argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I am always grateful to my team in the Department because they always write me a speech. Most of the speech that has been provided is not of much relevance because I am in listening mode on this issue. The hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna), whom I congratulate not just on his engagement, but on having secured this debate, makes some extremely interesting and valid points, which I did not realise until he secured the debate. I am pleased to record in Hansard some of the things that have already occurred which are interesting and which are at least the building blocks for tackling what is undoubtedly a real problem, which he properly brings to this place. He properly calls on Government, in effect, to take the same attitude to people of different colour, ethnicity and background as we have taken in the past five years to women. That is what I believe the hon. Gentleman is saying. If he is not, he can tell me The 2020 group is chaired by Sir John Parker. He is the chairperson—interestingly, it says "chairman" in my notes—of Anglo American plc. The aim of the group is to help to create the climate and conditions in which UK business leadership can take the maximum advantage of the cultural, religious and ethnic diversity available within the population. We know the figures: 98% of all FTSE 100 chairs are white; 96% of FTSE 100 chief executive officers are white; and 95% of the FTSE 100 chief financial officers are white. As the hon. Gentleman has said, that comes from the Green Park leadership campaign and work As a result of the 2020 vision, the Prime Minister said that, in the next five years, we will increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by young people from black and minority ethnic communities by 20%; increase the number of BME students going to university by 20%; and work to ensure that 20,000 start-up loans are awarded to BME applicants by 2020 That is good and laudable and it resonates with the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight), who is no longer in the Chamber. He and my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) made the point that we must ensure that people from all backgrounds go into business. The point made by the hon. Member for Streatham was that we cannot wait, because we know that people of ability are in businesses and are more than capable of reaching the upper echelons but are not getting there There is therefore a problem. I do not know—I am asking the hon. Gentleman to help me—whether there is research on why more perfectly capable and able people who happen not to be white are not making the progress they clearly should make.
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely understand that. Lots of people are doing all sorts of research. After the first Opposition day debate this afternoon, I went to an event in the Shard organised by a foundation called the Pink Shoe Club. It is doing a lot of in-depth work with women to see why, for example, women in small businesses are not having the successes that men have. It is complex. One reason is access to money. Another is that, frankly—I can say this as a woman—it would seem that not enough women have enough aspiration. It is not simply the case that there is still discrimination and bias—I am sure there is and there is no debate about that—but there are lots of other factors. Obviously, with the rise of women through the ranks, there will always be that debate on the topic of children and how women fit their children in with that sort of career and advance. Any man can do it—the problem never seems to stop men having children and continuing their career. It is hugely complicated.
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman—he is now my right hon. Friend for the purposes of this debate. When I was a Defence Minister, one thing that really struck me was that the people at the very top of the three armed services undoubtedly got it. They understood that it was unacceptable that there were not enough women, gay people or people from ethnic minority backgrounds making their way up through the ranks in the same way that white, straight men were. After the people at the very top got it, we began to see the most astonishing successes. For example, our armed forces have done particularly well in getting rid of the awful discrimination against gay people. Some progress has been made for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Frankly, we could do a lot more for women. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that it has to come from the top, because that is where the leadership is This probably sounds completely obvious to those of us who get it, but it is not about saying, "I want 50% of my board to be women, and I want more people with brown skin on my board, because that’s what we really should be doing." It is about saying, "We’ve got to have the very best people on our board, so there should be no barriers to them getting there. If there are barriers, how can we be sure that we’re getting the best people?" It is not about saying, "We want more women and more people from ethnic minority backgrounds because that reflects society." It is about saying, "We want the very best, and that means people with ability have to be able to get on."
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): I am listening carefully to my right hon. Friend, who is making a powerful case. She will no doubt be aware that for the past 16 years more than 50% of graduates coming out of Russell Group universities in this country are women, and that more women get first-class degrees from those leading universities than men, yet only 8% of executive directors in this country are women. She is making a powerful case for people to listen and act, but we are not seeing much action, so how will she change that in an acceptable time frame?
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree. I do not like quotas or targets, but that does not mean that I do not like ambitions—there is an important subtlety in that word. That is why I had no difficulty with some of the great campaigns to get more women into this place or on to boards. I have no difficulty with a hard drive behind ambition, but I absolutely would not go down the route of having strict legal quotas.
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not want more regulation. The hon. Gentleman would expect me, as a BIS Minister, to say that. However, he is absolutely right. If people do not look at their own institution, business or whatever to make this analysis—in my chambers, for example, we would look at our stats and our figures—then how do they know when there is a problem and where it might be? It is necessary for businesses to look at this The hon. Gentleman made some very powerful points. He had three asks. I hope he will forgive me if this sounds a bit wet, but I would like to not only take this away with me, but, most importantly, to meet him and the key players to look at it and advance it. The Secretary of State is from a particular background, and is no doubt the first person from that background in that role, so he will certainly have an interest in this, especially as he has a business background, as did his family.
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, as a role model. I am a huge fan of mentoring. I have seen the great work that mentors can do with women, and often people from difficult backgrounds, in inspiring them and giving them a helping hand along their journey. I am a huge fan of that. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that we need to get the right role models in place I am sorry if this is not one of those speeches whereby I just trot out all the usual lines. However, I absolutely give an undertaking that I will speak to the Secretary of State about this debate and the very powerful speech that the hon. Gentleman made. He mentioned Vince Cable. The article in the Evening Standard was very good and very powerful.
Corporate Boards (Diversity) — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Other
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): That is excellent. I undertake to see whether Lord Davies’s remit can be extended, now that he has done such great work, in the way that we want. I hope that this gives us a real basis now to do some really good, positive work Question put and agreed to.
Pension Advice — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
James Whiteside Gray (Conservative, Centre-right): I was about to ask the same question as the Minister just answered. May I take this opportunity to say to him that a large number of my constituents are being badly affected by scams, particularly over the internet? This is a matter of great concern. I am delighted that the Government have taken such strides to deal with it.
Pension Advice — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): Pension Wise is there to give impartial and free advice. When necessary, it will direct people towards professional advisers. The Money Advice Service has on its books a directory of some 2,300 firms throughout the country. In Scotland, there are 162 firms. The total number of advisers is more than 6,000. We are trying to make sure that the public have proper access whenever advice is required.
Benefit Sanctions — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department carries out reviews to identify whether any lessons can be learned. I should emphasise that the Information Commissioner has considered this issue and upheld the Department’s decision not to publish the details because of the level of personal information they contain. For that reason, it would be unlawful to release this information.
Private Sector Pensions — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend on her efforts in helping to spread the important message about this groundbreaking reform. I agree that small businesses need to advise their employees of the changes, which is why the Government have launched a new national communications campaign for small and micro-employers, as well as for individuals.
Private Sector Pensions — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that we get people to recognise they need to think about the future. Some 10 million eligible people will qualify for auto-enrolment, of whom 9 million will be saving more or saving for the first time. I am also happy to say that 3 million to 4 million of them are women.
Temporary Accommodation — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): Today, the number of households in temporary accommodation is 66,890, and the all-time high in September 2004 was 50% higher than that. The average time that households spend in temporary accommodation is now seven months less than when we came into office in 2010. Working with DCLG, we are introducing measures to build more houses. Over this Parliament, we expect a further 275,000 affordable houses to be built, which is the fastest rate in 20 years.
Temporary Accommodation — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): We are making available £800 million for discretionary housing payments over this Parliament, which is an increase of 40%. The key is that it is discretionary for each local authority. In addition, to recognise the additional costs within London, £60 per household is provided per week to the local authority.
Temporary Accommodation — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): The key is providing more houses. A further 800,000 new homes have been built since 2009, housing starts are at their highest level since 2007, and a further 275,000 affordable houses will be built during this Parliament. Through the new homes bonus, we are offering additional incentives to build further affordable houses.
Temporary Accommodation — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): The right-to-buy policy is a deal that we have secured with housing associations to give tenants the right to buy. The homes will be sold on a one-for-one basis, which creates new, modern stock and additional jobs. People who work hard should not be blocked from a chance to own their home, which I very much support.
Employment Support: Young People — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Apprenticeship fairs and engagement with employers are the right way to encourage young people not just to train and acquire new skills, but to secure new career opportunities through apprenticeships. I commend her for the work that she is doing in her constituency, and wish her well with her apprenticeship fair.
Benefits: EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): Since the start of last year we have been taking action through a range of measures to restrict access to benefits for EU migrants looking for work in the UK, because the last Labour Government left us an open door. That will ensure that advantage is not taken of our welfare system, and that the system is also fair to those who pay into it. It is estimated that changes made by my Department and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will save more than half a billion pounds over the next few years.
Benefits: EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Immigration
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the excellent Secretary of State agree that it would be easier and more efficient for us to treat all EU citizens in the same way, and allow into the country only the ones whom we want here? Would not the end of free movement make his life much easier?
Benefits: EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Civil Rights
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister has given the country a referendum on that matter, which is a huge step forward for the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) and everyone else—they will all have a vote. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) will, at that moment, be able to make that powerful argument. I am sure, with his rhetoric, he may yet carry the day.
Benefit Cap — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree, and as I have said, the benefit cap is working. We are changing the levels at which that cap is set to improve it and to make it work further around the country. In my hon. Friend’s area, the east midlands, the number of workless households has fallen by 68,000 under this Government—households that are now benefiting from that return to work.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): We are working closely with Motability to put in place a package of support for those who lose their eligibility. Claimants will be able to keep their vehicles for almost two months and most claimants receive a one-off payment of up to £2,000 to maintain their mobility. In addition, we have reformed the DWP appeals process with the introduction of the mandatory reconsideration. This enables disputes to be addressed more quickly. Finally, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service continues to focus on reducing waiting times, and I would be happy to work with my hon. Friend further to see what progress can be made.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Questions: Will the introduction of universal credit, and all the associated data that that entails, enable the Government and the Department to help young people on low incomes to find new opportunities to progress into higher-paid jobs?; According to the Office for National Statistics, nearly one in four jobs in my city of Sheffield pays less than the real living wage. On the day that the living wage is being increased to £8.25 an hour, will the Secretary of State congratulate the Living Wage Foundation on its work and outline what he will do to ensure that more people are paid the real living wage, which is now over £1 an hour more than the Government’s bogus national living wage?; What actions is the Department taking to support the small businesses in Romford and the London borough of Havering that are seeking to provide support and training to adults so that they can develop skills for successful employment?; With one in four workers in Erdington earning less than the living wage, 82% of children are being brought up in families that are dependent on tax credits. Does the Secretary of State not accept that this is the worst possible time to cut tax credits, and that those families will not be compensated by his phoney living wage? Will he join me in welcoming the initiative taken today by the Labour-led Birmingham City Council to declare that no Brummie in the city should earn less than the real living wage?; I welcome the Minister’s commitment to introducing a yellow card system for sanctions, but does he agree that we also need to ensure that claimants with mental health problems are placed in the right group in the first place? Will he reaffirm the commitment that I received from his predecessor, following a tragic constituency case, to improve mental health training for assessors and decision makers?; Over the previous Parliament, the number of working families in London claiming housing benefit increased by 84%. Over the past three years, London councils have been able to replace only one in seven of the council homes they have sold. Does the Minister see any connection between those two figures?
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): What the hon. Gentleman failed to remind us all is that under the last Government the number of people claiming housing benefit, both out of work and in work, rose dramatically, whereas under this Government the number of those claiming housing benefit out of work has fallen dramatically.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the hon. Lady for the predictable application of her beady eye to these important matters, but she should rest content in my own certification decisions. In other words, if there appears to be any conflict between my certificate and what happens to appear in the explanatory notes, she should be content with the former as the definitive guide. Perhaps we can leave it there for now.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Decisions on certification are what matters. I do not want to anticipate what might be seen to be, or indeed be, contrary elements. The hon. Lady is now well familiar with the geography of the Palace of Westminster. She knows exactly where the Table Office is and, to judge by her general high level of activity in this Chamber, I rather suspect that she makes frequent visits to it. She knows how to go to the Table Office, how to consult the Clerks, and how to consult me. At any rate she can be untroubled on this matter for today and, I hope, in the future. She might not always like the certification decisions, but she need not be in any doubt what they are.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Before the hon. Gentleman, in a state of uncontrollable excitement, rises to his feet to raise a further point of order, may I politely suggest to colleagues— I think the hon. Lady had in some sense anticipated this—that I say what I was going to say in any case on certification now, appertaining to today? If after that the appetite of hon. Members to raise further points of order remains, doubtless I will be the first to hear it I remind the House that I have certified some provisions of the Housing and Planning Bill under Standing Order No. 83J in relation to England, and some in relation to England and Wales. I further remind the House that this does not affect proceedings in the debate on Second Reading, or indeed in Committee or on Report. After Report stage, I will consider the Bill again for certification and, if required, the Legislative Grand Committee will be asked to consent to certified provisions. I hope that is clear.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): The short answer to that question is no, because it is incumbent on me to make decisions on certification without explanation. That might seem not readily obvious to new entrants to the House, and I do not mean that discourteously, but it is very much in conformity with the usual practice of what is expected of the Speaker. If I may try to be helpful to the hon. Gentleman, the analogy is with the decision on an urgent question. The Speaker makes a decision on urgent questions that is not then subject to debate or a requirement to explain it in the Chamber. The decision is made, it is communicated and that, for the Chamber, is the end of it. I hope that is helpful—but, whether it is or not, that is what I have to say.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time Every Parliament that is elected has a responsibility to the future and to do all that it can to ensure that the lives of the next generation are better than those of past generations. Nowhere is that more important than in ensuring that the next generation have the homes they need. Indeed, it is not just about the next generation. The impact of much of the public policy that we debate is on the here and now or the next few years ahead. If we look around any city, town or village in Britain, it is obvious that housing endures for many decades and, in some cases, for hundreds of years. Every home that is built is much more than a pile of bricks and mortar or concrete and glass. The homes that we build shape the lives, for better or for worse, of generation after generation of people who live in them As Churchill said: "We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us."—[Official Report, 28 October 1943; Vol. 393, c. 403.] Providing the homes that we need is a responsibility that unites us all in this House. For many years now, we have not built enough homes in this country. That is true of successive Governments and has been true for many decades. New households have been forming in Britain at a rate of about 200,000 a year, yet the last year in which we built 200,000 homes was 1988.