Bullying and Harassment: Cox Report

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Tuesday 16th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The House will have heard what my hon. Friend has to say. As I have said all the way through, what the House Commission will be doing is reviewing the recommendations in Dame Laura’s report and taking action as it sees fit. That is not a matter for me; that will be a matter for the House Commission.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

People who are subject to harassment in any workplace in any organisation have the right to a rigorous and professional process that treats people with dignity. The same is true for staff of the House of Commons. Here we are also in a public and a partisan workplace. How can the Leader of the House reassure the House that people who experience harassment will not have the public and partisan nature of this place used against them? If they think their allegations will be used against any specific individual or for a political agenda, it will put them off coming forward.

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point, and I remind all hon. Members that the point about the independent complaints procedure is that individuals can come forward in confidence: their name is kept confidential, as is the name of the person they are making allegations about. Only in the event that the complaint is upheld and it needs to go to the Standards Committee, rather than be dealt with by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards herself, could the perpetrator’s name ever come out into the open. That is the whole point of the complaints procedure. From all the evidence that we took from victims, it was clear that they would not come forward, rightly as the hon. Gentleman says, if they were going to be re-victimised by some sort of partisan attack on them or by the media spotlight and so on. So, very importantly, it was at the core of the process that the complainant’s confidentiality should be protected.

Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 17th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am delighted that my right hon. Friend is delighted that we have been able to bring forward Government time for a debate on serious violence. It is an incredibly concerning matter—right hon. and hon. Members across the House have raised it with me on a number of occasions—so I am very pleased that we will be debating that subject. As to his second request, I am aware of the letter from him and the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). Although there is a great deal of competing demand for time in the Chamber, I will consider it very seriously.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

My constituent Ramatoulie is a British citizen who was born in the Gambia. She recently discovered her birth certificate, issued in the Gambia in the 1950s, which showed that she was five years older than she had previously thought. When she informed British Government agencies, all accepted the new age except UK Visas and Immigration. The Passport Office is now refusing to issue a new passport to her. For the past three years I have spoken to every Immigration Minister and I have written to Government Departments more than a dozen times, but she is still in limbo with no ID and no passport, unable to travel. Will the Leader of the House grant a debate on the issue or bring Ministers here to explain what has gone wrong, how many other people are affected and when Ramatoulie can get her passport?

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman raises a very concerning and important issue. He will be aware that there are Home Office questions on 4 June. Equally, if he wants to write to me, I can take it up directly with Home Office Ministers. I have to say to hon. Members, though, that someone discovering that they are five years older than they thought they were would be troubling enough without the further problems that his constituent has had to suffer.

Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 16th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her thanks to the members of the working party, which certainly is a time commitment. All the Members involved and our colleagues from MAPSA and Unite are working hard on it, so I echo her thanks to them. She asks about those who are here on short-term placements, and it is intended that those individuals would also be able to access the grievance procedure.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Leader of the House will agree that by the time an allegation is made, we have potentially already failed employees. Will she reassure that House that the system will not just be reactive and respond to allegations, but engage and prevent potential incidents from happening in the first place? Every other employee under a good employer enjoys that privilege in the workplace. Can people who work here say the same?

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman is exactly right and raises an important point. When a complaint has been made, something has already failed. The working party hopes that the creation a new system of complaints will by its very existence change the culture in this place. I reiterate that we do have examples of good employers and teams that work extremely well right across the parliamentary estate. Many MPs, peers, chiefs of staff, and senior parliamentary assistants are very good employers and treat their staff with the utmost respect. Nevertheless, he is right to point out that we need to change the culture. By providing proper support for employment matters, which is the intention of the working party, by offering proper training to those who employ staff, and by creating a proper grievance procedure, I hope and expect that we will also change the culture and significantly reduce the number of complaints that need to be made.

Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely understand the concerns of the right hon. Lady’s constituents, although she will agree that the care that her constituents receive is of paramount importance. The reality is that there are hospitals in the NHS and in London that are doing very well. If there are hospitals that are not doing well, it is not necessarily a national policy issue; it is about sorting out why some are doing well and some are not, and ensuring that best practice is spread across the whole health service.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

Even though the right hon. Gentleman and I are on different sides of the referendum debate, I am sure that we both want to move forward in the right way, and to get the detail right. Once the Government have agreed the terms of negotiation, will the Leader of the House at that point give Members enough time to debate those terms in the Chamber, compare them with the promises made by the leave campaign and make sure that what the public voted on was the right thing?

[Chris Grayling]

I am absolutely certain that over the next few months, as we prepare our strategy for negotiation and as we begin the negotiations, the Government will wish to provide ample occasion for what is being done to be discussed and debated in this House.

Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

That is an important issue. The Business Secretary will be here on Tuesday and I will ask him to be prepared to address it then. All too often, the people who are to be found looking for work in these places are operating within a gangmaster culture that is below the radar and not within the legal framework of work in this country, and it is likely that they are being exploited.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

Last year, Sir Nicholas Macpherson said that he would not hesitate to call in the police if the Budget were leaked. Should any stories about this year’s Budget appear in the papers this weekend, will the Leader of the House join this most senior of officials in calling for the police to investigate, and will he give time for this House to debate it?

[Chris Grayling]

I am sure that, if the civil service and the permanent secretary at the Treasury think anything untoward and illegal has been done, he will take appropriate action.

Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

It transpired that last winter the South East Coast Ambulance Service trialled a new triage system, which put 25,000 patients in danger and could well have led to the loss of life of up to 25 people. Will the Leader of the House bring Health Ministers before us to answer questions about what they knew and when they knew it, and ensure that this has not occurred in any other ambulance trust in the country?

[Chris Grayling]

We share the same ambulance trust, and I share the hon. Gentleman’s concern. The Secretary of State for Health will be here on Tuesday week, so I would encourage the hon. Gentleman to put that point directly to him. I will make the relevant Ministers aware that this is a matter of concern to Members.

Business of the House

Peter Kyle Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I commend my hon. Friend for the work he has done in this important area. He is a great champion for the health service in his constituency and for his constituents who need healthcare. I will make sure that the Secretary of State for Health is aware of the concerns my hon. Friend raises, and gives him a response before we come back in September.

[Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)]

In Transport questions, on a question on parallel tracks, the Secretary of State moved into a parallel universe when he refused to answer a question about the Brighton main line 2 rail upgrade programme and a feasibility study mentioned on page 69 of the Budget Red Book, which clearly states that the feasibility study exists. The rail Minister could not give the answer because the study does not exist, as revealed in a parliamentary answer I received this week. May we have a statement to bring clarity to the situation? Either the Department for Transport or the Chancellor is in danger of misleading the House.

[Chris Grayling]

If the hon. Gentleman wants to put the question directly to the Chancellor, he will be here on Tuesday for Treasury questions. The hon. Gentleman could also request an Adjournment debate in which he could put his questions directly, over a longer period of time, to the Minister concerned.