Priorities for Government

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

It was common ground across all parties, including the Scottish nationalists, that the referendum was a once-in-a-generation decision. That decision was taken in 2014, and that was the right answer.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to invest in frontline healthcare. Bedford Hospital urgently needs funds in order to expand and meet the needs of our growing population. Will he give our hospital the money it needs?

[The Prime Minister]

We will of course make sure that the £20 billion extra that we have committed to the NHS goes to the frontline and to all hospitals in this country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 6th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

The Government are committed to ensuring that SMEs win their fair share of Government contracts. Unlike the Labour Government, this Government have set the target of devoting a third of all spending to SMEs. However, the hon. Lady rightly raised the issue of Amazon Web Services. Let us look at the figures. AWS is a G-Cloud supplier. A total of £3.2 billion has been spent on G-Cloud. How much has been spent on AWS? Just £70 million, which amounts to less than 2.2% of total spending.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

2. What recent progress his Department has made on its proposed changes to public sector procurement.

[Oliver Dowden]

We are determined to deliver value for money for taxpayers through better procurement, and to support a healthy and diverse supply market. We recently announced measures including simplifying procurement processes, taking account of social value when awarding contracts, and excluding large suppliers from Government contracts if they cannot demonstrate prompt payment.

[Mohammad Yasin]

I thank the Minister for his answer. The number of businesses receiving late payments from the Cabinet Office has nearly tripled in the past two years. Does the Minister agree that this makes a mockery of the Government’s plans to crack down on public sector suppliers who pay late?

[Oliver Dowden]

Prompt payment is important to all businesses, particularly small businesses. That is why we have set a target for 90% of undisputed invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises to be paid within five days. We are making good progress, and six Departments are already exceeding that target. I know that there has been an issue in respect of the Cabinet Office, but I can give the hon. Gentleman the latest figures, from December, which show that 95% of invoices are now meeting the 30-day target and that 82% are meeting the five-day target.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 21st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

This is incredibly important. We have long made the case—not just in Bangladesh, but in Burma—for the UN agencies to be given access and, obviously, the information that they need to co-ordinate things properly. We will continue to make the case for that. We all need to work together to make sure that these refugees are taken care of, and that eventually they will be able to go back home.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

2. What steps the Government are taking to tackle gender-based violence against Rohingya women and girls.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Alistair Burt)]

The United Kingdom has prioritised protecting and safeguarding women and girls in the speed and scale of our response to the Rohingya crisis. Our latest funding to the crisis will reach over 250,000 people affected by sexual and gender-based violence with targeted training, psychosocial support, and sexual and reproductive health treatment.

[Mohammad Yasin]

Hundreds of incidents of gender-based violence are being reported each week in Rohingya refugee camps. In line with the recommendations in the 2015 global report on Security Council resolution 1325, will the Minister guarantee that all future funding for the Rohingya response allocates at least 15% to gender in the emergency programming?

[Alistair Burt]

We have given ring-fenced funding to protect women and girls—indeed, over and above the recommendation that the hon. Gentleman has raised—which forms part of our latest £70 million of support. We have provided 30 children-friendly spaces, 19 women’s centres and case management for over 2,000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise this. We share his concern, and we are—practically—doing something about it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mohammad Yasin Excerpts

Wednesday 5th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance and that commitment on behalf of this Government. I send best wishes to the people of Gibraltar for their celebrations on 10 September.

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

Q10. Last year, Bedford’s maternity unit closed its doors six times due to capacity and staffing issues. This is disgraceful. Will the Prime Minister admit now that starving our NHS of funds has had very devastating consequences? Will she reinstate the nursing bursaries to address the shameful national shortage of 3,500 midwives and fund our NHS properly?

[The Prime Minister]

I simply point out to the hon. Gentleman that health funding in his area will be £1.5 billion this year, and thanks to our funding commitments, this is an increase of over £60 million on the previous year—a cash increase of 4.2%. The Bedfordshire clinical commissioning group will receive a cash increase of 4.34% on last year. We are putting extra money into the national health service. But more than that, we have committed future funding—a five-year funding programme —and a 10-year plan for the national health service to deliver the services that patients need.