argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Government Operations
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): I recognise the importance of the GIB to Edinburgh and have agreed to meet with the Members of Parliament for that area to discuss this process. It was entirely the right decision to locate part of the organisation there, and jobs are a part of what we want to hear from bidders; we want to hear about commitment to staff and the ongoing organisation As the hon. Gentleman has mentioned staff, let me place on record—I hope this is shared by Members across the House—the Government’s admiration and respect for the senior management team and all staff at the GIB, led by Lord Smith and Shaun Kingsbury, not just for what they have achieved in a relatively short period, but for the professionalism with which they have conducted themselves during this process.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Environment
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): The GIB will be required under this process to continue to respect the green purpose of the organisation, as set out in the articles of association. The degree to which investment proposals fit those criteria is a judgment to be made by management and the trustees that we have set up to be independent guardians of this process.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): With respect to the hon. Lady, I am not entirely sure why Brexit is relevant to this process or to the decisions underpinning it. I agree 110% with her fundamental point about the need to invest in energy innovation, which is why our Department has a £500 million spending review portfolio dedicated to energy innovation that sits in a wider system of budgetary support for energy efficiency. The point she makes is entirely the right one: if we are to achieve what we want to achieve in decarbonisation and the transition to abundant sources of affordable low-carbon energy, we have to continue to innovate. The Government have a role in that, which is why budgetary support is available for it.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the increased attractiveness of investment in renewable energy and low-carbon infrastructure. Governments in the UK and around the world have helped to facilitate that investment over the years and have seen dramatic falls in the cost of those technologies and the cost of the capital attached to them, making them a more investable proposition. This helps to reinforce our argument that this is the right time to liberate the GIB from state control to enable it to play a bigger part in the market.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): I dispute the hon. Lady’s analysis. This country has made enormous progress in the shift to clean energy, and Scotland has been a big part of that. I point her to the recent commitment to the next round of contract for difference auctions and to the fact that last year I think we generated 25% of our energy from renewable sources. If she looks at the starting point of 2010, I think her argument falls away. On her point about continued investment in Scotland, I repeat what I have already said to colleagues.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Environment
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): No. I am afraid that that is total nonsense. If the hon. Lady wants proof points on that, I can tell her that one of the first actions of this Department, within days of the new Government being formed, was to put into law the fifth carbon budget. I am sure that she knows the detail of that, so she will know how ambitious it is. That was not the action of a Government who are shirking their responsibilities in relation to Britain’s role in mitigating climate change.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Environment
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): I think I have laboured to exhaustion the point that one of our priorities is to protect the integrity of the green purpose of the organisation. What we want to hear from bidders is their plan for future investment.
NHS and Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Government Operations
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me answer the hon. Gentleman’s question. I said that I would write to him, and I will do so. He may have noticed that there are other issues that we are dealing with, which is why I may not have had time to sign the letter. The £400 million extra for local authorities over the next two years will make a significant difference and he should recognise that.
NHS and Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Government Operations
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I think people in the country will find it hugely ironic that the party that spent so much energy in the last Parliament campaigning against top-down reorganisations is now campaigning against locally driven changes.
NHS and Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Education
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): That is absolutely the point, and the last point I want to make before concluding on funding is that we miss a trick—I think the shadow Health Secretary is in some ways more reasonable than his leader on these issues, which is probably terminal for his career—if we say that this is just about money. We forget the debate we went through on schools in this country 20 years ago, when there was, again, a debate about money, but we realised that the issue is actually also about standards and quality. That is what has happened in Sherwood Forest, and I congratulate the trust. It is important that we do not let debates about funding eclipse that very important progress that we need to make on standards.
A&E Provision: Shropshire and Mid-Wales — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Social Welfare
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on that incredibly important point. Will he accept that the brand-new women and children’s unit in Telford has been there only since 2015 when it was opened and that the proposal to close it is of huge concern to all my constituents? I am sure he will understand why that is.
A&E Provision: Shropshire and Mid-Wales — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Government Operations
David Mowat (Conservative, Centre-right): Sorry, an editorial in the Shropshire Star—it is not a newspaper I read—made the point that we now need to get this right; we need to make a decision and to stick by it. I think everybody in the Chamber would agree with that, with the caveat that in the end it has to be a local decision. There are very real battle lines here; I think my hon. Friend the Member for Telford met the Secretary of State yesterday on this with other Members and council leaders What is the proposed way forward? My briefing from the CCGs is that a week today there will be a meeting at which the intention is that two things happen. The joint committee will be reconstituted and an independent chair appointed who will have a casting vote. In parallel with that, there will be an appraisal, or review of the appraisal process, that Future Fit takes, with the intent to address the concerns raised by Telford about whether it was robust. At the end of the review—depending on the outcome, I guess—there will be a new vote with a view to potentially having a majority on one side or the other and therefore there will be a local direction. That is my understanding of the way forward.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): As this is the Scottish questions immediately preceding Burns night on Wednesday 25 January, may I wish all those organising Burns suppers or other events in Scotland, across the UK, including here in this House of Commons, and around the world the very best? Robert Burns’ legacy is as relevant today as ever The UK Government are committed to a safe and secure transfer of the remaining welfare powers. The majority of welfare powers commenced in 2016, and the transfer of the remaining powers will be overseen by the joint ministerial working group on welfare, which will meet again next month.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
Robert Alexander Courts (Conservative, Centre-right): The Scotland Act 2016 gives the Scottish Government powers over benefits in Scotland. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Scottish Government must now set out the detail of how they plan to use those powers to shape Scotland’s welfare system?
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right about that; the power for the Scottish Parliament to create new benefits in devolved areas came into force in the autumn, and it now has the power to shape that welfare system as it chooses. Some modest measures have already been announced, but it is time that we hear more about the proposals for a new welfare system. A consultation has been held and I look forward to hearing the Scottish Government’s response to it.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Labor
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): I do understand the concerns that have been raised about jobcentre closures in Glasgow. I have spoken directly with my colleague the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. It is the Government’s determination to ensure that there will be no change to the level of service offered to the people of Glasgow. As the hon. Lady and other Glasgow Members will know, there is a public consultation for people who have to travel more than 3 miles or for more than 20 minutes, and it is open until 31 January. I encourage all those affected, and all hon. Members with constituencies affected, to take part in it.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What progress has been made on transferring further welfare powers to the Scottish Government. The transfer of significant powers over welfare decisions clearly raises complicated issues, as we have seen over the past few months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the recent work of the joint ministerial working group on welfare and give his assessment of progress?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): That group has played an important part in establishing the links between the DWP and the Scottish Government. I have been in regular recent contact with Angela Constance, the relevant Minister in the Scottish Government, about their latest proposals on universal credit. Inevitably, the complexity of this area means that as the transfer takes place new issues arise that need to be dealt with. The joint ministerial working group is the ideal place to do that.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What progress has been made on transferring further welfare powers to the Scottish Government. The transfer of significant powers over welfare decisions clearly raises complicated issues, as we have seen over the past few months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the recent work of the joint ministerial working group on welfare and give his assessment of progress?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): First, may I welcome the hon. Gentleman back? He was missed at our last Scottish questions, although the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound) entertained the House—I think I can say that. I knew Canon Kenyon Wright and he was indeed a very principled man, with strong personal conviction. He played a very important part in the constitutional convention that led to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. As we have seen in the media, he is widely mourned The hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr Anderson) will know that disability benefits are to be fully devolved to the Scottish Parliament, and the funding of those benefits was dealt with in the negotiations for the fiscal framework. It is now for the Scottish Government to come forward with their proposals for disability benefits in Scotland.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What progress has been made on transferring further welfare powers to the Scottish Government. The transfer of significant powers over welfare decisions clearly raises complicated issues, as we have seen over the past few months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the recent work of the joint ministerial working group on welfare and give his assessment of progress?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need to hear less from the Scottish Government about the powers they want and more about how they are going to use the powers we have given them?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very relevant point. The hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr Anderson) referred to personal independence payments, to which, I know, the Scottish Government are opposed, but I have no idea what they intend to replace them with, or on what timetable.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Labor
Questions: What progress has been made on transferring further welfare powers to the Scottish Government. The transfer of significant powers over welfare decisions clearly raises complicated issues, as we have seen over the past few months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the recent work of the joint ministerial working group on welfare and give his assessment of progress?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need to hear less from the Scottish Government about the powers they want and more about how they are going to use the powers we have given them?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): I have taken a very close interest in this issue and worked closely on it with my colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Scottish Government. The Government and I have never suggested that the procedures followed during the process have been perfect, but we have put forward a public consultation for people who are affected and will have to travel more than 3 miles or for more than 20 minutes. I encourage everyone involved to take part in the consultation.
Welfare Powers — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What progress has been made on transferring further welfare powers to the Scottish Government. The transfer of significant powers over welfare decisions clearly raises complicated issues, as we have seen over the past few months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the recent work of the joint ministerial working group on welfare and give his assessment of progress?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need to hear less from the Scottish Government about the powers they want and more about how they are going to use the powers we have given them?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not recognise the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday as a hard Brexit plan. I do not think that the 500,000 Scottish National party voters who voted for Brexit will take kindly to being referred to as right-wing Tory Brexiteers. They were independently minded people in Scotland who voted for what they thought was the right thing for Scotland. It is absolutely clear, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, that we want to have access to the single market, and that is what the quote from me that the right hon. Gentleman just read out made clear. On the other hand, membership of the single market is a quite different thing, as Mike Russell and, privately, the Scottish Government accept.
Agriculture — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Agriculture
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): I regularly meet Cabinet colleagues to discuss a wide range of matters. I recently met the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss a number of issues relating to the Scottish agriculture sector, and will continue to do so.
Agriculture — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Agriculture
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): There is no suggestion that funding to Scottish agriculture will be cut, but there is the opportunity to move forward from the constraints of the common agricultural policy, which farmers throughout Scotland have often complained about. We need to seize this opportunity to reshape the support for farming to make it more effective, but to continue to sustain those areas of Scottish farming that need sustaining.
Agriculture — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Agriculture
James Gerald Douglas Howarth (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is aware that my family are extensive farmers in the Scottish borders. Does he not agree that Brexit presents the United Kingdom with a magnificent opportunity to fashion an agriculture policy that is required not by French farmers, but by British farmers, and will he assure the House that hill farmers in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom will be given proper consideration?
Agriculture — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Agriculture
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): I can absolutely give that undertaking. I hope that, in conjunction with the Scottish Government, we can move forward to shape a new basis of support for Scottish agriculture, especially for those who farm in less-favoured areas. There have been multiple complaints about the operation of the common agricultural policy and its need to take into account farming practices across the continent. We now have the opportunity to have our own support mechanism and we need to work to shape it.
Agriculture — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: Will the Secretary of State confirm what he said to The Sunday Times in November that the Scottish Parliament will retain full responsibility over agriculture and fisheries following Brexit and that“no powers will be re-reserved to Westminster.”Will he tell us: yes or no?
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister made it clear yesterday that her objective is to achieve the best possible access to the single market, with the minimum of barriers and tariffs. That will be to the benefit of Scottish agriculture. Scottish farmers see the opportunity that leaving the EU provides them, and I am sure that they will seize it and that we will be able to provide the environment in which they will succeed.
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): The Scottish Government will take on their first major new tax power from the Scotland Act 2016 in April, enabling them to set rates and thresholds of income tax. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury attended a Joint Exchequer Committee with the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance in November. They discussed ongoing work, and there are regular ongoing discussions.
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister says that she wants income tax rates on hard-working British people to be as low as possible. Should Nicola Sturgeon be sufficiently brave or bonkers to increase the rate of taxation on hard-working Scottish people, what economic impact would that have on Scotland?
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): May I thank my hon. Friend for his important question? In taking over income tax powers, the Scottish Government now need to account for how they use them, particularly if they plan to make Scotland the highest tax part of the UK.
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Mark Andrew Menzies (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that the Scottish National party’s plans to tax middle-income families more in Scotland for doing the same job as families in England would bode very, very badly for the Scottish economy?
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK Government are doing everything they can to support our economy and boost jobs and growth. Where the Scottish Government now make choices that have a different impact, they will need to explain them to the people of Scotland.
Taxation — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: The SNP wants to levy the highest level of income tax anywhere in the United Kingdom. It already receives more per capita funding than England, yet Scotland’s schools are conspicuously worse than those in the rest of the United Kingdom. Does the Minister put that down to the incompetence of the Scottish Government or their prioritisation of nationalist posturing over proper administration?
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): I may not like the Scottish Government’s plans to make Scotland a higher-tax nation, but that is up to them. What they will have to do is explain to the people of Scotland why they are having to pay more tax than their friends and families who have the same jobs south of the border.
City Deals — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK Government have spearheaded these deals, which will be transformative for the cities of Scotland. The city regions are engines of economic growth, so they will drive forward Scotland’s economy, which means more jobs and a secure future. That is why I am so pleased that the Government have now committed to a city deal for every one of Scotland’s seven city regions.
City Deals — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: International Affairs
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): The borderlands initiative is an innovative proposal that seeks to bring together Dumfries and Galloway Council, Scottish Borders Council, Carlisle City Council and other councils in the north of England to recognise the significant economic area that crosses the border. I am delighted to give my support to that proposal.
City Deals — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): May I first welcome the fact that the hon. Gentleman’s colleague, the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson), has secured an Adjournment debate tomorrow that will focus specifically on the Ayrshire regional growth deal? I have met the councils and I want that deal to receive support from the UK Government in the way that is most appropriate to make it happen.
Exiting the EU — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Gordon Mundell (Conservative, Centre-right): Mr Speaker, I noted that in congratulating Andy Murray, you did not display the usual exuberance that you have demonstrated in support of him and the rest of the British team at Davis cup matches The UK Government have taken a number of measures to support Scotland’s economy, including by committing to city deals for each of Scotland’s cities, as I just said, and providing an additional £800 million for the Scottish Government’s capital budget through to 2021. Leaving the EU opens up real opportunities for Scotland and we must always remember that the UK market is worth more than four times as much to Scotland as the EU single market.
Exiting the EU — House of Commons, 2017-01-18
Topic: Foreign Trade
David Thomas Charles Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Adam Smith gave us the theory of modern capitalist economics and William Gladstone put it into practice. Would not those two fine Scotsmen be delighted by the opportunity that Brexit offers to ditch the socialist protectionism of the Scottish Government, and to implement the free trade and free markets that made the country such a powerhouse in the 19th century?