Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dame Tessa Jowell (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State to her new position; she has one of the best jobs in Government. I congratulate the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, the Olympic Delivery Authority, all the public servants across Government, the Government Olympic Executive, the city authorities and the thousands of people who gave their all to deliver a summer that the people of this country will never forget. A special congratulation goes, of course, to our Olympic and Paralympic athletes and to the games makers, who embodied the feeling of the people of this country that these were their games and that they mattered in the contribution to making them such a success. They really did belong to the people of our country.

In congratulating the Minister on his well-deserved promotion, I invite him to take forward one of the important means of delivering the success of the Olympics by continuing the commitment to cross-party working with a plan for sport that will survive for a decade. It should include more primary children playing sport in physical education, more children competing, and adults, throughout their lives, enjoying the pleasure of taking part in sport at all levels. A cross-party approach will guarantee stability. I commend that approach to the right hon. Gentleman.

[Mr Speaker]

We are extremely grateful to the right hon. Lady, whose courtesy is equalled only by her comprehensiveness.

[Hugh Robertson]

Following that, I suppose that we all ought to pay tribute to the right hon. Lady for her comprehensiveness in dealing with this project from the moment the bid was launched, through to delivery. Everybody across the House genuinely would like to recognise her contribution.

The right hon. Lady is right that one lesson from the success of Team GB and ParalympicsGB is the importance of a strategy that is not constantly altered. When I came to office, I called the problem that has constantly plagued the sports world short-term “initiativeitis”. It is our intention to continue with the approach that has served us so well for the Olympics and to ensure, as I am sure everybody in the House wants, that we deliver a tangible legacy from the events of this summer.

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[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The Government have set up a programme to encourage local sports clubs to engage young people and to get them involved in sports after school to create a sporting habit for life, but that will not work unless we have quality sports education in earlier years. In response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), the Minister said that the delivery of school sports partnerships was patchy, but that is not what he said before the general election, when he said that we should be building on school sports partnerships. Sadly, in the past two years, there has been a 40% drop in school sports partnerships and a 60% drop in hours spent outside the classroom by teachers organising sport, and the Government’s PE teacher release money is due to end in August 2013. Will he admit that cutting £162 million from school sports partnerships was a mistake, and will he join the Opposition in calling for the Secretary of State to re-ring-fence that money so that we can have a sporting legacy?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have got the question and we are grateful for it. Let us have the answer.

[Hugh Robertson]

All Members know why that happened, but the key issue is the deficit the Government inherited in 2010. It is absolutely pointless the hon. Gentleman whining unless the Opposition have another policy or are prepared to commit to restoring that money. The shadow Chancellor made it abundantly clear to the TUC last week that there will be no spending commitments of that sort, so it is utterly hypocritical to pursue this until you have an idea of how to put it right.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sure the Minister is not accusing any individual hon. Member of behaving hypocritically. Will he clarify that he is not? He needs to make it clear.

[Hugh Robertson]

I am happy to do so, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the Minister.

[Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to improve access to broadband.

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[Mr Vaizey]

My hon. Friend is right about the importance of competition. Not only is EE, as we must learn to call it, about to roll out 4G services, but we are working with Ofcom to ensure that we can proceed with our auction as quickly as possible and bring 4G services to all mobile operators.

[Mr Speaker]

I remind the House that topical questions and answers are supposed, by convention, to be briefer.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller)]

The thoughts of everyone in the Chamber will be with the families of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Before I turn to the distressing report published by the Hillsborough independent panel yesterday, I want to place on the record my sincere thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of the London Olympics and Paralympics.

As has been said, 2012 will be remembered as the best ever summer in our sporting history. At the start of the Olympics, Lord Coe said:

“These games will bring out the best in us”,

and our athletes answered that call. They did so through not only what they achieved but how they achieved it. They are incredible role models and they did the country proud. But they are not alone. The success of the games was due to thousands of businesses and organisations—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but I must say to the Secretary of State that although I absolutely understand the spirit of her remarks, it is an abuse to use topical questions to make a statement. She must give a brief initial answer and then the supplementary will follow. That is the situation—always has been, always will be.

[Maria Miller]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I would like very briefly to note yesterday’s panel report on the Hillsborough disaster and say that our thoughts are with the families.

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[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Hugh Robertson)]

The answer to that is absolutely yes. We were trying—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not know what this chuntering from a sedentary position is about; all I know is that who answers the question is a matter for those on the Treasury Bench. Let us hear from the Minister.

[Hugh Robertson]

I would have thought that my answering was encouragingly non-gender specific.

We were trying to work this out earlier, but I have a suspicion that the first medal at London 2012, the first gold and, indeed, the last medal were all won by female athletes. They made a huge contribution, both to Team GB and to Paralympics GB. All of us absolutely want to do everything possible to build on that and use it to encourage more young women to get into sport.

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[John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

I reassure hon. Members that no decisions have been taken as yet. Such a project would be a major undertaking, and a final decision will not be taken for some time and would probably be a matter for both Houses. This will clearly require careful study and planning.

Most of the current Palace of Westminster dates from the mid-19th century, and much of the external structure and weatherproofing has been untouched since then. Many of the utilities and services inside the Palace date back 60 or 70 years. There is a major backlog of remedial work, including that involving asbestos, which is being professionally assessed and must be remediated in accordance with regulations.

In January this year the Commission appointed a study group to examine all the possibilities, including a temporary relocation of Parliament. The group was assisted by two Members from each House. The report of the study group is not yet finalised, but it is expected to be submitted to the Commission and the House Committee of the House of Lords at the end of next month.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman appeared to say all that without having to breathe. I am extremely impressed.

[Mr Hollobone]

The Palace of Westminster is a place of work for thousands of people, yet the fabric and facilities in many areas of the building date back to the 1840s. Clearly, the cost of bringing the building up to modern standards could be billions of pounds. When is the House of Commons Commission likely to get its first estimate of the total cost of doing up the building?

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[Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

I suggest that the hon. Gentleman’s answer on asbestos is much too complacent. It is incredible that we are being brought back here when every day I go into my office, I meet men in white coats—[Laughter]—wearing protective clothing and gas masks. We have staff wandering around in this building, yet we have reports on the dangers of asbestos here going back to 2005. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman should take this matter far more seriously.

[Mr Speaker]

I cannot imagine that the right hon. Lady keeps eccentric company; that is quite beyond my imagination.

[John Thurso]

I can assure the right hon. Lady that I take asbestos extremely seriously, as does the Commission; but more importantly, the Parliamentary Director of Estates does, too. Asbestos is not dangerous if undisturbed. All areas of the Palace have been properly surveyed. Where remedial action is taken, the work force operate within full health and safety dictates and do so as safely as possible. I am constantly reassured by the House authorities in this area. My answer was necessarily short, given that I had to answer three questions and given the orders for brevity issued from the Chair. I assure the right hon. Lady that this matter is taken extremely seriously.