argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Axial Spondyloarthritis — House of Commons, 2020-09-17
Topic: Other
Thomas William Randall (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s work. He was an active member of the APPG long before I was in this place. On the issues that he identifies, on which I will go into more detail in a moment, he is absolutely right.
Axial Spondyloarthritis — House of Commons, 2020-09-17
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the hon. Member for Gedling (Tom Randall) on his courage in bringing such a personal and difficult matter before the House. Many people will not appreciate that that is a difficult thing to do, and I am sure that he will have made a difference to many by what he has done today. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I am pleased that those in the Chamber are in agreement Question put and agreed to.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Christopher Lionel John Loder (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes a very valid point. I would just like to say that I did not mention Anna Turley because my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Jacob Young) is here today and wanted to pay tribute to her directly.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Joanna Mary Gideon (Conservative, Centre-right): I particularly want to speak on live animal exports, because a few years ago I was a councillor in Ramsgate where we had the live exporting of sheep to the great distress of everybody who live there. People blamed the council and the Government, and it was very clear at that point that there was no possible intervention that even the council, as the owners of the port, could do to stop the practice because of the EU legislation. I think we have to acknowledge that it was something that we tried to act on and would have loved to have done more about, but that was impossible under EU legislation. This is a real opportunity for us now that we are leaving.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Robert Peter Moore (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is making a great contribution to the debate. I am sure she agrees that the Bill is completely worthwhile, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Chris Loder) on bringing it forward. However, does she agree that it is slightly disappointing that only one Opposition Member—herself—is contributing to the debate? While the Government side of the House is full of people contributing to the debate, it is slightly disappointing that the other side of the House is empty.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Christopher Mark Clarkson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for indulging me a second time. To use the technical legal term, I believe the best way to see whether that would actually happen is to "suck it and see". I have some sympathy for what he says about a legislative impact assessment. If he wants to bring forward a private Member’s Bill on that, I would be inclined to speak to it.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Christopher Lionel John Loder (Conservative, Centre-right): It is difficult to respond to such comments. I want to let my hon. Friend know that I have my Wellington boots in my office here. I was a little concerned about even thinking about wearing them into this House, as I thought the Serjeant at Arms may tell me off for that. If my hon. Friend would like any verification as to my authenticity, he is welcome to visit my office a little later to check those Wellington boots.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Jacob Young (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. I am just down the corridor from him in 1 Parliament Street, and I can confirm that he does indeed have all manner of pets in his office on the estate.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
David Anthony Andrew Amess (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has just well and truly put his foot in it, because of course no animal, in any circumstance, is allowed on the parliamentary estate. I am afraid that my hon. Friend has had a bit of a hallucination.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Anthony Andrew Amess (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree. My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (Andy Carter) said in an earlier intervention that he is a justice of the peace and mentioned how frustrating dealing with these matters is. My hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart), and he is also right, of course, about Southend West and our determination to become a city. In fact, when we become a city, everyone will understand that my constituency is full of animal lovers.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Christopher Lionel John Loder (Conservative, Centre-right): May I lightly say to my hon. Friend that the new Members of this place from 2019 are full of energy and fervour? We are here today to help him, and his colleagues who have been here for many years, to ensure that we get stuff done.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend very much for giving way. I will pass on her good regards to Cats Protection. I suspect we will be able to have a Westminster cat of the year. We will work on that.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Victoria Mary Boswell Prentis (Conservative, Centre-right): I, too, am very fond of the Purr Minister competition, which is run by Battersea, which I had the privilege of visiting several years ago, when Midnight, who I certainly do not own, but do have the privilege of looking after, was elected as Purr Minister. The competition is very fierce, and I know there are several cats available this year, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I will call the Minister next and then Chris Loder, and then the question will be put. Then we will just suspend for a brief moment for the sanitisation of both Dispatch Boxes before we move on to Sir Christopher Chope’s Bill.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time It is a pleasure to introduce this Bill. It is a two-clause Bill, but the second clause covers only the Bill’s extent, commencement and short title, so it essentially has only two provisions. It arises directly from my long-standing interest in the welfare of park home residents. I have been privileged to be the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on park homes for more years than I can recall Mobile and park homes provide residential accommodation for about 85,000 households on some 2,000 sites in England. Most of those residents are of pensionable age. They normally own their own home, and they pay rent to the site owner for the land on which the home is stationed. Let me put it on the record that they are not bungalows. Some rogue firms out there are marketing new park homes as bungalows. I have written to the Advertising Standards Authority on the subject but have yet to receive a satisfactory response The Bill will make two changes to the Mobile Homes Act 1983 that will help all residents. The changes were set out by the Government in their response to their own call for evidence in their 2017 review of park homes legislation. On page 6 of the response, which was published on 2018, it says at paragraph 12: "Some site owners pass on their repair, maintenance and other ad hoc costs to residents by requiring them to pay variable service charges in addition to the pitch fee." The Government response goes on to say, in a subsequent paragraph, that the "Government wants to ensure that residents only pay for services that they are required to pay for through the pitch fee and will introduce legislation in due course to amend and clarify the definition of a pitch fee and prevent the use of variable service charges in written agreements, when parliamentary time allows." Well, parliamentary time does allow; it needs the will of Government. I hope we will hear from the Minister that the Government do have the will to implement what they said they wanted to do.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): The tenor of the hon. Gentleman’s intervention is that there are a heck of a lot of rogues out there and they are up to no good, and he is absolutely right. There are, however, quite a lot of good park home owners, and it is important that we try to support them and to prevent the rogues from taking over the whole industry. That is why it is so important that the Government take seriously the changes—albeit quite modest—in the Bill to try to improve the lot of residents on park homes sites.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that we want to help the good park owners. Changing the index of calculations from the retail prices index to the consumer prices index will obviously reduce the income for improvements. I am sure we will consider the matter in Committee, but will he assure the House that he will allow good park home owners the latitude and finances necessary to make necessary improvements to the site?
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not think the good park home owners have any problem about trying to make ends meet. It would be much more difficult for them were we to, for example, change the 10% commission that is payable on the sale of any park home. My right hon. Friend refers to the matter going into Committee; let us hope that in due course that will be possible I have made the point about the service charges sometimes including repairs and maintenance that should already have been paid for in the pitch fees, and that is dealt with in clause 1(2)(a). The second issue—the change to CPI indexing to which my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) referred—is dealt with in clause 1(2)(b) On the pitch fee review, the Government concluded, in their 2018 response, that they had "considered all the arguments put forward including concerns about affordability for both residents and site owners. We also considered the merits of using CPI or RPI as the pitch fee review inflationary index and have concluded that CPI is the most appropriate inflationary index…The Government will introduce legislation in due course to change the pitch fee review inflationary index from RPI to CPI, when parliamentary time allows." That is exactly what the Bill does: it enables the parliamentary time to be found to make that change.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this Bill forward. It is a matter of regret that there has not previously been parliamentary time. I sincerely hope that the Minister, with her good civil servants working hard behind the scenes, will find a way to do a write-around or whatever is needed to move forward on this issue. The important thing is that there are really good mobile park owners and there are absolute rogues. Our first interest is the consumer protection of our constituents, so I wish my good friend all the best with the Bill.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. She is a long-term champion of park home residents and I hope that, with her encouragement, the Government will give the Bill their support. They are not going to allow the Bill to go through today, but they have said to me that there will be a write-around because they are supportive of its principles. I hope the Opposition are supportive, too—[Interruption.] I am grateful to see that they are nodding. If that is the situation, there is no reason why, if the debate is carried over to another day after this short debate, the Bill may not then get its Second Reading. I am grateful to the House for its indulgence and look forward to having the opportunity to hear briefly from the Opposition spokesman and our Minister.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah) for her comments and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) on securing this debate. I also thank him for his tireless work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on park homes. He should not have admitted to being the chair for so long, but all Members of the House recognise his work in this area and he has been a consistent and powerful voice on these issues As my hon. Friend outlined, the Government are committed to effective reform of the park homes sector. As he has outlined, I have been unable to support the Bill’s current drafting, but I have agreed and am keen to work with him, and other members of the all-party group, to explore options regarding how we can bring forward these priorities and deliver on the ambition that we all share, which is to better protect park home residents. I hope that he will commit to working with me in the following weeks to do so. Before addressing the specifics of the Bill, I wish to thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Mrs Wheeler) for the role she played and the work she did when she was the Minister responsible for this area.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the Minister for her kind offer to work with me to try to make the Bill into workable legislation. Does she mean by that that, if the Bill does not progress to Second Reading today, we can hold discussions and perhaps have a write-round to see whether it could get a Second Reading on the basis that, when it gets to Committee, various things will or will not be done?
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Housing
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (Conservative, Centre-right): I am willing to work with my hon. Friend and my officials over the coming weeks, so that we can bring something forward and support something, so that is entirely correct. But as I have said, there are certain parts of the Bill that at this point I am unable to support Bill. However, I hope he will take my assurances from the Dispatch Box as a commitment to do that because when I say things I generally mean them, and I hope that even Opposition Members agree that, if I agree to do something for them, I follow through My hon. Friend outlined some of the Bill’s specifics, and I want to move on to those, but the park homes sector plays a vital role in housing, especially for older people. As he said, it provides valued homes for around 180,000 people.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Public Lands
Luke Morgan Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I wish to pick up on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Mrs Wheeler) and the Minister’s point about the elderly. As a GP looking after them, I can say that my experience of dealing with these parks is that elderly people often choose the homes as retirement homes and places to downsize. The danger is that they are vulnerable and if there are unscrupulous people in the parks using technical terms to bolster rates and services, that can be a real worry. Has the Department carried out any impact assessments of what that may look like and how prevalent it is? What can we do to make sure people are informed, so that they understand the information they are given and are not bamboozled by clever salesmen?
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Public Lands
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. It is true that many owners and users of park home sites will be elderly and vulnerable. I have many in my constituency, so I am well aware of some of the challenges for the individuals living there. However, I will caveat that by saying that, although we are talking about malpractice today, a large proportion of park home operators operate their sites in a good way, and have care and respect for the residents. We are talking about a minority today, but I absolutely understand the prevalence. We had a review in 2017 and the Government made a commitment to take forward certain things. That is why I am pleased to stand at the Dispatch Box this afternoon and agree to work with my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Mohammad Saqib Bhatti (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, transparency is key. Will the Minister agree to work with the industry to make sure that the good operators are able to be celebrated, the Government can support them and we can wash out the rogue traders, so to speak?
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention because that is exactly right: we do want transparency and we do want to work with the sector to remove those rogue traders from the environment in which we operate. One reason why the pitch fee part of the Bill needs further work is that there was no consensus on a proposal. We want to work with the sector. One of the most important points is that, as with any changes to regulations, we do not want unintended consequences and we do not want to make it harder for those operating park home sites well and carefully. We must be careful not to brand every owner and operator as being rogue.
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important point. He is right to say that we are living in unprecedented times with this coronavirus pandemic and many businesses are struggling. As a Government, we are working hard to support them. We want to carry out those impact assessments. On the pitch fees, that is why I said we need to consult the industry further to come up with a proposal that has consensus. In my second day after being appointed—I have been in post only a couple of weeks—I was lucky enough to take through the draft Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020. In that Committee, I outlined that the Government had already committed to delivering and working to bring forward these elements in primary legislation when time allowed. That is why I have been really clear from the Dispatch Box today that I am willing and absolutely looking forward to working with my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch and my officials to take opportunities where we can to protect individuals, while keeping it in mind that we must be sensitive to the challenges and pressures that people who run park homes and all businesses are facing. With all types of legislation and regulation, it is always a balancing act with regard to making sure that there is fairness across the piece, and that obviously relates to—
London’s Economic Recovery: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Felicity Christiana Buchan (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very important point—that we need to level up within London. There is a difference of 16 years between the average life expectancy in the poorest ward in my constituency and in the richest. That is phenomenal. Some of our poorest areas are actually in London, so levelling up is not just a matter of north versus south; it is also within our inner cities.
London’s Economic Recovery: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-23
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I put the Question, I would like to wish all Members and staff here at the House of Commons and Parliament generally to have a very good and restful short recess. I am extremely grateful for all the hard work that they have put in to ensure that our democracy still functions at this particularly difficult time Question put and agreed to.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme — House of Commons, 2020-11-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alister William Jack (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with my hon. Friend. There has been substantial extra funding, guaranteed funding, to the Scottish Government—£8.2 billion, as he correctly identified. That is money received through the Barnett formula. The Scottish Government must not shirk their responsibility to be open and transparent about how that money is being spent. We need accountability so that the people of Scotland can judge whether it is being spent wisely.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme — House of Commons, 2020-11-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alister William Jack (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the hon. Lady for trying to get a referendum into questions about the job retention scheme. While we are all fighting this pandemic and trying to secure and support people’s jobs, it beggars belief that the SNP carries on talking about independence referendums and about separation. I find it really quite disappointing. The answer to her question is that it was mentioned many times in the White Paper that the SNP Government produced in advance of that referendum. The words "once in a generation" were mentioned on a number of pages.
Co-ordinated Response to Covid-19: Devolved Administrations — House of Commons, 2020-11-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Iain Aitken Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady raises an important point. As I said in my initial answer, there are very regular discussions between all Government Departments and devolved Administrations at many levels—be that in Health, Transport or Education. I think that there is a widespread understanding of the need to balance UK-wide interventions with allowing local flexibilities where circumstances dictate.
Co-ordinated Response to Covid-19: Devolved Administrations — House of Commons, 2020-11-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Iain Aitken Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman’s question would have greater potency if furlough was indeed the only scheme that was available, but a wide range of support is available for businesses and individuals across the UK, including bounce back loans, tax deferrals, mortgage holidays and the like. In addition, the Chancellor has provided to the Scottish Government unprecedented levels of support, going up by an additional £1 billion. It is up to the Scottish Government, if they wish to provide additional support over and above the UK-wide schemes, to ensure that they have the resources to do so.