Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Kate Hollern

Tuesday 19th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Blackburn (Kate Hollern) could very legitimately shoehorn her inquiry on question 18, which might not be reached, into this question, which has been. It is not obligatory, but don’t be shy—get in there.

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

18. Perhaps the Minister can respond about her failings with regard to Government cuts and local government, and particularly the impact on social care, because the Government have created a postcode lottery on the quality of care that residents face, particularly in Blackburn. The Secretary of State spoke about political nonsense to my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle). What is a political nonsense is that Blackburn has faced a 60% funding cut from this Government, whereas Windsor and Maidenhead has had only a 19% cut. The Government are creating a postcode lottery for adult social care in particular, and it is not acceptable. What is the Minister going to do address the inequalities between areas?

[Mr Speaker]

Nobody can accuse the hon. Lady of failing to take full advantage of my generosity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Kate Hollern

Tuesday 6th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are running late, so extreme brevity is now required.

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

13. What steps her Department is taking to ensure access to justice regardless of ability to pay.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Kate Hollern

Monday 27th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

The Clyde was promised a world-class frigate factory to build 13 new frigates for the UK. However, today we hear that work has been delayed by a year. Thousands of members of staff are on secondment around the country because there is not enough work in the shipyards, and the word “betrayal” rings around those shipyards because no factory has appeared and no work has started.

We have asked in the past for plans for the frigate-building programme, and for promises that all work will be carried out on the Clyde, but those questions have gone unanswered—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Press on.

[Kate Hollern]

When precisely will the Secretary of State present a committed plan to build the new frigates we need, with cast-iron timescales to bring some security to the workforce in Glasgow and around the country, and will leaving the EU affect the building—

[Mr Speaker]

Thank you very much. A brief response from the Minister and we will move on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Bercow and Kate Hollern

Monday 9th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Kate Hollern]

Recently, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise talked about how

“people have been working…for up to 30 years and paying into a pension fund in the expectation that…they will have a certain amount of money on which to live”.

She went on to say that

“there is an increasingly good case to be made for the right thing to be done by people”.—[Official Report, 25 April 2016; Vol. 608, c. 1183.]

Given the sudden change in the retirement age for women, how can the Government justify this rank hypocrisy from one Minister to another? Will the Secretary of State bring fairness for those women? In his new role, he has an opportunity to show that he will consider things fairly and support the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise.

[Mr Speaker]

From the context of her question, I think that the hon. Lady was levelling the charge of inconsistency as between one Minister and another. I know she would not accuse a Minister of behaving hypocritically to another.