argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
House Building and Regeneration: Domestic Supply Chains — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): If the hon. Gentleman had listened to the answer I gave a moment ago, he would have seen that we are learning from the lessons of the 2008 crash. One of the measures that was put in place then saw a fall of a third in the number of small house builders, so part of the £450 million fund is providing the finance to enable small house builders to build the schemes that Members on both sides of the House agree on. It is about learning the lessons of the schemes that Labour put in place in 2008, which led to a fall in construction work.
Covid-19: Landlords — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government recognise the current challenges facing commercial landlords. That is why we have worked very closely with lenders to ensure that support and flexibility is being shown to commercial borrowers. This forms part of a much wider picture of unprecedented support to businesses affected, including via business rates holidays, grants and Government-backed loans—and of course those, in turn, give access to cash to pay for rents and salaries or suppliers.
Covid-19: Landlords — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Stephen James Metcalfe (Conservative, Centre-right): May I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the register While many tenants welcome the steps the Government have taken to protect them from eviction, for many small private landlords the rental income on shops, offices and residential property is their only form of income, which in many cases is completely tied up. Will my right hon. Friend therefore work with the sector to explore how to provide financial support to individuals who find that they have no income and no access to any of the other very impressive schemes that the Government have introduced?
Covid-19: Landlords — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will know, of course, that we published a code of practice to encourage all parties involved in a landlord-tenant situation to work together to ensure equity and swift recovery. More widely, we have made available over £330 billion of guarantees through the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, the large business interruption loan scheme, and the corporate financing facility. But of course I would be happy to continue to discuss this issue with him.
Covid-19: Support for Local Authorities — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee will know very well that commercial income carries risk for councils investing in it. We are cognisant of that fact. I advise councils, where there is the risk of a section 114, to talk to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government ahead of any such decision.
Covid-19: High Street Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): As Members will know, the Chancellor has announced an unprecedented package of support for high-street businesses affected by the pandemic. In particular, the Government are giving retail, hospitality and leisure businesses a year’s business rates holiday; protecting commercial tenants from eviction and debt recovery; offering grants of up to £25,000 to eligible businesses; and making sure that businesses have access to the financing they need as quickly as possible. We stand ready to take further steps, as necessary.
Covid-19: High Street Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Peter Moore (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for that response. I recently visited a brilliant independent furniture store, Rooms, right in the centre of Keighley, which is run by Andrew Foster, his wife Janine and son Joe. They and many others welcome the 100% business rate relief this year but are concerned about next year and indeed about the fairness of the business rate structure when we consider pure online businesses and those based in premises. Will my right hon. Friend continue to review this area in the light of covid and look more closely to create a fairer business rate structure?
Covid-19: High Street Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
David Mervyn Johnston (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been visiting high-street businesses in Wantage, Didcot, Faringdon and elsewhere, and they are hugely grateful for the furlough scheme, the grant scheme and the business rates holiday, but what they most want now is footfall. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that should be the priority? Will he confirm that he is considering all measures to increase footfall on the high street?
Covid-19: High Street Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely confirm that. The reason we have backed high-street firms so strongly all the way through is precisely that we recognise the central importance of these sectors to getting Britain’s high streets back firing on all cylinders. My hon. Friend will know that we have also introduced the Business and Planning Bill to help businesses in England get back on their feet, and we have accelerated nearly £100 million of investment in town centres and high streets, through the towns fund this year, to the same end.
Aviation Industry: Job Protection — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): We continue to work closely with the sector and are willing to consider the situation of individual firms, providing that all other Government schemes have been explored and all commercial options exhausted, including raising capital from existing investors.
Covid-19: Charity Sector — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Joanna Mary Gideon (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for that answer and for the support that enabled charities to develop new ways of working during lockdown. Will the Minister outline how this Government’s support has helped my constituents in Stoke-on-Trent Central?
Support for Hospitality, Tourism and Entertainment — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Damian Noel Thomas Collins (Conservative, Centre-right): While hotels, hospitality businesses and holiday parks are reopening in my constituency, many businesses fear that this will be a year of three winters. What support are the Government considering beyond what has been delivered so far? In particular, would the Treasury consider the tourism and hospitality sector’s request to cut VAT to 5% for those businesses?
Innovative and Fast-growing Firms — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): On 20 May, the Government launched the future fund. The fund is an investment scheme for high-growth companies impacted by the pandemic. It provides between £125,000 and £5 million in Government funding through convertible loans, with third-party investors at least matching the Government funding on each loan. As of 5 July, £379 million-worth of convertible loans had been approved through the future fund, and the Government have also made £750 million of support available for innovative firms through Innovate UK grants and loans.
Innovative and Fast-growing Firms — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very good point and case for her constituency. As the Prime Minister set out last week, we will double down on levelling up and give everyone growing up in this country the opportunity that they need. The Prime Minister announced the acceleration of £96 million of investment from the towns fund, including nearly £13 million on kick-start activity in the west midlands.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend, as always, is a champion for the industry, and he knows how important it is to the UK economy. I can tell him that, at the Budget, we committed to a consultation on aviation tax reform. We remain committed to that, and will bring forward the timing in due course.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not quite sure that is right. In reality, the future jobs fund was around £1 billion. We announced yesterday the £2 billion green home grant to provide home efficiency upgrades for hundreds of thousands of homes and create tens of thousands of jobs up and down the country. Not only will households save money on their electricity bills and save carbon, but we will create good local jobs in the process.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, an enormous amount of support is already in the system. I am delighted that shops and other organisations are opening up in his constituency; we look to see more of that over time as the support feeds through into the system.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend the Chancellor agree that beauty salons, tanning salons and nail bars—such as Salon 112 and Shwe Tan based in my constituency of Harlow—are important small businesses and often the lifeblood of our local economy? They should be supported, allowed to open and not denigrated. Will he ensure that when he cuts taxes, businesses such as these will be a top priority, given the struggles they have had to face?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): No one who knows my beautiful right hon. Friend would be surprised that he knows these beauty salons as well as he does, and I salute him for it. On the serious point, he is absolutely right about the importance of these businesses to all our constituencies. He did not mention this, but we should also mention that many of these businesses are run and staffed by women, and it is important that we should pay attention to the equalities impact in that respect. The key thing is that we get these businesses, including beauty salons, open. That is what the Treasury has focused on.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely agree with the hon. Lady about the importance of credit unions. I am a member of Money Box Credit Union in Hereford and can vouch for their importance, especially for people on low incomes. She makes a very valid point, and it is one that we will continue to consider as we move forward.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): For too long, Ashfield has been left behind. My constituents are waiting with anticipation for the Chancellor’s financial statement tomorrow. They care about infrastructure, roads, rail transport, town centre funding and the future high streets fund. Can my right hon. Friend please assure me that Ashfield will be prioritised as we begin the process of levelling up across the country?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): As the Prime Minister said last week, we are doubling down on levelling up, and he committed last week to £95 million for shovel-ready projects in the east midlands, in addition to the £10.25 million of accelerated funding from the towns fund for Kirkby-in-Ashfield. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend in his commitment to levelling up his constituency.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): These young people have absolutely not been forgotten, and we remain indebted to them for their dynamism in helping to power our recovery. I am delighted that our start-up loans scheme has recently been expanded and is able to provide cash loans to those budding entrepreneurs in her constituency and others. I urge them to have a look at it to see whether it will help fund their plans.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend give any encouragement that beauty salons will be allowed to open in the reasonably near future? Does he share my concern and disappointment that even though campsites are allowed to reopen, the company in charge of those in the New Forest is threatening to keep them closed until spring next year?
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working closely with the beauty industry regarding how it can open in a covid-secure way, taking into account clinical advice. We have, however, been able to change some advice to allow for the reopening of camp sites. I am very pleased about that, and it will help lots of families to enjoy summer safely. It is disappointing to hear of the blanket approach taken to not having any camping in the New Forest—I went camping there as a child, and enjoyed it very much. On a campsite people must be particularly careful of shared facilities, and ensure that they are cleaned properly, but there is a way to open campsites safely and securely, and doing that in the New Forest, and elsewhere, will help people to enjoy summer safely.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I will not allow a divisive approach to tackling this crisis. We will all work together. We will work together with local authorities, local Mayors and local areas, and we will do that in Manchester and across the board. I just hope that the hon. Lady will take the message back to Manchester about how keen we are to work collegiately and together. That is the right way forward. I have already answered the question on thresholds for changes to local lockdowns. We have to apply judgment. Again, we do this in consultation with and working hand in glove with the local area. On the point about data, the hon. Lady might want to have a word with her friend, the shadow Secretary of State, because he was right to acknowledge that the sharing of this sort of data, which is a complicated task, is constantly improving.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my right hon. Friend on answering this urgent question with the usual aplomb, and I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Miss Dines) on asking about cancer treatment, which is very important up here in Derbyshire. Is there any news about reopening swimming pools? We have fantastic swimming clubs in South Derbyshire that want their kids to get back to swimming. Although I am grateful for all the pubs that are open, some families prefer to go to bowling alleys. Does he have any news on when they will be able to open?
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I would love to get swimming pools open as soon as safely possible. As my hon. Friend knows, the emphasis has to be on safety. Alongside gyms, we are working with swimming pools. Of course, there is also some beautiful open water swimming in Derbyshire. Swimming in all its forms—in the sea, in open water and in swimming pools—is very good for your health, and we should try to get it all open as soon as we possibly can, but the nature of swimming and changing rooms means that there are risks, and we have to ensure that those risks are properly taken into account.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Goodwill (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Secretary of State share my admiration of careworkers on the Yorkshire coast, including those in a care home in my constituency where an outbreak among admin staff in the office was contained and not spread to forward-facing staff or residents? Will he also undertake to support local authorities such as North Yorkshire County Council, which in the past fortnight has had to close two care homes in Scarborough run by the same company, where evidence from the Care Quality Commission showed that the level of care was unacceptable and potentially dangerous?
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): That is true. The actions we have put in place mean that we can open hospitality such as pubs, and doing that safely means that we have been able to open more hospitality than we would otherwise have done. I, too, went for a haircut and a pint on Saturday morning—[Laughter.] The haircut was on Saturday morning; the pint was early in the afternoon. I am glad to say that my name and phone number were taken when I turned up at the pub. I have not been back to Suffolk since February. That is one of the things I have missed most about this whole crisis. I am going on Friday and I will go to the pub there. No doubt they too will take my number.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly look into the last point. However, that categorisation is not quite right. The beauty industry is an important industry in and of its own right. While we do still have restrictions in certain areas and categories, that does not mean that they should all be lumped in together. The beauty industry is an incredibly important industry and we will get it open as soon as it is safe to do so.
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alun Hugh Cairns (Conservative, Centre-right): The welcome opening of pubs in England has made a major difference to the morale of a nation. In Wales, pubs will not be able to open until next Monday, and then only outside. Will my right hon. Friend share the best practice of one-way systems and appropriate screening to ensure that landlords, pubs and breweries do not go out of business needlessly, if only Wales follows the English model?
Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very happy to work with my Welsh colleagues on how it is possible to open pubs and hospitality in a covid-secure and safe way. Wales has a great tradition of great pubs. I very much hope that they can be open as soon as the Welsh Government make their decision.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. We have amazing churches and other religious venues up and down our country that are places not only of worship but for people to visit. In particular, they are huge visitor attractions for people from around the world. We are looking at the situation for them very closely. The detailed guidance on who will be able to claim from this package of measures is currently being put together and we hope to be able to provide more information in the days ahead.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Before the Minister answers that, I must appeal for much shorter questions, and then she will also be able to give shorter answers. If Members do not ask shorter questions, the people at the end of the list will not have a chance to speak, and that would not be fair.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Housing
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): More than £100 million is available for capital projects, to try to kick-start some of the building projects that have been stalled by the onset of covid and to help get people who are working on those important projects back to the workplace.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): I am blessed in Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke to have the stunning Wedgwood Institute in Burslem, the journey from the pits at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery and the pots of Middleport Pottery. The £100 million for capital projects will help to build, build, build shovel-ready projects such as the Harper Street renovation project in Middleport. Will my hon. Friend meet me to discuss how such projects can apply to access the new funding?
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): It is just simply not correct to say that these organisations or these companies have had no support. Our furloughing scheme has supported over 350,000 people in the creative arts and leisure sectors to retain their jobs. We have had huge investment through the various loan schemes that have supported businesses to stay afloat. The Government have poured millions upon millions of pounds into supporting businesses through this pandemic.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): We understand that certainty is one of the biggest issues facing our sectors at the moment, and we are doing everything we can to tackle that. In the days ahead, we are hoping to set out a much more fully defined road map, which will help address some of these date issues.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Other
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): We have taken soundings from a range of people up and down the sector who have been phenomenal at providing us with all sorts of information and ideas, which has helped us to construct the package. We will set out more clearly how it will work in the days ahead.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): Like others, I welcome this announcement and hope that it will benefit Revelation St Mary’s in Ashford, one of those churches that is also a cultural centre, which the Minister has already referred to. Can she give us a little more detail about the support for freelancers? In particular, when does she think some of the money will actually get into their pockets and bank accounts? I know from my constituency that some of them are already looking for jobs outside the sector because they are so worried about their future inside it.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): There are two things to say. We want to get this particular tranche of money—this £1.5 billion—out into the sector as soon as possible, because we know that there are organisations that are really desperate. In terms of individuals, there are a number of packages of support. Many of them have been able to claim from the self-employed income support scheme. We know that some have slipped through the gaps, and, of course, as soon as we can get our sector back up and running again, we will be able to employ more of the amazing workforce who make it so special.
Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-07-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will note that we have just announced a £1.5 billion pound funding package, and her organisation should be able to apply for that. We will announce more details of how it will work in the next couple of days.