argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Free School Meals: No Recourse to Public Funds — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Neil Coyle (Labour, Centre-left): It is Government policy that has forced overstretched schools, charities and councils like Southwark to pick up the pieces and pay the price of the hostile environment that has left over 100,000 with no recourse to support, according to the Children’s Society. The Minister says that there are cross-Government talks. What representations has she made to the Home Office to end this scandal and save schools from this huge, inappropriate burden when they are already struggling with covid?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): We all want to see things returning to normal, but I note from the two local education authorities in my constituency that so many staff and pupils are off at any one time because of covid transmission and self-isolation. Given that this is likely to be the situation going into the new year, does the Secretary of State really expect routine Ofsted inspections to begin in January, and if so, how is that going to work for schools affected by covid?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): University students have been an afterthought in the Government’s thinking throughout the covid crisis, whether that is the A-level fiasco, the huge spike in cases after return in September, financial hardship, mental health or digital access. All have been palmed off to universities with only slow, token Government support, and now time is again running out. Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to get ahead of events and publish clear, crisp and quick guidance for universities, so that they can plan for a safe and smooth student return in the new year?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Jon Hedley Trickett (Labour, Centre-left): It is well known that working-class boys and young men are severely disadvantaged in the educational system, but I wonder whether the House is aware of the recent Sutton Trust report, which showed that the situation has become deeply entrenched during the Government’s mishandling of the covid crisis. It is the job of the Department for Education to promote social mobility, yet the report predicts that working-class young men and boys will be 7.5% less mobile, with £4,000 less in lifetime earnings. Either the Government are incompetent or they simply do not care about the entrenchment of privilege and poverty—which is it?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Labor
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): As a trade union official, I saw union learning centres embedded in workplaces meeting the needs of employers and employees and often providing the only continuing education and training for those working people. Union learning works, so why on earth do the Government want to abolish it? [R]
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Taiwo Owatemi (Labour, Centre-left): I have received numerous emails from concerned parents and students about whether or not schools are going to remain open or closed during this lockdown. Some parents and students are incredibly frightened about the risk of educational institutions becoming a ground zero site for new spikes of infection and, on other side of the debate, others are worried that children and young people will miss out on key learning if schools are shut. Many of my constituents’ concerns on both sides of the debate may well be put to rest if testing in schools occurred more frequently for students and staff. Could the Secretary of State please let us know what steps he is taking to ensure that schools have increased access to testing and that staff are in a safer working environment during the pandemic?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Macroeconomics
Daniel Owen Jarvis (Labour, Centre-left): The Government have committed to level up the country, and in particular the north of England. Given the risk that covid will level us down, what assurances can the Secretary of State give that in Wednesday’s spending review, the Chancellor will reform the Green Book, replace the local growth fund with the shared prosperity fund and deliver the investment needed to tackle regional inequalities?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Feryal Demirci Clark (Labour, Centre-left): Schools across Enfield North face a daily avalanche of challenges to stay open before a single class has taken place. They face mounting costs associated with enhanced cleansing regimes, procurement of laptops for virtual learning and skyrocketing bills for staff absence and supply teachers as a result of teachers having to self-isolate. What additional funding and financial support is being made available to schools to support them with those additional covid-related costs?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Government Operations
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister failed to answer the question from the Leader of Opposition about the extent to which local areas would be consulted on what tier they would be returned to, and the Secretary of State was fantastically vague about the geography of any such areas. Will the Prime Minister therefore clarify what exactly the criteria are that are going to be used to make these decisions?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): The Government have failed to make provision for the delivery of remote education to pupils who live in a household where someone is clinically extremely vulnerable. A number of my constituents are suffering from extreme anxiety as a result, as they do their best to keep their family safe. Some are even considering home schooling, despite the fact that their children love their schools. Will the Prime Minister respond to their concerns and ensure that in his new guidance, no family is put under unnecessary stress in such a way?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): The hope that we have been given by our brilliant scientists will be dashed for millions if the Prime Minister pushes ahead with the public sector pay freeze, which, of course, is not levelling up, but levelling down. He does not want to be stand accused of saying one thing and doing another, so will he give a very short answer now and rule out the possibility of a public sector pay freeze?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Transportation
Rachel Louise Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): Luton airport supports thousands of jobs and provides an income stream that funds council services and local charities. Will the Prime Minister outline what plans the Government have to introduce a fast air passenger testing regime to prevent further job losses, restore consumer confidence and ensure that the local voluntary sector survives?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Macroeconomics
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): Local authorities have stepped up to the plate to tackle covid in their areas, but they are facing additional costs from local track and trace, while losing income from taxes and fees. Will the Prime Minister give us an undertaking that local government will be recognised in the current spending review and that there will be extra resources so that it can pay for the extra services it is required to provide?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Government Operations
Kevin Denis Brennan (Labour, Centre-left): There have been very positive discussions with the devolved Administrations, including in Wales, about a joined-up Christmas, but can the Prime Minister do something about the terminal incontinence of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in continuing to leak the details of those discussions, undermining the trust and respect needed for those discussions to succeed?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you for granting me this point of order. If you could help me on this matter, I would really appreciate it. On 15 June, in response to my written question regarding laptop provision for schools, the Minister for School Standards said: " The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets. This order was placed on 19 April." On 2 July, here in the Chamber, I asked the Secretary of State for Education why documents released by his own Department therefore suggested that the first order was in fact placed on 15 May. The Secretary of State responded: "I will write to the hon. Gentleman with clarification on that matter."—[Official Report, 2 July 2020; Vol. 678, c. 543.] He failed to write to me. I asked the same question to the Secretary of State in the House of Commons on 1 September. He said: "I will write to him with reference to that if he will be so gracious as to accept a letter."—[Official Report, 1 September 2020; Vol. 679, c. 56.] He failed to do so again. I followed this up with his Department on 2 November. It failed to reply. I followed this up again with his Department on 19 November. I received a holding email, but I have yet to receive a substantive response. Madam Deputy Speaker, will you please advise me on what steps I need to take to secure a response from the Secretary of State for Education, given that he first promised to write to me almost five months ago?
Persecution of Ahmadis — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: International Affairs
Siobhain Ann McDonagh (Labour, Centre-left): In the light of what the hon. Member has just said, is he aware that, only yesterday, another Ahmadi—Dr Tahir Ahmad—was murdered in Lahore, Pakistan by a teenager? Does he regard it as frightening that the most radicalised and anti-Ahmadi of the community in Pakistan tend to be the young?
Persecution of Ahmadis — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Social Welfare
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the hon. Member on bringing this important issue into the public debate. He mentioned the large community who are established here, but will he also mention the huge contribution that they make in the United Kingdom particularly in charitable work and also in community work? Quite apart from their peaceful message, they play a very valuable and active role, working hard in the community.
Persecution of Ahmadis — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: International Affairs
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): I am interested in these points. The Minister was saying that the Government are working tirelessly. I appreciate that and I welcome it, as everyone else does. Given that the Prime Minister of Pakistan was formerly of this country—he lived here for many years—do we not have a special relationship with him? Is there some way of encouraging, through that special relationship and good understanding, a repeal of those laws, so that the Ahmadiyya people can be reinstated as citizens and be able to practise their faith, like any other in Pakistan?
Covid-19 Support: Worst-affected Sectors — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): May I raise the specific issue of the support that is available to single parents when their child has to self-isolate? They are not able to claim statutory sick pay if their child is having to self-isolate at school age. In addition, if they were to apply for universal credit, they would have to restart the process each and every time. I have constituents who have had to self-isolate on multiple occasions because their school-age children have been told they have to stay at home and cannot stay at home on their own. Can the Secretary of State either tell me now, or come back to me on it in writing, what specific support can be directed towards constituents who need that additional support as single parents?
Child Poverty: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): The problem with the Minister’s answer is that this crisis is only revealing problems with policies that we knew were there already. Members of this House are against it; members of faith communities are against it; leading charities are against it; and now Marcus Rashford is campaigning against it. So what is the Minister going to do to end the two-child policy for universal credit once and for all?
Child Poverty: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Karen Patricia Buck (Labour, Centre-left): We already know that child poverty rates have been rising across north-west England, and that is before the economic impact of the restrictions consequent upon tier 3. The Chancellor talks about the way that the job support scheme and universal credit protect income, saying that it leaves households with 90% of their income, but many households will get nothing like that, and those who lose their jobs entirely sometimes go on to universal credit at 30% of income. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the restrictions on child poverty in the north-west and how that compares with a local furlough scheme that protects all jobs that are at risk?
Pension Schemes Bill: Net Zero Carbon Emissions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Environment
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): With David Attenborough urging pension funds to move away from fossil fuels, it is hugely welcome that the Government have joined Labour to incorporate in legislation, for the first time ever, climate change commitments on pension funds. Now we must translate our ambitions into action. Previously, the Minister has received positively our proposal for a pension fund summit. Will he now agree to work with us—across party and bringing together the world of pensions to save our planet—to organise a cross-party climate change summit, because this is the biggest form of investment potentially worldwide in climate change pension funds?
Legacy Benefits and Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Victoria Jane Foxcroft (Labour, Centre-left): The £20-a-week uplift to universal credit has been a lifeline for many during the pandemic, yet this vital extra support continues to be denied to legacy benefit claimants, many of whom are disabled. I raised this with Ministers in the Chamber on 11 May, again on 29 June and yet again on 14 September, each time getting a non-answer. To date, the uplift could have given legacy benefit claimants £600 of extra support. Minister, can we please have a straight answer today: will anything be done to rectify this?
Benefit Sanctions and Welfare Conditionality: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Kim Marie Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): Non-existent jobs. Liverpool has had the second highest unemployment increase in the country since March 2020. Our claimant rate has more than doubled from 12,000 to 32,000, and we now have the highest unemployment rate in the country. There are a further 27,000 people on furlough in our closed hospitality sector who will either be let go or have to survive on 67% of their wages come November. With benefits sanctions being reintroduced and welfare conditionality being reinstated, what evidence do the Government have that this is benefiting claimants and preventing a return to the high unemployment of the ’80s?
Benefit Sanctions and Welfare Conditionality: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): In Manchester, Withington there are 3,000 more people needing to claim unemployment benefits than this time last year, and unemployment is rising and will get worse at the end of the furlough scheme, so there are not 3,000 jobs for those people to go to. Suspending sanctions and welfare conditionality was the right thing to do in the crisis, but we are still in that crisis. Does the Minister not accept that we need to be more supportive and less punitive at the moment?
Benefit Sanctions and Welfare Conditionality: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): In July, the Government chose to reinstate benefit sanctions and conditionality, against the advice of experts. We are now in the covid second wave, with businesses closing, unemployment rising and vacancies halved since March, but last week the Government said that the clinically extremely vulnerable and those they live with could have their benefits cut if they refuse a job that puts them at risk from the virus. Is that really the Government’s policy? Is it not time to end the threats and re-suspend benefit sanctions, or are we no longer in this together?
Universal Credit: £20 Covid-19 Payment — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Stephen Creswell Timms (Labour, Centre-left): The Select Committee’s report published today calls for new starter payments to claimants of universal credit to help tide them over the very difficult five-week wait for their first regular benefit payment, and for the £20 a week increase, which the Secretary of State has referred to, to be made permanent. How can it possibly be justified for people claiming jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance to receive £20 a week less than people in identical circumstances who happen to be claiming universal credit?
Employment Trends — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): When one of my constituents, who was working as a cleaner, was recently furloughed, she was recommended to move to universal credit and away from working tax credit. I wrote to the Department on 7 July and again on 7 August. I have just had a reply, on 12 October, telling me that because my constituent earned £666.21 in a month, she was entitled to nothing whatsoever from universal credit. Not only that, but she had to repay the advance loan that she had had at the beginning. This system is failing her, and she is in a desperate situation. When will the Government look at allowing people to return to working tax credit and move away from this unfair system of universal credit?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): As the Government place millions of people across the country under new covid restrictions, they will be asking many people to undergo significant cuts to their income. Last week, the Prime Minister said that due to the job support scheme and universal credit "nobody gets less than 93% of their current income."—[Official Report, 14 October 2020; Vol. 682, c. 368.] Unfortunately, that is just completely wrong. The reality is that a person employed by a business that the Government are ordering to close could still lose a third of their income, and for an unspecified length of time. Their rent, mortgages and food bills will not be any lower, so how does the Secretary of State expect those people to get by?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): Secretary of State, this is important, because it is the barrier to additional restrictions being introduced. As the Government know, people who are eligible for the job support scheme and may be losing only a third of their income are, comparatively, the lucky ones, as people in receipt of UC or jobseeker’s allowance will be left on just a fraction of their current income. With that in mind, I have a straightforward question for her: it is clear that we are not going to be out of this crisis by April next year, so will the Government do the right thing and scrap their plans to cut UC to an even lower amount next April?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): Many disabled people have lost carers and are struggling to employ replacements during the covid crisis. This can mean that they have lost vital support in applying for benefits. I spoke to a constituent today who flagged up that there is nowhere on the system for people to indicate that they have a high support need, so that extra care is taken in dealing with their application. She has missed the benefit deadline because of that. Will Ministers look into this matter and ensure that we help disabled people when they apply for benefits?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Education
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): Like many schools across the country, a school in my constituency has had to close with less than 24 hours’ notice, leaving working parents having to care for their children at home. What discussions have Ministers had with their colleagues in Health and Education to see whether the £500 self-isolation payment can be extended to those working parents?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent Joseph made a claim for industrial injuries disablement benefit in January. His assessment, along with all the other new assessments, was postponed because of covid, so he is living with the extra costs that come with having an industrial disease, but he does not have the extra benefits he needs. Can the Secretary of State please urgently resume IIDB assessments?
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): Despite what the Minister said in his opening remarks, it is quite clear that negotiations are continuing, and the war of words now needs to stop. Both sides need to get together and agree a deal, recognising that both will have to compromise. On preparations for 1 January, given that businesses do not know exactly how trade between GB and Northern Ireland is going to work—the pharmaceuticals industry does not have a clue—and given that the goods movement IT system is not yet in operation because it is not ready, while nowhere near enough customs agents have yet been recruited, why is it the Government’s approach to say to firms that they have their head in the sand and are not ready, when the Government cannot tell them exactly what they are meant to be getting ready for?
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I have known the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster all his political career. May I urge him not to keep the door ajar but to open the door to continuing negotiations? Not to have a deal would be a historic, shameful failure. It would hurt my constituents and his, with broken businesses and unemployment, and blight the future of a new generation and generations to come. Please, I beg him to try again for all of us.
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Foreign Trade
Kevin Denis Brennan (Labour, Centre-left): We have heard it all now: it is just, according to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, "an unfortunate sequence of events", otherwise known as the Lemony Snicket defence—all the fault of evil uncle Olaf and his foreign friends. But on the serious point about this, consider how it will affect, for example, our musicians who go on tour. They are usually not part of large operations. They might take their instrument, fly on a budget flight, try to sell some of their merchandise, cross a few borders in the European Union—that is how they scrape a living. They are making no money now. Will he please consider the consequences of no deal, admit that this is not a frivolous issue but a matter of people’s livelihoods, and seriously engage with it rather than take this frivolous and superficial approach?