Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Ian C. Lucas

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

This is a matter for the Home Office. The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 requires the legislation to be reviewed within 30 months, so the review of that Act will happen in late 2018.

[Ian C. Lucas]

Wrexham, like many other towns up and down the country, is being blighted by the impact of so-called Spice. I received a letter this month from the Home Office that directly contradicts a letter from the Minister on the question of whether the possession of Spice is an offence. The confusion is causing real enforcement problems for police officers, who have already had their numbers cut by this Government. Will the Minister take this matter more seriously and act urgently to confront this really serious problem?

[Mr Gyimah]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is a serious problem and, as I have said before, it is also a problem in our prisons. Possession of Spice in a custodial setting is an offence and is subject to imprisonment. If the hon. Gentleman could forward me his letter from the Home Office, I will look into this in more detail and get back to him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Ian C. Lucas

Monday 1st December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

The Secretary of State rightly takes an interest in this. In fact, all members of the Government recognise the quality of maintained nursery schools, and we will take all necessary steps to make sure that they can grow and continue to thrive.

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

10. If she will make an assessment of the public benefit contributed by schools in the private sector.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Ian C. Lucas

Monday 21st July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

The hon. Lady forgot to mention that we currently have the lowest ever level of NEETs, thanks to this Government’s long-term economic plan. As I said in response to the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans), many education providers already have excellent links with employers, as the CBI says, and what they want to see is organisations such as the National Careers Service, Jobcentre Plus, local enterprise partnerships and education business partnerships offering support to schools. That is how we will get our young people into work.

[Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)]

9. What assessment she has made of the effect on admission numbers for sixth-form colleges of funding changes since 2010.