Business of the House

Valerie Vaz Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House please give us the forthcoming business?

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Andrea Leadsom)]

The provisional business for the week commencing 19 February will include:

Monday 19 February—The House will not be sitting.

Tuesday 20 February—Second Reading of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords].

Wednesday 21 February—Remaining stages of the Finance (No.2) Bill.

Thursday 22 February—Debate on a motion on the role of disabled people in economic growth followed by a general debate on cancer strategy. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 23 February—Private Members’ Bills.

The provisional business for the week commencing 26 February will include:

Monday 26 February—Estimates day (1st allotted day).

Tuesday 27 February—Estimates day (2nd allotted day).

At 7 pm the House will be asked to agree all outstanding estimates.

I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in marking Children’s Mental Health Week. The earliest years are vital for lifelong emotional health, and I strongly support our efforts in this area.

Both Houses have now agreed to the same motion regarding the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster, and my noble Friend the Leader of the House of Lords and I will present a paper on the next steps to our House Commissions within the next few weeks.

We were all proud to take part in the celebrations marking 100 years of women’s votes. We have made huge progress in advancing women’s rights, but there is still a long way to go, especially when dealing with the vicious and personal abuse that is so often directed at women. Parliament needs to show the highest standards, so I am delighted that today the report on an independent complaints and grievance policy has been published. There is a statement to follow, but I hope that the proposals demonstrate a renewed commitment to treating everyone who works in this place with dignity and respect.

[Valerie Vaz]

I thank the Leader of the House for the forthcoming business and ask again about the date that we will rise in July. Obviously, people need to plan their lives.

I know that the Government are focused on Brexit, but will the Leader of the House explain the European Research Group? Does she know whether it will be publishing any sectoral analysis or impact assessments, or is it another secret society operating around the House that only a few people can join? The Government should publish the list of ministerial responsibilities. Maybe then they will know what they are doing in sending junior Ministers out to debates and to answer urgent questions, instead of Secretaries of State. Also, when will the Data Protection Bill be debated in this place?

If this is not ideological, I do not know what is: the Secretary of State was warned at the time, so why was the east coast railway line, which returned £1 billion to the Treasury and had a 91% satisfaction rating, privatised in the first place? So far, the cost of forfeiting that contract is £2.2 billion, and the shadow Secretary of State for Transport has said that another £380 million would be added to the bail-out. Rightly, the National Audit Office has launched an investigation. Will the Leader of the House please write to me to say what the costs associated with this debacle are so far, and will she say whether the Secretary of State made that decision against advice?

An inquiry is ongoing into the east coast railway, and now an inspector has been sent into Northamptonshire County Council. Surrey, which benefited from a midnight visit by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to No. 11 Downing Street, is also in difficulties. The leader of Northamptonshire County Council said that she had been warning since 2013-14 that the council

“couldn’t cope with the levels of cuts”

it was facing. An inspector is being sent in to do what? The council leader has explained that the cuts are the cause and the fact of the inspection also stifles any further discussion. As the Minister said, it

“would be inappropriate for the Government to comment while the inspection is under way”.—[Official Report, 6 February 2018; Vol. 635, c. 1357.]

So, will the Leader of the House write to me, letting us know how long the inspection will take before the inspector reports, and what the inspector’s terms of reference are?

Is the Leader of the House aware of any statement by the Government on the misuse of statistics? Sir David Norgrove, Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, said the Prime Minister was misusing the statistics on waiting times by comparing different things. In England, she uses time from decision to admit to time of admission to another part of the health service. In Wales, she quotes the entire time patients wait from arrival, including decision to admit, to actual admission. When will that be corrected? The Government’s statement said that they accept the UKSA assessment, but their assessment of this target still stands. That is bizarre. When will the correction be published, in response to Sir David’s comments?

Let us acknowledge that the oldest language in Europe was celebrated this week in the Welsh Grand Committee. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

However, more delay by the Government: the Women and Equalities Committee report, “Building for Equality: Disability and the Built Environment”, was published in April 2017, but there has been no Government response. In a written answer, the Minister for Employment referred back to an earlier answer. That earlier answer says “shortly”—but that was on 9 November. This issue affects blind people. When will the Government respond, and when will they take people with disabilities seriously?

I join the Leader of the House in celebrating the fact that women got the vote. They said, “Deeds, not words”—the cry celebrating women over a certain age and with property getting the vote. The test of a Government’s commitment is deeds, not words. So, will the Leader of the House explain why former military wives are losing out on their pension credits because they reached pension age before the rules changed? Deeds, not words, on WASPI women. Deeds, not words, on the House of Commons research that found that 86% of austerity falls on women. Cuts have cost women £79 billion compared with £13 billion for men. Deeds, not words, on equal pay for equal work. The Leader of the Opposition has done his deeds, because our shadow Cabinet is 50% made up of women. That cannot be said of the Cabinet.

We could not take part in the photo in Central Lobby because the members of the shadow Cabinet were at the Museum of London, and I would encourage everyone to visit the suffragettes exhibition there. A loaf of bread had been preserved since the day when one of the suffragettes came out of prison and held it aloft to prove that she had been on hunger strike. It is an amazing thing to see. The deeds of the suffragettes allow our words to resound, as we strive for equality.

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the series of questions that she put to me. In response to her requests for letters, I will write to her on several of the points that she raised, to which I do not have the specific answers to hand.

Through the usual channels, we will, of course, as soon as possible give the summer recess dates, and, as the hon. Lady knows, a list of ministerial responsibilities will be published very soon.

The Data Protection Bill will be introduced to the House as soon as possible—as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The hon. Lady asks about county councils. She will appreciate that under this Government, since 2010, we have seen in real terms, taking into account inflation, a decrease in council taxes, and in non-real terms—in headline terms—some of the lowest council tax rises since council tax was introduced. This year, the cap has been lifted to 3% to take inflation into account, and that is important.

On my own county council, Northamptonshire, the hon. Lady will be aware that there are particular concerns around the way that budgets and finances have been managed there, and that is subject to an investigation by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is now in hand.

The hon. Lady invites me to celebrate the oldest language—the Welsh language. I am delighted to do that, and proud that the Under-Secretary of State for Wales is himself a Welsh speaker. We could probably drag him to the Chamber to sing to us, or something of that sort. However, he might require prior notice, and he might be very cross with me for even suggesting it.

Finally, the hon. Lady talked about “deeds, not words”. I think she should celebrate the fact that the UK was one of the first countries in the world to introduce mandatory gender pay gap reporting, which will quickly become a reputational issue for companies. McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm, estimates that closing the gap would add £150 billion to the economy by 2025. I am pleased to tell the House that the gender pay gap among full-time workers is the narrowest that it has ever been, but we are committed to eliminating it entirely.