Oral Answers to Questions

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Wednesday 16th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I do support the use of open primaries. As my hon. Friend says, in the Conservative party we had a number of open primaries. I hope all parties can look at the issue and debate how we can encourage maximum participation, including in the selection of candidates.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Q11. Let us talk about Europe and the national interest. Millions of British women would be hit by the proposal in today’s Conservative Fresh Start report to opt out of the EU law on equal pay. Will the Prime Minister rule out such an opt-out today?

[The Prime Minister]

As I explained at the beginning of Prime Minister’s questions, the Government have massively helped women through the single-tier pension. I will look very carefully at the proposal that the hon. Gentleman mentions and I will write to him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

The Minister for the Cabinet Office was asked—

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

1. How many full-time equivalent civil servants were employed in York in May (a) 2010 and (b) 2012.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)]

The number of full-time equivalent civil servants employed in York on 31 March 2010 was 2,390 and on 31 March 2012 it had reduced to 1,980.

[Hugh Bayley]

With electronic communications improving all the time, it is hard to justify having so many civil servants in London and so few in other parts of the country, such as my constituency, where rents and overheads are so much cheaper. Will the Cabinet Office carry out a strategic review of the number of civil service posts in London that could be relocated to cities such as York?

[Mr Maude]

There have been endless such studies, including under the last Conservative Government and the Government of whom the hon. Gentleman was a member. The truth is that the number of civil servants in central London is much higher than it needs to be, and it is already falling. We are concentrating the numbers into the central London freehold estate, which is significantly reducing our costs, but there is further to go.

G8 and NATO Summits

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd May 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right that the share of world trade and the share of the world economy taken by the EU and America together is likely to decline as that of China and India rise, but I was always taught in business that going back to one’s best and biggest customer to get that extra deal is often a very good strategy, so we should be thinking exactly about that in terms of EU-US trade.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

At a time when defence budgets are constrained right the way across the alliance, is it not important for NATO itself to demonstrate, in the same way as its member states, that every pound it spends is well spent? Will the UK therefore support proposals being considered by the NATO secretariat to ensure that the external audit service for NATO is entirely independent of NATO, that accounts are published in a timely fashion—say, within six months of the year- end—and that they are available for parliamentarians in this and other Parliaments in NATO states to scrutinise, in the same way that we scrutinise our own defence expenditures?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman, who has great knowledge of these things, makes a series of sensible suggestions and we should look carefully at them. Let me again commend Secretary-General Rasmussen for what he has done in reforming the huge number of command posts and headquarters posts in NATO. I suspect that there is more to be done on that front, as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor-General]

No, but the penalties will be quite severe. The only guidance I can give my hon. Friend is to look at the penalties imposed under existing convictions. For example, last year there were 42 prosecutions for forced marriage under the various statutes I have referred to, a number of which led to quite lengthy sentences.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

5. How many employees the Crown Prosecution Service has at (a) Athena house, York and (b) other locations in York.

[The Attorney-General (Mr Dominic Grieve)]

The Crown Prosecution Service has 65 employees at Athena house and 125 staff based at United house in York.

[Hugh Bayley]

Has the CPS consulted North Yorkshire police and the courts in York and Selby on the impact of moving staff from Athena house on administrative costs for those two bodies? If the staff have to be moved from Athena house, would not it be practical to relocate them to the offices in central York where the other York-based CPS staff are based?

[The Attorney-General]

Yes. As the hon. Gentleman might be aware, a consultation is taking place. An informal consultation procedure has now ended and a formal consultation procedure on any final decision on Athena house will follow. The argument for relocating a large part of the casework units to Leeds, in my judgment, cannot be argued against because, with the reduction in numbers resulting from the savings that have to be made, maintaining critical mass and having a regional hub makes sense, but I would like to reassure him that the need to maintain a presence in York is also accepted, because of its importance as the headquarters of North Yorkshire.

Party Funding

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Maude]

I think transparency is very important. As I have said, Mr Rosenfeld is someone I knew when I was chairman of the Conservative party. We turned his money down.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Shortly before the general election, the Bribery Act 2010 was passed with all-party support. Under certain circumstances the Act requires the director of the Serious Fraud Office to seek permission from the Attorney-General before investigating or prosecuting. Can the Minister give the House an absolute assurance that neither the Attorney-General nor the Solicitor-General will exercise a veto over an investigation or prosecution, if that is what the director of the SFO believes is in order?

[Mr Maude]

That is a rather over-excitable question that would be better directed to the Attorney-General, who is very much his own man in these and all matters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney-General]

I shall be extremely happy to go away and seek the detailed views of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and to write to the hon. Lady and place the letter in the Library. I have discussed the matter with the DPP on occasion, particularly in view of my background as a health and safety practitioner.

Corporate manslaughter is the most serious offence for which people can be prosecuted, but prosecutions can sometimes be brought to cover similar sorts of offence within the health and safety laws. I know of no evidence to suggest that the Crown Prosecution Service is not correctly applying its approach to deciding when a prosecution for corporate manslaughter is appropriate, but in order to reassure the hon. Lady in response to what was a very sensible and pertinent question, I will endeavour to provide her with the information.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with the director of the Serious Fraud Office on penalties imposed on BAE Systems following the company’s conviction for offences connected with the sale of a radar system to Tanzania.

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Edward Garnier)]

I have regular meetings with the director of the Serious Fraud Office, and I discussed that issue with him recently. On Thursday 15 March the SFO announced that a memorandum of understanding between the Government of Tanzania, BAE Systems, the SFO and the Department for International Development had been signed, enabling a payment of £29.5 million plus accrued interest to be made to support educational projects in Tanzania.

[Hugh Bayley]

This is the first time that a British company convicted of financial crimes has been required by our courts to compensate victims in a developing country, but it has taken more than a year for the payment to be made. Do the Government intend to change the law to empower judges to impose penalties of this kind and to enforce quick payment, instead of relying on the voluntary agreement which led to the payment of compensation in this particular case?

[The Solicitor-General]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support me when, later in the current Parliament, I introduce deferred prosecution agreements to the criminal justice armoury. Such agreements will deal with penalty payments, but also, where appropriate, with the payment of compensation, and the payments will be made as a result of court orders.

[Hugh Bayley]

Excellent.

EU Council

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I certainly agree that the Durban outcome is worth while and it is a staging post towards another global deal, which is very worth while. I am afraid I do not see any contradiction between being incredibly positive and constructive and having a bottom line. When you have a bottom line, it is quite important that you stick to it.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Over the years to come, as a result of the Prime Minister’s decisions, economic and financial power will inevitably drain away from London to Frankfurt. How is that in the interests of British manufacturing or British financial services?

[The Prime Minister]

This is exactly the argument that was made about the euro. I remember it very well. People said that if we did not join the euro, Frankfurt would be the major financial centre of Europe and not Britain. Frankly, it was scaremongering then and is scaremongering now—from the same people.

Libya

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s comments. I think that there will be a big role for the Arab League. As I said in my statement—this is one area where we can learn the lessons of the past—I do not think that Libyans want huge numbers of people driving around in 4x4s telling them what to do. Arab assistance can play a huge role in helping Libyans to get back on their feet. However, they seem very keen to do a lot of this on their own.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister is absolutely right to stress that the political future of Libya needs to be determined by the Libyan people, not by outsiders. Can he cast any light on the statements coming from the African Union about its concerns that the transitional arrangements are not fully inclusive? What discussions is he or the Foreign Secretary having with key African leaders to ensure that any future UN resolution gets African buy-in?

[The Prime Minister]

I was very encouraged that at the Paris meeting there were a number of African leaders strongly supportive of the NTC and democratic transition in Libya. Frankly, the African Union has not always been as clear as I would have liked about the importance of democracy, freedom, human rights and progress in Libya. I hope now that all the countries of the African Union will get behind the new Libyan authorities and give them the support and help that they need.

Public Disorder

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

On the first part of the hon. Gentleman’s question, the police themselves will want to review what happened when there were large numbers of different groups looting in different parts of the country at the same time. They will want to work out how to address that—what tactics are needed and how to make sure they get arrests made more quickly—and the Home Office will want to work with them in that endeavour.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

In North Yorkshire, public order officers have been sent to London, Birmingham and Manchester. The consequence has been that all rest days have been cancelled. Police officers are now working 12 hours on, 12 hours off around the clock, and there is no more fat to cut. Will the Prime Minister give the House an estimate of how much in Bellwin money, Riot (Damages) Act money and other compensation the public purse will have to pay out? Would it not make sense in future years to spend that money on the police instead of on paying for the cost of disorder?

[The Prime Minister]

I cannot give an estimate of what will be paid out under Bellwin or under the schemes that we have established today because that will depend on the demand that comes from local authorities, but there is a huge amount of money and resources available. I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman’s idea that somehow if we had spent more on the police this year, that would have prevented the disorder that took place. The causation is entirely the wrong way around.

Public Confidence in the Media and Police

Hugh Bayley Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I think we need to do a number of things. Obviously, there is a police investigation into corruption, which will now be overseen by someone who comes from outside the Met, and there is also Dame Elizabeth Filkin’s work to try to improve ethics and standards. In addition, the inquiry will be able to do a job of work on this. On the panel is a former chief constable, so there will be understanding of how the police service works, so that we can get to the bottom of that problem and deal with it.

[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

Public confidence in the police has obviously been affected by the allegations of the bribery and corruption of police officers. Will the Prime Minister look at whether there is a need for us to establish, as in the United States, an independent police force that can police the police? Will he give the House a guarantee that the Bribery Act 2010 will not be amended while all these investigations and inquiries are going on?