argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): As colleagues will be aware, there is pressure on time today, because there are several further pieces of business to follow, but equally and understandably there is intense interest in this monumental mess and I know that the Secretary of State is very keen, to his credit, to answer questions, so I shall do my best, as always, to accommodate the understandable interest of colleagues.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. There is a further urgent question after this and there are then three ministerial statements before we get to the Backbench business. Therefore, there is a premium upon brevity from Back Benchers and Front Benchers alike. For the avoidance of doubt, what I am looking for from colleagues is not dilation and not preamble but single-sentence questions, which will be brilliantly exemplified, I feel sure, by the right hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin).
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Public Lands
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure it is the entirely appropriate expression to congratulate my right hon. Friend on inheriting responsibility for HS2, but I wholeheartedly congratulate him on becoming the Secretary of State. In agreeing entirely with what my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) said, may I press the Secretary State on the point he made about enabling works? As he knows, there is more than one kind of enabling work currently under way. Some of the enabling work is the destruction of ancient woodland sites. There are seven of them in my constituency, along with a very old and much valued pear tree in the village of Cubbington. Given that he has announced an all-options review, including the possibility that this project will be cancelled or significantly revised, surely it is possible and sensible to categorise those types of enabling work that will do irreversible damage and postpone them until the review has concluded. He has already announced a substantial delay in this project. Surely a delay of a few weeks more would be sensible, to ensure that we do not do irreversible damage.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that the hon. Gentleman’s constituency is affected in a big way. I refer to what I said before. This project affects a lot of people’s lives, with demolitions and the rest of it in his patch. He asked me to do this as soon as possible. I have Douglas Oakervee on an unbelievable timetable, supported by a fantastic group of people, to get this done and reported back this autumn. The hon. Gentleman will not have to wait before the end of the year.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): I think every exchange indicates that, while everyone is able to welcome a review, when we get to the announcement of that review on the other side the House will not be quite so united, but I absolutely hear my hon. Friend’s comments.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): As I say, it is not just a question of the expenditure. As I mentioned before, it is also what the benefits are. May I ask my right hon. Friend just to be patient enough so that the data is covered on both sides of that, and we can come to a rational and sensible decision?
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Colleagues should now follow the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) with single- sentence questions. If they do not—let us be absolutely clear—they are stopping other colleagues taking part. It is as simple as that.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend’s question reminds me of a clip that I made on the day of announcing this full, thorough and open review. When the camera was switched off they said, "What do you really think?" What I really think is that we should have a full, thorough and open review.
HS2 — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): There are enormous opportunities. If not on Monday, at the time I mentioned at the Dispatch Box earlier, then separately I am very happy to hook up the right hon. Gentleman, and any of his colleagues, with Doug Oakervee.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Civil Rights
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): I join the shadow Secretary of State in expressing concern about the impact that Prorogation may have on the people of Northern Ireland. Can my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State—I welcome him to his new post and wish him every success—ensure that during Prorogation the Government will not stop working for those who need redress, and by that I mean the victims of historical institutional sexual abuse and those who were severely physically or psychologically disabled during the troubles through no fault of their own? They need redress and they need it urgently. Can he assure me that he will deliver that?
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): May I first pay tribute to my right hon. Friend, who did an exceptional job as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. She will know of the trauma that victims have suffered. It is now three years since the Hart report was published, and the work that she did means that the Bill could now be presented at the earliest opportunity. I hope that we will get that into the Queen’s Speech and ensure that we solve the issue once and for all.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his appointment. It is a privilege to serve in office and I wish him all success with his role. He highlighted in his written statement yesterday the need to intensify negotiations with the parties. That is the way to avoid legislation being needed. Perhaps he could set out what form he expects that to take.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend to his place. I am pleased to see that he is committed to legislation for victims of institutional abuse being in the Queen’s Speech. Can he commit to that legislation coming to this place before the end of year?
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Craig Whittaker (Conservative, Centre-right): Just this week, Northern Ireland has received over £400 million extra in the spending review. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the people of Northern Ireland will get far better value for that money in all areas of spending by having the Assembly up and running?
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Immigration
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): It is vital that this House continues to respect the dual citizenship components that the hon. Gentleman talks about and ensures that they are preserved. The review is taking place, and I have made strong representations. The Government are fully committed to the Good Friday agreement obligations.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): I wrote to the Secretary of State on Monday about the position of my constituents in Northpoint in Bromley. I welcome his announcement. Will he confirm that the establishment of the protection board ought to and must be used so that people such as my constituents—who have had to do this—may avoid the rigmarole of commissioning a building survey to prove eligibility for the fund and then applying for funding from the pre-application fund, the portal for which was not live at the beginning of the week? We need to cut through that immediately.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend and I have corresponded and spoken about the issue in his constituency. As I said in my correspondence to him, I encourage the building owners in his constituency to apply to the fund. It will be open on 12 September and we will be handling the applications on a rolling basis. In fact, it will also be possible to get a refund retrospectively, so they could get on with the work immediately and seek the funding at a later date My hon. Friend asked me previously about buildings that may have a mix of ACM cladding and other forms of cladding. Public money will obviously be spent for the remediation of the dangerous ACM cladding, but if it is proven that it is impossible to remediate the ACM cladding without taking off the other forms of cladding, it may well be possible to use public money to fund that as well. I hope my hon. Friend’s constituents will put in an application as soon as possible and that we can move forward at pace in his constituency.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): With respect to the threshold for sprinklers, we have made it clear that our preference is 18 metres, on the basis of the expert advice that we have received so far, but we are open to reviewing the evidence for an alternative threshold, including a lower one. There are obviously precedents elsewhere for thresholds of 11 metres. As I understand it, 18 metres has historically been the traditional marker above which higher fire safety systems are put in place—that has been the case with cladding and in other regards—but we will be led by the evidence and will pay careful attention to what is happening elsewhere, including in Scotland The consultation does ask questions about better signage in high-rise buildings and alert systems that would enable the fire officers attending the scene to communicate to all residents in the building and give them proper messages about staying in their flats or evacuating, and so on The incident in Barking was clearly very concerning. We have published advice about wooden cladding on balconies, so that is in the public domain; I am happy to send the hon. Lady a copy of that advice. As I understand it, the building in Barking, along with another on the same development, were unusual designs with excessive amounts of wood on their balconies. It was an extremely distressing incident, which I do not want to see repeated, but I advise anyone who is concerned to see the advice that we have published I will consider the hon. Lady’s request as a Budget representation to the Chancellor. In the recent spending review, we secured the funding that we announced today for local authorities and to fund the protection board, and we believe that that funding is sufficient. We think that £10 million a year is enough to carry out individual urgent inspections of high-risk and high-rise buildings across the country within the timeframe that I have set out.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): May I support what my right hon. Friend has said in his statement about driving forward cultural change and ensuring that people are safe in their homes? I also encourage him to follow through on the social housing Green Paper to see that tenants have that voice to challenge their landlords and to drive change.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s work. A number of the initiatives that I announced today commenced during his tenure and he was the driving force behind them. I will, of course, take forward the social housing Green Paper. We are considering the very large number of representations that we received, and I will update the House in due course.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The announcement that I made today sets out a timetable. The fund is now open. Every private sector building should apply, and we believe that they will. If, over the course of the autumn, some are procrastinating and not complying, I will name and shame them. The hard deadline is the closure of the fund in December. I will consider all options available to us at that point to ensure compliance. With respect to non-ACM cladding, the advice that we have had to date is now in the public domain. Building owners should be acting upon that. The testing process will conclude this autumn. If further updates are required, of course we will put that in the public domain.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend and I share a passion for doing that. We announced in the spring statement a new future homes standard that will ensure that no new home will be built in this country after 2025 without low or zero-carbon heating and the highest levels of energy efficiency. That is good for the environment and good for people on lower incomes.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman with more details of the board, but it will be a partnership between fire and rescue services and other appropriate experts. They in turn will commission probably regional teams of experts to ensure the consistent and competent inspections of buildings across the country.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Victoria Grace Ford (Conservative, Centre-right): Fire safety matters, but so does the health and safety of workers, so will the Secretary of State keep a focus on the current review of building regulations to make sure that that prohibition on low-level letterboxes is delivered?
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Peter James Bottomley (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Secretary of State use the campaigning charity the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership as a way of letting leaseholders in privately owned blocks know what should be happening and of making sure that their interests are taken into account just as much as those in the private sector?
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very happy to take my hon. Friend up on that. He knows that I share his determination to take forward wider reforms in the leasehold sector, and I will be introducing measures in that respect in due course.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Local authorities have robust enforcement powers available to them, and we are working closely with them to guide and support them. If the hon. Lady would like to come to me with examples, I would be very happy to support her.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): First, tenants at Edwin Court in my constituency are having to move out of their homes while vital fire safety work is carried out. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that all housing associations look after their tenants in the process of such work? Secondly, will his review look closely at inadequate fire doors? Inside Housing’s review of this issue is very concerning, as have been answers I have received to parliamentary questions.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady can see that we are doing a root-and-branch reform of the building safety system, both in the interim and in the long term with the building safety Bill that will come forward as soon as possible. I am working very closely with local authorities, and today of course I have announced £14 million of additional funding that will help to support them to use their existing powers robustly.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): As I think I said earlier, we will always be guided by the safety of residents, but we must be led by the evidence, and the consultation I am launching today will do exactly that. We will consider the appropriate threshold and whether measures need to be applied to other high-risk buildings of different types.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman asks a pertinent question. In the first instance, we will be working with local authorities, which have such powers available to them. We will be supporting and guiding them to take robust action, but if we reach the end of the year and there are still building owners who have failed to participate—which would be shameful given that taxpayers’ money is available to them—I will consider all options available to us to ensure their compliance.
Girls’ Education — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): May I first pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who did so much work in this area during her time in government? I remember having conversations with her about this issue, which she is passionate about. We spend around £1 billion a year on education, in official development assistance, and it will fluctuate over the years. It is important that we also focus on outcomes, but I will take on board what she said about our trying to do even more in this area.
Girls’ Education — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises a really important point, which is that basic sanitation and the availability of clean water are vital. I saw one of the projects in Ethiopia that has been funded through DFID, and I had an opportunity to meet some of those who are benefiting from it. I spoke to a lady who previously spent five hours a day getting water for her children, and now she is able to spend that time working, raising money to educate her kids.
Girls’ Education — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Immigration
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the simple answer is too many, but the wider work that DFID does on humanitarian support and security clearly aids the objective of making sure that children—girls—are able to go to school safely and live in an environment where they feel that they will not be threatened if they go to school.
Girls’ Education — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman and other colleagues in the House will know, in all my previous roles, I have, I hope, been very open to having discussions and, indeed, learning from colleagues who may have much more detailed knowledge built up over many years, so I would welcome an opportunity to sit down with him and other colleagues.
Science and Technology Committee — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): We now come to the Select Committee statement. Mr Norman Lamb will speak on his subject for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of his statement, the occupant of the Chair will call hon. or right hon. Members to put questions on the subject of the statement and call the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee to respond to these in turn. Members as per usual can expect to be called only once. Interventions should be questions and should be brief. Those on the Front Bench may take part in questioning. I now call the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, who I regret to say I am wrongly advised is Norman Lamb. The Chair of the Science and Technology Committee is, of course, Sir Norman Lamb.
Science and Technology Committee — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
William Grant (Conservative, Centre-right): I am also a member of the Science and Technology Committee, and it has been a pleasure to serve under the right hon. Gentleman’s chairmanship for the last two years. I am proud to have served with him over that time, and I wish him all the best for the future, wherever it takes him I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will share my concern that road vehicle emissions have either stagnated or increased somewhat. Does he agree there is a role for the Department for Transport in incentivising migration to electric cars and for making progress on the use of hydrogen propulsion for large goods vehicles on our roads today?
UK Shared Prosperity Fund — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Other
Luke Patrick Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): I will let him intervene, but before I do, the House will be well aware that my hon. Friend the Member for Angus (Kirstene Hair) tried to intervene on the him, and he refused her multiple times. It is a friendly understanding among Scottish MPs, who have to get back to friends, family and constituencies on a Thursday, that we usually let one another intervene because travel is very restrictive. He failed to do that. However, I will extend the courtesy to him in the hope that it will be reciprocated to my colleagues in future.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Jacob Gilchrist Berry (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry, but I must make some progress, and I would like to briefly get on to responding to the debate Specifically, I want to deal with the two pertinent questions, which were repeated by many others, asked by the hon. Member for Aberavon in an extremely good speech. The first was about whether the UK shared prosperity fund will respect the devolution settlement, and the answer is absolutely yes. We are clear about that, and we want to work with the devolved Administrations and metro mayors as partners. We do not want to set the UKSPF up against the devolution settlement, which we will celebrate in the country The second question was about when the quantum will be clear, and it will not become clear until we have completed the comprehensive spending review. I will point out, however, that the quantum from the European Union would also not be clear until 2020. People have referred to the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions report, but that is of course a report by a think tank. It is not a report from the European Union setting out the quantum at this stage Finally, turning to the guarantee provided by the Government, it is quite right that areas are worried about the future of their funding, which is why the Government have set out a guarantee—deal or no deal. This week, I was involved in discussions approving new spending in the current period of European funding, and the guarantee enables commitments to be made until 2021, and it will apply to commitments that are paid out between now and 2023, so there is certainty for projects. Projects are still being approved. With the guarantee, there will be no gap, and clarity about the quantum and the form of the UK shared prosperity fund will become clear at the comprehensive spending review, notwithstanding the fact that we are already involved in deep consultation with both the recipients of the funding—British taxpayers’ cash—and the mayors and devolved Administrations. Official level consultation is ongoing between the devolved Administrations and the UK Government. The most recent meeting took place on 2 August, and additional consultations will happen later this month Madam Deputy Speaker, I would have loved to have said more, but—
UK Shared Prosperity Fund — House of Commons, 2019-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Jacob Gilchrist Berry (Conservative, Centre-right): To be absolutely clear and to repeat what I said in my contribution, the Government will fully respect the devolution settlement in respect of the UK shared prosperity fund and, I am sure, in all other respects.