argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Child Refugees: Age Checks — House of Lords, 2016-10-21
Topic: Immigration
George Young (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my noble friend. As I think I said in my Statement, it is up to the FTDA to refer eligible children to UK officials in Calais. Once that process has taken place, we are now dealing with those applications in a matter of days, whereas previously it was taking a matter of weeks, so we are dealing with this now with some urgency. I pay tribute to the NGOs working in Calais in very difficult circumstances As regards working out the age of an applicant, clearly one can work on that where there is documentary evidence, as in the case to which the noble Baroness referred. Where there is no documentary evidence, there is no single way of determining the age of an applicant. If the applicant is clearly beyond any doubt an adult and way over 18, they are turned down in Calais, and roughly 10% are refused. However, if they arrive in this country and there is still dispute about their age, they are then subjected to what is called the Merton process, whereby a local authority over a period of some 28 days assesses the age of the applicant through social workers, with interpreters if necessary, and an independent adult present if that is also necessary. If, at the end of that process, the applicant is determined to be an adult, they will no longer be treated as a child but will have to make their way through the system as an adult applicant for asylum.
Government and Parliament — House of Lords, 2016-06-09
Topic: Other
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): We can move measurements if we like and start counting pages, but it is a statement of fact. I cannot go back and count all the pages of pieces of secondary legislation from 20 years ago, but I can tell noble Lords that we certainly dramatically reduced the amount of secondary legislation in the last Session.
European Union Referendum (Voter Registration) Regulations 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-06-09
Topic: Other
David Trefgarne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I rise to support the Motion proposed by my noble friend. As your Lordships may be aware, although this is not set out in the Standing Orders, it is normal practice for your Lordships’ Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, of which I have the honour to be chairman, to report on incidents such as this before they are considered by your Lordships. Clearly that was not possible on this occasion, but I have taken the opportunity to consult as many of the members of my committee as possible. None has raised any objection. I am therefore happy to say to my noble friend that I approve of what he proposes and that my committee has given its informal approval for that process. These are what, in other contexts, we have come to call exceptional circumstances. They clearly apply in this case, and I approve of my noble friend’s proposal.
European Union Referendum (Voter Registration) Regulations 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-06-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Bridges (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly check that point and I am sorry if I have created any confusion The noble Baroness said that she was surprised that there was no back-up with regard to what happened. We are very clear that lessons need to be learned regarding the technology and the legislation, and what steps might need to be put in place were this kind of thing to happen again. The noble Baroness is absolutely right I may have misunderstood the noble Baroness’s point, but it is my understanding that people in Northern Ireland cannot register online. As regards how many people have been added to the register since October 2015, I will need to come back to her. We are not in a position to say right now, as there have been those registering in the last few days and we do not know whether those applications have been fully processed or how many duplicates there have been. She will forgive me for not going down the other rabbit hole of rehearsing all the arguments over IER and carry-forwards. I have a lot of brief that I could entertain your Lordships’ House with on this, but I simply say that I disagree with her position, I am sorry to say, on that point The noble Baroness also raised the very valid point of whether, given the considerable—and very welcome—upsurge in public engagement in the referendum, there will be sufficient resources at polling stations on the day. The Electoral Commission’s guidance for counting officers at the referendum makes it clear that: "Voters who at 10pm are in the polling station, or in a queue outside the polling station, for the purpose of voting, may apply for a ballot paper" The commission’s guidance also states: "Good planning and flexible staffing should minimise the risk of there being queues at polling stations" The guidance advises counting officers to, "ensure that polling station staff are monitoring turnout throughout the day and providing progress reports" to polling. This is obviously a matter for the Electoral Commission, but my understanding is that it has taken steps to prepare for this I have just been alerted to the fact that postal votes are opened but not counted. I think that is the point that the noble Baroness was raising. I thank your Lordships once again for their support Motion agreed.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-10-12
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): That is an open invitation. I am open between now and any stage to meet any noble Lords, but I have outlined the Government’s position at this time. I assure noble Lords that in reflecting on the contributions in Committee, the Government have carefully considered all elements. I agree with the noble Lord in that I do not think that there is that much difference between us, but I have outlined where we currently stand, and it is for the noble Lord to consider where he stands on the basis of the discussions we have had.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-10-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Attlee (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, for introducing his amendment. I find it quite interesting and I look forward to what counsel the Minister gives us. I understand why the noble Lord has put the tests in new subsections 5A(a) and (b), but I am worried that subsection 5A(a), "unless … it has received complaints about the operation of the franchise", could be used as part of a spoiling process by an aggrieved third party. On subsection 5A(b), "unless … there has consequently been a significant adverse effect on competition"— admittedly, it talks about an adverse effect—the problem I have is that it is bound to have an effect on competition because it eliminates competition. So I have a lot of sympathy with the noble Lord’s amendment, subject to what the Minister says, but if we are going to go down that route the tests might need better drafting. It will be very interesting to see how the Minister advises the House.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-10-12
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the noble Lord for giving way. When he has read the letter, I am very willing to meet him between now and Third Reading to see how we can address his further concerns, if he is not satisfied with the Government’s response. I assure him that our intention in accepting Amendment 34 is that the statutory consultation happens in advance, as we have said in relation to other consultees.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-10-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Attlee (Conservative, Centre-right): In response to the question posed by the noble Lord to me and the noble Lord, Lord Snape, I say that we oppose extending the right to franchising without the authority of the Secretary of State to provide certainty for the operators unless the local authority can get permission from the Secretary of State.
BHS — House of Lords, 2016-06-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, that this is a very important matter. As he said, we face the potential loss of 11,000 jobs, some of which are in the supply chain In answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of Solihull, the retail sector, of which I used to be a member, does have a certain resilience. The Statement rightly referred to the way it has come back from the recession. With Woolworths—and I was a retailer then, not a government Minister—we found that other retailers were quick to buy the properties and adapt them to new uses. We found some of our best people from ex-Woolworths staff. I hope that the Jobcentre Plus process, which I will come on to describe, will be able to build on things in a similar way. Everything is difficult but the high street is changing, as are consumers. In our towns and cities, we need to think about that and about what other sources of employment and customer pleasure can come through. That will, of course, include things such as restaurants and catering as well as retail, and online stores as well as conventional shops Our approach involves the regulatory framework, and I will start with pensions. The pensions legislation was strengthened by the previous Labour Government in 2005 with anti-avoidance provisions. There are provisions for dawn raids and the regulator has strong powers. Trustees have quite strong powers, too, but I think they are always a little worried about precipitating insolvency if they move ahead too fast. As the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, said, this is not an easy area, but the Insolvency Service is undertaking an investigation and I will come back to that. The Pensions Regulator is engaged and we look forward to its report. I am sure we will be looking to make sure that trustees and regulators have the right powers in future. In the new world of lower interest rates, which the noble Lord rightly described, things are obviously much more difficult We are worried about this case, but it is different from steel, which was a whole sector facing unparalleled pressure. I take the point that retail is facing pressure, but I do not think it is on quite the same scale and it is not so concentrated in particular communities. It is tough for those whose jobs in town centres are lost when BHS closes but, as I said, I am hoping that, with the help of Jobcentre Plus, we can ensure that people either get jobs using their experience and training or get the opportunity to retrain. Jobcentre Plus is on standby and in contact with the administrator to plan the support. The administrator will, of course, have to make funds available for redundancy. The rapid response service will be activated and has been in contact with BIS since the administration started. I am pleased that we have had such a timely Statement and are able to update noble Lords.
BHS — House of Lords, 2016-06-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nigel Lawson (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I endorse entirely the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Myners. Leaving aside the very important general issues involved in this case, which were outlined well by my noble friend the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, there are particular aspects of the BHS affair and of its governance over a number of years which—if I may use a technical term—stink. In my day there would have been a Board of Trade inquiry. I realise that that procedure no longer exists—maybe for good reason—but will my noble friend assure the House that the investigation by the Insolvency Service and any other investigation that is required will range as widely and thoroughly as a Board of Trade inquiry would have done in the old days? That is what we need.
Building Societies (Floating Charges and Other Provisions) Order 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-06-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alastair Cooke (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I have a few comments to make on this order, and I do so as a member of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Our committee reported this order in draft for defective drafting in our 20th report of the previous Session on 9 March 2016. We did so because Article 6 of the order provided for the amendment of provisions that had been revoked It seems clear that the revocation was accidental. In other regulations made last year, the Treasury had intended to make only one or two modest amendments to a financial services order relevant to these matters, but instead it revoked the whole of that order. Since our committee published our 20th report, the Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 has received Royal Assent, and Section 37 of that Act reverses the mistaken repeal with retrospective effect. As a result, the defect in the draft order identified by the JCSI has been dealt with, so the way is clear for it to be approved by both Houses and made by the Treasury. Although this story has a happy ending, the fact remains that the statutory instrument was originally laid prematurely and as part of a number of errors by the Treasury.
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2016-05-23
Topic: Other
Thomas Jeremy King (Conservative, Centre-right): That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows: "Most Gracious Sovereign—We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament".
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2016-05-23
Topic: Other
James Younger (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it may be helpful for the House if I remind your Lordships of the advisory speaking time of five minutes for today’s debate. If this time is adhered to, the House might be expected to rise around 10 pm. With the indulgence of the House, some flexibility may be given for the timings of the valedictory speech made by my noble friend Lady Perry, the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Jowell, and the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Owen.
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2016-05-23
Topic: Other
Michael Bruce Forsyth (Conservative, Centre-right): I am most grateful to my noble friend. I think it is the vector autoregression model that is used. If everyone uses the same model and the same assumptions, it is hardly surprising that we get the same conclusions. He said that the document was objective. How was it, then, that on the radio this morning, when asked why the document did not look at the potential upside, the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, replied that that was something best left to the campaign group arguing that we should leave?
Recess Dates — House of Lords, 2016-09-06
Topic: Other
John Taylor (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it may be for the convenience of the House if I make a short statement about recess dates for the Christmas and February periods. A note of all the dates that I am about to announce are available in the Printed Paper Office. The following dates are of course provisional and are subject to the usual caveat of the progress of business We will rise at the conclusion of business on Wednesday 21 December and return in the new year on Monday 9 January. We will then rise for the February half term at the conclusion of business on Thursday 9 February and return on Monday 20 February. Dates for recesses in the remainder of the Session will be announced in due course but I hope that it is helpful to noble Lords to have the notice that I have been able to provide today. Dates for the forthcoming conference and November recesses have already been announced and will be included in the information available.
Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-09-06
Topic: Other
William Fletcher-Vane (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, having heard the remarks of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, it seems to me that the point he makes is very pertinent. In particular, a concern I sometimes have is that parliamentary draftsmen, when bringing forward proposals, identify equivalence between different statutes which, perhaps under further closer examination, are not as equivalent as they would like you to believe. Therefore, there is an underlying and important point in that respect. Also, now I am on my feet, I will say that in Committee I suggested some proposals on mens rea and Clause 17. I put on record that I am having a constructive and cordial dialogue with my noble friend the Minister on that, which is why there is nothing on the Marshalled List about it today.
Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-09-06
Topic: Housing
Sally Oppenheim-Barnes (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope that my noble friend will clarify a few points for me as I found the intervention of the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, extremely interesting. What role has the main local authority planning officer in this procedure? Can he at any time override or question—possibly for good reasons—conclusions that have been reached? Have any estimates been made of the cost of carrying out these new procedures, and who will pay for them? Finally, will ordinary planning proposals that the local authority planning people are looking at be delayed because they will have to pay close attention to this procedure?
Historical Child Sex Abuse — House of Lords, 2016-06-30
Topic: Other
Patrick Cormack (Conservative, Centre-right): I apologise for interrupting but I would be most grateful if the right reverend Prelate said whether he is willing, with his colleagues, to arrange a private meeting with those of us who have spoken in this debate and who are very concerned about this matter, at which he would be able to say in confidence things he feels unable to say on the Floor of the House.
Historical Child Sex Abuse — House of Lords, 2016-06-30
Topic: Other
Alastair Cooke (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate. Will he ensure that the Bell group’s report is fully and properly considered in the places where it needs to be considered, and that as full a response as possible is forthcoming? It is a most serious and full document, and for it to be set on one side by those to whom it was directed would be a grave and unfortunate matter. I urge the right reverend Prelate to make sure that that process of setting aside the carefully considered report does not happen.
Public Institutions — House of Lords, 2016-06-30
Topic: Other
Nicholas Fairfax (Conservative, Centre-right): Anyone who listened to that question will realise that I cannot say that there has been but, as the noble Lord heard, in the Code of Conduct the question is whether a reasonable member of the public might think that such was the case if they knew the facts.
Public Institutions — House of Lords, 2016-06-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Robathan (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the noble Lord. First, I think his analogy is stretching it a bit far. I am in receipt of an Army pension. Nobody can take it away from me, as it happens, any more than they can take away his police pension. But the point—surely he understands this—is about perception. I am sure that all the former Commissioners here are honourable people, but it is the perception that is left hanging there when they do not declare their interest.
Public Institutions — House of Lords, 2016-06-30
Topic: Other
Nicholas Fairfax (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank all noble Lords who spoke in this debate for their varied contributions and the Minister for her comprehensive reply. Although I admittedly majored on one aspect of transparency in this House, I am glad also to have stimulated a wider debate on this important topic. I am sure we will return to it in the future. I beg to move.
Orgreave: Public Inquiry into Policing — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, last week we were under a different Home Secretary. My noble and learned friend answered accordingly last week. This Home Secretary, who is newly in post, has decided she will look at all the relevant material over the summer and come to her own conclusion very early after recess. She has responded to the campaign to that end today. The IPCC, as its name denotes, is an independent body. It will come to its own conclusion.
Orgreave: Public Inquiry into Policing — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important to understand the two roles—the noble Lord of course does. The Home Secretary will arrive at her conclusions based on the evidence she looks at over the next few weeks. The IPCC will take a view as an independent body.
Orgreave: Public Inquiry into Policing — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Other
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my noble friend for making that point. My right honourable friend was indeed very impressive. If I can be a fraction as competent as she is, I will feel that I have done a very good job. She stated not once but twice, I think, during the reply to the Urgent Question that she accords this issue top priority in her inbox over the summer.
Orgreave: Public Inquiry into Policing — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I think I confirmed to the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, that I understand the IPCC has confirmed by email to a number of noble Lords that it has not made a decision. As regards conveying a message to the Home Secretary about the same officers being involved, that is precisely the sort of information that she will be looking at. She will be looking at the whole file that the campaign has taken six months to compile and give to her. She will not rush to a decision but will come swiftly to a decision after the Summer Recess.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course. I am pleased to give that reassurance. Implicit in most of the discussions we have had thus far is that, if a particular issue is raised by a noble Lord, I will include all noble Lords in discussions and correspondence.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Attlee (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I completely concur with everything that the noble Lord, Lord Snape, has said, apart from the fact that there is not a bottomless pit of government money. However, I take on board and admire everything else that he said.
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2016-05-25
Topic: Other
James Younger (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it may be helpful for the House to be reminded of the advisory speaking time of six minutes for today’s debate. If noble Lords adhere to the time, the House may be expected to rise at or around 10 pm.
Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Other
John Attlee (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I understand that no amendments have been set down for this Bill and no noble Lord has indicated a wish to move a manuscript amendment or to speak in Committee. Therefore, unless any noble Lord objects, I beg to move that the order of commitment be discharged.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Other
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): That this House do not insist on its Amendment 7T to Commons Amendment 7, to which the Commons have disagreed for their Reason 7TA Commons Reason The Commons agree with the Lords in their Amendments 7A to 7S and 7U to 7W, and disagree to Lords Amendment 7T for the following reason—
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Other
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Baroness did indeed give exemplary service there. Of course, she has experience of the other place and she will therefore know that it is the elected Chamber and that we should not ignore what is said there. However, I come back to the principle of this issue. We have to draw a line somewhere. It is said that that line is arbitrary, but it is arbitrary only in the sense that that was the date—