Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to programme business to help prevent a build-up of legislation in the House of Lords.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has brought forward an ambitious legislative programme, with 24 bills currently before Parliament, and we will continue to make progress. So far this session 40 bills have been exchanged between the Houses, of which 24 have received Royal Assent.
The arrangement of business in the House of Lords is a matter for that place. I will announce future business in the House of Commons in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187539 on Legislation, when the Government plans to bring forward the Transport bill.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has brought forward an ambitious legislative programme, with 24 bills currently before Parliament. Future business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Members of Parliament holding second jobs on the service they are able to provide to their constituents.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Committee on Standards has carefully considered the matter of MPs holding second jobs and conducting outside work and resolved not to recommend limiting this in the absence of a consensus in favour of restrictions on time spent and earnings from outside work.
The Government believes that an MPs’ primary role is and must be to serve their constituents and represent their interests in Parliament. That is why we brought forward a motion implementing proposals recommended in the Committee on Standards’ reports on a revised Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules for MPs.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, which bills the Government (a) has and (b) has not withdrawn that it will not be proceeding with that were included in the 2022 Queen’s Speech.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has delivered on many of its 2019 manifesto commitments, and will continue to do so. The 2022 Queen's Speech set out an ambitious legislative programme and so far this session 24 Bills have received Royal Assent.
The House has been informed of three Bills that were announced in the Queen's Speech on 10 May 2022 that have been introduced to Parliament and will no longer make progress:
The measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will now be pursued as single measure Bills. We remain fully committed to delivering our manifesto commitments and this approach is now the surest and the quickest way of doing so.
The Government will inform the House of any further changes in the usual way.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the balance of risk between the buyer and seller of a house when entering a contract.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is committed to reforming the home buying and selling process and has set its intent to work with industry to ensure the better availability of essential property information upfront, in a digital format. As a result, buyers will have all the critical information they need to know before making an offer on a property, which should lead to an increased level of commitment once an offer is accepted.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services in Bristol.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board to make available appropriate provision to meet the mental health and other care needs of the local population in Bristol.
Nationally, we are supporting the expansion and transformation of mental health services for children and young people through the NHS Long Term Plan. As part of the accompanying investment of at least an extra £2.3 billion a year by March 2024, an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to get the mental health support they need.
We also provided an additional £79 million for 2021/22 to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community mental health services and around 2,000 more to access eating disorder services.
We continue to roll out mental health support teams in schools and colleges across the country, offering early support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. As of May 2022, eight mental health support teams were in place or planned in the area covered by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire integrated care system.
NHS England has consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards, including that children, young people and their families presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. As a first step, NHS England has shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many hours of legal services Peters and Peters has provided in relation to the Privileges Committee investigation of the Rt hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It would not be appropriate for the Cabinet Office to comment in this level of detail on the contract with Peters and Peters given the commercial and legal sensitivities.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2023 to Question 165342 on Cabinet Office: Legal Opinion, if he will publish details of the competed framework used when tendering the legal services contract to Peters and Peters in relation to the Privileges Committee investigation of the rt Hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Information about the contract between the Cabinet Office and Peters & Peters can be found on ContractsFinder at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/26bfbb02-7e5b-4500-9746-6513393bfd27.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department approved the Cabinet Office’s decision to award a legal services contract to Peters & Peters in relation to the Privileges Committee investigation into the Rt Hon Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
No, HM Treasury is not required to sign off all spending decisions made by individual departments. The authorisation of funds was agreed by the Cabinet Office and followed appropriate procurement processes.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of post-legislative scrutiny of the Nationality and Borders Act.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
As set out in the Guide to Making Legislation (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-making-legislation), any post-legislative scrutiny usually takes place three to five years after Royal Assent. It will be for the Home Office to discuss the publication of any post-legislative scrutiny memorandum with the Home Affairs Select Committee in the coming years.