Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think that Lord Kerslake made the right decision in stepping down as chairman of King’s College Hospital. I am not surprised that the Labour party is interested in this, given, of course, that the noble Lord Kerslake is a key adviser to the Labour party. The hon. Gentleman might care to look at what NHS Improvement said about King’s College Hospital:

“The financial situation at King’s has deteriorated very seriously over recent months and we have now placed the trust in special measures to maximise the amount of scrutiny and support that it receives…It is not acceptable for individual organisations to run up such significant deficits when the majority of the sector is working extremely hard to hit their financial plans, and in many cases have made real progress.”

It called the situation

“the worst in the NHS”.

Perhaps it is no surprise that the noble Lord Kerslake, I understand, is advising the Labour party on matters of debt and deficit.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

Q7. At the end of their first, and successful, term, will my right hon. Friend congratulate the teachers, the parents and the students of the Newark free school? The school is designed to raise standards and performance in Newark, as is happening across the country. Would my right hon. Friend agree that, to Conservatives, great teaching like this is not just about education; it is a daily battle for social justice, and we will never be distracted from that?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. First, I am happy to join him in congratulating all those who were involved in setting up this much needed free school. I know that my hon. Friend, as the chair of governors, will ensure that the school does provide young people in his constituency with an excellent education, despite, I understand, the school being opposed by the Labour party. My hon. Friend is absolutely right: this is not just a question of education; it is a question of social justice. A good-quality education opens the door to the future for the lives of every one of those young people, and that is why it is so important that we ensure the quality of education is there to give young people the best possible start in life.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I agree with the hon. Lady about how important it is that people do have security, particularly when they are looking after disabled children and they need that help. That is why we have been encouraging longer-term tenancies alongside the standard six-month tenancies, and we want to see those developed in the market.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

First they sold our gold reserves at a record low and then they tried to freeze our energy prices at a record high. Does not this latest display of economic illiteracy confirm that only this Government can prevent us, to be blunt—

[Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con)]

James Blunt.

[Robert Jenrick]

James Blunt. Does not that confirm that only this Government can prevent us from returning back to bedlam?

[The Prime Minister]

I think I caught some of that, although I may need to buy the album to get the rest of it, but the point is a good one. The Opposition’s policy of freezing energy prices at the top of the market would be denying the price cuts that are now coming through to customers around this country. But the key to all this is to stick to our long-term economic plan, which again today is seeing unemployment fall and the number of people in work rise to record levels—something which I am sure we are going to welcome right across the House of Commons.