Business of the House

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I pay tribute to the retailers of Kettering for attracting all those people, and to my hon. Friend for his encouragement of them. Perhaps all that footfall is people visiting Kettering to shake the hand of the Member of Parliament and to catch a glimpse of him themselves. He raises an important point. The Government have done a great deal to help retailers, particularly with the measures that the Chancellor has taken on business rate relief and the removal of employers national insurance for small businesses. These things are helping our high street stores, and I hope they will go on to even greater success in Kettering.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I have been talking to staff at our local hospitals this week and it is clear that the pressure remains relentless. One of the biggest problems is that hospitals are not able to discharge elderly patients back into the community. Despite what the Secretary of State for Health said earlier this week, the system is not working. Will the Leader of the House find time to allow the Secretary of State to come back to the House next week to make an urgent statement on what is being done to try to solve the problem?

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Gentleman says, the Secretary of State for Health did refer to the issue and set out what the Government are doing on it. On the question of whether or not such things are working, I have no doubt that the Secretary of State for Health will want to return to the House whenever appropriate on all these issues, particularly if there are continuing problems. I will make him aware of the concerns raised in the House today.