Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I have to say that the right hon. Gentleman’s comments are an insult to a fine public servant, who has taken a brave decision this week. I am not of the view that someone should be denied the opportunity to apply for a job because of the possibility that in the future their wife’s company might win contracts and she might be promoted. I regard Paul McDowell as a fine public servant who has done a good job for this country. I hope he will return to a new post somewhere else supporting our public sector in the future, because he deserves it. He has done a very good job.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

8. What steps he has taken to ensure local access to the justice system.

Transforming Legal Aid

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I hope that it is fair. The aim is to ensure that there is a degree of certainty in all of this. We have put in place a taper mechanism, which I believe will reassure younger members of the Bar about the amounts they will be paid for the work they do in trials. That seemed to me to be a sensible development in our original proposal, and I hope that it will be welcomed.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

I thank the Justice Secretary for listening to the concerns of rural solicitors’ businesses and barristers across north Yorkshire, and I welcome his focus on quality. There are serious allegations of corrupt behaviour among some solicitors’ firms in Bradford, and this focus on quality has to be taken seriously.

[Chris Grayling]

That is very important. I want us to develop, in partnership with the professions, some clear standards for firms. We expect law firms to meet high standards, to behave without absolute propriety and to deliver a quality service. We will set standards that are exacting but appropriate as we move into the contracting phase. We want quality legal services for the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

17. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new enterprise allowance.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

We have not yet made a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the NEA because it is too early to draw robust conclusions. We will of course carry out a proper impact analysis in due course. Participation in the scheme has so far proved popular; at the end of November last year, when the most recent figures were published, nearly 2,000 new businesses had been created, and many more have been created since then.

[Julian Smith]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Is it not correct that Yorkshire and the Humber has one of the highest take-ups of the scheme anywhere in the country? Has he thought about how we could increase the number of places on the scheme in order to allow people who want to set up a business to start much earlier?

[Chris Grayling]

Yorkshire and the Humber has indeed proved to be a pathfinder for the scheme. I am aware of how popular it is and am now looking at ways in which we could modify it in order to provide a greater focus on those areas where demand is high and see whether it makes sense to allow people to access it earlier.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I can indeed confirm that. What makes the new enterprise allowance different from all its predecessor schemes is that it will offer people who are seeking to start new businesses specialist support from people who have been there and experienced enterprise. We want to see voluntary sector groups that already offer mentoring become part of the scheme, and we want experienced business people to come forward and become mentors, perhaps through their chambers of commerce. This could make a huge difference to getting people off benefits and into self-employment.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

15. What plans he has for collaboration between jobcentres and voluntary organisations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

T7. What measures will be contained in the Work programme to ensure that the unemployed in rural areas get the help they need?

[Chris Grayling]

One of the benefits of working with smaller organisations as well as the larger prime contractors is that we can get the input of specialist organisations with expert knowledge of the rural community and the rural jobs market. I believe that the contracting structure we have set up maximises the likelihood of prime contractors identifying the right organisations to deliver support in rural areas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Monday 18th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

3. What progress his Department has made towards the launch of its Work programme providing personalised assistance to those out of work.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

I am pleased to inform the House that the contracting process for the Work programme is going well. We have had more than 100 expressions of interest from would-be prime contractors. We will announce those who will be on the framework in late November and we will then move on to the next stage of contracting. All is on track to launch the Work programme in the first part of next year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

May I urge my right hon. Friend to select a number of providers who have strong roots in rural communities both in advising clients and in networking among the rural labour market?

[Chris Grayling]

I absolutely assure my hon. Friend that that will be a factor. As we select organisations to fill different geographic parts of the Work programme, bidders’ ability to demonstrate a knowledge, awareness and understanding of the geography they will be dealing with will certainly be a factor for us. In substantially rural areas, it is essential that organisations have the expertise to deal with the particular challenges of the rural economy and not simply with those found in towns and cities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

T8. A constituent with bowel cancer has been found fit for work, despite having his colostomy bag changed 16 times a day. He is now going through appeal. How will my right hon. Friend ensure that those who are genuinely and obviously not fit for work are dealt with more humanely?

[Chris Grayling]

The point about cancer patients is a particularly apposite one. One thing I was astonished to discover on taking office was that we still had tough return-to-work requirements for those going through chemotherapy. Anybody who knows someone who has been through that knows it is a time when people cannot possibly return to work. We have sought to change that and we will make a number of other changes through the Harrington review. As I said earlier, our goal is, above all, to get this right. I do not want to do the wrong thing by those people who need support; I do want to do the right thing by the people with the potential to get back into work and make a better lot of their lives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Julian Smith

Monday 19th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

13. What recent representations he has received on his Department's proposed new Work programme.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chris Grayling)]

We have had a large number of representations from organisations interested in and interested to participate in the Work programme. My colleagues and I have also had a series of meetings with interested parties among the provider community and the financial community.

[Julian Smith]

Will my right hon. Friend pay tribute to the Skipton and Ripon enterprise initiative led by Alan Halsall, chairman of Silver Cross Prams in my constituency, which has built a network of established business owners who are voluntarily giving their time to provide advice to anyone who wants to set up a business?

[Chris Grayling]

I will indeed pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituent. As well as Government action to address the problems, we should capture the valuable experience of communities and individuals in building businesses, and use it positively to help those who are out of work. We particularly want more individuals to move off benefits into self-employment. I have no doubt that my hon. Friend’s constituent and—I hope—others around the country will be able to make a big difference to these people as they seek to build their businesses in the years ahead.