argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Progression out of Low-Paid Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Labor
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): I similarly associate myself and all my colleagues with your remarks before questions, Mr Speaker The Government know that, as the hon. Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) suggests, there is a problem with progression out of low pay, because they commissioned the Ruby McGregor-Smith review, which reported in July last year. In January this year, the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies), told me that the Government would publish their response "shortly". Meanwhile, kickstart has failed to deliver and, as the journalist Ed Conway pointed out this afternoon, in the past year the average house has earned more than the average 18 to 29-year-old in this country. That is a disgrace. Will the Secretary of State announce today when she will at last publish the Government’s response to the Ruby McGregor-Smith review of low pay? Will she say how the Government propose to make progress on two key issues that the review identified: public transport and childcare?
Menopause: Women Leaving the Workplace — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: What assessment she has made of the economic impact of women claiming benefits after leaving the workplace early due to symptoms of the menopause.
Carolyn Harris (Labour, Centre-left): A poll by the Fawcett Society reported that a quarter of employees currently experiencing the menopause said they would consider leaving the workforce. Furthermore, 10% are actually doing so. That is one in 10 experienced and talented women who have symptoms of the menopause leaving their jobs and their incomes, and potentially entering the benefit system. I know the Minister understands the issues that these women are facing, so would she consider creating a resource specific to women and their employers to help them overcome those barriers and keep more women in work?
Poverty: Pensioners — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): Before I start, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his very moving, very personal and very brave tribute to our friend Jack Dromey last week. It is hugely appreciated across the House I disagree with the Minister: pensioner poverty is increasing. As we have heard, many pensioners are facing an impossible choice between heating and eating. Pension credit and the basic state pension are being cut in real terms today. He mentioned the package the Chancellor announced. A million pensioners are on the council tax benefit reduction. Will those million pensioners who do not pay council tax get the £150 rebate automatically or will they have to apply for it? If they have to apply, will he guarantee that 100% of pensioners will get that money this April?
Disabled People’s Benefits: Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of benefits for disabled people in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Alexandra Mary Davies-Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The increasing cost of living is having a huge impact on so many people, and instead of doing the right thing, this Government buried a £70 million stealth cut to disability benefits in the autumn Budget. For the hundreds of thousands of people impacted, I ask the Minister: exactly how does she expect disabled people to manage their rising energy bills while this Government stand by with woefully inadequate proposals?
Disabled People’s Benefits: Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of benefits for disabled people in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Victoria Jane Foxcroft (Labour, Centre-left): I asked the Minister if she would publish the NatCen report into disabled people’s experiences of the benefits system. She said no. The Work and Pensions Committee used its powers to publish the report instead. Having reviewed this research, it is crystal clear what the Government were hiding. Disabled people are struggling on a day-to-day basis. Does she agree that the money disabled people receive is not enough to cover their additional living costs? If she does agree, why has her Department not done anything to address it?
Disabled People: Trust in DWP — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Stephen Creswell Timms (Labour, Centre-left): DWP’s social security advisory committee highlighted just over a year ago the serious problem that disabled people do not trust the Department. Burying the NatCen report, in breach of the cross-Government social research protocol, has made matters worse. The failure to consult properly on the national disability strategy has also now been found to be in breach of the law. As a first step, should the Minister not accept the social security advisory committee’s recommendation to establish a protocol for engagement to do the job properly with disabled people?
Disabled People: Trust in DWP — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): The NatCen report is a shocking read that again highlights the hostile environment created by the Department. Disabled people are having to undergo cruel and unfit-for- purpose assessments for their employment and support allowance and personal independence payment; face long delays before a decision is made; and, in most instances, must appeal to a tribunal where they have to wait even longer for vital support. Can the Minister understand why, given those experiences, thousands of disabled people feel let down by the Department? What action will she take to reduce long delays and unfair waiting times?
Child Poverty — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.; What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.
Helen Elizabeth Hayes (Labour, Centre-left): The Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights that child poverty in families with more than two children has risen, on this Government’s watch, to levels not seen since before 1997. Those families are disproportionately affected by increases in the cost of living and are treated punitively by the benefits system. Does the Minister really believe that it is acceptable for children to suffer more just because of the number of siblings they have? If not, what is he going to do to ensure that all families with children have the support they need at this very difficult time?
Child Poverty — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.; What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.
Katharine Helen Brooks-Osborne (Labour, Centre-left): The End Child Poverty coalition reports that of the 20 UK parliamentary constituencies that have seen the highest increase in child poverty, 17 are in the north-east of England. My constituency of Jarrow is at No. 5. Will the Minister say what he and the Secretary of State are doing to tackle child poverty, specifically in the north-east?
Child Poverty — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.; What assessment she has made of the reasons for the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “UK Poverty 2022” report that child poverty in families with more than two children increased from 33% to 47% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.; Child poverty and destitution are increasing under this Government. In Lewisham, 39% of children are growing up in poverty and more than 14,000 families are on universal credit. Not only have the Government cut universal credit by £1,000 a year; today they are again cutting support in real terms. A lone parent who is out of work will be £300 worse off. That means more children in Lewisham living in poverty. How is that fair?
Karen Patricia Buck (Labour, Centre-left): We know from the Department’s own recently published abstract of benefit rates statistics that the real-terms value of child benefit fell by 16% between April 2010 and April 2021. How many fewer families would now be in poverty if that and universal credit had been uprated consistently in line with inflation?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: Will my hon. Friend ensure that veterans who leave the services with skills in strategic sectors such as heavy goods vehicles are given support through the Way to Work scheme?
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): Mr Speaker, may I associate myself with your remarks and thanks directed at Her Majesty the Queen I read in the newspapers at the weekend that the Secretary of State is considering resigning over the Prime Minister’s rule breaking and partying. Before she heads for the exit door, given that 550,000 children are destitute, half a million children do not have a suitable bed to sleep in and she has cut universal credit by £1,000, why is she pushing through real-terms cuts to support that mean 10 million households will lose £290? How many more children will be in poverty as a result?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Labor
Questions: Will my hon. Friend ensure that veterans who leave the services with skills in strategic sectors such as heavy goods vehicles are given support through the Way to Work scheme?
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): The shadow whipping operation will be pleased that the karaoke queen is standing by the party and the Prime Minister. The right hon. Lady talks about getting people into work. Earlier today, the pensions Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) said that pensioner poverty has gone down. However, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report shows that pensioner poverty is increasing. Why is she today pushing through real-terms cuts to the pension credit and the basic state pension, which will result in more pensioners in poverty?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Angela Rayner (Labour, Centre-left): I echo the Minister’s comments regarding the Queen It is always nice to be at the Dispatch Box against the Minister but, quite honestly, where is the chief of staff? The Minister mentions what the Prime Minister said. He also said that this change gives "an enhanced role" for Parliament, yet the chief of staff’s very first act is to refuse to even turn up here to explain his own job. But maybe the Paymaster General can tell us: is it a ministerial job, a public appointment, a party role—it is not a special adviser—or is it something that does not even exist yet? Apparently, the chief of staff will not get a salary; perhaps he should join a trade union. Will he appoint or manage advisers or officials? How will he relate to the permanent secretary? Who will appoint staff, as the Minister mentioned, to the new office of the Prime Minister? When will the office be set up, and on what budget, or has the Chancellor given him a blank cheque? Is the post to have a separate Department from the Cabinet Office or are they to merge? How will he answer to us: will he face me here as the chief of staff or as the Minister for No. 10? Is he still in charge of dealing with the channel crossings, tackling the pandemic, protecting the Union, veterans policy and every other priority of the Cabinet Office? This Government are in chaos and the country is paying the price.
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (Labour, Centre-left): But being chief of staff to any Prime Minister is more than a full-time job—and to this Prime Minister, with everything we know about him, it is an impossible one. Just look at the collateral damage of those who have fallen by the wayside having come within close proximity of him. How will the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire do all those jobs and serve his constituents?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Catherine Jane Smith (Labour, Centre-left): As perhaps one of the Members of the House most prolific in asking questions of the Cabinet Office, I note that the Department is incredibly slow in replying to written questions and letters. Does the Paymaster General think that this change will make Cabinet Office responses faster or slower given that the Minister responsible now has even more responsibilities? Was being Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster just not enough?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): It is a bit difficult, is it not, to argue that there will be greater accountability when at the first hurdle the man is not even here to be accountable? It is a preposterous appointment—a sow’s ear of an appointment—which confuses the various different aspects of Government and makes it far more difficult for us to hold the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay) to account. Does anyone in Downing Street yet realise that the problem is the lack of control; it is the lack of accountability; and it’s the fibs, isn’t it?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): We should remind ourselves why we are in this predicament, or why the Government are in it: the Prime Minister made a slur against the Leader of the Opposition during the statement last Monday, accusing him of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile—something that the victims of Jimmy Savile say has no basis in truth and should be withdrawn. What is it about the Government that makes them think they know better than the victims of Jimmy Savile? Is not that the reason why they cannot find anyone decent to fill these roles?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): It is a real shame that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster could not make it to the Dispatch Box this afternoon. Will the Paymaster General tell us whether the new chief of staff will manage the new communications director, and just what the job status of the communications director is? Government sources have denied this morning that he could return to his lobbying firm, Hawthorn Advisors, if his No. 10 role for some reason—who knows—does not last long. Will the Paymaster General state categorically that that will not happen in any circumstances?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): This is absolutely the end of days! My right hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) asked very specific questions to the Paymaster General, which he has been unable to answer. The reality is that someone has been appointed to a job when it has not yet been decided what the responsibilities are. Will he ensure that, once the Government understand what the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire will actually be doing, he will come to this place and answer the questions my right hon. Friend reasonably asked, so we can actually hold him to account, because this Government are an absolute shambles?
Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Justin Piers Richard Madders (Labour, Centre-left): How many of these Downing Street staff departures in the past few days are a direct result of Sue Gray’s report? Have there been any associated findings of culpability against individuals for the failings set out in that report?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Further to the points of order made by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones) on Friday and by the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) on Thursday, have you or Mr Speaker had any notification from the Prime Minister of his intention to correct the record of his claim last week that "we have been cutting crime by 14%"?—[Official Report, 31 January 2022; Vol. 708, c. 24.] As you will be aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, the head of the UK Statistics Authority has said that the statements about crime statistics that were made by the Home Office and subsequently repeated by the Prime Minister were "misleading". In figures released just the previous week, the Office for National Statistics found "a 14% increase in total crime, driven by a 47% increase in fraud and computer misuse" Clearly the Prime Minister needs to correct the record and be clear that crime has gone up, not down, over the past two years on his watch. "Erskine May", resolutions of the House and the ministerial code all say that it is "of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity." The Prime Minister made his comments on Wednesday; the UK Statistics Authority wrote to the Home Office and No. 10 on Thursday; there have been two previous points of order on the matter. It is now Monday. This is clearly not the earliest opportunity I seek your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker. What is the point of our having a ministerial code and rules of Parliament on correcting the parliamentary record if the Prime Minister continues to ignore them and does not respond to Parliament? How do we ensure that these basic rules and standards for Parliament are not just ripped up?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Anthony Joseph Lloyd (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. You and the House will be aware that last Thursday, the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Government resigned, which has effectively established the position, both de jure and de facto, that there is now no functioning Executive in Northern Ireland I was surprised that there was no statement from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on Friday or today, because we are now living in difficult times. This House knows how hard-fought this was and how long the then Secretary of State and his predecessor had to operate before we saw Stormont re-established and a functioning Government working again There is a duty on the Northern Ireland Secretary to come to the House and explain how the matter will now be taken forward. He has direct responsibility and accountability not only for actions of governance in Northern Ireland, but to this House as to what progress will be made. Can you tell us, Madam Deputy Speaker, whether he has approached you or Mr Speaker to say that he will make a statement? If not, what recourse do we have?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank you for that clarification, but given that, in this particular case, we have not only the facts from the ONS but the statement from the head of the UK Statistics Authority—which mean that the Prime Minister needs to correct the record—if there is no response from the Prime Minister or from the Treasury Bench, no explanation, no correction, no change to what they have put on the record, and given what "Erskine May" says, what are we supposed to do?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Government Operations
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I would say that "not necessarily" is probably the answer Bills Presented Energy Company Obligation (Cavity Wall Insulation) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Paul Maynard presented a Bill to require energy companies to remove and replace incorrectly installed cavity wall insultation; and for connected purposes Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 247). Parliamentary Elections (Optional Preferential Vote) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Paul Maynard presented a Bill to introduce the optional preferential voting system for Parliamentary elections; and for connected purposes. Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 248). Ministerial Competence (External Review) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Paul Maynard presented a Bill to make provision for an annual appraisal of the performance and competence of individual Ministers, conducted outside the Cabinet Office, to inform the Prime Minister in recommending ministerial appointments; and for connected purposes Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 249). Charities (Income Source Statements) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Paul Maynard presented a Bill to require the Charity Commission to publish statistics of the proportion of income of each registered charity which is derived from public expenditure; and for connected purposes Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 250). Local Welfare Assistance (Statements) Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Paul Maynard presented a Bill to require local authorities to publish statements of expenditure and the numbers of grants made to residents through the local welfare assistance scheme; and for connected purposes Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 251).
Social Security and Pensions — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): Before the Minister rushes on from that part of his speech, will he confirm that by uprating in line with inflation last September, given that inflation is likely to be 6% over the year and could be more than 6% by April, according to the Bank of England, what he is proposing is in fact a real-terms cut for those on benefits and the pension?
Social Security and Pensions — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Andrew Joseph McDonald (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister is making an interesting point. He talks about peaks and troughs and smoothing, but inflation is going in only one direction. At the end of this process, will people who are dependent on benefits be worse off or better off? It looks to me as though they are going to have a tough time on top of an already tough time.
Social Security and Pensions — House of Commons, 2022-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Kim Marie Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): More than 30 leading anti-poverty groups, including the Child Poverty Action Group, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust, have warned that this motion will drive the most vulnerable deeper into poverty and misery, and they call on the Government instead to uplift benefits by 6%. Does the Minister accept that that needs to happen?