argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituents also use the Southeastern network. Day after day their trains are being delayed, particularly at peak times. This morning all trains between Maidstone East and London between 6.30 am and 7.30 am were, according to a message I received from a constituent, cancelled. These are unacceptable levels of service. I have asked the Secretary of State to let us know whether Southeastern is compliant with its franchise. Will my hon. Friend join me in asking the Secretary of State to respond to that request, and, if it is not compliant, in calling for action?
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure we would all echo that. My hon. Friend is quite right. According to my information, well over 20 rush-hour trains from Kent to London were cancelled because of overrunning engineering works. Sometimes, the delays were over two hours, which affects my constituents at Bromley South station, many of whom use those trains into London. So there is a real problem here I have quoted from the official statistics, but people sometimes think them dry and remote, so I want to read out some of the experiences put to me directly, either on Twitter or by email, which I think capture the problem. These are people talking about their problems on Southeastern trains. In my constituency, people pay £1,600 to £1,700 a year for a season ticket. One reads: "People’s lives are literally being made a misery by Southeastern trains" Another reads: "The service I have personally experienced this month has been shocking, almost daily delays" A third reads: "I got to the train on time, but the train itself seldom runs on time because of track problems, congestion, lack of stock, no drivers—not on" I cannot disagree with that. I use the service myself on an almost daily basis to come to Westminster, and I now factor delays into my journey. It is absolutely ludicrous A fourth quote reads: "Weekend engineering works mean no trains and earliest bus doesn’t get me to work on time so no overtime for 5 weeks" This is somebody on low pay whose job is being made a misery by this poor performance. "Not value for money" says another—well, you can say that again! Another reads: "There is not enough time to write all that is wrong" Even this Adjournment debate is not long enough to expand on all that is wrong I have two final quotes. The first reads: "The delays happen on a daily basis. My train is delayed again…use the Hayes line for a week, you’ll see." That is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart), and is wholly within Greater London. One final quote, for those further into Kent: "7.40 Dunton Green to London delayed this morning to let 2 fast trains through. Are Metro customers 2nd class citizens?" That is the feeling actually. There is an inherent conflict or tension in the Southeastern trains franchise, as currently constructed, between the high-volume and frequent demands of the inner-suburban services, such as in my area, and the demands of those coming from further into Kent.
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure my hon. Friend that the frustration of the inner-London customers is shared entirely by those a little further out. I have the great privilege of representing people who use the Tonbridge line, the Maidstone East line and the Medway Valley line. All three have had a woeful service for as long as I can remember. A survey I put out recently found that nearly 90% thought the service had gone downhill since Christmas, which is really saying something, because it was hardly uphill before then. I urge the Minister to do exactly what she has been talking about, which is to hold these people to account, get the money back off them when they fail and make sure that privatisation works by making the companies pay.
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right, although it is worth stressing that the failures are not just with the privatised train operating company, but with the publicly owned Network Rail. I draw a contrast between this line, which I now use, and the line I used before I moved to south-east London, the c2c line, which is also privatised but which has hugely improved its performance and satisfaction levels since it was privatised. So this is not an ideological issue; it is about sheer competence, and that involves enforcing the terms of the contract.
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): That is entirely right, and I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (James Brokenshire), who is also present, would share that view too. We welcome that decision by the Department, but it is not going to happen until 2018. What we are concerned about is what will be done in the interim. For a start, when Southeastern is posting doubled profits, it sticks in the craw of my residents and commuters that they are paying a premium price for what is not an acceptable and not even a remotely premium service. There is plenty of money to pay the genuine financial penalties that are necessary if a private contract arrangement is to work. I hope it could be used to offer some form of reimbursement or remission of the fare increases for our commuters, who are simply not getting what they have paid for. That is a basic failing, and I hope the Minister will—
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Claire Louise Perry (Conservative, Centre-right): I shall be happy to do that, but I want to ensure that Southeastern gets the best possible deal for those trains. They would be provided by a third-party rolling stock company, and I do not want to prejudice the negotiations. As I said, I want the trains with the additional carriages to run on the metro service, because there has been so much overcrowding.
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister said that Transport for London might take over some metro services. I understand that, but my constituents are rightly concerned about the fact that we do not have a vote on the mayoralty of London, and therefore have no democratic control over Transport for London. They fear that Transport for London would ignore our area in favour of those who would—how can I put it?—benefit more electorally from the change in service.
Southeastern Rail Services — House of Commons, 2016-01-28
Topic: Transportation
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister’s comments on the compensation scheme. When she discusses, with her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, funding issues with the Treasury, might she bear in mind that, while London Bridge improvements are critical in the long term, the price of that has been that my constituents and those in the surrounding areas have been deliberately given, in effect, a substandard service for the better part of four-plus years or so? That should be reflected in any future fare increases and in making sure that there is proper generosity in future compensation schemes.
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): A small number of public authorities have the ability to use investigatory powers where it is necessary, proportionate and for limited purposes. All public authorities that have powers to acquire communications data have made a strong operational case to retain those powers. In his review of investigatory powers, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC, said that there was no public interest in reducing the number of such bodies.
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure my hon. Friend that the United Kingdom does not and has not participated in, or undertaken, mass surveillance. The investigatory powers in the Bill are necessary, and they are used proportionately by the police and other agencies. They are particularly important for the police, including those in his own Hertfordshire force, in dealing with not just terrorists and serious criminals, but the area of child protection, in which he has a particular interest. There is only one new power in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which is access to internet connection records, and I can reassure my hon. Friend that local authorities will not have access to such records.
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I am well aware of the concerns of journalists, specifically about the powers to access information that might lead to the identification of their sources. They feel that that could have a chilling effect. We have already made a change in the code of practice to require a higher level of judicial authority to allow access to something that could relate to journalists’ sources, and we will legislate on that in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill.
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): The David Anderson report refers to Cambridgeshire county council’s Operation Magpie, which relied on communications data to protect more than 100 elderly and vulnerable persons from attempts to defraud them. Does the Secretary of State agree that such operations may benefit from the powers in the Bill to protect the most vulnerable?
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. and learned Friend raises a very important case, and provides a good example of why it is necessary sometimes for local authorities, such as Cambridgeshire county council, to have access to such powers so that they can do that important job of keeping people safe. After the Government were elected in 2010, we increased the requirements on local authorities in terms of gaining access to the most intrusive surveillance powers, but as she makes clear, in trading standards and other such areas, these powers are necessary to keep people safe.
Immigration System — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The Chair of the Home Affairs Committee and I have debated these issues in the past. Since April last year 12,253 notices to marry have been referred to the Home Office through the new arrangements. Of these, 160 proposed marriages were considered a sham, and a further 99 marriages were prevented because couples did not follow the necessary requirements and co-operate with the investigation. This is a serious matter on which we have already taken action. Between April and September last year we arrested 528 individuals and removed more than 279 people involved in sham marriages, underlining our focus on that issue.
Immigration System — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend will be aware that one of the first steps that the coalition Government took was to respond to the Labour Government’s proposals on that issue, which we continue to judge was the right thing to do. We are taking various measures to enhance the security of this country, but our judgment remains that ID cards are not the right way forward.
Online Crime — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed online in 2014-15; and how many of those crimes were (a) recorded, (b) investigated and (c) resulted in a conviction.
John Henry Hayes (Conservative, Centre-right): Crime is falling and crime is changing. Different types of crime may have an online element and an accurate national picture is critical to informing our ongoing response to cybercrime. That is why the Office for National Statistics recently published, for the very first time, initial estimates of the numbers of frauds and cybercrimes committed per year.
Online Crime — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed online in 2014-15; and how many of those crimes were (a) recorded, (b) investigated and (c) resulted in a conviction.
John Henry Hayes (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes a good point. She has focused her parliamentary career so far on the issue of online harassment, although she did not mention that in detail today. She knows that it is something that she and I both take very seriously. We welcome the preliminary trial by the Office for National Statistics to better reflect fraud and cybercrime in statistics. Having a more accurate picture will allow us to take the kinds of steps that she has advertised to the House today, because we will then be able to get a better idea of the scale and character of cybercrime and to do the preparatory work that she has requested. I take this seriously, as she clearly does, and I know that the whole House will join us in that.
Online Crime — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed online in 2014-15; and how many of those crimes were (a) recorded, (b) investigated and (c) resulted in a conviction.
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): It is not just harassment that is done over the internet; it is also phishing and fraud. Does my right hon. Friend not think that the Home Office might have a role to play in educating internet users in how best to protect themselves against such cybercrime?
Online Crime — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed online in 2014-15; and how many of those crimes were (a) recorded, (b) investigated and (c) resulted in a conviction.
John Henry Hayes (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will know that we have a national cyber-security programme. We have invested more than £90 million in this Parliament and the previous Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response, and we will continue to make that investment. Indeed, the Government have committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber-security over the next five years, including tackling cybercrime. It is about resources, earlier identification and preparation, but it is also worth saying that we have established the national cybercrime unit, so the Government are doing more, taking the steps necessary, tackling this seriously, listening and learning—unafraid of taking action.
Contraband: Entry into UK — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The National Crime Agency does vital work, both here in the UK and overseas, to track down the source of plots and conspiracies, as well as to disrupt the activity of organised crime groups. It has been crucial in recent operations, for example in arresting those suspected of drug smuggling offences in Greece, intercepting shipments of cocaine passing through the English channel and cracking down on Europe-wide people smuggling operations. The NCA is increasingly showing the importance of that international work, and equally it is working through organisations such as Europol to show that we have the best intelligence and good co-ordination to combat organised criminality.
Contraband: Entry into UK — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend seeks to draw me into issues that we do not comment on. We do not comment on specific issues or particular ports, but I can assure him that Border Force, the National Crime Agency and others take an intelligence-led approach to the way in which people and technology are deployed in order to have the most effect in confronting the criminals who are trying to smuggle stuff into this country.
Contraband: Entry into UK — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The National Crime Agency, working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, is looking at all threats across the border from the Republic of Ireland. Indeed, we have very good relations with the Government there. I will refer the hon. Gentleman’s comments to other colleagues across Government who take a direct interest in this.
Contraband: Entry into UK — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): We are taking this forward at a European level. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is in discussions with other European leaders on how best we can co-ordinate with and lobby Governments beyond Europe as well, to share the focus that we as a Government have on confronting the smuggling of weapons and ensuring that this issue is dealt with even more firmly.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are supporting local policing leaders to invest in cross-force capabilities and collaborative initiatives by protecting police funding over the course of this Parliament, using the police innovation fund to incentivise collaboration, and providing new transformation funding to drive further investment and innovation.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Neil Carmichael (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a very encouraging answer, but bearing in mind the work of the ministerial taskforce on child protection, what steps is the Home Secretary taking to make sure that the police co-operate well with other agencies in schools, in the healthcare system, and in social work?
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises a very important point about the police’s interaction with other agencies in dealing with child protection. On Friday, I visited a school and talked to people there about the work they do with the multi-agency safeguarding hub in bringing together police and various parts of the school and the local authority to deal with those issues. We recognise the role that schools have to play, including through personal, social, health and economic education and through sex and relationships education. We also announced in March, when we launched our "Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation" report, that we will be looking at the training of staff, to enable them to be better able to spot the signs of where children may be being exploited in that way.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I am, of course, aware of a small number of particular cases where concern has been expressed. I would not want to comment on individual ongoing police investigations, but both we and the police recognise the significance of the issues. Indeed, as the hon. Gentleman says, some of the cases involve very serious crimes indeed.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Ben Howlett (Conservative, Centre-right): As my right hon. Friend will know, Avon and Somerset police and Wiltshire police are working together strategically to help increase efficiency. The police and crime commissioner elections are coming up in May. Does she agree that PCCs across the south-west should work together to help merge the authorities in order to not only increase the efficiency of the police, but help tackle cross-authority crime?
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Some weeks ago, I visited the new combined firearms training facility that is being used in that way by the Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire and, indeed, Gloucestershire forces. That is a very good example of collaboration. It is absolutely right that police and crime commissioners should also be looking for ways in which they can collaborate, not just in relation to the police, but, increasingly, in relation to fire services.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure the hon. Lady that I am aware of the delays taking place in the Metropolitan Police, which is a matter that the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Karen Bradley), is taking up and looking into in detail.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Northamptonshire has indeed taken a number of initiatives and I am very pleased to say that, in collaboration, the police and crime commissioner, Adam Simmonds, has been particularly innovative in his thinking, looking at ways in which collaboration, not only between police forces but with other agencies, can take place. It is part of the role of the College of Policing to ensure that good practice, where it occurs, is spread so that other forces are aware of what action can be taken, to help them deal with the same issues, such as rural crime.
Police Services: Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I will refer later to some of the steps the Government are taking in relation to that collaboration. We are encouraging police forces and fire services in particular to look for collaboration where they can find it. In some parts of the country, such as Northamptonshire, the police and crime commissioner is also actively looking to see what action can be taken in relation to ambulance services, too.
Net Migration Figures: International Students — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Education
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government certainly recognise the benefit that international students bring in enriching so many of our university campuses. We want to continue to attract international students to study at our world-leading universities. It is important to note that, since 2010, university visa applications from international students have increased by 17%, and by 39% for Russell Group universities.
Net Migration Figures: International Students — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Education
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend highlights the important point: we want to attract students to come to this country to study, but we also want to ensure that they leave at the end of their time. That was a particular problem under the previous Labour Government, but we are using exit check data to work with the university sector to see that students leave when they have completed their studies.
Police Funding Formula — House of Commons, 2016-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Penning (Conservative, Centre-right): I announced in the House before Christmas that I was delaying the implementation of the new funding formula. We are considering the next steps, especially in the light of the excellent spending review settlement on behalf of the police that the Home Secretary has managed to get. I will update the House on the decisions I will make in the near future.