Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Rob Roberts

Thursday 25th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

What a fabulous good news story. I join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating them all. Members will know that this is a subject close to my heart. I have gone above and beyond to save my local lido, which will this year undergo a huge heritage refurbishment, thanks to the levelling-up fund. These things would not be possible without an army of volunteers, first standing to ensure that the community asset transfer occurs, and then also helping to run the facilities and to engage the community. What a wonderful story. If the hon. Gentleman manages to secure a debate, I will come and listen.

[Mr Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

It will shortly be 25 years since the establishment of the Welsh Assembly, so we have had 25 years of 60 Senedd Members stealing a living from the taxpayer while delivering zero identifiable benefits for the people of Wales to explain their existence. At the Welsh Affairs Committee recently, the Secretary of State for Wales was unable to name even three benefits of devolution when I questioned him. In 1997, the Labour Secretary of State for Wales in this place said that devolution was “a process”, “not an event” and should be continuously reviewed—

[Mr Roberts]

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Members of the Senedd may be questionably obtaining a salary for not doing a great deal of work—that may be a better way of putting it.

Will the Leader of the House confirm which Department should be reviewing devolution and when the last review was? Can we have a debate on whether the people of Wales are happy with having devolution at all?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question is that it is the Minister with responsibility for the constitution whose remit will cover such matters. The problems he raises relate to the performance of the Welsh Labour Government. I think it is the longest period of time that Labour has been in power, and we can really see, given the state of the NHS and the other things that it looks after, what a blueprint for a Labour Government looks like.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Rob Roberts

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sorry to hear the distress that the hon. Lady’s constituents are in. She did not pre-warn me of this issue, and I want to do my best to ensure that her constituents’ concerns are addressed. If she gives me more details I will look into it for her, because I am not aware of why there would be that obstacle to grieving parents doing an understandable thing for their lost child.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

In my largely rural constituency, the love of animals ties my constituents together, from the oldest to the very youngest. I have had more constituency casework on this matter than almost anything, barring the parlous state of the NHS under Labour in Wales. Could the Leader of the House let us know when the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will come back, please?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. I am afraid that business will be announced in the usual way, but I know that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is looking at that Bill. I remind him that we are supporting the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill; we have introduced laws against hare coursing; and we have passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. We have banned glue traps; we have set up the cross-Government pet taskforce; and we have maximised sentences from animal cruelty from six months to five years. We have passed Finn’s law and Lucy’s law; we have modernised our licensing system; we have banned commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens; and we have introduced mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses. We have introduced many measures to improve the welfare of meat chickens, laying hens, cats, dogs, equines and pigs. We have banned the conventional use of cages for laying hens and we have introduced legislation against horse fly-grazing in England. I could go on, but I would be trying your patience, Mr Speaker. We care deeply about animal welfare and we will bring forward further measures shortly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Rob Roberts

Thursday 27th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Con)]

20. What steps he is taking to ensure that Government suppliers and subcontractors are paid on time.

[The Paymaster General (Penny Mordaunt)]

The Government have a commitment to pay 90% of valid and undisputed invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises within five days. Departments also have a non-executive director responsible for prompt payment, and suppliers now risk being excluded from winning large Government contracts if they cannot demonstrate prompt payment in their supply chain.

[Rob Roberts]

I thank the Paymaster General for that answer. Following on from her responses to my hon. Friends’ questions earlier regarding small and medium-sized businesses, the cash flow of those businesses is the most important factor in their survival, so what assurances can my right hon. Friend give that the timely payment commitment will always extend further down the chain so that small and medium-sized businesses in my Delyn constituency are able to plan ahead with confidence?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I can give my hon. Friend those assurances: we do take those things into account. As far as the Cabinet Office is concerned—of course, it is similar for many other Departments across Government —we are meeting the five-day payment target, and in 99% of cases all invoices are paid within 30 days.