Point of Order

Baroness Winterton of Doncaster Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dawn Butler (Brent Central) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. It has recently come to light that a Conservative donor’s firm has been awarded an £11.5 million contract to supply schools affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete with temporary classrooms. David Wernick of Wernick Buildings Ltd, a Tory councillor and previous chair of a Conservative association, has donated £71,000 to the Tories and won Government contracts with a combined total of £20 million. I wish I could say it shocks me, Madam Deputy Speaker, but given this Government’s record, it does not.

On 5 September, I asked a written question to the Department for Education, asking specifically for details of the portacabin providers it had contracted to provide that temporary accommodation. I stated clearly that I wanted the names of the firms contracted. In his reply, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Wantage (David Johnston), failed to provide a substantive and specific answer to my specific question. It is not acceptable for Ministers to reply with obfuscation and avoidance, and I am increasingly concerned that that is becoming the norm in response to parliamentary questions. I seek your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker, on how Members can ensure that in future we get clear, concise and correct responses from the Government.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. As I am sure she knows, the Chair is not responsible for the content of answers to parliamentary questions. Mr Speaker has always made it clear that he wants as much transparency and accuracy as possible. The hon. Lady is fortunate, as I believe the Minister would like to make a point of order.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (David Johnston)]

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, I do not know anything about the first point of the hon. Member for Brent Central (Dawn Butler), but on her second point, I will ask the Schools Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds), to write to her and explain which companies are involved.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

The Minister said that the Government will provide some further information. I am sure that if the hon. Lady does not find that satisfactory, she will come back, but does she wish to make a further point of order?

[Dawn Butler]

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the Minister for that response. If he could please provide information on whether any competition took place before the award of the contract, that would be useful.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I suggest that at this point we do not get into too many details about what will be in the response, but we have started the ball rolling. We await that information being supplied to the hon. Lady, and those on the Treasury Bench will have heard what I said about accuracy and transparency.