argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes an extremely important point. That is why my right hon. Friend the Housing Secretary will make a statement to the House shortly. We must be clear that the risk from fire to life in homes is very, very low and leaseholders should not be trapped in their properties, unable to buy or sell, because their properties have been unfairly maligned in that way. Lenders and valuers should not be asking for EWS1 forms on buildings below 18 metres. The Housing Secretary will set out later more about how we propose to ensure that that does not happen.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Public Lands
Natalie Cecilia Elphicke (Conservative, Centre-right): Dame Vera Lynn did so much for our nation and now a fitting memorial is planned on the white cliffs of Dover to ensure that this national icon continues to be celebrated for decades to come. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Dame Vera was a great inspiration to women, showing the difference we can make and contributing throughout the whole of her life to our national life? Will he extend his support to this important Dame Vera Lynn national memorial project?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Public Lands
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, Mr Speaker, I think this is a pretty safe bet for everybody. We all remember and love the songs of Dame Vera Lynn. She brought the whole country together at a pretty dark time and is a great, great inspiration for many, many people. I thank my hon. Friend for the campaign that she is leading for a fitting memorial and I am very happy to support it.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Immigration
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am only too happy to meet my hon. Friend at any time. I can assure her that we want to find the workforce to pick the flowers—the beautiful Cornish daffodils—that should not be "born to blush unseen", if I remember the quote right. They should be properly picked. In addition to developing the local labour force, and making sure that we line up younger people and people across Cornwall with the opportunities that there are, she must not forget that, thanks to the EU settlement scheme, there are 6 million EU nationals still entitled to live and work in this country, who have taken advantage of that scheme. Never let it be said that we have done an injustice to that group.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not think that I have heard such total cobblers in all my life, except possibly from the Leader of the Opposition. That is not what the Bill does. On the contrary, it gives local people the power to protect If I understood the hon. Lady correctly, it was a pub called the Britannia that she wanted to protect. We are bringing forward measures to allow local people to protect such places of vital local importance. When it comes to development, the power remains vested firmly with local people, to make sure that they protect their green spaces and the green belt, and they have development only in the places where they, the local people, want it.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Selaine Rachel Saxby (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure that my right hon. Friend is not surprised that people are keen to move to my North Devon constituency, but we, like much of the south-west, are experiencing severe housing shortages. Local government need urgent help and support now. Might he consider, as part of planning reforms, binding covenants being applied to a proportion of new-build housing, so it is used as a primary residence and not a holiday let or second home, and that existing homes must register for a change of use if they become a holiday let, to ensure vibrant coastal communities do not become winter ghost towns?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is a massively effective advocate for the people of North Devon. She has made these points to me before, and I know that she is right. As she knows, we have put higher rates of stamp duty on the buying of additional property, such as second homes, but we also have to make sure that young people growing up around our country—contrary to the instincts of the previous Labour speaker, the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith)—have the chance of home ownership in the place where they live. That is what our first home scheme will help to do, with a new discount of at least 30% prioritised for first-time buyers.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Civil Rights
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady very much for her suggestion that the Government should become a Disability Confident employer. I am sure that we already are, but I will investigate the matter and make sure that she gets an answer by letter.
Northern Ireland Protocol — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend highlights an important point. We are talking to small businesses and, indeed, the wholesale groups that they often work with to make sure that there is a way for them to be able to work through this, and we will continue to work with them as we go forward. There is technology now, similar to the technology that large companies use, that smaller businesses can use—the trader support service is hugely helpful in this—but my hon. Friend highlights one of the core problems: making sure that goods that are moving to Northern Ireland purely to be consumed in Northern Ireland do not have the same kind of rigmarole and checks. I think that I have mentioned before in the House a large supermarket chain that has no stores in Ireland yet has to go through the same checks. That cannot be right and needs to be resolved.
Northern Ireland Protocol — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): I take my hon. Friend’s point: this is not something that we can allow to drag on and on. I think our track record shows that we will do what we need to do when the time is right, as we did when we took action in March to give certainty to businesses. We obviously have grace periods coming up, which is why we are recommending a standstill option to give businesses that certainty, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right: this cannot go on. That is why we need to resolve fundamentally the underlying problems, and do so soon.
Northern Ireland Protocol — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me point out to the hon. Lady that there are two parties to the agreement, the UK and the EU. I can only assume from her suggestion that we should take more notice of other parties that she is joining some others in backing the EU over the people of the United Kingdom and, therefore, the people of Northern Ireland. This is a Government who have invested in Northern Ireland not only the largest financial package of city and growth deals that we have seen around the UK to deliver prosperity and growth, but £400 million in a new deal package which will also bring prosperity and growth, as well as the increase in the spending review in money for the Executive. We will continue to support that economic growth I agree with the hon. Lady in that, as I said earlier, I think there is a big opportunity for Northern Ireland as a fundamental, intrinsic part of the UK market with the ability to trade with the EU. That is what the protocol could bring about. There is a huge economic opportunity, but it can only deliver if it is working—if it is acceptable to the whole community of Northern Ireland —and business after business and business representative organisation after business representative organisation have made clear to us that there are problems which need to be resolved. What we are saying today is that rather than maintaining a piecemeal approach that creates continual cliff edges, we want to work with the EU to fix the underlying problems, so that we can see the economic opportunity that the hon. Lady has described delivering for Northern Ireland.
NHS Update — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Just before the Minister responds, I will say that Mr Speaker will be annoyed, to say the least, that the hon. Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) did not receive the statement from the Minister in time. The Minister did apologise at the beginning of her remarks, so I have noted that apology and we do not have to go any further on that, but I have also noted what the hon. Lady has said.
NHS Update — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I reiterate my apology to the hon. Lady for the late sight of the statement and thank her for her invitation to join her, but I will say that I am shocked by some of the language that she uses. I would just say—[Interruption.]
NHS Update — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I must just say to the House that the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) is not the only Member this week and in recent weeks who has addressed the Minister as "Minister". I am sorry to pull up the hon. Lady. I am doing it to her because I know that she can take it and will not be upset by my criticising her. I am rather more gentle with the new Members, so I thank the hon. Lady for helping me in this by allowing me to use her as an example. When a Member asks a question, you do not say, "Minister, are you going to do this?" You say, "Madam Deputy Speaker, or Mr Speaker, does the Minister understand that she must do this?" We must not lose sight of that because it changes the way in which dialogue occurs in this place. Just because it is hot, the end of term and we have covid problems does not mean that we let our standards fall.
NHS Update — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I ought to conclude the statement here, because we are running way behind time. However, I appreciate that Members have important questions to ask and that the Minister will want to answer them. But I ask for much greater speed and brevity, because otherwise it is not fair to people who are waiting for us to come on to the next item of business. I call Dr Ben Spencer.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for having given me notice that he intended to raise a point of order. As he knows very well, I cannot answer for what the Government do. It is not for the Chair to decide which statements are made here and which are made as written statements. To be the fair to the Government, we already have three statements today.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Well, if it had been four, I would have had people complaining that they did not have time to speak on the important Bill that is also before us. I fully appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s points about the importance of the subject matter of the written statement and I am sure he will seek advice from the Table Office as to how he could take this matter further. I am also certain that Ministers have heard his concerns.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for having given me notice of his intended point of order, which is similar to that of the right hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Sir Mike Penning). My answer is, of course—consistent as I am—the same. It is not for the Chair to decide which statements come here to the House and which are written. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will seek advice from the Table Office as to how he might take his point further. However, having made his point here in the Chamber, the relevant Ministers will be aware of his concerns, which I suspect are shared by a great many hon. Members in all parts of the House.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Pension Transfers (Parliamentary And Health Service Ombudsman Investigation) — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): The House is, with amazement, commending the hon. Member for Wantage (David Johnston) for reading out that entire list from memory. I hope he has not left anyone out David Johnston accordingly presented the Bill Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 10 December, and to be printed (Bill 155).
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I call the Secretary of State to move the Second Reading motion, the House will not be surprised to hear that there will be an initial time limit on Back-Bench speeches of four minutes, which is likely to reduce later in the day. I say that so that Members can cut out the middle pages of their speeches. I call Secretary of State Robert Jenrick.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time Today marks the next significant step on our path to a robust but proportionate building safety regime that delivers high standards of safety for people’s homes, particularly those that are high rise, while providing reassurance to leaseholders, residents and the market that the vast majority of homes in this country are safe. In February, I announced our five-point plan to support leaseholders and address building safety issues: a plan to remove unsafe cladding where it is necessary and proportionate to do so; to provide certainty to leaseholders in the significant minority of buildings that require works; to make industry pay its fair share for its failures and poor practices and ensure a change in the broader culture and attitude of the industry to quality and safety; to create a world-class building safety regime; and to inject confidence and certainty into this part of the housing market, which has been suffering from market failure, with significant detrimental effects for many homeowners across the land.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I will do so in a moment, and I will also give way to my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) The Bill delivers on our promise to create that world-class building safety regime, but one that is sensible and proportionate, reflecting the true level of risk that living in these buildings poses and thereby safeguarding the broader interests of homeowners and residents. Today I will set out the key measures in the Bill and update the House on the progress of our plan, including providing further detail on a written ministerial statement that I have just published, representing a significant intervention by the Government and lenders in response to expert advice on building safety in medium and low-rise blocks of flats and the use of EWS1 forms that I commissioned earlier in the year.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend accept that we have to get away from the term "cladding" as a generic issue and start to focus on genuine fire risk? There is a real danger of us creating unnecessary anxiety and cost where there is little or no increase in fire risk and, what is worse, using taxpayers’ money to remedy non-fire risks that should be the responsibility of the building industry.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I could not agree more with my right hon. Friend. That is exactly the approach that we now need to follow as a country. I hope that the written ministerial statement, which I will come on to explain in a moment, will provide further reassurance to him.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the important point that the hon. Gentleman raises. That is really a matter to be directed to my right hon Friends the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, which is responsible for the management of the Barnett consequentials. I would just point out—this is not a criticism of the hon. Gentleman, who is understandably standing up for his constituents—that the Welsh Government have yet to bring forward a scheme that would use the funding they have already been given by the United Kingdom Government. I appreciate that they would always like to have further funding, but they have not yet spent the money that the Government have already given them After the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the Government appointed Dame Judith Hackitt to review the current building safety regime and to recommend reform. Her findings were clear. Too often, regulations and guidance were misunderstood or misinterpreted. There was ambiguity around who is actually responsible for the safety of buildings, with insufficient oversight and enforcement. She called for an overhaul of the system, and her recommendations underpin the Bill before this House. We have tested these measures through consultation with industry, with regulators, with local government and with the public, and we have also taken on board many of the recommendations made following scrutiny of the Bill by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. I am grateful to the Select Committee for the work that—
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure that it is in order, and that is the question that the hon. Lady is asking me as the Chair. It is in order for the Minister to lay a written statement when he decides it is the right time to do that, but if there is a question of information that the hon. Lady is suggesting ought to be before the House in order to inform Members about the Bill that is before us now, I cannot make a judgment because I do not know what is in that statement. However, if the Secretary of State would care to answer that point, it might help the House.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Michael Penning (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. All the documents that are relevant to this debate on Second Reading of the Bill are on the Table except the written ministerial statement that the Secretary of State has just referred to. For some of us who have been in the Chamber for some hours now, I am sorry, Secretary of State, but that is not acceptable.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is not speaking to the Secretary of State; he is speaking to me. I cannot see what is on the Table, and the Clerk is not telling me that the right hon. Gentleman is wrong. Let us just clear up this matter.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be delighted to, Madam Deputy Speaker. A written ministerial statement will be laid shortly, which is market-sensitive. It is difficult to suggest that there is no scrutiny, because I am here before the House to explain that statement in the context of the wider debate. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) will give me a few moments, I will be very happy to set out, in the remarks I am about to make, exactly what we have agreed with lenders and the position we have come to.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The Secretary of State has explained that the reason for the specific timing of the laying of the statement is that it is market-sensitive. If the Secretary of State says it is market-sensitive then I accept that it is market-sensitive. I trust that it will be available very shortly?
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Very shortly. I am quite sure that we will be able to facilitate Members holding the Secretary of State to account for the contents of that written statement when it becomes available, because he is here in the Chamber. I trust that it will become available before the Secretary of State concludes his opening remarks.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I chose to make the statement directly to the House of Commons and I will come on in a moment to set out the contents of it. The written ministerial statement merely summarises that In the actions we have taken and those we take today, we have always prioritised public safety. As I said earlier, the Bill before us will create a strong regulatory regime for all new high-rise buildings. However, it is also important that we put the risk of a fire, and in particular the risk of a fatal fire, into context. It is very low for all buildings of all heights. Dwelling fires have reduced by more than a quarter over the last decade and are now at an all-time low. It is right that we address safety issues where they exist and are a threat to life, but we must do so in a proportionate way guided by expert advice. That is why, through the Bill, we are drawing a very clear line at 18 metres for the enhanced regulatory regime. That is on the advice of building and fire experts that those are the buildings that pose the greatest safety risks in the event of fire spread or structural failure, albeit even there the risk should not be overstated given the low occurrence of fires and the even lower occurrence of fatalities. We are also including hospitals and care homes that meet the height threshold during their design and construction.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been working intensively with those in the insurance sector and it is incumbent on them to bring forward products. We do not believe that it is the role of the state to step in and correct the market failure in its totality, but we are bringing forward a product—I will say something more about this later in my remarks—with particular reference to professional indemnity insurance for those assessors who are conducting EWS1 forms or equivalent. That is designed to give them the confidence to take the most proportionate risk-based approach to those assessments, which some are not able to do today.
Building Safety Bill — House of Commons, 2021-07-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be happy to speak to the organisation the hon. Member refers to or ensure that my officials do so if they have not done so already. Of course, we take the risk of electrical fires very seriously, and the Government have taken a number of steps, particularly in the private rental sector, to ensure higher standards than there are today.