Business of the House

Steven Bonnar Excerpts

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I think that intervention was rather more parti pris than we are accustomed to in business questions. We have incredibly strong and effective leadership—leadership that is prepared to take difficult decisions and is willing to take decisions that go against the grain of the philosophy of the Conservative party. Why is that? It is because in these circumstances they are the decisions necessary to safeguard the nation and to help people to save lives. So I think we have strong and effective leadership. I would point out that more than 4,300 police officers have been taken on to support the police in doing this, and that that proposals for support from the Army relate to back-office roles and back-filling to help the police. This is not a proposal as the hon. Lady seems to be thinking about for any more extreme measures.

[Steven Bonnar (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (SNP) [V]]

I listened intently to the right hon. Gentleman’s earlier response to the right hon. Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz) . However, I wish to draw his attention to other matters relating to the Child Maintenance Service: failures to provide statements in order that parents can carry out a full reconciliation of their own accounts to try to locate other discrepancies, such as the January 2020 double payment; harassment, with people receiving text messages at 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning threatening legal action for “non-payment”, where that is emphatically untrue; and non-pursual of working parents who shamelessly avoid their financial responsibilities, thus inexplicably wiping out hundreds and hundreds of pounds owed to children. Will he therefore arrange for a Minister to look into the specific cases that my constituents are facing? May we have a debate on the wider issues, so that a Minister can come to that Dispatch Box to explain why these government agencies are failing these children and their families?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

Department for Work and Pensions Ministers regularly appear at the Dispatch Box. It is a fair set of questions to ask, but I say to the hon. Gentleman that if he has any outstanding cases where he has not received answers after a reasonable length of time and he wishes to contact my office, I will do whatever I can to facilitate speedy answers. I reiterate that as a constituency MP dealing with these child maintenance issues, I have rarely found I have received as satisfactory an answer when dealing with a quango as I get when things are directly controlled by Ministers.