministers, and good outcomes are contingent on good dialogue. I would not want this point of order to give a contrary impression.

[Mr Speaker]

That was a gracious acknowledgement of the situation by the Minister, and I feel that honour has been served.