argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Esther Louise McVey (Conservative, Centre-right): I reiterate what the hon. Gentleman said by welcoming you, Mr Deputy Speaker, to the Chair The money will be collected. At the moment, what is spent and how it is spent is down to the new body being formulated. However, it will be done by Government grants and then money will be taken back—financial bodies will be paying in. Obviously, going forward, where there is most need is where most money will be going. That is how it will be viewed.
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Esther Louise McVey (Conservative, Centre-right): When people call seeking advice and support, they may be doing so for themselves or for the household—for example, they may need respite for all the family—and if so, they will invariably be looking for help not just for themselves, but for their family in its entirety.
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Labor
Esther Louise McVey (Conservative, Centre-right): If I can continue for a little longer, I will take some more interventions The Government welcome the findings of the report of the Select Committee on Work and Pensions exploring how to protect pensions from scammers. We remain committed to protecting savers from pension scams. We have already announced that we are banning pensions cold calling, tightening HMRC’s rule to stop pension scammers and fraudulent schemes, and preventing the transfer of money from occupational pension schemes into fraudulent ones The Government are currently reviewing the alternative proposals for banning cold calling under the Bill. We have also listened to concerns about the risks of not receiving sufficient guidance or advice prior to taking advantage of the pensions freedoms, and we are currently considering the amendments recommended to ensure that members of the public are aware of the importance of receiving guidance Hon. Members will also be interested in the addition of the provision for a debt respite scheme, which includes a breathing space period and a statutory debt repayment plan. We understand the valuable additional support that the scheme could provide for thousands of vulnerable individuals and want to implement a breathing space scheme as quickly as possible The Government are pressing on with policy development. We have already set out a firm timetable for consultation and are continuing to work closely with a wide range of stakeholders. The call for evidence on breathing space was published in October last year and has now closed. After responding to that call for evidence, we will consult on a single policy proposal. The Bill gives us an enabling power to lay regulation to establish the scheme after receiving advice from the single financial guidance body on the design and certain aspects of the scheme. It is important that we take time to get this right. The scheme will achieve its intended benefits for indebted individuals only if it is properly designed. I look forward to the Government working constructively with hon. Members so that we can enable a scheme to benefit vulnerable families as quickly as possible.
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. I consider myself a fairly robust individual, but the constant pestering by those companies was distressing, and if somebody is vulnerable in any way, I can imagine that it would be very distressing indeed That leads me to my next point in relation to the cold call ban contemplated under clause 4. I strongly welcome the clause’s inclusion, but its structure invites the new single regulatory authority to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, who then, by regulation, has power to act. Given the pressing nature of the problem, will the Secretary of State consider a more direct route—that is, the Secretary of State having the power to ban cold calling in this area immediately, without needing to wait for a referral by the new regulatory authority? I see that the Secretary of State is listening to the point. I hope she will consider it, as Members on both sides of the House might welcome such an amendment as consideration of the Bill progresses There are other things that we need to do that are probably beyond the scope of the Bill but important none the less. In particular, the Government are consulting on the civil procedure rules and bringing overseas claims—holiday claims—within the scope of the fixed fee schedule. That would be an extremely welcome move, and I encourage the Ministry of Justice to expedite its response to that consultation, which is welcome In 2017, I had the pleasure of serving on the Committee that considered the Prisons and Courts Bill—I see the Minister recalls that—whose work was unfortunately interrupted by the general election. I believe that the Government plan to introduce a civil liability Bill in due course. Again, I encourage them to introduce that Bill as quickly as possible, because many important measures could be included in it that would assist in dealing with the problems to which I have referred, not least raising the threshold for the small claims track to £5,000, considering a ban on general damages in relation to low-value injuries and ensuring that the medical evidence standard for these various claims is made a little higher—for example, requiring someone actually to see an independent doctor face to face. The civil liabilities Bill could do a range of things once introduced Not wishing to stretch the elastic of your guidelines, Mr Deputy Speaker, I conclude by saying that this is a welcome Bill that will do a great deal to strengthen consumer protections. It is a great pleasure to speak in support of it on Second Reading.
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Guy Thomas Opperman (Conservative, Centre-right): I want gently to take issue with what the hon. Lady just said: the overall level of household debt is actually lower than it was in 2010 and 14 percentage points down in relation to quarter one of 2010, compared with quarter three of 2017. I am not sure therefore that her original comment was correct.
Financial Guidance and Claims Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-01-22
Topic: Education
Rachel Helen Maclean (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. She made some excellent points in her speech, and I hope the Minister will consider them. Getting this right so that we treat the most vulnerable in our society well is at the heart of what this Government are doing, and we need to go further in this Bill, as well as through other measures I urge the Minister to work closely with the Secretary of State for Education. We have seen the introduction of financial education in our schools, and the previous lack of financial education is part of the root cause of some of the issues we seek to address. We are seeing people getting into debt, sometimes through no fault of their own, simply because of their lack of financial education and their lack of capacity to manage their finances at an early age People are now so influenced by the world of social media, and it is all too easy for them to think that many of the positive things they see on social media could be within their grasp, if only they took out a loan or got into debt to afford holidays, clothes, cars or whatever it is—it can seem very easy to people. I call on the Minister to work with colleagues in the Department for Education to introduce education on financial responsibility at an early age so that people get into good habits early I finish by welcoming the measures in the Bill. At our surgeries we have all seen the suffering that getting into debt and a lack of advice can bring. I am glad that there will be advice and support for the people who need it most.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Does she agree that if these excellent new measures are not to be a dead letter, we must ensure that some of our most vulnerable constituents—including some of mine in Cheltenham—have the tools that they need, through the legal process and through early advice and assistance, to prosecute the rights that the Bill will give them?
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Government Operations
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed. Much more can be done to persuade and encourage local authorities to enforce their role. As I have said, they have an important part to play, and they have existing powers to bring about a remedy.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Government Operations
Rebecca Faye Clark (Pow) (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my hon. Friend for introducing the 2017 Act, under which money has been made available to local authorities to carry out some of their new duties. Therefore, does my hon. Friend agree that there needs to be some support for local authorities in order to make this Bill work?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. In the context of wanting to support the victims, he was right to focus on the areas that he did, and I am grateful to him for not pressing me further on either the facts or the legal advice It is right that the victims be treated with concern and sympathy and that all due processes be followed. We need to understand precisely what happened in this case and whether support was provided as it should have been, which is why I am pleased that Dame Glenys Stacey is undertaking that role. I share the hon. Gentleman’s instincts for greater transparency in Parole Board decisions. It frustrates victims that they do not get to know what is happening or the reasons for a decision. Equally, it can be frustrating for the Parole Board, too, if it cannot articulate its reasons. We need to look carefully at this, but we also need to move swiftly, which is exactly what I intend to do On an end-to-end review, my focus has been on transparency and victim support, which are the immediate issues in front of us. I recognise that there is a debate about the original investigation and how these indeterminate sentences for public protection, which we have now abolished, operated, but it is right at this point that our reviews focus on transparency and the victims and that they continue as a priority to look at how these matters are dealt with.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): Happy birthday, Mr Speaker It is clear that my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor has applied himself to what is a very serious and troubling case with the greatest scrupulousness and care. He is to be commended for having applied a difficult legal test to what is ultimately a legal decision, and I welcome his extension of the review into the operation of these matters. Does he agree that one political and policy decision we could make as soon as possible would be to change the Parole Board rules to permit Parole Board panels to give reasons for their decisions. It would likely command support across the House and, as he rightly observes, have the support of the Parole Board itself. It would also be of great reassurance to the public.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. We understand the full implications of greater transparency in Parole Board decisions and what those implications might involve. It is not my desire that as a matter of course offenders should take cases where, for example, Parole Board panels have taken the firm line, based on the evidence in front of them, that they should not be released. We need to understand the full implications, but there is clearly a case for much greater transparency.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): I can well understand why the right hon. Gentleman raises this issue. It is a matter for the CPS and Metropolitan police, however, and there is nothing I can say to inform the House this morning on that point.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important point. There are different systems in place for the statutory victims versus others, but sometimes, as in this case, there will be many people who essentially are victims but not in respect of any convictions—in this case, Worboys’s convictions—and we need to ensure that the system works for them as well.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): May I urge the Lord Chancellor to write to the CPS and ask it to undertake a review? It might well be that the public interest test was not satisfied because an indeterminate sentence had been given, and the change in circumstances may mean that that test is now satisfied in respect of victims whose cases were not prosecuted. Will he give that undertaking to the House today?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend will be aware, accountability for decisions on prosecutions is not an area that falls within my responsibilities. However, I very much understand and sympathise with her point, and I know that this is an issue on which the Attorney General is very focused.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has put his point, which is a very fair one, on the record. To some extent, I refer to my earlier answer, but clearly with regard to whether there is a public interest case in bringing further prosecutions, that is no doubt something that both the Metropolitan police and the Crown Prosecution Service will want to consider.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): It is essential that we not only recognise and respect the independence of our legal system, but recognise that the public are disappointed and angry with the Parole Board’s decision. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, by opening up the Parole Board’s decisions and making them more transparent, the public may still disagree with the decision, but they will have an understanding of how that decision was reached?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, my hon. Friend makes a very good point. As a society, the direction that we have gone in more generally has been towards greater transparency. As Professor Nick Hardwick was one of the first to make that point, there is clearly a case in this context for the Parole Board as well.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituents in Kettering believe that the best way to protect the public is for violent offenders to be kept behind bars, and they take the straightforward and honourable view that if an offender is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the offender should serve that sentence in prison in full before being released. Given that this is a statement about the transparency of Parole Board decisions, who is held to account in the Parole Board, and how, if those released early reoffend?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): The numbers of reoffences are put into the public domain. Clearly, that is one of the tests of the effectiveness of the Parole Board. It is clearly a matter of priority for all of us that people who are dangerous are not released. The test for a Parole Board panel in the context of one of these IPP prisoners is an assessment of their risk to the public, and that is what the Parole Board must determine in these circumstances.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): All I can say is that since being newly appointed, I am receiving advice on what we can do to make progress on this matter. I hope to be able to update the House in due course, but I do agree with the hon. Lady that the victims are vital in the system.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Government Operations
Michael James Tomlinson-Mynors (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Lord Chancellor for the detailed explanation for his decision, and I welcome his comments on further transparency, which will of course increase public confidence and, importantly, victims’ confidence in the system. He says that he wants these changes to happen quickly—how soon does he anticipate that changes can be made to the system?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): Well, even though the review has been broadened, and even though we are looking more widely not just at transparency but at whether there should be an opportunity for the Parole Board to look again at decisions, that review will report by Easter. Obviously, the timing will depend on precisely what it recommends, but I am keen to make progress as quickly as possible.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that both the Home Secretary and the Attorney General have been very focused on this case. I hope that the hon. Lady will understand that my focus has been on the immediate issues, which relate not only to the consideration of judicial review but to the issues of transparency and support for victims. Of course there are questions that probably do need to be asked about how the IPP system, which this Government have abolished, operated in terms of whether it met the test of honesty in sentencing, but perhaps that is a debate for another day.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): Recognising the importance of the independence of the judiciary, but considering in this case the crimes, the victims and the level of public concern, can my right hon. Friend assure me that he has sincerely looked into all the options in this case?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): In the context of legal aid generally, the hon. Lady will be aware that there is currently a review of that. I do not intend to say any more on that until that review has been completed.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): It is very reassuring that despite having been in post for only a short time, the Lord Chancellor has sought to get behind the victims of this terrible, terrible case. May I press him on the point that has just been made about legal aid? He has mentioned that he supports the rights of the victims potentially to pursue their own cases. Will there be discretion from the Legal Aid Agency perhaps to provide funding for those victims to do so?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): In terms of the action that may be brought by victims on this, I do want to be very careful in my remarks. As I have said, just because I am not taking action does not mean that others cannot, because these legal cases can depend precisely on the position that they are in. It is the case that legal aid generally remains available for advice, assistance and representation in relation to judicial review of an enactment decision, act or omission, and that would include decisions of the Parole Board where there is sufficient benefit to the individuals in bringing judicial review.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Kevin John Foster (Conservative, Centre-right): All of us in this House respect the independence of the judiciary, but transparency needs to come with that independence—hence sentences are given in open court and judgments are available for all to read. Does the Secretary of State therefore agree that the outcome of this review must be greater transparency in Parole Board decisions, which are such a key part of our criminal justice system?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the extended review that the Justice Secretary announced. Will he confirm to the House that it will include a very detailed assessment of the decision-making processes that the Parole Board goes through, particularly in reference to expert reports from, for example, Dr Jackie Craissati in this case, that are at the heart of such decisions, in order to ensure that those experts are suitable to give the expert advice that they provide?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): I too welcome the Lord Chancellor’s statement and the decision to expand the review. However, he will be aware that this is not the first such case. Mubarek Ali, a serial child sex exploitation offender, was released only five years after his trial, having been given a 20-year sentence. His victims felt that the victim contact scheme let them down. Will the Secretary of State consider this case as part of his expanded review?
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): I would certainly be interested to receive more information from my hon. Friend when looking at how the victim contact scheme works. If there are other examples where questions have been raised, the review will clearly need to take them into account.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): Frankly, different views have been put to me on how the victim contact scheme worked in this particular case. There is conflicting evidence. It is absolutely right that we have the review by Dame Glenys Stacey so that we can properly understand what happened and what lessons can be learned.
Parole Board: Transparency and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Nigel Paul Huddleston (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Justice Secretary’s commitment to a broader review and appreciate that he has set himself a pretty aggressive timeline. If the end result is generally going to be a better reflection of victims’ views, can he assure me that the review will engage the victims?