argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward Glyn Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I beg to move, That this House has considered Welsh affairs It is almost five years since I was elected Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. I wish to take this opportunity to say what a huge pleasure it has been for me to serve the constituency in which I have always lived. It is a great honour for me to open this debate today I am very grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for allowing a St David’s day debate, even if it is four days late. I hope our patron saint will forgive us for that. The normal business schedule of the House, which usually timetables such debates on Thursdays, means that we can hit the right date only once every seven years The general nature of this debate allows us to speak about a wide range of issues that impact Wales, and I am sure that Members will speak about many different things. I wish to begin by making a few introductory comments before turning briefly to the economic well-being of rural Wales. I shall end with some initial thoughts on the Command Paper, which was issued by the Secretary of State last week in response to the Silk commission recommendations In preparation for this debate, I have researched a little of the history of St David. It seems that he travelled widely before settling down in Pembrokeshire, which is one of the most beautiful parts of Britain. If he had been alive during the eight years that I represented mid and west Wales as an Assembly Member, he would have been one of my constituents, so I feel a special connection with him.
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
David Ian Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The interest is declining—that is the point. Had we not taken those difficult decisions, we would be spending more money on paying interest to banks than on providing services to the people of this country, so my hon. Friend is right Five years on from that—
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. We have plenty of time for this important debate this afternoon, but if hon. Members take an inordinately long time they will deprive their colleagues of the opportunity to speak. That may be their intention, but to have a degree of fairness I implore hon. Members to take about 12 or 13 minutes. That is a long time: if they have something to say, they can say it in 12 minutes.
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alun Hugh Cairns (Conservative, Centre-right): I remind my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen) that the scheme the hon. Gentleman talks about includes significant taxpayers’ money from the UK Government, as well—that is, £70 million. A higher level of funding comes from the UK Government through the UK taxpayer than from the Welsh Government in that process.
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
David Thomas Charles Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I accept that. I am trying not to be too critical of members of other parties. I simply make the point that co-operation is important not only in business but in tourism. I was surprised to learn that VisitBritain and Visit Wales do not have that many discussions with each other. I believe that the Welsh tourism Minister has not met senior people in VisitBritain and vice versa. That is disappointing, frankly, because they all have an interest in making sure that when tourists come to London they are told that the Principality of Wales is only two hours away by train and are encouraged to come and have a look at it. One of the most topical issues that the Committee has looked at and that I suspect whoever chairs the Committee after the election will want to have another look at is the Severn bridge. The money to be returned to Severn River Crossing will have been paid by 2017. At that point the Government, whoever they are, will have to make a decision on whether to carry on using SRC or some other private company to collect the tolls or to bring the bridge back into public ownership.
Welsh Affairs — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Other
Edward Glyn Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): We have had a thoroughly enjoyable debate, with several entertaining contributions as well as some insightful ones. I hope Members will forgive me if I make special reference to the contributions of the right hon. Members for Torfaen (Paul Murphy) and for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Mr Llwyd), who showed us the quality of their contributions to this House over many, many years and what we will miss when they have retired. On behalf of everybody, I thank them both for all their work It has been an incredibly entertaining afternoon. It is entirely unreasonable for us not to have a six-hour debate. It is unreasonable to restrict a Welsh man or woman to just 12 minutes; we like to talk for much longer than that. We had my right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (David T. C. Davies)—[Interruption.] It is only a matter of time. We had my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth standing up and advocating nationalisation, and then the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) suggesting that that was part of my hon. Friend, movement to the far left. We also heard about historical Welsh jurisdiction, which has some basis in sharia law, as far as I can see I thank everybody for a wonderful debate. Let us all look forward—those of us who are still here—to the same next year Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered Welsh affairs.
Littlewoods and Telegraph Pension Funds — House of Commons, 2015-03-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nadine Vanessa Dorries (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister has rightly detailed the assets, but can he clarify who would have first call on those assets if there was a shortfall in the scheme, if the company was in dire financial straits and if it had £2 billion of debts: the pension scheme or the banks?
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
John Michael Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that neighbourhood planning represents the best way of ensuring that communities have a real say in the planning system when it comes to deciding where houses should go, what they should look like, and what green and open spaces should be preserved?
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): I do indeed. My hon. Friend is a pioneer of neighbourhood planning. He worked closely with me when I was last a Minister in the Department to ensure that it was introduced, and it has been a huge success. The first neighbourhood plan was in Thame, in his constituency. More than 1,500 communities are now engaged in the neighbourhood planning process, and 300 neighbourhood plans have been published for consultation. I am delighted that my hon. Friend has accepted my invitation to work with me to see what we can do to speed up the possibilities for other neighbourhoods throughout the country.
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Michael Mark Prisk (Conservative, Centre-right): The success of city deals so far has been due to the fact that Ministers have avoided over-prescriptive rules, and instead have focused on what each deal can do for each community. May I strongly encourage the Secretary of State to ensure that that flexibility is retained, particularly in smaller towns and counties?
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly take that approach. My hon. Friend was a great force in working with the local enterprise partnerships in their early days, and respecting the fact that every place is different. It would be ludicrous to observe those differences and then impose a uniform requirement in all places.
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the great advantages of my right hon. Friend’s devolutionist approach is that city deals can capture the variation that occurs in key areas such as the housing market, which will vary from city to city. Will he talk to organisations such as the Royal Town Planning Institute, which is keen to establish what further work can be done to capture the link between devolution and housing delivery?
Devolution (Local Communities) — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): I will indeed, and again I pay tribute to the work my hon. Friend did in the Department in inaugurating this transfer of powers. Housing will be of great importance in all the deals we are negotiating and expect to conclude. There is an appetite for that right across the country and I will certainly take the advice of the RTPI.
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): Annual statistics on trends in home ownership are published in the Department’s English housing survey headline report, and I was pleased that recently it highlighted the fact that the number of first-time buyers is at a seven-year high.
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady should be pleased that we have seen 600 housing starts in her own area over the last year and that, although we inherited from the last Labour Government the lowest level of house building since about 1923, we have seen that level starting to come back thanks to the work this Government have done to deliver the fastest rate of building not just of council homes, but also affordable homes, in about 20 years.
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): Can the Minister confirm that the proportion of people who own their own home actually fell over the lifetime of the coalition Government, and will he reaffirm, as a central promise of this Administration, to increase the proportion of people who own their own homes?
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an interesting observation. Of course, home ownership started to fall in 2005, under the last Labour Government. Over the last Parliament, we worked to get the house building sector working again. We have made it clear that we are a party who believe in helping people who work hard and aspire to own their own home, and that is why we will deliver some 200,000 starter homes for first-time buyers over the course of this Parliament.
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show yet another significant rise in house prices in Bristol, with the biggest rise—some 12%—being in my constituency. Affordability is becoming an increasing problem for local people. People from outside Bristol might be able to afford to live there, but local people cannot afford to buy homes. What is the Minister doing about that?
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady may realise that there have been just over 1,000 housing starts in the last year in her area, which is well up on where it was before and, again, builds on the terrible situation we inherited some five years ago. I hope she will join me in thanking this Conservative Government for pledging to deliver affordable homes at the fastest rate in over 20 years and, of course, those 200,000 starter homes for first-time buyers at a 20% discount. Perhaps her party would like to get on board and support that work.
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show yet another significant rise in house prices in Bristol, with the biggest rise—some 12%—being in my constituency. Affordability is becoming an increasing problem for local people. People from outside Bristol might be able to afford to live there, but local people cannot afford to buy homes. What is the Minister doing about that?
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that the way to address housing affordability is to increase supply? Can he confirm to the House that the approach which saw over 500,000 new homes built during the last Parliament will be continued?
Home Ownership — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show yet another significant rise in house prices in Bristol, with the biggest rise—some 12%—being in my constituency. Affordability is becoming an increasing problem for local people. People from outside Bristol might be able to afford to live there, but local people cannot afford to buy homes. What is the Minister doing about that?
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point, and we seek to build on that by delivering affordable homes, including starter homes for first-time buyers, and making sure we increase supply. We have seen the increases over the last few years, and the recent figure of some 261,000 homes getting planning approval last year is pretty much a record level, and is a good sign that we have got the market moving in the right direction. We intend to build on that, and will do so.
Homeless People — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): By law, local authorities have a duty to provide advice and information to anyone asking for help. To help them discharge that important duty we have, among other sources of support, funded the National Homelessness Advice Service supporting frontline staff, together with the Help for Single Homeless funding, helping 22,000 people across England by April 2016.
Homeless People — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.
Felicia Jane Beatrix Drummond (Conservative, Centre-right): Housing is a big issue in my crowded city of Portsmouth and figures show that the number of people in priority-need has increased over recent years. What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that there is good advice and assistance to the homeless?
Homeless People — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I know that she took a keen interest in this issue before she entered the House. We provided more than £500,000 in homelessness prevention grant funding to Portsmouth Council back in 2013-14, and the council was able to use it to prevent 1,021 households from becoming homeless. We are providing a further £550,000 to Portsmouth for the same purpose this year. I am certainly not complacent, however, and I can assure my hon. Friend that I want to work with local authorities to build on best practice. I shall also be meeting representatives of Crisis next month to discuss what more can be done to improve services for homeless people.
Homeless People — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I am aware that councils can build council housing. That is quite an interesting question, because more council houses were built during the past five years of the coalition Government than during the previous 13 years under Labour.
Local Government Grant Formula — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Mark Gino Francois (Conservative, Centre-right): Councils facing the highest demand for services receive substantially more funding, including through the grant formula. In addition, with the introduction of business rates retention in 2013-14 there has been a deliberate shift away from keeping authorities dependent on grant and towards providing councils with the tools and incentives they need to grow their local economies and promote sustainable house building.
Local Government Grant Formula — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The National Audit Office is clear that local authorities with the highest levels of deprivation have seen the greatest reductions in spending power, and in Cumbria rurality compounds the problem. Does the Minister accept that the cost of providing services in sparsely populated areas means that less money is then available to address our needs?
Mark Gino Francois (Conservative, Centre-right): Allerdale is classified as a rural authority and, as such, it received additional funding via the £15.5 million allocated to rural areas for 2015-16, which was £4 million up on last year’s figure. In addition, it is worth pointing out that the Cumbria local enterprise partnership receives some £48 million in growth deal funding, part of which I hope will be to the benefit of the hon. Lady’s constituents.
Local Government Grant Formula — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The National Audit Office is clear that local authorities with the highest levels of deprivation have seen the greatest reductions in spending power, and in Cumbria rurality compounds the problem. Does the Minister accept that the cost of providing services in sparsely populated areas means that less money is then available to address our needs?
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that local government grant and council tax payers’ moneys are put to the best use. Labour-led North East Lincolnshire Council is considering whether or not to establish its own funeral service, an area already well-served by private businesses, which fear that the council will exploit its monopoly position of providing cremation services. Will the Minister assure me that he will take the matter up with that council?
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): Over the course of this Parliament, the Government are committed to releasing public sector land with capacity for up to 150,000 homes. Selling surplus land plays an important role in delivering the Government’s ambitious housing programme, as it releases land supply to the market for starter homes and other initiatives.
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): Given the importance of protecting the green belt in areas such as my constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills, what assistance is being given to local authorities to identify public sector land for development and thus further safeguard our precious green belt?
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point on protecting the green belt, which we have done through the national planning policy framework. My now boss outlined the process during the passage of the Localism Act 2011. We are committed to ensuring that the Government release public land as an important part of that process, and that 90% of our brownfield land has its planning permission in place by 2020.
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Stuart James Andrew (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will be acutely aware of the concern of many of my constituents about the potential loss of our green belt thanks to excessive housing targets set by Leeds council, but the release of public sector land would help to save those important sites. What measures are available to meet the remediation costs so that developers cannot say that such sites are not viable?
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. It was a pleasure to visit him in his constituency and to talk to residents about these issues. It is important that we get public sector land released. With regard to brownfield sites, we have the housing zones programme in place. We have announced that, later this year, we will go into more detail about the brownfield fund, which will be aimed specifically at such details. I will happily meet him and his local councillors to see whether we can help take things forward.
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. Ministers are talking all the time; the Secretary of State has been very clear about driving the matter forward. He wants all Departments to deliver to ensure that we get to 150,000 homes. I am happy to look at what he suggests. If we can work with the devolved authorities to ensure that residents right across the United Kingdom benefit, I will be happy to do so.
Public Sector Land — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): I gently say to the hon. Lady that the programme that I outlined in the previous Parliament consisted of land that was built on or disposed of between 2011 and 2015. We have set an ambitious target of 150,000 homes for this Parliament, which we must reach, and I hope that she will support us in doing that. Let me gently point out to her that I am somewhat prouder of this Government’s record of delivering some 23,000 homes a year through public sector land than I would be of the Labour record of 1,000 homes a year.
Free School Transport — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mark Gino Francois (Conservative, Centre-right): Ministers regularly meet colleagues in Government Departments to discuss a variety of topics. Local authorities have discretionary powers to provide free home to school transport beyond their statutory duties and are best placed to balance local priorities against the funding they have available.
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): We have invested more than £500 million since 2010 to support local authorities and the voluntary sector to prevent and tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. That investment has meant that we have not returned to the days of 10 years ago, when statutory homelessness in England was nearly double what it is today.
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping — House of Commons, 2015-06-29
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are absolutely committed to tackling homelessness. The hon. Lady mentions bed-and-breakfast accommodation but, to put it into context, a small number of authorities—about 5%—account for 80% of the breaches. We are taking this very seriously and are absolutely clear that the long-term use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation for families with children is unacceptable and unlawful. However, the hon. Lady must also bear it in mind that the use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation is a third of its peak under the Labour Administration.