Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Richard Holden and Abena Oppong-Asare(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Ms Oppong-Asare
I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and thank him for his earlier public service in the Royal Marines. I agree with the points that he has raised, and I, too, thank the key workers for all that they did to support and protect us during the pandemic.
The Government will certainly ensure that lessons are learned from the inquiry and the response to the pandemic, and we will take the necessary time to consider the inquiry’s report and assess our resilience in respect of the full range of risks that the United Kingdom faces. Last week the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would chair a committee for resilience, which will improve our health sector, increasing public trust in the Government and kick-starting our economic growth, as well as improving resilience across the UK.
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
Resilience is incredibly important for our country, and it is key to ensure that people in government are working towards that. The last Government mandated that every civil servant had to be in the office for at least three days a week, moving back from what we saw during the covid pandemic. What will the Government do to ensure that our entire civil service workforce is on the frontline and working closely together to ensure that national resilience is embedded across our public sector?
Ms Oppong-Asare
I thank the right hon. Member for his question. As I said, it is important that, as a Government, we work strongly together across the UK. As the Prime Minister mentioned on day one, he will be working with his devolved Government counterparts, and he has announced a Council of the Nations and Regions. That will include our working across all civil service departments to make sure that we learn from the lessons of the past.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Ms Abena Oppong-Asare)
I thank my hon. Friend for the question; I know that the issue is close to his heart, as it is to mine. The publication of the report will mark an important milestone for the Grenfell community, and Parliament will have the opportunity to provide the full and proper scrutiny that the issues deserve. As my hon. Friend said, it is important that bereaved families are also part of that process, and we will work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that all those residents are part of it. The Government will do everything possible to drive the change to ensure that lessons are learned and that a tragedy such as the Grenfell Tower fire can never happen again.
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Richard Holden and Abena Oppong-Asare(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Mr Holden
My hon. Friend will know that his local council, Bolton, is one of the best at information sharing with respect to taxi driving licences across the country. I hope that councils such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sefton, Newcastle and Liverpool will get on board with the voluntary scheme before the mandatory element kicks in soon, because we should not leave people at risk on our services.
Abena Oppong-Asare (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)
When I met the Minister, he gave me assurances that Southeastern timetables would improve in Erith and Thamesmead. He mentioned this morning that all south-east London MPs had received an update. I am one of the MPs who has not. There is an impact on my constituency, so I would like to know why I have not received that update. My hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) has kindly shown me the letter, which partially addresses some of the issues with off-peak services on the Bexley line, but does not address over- crowding across the board, most of which occurs during peak times. Will the Minister look into the matter urgently?