argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Enterprise Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): That is absolutely right. Often, the cause is cash-flow insolvency, which is a test of insolvency, as well as the balance sheet The measures to introduce a small business commissioner to give free advice and information, and to operate a complaints scheme, are a welcome step in the right direction. Indeed, a similar scheme set up in Victoria Australia has had considerable success. The hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) suggested that the Bill does not go far enough, but in 2014-15, with 704 mediation sessions, the Victoria scheme had an 80% success rate As my hon. Friends the Members for Huntingdon (Mr Djanogly) and for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy) mentioned, we must ensure the success of this scheme, and to do that, we must ensure that the small business commissioner has good identity, good awareness, and is effective We need to ensure that the person appointed has the gravitas to command the respect of businesses big and small. We need to ensure there is public awareness of the role. There are already a number of mechanisms to resolve disputes—there is already a free small claims mediation telephone service—but such schemes are successful only if the public know about them and so can use them. Finally, the small business commissioner will have to take full advantage of his or her powers to ensure speed, efficiency and an effective service The measures set out in the Bill are extremely welcome. The Government do not create jobs; businesses—often small businesses—do. It is our job to create the right environment for them to thrive in. This is a significant part of that process.
Enterprise Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate everybody—and I mean everybody—who has contributed to what I believe has been a very good debate. I am going to look at the areas of contention and the particular topics in respect of which hon. Members have made good points and raised good concerns. I shall not go through all the clauses and topics in the Bill, but deal with it in the way I have suggested This may be a small Bill, but I think it is beautifully formed. Each part of it, each small piece, cog, wheel, nut and bolt is not perhaps in every instance beautifully and finely finished, but if we bring all of them together, it forms a wonderful small machine that is part of the bigger engine—the role of business in our economy. That is indeed what provides jobs and prosperity, and in turn the money that allows us then to provide services for everyone throughout our nation. It is an important Bill I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller), who rightly said that it is all about creating the right environment for business. I believe that the Bill is part of that. It is interesting that, with the exception of the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins)—others will correct me if I am wrong—it is only from Conservative Members, such as my hon. Friends the Members for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) and for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), that we have heard the voice of business from those who have actually run businesses themselves and who, frankly, know what they are talking about Let me deal first with apprenticeships. We heard some good contributions, including from my hon. Friends the Members for South Ribble (Seema Kennedy) and for Warwick and Leamington (Chris White) and from the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint). I am afraid I had too many enterprising criminals when I was working as a criminal barrister, but I look forward to the contribution that she will undoubtedly make in Committee. I pay particular tribute—[Interruption.] There is a lot of chuntering going on.
Enterprise Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2016-02-02
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady for drawing her concerns to the attention of the House and to my attention, and I will, of course, pass that on to Mr Speaker The hon. Lady is correct about the wording of page 6 of today’s Order Paper, and I appreciate what she says about what has actually occurred in the Northern Ireland Assembly, about which I have no information, but I will take it that the hon. Lady’s description is correct, in which case there might be a discrepancy between what has occurred in one place and what has occurred through this Order Paper in this place As the hon. Lady rightly said, we are still in the experimental stages of this type of consideration of legislation—[Interruption.] Order. The House must be quiet when I am dealing with a point of order. As I said, the hon. Lady is aware that we are still in an experimental period, and the point which the hon. Lady has made is one that ought to be taken into consideration, and it will be taken into consideration, first, I am sure, by Mr Speaker—I will draw his attention to it—and also, I am sure, by the Procedure Committee, when it looks at how this new procedure is working. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for drawing this matter to the attention of the House.
Real-time Credit Scoring — House of Commons, 2016-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Julian Carlton Knight (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate on a very important topic. I support his call for real-time credit scoring, which needs to be explored further. In my previous occupation as a financial journalist, I dealt with a lady who got into £107,000 of debt in three days, following a relationship breakdown. If real-time credit scoring had been in place on the high street, she would not have got into such enormous debt, which caused further mental health issues. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will reflect on that.
Criminal Legal Aid — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): The intelligent lawyer and the intelligent decision maker are alert to the dictum attributed to Keynes: "When my information changes, I change my conclusions." Surely the Lord Chancellor should be commended rather than criticised for doing that on this occasion Will my hon. Friend give us some more details of the particularly welcome initiative to involve the professions themselves through the proposed advisory council?
Criminal Legal Aid — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Other
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): I appreciate that the announcement was made a relatively short time ago, and that the hon. Lady has probably not had an opportunity to hear what the profession has said. The profession has wholeheartedly welcomed the proposals, and I think she should note those comments, rather than individual comments.
Criminal Legal Aid — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure the hon. Gentleman’s constituents will be grateful that he managed to slip in that last bit concerning his court. As I have told him previously, no firm decisions have been taken on that issue. On other matters, I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman pays such detailed attention to what is happening in the MOJ.
Closure of St Paul’s Place BIS Office (Sheffield) — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is committed to delivering efficiency savings and contributing to the Government’s deficit reduction targets. As such, we have developed the BIS 2020 strategic plans to modernise the way BIS works, reduce operating costs, and deliver a simpler, smaller Department that is more flexible and responsive to stakeholders and businesses. As part of these plans, the Department has announced its intention to close the BIS office in Sheffield at St Paul’s Place by January 2018 All staff and departmental trade unions were informed of this decision yesterday, 28 January, and the statutory 90-day consultation process will now begin. Those staff most affected by this decision have been fully briefed and comprehensive support to all those facing a potential change or loss of job will be provided. This will include professional, external careers advice; professional outplacement support; working with the Department for Work and Pensions to host a jobs fair; allowed time out of the office to find jobs; and financial advice workshops This decision has not been taken lightly. Our current locations are based on what we call legacy decisions—decisions taken some time ago—and what can at best be described as ad hoc organisational changes. In future, our structures need to be designed in a more streamlined, efficient way. To support this effort, we will bring the number of locations we operate down from around 80 now to approximately seven centres, supported by a regional footprint for work at a local level. Each centre will focus on a key business activity and will bring together expertise and help to build our capability We have, and will continue to have, many more people based outside London than inside London.
Closure of St Paul’s Place BIS Office (Sheffield) — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. This speech will be heard—[Interruption.] Order! Minister, you have had your say, and you will have further says. There is something here about a basic dignity. Just sit and listen. It is not about you; it is about the issue. It is not about the hon. Gentleman either. Be quiet and listen. That is the end of it. It is not a request; it is an instruction.
Closure of St Paul’s Place BIS Office (Sheffield) — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): It was also perfectly orderly, of which I am the judge. The hon. Lady should stick to the discharge of her responsibilities to the best of her ability. I am the arbiter of good order. I handle those matters, and I certainly do not require any advice from a junior Minister.
Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Other
Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was under the impression that amendment 5 would be called only if amendment 15 was not carried. Please could you give me some clarification on that point?
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time I am delighted to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris), who has piloted through such a successful Bill. I would like to pick up, in general terms, on what the Minister for Life Sciences said at the end of the previous debate, which is that it proves what Back-Bench MPs can do when they work together to achieve something. I want to talk about that a little more in relation to human trafficking and my Bill. It is only three clauses long, but it goes to the heart of the problem we have with human trafficking and modern-day slavery. However, I need to set it in the wider context of modern-day slavery and human trafficking Way back when I was first elected as a new Member of Parliament in 2005, the Labour party was in government, and at one of my constituency surgeries on a Friday I got a note through the door. It was anonymous, but the person who wrote it was a prostitute from Northampton who was very concerned at what was happening to young women who were being brought into this country—we now call it trafficking, but at that time people did not talk about it. I thus became aware of this issue and I then met someone called Anthony Steen, who at the time was Member of Parliament for Totnes—a most extraordinary person. He has changed the view of trafficking and modern-day slavery not only in this country, but across the whole of Europe. He formed the all-party group on human trafficking and modern slavery, and I was one of its officers At that time, the Home Office under the Labour Government did not really recognise that trafficking existed.
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Immigration
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): I am going back many years. [Interruption.] I am going to develop that point. I am not blaming anyone in particular other than the Home Office—of course, everyone will agree with that—and I am not really blaming the Home Office. It was just that people did not understand the issue. Indeed, if we went back to the days of what people might think of as traditional slavery, I am sure people would have denied it existed. It was only because of what William Wilberforce and others did that people got to know more and more about it. Indeed, I quite confess that when I came to Parliament, I had no idea about human trafficking or modern-day slavery, and I certainly did not think I was going to get wrapped up in trying to solve the problem Anthony Steen and a small number of us travelled all over Europe, to places such as Moldova—to places that, to be honest, I had not even heard of—and found out about this terrible, terrible crime being committed of people being trafficked across borders. In those days it was mainly for purposes of sexual exploitation, although it has now turned into labour exploitation The traditional way for these women—we call them women, but in many cases they were actually young girls, way under the age of 18—in very poor countries such as Moldova to be trafficked would be for somebody of their own age, quite often a female, to befriend them. They would then tell them there was a job in Belfast, say, in a restaurant—this is from a true case, from one of the dependencies of the old USSR. These women would come over expecting to work in a restaurant—and there was, indeed, a genuine restaurant. Because of the free movement rules in the European Union and Schengen, they would not be checked, but could come straight across Europe and into this country, and although I really do not want to make a European Union point, I will. Years and years ago, a long time before all this stuff appeared in the press, we warned that while free movement might have many advantages, it was certainly of great advantage to the traffickers, because there was very little chance of their being caught This is what would happen. The girls would arrive, all happy, looking forward to—in this case—a job in a restaurant in Belfast, and looking forward to a better life, more money, and excitement. Those girls never actually made it to the restaurant. They were locked up in a terraced house in Belfast. I say "locked up". One would expect the lock on a bedroom door to be on the inside, but in houses such as that one they were on the outside, so that the young women could be locked in.
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew James Griffiths (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend could not resist making the Europe point. Will he explain something to me? I entirely understand his point about Schengen, but how did the girl manage to travel from the Schengen area to the United Kingdom without being stopped at the border?
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): There was a big row about the POPPY project and I am broad-brush about this: I think the Salvation Army operation has been a huge success, and I am absolutely convinced that no other country in Europe looks after rescued adult victims of human trafficking better than ours, and we can be very proud of that Let me rewind a bit to when I was traipsing around Europe with Anthony Steen. He is a man it is impossible to say no to; I have seen him blag his way into all sorts of establishments that we had no right to be in, and he did so fearlessly. In some places he talked to traffickers and took great personal risks. His influence is what drives me to continue this fight on this particular issue At that time, back in 2005, there was a Council of Europe convention on human trafficking. The COE is a very good body. It brings together 47 countries in Europe. The idea is that if we can get something through the COE that everyone agrees with, it is a really good standard. What happened to this convention happened when a Labour Government were in power, but I am absolutely not blaming the Labour Government because it equally would have happened if a Conservative Government had been in power at that time because of the way people looked upon human trafficking: we could not even get the convention signed. Then, after lots of pressure, the convention was signed, and then that turned out to be no use because until it is ratified, it does not come into force, so then we had a fight on that and it was eventually ratified Many of the things that were then discussed became part of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, such as tougher penalties for traffickers, quite rightly. There was originally a problem with the hurdle that had to be mounted to prosecute traffickers. The Crown Prosecution Service had decided that in order to get successful prosecutions, it would have to go for lesser charges. That was sorted out; traffickers can be jailed now for 14 years. Tougher border controls are hugely important, too, because I do not want to be punishing traffickers and rescuing victims, as I do not want them to be victims in the first place. There is a lot to do in Europe on that, but obviously, our border control is important. In a wonderful example of co-operation, the Metropolitan police and the Romanian police worked together and broke up a notorious gang and saved many people from being trafficked. Police operations all come down to intelligence and working together across Europe.
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Immigration
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend accept that there is not just an issue with border controls, but a lot of concern about forged documents and passports? There is a report in today’s press that the United States is thinking of withdrawing its visa waiver scheme for some European countries—for example, for Belgium—because there are up to a million forged EU passports in circulation.
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Immigration
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): I, too, pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) not just for putting forward and speaking for the Bill, but for all the work he has done. As I said when he kindly took an intervention from me, the work that Anthony Steen has done and is still doing is particularly pertinent for me, since it is impossible for anyone to end up at Watford Junction station without seeing his operation there I am very short of time, so I will get straight to the point. My hon. Friend’s proposal is that the Government should take over dealing with the trafficking of children by placing it under national control in a national organisation, rather than the current situation of dealing with it locally through local authorities. Our contention is that that is not the best way to deal with it. I am afraid I cannot accept his assertion that children are, to use his expression, treated worse than adults We have set a clear expectation on local government in caring for children who are trafficked or unaccompanied by making important revisions to the statutory guidance for local authorities. The guidance is clear that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and child victims of human trafficking are some of the most vulnerable children in the country and that placement decisions "should take particular account of protecting the child from any continued risk from traffickers, and from a heightened risk of going missing." We have also published strengthened statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care. The guidance clearly sets out the steps that local authorities and their partners should take to prevent children from going missing and to protect them when they do The Government have strengthened multi-agency arrangements for co-ordinating and sharing intelligence in relation to vulnerable victims. Such multi-agency safeguarding hubs—or MASHs, as they are called—are being set up across the country and are helping to share information about and to co-ordinate more effectively in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from harm.
Child Victims of Human Trafficking (Central Government Responsibility) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-01-29
Topic: Immigration
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry that the Minister does not have more time. What he says is really good news, but as the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) said, 60% of such children are re-trafficked. Despite what the Government are doing, local government is therefore failing.
Syrian Refugees — House of Commons, 2016-03-07
Topic: Immigration
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): It is part of our moral responsibility to ensure that Syrian refugees who are resettled in the United Kingdom receive appropriate support, especially those young children who take refuge here. The International Organisation for Migration assesses the needs of each Syrian refugee to be resettled in the UK, including any educational support required by children. Those assessments help to ensure that the necessary arrangements are in place, and that the needs of these young Syrians are met.
Syrian Refugees — House of Commons, 2016-03-07
Topic: Immigration
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I think we all agree that those who are seeking refuge from war-torn areas and conflict zones where they have been in situations of immense stress and disruption need all the support they can get. We have a system of appointing caseworkers who work with each family or individual who comes here to seek refuge, to identify their needs. In particular, they ensure that children with special educational needs or mental health needs get support, as well as those who have additional educational issues such as needing extra language support.
Syrian Refugees — House of Commons, 2016-03-07
Topic: Immigration
David John Barrington Burrowes (Conservative, Centre-right): Following the Government’s welcome decision on 28 January to provide additional refuge for unaccompanied minors coming from conflict zones such as Syria, but also from Europe, what discussions have been held in the Department about providing additional support for those who reach these shores, and to provide them with the effective support they need?
Syrian Refugees — House of Commons, 2016-03-07
Topic: Immigration
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend recently visited the camp in Calais, and he will know that a cross-Government taskforce has been set up to ensure that all those who claim asylum or come to live in the United Kingdom under the resettlement programme get that support. In my previous answer I outlined the particular areas that my Department takes an interest in, and we must ensure that support is delivered for those with special educational needs, mental health needs, and those who require additional educational support such as language support.