Oral Answers to Questions

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Wednesday 11th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

We are certainly moving in that direction. My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for civil society announced this week that the big society bank is being established; £200 million of moneys in that bank will be available on a wholesale basis for charities in Wales.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

Many women in Wales who are approaching state pension age are presumably part of the Government’s big society in that they have reduced their hours to undertake caring responsibility for elderly parents and grandchildren. They now find themselves having to work up to two years longer with little time to prepare. Does the Minister understand how betrayed these women feel by this dereliction of public duty?

[Mr Jones]

I am sure that the hon. Lady will also recognise that the economic legacy we inherited from Labour means that it is absolutely necessary that everybody should play their part in contributing to economic recovery. That means, sadly, that there will have to be an extension of the retirement age. I hope that she will explain that to her constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

Yes, I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the company in her constituency. If all 26 million households in the United Kingdom take up our green deal over the next 20 years, employment in that sector could rise from its present level of 27,000 to something approaching 250,000, working all around the UK to make our housing stock fit for a low-carbon world.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

11. What recent estimate she has made of the number of jobs to be lost in the public sector in Wales as a result of the reductions in public expenditure in 2011-12.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

A forecast of public sector job losses was published last year by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility. This was based on UK-wide macro-economic data, and no regional breakdown is available. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I remain committed to working with ministerial colleagues to minimise the impact of the reductions in public expenditure that we are having to make on Welsh workers and their families.

[Jessica Morden]

The Government’s impact assessment relating to the closure of Newport passport office includes the statement that

“we will also pay £3m redundancy…which may create a short term boost in trade for the local economy.”

Is this the Government’s new alternative growth strategy?

[Mr Jones]

The line to which the hon. Lady refers is in every economic impact assessment that has been prepared in connection with the current process. That consultation will not be finished until Friday, and all options remain open.

Constitutional Law

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Owen Smith]

I am afraid that I cannot give those guarantees, but I hope that when the Minister responds, he will be able to give us further reassurances about that; I shall cover that point further in a moment. We are deeply worried that, with the combination poll and all the complications that will attend on that, this election has the prospect of being a very difficult one. I fear that we have probably not tested the possibilities or made provision for all the complications that could ensue.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister would be wise to listen to the professional election administrators in Wales, who have warned of the potential for huge voter confusion next year when we hold different types of elections on different franchises using different voting systems?

[Owen Smith]

Absolutely. That is an extremely important point, very well made. We have a significant problem ahead of us next May, with the combined poll. It is going to be complicated, and I fear that due consideration has not been given to our concerns.

I would therefore like to ask the Minister what dialogue he or the Secretary of State have had with the First Minister and other Welsh Assembly Ministers to satisfy themselves that the necessary planning and resources are now in place. The omission of any measures to address these concerns in the order, or in any related legislation, suggests that the Minister is wholly confident that, once again, it will be all right on the night. That is despite the fact that, as many Labour Members have pointed out, this time around, thanks to the disrespectful placing of the complicating referendum on AV on the same day, along with the cuts to the Assembly budget and consequently to local government budgets in Wales, there will be far more to handle at this poll and far fewer resources with which to do that.

We remember the chaos in many polling stations earlier this year, with people being ignominiously turned away from the polls. We also remember the chaos in Scotland in 2007, when more than 100,000 ballots were spoiled. Thankfully, Wales was exempt from both those instances, but is the Minister certain that there is no possibility of this happening in 2011 in Wales? He will know that it is much easier to destroy trust in the democratic process than it is to build it up. These ballots must go through without a hint of the problems that we have seen elsewhere. I can only assume that, in his response, he will be able to give us an absolute assurance that he is confident that the ballots will go off without a hitch

Notwithstanding the fact that we will not oppose the order tonight as its passage was not assumed in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, as was the case with the associated orders for Scotland and Northern Ireland, is it not instructive that we are debating it after that Bill, which will fundamentally undermine the Welsh elections, has already been hustled through this House? Is this not also illustrative of the high-handed party political approach that this Government have taken to dealing with all constitutional issues in recent weeks, given that such things are usually treated with far greater respect and given far more even-handed deliberation?

Welsh Grand Committee (Scrutiny)

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Westminster Hall

[Alun Michael]

An untimely, delayed response might be made, but that does not meet the point of timeliness and it is part of the general picture of unseemly rush by a Government who are clearly embarrassed by their own proposals.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, according to the Committee Clerks, the Secretary of State could take up to two months to respond?

[Alun Michael]

Indeed. The point is that we should have proper debate in the Welsh Grand Committee on subjects of importance to Wales, when the debate is relevant and timely. It should be now; it should have happened already.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

The hon. Gentleman should know that I have deep affection for RAF Valley, having done my armed services parliamentary fellowship scheme with the RAF. I was even privileged to sit in the back seat of several fast jets, courtesy of some first-class pilots. The RAF has a special place in my heart, and I can certainly assure him that I will always speak up loudly for RAF Valley.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

4. What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on policing in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr David Jones)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with Cabinet and ministerial colleagues, and we regularly meet the Association of Chief Police Officers Cymru, Police Authorities of Wales, the Welsh Local Government Association and other interested parties to discuss matters affecting policing and law and order in Wales.

[Jessica Morden]

With Welsh police forces facing budget cuts this year of more than £6 million, which is a real threat to front-line policing in constituencies such as mine, will the Minister tell the House how much it will cost to elect and fund the proposed directly elected police commissioners in Wales?

[Mr Jones]

The hon. Lady will know that we have had to impose budget cuts to make a start on sorting out the appalling economic legacy that we inherited from the Labour party. Elected police commissioners will not cost a penny more than the police authorities that they will replace, and they will add the considerable value of ensuring that there is a democratic link between the electorate and those responsible for overseeing the police.