argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Schools Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-06-08
Topic: Education
Sarah Virginia Brinton (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am very grateful to noble Lords for their very helpful interventions in this short debate. Rather than go through and respond to each of the contributions made, I want to pick up on what the Minister said earlier: that it is not necessary to put these things—particularly my interest, mental health—into the standard. The problem is that without a framework you are entirely reliant on what happens in regulations or statutory guidance. The noble Lord, Lord Nash, may well remember that during the passage of the Children and Families Bill we negotiated for some considerable time over the statutory guidance for children with medical conditions. Many schools said to me afterwards that they were very grateful for that, but, even more, parents of children with long-term medical conditions and the charities that supported them were delighted that for the first time the law said that a head teacher could not gainsay a medical professional. Unfortunately, three years ago the Government rewrote that statutory guidance and all the points have now become advice for a head teacher to consider. The power that is still in the Act—there is a section that says "must follow the health guidance"—has now gone in the statutory guidance, and Parliament was completely unaware of it. I warn the Minister that I will be tabling an amendment because it also affects the out-of-school attendance register and various other issues that we will come to later on We are back to the big strategic debate about what the Bill is about. To say that we do not need to worry and that it is not necessary to put it in because we will fill that in later places us in exactly the same debate as in the health Bill. On the SEND stuff, we should be waiting until the SEND consultation is back and the Government decide what they want to do because we should not have a new education system left blank for filling in on things as important as SEND and mental health On mental health, I take issue with the noble Baroness, Lady Fox. It is not just an issue about Covid. The stats I cited were all from before Covid. That is why various Governments over the past decade said that something needed to be done, including providing support for teachers in the way that the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, outlined, because what schools need to do—teachers do it brilliantly—is to build resilience, but they now also start to recognise when there are problems, and then the pyramid works to get the few children who need it into specialist support.
Schools Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-06-08
Topic: Education
Sarah Virginia Brinton (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am very grateful to the noble Baroness for that explanation. One of the reasons we need this is to ensure that front-line professionals are able to recognise, understand and support rather than just pathologise, and I think teachers do that excellently, but they need the right framework I am also grateful the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for her amendment and to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for his amendment on SEND My concerns remain. I hope that I can discuss matters with the Minister between Committee and Report. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment Amendment 8 withdrawn.
Schools Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-06-08
Topic: Government Operations
Dominic Hubbard (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I rise to speak briefly. This amendment is in the spirit of many of the amendments that were moved before. Basically, we need it to see what is coming and get some opportunity for comment. Is the super-affirmative procedure here the same as that for the amendment I moved earlier? No, but it is another way of skinning this particular cat—if one is allowed to use that expression any more We must make sure that Parliament sees this and can interact with the process. That is what we are all arguing about here and what has dominated both Part 1 and Clause 1 of the Bill. If the Government accepted something like this amendment or some combination thereof, they would probably have a much easier time of it and rather less excitement in Committee.
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-09
Topic: Government Operations
William John Lawrence Wallace (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I tabled this amendment last week and received a letter on Monday evening from the Minister that answers a number of my points. Therefore, I mainly wish to stress the usefulness of the Cabinet Manual and to encourage the Minister to repeat what he said in my letter on the Floor of the House Paragraph 227 of the Joint Committee report points out that: "legislation—by definition—does not create or restore conventions … If the old conventions on dissolving and summoning Parliaments are to be restored, or indeed if they are to be replaced by new ones, there needs to be a political process to identify, and to articulate, what those conventions are." I have heard the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, make two speeches in different debates over the last two weeks about the importance of due process and the political process and of not just rushing things through or allowing Prime Ministers to decide them. The Constitution Committee report on the revision of the Cabinet Manual stresses not only the importance and usefulness of that manual, but the need for there to be consultation with Parliament about the revision of the manual, because it relates to the relationship between the Executive and Parliament The Minister’s letter, which I thank him for, stresses that conventions "can only operate effectively when they are commonly understood and where there is tacit agreement that they should be respected, irrespective of the particular political challenges and circumstances of the day" This has not been entirely true of our current Prime Minister over the last two years. We need to get back to that. I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis: UK Response — House of Lords, 2022-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Jeremy Purvis (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, while the Taliban are overseeing a humanitarian catastrophe, the UK and others have a moral obligation to the people of Afghanistan. While I welcome the Government’s actions, it is a fact that they are too slow and too little. The UN is currently forecasting that there will be a significant shortfall in its appeal, so I would be grateful to know if that is also the Government’s assessment The International Rescue Committee has estimated that 90% of all health clinics in Afghanistan are in the process of shutting down and that outbreaks of preventable disease will completely overwhelm the country’s entire health service. What makes up the remainder of the £100 million that we are yet to disburse The noble Lord, Lord Collins, is absolutely right: statements from the Government that they are doubling our support, when actually they are simply restoring cuts, mean nothing. The question is what the additional amount will be for 2022-23. My understanding is that some of the commitments in the £286 million are anticipated to be spread over a number of years Finally, the Taliban are in Geneva today, talking to Swiss authorities concerning the distribution of humanitarian funds. The statutory instrument that the Minister referred to was welcome—that we are making exemptions in certain circumstances to ensure that humanitarian support goes to the people. We debated this in Committee and discussed it with the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, previously. But what is our approach to dealing with the Taliban now?
Health and Care Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-09
Topic: Government Operations
Joan Walmsley (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I added my name to Amendments 229 and 230 from the noble Lord, Lord Patel, to limit the Secretary of State’s powers in Part 3 of the Bill to transfer or delegate functions. Part 3 as it stands would give the Secretary of State a wide range of powers to abolish or modify the functions of a body without primary legislation. That goes to the heart of the matter. I share the concerns of the Constitution Committee. In the absence of proper parliamentary scrutiny, it is necessary to narrow the scope of these powers. To this end, the two amendments would remove from scope the power to abolish a function of the body, the power to change the purpose or objective of a body and the power to change the conditions under which the body works The amendments go to the heart of what the Government are trying to do in Part 3. We will come to the wholesale removal of Part 3 in the next group but, for now, will the Minister explain why these powers are needed, why they need to be so broad in scope and why the Government are so frightened of Parliament that they do not want to give Peers and MPs an opportunity to make a judgment on their justification? It would be helpful if the Minister could say how it is anticipated these powers will be used. Give us some examples, please I also support Amendment 318 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Warner. The Minister may recall that at Second Reading and at the beginning of Committee stage, five exhausting weeks ago, I expressed similar concerns about the ability of the NHS to cope with this wholesale reorganisation at this time. The NHS has been in crisis for the last two years and the noble Lord, Lord Warner, has laid out clearly the extent of the backlog—as far as any of us know about it. There is a big difference between 30% and 80%. The Secretary of State himself makes it clear that he knows that the backlog will go up before it comes down again. We have what we call "the dark backlog"; we do not know how many people are going to come forward There is also the issue of the pre-emption of Parliament, as the noble Lord, Lord Warner, suggested. A lot of these bodies have been set up and we do not know whether Treasury rules have been broken by the expenditure of money in their setting up. Perhaps questions will be asked about that. I hope that the Minister will bear in mind what the noble Lord, Lord Warner, said in conclusion. The amendment is not intended to destroy the Bill, but to delay it to a point when the NHS can cope with it, without damage to patients.
Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-09
Topic: Government Operations
Christopher Fox (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I rise to speak on behalf of the noble Earl, Earl Lytton, who, as previously advertised, is the second member of the "Covid 2" in this team. His absence is disappointing for two reasons. First, he is not here to make these speeches and I have to do so on his behalf, and secondly, his wisdom on the issue of property is second to few in your Lordships’ House. The nature of these amendments points to the direction of the advice that he would have given your Lordships’ House had he been here, and I will do my best to represent that. I am given to understand that the amendments that the noble Earl tabled are supported by the RICS, which focuses their purpose I will speak to them in groups. In the Clause 8 amendments, the noble Earl’s point is that the appointing body that oversees the function should not carry out more than a general monitoring of the administrative good order of the process. The reason behind the noble Earl’s point is that he is anxious to ensure that the terms of Arbitration Act 1996 are not circumvented, so perhaps the Minister can set the Bill in this context with respect to the Act At the heart of the Clause 10 amendments is the expectation that the appointing bodies do not materially alter their screening and selection processes. The noble Earl’s point is that on potential conflicts of interest, they are almost wholly reliant on self-disclosure by potential appointees, so they would frequently have no means of checking the responses for accuracy. I would welcome the Minister’s view on this. The purpose of the Clause 19 and Clause 20 amendments is to make it permissible in a complex case, or cases, for the appointing body to demand from the parties that a clear statement of the issues and scope of evidence be placed before the arbitrator. Any fee specified in advance should be able to rely on the statement, but also on providing a broad estimate of the applicable arbitrator time and rate, where a fixed fee is impractical. I think what the noble Earl is driving at is that the arbitrators should not be signing a blank cheque for the work they are going to do; they deserve to have a scope to understand what it is they will be arbitrating Those are the groupings as the noble Earl set out. For my part, I hope to hear how the Minister and his department will balance these important points from the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, and the RICS, with the need to keep things as simple and cost-effective as possible. I think this is possible but I want to hear how the Government will absorb these two issues. I beg to move Amendment 3.
Energy Security Strategy — House of Lords, 2022-04-07
Topic: Energy
Questions: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the publication of the Energy Security Strategy on Thursday 7 April, whether they will give further details on their proposals for onshore wind and home insulation.
Jonathan Oates (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, the immediate crisis of energy security relates to the energy security of millions of British people who are facing ruinous bills. In that context, why have the Government chosen a strategy that passes over the cheapest form of energy production —onshore wind—and have instead adopted the most expensive—nuclear—which will be piled on people’s bills through the RAB charge? What is the reason behind that?
Energy Security Strategy — House of Lords, 2022-04-07
Topic: Energy
Questions: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the publication of the Energy Security Strategy on Thursday 7 April, whether they will give further details on their proposals for onshore wind and home insulation.
Christopher Fox (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I appreciate that, and I thank the noble Lord for giving way. As your Lordships’ House knows, the financial risk of funding future nuclear is falling to consumers through the RAB model. Can the Minister tell us when consumers will see their bills go up, and by how much? When will they see the fruits of that investment—in nuclear electricity—coming down their pipes? How long will they have to wait and how much will they have to invest before that electricity comes on stream?
Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-04-07
Topic: Education
Susan Garden (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I add my thanks to the Minister and the Government for listening to our concerns. It was good to get the letter from the Secretary of State, although only this morning, which was cutting things a little fine. However, we appreciated the meeting with the Minister yesterday, which gave us a whole day to absorb what was planned. In this place, we have to listen and think rather rapidly Anyway, we felt very strongly, as the Minister knows, that defunding BTECs when T-levels were untried and untested could spell disaster for students wishing to learn practical, work-based skills. We constantly pointed out that BTECs are well understood and respected by employers, by academia and, perhaps as important, by parents. It is a benefit that they can be combined with A-levels, which T-levels cannot, giving additional opportunities to students in their choices We will continue to try to ensure that schools celebrate their BTEC and apprenticeship leavers with the same enthusiasm as their university entrants. Until the Government amend their highly academic criteria for schools, that may be a pipe dream, but there is hope that young people are increasingly looking at the high cost of university, the absence of social life during Covid—no getting drunk in the pubs, although that is mercifully coming back again—and considering that learning and earning is a better alternative than learning and being in debt.
Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-04-07
Topic: Agriculture
Catherine Bakewell (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction to the Commons amendments to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. This was a very small Bill which was trailed in the Conservative Party’s manifesto. I am not usually an advocate of following another party’s manifesto, but, on this occasion, it was necessary to bring forward the Bill in this parliamentary Session. I would have wished the Bill to have had more detail in it and perhaps to have had more support from the Government Benches, but to have amended it further would have delayed it, and it could possibly have been lost in the welter of other legislation we are dealing with The noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, referred to the shortcomings in the Bill, as have others. It is nevertheless long overdue that animal sentience should be recognised in law and on the face of legislation. This Bill fulfils that need The Bill, although short, received minor amendments in the other place. The first, to Clause 2, inserts the provision around religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage. It seems sensible that those who have strongly held religious beliefs should be able to have those rites and cultural traditions respected; this is the correct way to proceed. However, insertion of the provision is not necessary, as the Bill already gives the ASC the right to consider non-welfare factors, but we are content to let it stand The other amendment made in the other place was to Clause 6. A clause inserted in the Lords prevented any charge being placed on the people—on public funds—but it was removed in the other place. We do not oppose the removal of that amendment and hope that others similarly do not oppose its removal.
Nationality and Borders Bill — House of Lords, 2022-04-04
Topic: International Affairs
Alison Suttie (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I shall speak briefly in favour of Motion T1 by the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, which proposes Amendment 40B in lieu. I will be very brief because there have been so many brilliant speeches from the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, the noble Viscount, Lord Brookeborough, and, of course, the noble Lord, Lord Murphy. I do not understand why the Government have not shown more willingness to concede on this matter. At every stage of the Bill so far, they have failed to provide convincing evidence that introducing these proposals will be workable or enforceable in practice, especially given the particularly sensitive circumstances on the land border on the island of Ireland.
Sanctions — House of Lords, 2022-03-01
Topic: International Affairs
William John Lawrence Wallace (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I think that everyone in this House would like to compliment the Minister on the enormously valuable work he has done and continues to do on this; we all appreciate it. However, can he take back to his colleagues that saying all the time that we are leading on this and leading on that is not the right tone? To say that we are working with others, we are co-operating, we are in solidarity with our partners and allies would be much more constructive in the current context Can I also ask about the domestic dimension of sanctions? I was very struck by the paragraph in the Intelligence and Security Committee’s Russia report which said that the penetration of British society and politics by wealthy Russians resident in London has gone so far that it is now in some ways difficult to untangle. We must now see what we can do to untangle that. Can we be assured that the Government will not only do their best to untangle it, but report to Parliament on what they are doing?
Health and Care Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-01
Topic: Environment
Joan Walmsley (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I, too, am a member of Peers for the Planet and I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, on their engagement with the Government and thank them for taking their concerns on board I have previously raised the fact that a big way in which the NHS can reduce its emissions is by having energy-efficient buildings, and I should like reassurance that any new buildings and refurbishment of the NHS estate will involve highly insulated and low-energy buildings. There are so many things that the NHS can do by using low-energy lighting, reducing microplastics, using compostable single-use plastic or not using plastic at all and using microwaves to deal with clinical waste, because they are much more energy efficient. How will all this be reviewed after the Bill has passed? Will there be any reporting back on how well the NHS has been able to respond to this challenge?
Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-15
Topic: Government Operations
Christopher Fox (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, this amendment is testament to the power of remote control over this Bill by the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, and we on this Bench welcome it. I am interested that the Minister was able to announce on Report that a large number of arbitration organisations had already been recruited to take part in this important activity. To that end, I am surprised that they did so without some assurance of immunity as now offered by this amendment; I would be interested to hear what the expectations of those organisations were, given that it is only now that that immunity is emerging. With that small question, we will support the amendment.
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare
Paul Scriven (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I must press the Minister here. Following on from what the noble Lord, Lord Harris, said, the impact assessment is very clear. Under this policy, there are no direct costs because returning officers "will be able to buy the equipment they think best" suits "those with disabilities … by removing the requirement to buy a specific device." That is what the impact assessment says. There is no extra money: money will be moved from the prescribed equipment to what the returning officer sees fit.
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-15
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Scriven (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is not the Electoral Commission but the Government’s own impact assessment which says that the returning officers do not have to buy from the list which will be provided by the commission. This is a government impact assessment and nothing to do with the Electoral Commission.