argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Lammy Review — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to the right hon. Lady for raising the issue of a residential women’s centre in Wales. One of the things I am so proud of, in terms of the response to coronavirus, as the right hon. Lady will know, is the huge amount of money, as part of the £76 million that has been allocated, to support women in particular in the community—over £20 million coming from the MOJ itself. One of the things we want to do is to ensure that there is transparency about the data and who it helps. Crucially—this was not in Lammy, by the way—PCCs are now required to publish data on BAME representation, to ensure that those people as well are being properly represented and getting their fair slice of cake.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Government Operations
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Many Governments have tried to bypass Parliament by making statements first to the media. Today, the Prime Minister has made a major speech on new policies, not to this House but to the media. What can Mr Speaker do to get the Government to abide by the rules of Parliament?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree with what my right hon. Friend is saying. Not only is his point correct, but I have found out, as a result of tabling a question to the Home Secretary, that over the past five years the taxpayer has had to pay out in excess of £20 million to people who were unlawfully detained. Is he aware of that?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend makes a good point, to which I will return in a moment because it impinges on another claim made by the Home Office that is plainly not true We have established what these people are not—they are not all foreign national offenders—but we should understand what they are. I do not have time in the six minutes available to me to go through all of them, but I have in front of me case after case of people who have suffered human trafficking, torture, rape, forced prostitution and modern slavery—mostly before they got to these shores, but in some cases after they arrived here too. Many are damaged people to whom the world has dealt a very, very rough hand. And what do we do when they come here for our help? We lock them up for an indefinite period.
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right: any stay is damaging. If someone was psychologically damaged before they arrived, it is even more damaging. If they do not know how long they will be detained, it is even more damaging again. He may remember that we had huge battles in this House over 90 days’ detention without charge, with the great defeat of Blair. We are now talking about detention of three months, four months, five months and three years.
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
Steven John Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is making an extremely compelling case, and I am proud to have signed his new clauses. Will he take this opportunity to put on record a view that I think he shares with me—that people who are serious offenders should be promptly deported, not living in the UK at taxpayer expense?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend pre-empts the point that I am about to come to. A few are villains, and I would be the first to concede that, along with him. Predictably, as the Home Office always does when it has a weak case, it trotted out the gory details this morning—it listed 29 rapists, 52 violent offenders, 27 child sex offenders and 43 other sex offenders—designed, no doubt, to make our blood curdle That brings me to the other point of these new clauses. My question to the Minister, which I hope he will answer when he winds up the debate, is: when precisely did the Government start deportation proceedings on all those serious cases? Did they start the day that those people went into prison or sufficiently far in advance that those serious villains could go straight from prison to plane, with no stop at the detention centre? No, they did not, I am sure, but I would like to hear whether the Minister thinks they did the right thing on that The fact is that, to borrow a phrase from a former Home Secretary, the Home Office is not fit for purpose in managing deportations. Part of the point of these new clauses is to force the Home Office to get its act together, deal with the villains and stop punishing the innocent. That is why there is a six-month delay built into the new clauses—to give it time to get a grip I have one simple thing to say to the House. I have long been proud of our British justice system, but I am ashamed of what our incompetent deportation system does to people who arrived on our shores already badly damaged by human trafficking and modern slavery. It is time we put it right with new clauses 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Social Welfare
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend and I have both done the same job, I think we appreciate the real problems that social workers and local authorities are having in identifying these children. Does he agree with me that part of the problem is that the Department for Education does not routinely collect data on the nationality of the children it looks after in the first place? Is it not essential that that is the very minimum that needs to happen if we are to identify all of those children who would be covered by this scheme?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Education
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and he is right. When one is trying to understand the consequences of the actions one takes as a Minister—as we heard in the statement earlier from the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk)—the enrichment of data can help us appreciate whether we are making good progress. In the independent school exclusions review that I carried out for the Government last year, a lot of my recommendations were about getting better data about the children in our systems, why they are there and how we can better track them, so that we know we are making good decisions on their behalf. I agree that that information would be relevant to the considerations under new clause 2 It is important that we get this right. The corporate parenting principles that we legislated for in 2017 are designed for circumstances just like these. Please can we make sure that we live up to them?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
Dehenna Sheridan Fareham (Conservative, Centre-right): One could certainly argue that; I would argue the opposite, but I thank my hon. Friend for his point. Let me give a tangible example. Had a 28-day limit been in place in December, it would have resulted in the immediate release of some foreign nationals who were awaiting deportation, including 29 rapists, 27 child sex offenders and 52 violent offenders, including a number of murderers, and more.
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): I tried once, and I will try again with another Conservative colleague on this very question. We hear people trot out the stories that the Home Office has put forward about the people who are in detention and their heinous crimes. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is a job for the criminal justice system, not a job for the immigration detention system?
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Law and Crime
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend gets it absolutely right about the misinformation that has been dispatched this morning. Is it not the case that a six-month grace period would be the result of the new clause? Those people would not be put out on the streets from the detention centre. The problem is that 63% of those in detention centres are released back into the community because the process has failed, and that includes serious sex offenders, rapists and other serious criminals, so it is happening now and not as a result of what the new clause would achieve.
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: International Affairs
Steven John Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been listening to the Minister very carefully, and I repeat my earlier praise: he has a tough job to do. I do recognise that this Bill relates to the withdrawal agreement, and I can tell him that I will abstain on the amendments I have signed, and I shall vote with the Government on the rest of them.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Agriculture
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 3 to 5 together Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Electricity That the draft Contracts for Difference (Electricity Supplier Obligations) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 4 June, be approved Agriculture That the Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I, 2020, No. 576), dated 8 June 2020, a copy of which was laid before this House on 9 June, be approved That the draft Direct Payments Ceilings Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 9 June, be approved.—(James Morris.) Question agreed to.
Use of disposable barbecues — House of Commons, 2020-06-30
Topic: Environment
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): As I am sure you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, single-use barbecues are designed to be disposable but are causing great risk to the forest environment, and local laws and regulations to prohibit and restrict their use have proved extremely difficult, if not impossible, to enforce The petition states: The Petition of Kate Collison and Janette Duke, residents of the New Forest District in Hampshire, Declares that the use of disposable barbecues and their careless abandonment are a proven cause of wild fires; further declares that such wild fires not only risk human life but also cause devastation to wildlife and their habitat; notes that single use disposable barbecues comprise a tin foil tray filled with impregnated "easy light" charcoal with a wire mesh over; further notes that they are lightweight, can easily be carried to beauty spots, wildlife reserves, and beaches, and can be purchased for as little as £1.99 per unit; further notes they have no integral frame support so can be sat directly on the ground causing damage once lit; further notes they emit dangerous carbon monoxide fumes not only during use but also during the cooling process; further notes that whilst they are easy to carry prior to use they are almost impossible to carry away for many hours after use whilst they remain hot, meaning they are often left as litter with devastating consequences; further notes reports that fire services across the country have shown that these abandoned barbecues have been found in the areas where devastating fires have occurred, for example, Wareham Forest, which in May 2020, despite the efforts of 150 firefighters, burned for more than 3 days and devastated 470 acres of heath and woodland, with 11 portable barbecues subsequently found in the burn area; further notes that Chinese sky lanterns, which can pose a similar threat to wildlife and their habitat, were once seen as acceptable but are now recognised as irresponsible and dangerous; and further notes the related Change.org petitions on this matter from the same petitioners, which collectively have over 9,000 signatures The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to consider a ban on the sale of single use disposable barbecues within the United Kingdom And the petitioners remain, etc [P002585]
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I want to praise our excellent jobcentre staff and all Department for Work and Pensions staff and contractors for their tireless work through this emergency in supporting an unprecedented level of new claimants as well as existing claimants. To assist this effort, we redeployed thousands of staff and streamlined our processes where possible. Looking forward, we are now working with local managers to start fully reopening jobcentres in July to help get Britain back into work. Over 17,00 people are now working remotely, and we have already recruited new people into DWP to help with the increased demand.
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Labor
Stuart Paul Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): Unemployment in Wolverhampton is above the country average, and covid-19 will have an impact on these figures. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the local jobcentre staff, who have been working tirelessly through this pandemic, will play an integral part in making sure our great city is not left behind?
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to pay tribute to staff at his local jobcentre. Without the success of the furlough scheme introduced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, this could have been far worse. We are working hard across Government to help people in these challenging times to get back into work as soon as possible and to support an economic recovery that levels up all parts of the country, including Wolverhampton. I am sure he can refer people to the two new websites, job help and employer help, to signpost people to live vacancies and online support.
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
Daniel Robert Kawczynski (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like the Secretary of State to pass on our thanks to her team for the tremendous work that her officials have been doing at this very difficult time, but does she agree that the digital nature of universal credit has enabled it to respond effectively in recent months?
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is spot on. The Department has acted at incredible pace to bring in measures as quickly as possible to help those most financially disadvantaged as a result of c-19. Through the digital universal credit system, we have enabled those changes while meeting that unprecedented demand. The legacy system, which was heavily paper-based, would simply have been unable to cope.
Covid-19: Meeting Increased Demand for Services — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Labor
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that as the jobcentres fully reopen this week we reinstate the need for a claimant commitment. It is an essential part of the contract to help people start to reconsider what vacancies there are, but I know that I can trust the work coaches and jobcentre managers, who are empowered to act proactively with people. There will be some people right now who have not had to look for a job for the last 20 to 30 years, and they will need careful support, tailored to make sure they can start to look for the jobs that are available and which I hope will soon become available.
Covid-19: Universal Credit Applications — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): Since mid-March, we have processed about 3.2 million individual universal credit claims. Despite that surge, the system is standing up to the challenge and demonstrating the resilience and scalability that is a fundamental part of its design. From the peak of claims made, less than 1% of claimants have outstanding verification preventing payment. There is no way that the legacy benefit system could have coped with such pressure.
Covid-19: Universal Credit Applications — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not recognise the picture the hon. Gentleman paints. Universal credit advances are available for those who need them. They are interest free for 12 months and as of next year that will increase to 24 months. We get support to people as quickly as they need it. That is why the payment advance is available, usually within a couple of days.
Covid-19: Universal Credit Applications — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department has processed an unprecedented number of claims during this period. We have put over £6.5 billion into our welfare system to support those who need it quickly. In terms of what the hon. Lady defines as the five-week wait, nobody has to wait five weeks for a payment. An advance is available, usually within a couple of days, for those who need it.
Covid-19: Universal Credit Applications — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): Any job loss is regrettable, and the Department stands ready to support people who find themselves in that position. The £6.5 billion package included an increase to universal credit of over £1,000, a similar increase to the standard allowance for tax credits and an increase to the local housing allowance. That is over and above measures such as the job retention scheme, the self-employment income support scheme, the £500 million hardship fund via local councils and the £63 million local welfare assistance fund. As the Chancellor said, we will do whatever it takes to support people through covid-19.
Transition from Universal Credit to State Pension — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Labor
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government announced in March that anyone reaching state pension age while claiming universal credit will be eligible for a run-on until the end of the assessment period in which they reach state pension age. An estimated 200,000 people will benefit from this measure over the next five years, receiving on average an additional £350 each. I am pleased to confirm that regulations are being laid today to put this measure on a statutory footing.
Transition from Universal Credit to State Pension — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
Mark Julian Francis Pawsey (Conservative, Centre-right): In November 2017, my constituent Caroll Nash visited my advice surgery and told me about a shortfall of £530 as a consequence of transitioning from universal credit to the state pension. Her claim ended on 17 October in anticipation of her receipt of the state pension from 6 November. At that time, no facility for a part-payment was available, although we did manage to resolve the issue. Can the Minister confirm that, as a consequence of the test-and-learn approach that his Department has taken in respect of universal credit, that claimant’s circumstances today would result in a seamless transition?
Transition from Universal Credit to State Pension — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is right, and I am pleased to confirm that everyone who reaches state pension age while on universal credit will be eligible for the new run-on payment. That will mean no gap in benefit provision as people transition from universal credit to the pension-age benefit system.
Universal Credit (Reducing Poverty) — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): There are now over 200,000 fewer people in absolute poverty compared with 2010, and universal credit is a fundamental part of this Government’s strategy to support people. As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, we have increased the UC standard allowance by around £1,000. An estimated 2.5 million households on UC will benefit from that straightaway, as well as new claimants who will become unemployed or those whose earnings or work hours decrease because of the outbreak.
Universal Credit (Reducing Poverty) — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, and I would like to echo his comments; we are certainly thinking of the people of Glasgow at this incredibly difficult time We keep all policy under review, but I think Members across the House recognise yet another attack on universal credit and the system. We know that the legacy benefit system simply would not have coped with the unprecedented demand we have seen during covid-19. Universal credit has done a superb job. I hope that when the hon. Gentleman reflects on the role that universal credit has played in ensuring that over 3.2 million people have got the support they need as quickly as possible, he will take a different view about its success.
Universal Credit (Reducing Poverty) — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The statistics show that full-time work substantially reduces the chances of poverty. The absolute rate of poverty for a child where both parents work full time is 4% compared with 44% where one or more parents are in part-time work. We are supporting people into full-time work wherever possible, for example, through our childcare offer, and universal credit, where work always pays, is a fundamental part of that offer.
Universal Credit (Reducing Poverty) — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): Our focus today is rightly on what the Government can do to support people financially through these unprecedented times. However, our broader ambition remains to build an economy that ensures that everyone, no matter their background, has opportunities to enter and progress in work where possible, while being supported by the welfare system in their time of need. I just gently remind the hon. Gentleman that, in this financial year, we have spent more than £120 billion on benefits for working-age people.
Universal Credit (Reducing Poverty) — House of Commons, 2020-06-29
Topic: Law and Crime
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): I answered an urgent question on this matter on Thursday for some 45 minutes, as the right hon. Gentleman has mentioned. I confirmed that we would not be appealing the decision of the court. As I made clear to him, I am now considering options to address the issue and will keep the House updated on progress. The 85,000 figure, which he references, from the judgment, came, in my understanding, from the Opposition. It is referenced in the judgment, but it came from the Opposition and we do not recognise those figures.