argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: I was pleased to meet with Disability Support Torbay on Friday to discuss the advocacy, support and advice it gives to many local people. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is crucial to work with employers to make sure that they are aware of work the Government are doing, such as the Access to Work programme, to help them to employ and retain people with disabilities?; Following the shameful failure of the Front-Bench team once again to answer a question today, may I ask again why the Government are refusing to publish—even though the Information Commissioner has instructed them to do so—the up-to-date statistics relating to the number of people who have died, having been found fit for work at their face-to-face assessment?; The latest employment statistics show that under this Government record numbers of women are in work, yet there are 2 million more women who would like to be in employment but are not. What discussions has the Minister had with colleagues to ensure that the barriers that those women face are being removed?; My hon. Friend the Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Marie Rimmer) is right. Given that on 5 June the High Court found the Department’s actions—this time on PIP delays—unlawful, does the Secretary of State think that he and his Department are above the law? Why does he refuse to publish the details of the number of people who have died within six weeks of their claims for incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance, including those who have been found fit for work?; In my constituency rents are almost double the English average and the housing benefit bill rose by 50% during the previous Parliament. Does the Secretary of State think that subsidising private landlords to such a degree is a good use of public money?
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister has just extolled the virtues of his Department’s support for people with mental health problems, but in reality we know that too many people with mental health issues are coming through the Work programme and not getting work. Is it not time that, for the benefit of those people and of the taxpayer, some of his Department’s money was devolved to local areas so those people can get better support and get into proper jobs?
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Before I call the shadow Secretary of State for Education, I should tell hon. Members that I am going to put a time limit of six minutes on Back-Bench contributions—it will follow immediately after the shadow Secretary of State.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Interventions are getting very long. The hon. Gentleman is on the speaking list, so he may want to save his gunpowder for when it is his turn to speak. The interventions need to be much shorter. Otherwise, we will not get everybody in.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. The hon. Gentleman should resume his seat. Interventions must be short. He cannot make a speech, only a quick intervention in order to allow the person who is speaking to respond. If he wanted to make a speech, he would have been better off putting his name down. That is good advice. I am sure he has finished speaking. Is that correct?
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Other
Kate Ofunne Osamor (Labour, Centre-left): I would ask the Minister to be open, and to ensure that those of us representing constituencies where that could happen feel that it is above board. Until such time, that question will float. I would like him to answer it.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-06-22
Topic: Other
Wesley Paul William Streeting (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister is more than welcome to visit my constituency, as he did during the election campaign. I very much enjoyed playing the recorder with him. Given the stab that Government Members have made at defining a coasting school, will he put us out of our misery and give us his definition of a coasting school? He has not yet told us.
Stormont House Agreement — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Willie Bain (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Stormont House agreement as further strengthening devolution across the United Kingdom and offering the Northern Ireland Executive nearly £2 billion in new finance and loans. What process will the Secretary of State propose to deal with the unresolved issues of parades, flags and cultural identity?
Youth Unemployment — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): The chief economist of Ulster Bank has said that under-25s are failing to participate in Northern Ireland’s labour market recovery. Does the Minister agree that we need to address young people’s prospects, and will he welcome the Heenan-Anderson commission, which will examine skills and education?
Union Flag (Driving Licences) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Catharine Letitia Hoey (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will know that there is doubt over whether this is a devolved matter. Surely, if we believe in the Union, people in Northern Ireland should have the same right as everyone else in the United Kingdom to have the flag of their country flying on their driving licence. Does he agree?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward Samuel Miliband (Labour, Centre-left): Let me first associate myself with the remarks of the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and the Prime Minister. Yesterday was an incredibly moving and emotional day for anyone who was part of the commemoration. I thank the Prime Minister for the work that has been done as part of the Holocaust Commission and I can confirm absolutely that it will be taken forward on a cross-party basis so that we do indeed keep the memory alive Before the last election, the Prime Minister said that he would have a "bare-knuckle fight" to save 29 accident and emergency and maternity units, and he published a list. Can he assure the House that in line with his promise all those services have been protected?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): (Eltham) (Lab): Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Members have visited my constituency and have not told me they were coming, but I have never been petty enough to bring the matter to the Floor of the House.
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Dawn Primarolo (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Minister, I heard what you said to your Back Benchers and it is out of order. The hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) will disregard the advice from the Minister. I will not embarrass the Minister by saying exactly what it was, but I will not hear him say it again.
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): That is rather curious, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would be quite interested to know what the Minister was saying. Perhaps the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) heard it. What did the Minister say to him?
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): If my hon. Friends will allow me, I want to make a little progress, but I will certainly give way again in a moment As a member of the shadow Treasury team, I want meticulously to explain the alternative course by which we will deal with the requirement for 20,000 additional nurses and 8,000 additional GPs, and the time to care fund of £2.5 billion. First, we would raise £1.2 billion from the levy on ultra-high-value properties—those worth more than £2 million—the so-called mansion tax Secondly, we would raise least £1.15 billion by closing three tax loopholes. The first is that hedge funds are avoiding stamp duty by getting tax-exempt investment banks to buy shares for them. At least £500 million is lost through that tax loophole, and we must close it. The second is that many large corporations, including some of the water utilities, are shifting profits out of the UK by borrowing large sums at high interest rates via their owners’ subsidiary companies through offshore stock exchanges. That is known as the quoted eurobond exemption. The third is that many employment agencies sign up workers to umbrella companies almost at random, and exploit tax reliefs on travel and subsistence without passing them on to the work force. Between £300 million and £600 million is lost to the Exchequer in that way. Those three tax loopholes must be closed Thirdly, we need to take £150 million a year from a new levy on tobacco company profits. That levy has worked in the United States, and we believe it is now appropriate in this country The sum of £2.5 billion is a significant investment that our NHS needs. It will also provide the time to care for the patients who deserve much more than the 15-minute chunks they have been getting recently.
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Dawn Primarolo (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Mr Garnier, I am not going to tell you again. You are on a warning now. You make lots of interventions. Members show you respect, and I expect you to show it to others when they make their points.
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Dawn Primarolo (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Mr Heaton-Harris, will you allow the intervention to take place? I am sure you will have a chance to join the debate when you catch my eye later. However, I do not want interventions to be overlong either, because we do not have much time left in the debate. Barbara Keeley, will you therefore please be brief?
NHS (Government Spending) — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady’s flow, but I want to defend the land of my fathers, Wales. I do not know whether the hon. Lady was present for the urgent question. We often measure the stress on the system according to the declaration of emergency and major incident plans. There have been 15 in England but, as far as I am aware, none in Wales.
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman was listening. As I said, unlike the many Members on the Government Benches who have discovered a passion for these things in their roles on appointment to the job, I do not need to go on a visit to understand. I have been on those visits that I detailed, and I have been in this role for seven weeks so I hope the right hon. Gentleman will give me some credit for my long-standing interest in this area I will now give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy), if she wants to intervene.
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will have her chance when she makes her speech We want girls to enjoy their education free from the threat of child or forced marriage. However, Tory MEPs voted against the European Parliament’s report on sustainable development goals and on the section on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. We want to tackle the economic conditions and supply chains that tolerate the obscenity of 168 million child workers. We want to ensure that children affected by conflict have the psycho-social services that they need and the right to go to school. We want members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities to be free to love and marry whomever they wish. We want the disabled to participate fully in society, and we want protection for indigenous peoples We want workers to enjoy decent work, decent pay and rest breaks, and to have the freedom to join a trade union. We must not have a repeat of the terrible Rana Plaza disaster. We will therefore reverse this Government’s ideological decision to stop funding for the International Labour Organisation.
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. Lady might have missed my point on human rights, but there was a point on women and girls and child marriage in my speech. She mentioned sustainable development goal 16. Can she explain why her Conservative colleagues in the European Parliament voted against that goal?
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Other
Tessa Jowell (Labour, Centre-left): I have only six minutes. I will use that time to make a specific point. The shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh), dealt very well with the progress that has been made.
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Immigration
Marek Jerzy Lazarowicz (Labour, Centre-left): This is about the tragedy of the Mediterranean. I do not blame the Secretary of State for this situation, but tomorrow it is one year to the day since the House of Commons voted to support the Syrian refugee programme, and as of now there are only 90 Syrian refugees in the UK. Is that not shameful? Let us hope the Government will still, even at this stage, reconsider.
Sustainable Development Goals — House of Commons, 2015-01-28
Topic: Immigration
Marek Jerzy Lazarowicz (Labour, Centre-left): Absolutely. Public debate, engagement and support strengthen the hand of any Government in international negotiations such as those later this year Last week, I was fortunate to visit Leith Walk primary school in my constituency, where the students and their teachers had been involved in the important and valuable send my sister to school initiative. I am sure that we all have in our constituencies the same experience of young people being very committed to taking action on these issues. I hope that the Government will continue to support that through the continuation of the international citizen service It is important to be non-partisan on this issue, as far as possible, and to ensure that we have the widest consensus among political forces in this Chamber and outside. At the same time, it is also right to criticise and challenge a Government where there are failings. That is why I intervened on one of my colleagues about refugees from Syria and, bluntly, the Government’s failure to live up to what was promised just over a year ago. I know that is not the direct responsibility of the International Development Secretary, but the failure of the Home Secretary and her Ministers to live up to what we promised is a blot on our otherwise good record in supporting refugees and international development. I recognise that the Secretary of State cannot today suddenly reverse the Government’s record to date on supporting Syrian refugees, but I hope that she will have a word with her ministerial colleagues to ensure that we now live up to the Government’s commitments, which I believed at the time were made in good faith and which were supported across the House. I would like a change in our actions to be consistent with the policy that the Government followed just over a year ago.
Council Tax — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State congratulate Hammersmith and Fulham council on cutting council tax while at the same time abolishing home care charges, cutting the price of meals on wheels by a third and employing more neighbourhood police officers? Does that not make it his favourite council—perhaps even the apple of his eye?
Council Tax — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Gisela Stuart (Labour, Centre-left): Council tax rates and council tax bands are closely linked. I try not to believe everything I read in the newspapers, but a few years ago The Daily Telegraph reported: "Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, who oversees local government, has also opposed any move to change council tax bands. He has ordered officials to destroy data collected by previous governments that could allow a widespread rebanding of properties." Is that so? If not, what data are available?
Local Authority Spending — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of real-terms cumulative changes in local authority spending power on services in communities with the greatest needs since 2010-11.; What assessment he has made of the effect of real-terms cumulative changes in local authority spending power on services in communities with the greatest needs since 2010-11.
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): The PAC report made it clear that councils with the greatest spending needs—the most deprived authorities—receive the largest reductions. The Minister talks about the challenges facing them. He will know that the challenges facing the local authority in Chesterfield are twice those facing the local authority that the Secretary of State is responsible for. Is it not true that the reason why the areas with the greatest deprivation are facing the biggest cuts is that Tory Governments always redistribute money from the poorest people to the richest? If the disabled, the elderly and the vulnerable in my constituency want to do something about the situation, they should not complain to this Government—they should chuck them out in May.
Local Plans (Accessibility Standards) — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour, Centre-left): The Government estimate that a three-bedroom home built to the proposed category 2 costs just £521 more than the less accessible equivalent—about one week’s bill for residential care. Do the Government accept that that shows an urgent need for higher access standards, and for more homes to be built to those standards?
Local Plans (Accessibility Standards) — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (Labour, Centre-left): Habinteg, Age UK, Aspire, Care and Repair, Disability Rights UK, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Mencap all supported Labour’s push to amend the Infrastructure Bill to ensure high standards of accessibility in new housing. Why did the Government oppose those efforts?
Translation Costs — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): I recently met the profoundly deaf communities in my constituency through Deaflink, and they highlighted how isolated they felt because of the lack of British sign language translation services available when accessing services. What will the Secretary of State do to support them?
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): A survey conducted in Croydon North showed some letting agents charging registration fees as high as £500, and hundreds more in finder’s fees and for simply handling the deposit. Of course, short tenancies make this rip-off even worse. Why are the Government not standing up for hard-pressed renters against rip-off letting agents?
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Michael John Gapes (Labour, Centre-left): Nine million people, including 1 million families with children, are in private rented accommodation, which, as thousands in my constituency know, leads to uncertainty and fear about people’s long-term future and stability. When will this Conservative Government and their Lib Dem accomplices take the issue seriously? Will they do something now, rather than engage in spurious consultations that take months and years?
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
John Healey (Labour, Centre-left): In relation to the private rented sector and all other housing, the English housing survey "is used extensively across government and beyond and is a public good of national importance." Those are not my words but those of the national statistician in reaction to the Minister’s plans to stop the survey next year and then do it only every other year subsequently. In the light of the national statistician’s concerns in urging a rethink, will the Minister confirm that he will take that advice and not scrap next year’s survey?
Private Rented Sector — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister keeps peddling the myth, but we are not proposing rent controls. The Government have taken no meaningful action to promote longer-term tenancies. Both the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Keighley (Kris Hopkins), and the current housing Minister told us last year that rent levels were falling, with the Under-Secretary saying that rents were falling even in London. But now the Office for National Statistics has confirmed what everybody else knew all along—that rents are rising faster than wages and rising in real terms. Will the Minister now admit that he was wrong and that millions of private renters are facing insecurity and rising rents?
Green-belt Land — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will be aware that paragraphs 17 and 111 of the national planning policy framework contain a commitment to "brownfield first". When the Select Committee did its recent inquiry into the operation of the NPPF, it received more complaints about one issue than any other—concerns about inappropriate speculative applications, not just in the green belt but in green fields in general. Will he agree to look very carefully at the Select Committee’s recommendations to speed up the process of local plan adoption and to ensure that those local plans have a higher percentage of brownfield within them? There is real concern about this issue on both sides of the Chamber.
Green-belt Land — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Ronnie Campbell (Labour, Centre-left): In Cramlington, in my constituency, an urban sprawl of housing has developed over the years since it became a new town. There is a small green patch there, but it is currently the subject of an application for planning permission to build more housing. Should not the townships that were built during the 1960s have a bit of green space in the middle?
First-time Buyers — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): One way that the Minister can help first-time buyers in my constituency is to tackle high rents and insecurity in the private rented sector. Increasingly, there are reports of people who are not couples being forced to share a bedroom because they cannot afford the high rents in London, yet the Minister is being complacent. Is it not time that the Government acted?
First-time Buyers — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Andrew McCulloch Love (Labour, Centre-left): I did not think that you would call two Opposition Members in a row, Mr Speaker The level of home ownership has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years. Will the Government now admit that their failure to build homes is pricing home ownership out of the reach of ordinary families?
Housing Completions and Demand — House of Commons, 2015-02-02
Topic: Housing
Heidi Alexander (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for his reply, but he will be aware that demand for genuinely affordable homes massively outstrips supply. In the light of that, how does he justify the Government’s latest policy wheeze, which allows developers to offset vacant buildings on a site against the requirement to provide affordable housing? Is that not another example of his Government watering down the rules for private developers, at the expense of those on the housing waiting list?