argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Delegated Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Government Operations
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 8 to 10 together Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Terms and Conditions of Employment That the draft Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 10 March, be approved Pensions That the draft Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order 2020, which was laid before this House on 3 March, be approved Fees and Charges That the draft Private Security Industry (Licence Fees) Order 2020, which was laid before this House on 3 February, be approved.—(James Morris.) Question agreed to. Select Committees (Participation and Reporting) (Temporary Order) Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 9(6)), (1) That for the period specified in paragraph (4) of this Order, the following measures shall have effect in relation to the proceedings of any select committee which has the power to report from time to time (2) Members of any select committee to which this Order applies may participate in select committee proceedings through such electronic means of communication as have been approved by the Speaker (3) The Chair of any select committee to which this Order applies may report to the House an order, resolution or Report as an order, resolution or Report of the Committee which has not been agreed at a meeting of the Committee, if satisfied that all members of the Committee have been consulted about the terms of the order, resolution or Report and that it represents a decision of the majority of the Committee (4) This Order shall have effect from the date that it is made until 30 June 2020, save that the Speaker may extend its effect by notifying the House that in his opinion it is expedient that these arrangements continue in force until a specified later date; more than one such notification may be given, but each such notification shall be given no less than a week before the expiry of this Order or any subsequent extension to it.—(James Morris.) Question agreed to. Adjournment Resolved, That this House do now adjourn.—(James Morris.)
Insolvency — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The level of support we have provided across the economy is incredibly favourable by any international comparison. The furlough scheme will be in place for a full eight months. That is precisely the support that we have been very keen to give to businesses.
Hydrogen Technology — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): We are investing up to £121 million between 2015 and 2021 in hydrogen innovation, supporting the application of new low-carbon hydrogen technologies across the value chain. I have had valuable discussions with businesses on the importance of scaling up hydrogen supply, including with Wrightbus, in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Environment
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): Since 1990 we have grown the economy by 75% while cutting emissions by 43%, and in June 2019, we became the first major economy to legislate for a net zero carbon emissions target We are hosting the COP26 climate negotiations next year. Along with our G7 presidency, we are determined to use our international leadership to drive global climate ambition.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Virginia Ann Crosbie (Conservative, Centre-right): What assessment has my right hon. Friend’s Department made of the potentially significant role that nuclear power can play, in the hydrogen production from both large and small reactors? Does he agree that Wylfa Newydd, in my constituency of Ynys Môn, is the jewel in the crown of new nuclear sites?
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. New nuclear obviously has an important part to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We are investing in new nuclear. On Wylfa, I am afraid, I cannot comment on the merits of the site, given that the Secretary of State is currently considering a development consent application. That said, there are a number of potentially good sites around the entire United Kingdom.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Environment
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is, of course, president of the COP26. He is committed to publishing very rigorous and ambitious targets for ourselves. As I responded to my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Virginia Crosbie), we are second to none in our commitment—our legislation—in terms of dealing with climate change. We have legislation that is very clear and sets the path.
Post Office Network — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government recognise the critical role that post offices play in communities across the UK. This is why the Government have committed to safeguard the post office network by investing over £2 billion between 2010 and 2018, and a further £370 million from April 2018 to March 2021. I regularly meet with the Post Office to find innovative steps to secure network sustainability and the continuity of services across the UK.
Post Office Network — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The Post Office is obviously made up of small businesses, which are subject to the same problems as any, and Scotland, with its rural nature, has been affected. That is why we look to temporary post offices and outreach. But clearly, going forward, the Government will reflect the value of postmasters and the post office network in all their deliberations.
Post Office Network — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is mistaken if she believes that the review does not look at the managerial responsibility of all the people responsible for what has happened, and we need to listen to the postmasters’ rebuke. Indeed, yesterday I discussed the matter in a meeting with chief executive Nick Read and Calum Greenhow, chief exec of the National Federation of Subpostmasters. Nick Read committed fully to the review, leaving no stone unturned, which is why I hope that with everyone coming together I can encourage postmasters to engage in the review so that we can get the answers they and the hon. Lady are looking for, to secure the redress and the answers that they need.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): I have detailed discussions with all Cabinet and ministerial colleagues. I recognise the challenge ahead of us—there is no doubt about that—but we have provided a significant amount of support for the UK economy, and if that had not been put in place a range of independent commentators have made it clear that we would be in a far worse position.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We want to support businesses, and I have set out a range of measures that we have put in place. The hon. Lady referred to a matter that ultimately is for HMRC and Her Majesty’s Treasury, but I am happy to have a discussion with her after questions.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend, I know, has been engaging with businesses through virtual networks across Warwickshire, and I thank him for the work that he is doing locally. What I would say to him is that, of course, we have ensured that loan schemes are available across the economy. Smaller businesses in hospitality, leisure and retail have been able to access a £25,000 grant. The key issue is to have a safe and phased reopening of the economy to get it going again, which is what we are currently undertaking.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We have taken a whole-economy approach, as he knows, and I have set out the measures that we have put in place. With regard to the retail and hospitality sectors, we have provided specific support for them in the one-year rates holiday, as well as the additional support that is available, but the key issue here is the safe reopening of the economy, and that is what we want to continue with over the coming weeks.
Rural Areas and Market Towns: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christopher Lionel John Loder (Conservative, Centre-right): Market towns in West Dorset such as Lyme Regis, Sherborne and Dorchester are thinking ahead, and I am supporting them to look at innovations to boost the local economy following coronavirus. These include virtual high streets and collaborating to improve accessibility of local brands to those who may not be able to get to the town. Will the Minister meet me to look at these concepts and determine how we can support these initiatives going forward?
Rural Areas and Market Towns: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): I know better than most, with Shipston-on-Stour, Alcester and Bidford—very important market towns—in my constituency, that it is more important than ever at this time to support businesses to adopt innovative business models. I would of course be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss those approaches to reopening our economy in West Dorset and the lessons that this may hold for the rest of the country as well.
Covid-19: High Street Businesses: — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the reasons we launched the £617 million discretionary fund was so that we can reach more businesses, but clearly we need to reopen safely non-essential retail, as started yesterday. We need to monitor that. We need to make sure that opening up our economy is the best way, along with the flexible support that we are giving, to make sure that it can start to bounce back, including in Jarrow.
Life Sciences Sector: Vaccine Manufacturing — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Technology
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will know that we are committed to being a science and R&D superpower, which is why we have committed to spending £22 billion a year by 2024-25 and to reaching 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The discussions with the EU are ongoing, and we will see what they lead to.
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): It is time for me to add my voice to that of Members across the House expressing their condolences to the loved ones of Jo Cox and, indeed, wishing a swift recovery to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Amy Callaghan). That was horrific news, and I hope that she is back on her feet as soon as possible Liverpool City Council, which I have spoken to, has handed out £87,885,000 to businesses, including small businesses and those in the retail and hospitality sector. That is why I was pleased to be able to extend the discretionary scheme to capture more of the businesses that fell short. I know that Liverpool City Council has an economic recovery plan, in addition to "Liverpool Without Walls", to encourage pubs and restaurants to open safely. That will help young people especially to get back into employment and get our economy up and running.
Post Office IT System (Review) — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): On 10 June, the Government announced an independent review to consider whether the Post Office has learned the necessary lessons from the Horizon trial judgments and to provide an independent and external assessment of its work to rebuild its relationship with its postmasters. We are keen to see the review launch as soon as possible, and we are in the process of identifying a chair to lead the work of the review in order to get the answers that we need and to hear those voices.
Post Office IT System (Review) — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The December 2019 settlement comprised a comprehensive settlement of £57.75 million. The Post Office has opened a historical shortfall scheme for postmasters who were not part of the group litigation and who want shortfall issues recorded in Horizon to be investigated and addressed. Many convicted claimants are going through a further process with the Criminal Cases Review Commission, with 47 referred to the Court of Appeal. Where convictions are overturned, processes are in place for them to receive compensation if appropriate.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department, together with Her Majesty’s Treasury, is at the forefront of supporting businesses during these unprecedented times. More than £10.3 billion has been paid out to businesses to date by direct grant and an additional £38.2 billion through the major loan schemes. The Government have supported 9.1 million jobs through the coronavirus job retention scheme and 2.6 million claims have been made through the self-employed income support scheme In the past week, I have led five businesses taskforces to listen to and work with the business community and academic experts as we consider the measures needed to support our economy bouncing back. We want to create a cleaner, greener and more resilient economy and the output from those taskforces will feed directly into the Government’s work on the economic recovery.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Alexander Paul Thomas Stafford (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State will know that the UK has an opportunity to lead the world in hydrogen technology, which will create thousands of green jobs, cut emissions, unlock private investment and increase our energy security. Just as we lagged behind with battery technology, we risk missing the boat on hydrogen as other nations set multibillion-pound hydrogen strategies. The UK needs a hydrogen strategy. Will the Secretary of State meet me and other colleagues from across the House who share my belief in hydrogen to discuss how we can place hydrogen at the forefront of our green recovery?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend will have heard in the earlier answer from the Energy Minister, we are committed to developing hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. We are investing in the value chain and both the Energy Minister and I will be happy to meet him.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Mark Ian Jenkinson (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituency has nearly 30 miles of coastline from Workington to Bowness-on-Solway, with some of the highest tidal ranges in the UK. What assessment has my right hon. Friend made of the potential benefits of tidal range barrages along the Cumbrian coast—not only the benefits to energy production security but the wider socioeconomic benefits that integrated infra- structure might bring?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department is aware of several projects being considered on rivers and estuaries such as the Wyre, the Duddon, Morecambe bay and the Solway firth, and we have had frequent contacts with developers. We remain open to considering well-developed, well-considered projects that can demonstrate strong value for money alongside other renewable generation.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Technology
Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to put on record my remembrance of my good friend, Jo Cox. In the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, we are undertaking an inquiry into the impact of covid on our major industries. All of them rely on our maritime and ports sector to keep the supply chain going. Of the £22 billion—a vast sum of money—that is being put together for research and development, how much will be allocated to maritime innovation and tech?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Transportation
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all the work that she did as shipping Minister. We have made the commitment to £22 billion a year by 2025. That is the biggest increase in public funding of R&D, and no doubt, as projects come forward from that sector, we will look at them.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course we keep all these matters under review, and I know that there is a range of views on this matter. I would just point out that we did temporarily relax Sunday trading during the London Olympics. That was to support consumers and, of course, the economy as well.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The obligations on employers to take care of disabled employees have not changed. In the guidance that we have provided we make reference to the fact that employers need to take particular care of employees with particular protected characteristics.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will know that we have worked collaboratively with employers, employee representative organisations and trade unions in producing the guidance that we have put out so far. We continue to have a good dialogue with individual sectors, and once we have concluded that, we will of course make that guidance available.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We appreciate that announcements about redundancies for British Airways staff have been incredibly distressing for the employees and their families. At the end of the day, the use of the Government’s job retention schemes is preferable to making redundancies. That is why we made them available. What I would say in this case is that it is a commercial decision. We expect British Airways and, indeed, all employers to treat employees fairly and in the spirit of partnership.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): Many constituents, from right across Ashfield, have been in touch with me as they are very concerned that they will be made redundant by Rolls-Royce. With Rolls-Royce announcing last week the locations of its first 3,000 redundancies in the UK, what more can my right hon. Friend say to reassure my constituents that the Government are doing everything they can to ensure that they are supporting the employees affected, as these are the people who have worked so hard to establish the company’s world-leading position? If any of these highly-skilled and professional workers are made redundant, what are the Government’s plans to ensure that their skills are repurposed to other projects?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises a hugely important issue. Employment and the possibilities and opportunities for people are something we are absolutely focused on. I assure him that we will do all we can to help those who will be affected by this announcement to get back into work as quickly as possible. This will include working with the Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus and Rolls-Royce itself to make sure that economic opportunities and jobs are freely available to those who might be affected.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Energy
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not think that is a fair characterisation of the situation. We have huge offshore capacity; 35% of the global offshore wind capacity is in the UK, with much of it sited in Scotland. Scottish firms are extremely capable of competing in the auctions, and I do not think it is fair to characterise our position in the way that the hon. Gentleman has.
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I start, may I join with all the words that have been said in praise of Jo Cox during the proceedings so far? I know that many more such words will be said today. One thing that colleagues may not know, amid all the many things that they have been told about her, is that she was very fond of visiting Symonds Yat in my constituency in Herefordshire. I look forward to the day when many other people can do that, following lockdown From the onset of this pandemic, the Government’s top priority has been to protect the NHS and to save lives, but we have also made it clear that we will do whatever is needed to support people, jobs and businesses through the present period of disruption, and that is what we have done. On Friday, the Office for National Statistics published its first estimate of April GDP and showed the economy contracting sharply by a record 20.4% on the month. It is clear that restrictions introduced during the lockdown, while necessary, have had a severe impact on output However, it is important to note that the OECD, the Office for Budget Responsibility and other external forecasters have all highlighted that the cost to the economy would have been significantly higher were it not for the swift and decisive action that the Government have taken. Measures such as the coronavirus job retention scheme—the CJRS—which has protected almost 9 million jobs and more than 1 million businesses, have helped to limit the adverse impact of the crisis. It is also important to note that the OECD forecast the UK to have the strongest recovery of all the large countries that it looked at, with an unemployment rate projected to be lower than that in France and Italy by the end of 2021 As we are reopening the economy, the Government are supporting putting people back into work. Last month, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced that the CJRS would be extended for four months, until the end of October. From July to October, employers currently using the scheme will be able to bring furloughed employees back part-time. That will ensure that the CJRS will continue to support all firms so that no employer faces a cliff edge This remains a very uncertain and worrying time for businesses and employees alike. The Government have set out separately the five principles that must be satisfied before we make further changes to the lockdown rules, which we based on advice received from Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. However, I can assure the House that the thoughts, energies and resources of the Government are focused increasingly on planning for the recovery. We will develop new measures to grow our economy, to back businesses and to boost skills. I am confident that the United Kingdom can continue to thrive in a post-covid world.