Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 4th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend is right that there is huge concern across the whole of Yorkshire; I can confirm that as a Yorkshire Member of Parliament and, indeed, as someone who was born in Rotherham. As I indicated earlier, the House will need to return to the matter on many occasions. It is because of such cases that the Home Secretary is establishing an independent panel inquiry. There is the work of the Home Office-led national group to tackle sexual violence against children and vulnerable people. There have also been other announcements concerning Rotherham, for example on urgent Ofsted inspections, so all the Ministers concerned will give urgent and continuing attention to the issue and the House will be able to return to it in due course.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Last week I had the honour of visiting the home of my constituents Mr and Mrs Thomas to hear from them about their daughter Laura, a wonderful girl who was tragically killed by a truck whose driver was using a mobile phone at the time. May we have a debate not only on the sentences available for such crimes, which seem far too short, but on how we can join Mrs Thomas, her husband and others who want to talk in schools and elsewhere about the dangers of using mobile devices while driving?

[Mr Hague]

That is a heartbreaking case, and of course it happens all too often in other parts of the country as well. It is important that people understand the great dangers of using mobile phones while driving, and the kind of publicity that my hon. Friend is creating helps raise awareness. On the question of penalties, I will draw what he has said to the attention of hon. Friends in the Ministry of Justice.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I will, of course, alert my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary to the hon. Lady’s concerns. There will be an opportunity to raise them with him at the next session of questions to the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, and I encourage her to do so.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Our sitting in September will be the last opportunity to debate the future of the United Kingdom before the Scottish referendum. Will my right hon. Friend find Government time to debate that most important of issues for the United Kingdom and the people of Scotland?

[Mr Hague]

That will be a very important time for the people of the whole of the United Kingdom. The decision will be made by the people of Scotland. The debate will go far beyond this House and will be conducted on the airwaves and doorsteps of Scotland. Many hon. Members will join that debate in September, and that is probably the appropriate place for it to be conducted.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am delighted that he and our hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith) are actively supporting businesses and UKTI, working together to achieve that. Other business organisations were no doubt party to it as well. We do need—and, happily, we are seeing—a growth in exports. Indeed, I note that the greatest growth in exports has been in the west midlands. Off the back of the Tour de France and the focus on the area’s attractions, Yorkshire might be able to come forward in encouraging people to undertake more exporting and get to the front of the pack.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

May we have an urgent debate on support for NHS trusts, such as my Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which have difficulties in recruiting key staff? It is vital that essential services are maintained, and the debate might consider the creation of a central pool of senior clinical staff who can help out at short notice.

[Mr Lansley]

I will draw the attention of my right hon. and hon. Friends at the Department of Health to that idea. As I know from past experience, it is sometimes possible to have collaborative arrangements between NHS trusts precisely to ensure that there is such support. The NHS works together, and it is the job of NHS England to ensure that it does so in order to deliver safe and effective care to patients. Where that is at risk in any location, it is important to provide support.

I am delighted that under this Government, because of the resources we are putting in and the savings we are making in administration—delivering £5.5 billion savings on administration in this Parliament, with recurring savings of £1.5 billion a year thereafter—we have been able to have some 16,000 more clinical staff and some 19,000 fewer administrative staff. That shift into front-line care is at the heart of enabling trusts, such as my hon. Friend’s, to deliver services in future.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 5th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I shall of course look into it. I remember the Prime Minister saying that, and I am sure that he delivers on all his promises. I am sure that we are delivering on enforcement on the minimum wage in a way that did not happen in the last Parliament, when there were very few enforcements. We are increasing penalties, and as the hon. Gentleman will have seen in the Queen’s Speech, we are proposing to make sure that the minimum wage is properly enforced.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

In my constituency we are seeing a welcome increase in house building and, in particular, extra care homes, including 300 care homes for returning service men and women of the Royal Signals, who are to be based in Stafford. May we have a debate on not only the number but the type of homes we need? Many of my constituents say that what they would really like are small, single-storey and energy-efficient homes to allow them to downsize and free up those two, three and four-bedroom family homes of which I think sometimes we build too many.

[Mr Lansley]

I am glad that my hon. Friend refers to those positive developments in Stafford, and to the kind of homes that are being built and the purposes for which they are built. That is welcome. From the dreadful low point that we inherited from the previous Government, we are seeing more housing starts. We are promoting house building, and as my hon. Friend will have seen in the Queen’s Speech, we will take yet more measures to stimulate house building further, including in garden cities, and in terms of the availability of more land from public sector assets. The type of housing is an interesting question. I agree that we need an increase in care homes, as we have an ageing population. That will enable older people to move out of large and increasingly expensive family homes that they no longer need to something that they feel is very much theirs without compromising on the quality of housing. My hon. Friend may have an opportunity to debate this today in the course of the subjects for debate on the Queen’s Speech.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Lady will understand that the provisions for sittings in Westminster Hall are determined by Standing Orders. It is not in my gift to change Standing Orders; it is a matter for the House, but as she rightly asks the question, I will look at what provisions in Standing Orders permit us to bring debates forward in Westminster Hall more speedily after the opening of a new Session.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Yesterday at Prime Minister’s questions the subject was raised of the deeply worrying lack of a pipeline of new antibiotics, owing to market failure. May we have a debate on how the UK, perhaps through the Department of Health and the Department for International Development, can take the lead in a global initiative to support the development of new antibiotics, similar to that which has been so successful in producing new malaria drugs?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend is right. The Prime Minister rightly stressed the importance of this, which he has discussed with the chief medical officer directly. The chief medical officer made an important report on the subject, in addition to her annual report. Last year we published the UK’s five-year anti-microbial resistance plan. That is world-leading, but it would be better if we were able to work with others. The World Health Organisation’s report gives us the basis on which to work with others at stimulating the necessary research to develop new antibiotics. If we can make sure that we use antibiotics more sensibly in the meantime, that will prolong far into the future the effective use of the existing supply of antibiotics, the stocks available and the kinds of antibiotics available at present.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman will recall that Transport Ministers will be responding to questions here again next Thursday but, as I wish to be as helpful as I can, I will ask them to respond directly to him about this scheme. Transport schemes often take much longer than we might imagine they would, but it seems that this one has taken a long time.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

May we have a statement on communications by Action Fraud with my constituents, whose cases are referred to it and they then hear nothing?

[Mr Lansley]

I cannot promise a statement but I will try to make sure that I get an appropriate response from Ministers, particularly if my hon. Friend is able to give me additional details.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

The hon. Gentleman is very gracious, and I will indeed make sure that his good wishes are passed on to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who I know is making very good progress. As we might expect, it turns out that he is quite resilient.

The independent expert panel is still preparing its report. The timing of the completion of the report and of its submission to Ministers is a matter for the panel. The hon. Gentleman will know that the report will include an assessment of the costs, and an economic assessment is being prepared to inform decision making. We will of course keep the House informed about that.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for providing Government time to debate the Francis report. Officials at the Department of Health have written to a constituent of mine in respect of the trust special administration of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust that

“the Secretary of State cannot develop his own solution or accept the proposals only in part, nor can he require any amendments to the TSAs’ proposals other than by using his veto.”

With respect, I challenge that interpretation, given the Secretary of State’s overriding powers under sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Although they accept the broad thrust of the trust special administrators’ recommendations, my constituents look to the Secretary of State to protect local services, especially for the most vulnerable in the areas of maternity and paediatrics. May we have a debate on the powers of the Secretary of State for Health?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he said about the debate on the Francis report and the Government response. I have said before that it is important that we have such a debate and I am glad that I have been able to announce it.

The foundation trust special administration regime could and should have been put in place by the Labour party as part of the creation of foundation trusts, but it was not. The regime has to be carefully specified. It is important that it does not become a means by which the independence of foundation trusts and the role of Monitor as the regulator of foundation trusts can be overridden, other than specifically in relation to the Secretary of State’s adherence to his general duties. The Secretary of State must use the measure only in exceptional circumstances, which implies that it is a veto, rather than to impose his view of how services should be configured over the views of the local commissioners.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The previous Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, which did not build any schools, completely ignored the demographic changes that were already evident in relation to births and the number of youngsters coming through into primary schools. I am delighted that he points to what we are doing. We will be spending £18 billion on school buildings over this Parliament, which is more than double the amount that Labour spent in its first two terms combined.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

When I had the pleasure of visiting Silkmore community primary school in Stafford, the inspirational head, Julie Mowbray, said how important the pupil premium and the funding for child care for two-year-olds were in her school, which has a high percentage of children receiving the pupil premium. May we have a debate on the effect of the pupil premium and child care funding for two-year-olds?

[Mr Lansley]

I am glad that my hon. Friend has had this opportunity to pay tribute to the work that is being done in his constituency. I cannot promise a debate immediately. He will have heard what I said about opportunities for questions, but it is important, none the less, that we have the opportunity to discuss how the implementation of our commitment to increase places for two-year-olds—this follows the introduction of our scheme for three-year-olds—will enable all young people to have access to the best possible early start in education.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman might have some success in his quest for a debate, because this is clearly a distressing matter for his constituents and their friends and families. I will of course talk to my ministerial colleague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who will be in contact with the hon. Gentleman. I hope, too, that if there are wider issues the Minister will take whatever opportunity he can to update the House.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

Farmers in Staffordshire and other parts of the country who have seen their pedigree herds slaughtered as a result of bovine TB face a double loss: the loss of their herds, into which they put so much effort, and a loss of compensation, because they are compensated at an average level. May we have a debate on fair compensation for farmers who lose their cattle as a result of this terrible disease?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend will know that we are doing everything we can to try to reduce the high incidence of bovine TB. This is a very important issue and whenever we debate the mechanisms of the badger cull we should never forget that it meets a very important purpose. I understand my hon. Friend’s point about compensation. I will raise it with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and ask him to respond to my hon. Friend.

Business of the House

Jeremy Lefroy Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

If we had such an opportunity with the former US Defence Secretary, he would understand that we, like many across the world, have had to take tough decisions on defence spending. However, he would acknowledge that, as a consequence of the decisions this Government have made and the value for money that we are achieving not least in procurement, we have closed that enormous black hole in commitments against resources that our Ministry of Defence had. That has enabled us to plan to spend £160 billion on equipment over the next decade, giving us a formidable range of cutting-edge capabilities. As for the Navy, the new aircraft carrier is almost complete, and the Type 45 destroyers, Type 26 frigates and seven new Astute class submarines are coming into base, which demonstrates that we have the best trained and equipped armed forces outside the United States.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

The Government’s welcome banking reforms, including the raising of capital, are one part of countering the excessive risk-taking over many years by the banks. Another part of that is for the banks to acknowledge the consequences of that risk- taking. May we have a statement on the slow rate at which banks are looking into things such as the mis-selling of interest rate swaps to so-called unsophisticated investors?

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that. The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 will allow us to make important steps in ensuring that we have a banking system that is not prey to the regulatory failures of the past. None the less, he makes an important point about mis-selling in relation to interest rate swaps. I know that my hon. Friends at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are anxious to make progress in settling that. I hope that the new Financial Conduct Authority will see that as one of its priorities.