argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Gordon Martin (Labour, Centre-left): I am sorry, I will not give way I want to see this Parliament agree on a viable deal that will not destroy the economy of this country. When we have a second vote—a people’s vote, a second referendum or whatever you want to call it—which I think we should have if we are to bring the country back together, I want there to be a viable choice. I do not believe that a no-deal Brexit is a viable choice. A no-deal Brexit is a suicide note. If anybody on the Government Benches thinks that, as passengers in a car speeding towards a cliff edge, we will take the option of jumping out just before we reach that cliff edge, they have another think coming. Yes, we will have a general election. This Government will not survive for very much longer, because they do not have an overall majority, but we will not have that general election while there is the danger of a no-deal Brexit.
Funding for Hollingwood Primary School — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: Education
Judith Mary Cummins (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present this petition on behalf of the community of Hollingwood Primary School and the 343 parents, carers, staff and pupils who have signed it. They are seriously concerned about the impact that funding cuts are having on their school I would like to state, for the record, what an excellent school Hollingwood is. I know from visiting the school that the headteacher and his staff are continuing to provide a quality education for all their pupils. However, they are doing so, like many schools, in increasingly difficult circumstances As the petition states, the school has seen a decline in funding per pupil of £297, and an overall reduction of £249,153 since 2019. This is having an impact on the ability of the school to provide a well-rounded education for all pupils. Several parents have written to me to say how much they value the extra support the school offers, and their fear that this may not continue given the funding reductions Many are concerned about the school’s Busy Bees nurture programme, which supports the wellbeing of vulnerable children. The school’s nurture practitioner has written to me to express her concern, and to tell me the value of the support that they provide. She recounted one young person returning to the school and recalling: "I have my family at home, but Busy Bees was my family at school." It is this sense of belonging and security that schemes such as nurture provide, and which we cannot afford to lose The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to increase per pupil funding and reverse the cuts made to school budgets Following is the full text of the petition: [The petition of Parents, carers, staff and pupils of Hollingwood Primary School, Declares that Hollingwood Primary School has seen a decline in funding per pupil of £297 and £249,143 overall in the sum allocated to the school between 2015 and 2019; further that the school is facing significant budget pressures as a result and is having to make changes to save money that impact directly on its ability to provide a well-rounded education for all pupils. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to increase per pupil funding and reverse the cuts made to school budgets. And the petitioners remain, etc.] [P002515]
Funding for St John’s CE Primary School — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: Education
Judith Mary Cummins (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present this petition on behalf of the community of St John’s CE Primary School, and the 366 parents and carers who have signed it. This petition highlights the serious concerns that they have about the impact that school funding cuts are having on their school. St John’s has seen a decline in funding per pupil of £306 and has lost £248,890 in total since 2015 Every single school in my constituency has faced cuts such as these due to Government disregard for our children’s future. These cuts mean fewer teachers, fewer support staff and schools cutting back on additional activities. They hit the most vulnerable children hardest and it is a disgrace Just this week, we have seen the Government’s new funding announcement, and it is overwhelmingly targeted at schools in the south of England, bypassing schools with the most need in areas such as mine. I will always fight for proper funding for our schools, so that every child in Bradford South gets the start in life they deserve. I know that the hard-working teachers at St John’s and all other schools simply want to provide well-rounded education to their pupils. It is time that we gave them the resources to do that The petition states: The Petition of parents, carers, staff and pupils of St John’s CE Primary School, Declares that St John’s CE Primary School has seen a decline in funding per pupil of £306 and £248,890 overall in the sum allocated to the school between 2015 and 2019; further that the school is facing significant budget pressures as a result and is having to make changes to save money that impact directly on its ability to provide a well-rounded education for all pupils The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to increase per pupil funding and reverse the cuts made to school budgets And the petitioners remain, etc [P002514]
Children’s Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Luke Pollard (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. Social care accounts for two thirds of Plymouth City Council’s budget, and with more and more children with more and more complex needs relying on social care provision, that spending is only going to go up. It is hard to plan for rising social care costs if we have uncertainty, so will the Secretary of State set out when Plymouth City Council and other councils throughout the country will find out their allocations for 2020-21?
Children’s Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State says that he is working desperately hard to give certainty, but does he recognise that officials in Newcastle City Council are also desperate to ensure that the children in our city receive adequate care from next April, and they cannot do that job if they do not know how much funding will be available to support children in Newcastle?
Children’s Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): When the Secretary of State looks back on his record in the current Government, which will be his biggest regret: savage cuts to funding of children’s services, or the wider impact of austerity pushing more children into needing those dwindling services in the first place?
Children’s Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): I asked the right hon. Gentleman about children’s services. Of course, we can see that the Secretary of State just does not get it. His cuts have had dire consequences. The Public Accounts Committee says: "Children’s social care is increasingly becoming financially unsustainable. The proportion of local authorities that overspend…increased to 91% in 2017-18." The Tory-led LGA also says that there is a £1 billion funding gap for children’s services this year. When will he understand that his sticking plaster approach will not fix the broken children’s services?
Local Authorities’ Statutory Care Duties — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What assessment he has made of the ability of each local authority to fulfil its statutory care duties by the end of the 2019-20 financial year; and if he will make a statement.
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): I am very grateful for those birthday wishes, but I would be even more grateful if the Minister could agree with me that local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that care workers who they have commissioned are paid the minimum wage. The all-party parliamentary group on social care has heard increasing evidence that, despite guidance issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, care workers are still not receiving the minimum wage because they are not paid for travel time in between their contact hours. Will the Minister give me a great birthday present by announcing that he will review the way in which care workers are paid and that he will ensure they are paid the basic statutory minimum wage?
Fracking: Planning Policies — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Energy
Catherine Jane Smith (Labour, Centre-left): Fifty seven earthquakes of up to 1.5 magnitude were detected in Lancashire last year in the two months when Cuadrilla was fracking at Preston New Road. Will the Minister commit to listening to communities such as mine in Lancashire and act in their interests to prevent permitted development rights being granted for shale gas exploration?
Fracking: Planning Policies — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Environment
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (Labour, Centre-left): I will give the Minister another chance. Everyone—from the Royal Town Planning Institute to Friends of the Earth—has criticised the Government’s plans to allow fracking to take place under permitted development, rather than by achieving planning permission, not least because it bypasses the views and concerns of local communities. Given the Government’s silence on this matter since the consultation last year, will the Minister confirm today that the Government will not proceed to use permitted development for fracking and will not dilute regulations covering seismic activity—as requested by Cuadrilla, again, today—but will accept that fracking is environmentally unsound and invest more in renewable energy sources instead?
Local Government Funding: Removal of Deprivation Measures — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on levels of local authority service delivery of the removal of deprivation measures from the local government funding formula.
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): I am somewhat astonished that the Secretary of State and the Minister can stand at the Dispatch Box and keep a straight face while downplaying local government cuts. My local authority, Bradford Council, has been decimated by nine years of Tory austerity, which has stripped vital services of funding and dragged hundreds of our children into poverty. Does the Minister really think that cutting funding further and devasting our communities is an example of fair funding?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Education
Questions: A number of constituents are trapped in unfair leases. What is the Minister doing to ensure that they can buy out their lease from a developer at reasonable cost?; A damning report from the Select Committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the £200 million set aside to fund the removal of aluminium composite material cladding from private residential buildings will not be sufficient. Will the Minister commit to funding work to ensure that all this potentially life-saving work can be carried out everywhere it is needed?; Under this Government, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 25% since 2010, which is a considerable achievement. However, there is much more we can do to make our housing stock much more environmentally friendly. The Minister for Housing knows about this issue, because I have spoken to him about it several times in the past few weeks. Will he or the Secretary of State illustrate what we are doing to deal with it?; Mr S has been a brilliant private tenant for the past 12 years in his flat, always paying his rent on time, and decorating the flat and repairing it when necessary. He is also a great patriot, as a Royal Navy reservist. But none of this matters: in eight weeks, when his landlady issues him a section 21 notice, he will become homeless through no fault of his own. How is that right or fair?; The midlands has economic, cultural and historical ties with countries in every part of the world, but few are stronger than those with India. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on developments for a midlands engine partnership with business in India?; Why has the Housing Minister not accepted the need for new primary legislation to implement the Letwin review’s call for land value uplift to be properly captured? That would support social housing construction, including in areas such as Oxford.; Funding for local welfare assistance, which replaced crisis loans, is threadbare. In Sheffield, the council has managed to retain the fund, but it has more than halved since 2014, which has left people in a desperate position and exposed to loan sharks. The Minister will know that simply identifying a notional figure within the revenue support grant is meaningless when local authority funding has been cut so heavily. Will she agree that the budget should be ring-fenced and properly funded by central Government?
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): The Government are still allowing the use of flammable cladding on school buildings up to 18 metres high, which of course means most school buildings. A disabled child would have great difficulty getting out if there were a fire. Why won’t the Government do what every parent wants and bring in a total ban on flammable cladding on schools?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: A number of constituents are trapped in unfair leases. What is the Minister doing to ensure that they can buy out their lease from a developer at reasonable cost?; A damning report from the Select Committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the £200 million set aside to fund the removal of aluminium composite material cladding from private residential buildings will not be sufficient. Will the Minister commit to funding work to ensure that all this potentially life-saving work can be carried out everywhere it is needed?; Under this Government, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 25% since 2010, which is a considerable achievement. However, there is much more we can do to make our housing stock much more environmentally friendly. The Minister for Housing knows about this issue, because I have spoken to him about it several times in the past few weeks. Will he or the Secretary of State illustrate what we are doing to deal with it?; Mr S has been a brilliant private tenant for the past 12 years in his flat, always paying his rent on time, and decorating the flat and repairing it when necessary. He is also a great patriot, as a Royal Navy reservist. But none of this matters: in eight weeks, when his landlady issues him a section 21 notice, he will become homeless through no fault of his own. How is that right or fair?; The midlands has economic, cultural and historical ties with countries in every part of the world, but few are stronger than those with India. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on developments for a midlands engine partnership with business in India?; Why has the Housing Minister not accepted the need for new primary legislation to implement the Letwin review’s call for land value uplift to be properly captured? That would support social housing construction, including in areas such as Oxford.; Funding for local welfare assistance, which replaced crisis loans, is threadbare. In Sheffield, the council has managed to retain the fund, but it has more than halved since 2014, which has left people in a desperate position and exposed to loan sharks. The Minister will know that simply identifying a notional figure within the revenue support grant is meaningless when local authority funding has been cut so heavily. Will she agree that the budget should be ring-fenced and properly funded by central Government?
Emma Louise Lewell-Buck (Labour, Centre-left): Representatives of nearly 50% of children’s services have said that they no longer feel able to keep children safe. Recent research has shown that private fostering, children’s homes and social worker agencies have amassed an estimated annual profit of £220 million, while simultaneously costing local authorities £20 million. At what point will the Government put the needs of vulnerable children before private profit?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: A number of constituents are trapped in unfair leases. What is the Minister doing to ensure that they can buy out their lease from a developer at reasonable cost?; A damning report from the Select Committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the £200 million set aside to fund the removal of aluminium composite material cladding from private residential buildings will not be sufficient. Will the Minister commit to funding work to ensure that all this potentially life-saving work can be carried out everywhere it is needed?; Under this Government, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 25% since 2010, which is a considerable achievement. However, there is much more we can do to make our housing stock much more environmentally friendly. The Minister for Housing knows about this issue, because I have spoken to him about it several times in the past few weeks. Will he or the Secretary of State illustrate what we are doing to deal with it?; Mr S has been a brilliant private tenant for the past 12 years in his flat, always paying his rent on time, and decorating the flat and repairing it when necessary. He is also a great patriot, as a Royal Navy reservist. But none of this matters: in eight weeks, when his landlady issues him a section 21 notice, he will become homeless through no fault of his own. How is that right or fair?; The midlands has economic, cultural and historical ties with countries in every part of the world, but few are stronger than those with India. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on developments for a midlands engine partnership with business in India?; Why has the Housing Minister not accepted the need for new primary legislation to implement the Letwin review’s call for land value uplift to be properly captured? That would support social housing construction, including in areas such as Oxford.; Funding for local welfare assistance, which replaced crisis loans, is threadbare. In Sheffield, the council has managed to retain the fund, but it has more than halved since 2014, which has left people in a desperate position and exposed to loan sharks. The Minister will know that simply identifying a notional figure within the revenue support grant is meaningless when local authority funding has been cut so heavily. Will she agree that the budget should be ring-fenced and properly funded by central Government?
Adrian Edward Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): The crisis in adult social care is likely to become worse as it becomes harder to recruit staff from the European economic area to work in that sector post Brexit. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Home Office to ensure that the sector has access to the long-term labour supply that it will need?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with the Minister that the peaceful nature of the demonstrations must be paramount. Does he agree that there has been some doubt as to the wording of the governor of Hong Kong’s promise to suspend the plans around extradition, and that that could do with some clarification? Does he also agree that huge numbers of people are taking part, which reveals a deep concern about these ongoing proposals, and is there any way that he can use his office to assist in the clarification that the extradition plans will be 100% dropped Obviously this month saw the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to Chinese rule, and the day was marked by real fear among many people in Hong Kong that the principle of one country, two systems is being reneged on. Media reports paint an alarming picture: 45 people were injured, and of significant concern is that one of those was a journalist, and there is a question over press freedoms and the fact that the police were very slow to respond Coupled with the escalation in violence, reports also came out this weekend that the UK Government approved an export license for £1.9 million-worth of telecommunications interception equipment to Hong Kong. Will the Minister tell the House what human rights assessment was made before the approval of that licence given the concerns raised previously about the Hong Kong authorities’ treatment of protesters during student protests in 2014, and how the Government intend to address the ongoing urgent concerns about the protests and the way they are being handled? Finally, will the Minister once more provide assurances that we stand with the people of Hong Kong in defending their democratic right to protest?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
Helen Catherine Goodman (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) on securing it. The situation in Hong Kong is getting more and more serious by the day. The temporary suspension of the extradition laws was never going to be enough to appease the protesters. Their demonstrations are the culmination of years of frustration and based on the fear of interference by Beijing in Hong Kong affairs. It is time for some significant change Yesterday’s vicious attack by a mysterious armed mob on pro-democracy protesters making their way home is a new and sickening low in this sorry chapter. It was nothing less than an attempt to bully and frighten peaceful protesters into submission. The Hong Kong police have come in for a lot of criticism since June for their heavy-handedness and brutality, but they were nowhere to be seen on this occasion, and over 40 people were injured in the attack. Why was it allowed to happen Our call for an independent inquiry has so far been met with a less than satisfactory response. I therefore wonder whether the Minister can update the House on the Foreign Secretary’s call for an independent judge-led inquiry into the conduct of the Hong Kong police. We do not know who these people were or who put them up to it, but it is vital to find out. Does the Minister have any information as to the identity of the attackers and from where their orders came?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will be aware of the horrendous level of artificial intelligence-enhanced digital surveillance under which Chinese citizens, and Uyghur Muslims in particular, are obliged to live. Does he know to what extent that applies to Hong Kong and whether it contravenes elements of the Sino-British agreement? Will he confirm that whoever is the next Prime Minister and however desperate they are for a trade agreement with China, Britain will always stand up for human rights in Hong Kong and China?
Batten Disease — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) made the point about international co-operation, which already exists. A European agency examining the treatment of rare diseases was established in January. It is funded by €101 million and the UK is currently a participant. My question for the Minister is: will we still be in the event of withdrawal after 31 October?