argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Immigration
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): My advice is almost the opposite. The simple truth is that if 3 million people applied for leave to remain the Home Office might have the odd glitch along the way. That is part of the point of saying that there will be a two-year grace period after departure in 2019 in which people can make that application. Between now and then a great deal of resource will be put in to ensure that that process is streamlined. The right hon. Gentleman will remember because of his previous eminent role that the original application document was something like 85 pages long. We got it down to 16 and now six. It will be streamlined to a very, very simple process by the time that we get to that two-year grace period.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Civil Rights
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. and dear Friend, who used to be in my Department not very long ago, knows full well that I have made those points more than once to Michel and other members of the Union negotiating team. This is not within the normal perspective as laid out by article 50, but we have gone along with it simply to get citizens’ rights under way. That is what we have done, but now we are getting to the point at which we will think very hard about what the next stage is.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Immigration
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman knows that I fight very shy of getting entangled in Irish politics, but I am confident that we can get a non-visible border operational between Northern Ireland and Ireland using the most up-to-date technology. That was one reason why I went to Detroit. It was not so we could replicate what is in Detroit and Buffalo, but so we could use some of the same techniques, such as authorised economic operators, pre-notification and electronic tagging of containers. All those things will make it possible for the border to be as light-touch as it is today.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Immigration
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is exactly right. It is one of the reasons that there is tension within the Labour party now—[Interruption.] There is very visible tension on the television screen, let alone anywhere else. My right hon. Friend is dead right that the point of the repeal Bill—now the withdrawal Bill—is to ensure that the laws we have the day before we leave the European Union are the same laws as the ones we have the day after we leave, except where there has been another piece of primary legislation to replace it, whether on immigration or whatever else. That is simply a practical matter. It should not actually be a matter of politics; it is a simple matter of national interest.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is exactly right. Such people will have to face their own constituents because those constituents voted to leave. This is a practical Bill designed to protect the interests of British business and British citizens. That is what it is there for—nothing else.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): In the Secretary of State’s closing remarks at the most recent round of negotiation, he said that the UK has shown "a willingness to discuss creative solutions" on the governance of citizens’ rights. Will he outline in more detail the governance proposals?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Immigration
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): During the last three or four years, there have been very high levels of migration into the EU, particularly from north Africa and the middle east. If there is to be an implementation period, existing EU citizens will no doubt have freedom of movement into our country during that period. For that reason, will my right hon. Friend ensure, first, that the implementation period is over well before the date of the scheduled next election and, secondly, that if existing EU citizens do have a right of entry during the implementation period, that right refers to people who are already citizens of the EU at the end of March 2019?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Other
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. One can reasonably expect some Labour Members to have different views, but for the deputy leader of the party to have a different view is really rather dramatic. The Labour party should do as my hon. Friend suggests.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. May I just gently point out to the House that colleagues who beetled into the Chamber after the statement started should not now be standing and expecting to be called? To put it mildly, that is bad form, and I would have thought that the person guilty of it would know it and desist.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): What the hon. Lady fails to say is that the British economy has actually been more successful than most others in obtaining investment from that source. So far, the negotiations have only been about the departure arrangements—what would happen in the event of a rift—but when we get to the point of talking about the ongoing relationship, I think we will be looking to maintain that ongoing relationship.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Immigration
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I do not make an instantaneous promise on what will be in the immigration Bill, but this is precisely the sort of thing that that Bill should address. A more general point I made to the European Commission negotiators last week is that a legal requirement is not the only reason for doing things. We are a country with a strong tradition of tolerance and generosity, and if anything, I expect that to grow after we leave, not diminish.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Other
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a question the hon. Gentleman should put to the First Secretary, who is the decision maker on that. If the situation is not resolved very soon, we will have to find another mechanism. He is exactly right.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Amanda Anne Milling (Conservative, Centre-right): The horrific and tragic events of Grenfell Tower have brought the issue of faulty white goods into even sharper focus. A recent freedom of information request revealed that more than 600 house fires in the midlands had been started by tumble dryers in the last decade. What conversations are my right hon. Friend and his ministerial team having about that issue with their counterparts in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to raise the question of white goods. We have heard, and have seen from the police report on the Grenfell tragedy, how that tragic fire started. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is very much part of the ministerial group that meets weekly to make key decisions about, in particular, building safety. One of the issues involved is that of white goods, and we are working well with the industry and in co-ordination with BEIS.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Anne Margaret Main (Conservative, Centre-right): The Building Research Establishment is in my constituency, and I know what an excellent job it does on this and many other issues to do with building safety. The Secretary of State talked in his statement about each system when properly fitted. What further advice is he giving to councils to ensure that contractors are correctly fitting and retrofitting buildings and ensuring inspections are carried out not just on the materials used, but on the implementation or any compromises made over time?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I join my hon. Friend in commending the work of BRE. I went to see some of its facilities myself and was impressed by how it has approached these systems tests and how quickly it was able to conduct them. She is right to ask about contractors and implementing some of the early lessons we have learned. The advice we have received from the independent expert panel has been sent out to building groups and industry groups, and shared with all local authorities. One further thing we have done today is to publish a consolidated note of all the building safety advice that has come out in recent weeks, to make sure it is in one place and is easily accessible.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): We have not differentiated between whether or not the buildings were converted under permitted development rights; our focus is on all buildings regardless of how they came to be residential housing. As I said in my statement, it has been more straightforward to find out what residential towers there are and the types of cladding in the public sector, but less straightforward in the private sector. That was why on 11 August I wrote to all chief executives of local authorities in England asking them to immediately start working on compiling information on the private sector residential towers in their area and the type of cladding they have, and to share that information with us, and also to remind them of the enforcement powers they already have to make sure all these buildings, including in the private sector, are safe.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been very open in sharing information on what the testing process is and why it is important, as well as sharing the results that are coming out of the process. For example, as each of the systems tests took place over the summer, we provided an update as soon as the results were made available to us through the Building Research Establishment. We contacted each of the relevant local authorities and housing associations to ensure that we could answer any further questions they might have. As I said earlier, I have also decided to publish today a consolidated note giving details of the testing processes and the subsequent results and advice. I am also asking the expert panel to think about this further, especially in the light of some of the structural—as opposed to fire safety—issues that have emerged in recent weeks. The hon. Lady asked about fire authorities. We are working closely with them, and the head of the National Fire Chiefs Council is a member of the expert panel and of the building safety ministerial group, which I chair. We continue to get advice from those sources, and as and when any of the advice that they share with us changes, that will be published.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edmund Francis Hughes (Conservative, Centre-right): It is impossible for us to imagine the suffering of the bereaved who lost loved ones on the night of the Grenfell Tower fire but who still do not know their fate with any certainty. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that everything is being done to identify the victims as quickly as possible?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Other
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this point. This is one of the most challenging aspects of the tragedy, and as I said in my statement, we commend the people who are doing this work and the dignity and speed with which they are doing it.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Gentleman that there is a lot still to be learned about building safety and building regulations. There are a lot of lessons to learn, and that is exactly why we have the independent review, which is being led by Dame Judith Hackitt. We have also asked the Building Research Establishment to start publishing historical data on other cladding systems, as well as testing them, to ensure that we can learn the lessons about them as well.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Robert Alexander Courts (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure that all Members will have been shocked by the revelation that 1,000 fire doors were found to be missing from towers in Camden. Does not this raise wider questions about the maintenance of premises in Camden and other areas by landlords who should know better?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to remind the House of this wider issue of building safety that goes beyond any one local authority. He mentions the issue that has been unearthed in Camden, and I mentioned earlier the issues in Ledbury Towers in Southwark. There are a number of building safety issues across a number of local authorities, and that is why there are so many lessons to be learned.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): That figure of 165 does indeed relate to the public sector, so those buildings are owned by either a local authority or a housing association. In the private sector, 89 buildings have been tested so far, of which 85 have failed and four have passed. That is only 89, however; there are obviously thousands of private sector buildings, and that is why we have asked all local authorities to conduct an audit of properties in their area and to work with us on a process to enable us to monitor this situation.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): The horror of the Grenfell Tower fire has, sadly, provided us with a tragic snapshot of the state of high-rise social housing in Britain today. In his statement, the Secretary of State said that 151 homes were lost to the fire, but that 196 households had asked to be rehoused. That presumably means that one third of the homes in the tower were overcrowded. My question to him is: how can that level of overcrowding be permitted to exist in one of the richest boroughs in the land? Is there no means of control over the local authority, either internally or externally? What is now being done in the aftermath of the fire to address similar overcrowding in other high-rise blocks?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important issue. He is right to say that 151 homes were lost and that we are now looking for 196 homes. That is not entirely due to overcrowding, however. It is partly due to the fact that a number of families have requested to split their households. In many situations, for example, they have asked for separate accommodation for the young adults in the household. In every case, we have accepted those requests. He is right to raise the issue of overcrowding, however, and we are determined to take a much wider look at social housing.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will know that there are already measures in place to deal with empty homes and to provide incentives for them not to be left empty. In terms of finding the necessary homes following the Grenfell tragedy, considerable progress has been made over the summer in acquiring mostly new homes in Kensington Row, Hortensia Road and elsewhere. A considerable amount of work has also been done to convert some of the temporary homes into permanent ones, at the residents’ request.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this matter. This is precisely why I have asked for an independent review of building regulations. Also, in the light of the discovery at Ledbury Towers in Southwark, I have written to Dame Judith Hackitt and asked her to ensure that she considers those types of structural considerations. As well as building regulations, there are also wider questions. The issue at Ledbury Towers was discovered because of Grenfell Tower, but it is a structural issue. The work should have been done after the Ronan Point disaster, and there are some really big questions for the local authority to answer. The cracks that were discovered were large enough to put a human hand through or to put books in. Those cracks did not appear overnight. They had been there for some time—months, or even years. How can it be that the local authority was seemingly able to act only after the Grenfell tragedy?
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I can tell the hon. Lady that I am aware of 16 public buildings that have failed the test so far, and other public buildings may come in for further testing. This talks to a wider problems, however, because we are seeing a huge rate of failure, as I have said, across the board in both the public and private sectors and in residential and commercial buildings.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The process of testing the buildings that have been similarly clad is not voluntary. It has not been voluntary for the public sector; it has been a requirement of all local authorities and housing associations. Clearly, not one has refused, so there is nothing voluntary about it. It is important that we keep looking at how to continue the process, in particular to capture much more of the private sector, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will welcome that.
Grenfell Tower and Building Safety — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I first thank the hon. Lady for her kind comments. As for rents, we have made it clear that all properties, whether permanent or temporary, will be rent-free for the first year. Following the first year, no former tenant of Grenfell Tower or Grenfell Walk will pay a penny more than they previously paid in rent.
Korean Peninsula — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Other
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman asks an extremely good question. As I indicated in my answer a moment ago, we are looking into that very question. We have our suspicions, but as yet we have no hard information.
Korean Peninsula — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The new element is the increasing desire of the North Korean regime illegally to test nuclear weapons and threaten its neighbours and those further afield, and the acquisition of what looks like an intercontinental ballistic missile with what could be a hydrogen bomb capability. That is the new element, which requires international co-ordination to defeat.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I will just make some progress first, if I may The Bill contains six clauses. Clauses 1 to 3 provide the powers for the relief, and clauses 4 to 6 cover consequential and financial matters. Business rates are payable on three classes of properties: first, occupied properties shown on the local rating lists held by local authorities; secondly, unoccupied properties shown on local rating lists; and, thirdly, properties on the central list, which is held by my Department The main business rates legislation in the Local Government Finance Act 1988 contains separate provisions for charging rates on those three classes. Clauses 1 to 3 provide powers to allow relief in those three classes. Clause 1 allows for relief for occupied hereditaments shown on local ratings lists. Clause 2 allows for relief for unoccupied hereditaments shown on local ratings lists. Clause 3 allows for relief for hereditaments on the central list Clauses 1 to 3 have similar structures and serve the same purpose. First, the powers in the clauses will allow the Secretary of State to set conditions as to when the relief will apply. This is not a wide-ranging power covering all properties. The power can be used only for telecommunication hereditaments. Through these powers we will target the relief on operators of telecoms networks who deploy new fibre on their networks. That will incentivise and reward those operators who invest in the fibre network.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Carlton Knight (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for giving way—he is being most generous in allowing interventions. In 2015 and last year, Solihull enjoyed a higher growth rate than China, but it is still one of the poorest areas for broadband provision, particularly business provision. The Minister can imagine what more could be achieved if we had better broadband, so the Bill is very welcome, as is the £60 million in targeted tax relief. Does he agree that the relief will not only boost Solihull’s economy but key in to the midlands engine, which is absolutely at the heart of UK growth and productivity?
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that comment. He is absolutely right that it is extremely important that new housing developments serve well the people who purchase the properties in relation to superfast broadband. He is right that it is a requirement for developments of under 30 dwellings to have a broadband connection and for developments of over 30 properties to have a superfast broadband connection. In bringing forward those requirements, which started this January, the Government had to make a very challenging decision in getting the balance right between making sure that people are properly served with the latest technology and that we build the homes required to deal with the housing shortage in our country.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Edward Vaizey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to hear my hon. Friend talk about these issues. In my constituency, the developer Linden Homes built a housing development with houses selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds, and for the mere price of £6,000 to deliver broadband, refused to stump up that money. It is this kind of behaviour by developers that brings them into disrepute. I congratulate the Government on making great progress, because no new home should be built without superfast broadband.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Relief from Non-Domestic Rates) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Housing
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is quite right. Developers who are not necessarily compelled to provide superfast broadband should think to themselves how the installation of superfast broadband could become a selling point for the property. The provision of superfast broadband is becoming more and more important, particularly as more and more people work from home.