Business of the House
Debate between Sarah Edwards and Lucy Powell(3 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend asks a very important question. She is absolutely right: bringing back neighbourhood policing is a key task for the Home Secretary. Part of our manifesto and of our “first steps” commitments to this country was that we would recruit an additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers; steps towards that have already been taken. It is also a key plank of the crime and policing Bill, which was announced in the King’s Speech and will come before the House in due course.
Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) (Lab)
Greenacres school in my constituency is sinking. Five years ago, it applied to the risk protection arrangement scheme after concerns about drainage. It has been closed since March, and pupils and parents are rightly worried about the school’s future. May we have a statement about what the Government are doing to review whether such schemes are fit for purpose and whether the rest of our school buildings are at risk from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and other conditions?
Lucy Powell
I am really sorry to hear that the school in my hon. Friend’s constituency is in such a state of disrepair. I am afraid it is a familiar story. Our schools estate is in a very poor state and is in need of serious investment, for which I am afraid sufficient funding is not available at the moment. I know that these matters are of concern to the Secretary of State for Education; my hon. Friend may wish to raise them at Education questions, which are coming up after the recess.
Business of the House
Debate between Sarah Edwards and Lucy Powell(4 months ago)
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Lucy Powell
The hon. Member raises a good point. He and I have discussed transport issues, and I support his call for greater transport infrastructure investment across our regions, and especially in the north, which I am afraid was distinctly lacking under the previous Government. I will raise that matter with the Transport Secretary, and I have no doubt that she will come before the House in due course. As I said in the business statement, she will bring forward a Bill the week after next, and he could raise those issues then if he has not heard from her before.
Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) (Lab)
May I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your re-election? My constituency has a large number of villages and a rural contingent. While I welcome the announcements yesterday in the King’s Speech, I wonder whether there is further information about how we will deal with flooding and, in particular, the flood resilience taskforce. Although we are in the summer, we will fast approach the winter.