argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Other
Questions: My right hon. Friend will be aware that most goods vehicles coming into the United Kingdom are operated by overseas companies. How can Her Majesty’s Government encourage those firms to operate appropriate levels of security to prevent people using those vehicles to gain illegal entry to our country?; Does the recently updated Home Office country information and guidance on Eritrea take into account the recent findings of the UN commission of inquiry into human rights in Eritrea?; The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was a great achievement for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and her colleagues. What progress is she making in working with other European countries to tackle modern slavery, especially in the light of the report from the Centre for Social Justice on organised crime groups that move men, women and children across EU borders into slavery?; A month ago a very impressive young woman came to my surgery asking for my help. She is in her mid-20s and is a high-flying accountant—or she would have been had her wings not been clipped by the shock news that she has no status in this country through no fault of her own, but because her parents have overstayed their welcome. She is now estranged from them. Does the Home Secretary have any sympathy with children in those circumstances who have done nothing wrong? Could I write to her and ask her to use some discretion in looking at this case?
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): It is very difficult to comment on an individual case without knowing all the facts and circumstances, but if the hon. Lady would like to write to me with that information, I will consider it carefully.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: My right hon. Friend will be aware that most goods vehicles coming into the United Kingdom are operated by overseas companies. How can Her Majesty’s Government encourage those firms to operate appropriate levels of security to prevent people using those vehicles to gain illegal entry to our country?; Does the recently updated Home Office country information and guidance on Eritrea take into account the recent findings of the UN commission of inquiry into human rights in Eritrea?; The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was a great achievement for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and her colleagues. What progress is she making in working with other European countries to tackle modern slavery, especially in the light of the report from the Centre for Social Justice on organised crime groups that move men, women and children across EU borders into slavery?; A month ago a very impressive young woman came to my surgery asking for my help. She is in her mid-20s and is a high-flying accountant—or she would have been had her wings not been clipped by the shock news that she has no status in this country through no fault of her own, but because her parents have overstayed their welcome. She is now estranged from them. Does the Home Secretary have any sympathy with children in those circumstances who have done nothing wrong? Could I write to her and ask her to use some discretion in looking at this case?; I am proud that in Kingston offers have come in thick and fast to host Syrian refugees since we offered to do so not after the terrible image of Alan, but more than 12 months ago. This has not always been easy because some of the refugees come from incredibly traumatised backgrounds. Is the Home Secretary assessing which Syrian refugees have been victims of torture and ensuring that they are housed close to areas where they can access rehabilitative services?; As Ministers will know, crisis funding for domestic violence refuges ends on 31 March 2016, so where should the many thousands of women and children fleeing violence now turn for lifesaving support after that date? In particular, will the Minister commit to the provision of sufficient permanent funding for women’s refuge in future?; In my constituency the CCTV equipment is coming to the end of its functional life. What funding is in place to replace this scheme?; I am sure the Minister will welcome the appointment of Ian Hopkins as the new chief constable of Greater Manchester, but the Manchester Evening News is reporting that he could face £157 million of cuts because of the funding formula. Regardless of those negotiations, will the Minister guarantee that any negotiated settlement will not be undermined by the comprehensive spending review?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Obviously, arrangements were put in place between the Government and the individuals concerned. My right hon. Friend is right to indicate that as part of that settlement sums of money were paid, but I will not go into the details of any individual settlement.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: My right hon. Friend will be aware that most goods vehicles coming into the United Kingdom are operated by overseas companies. How can Her Majesty’s Government encourage those firms to operate appropriate levels of security to prevent people using those vehicles to gain illegal entry to our country?; Does the recently updated Home Office country information and guidance on Eritrea take into account the recent findings of the UN commission of inquiry into human rights in Eritrea?; The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was a great achievement for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and her colleagues. What progress is she making in working with other European countries to tackle modern slavery, especially in the light of the report from the Centre for Social Justice on organised crime groups that move men, women and children across EU borders into slavery?; A month ago a very impressive young woman came to my surgery asking for my help. She is in her mid-20s and is a high-flying accountant—or she would have been had her wings not been clipped by the shock news that she has no status in this country through no fault of her own, but because her parents have overstayed their welcome. She is now estranged from them. Does the Home Secretary have any sympathy with children in those circumstances who have done nothing wrong? Could I write to her and ask her to use some discretion in looking at this case?; I am proud that in Kingston offers have come in thick and fast to host Syrian refugees since we offered to do so not after the terrible image of Alan, but more than 12 months ago. This has not always been easy because some of the refugees come from incredibly traumatised backgrounds. Is the Home Secretary assessing which Syrian refugees have been victims of torture and ensuring that they are housed close to areas where they can access rehabilitative services?; As Ministers will know, crisis funding for domestic violence refuges ends on 31 March 2016, so where should the many thousands of women and children fleeing violence now turn for lifesaving support after that date? In particular, will the Minister commit to the provision of sufficient permanent funding for women’s refuge in future?; In my constituency the CCTV equipment is coming to the end of its functional life. What funding is in place to replace this scheme?; I am sure the Minister will welcome the appointment of Ian Hopkins as the new chief constable of Greater Manchester, but the Manchester Evening News is reporting that he could face £157 million of cuts because of the funding formula. Regardless of those negotiations, will the Minister guarantee that any negotiated settlement will not be undermined by the comprehensive spending review?
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Home Secretary confirm that she has not personally authorised any intercepts of MPs’ communications? Perhaps after last week, will she confirm that any future Government that she may head will not intercept MPs’ communications?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: My right hon. Friend will be aware that most goods vehicles coming into the United Kingdom are operated by overseas companies. How can Her Majesty’s Government encourage those firms to operate appropriate levels of security to prevent people using those vehicles to gain illegal entry to our country?; Does the recently updated Home Office country information and guidance on Eritrea take into account the recent findings of the UN commission of inquiry into human rights in Eritrea?; The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was a great achievement for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and her colleagues. What progress is she making in working with other European countries to tackle modern slavery, especially in the light of the report from the Centre for Social Justice on organised crime groups that move men, women and children across EU borders into slavery?; A month ago a very impressive young woman came to my surgery asking for my help. She is in her mid-20s and is a high-flying accountant—or she would have been had her wings not been clipped by the shock news that she has no status in this country through no fault of her own, but because her parents have overstayed their welcome. She is now estranged from them. Does the Home Secretary have any sympathy with children in those circumstances who have done nothing wrong? Could I write to her and ask her to use some discretion in looking at this case?; I am proud that in Kingston offers have come in thick and fast to host Syrian refugees since we offered to do so not after the terrible image of Alan, but more than 12 months ago. This has not always been easy because some of the refugees come from incredibly traumatised backgrounds. Is the Home Secretary assessing which Syrian refugees have been victims of torture and ensuring that they are housed close to areas where they can access rehabilitative services?; As Ministers will know, crisis funding for domestic violence refuges ends on 31 March 2016, so where should the many thousands of women and children fleeing violence now turn for lifesaving support after that date? In particular, will the Minister commit to the provision of sufficient permanent funding for women’s refuge in future?; In my constituency the CCTV equipment is coming to the end of its functional life. What funding is in place to replace this scheme?; I am sure the Minister will welcome the appointment of Ian Hopkins as the new chief constable of Greater Manchester, but the Manchester Evening News is reporting that he could face £157 million of cuts because of the funding formula. Regardless of those negotiations, will the Minister guarantee that any negotiated settlement will not be undermined by the comprehensive spending review?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. As I intimated was likely at the start of Home Office questions, we have been notably deprived by the absence of that intellectual iconoclast, the Minister for Security, the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), but we have pressed on as best we can, regardless of that deprivation.
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): We are straying a tad from the relatively narrow terms of the urgent question, to which I know colleagues will be eager to return, and none more so than the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): My local trust in Nottinghamshire, Sherwood Forest, is in a very bad financial position—one of the worst in the country. The primary reason is the appalling private finance initiative deal we inherited from the previous Labour Government, which consumes 17% of the trust’s annual budget. Would a new Parliament be an opportunity for the Government to look again at those appalling PFI contracts, particularly those that affect trusts such as mine that are in special measures?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Robin Caspar Walker (Conservative, Centre-right): You are very kind, Mr Speaker I congratulate the Minister on his statement. Having raised the concerns of my constituents in housing association properties, I am delighted that this voluntary deal has been reached The Minister may be interested to know that Sanctuary Housing, which is the largest registered social landlord in the country and whose headquarters are in my constituency, has said not only that it thinks that the deal can be delivered with one-for-one replacement, but that it believes it can increase the supply of affordable housing over the next five years at almost twice the rate that it has been able to deliver over the last five years.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has made some very good points, particularly the point about his father. That scheme enabled so many millions of families to own their own homes, and I think everyone who has been involved in it should be very proud of that Over the last few months and especially over the last few weeks, at the National Housing Federation conference and since, we have been talking to housing associations which clearly want to use this deal to make their assets work and to build more homes. We must remember that it will drive up housing supply.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): On the properties the hon. Lady outlined, in the deal itself and the right to buy there are exemptions, but I do sympathise with her point. I understand how the Scottish Government came to the point that they did in terms of the frustration with housing supply because, as I have just outlined, Labour simply did not build the houses over their 13 years in government. The answer is that we need to make sure we are building the houses. I would encourage the Scottish Government that the solution is not to stop people having the right to buy their own home. I would encourage that and use the money from that to build the extra houses we need; if Labour had done that for 13 years, we would not have lost the 420,000 affordable homes that were lost in those years. We have increased those numbers in the last Parliament. We will do so again in this Parliament and, through the money coming in from right to buy, there will be that full replacement income for housing associations to build an extra home; that is the key to this.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the Secretary of State and Minister on this most civilised of solutions. However, may I raise a point I have had discussions with them on on a number of occasions: exemptions for small rural communities where housing association properties are extremely valuable but also extremely hard to replace? Have we had discussions with housing associations about the same exemptions for those small communities as are currently embodied in council house right to buy?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend. He makes a good point. The housing associations have played a hugely important part through the way they have come forward with this deal and have recognised the mandate the Government got in the general election to deliver this. They have done an excellent job in this regard. This is about extending the right to buy and therefore the rural exemptions extend as well. Indeed my hon. Friend can see the deal on the National Housing Federation website and there are some examples there of the very point he has outlined.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): The "extra home built for every home sold" applies to London. London will see more homes built as a result of this and, even under the reinvigorated scheme from 2012 onwards, in the first year some 536 homes were sold in London and 1,139 were built in the period, much more than one extra built for every one sold.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
John Michael Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): From listening to those on the Opposition Benches, we might get the impression that this is a stand-alone measure, but is it not a part of our broader programme to encourage homeownership among the widest collection of people in the country, and is this not a good illustration of how we are committed to doing that?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. Yes, it absolutely is part of a wider package of work we have been doing and will continue to do to drive up home building as well as homeownership throughout different parts of the sector and with different types of tenure, while always remembering that 86% of our population want to own their own home and doing everything we can to support them in that aim.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a pretty simple question of supply and demand. To get more affordable prices, we need to build more homes, and I hope that the hon. Lady will support this process, which is about getting more homes built in London and in the rest of the country.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
David Henry Rutley (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased to hear from the Minister’s answer that the principle of reinvesting the proceeds of sales is at the heart of the proposals. Does not this underline the fact that our party is here not just for homeowners but for home building as well?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely; my hon. Friend makes an important point. We are hugely determined to drive up house building, having inherited from Labour in 2010—when the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) was the Minister—the lowest level of house building that the country had seen since 1923. We have seen the figures rise, and they need to continue to do so. All the work going on at the moment is about getting more homes built in this country.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): I am almost at a loss for words. The right to buy for housing associations has not yet come into force, so how a housing association can be taking that view now is beyond me, particularly when we bear in mind that our policy will create more work for them. We want them to use the income from right to buy to build more homes, which will mean more work for the housing associations.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Sarah James (Wollaston) (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister’s confirmation that housing associations in rural areas will continue to have an exemption. However, can he reassure those small communities in rural areas with very high housing costs, such as those in my constituency, that if the housing associations choose not to avail themselves of the exemption, any like-for-like replacement will be provided in the same area? If such replacement were provided in a distant town, our rural communities would be depleted.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I thank her and her colleagues for the time that they put in over the summer to talk to their local housing associations about the deal that the associations were working towards putting to us. It is important that people recognise that the rural exemptions will continue. We are extending right to buy and the rural exemptions are in right to buy. She will also be able to look at the portable option that the housing associations are putting forward.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): First, 86% of the people in our country want the chance to own their home, and we make no apology for supporting them. On right to buy, we are talking about the housing associations building more homes. As we have already heard, a number of them—including some of the largest, such as Sanctuary, Orbit and L&Q—see this as a way of ensuring that their asset base can be used to deliver the extra homes that we need, to ensure that housing supply goes up. For those people in the private rented sector, I absolutely want to continue to do everything possible to support their aspiration to own. That is what Help to Buy is about, and it is what the 200,000 starter homes announced by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week are about. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support us in our programme of work.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Andrew George Stephenson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased that my constituency’s largest housing association, Housing Pendle, is delivering 122 new affordable homes this year. Will the Minister confirm that extending the right to buy to housing association properties will mean more money overall, with money being released to build new affordable homes, thus helping more families to access the good quality, affordable homes they so desperately need?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. He has a good example in his local authority area of a housing association that is keen to build, and this scheme will allow it to access its assets to build more and to use that income to make sure it is building more homes to increase supply across our country.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I say to the hon. Lady that the drop in house building that led to the drop in homeownership started under the Labour Government. In fact, the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), who is on the Labour Front Bench, said that he had no problem with a fall in homeownership, but I have a different view. This Government want to make sure that we drive up not only home building but homeownership. We will do anything we can to support that, and this deal that the housing associations have put forward will help to increase the supply of affordable homes right across our country, including in London.
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): This is one of the best policies the Government have introduced. We are hearing the 1980s arguments all over again from Opposition Members. The truth of the matter is that when a property is sold, that person still lives in that property; I spoke to my local housing association over the weekend and it is really keen on this idea, because it will be able to invest in one and a half homes with this money—that is one and a half extra families with a house to live in. How can anyone possibly be against that?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): As ever, my hon. Friend makes a hugely important point. I, too, am baffled as to why any Opposition Member would want to disagree with the housing associations, with their tenants, with the people of this country, who gave us a mandate to deliver this policy, and with the 86% of people who want the opportunity to own their own home. This approach will send housing supply up—he is absolutely right about that. A key point is that for every home sold this will mean at least one extra home being built. That increases housing supply. It is simple mathematics.