argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
NHS Winter Crisis — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): It is not just integration that will solve the problems in the social care sector. In Trafford, social care providers are being promised £14.61 an hour from this April—well short of what we need to sustain the home care market. What will the Minister do to ensure that there is adequate funding for home care providers?
Grenfell Tower — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): How much have the Government spent so far on assisting local authorities and the private sector to deal with this situation? Let us have a figure, let us know how much money is available and let us stop this argument about negotiating to borrow so that local taxpayers have to pick up the tab.
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Melanie Onn (Labour, Centre-left): The reason given for not providing residents of Grimsby and Cleethorpes on the east coast a direct service to London was the impact on Virgin’s profits. Will today’s announcement see any progress on a direct rail link line for my constituents, or perhaps a cut in the amount they are shelling out for their fares?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Is the Secretary of State aware that I am very disappointed he did not inform me he was attending a well-publicised meeting in the centre of Huddersfield in my constituency on Friday? He had the opportunity to talk to me and some of my constituents about the deterioration of the east coast line over recent years and the fact that not only the east coast line but the network across the north of England is a very great concern for my constituents who use it to get to work.
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (Labour, Centre-left): I think it is the Secretary of State who has the short memory, so I will remind him that this is the third time in 11 years that a private sector franchise on the east coast line has failed. Can he explain to the House why his Department prevented East Coast, a public company that ran the railway superbly for both passengers and the taxpayer, from bidding for this contract? Will he today commit to changing the rules so that public sector companies can bid for these franchises?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Heidi Alexander (Labour, Centre-left): May I ask the Transport Secretary for an update on station accessibility improvements? Hither Green in my constituency was due for a major upgrade in this control period, but that was kicked into the long grass by his predecessor. How much has been allocated for these improvement projects in the next control period, and will projects that were priorities last time around but lost out continue to be priorities?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): If the Secretary of State rushed, he would just about get the 6.10 from Euston to Flint in north Wales, and it would cost him £283 for a return ticket. In the next two years of the direct award franchise for the west coast main line, does he expect prices to stabilise, or indeed fall?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Paula Michelle Sherriff (Labour, Centre-left): While the east coast main line was under public ownership between 2009 and 2015, passenger satisfaction, punctuality and reliability reached record high levels. Has the case not therefore been made for renationalisation based on these principles?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Joseph Lloyd (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State was very casual in dismissing the comment of my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (David Hanson). People who use the west coast main line feel that it is very expensive, because there is so little competition. During this period, when he has imposed a new contract, what will he do to guarantee that there is value for money and that we will not simply see ticket prices go up, when they should be going down?
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Lucy Maria Powell (Labour, Centre-left): With the collapse of this contract and the collapse of Carillion recently, is this not a moment for us to be clear with the public that we are learning the lessons of these contracting exercises? People are coming in, overbidding or undercutting —or however one likes to put it—to kill off the competition and yet cannot afford to provide these public services. We need to be really clear with people that we have learnt the lessons and understand and that this will not happen going forward.
Rail Update — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): On passenger satisfaction, is the Secretary of State aware that, this morning, every service on the east coast main line from my constituency to London was either delayed or cancelled? There is no competition on the line, and this is the third time the franchise has failed. Does he not understand that passengers and staff on the line just want certainty, and that is why they are keen on having a public sector body managing the franchise?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Paula Michelle Sherriff (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would like to receive your guidance. I have been seeking meetings with Transport Ministers regarding a possible Flockton bypass and the services delivered by TransPennine trains. I secured a meeting with the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) before the reshuffle, but the Department has been unable thus far to honour that commitment I learned that the Secretary of State was in Kirklees last Friday. I asked on a number of occasions via his office to meet him, but I was refused and told that he would meet only Conservative members and activists. Those members have since indicated on social media that they discussed the very two issues I wished to discuss with the Secretary of State. I now understand that members of the public were also present at those meetings—something for which there is photographic evidence I have sought to raise the issues I mentioned with the Secretary of State for months, as the MP elected by the constituency. Can you please advise whether Ministers in this House should be prepared to meet Members on issues relating to their constituencies?
Social Security — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will know that state pension is deducted from pension credit, leaving those pensioners no better off than if they had not contributed to qualify for a state pension. Because state pension is also taxable if other income is brought into the household, the pensioner may have both to pay tax on it and to see it deducted from their pension credit. Therefore, they could be worse off than if they had not contributed to qualify for a state pension. What are the Government doing to address that long-standing inequity?
Social Security — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend may also be aware of the difficulties people are having claiming the childcare element of universal credit—the bureaucratic burdens which are compounding the freezes and cuts she is talking about and which mean that families cannot get the childcare support they used to be able to fund relatively easily under the tax credit system.
Social Security — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with the hon. Gentleman about overseas pensions. I am sure he recalls—I think this was last year or the year before—that a number of representatives from different countries came to lobby us about this situation, which has been ongoing for a number of years. I am sure that we have all received many emails on the subject.
Social Security — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight how particularly unfair these freezes are to single parents. It is obviously extremely difficult for them, as the sole carer of their children, to increase their family income by increasing their working hours. Does he therefore agree that special attention should be paid to their needs in the benefit system?
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Energy
Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead (Labour, Centre-left): I agree that when that occurs, it is a problem, but I am not sure that it is just related to smart meters, so a combination of issues needs to be addressed. We need to ensure that such occurrences happen as little as possible and can be overcome Our new clauses and amendments seek to address the six questions that I have identified in the context of the Bill. By doing so, they would considerably strengthen the Bill. After all, as I am sure that all hon. Members will agree, it is important in such a large project that requires public confidence that questions are properly anticipated and addressed, and that assurances are given, otherwise we will have a roll-out that eventually rolls out to not many people, and that fails to achieve the aggregate coverage that will enable the sort of benefits that we would want from the roll-out as a whole.
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Environment
Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead (Labour, Centre-left): Like me, the hon. Gentleman sat through many of the evidence sessions during the Committee stage, so he will know that an advanced programme is in place to ensure that SMETS 1 meters are compatible and interoperable, and indeed can work online, to ensure that that problem does not occur. That is a recent development. I agree that if it turns out that many SMETS 1 meters become completely dumb, that might be a problem for the overall roll-out. Perhaps the Minister will have something to say about that later, because it is important that we get this right.
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): As I recall, that figure of 250 was given to the Committee by the DCC’s chief executive. My hon. Friend will be aware that the Department initially announced last week that it did not know the figure, but then admitted that it was 80, and that most of those meters actually belonged to company officers, not members of the public. Does that not suggest that this programme is woefully off track compared with what was planned?
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Energy
Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead (Labour, Centre-left): That is the unfortunate truth, yes. The total number of SMETS 2 meters to which the DCC is connected is 80—or 250, for those who are a little more optimistic. That means that there is rather a long way to go to connect up the rest of the SMETS 2 meters, assuming that they can be end-to-end tested in order to get the right circumstances in the different parts of the country to allow the testing to take place.
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Energy
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): Both the Government’s and Ofgem’s justification for the smart meter programme is that it is meant to save customers money. If we reach the stage where it is actually costing customers rather than saving them money, will the hon. Gentleman regard that as a failure of the programme?
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Energy
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): As they say, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will try that again Amendments 2 and 3 would give the Secretary of State the power to license and regulate meter asset providers—or MAPs, as they are more commonly known. They are independent companies that secure funding and provide asset management and meter disposal on behalf of the energy companies. They are the middlemen who have come to play a very dominant role in the development of the Government’s smart meter strategy. We might think of them as being to smart meters what football agents are to the world of football.
Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Technology
David Drew (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for giving way. What I am concerned about, as always, is the urban-rural divide. We know that many rural areas are still suffering from a lack of access to broadband. Will he assure us that the rural delivery of this project is a priority, given that a lot of people in rural areas suffer because they are off the gas grid anyway?
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): With the leave of the House, we will take motions 12 to 17 together Ordered, Communities and Local Government That Fiona Onasanya be discharged from the Communities and Local Government Committee and Matt Western be added Home Affairs That Preet Kaur Gill be discharged from the Home Affairs Committee and John Woodcock be added Justice That Laura Pidcock be discharged from the Justice Committee and Ms Marie Rimmer be added Public Accounts That Andrew Jones be discharged from the Committee of Public Accounts and Robert Jenrick be added Transport That Laura Smith be discharged from the Transport Committee and Grahame Morris be added Welsh Affairs That Thelma Walker be discharged from the Welsh Affairs Committee and Susan Elan Jones be added.—(Bill Wiggin, on behalf of the Selection Committee.)
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Education
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my constituency neighbour for giving way. The Public and Commercial Services Union has done an assessment of the rationalisation of jobcentres. Its survey data shows that libraries in Glasgow are so in demand that they place time limits on the use of computers, thus excluding people from being able to do these onerous applications using their facilities. This just places another barrier before people who are already IT illiterate or who do not have the capacity to do this.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (Labour, Centre-left): If the Minister does come to Glasgow, I would like to invite him to walk from one jobcentre that is closed to the next and see what these people are facing. It will take him over an hour. It takes half an hour on the bus, on average, to get to the jobcentres that are closing down. He will be more than welcome to come to Glasgow and do the walk.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (Labour, Centre-left): One of the elements we have forgotten about is the staff. In Coatbridge, 300 jobs were moved. It was speeded up and the jobs were moved more quickly. We intervened and asked why those people were being moved out. Jobcentre staff have a 1% pay rise. For some of these staff, it will cost up to £1,800 extra a year in travel costs, so they are being asked to take a pay cut to follow their job. I hope the Minister keeps that in mind.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald) on securing the debate. This is a critical issue for all Members who represent the city of Glasgow and the Greater Glasgow region, and all areas of Scotland that are affected by the jobcentre closure programme I represent the constituency of Glasgow North East. It is adjacent to the constituencies of the hon. Members for Glasgow North (Patrick Grady) and for Glasgow East (David Linden), but we are all affected by this jobcentre rationalisation—the closures. Although the jobcentres are not physically located in my constituency, their catchment areas massively overlap it. In the last month, I have already seen the closure of the Maryhill and Possilpark jobcentre, which is to be merged into Springburn. The next tranche of closures will see Parkhead, Bridgeton and Easterhouse jobcentres merged into Shettleston That will be a major issue in my constituency, because unemployment there is twice the national average. The argument has been, "Well, there’s over-representation of jobcentres’ footprints in Glasgow," but that is because historically there has been a higher than average unemployment rate in Glasgow. We also have to look at the historical development of that unemployment rate, which is particularly intractable. It is not the sort of transient unemployment rate that we see with economic cycles; it is a structural rate of unemployment, particularly among those with long-term addiction or IT literacy issues, or people affected by massive exclusion from society. This is just another measure that will push these people to the margins of society I have heard the Minister’s DWP colleagues saying that the Department’s objective is to minimise harm and improve general happiness in society. How will this programme deliver that outcome? On any rational assessment, it will serve only to visit further despair, dissatisfaction and problems on the lives of people who are already blighted by a number of structural problems Hon. Members have raised this in the House before, but the issue is clear. The geography of Glasgow, particularly in the east and north-east of the city, is very fragmented. Historically, the built environment has been particularly fragmented. Believe it or not, but 80% of the built environment from prior to the second world war was demolished. We have been subject to huge dislocation, with the development of motorways and the fragmentation of the area, so there is no major town centre that people can visit to access jobcentres. I encourage the Minister to observe the nature of Glasgow’s public transport system, as its privatisation and fragmentation makes things even more complex and difficult.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point—I absolutely agree. Plenty of people come to my constituency office with their concerns, but the thing that worries me, as a new Member of Parliament, is the people who do not turn up. What about the people who are not aware of the opportunity they have because of the service provided by a Member of Parliament, never mind a jobcentre? What keeps me awake at night is thinking about the people sitting in a flat somewhere in Possilpark, Milton or Springburn who are sick to the back teeth and worried out of their wits about what they are going to do—how they are going to heat their house or how they are going to feed their family. They are not necessarily made aware of the opportunity that an MP can provide them with.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Labor
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (Labour, Centre-left): On the point about geography, travel and all the rest, jobcentres have closed and there has been a high number of sanctions, but there has been no leeway and no reprieve, and nobody has looked at these cases again. As we heard earlier, people are learning how to dodge the gangland and how to get to the jobcentre—how to walk there and what the shortcuts are. They can walk over an hour to get there; they are getting sanctioned, but they are still learning the new geography.
Jobcentre Closures — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Transportation
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (Labour, Centre-left): I think that this is sarcasm; we call it Glasgow banter. The Minister says the staff are happy, but that is not the feedback that we are getting. I am also concerned about disabled people who have had to travel for an extra half hour to the locations that the Minister is talking about. It costs £4.50 to use the local bus service, and many of those same people are going to food banks.
Single-use Plastic Bottles — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Environment
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent Noel McGlinchey, who is a food scientist, has demonstrated to me how plant-based plastics such as polylactic acid might be used for plastic bottles, which would then be biodegradable. Do the Government have a view on the use of such plastics, and will the Minister support my campaign, together with Mr McGlinchey, to have them rolled out across the bottling sector?
Single-use Plastic Bottles — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Environment
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister wake up and talk to our European neighbours? Europe has always led on the environment, and until it got involved with plastics and recycling, we were still burying our waste in holes in the ground. What will we do when we leave the European Union with this environmental policy? No one on the Government Benches is even standing to ask a question about this.
Single-use Plastic Bottles — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Environment
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): Single-use plastic bottles can be 100% recyclable but, unfortunately, those that we use do not contain anywhere near 100% recyclable material. How can we influence behaviour in how we dispose of single-use plastic bottles to change that?
Agricultural Policy — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Agriculture
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): I share the bemusement of Sussex farmers that, when the Government published a list of public goods for land use in this country, food production was not one of them. Why? Will the Government reconsider that and, if so, when?
Agricultural Policy — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Agriculture
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): There are concerns among those involved in agriculture in my area about whether there will continue to be appropriate access to workforce when we leave the European Union. What are the Government doing to ensure that that will be the case?
Agricultural Policy — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Agriculture
David Drew (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker The overwhelming response of farmers to the consultation is that they want to know what help and advice they will get in managing the change from the basic payment to environmental support. As the Minister knows, that is particularly true of smaller and tenant farmers. What will the Government do to put in place some form of advice strategy so that those people can get independent, objective and, more particularly, comprehensive advice about how to completely change many of the ways in which they have farmed in the past?
Leaving the EU: Food and Drink Industry — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the UK food and drink industry after the UK leaves the EU.; What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the UK food and drink industry after the UK leaves the EU.
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): Food processors in my constituency export their products directly to the Republic of Ireland, straight off the production line. They fear that Brexit might require them to follow new procedures that would delay their exports, largely because of a lack of warehouse space in the Greater Manchester area. What assurances can the Secretary of State give them?
Plastic Waste — House of Commons, 2018-04-26
Topic: Environment
Sue Hayman (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Minister accept the very weak analysis of UK marine litter in the UK’s "Marine Strategy Part Three", which has been highlighted by the Environmental Audit Committee? Given that 80% of marine litter comes from the land, is there a plan to monitor litter levels and how the litter reaches the marine environment? When will the Government announce a timescale for the publication of a more accurate assessment of the levels and impacts of marine litter?