Strangford Lough: Tidal Wave Energy

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon]

I like to think I am well prepared for most things. Whenever those interventions come, I will be happy to give way.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman has mentioned intervening, and it is a great pleasure to intervene on him. Does he not intend to intervene on the Minister at the end?

[Jim Shannon]

I will probably see how the debate goes; there may perchance be an opportunity.

Housing Supply

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Thursday 13th July 2017 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) on his helpful presentation on affordable homes, which included some good ideas about how the Minister can address the issue.

As a father with three sons and two granddaughters, I well remember having a full house while my son and daughter-in-law lived with me. That is the way it was, because that is what they needed to ensure they could be on the site and then move. I declare an interest as a landowner; I have had a couple of sites passed that I have then given to my children to help them. Not every child has that opportunity. I remember when they lived with us, with their baby, while they built their house. There was a period when they accumulated money to finance themselves, get a deposit and move on. They did not fall into a category eligible for social housing, which would have enabled them to pay less for rental accommodation. Things in Northern Ireland are very different; the matter is devolved, as the Minister will know. My son Ian and his partner Ashley also lived with us before they got their first home so that they could accumulate some cash for their deposit.

I understand that time is of the essence, Mr Bone, and I will speak about a couple of points. Young people need their own space and their own lives. Sadly, social housing is so strained that many young people who work are unable to get a foot in and are therefore stuck either paying someone else’s mortgage by renting—as the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) mentioned—or living with parents for longer than they would like.

Couples who both worked while they had young children used to be an oddity; now, the family in which one parent can stay at home and look after the children is fast becoming the oddity. That is due not to extravagant lifestyles but to the cost of getting on the housing ladder and of running houses that were bought when prices were high. In my constituency, and perhaps across all our constituencies, there are homeowners who now have negative equity, and it will be a long time before they get out of it, if ever.

Getting on the property ladder can be difficult for a young family. That is where the Government must step up and step in to assist first-time buyers. One of my staff members here in London is buying a house at £575,000. How on earth can they do it? Only with the good will of family connections is it possible to get on the first level of housing in this city. The sister of a girl who used to work for me lives in London. They are both accountants and probably fairly well paid, but the house that they are buying is £700,000. Where do people in London start if they want to buy a house?

The total housing stock in England increased by around 190,000 dwellings last year, as I am sure the Minister will mention. That is 12% higher than the previous year’s figure, but well below the 250,000 that the Government said would be built. I heard someone in my constituency ask recently how we planned to fill all the homes that we are building in Newtownards—1,000 new homes on a 100-acre site on the east of the town. Lagan Homes will build some 550 houses on two sites in Bangor, and another major developer, Turkington, is developing a site at the foot of Scrabo in the middle of Newtownards.

House prices have increased slightly over the years, but there is an undersupply of affordable private rented accommodation, as every one of us here can attest. An increasing number of applicants on the social housing waiting list are in housing stress, all of whom pose particular challenges and must be dealt with using the framework for councils provided by the community planning process.

My council area, Ards and North Down, has a population of 158,000 and is still growing. Almost 19% of the population is aged 15 or younger, 61.6% are 16 to 64 and 19.5% are 65 and over. The issue is not just houses but whether accommodation is suitable to the age of the people living there, including pensioners and those with disabilities. New build starts in my council area increased by 66% between 2012 and 2014, but they fell again in 2015. The urgent housing wait list—people who need houses right now—is 1,300 people long, which indicates the scale of the problem.

No one has yet talked about co-ownership. My son and his partner have a house today because of co-ownership. That is what got them on the ladder; they had to start somewhere. We have not heard either about the option of living above shops. There are lots of shops in many cities and towns across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with options for upstairs developments of flats, and we should consider that.

I am mindful of the time, Mr Bone. Major investment is needed in all constituencies across the United Kingdom. It will help local construction industries, and therefore the local economy, and allow families an adequate standard of living. It must be driven by Government initiatives. With great respect to the Minister, who I know will have a good response, as will the Opposition spokesperson, we should subsidise developers providing smaller pensioner homes, and help first-time buyers to get on the property ladder without increasing their long-term debt to an unmanageable level.

This debate is about not simply allowing houses to be built, but Government help, encouragement and involvement at every level, from social housing to affordable private housing. There must be a team within the Department to focus on the end goal of merging the two sectors to deliver for all the families in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They are crying out for fit-for-purpose affordable homes, and we have a duty to deliver them.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his self-restraint.

Child Maintenance Service

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Tuesday 18th April 2017 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is the children who are vulnerable. In many cases it is the mother, too, and on the odd occasion it is the father—it depends on the issues—but the focus of our attention should be on the children, as it is in this debate.

Gingerbread referred to

“new debts piling up in the new system worth an average of £668 per family.”

That is a huge amount of money to a single-parent family; it could be the uniform or the lunch money. There must be a way of getting that money paid or the matter addressed. Gingerbread also notes that

“almost £4bn of unpaid maintenance arrears has accumulated over the 23-year lifespan of the Child Support Agency…which is in the process of being shut down and replaced by its successor, the Child Maintenance Service”.

We hope that the CMS will learn from the mistakes of the CSA and deliver a better system. I look to the Minister to explain how such a better system will be unveiled and how it will ensure that parents and children get their money when they should. However, the Government estimate that only 12% of that amount is ever likely to be recovered. Although I may look to the Minister for a positive response and for guidance, I am well aware that the Government have already stated that they will not get all the money anyway—they have almost drawn a line in the sand and said, “We can’t do it.” I have to say that that is very disappointing.

The hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie), who is no longer in her place, referred in an intervention to the staff. Although the administration of the system is devolved, the rules, regulations and laws on the CSA and the CMS are decreed by Westminster. Staff are moved about all the time. In all my years of dealing with child maintenance issues, I cannot remember ever speaking to the same person twice about the same issue. More often than not, people phone up and say, “They said they would phone me back, but they didn’t.” How many times have I heard that? It is unbelievable how often staff move about and that happens.

The hon. Member for Eddisbury (Antoinette Sandbach) referred to cases in which a father moves job and becomes self-employed. Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple of cases in which a father in a very comfortable position, earning big money, has said to his wife and two children, “I am not going to be self-employed any more—I am going to go and live with my dad,” and has run away from his responsibility for maintenance. I believe that is wrong. There are others who go on the dole or who take up a job as a taxi driver—I have nothing against taxi drivers, but their earnings are all cash in hand and they can declare their own figure after their expenses. We need to look at this.

There are also delays in the system. I am now in direct contact with the manager of the system in Northern Ireland. To be fair, contacting him seems to initiate a response, but what about all the other people who are not MPs? What about the mother who is at her wits’ end because she does not have the money to look after her children? I expect—as you and other hon. Members would, Mr Bone—the same response to mothers like her as there is to us.

Gingerbread has found that

“evidence suggests that decreasing effort is being put by the government into collecting more than £700m of arrears on existing cases…Meanwhile, within the new CMS, a new system of incentives and penalties was intended to prevent arrears arising in the first place. Yet, after almost two-and-a-half-years of full operation, £52.5m has accumulated in CMS maintenance arrears, with almost half of all non-resident parents in the system having some child maintenance debt. And these figures will increase as cases are gradually transferred across from the old system.”

I have also seen cases of parents—I have to say that in all cases they were fathers—who have moved out of the country and got a job abroad. I wonder how we can chase up non-residents of the United Kingdom.

I echo the cry of Gingerbread’s former chief executive Fiona Weir, who said in June:

“Britain’s child maintenance system is contributing to a culture where too many parents think it’s optional, rather than obligatory, to pay their child’s maintenance…The accumulated level of CSA arrears is staggering and completely unacceptable. With analysis showing that one-in-five families are lifted out of poverty by child maintenance payments, this is vital money that parents, and their children, can’t do without.”

She clearly outlined the issue and where we are on it. She went on to say:

“And with the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculating that poverty rates for single parent families will double by 2020”—

therefore, the situation will get worse—

“more than ever that child maintenance owed for children needs to be collected by the Government.”

We look to the Minister and the Government to see how best they can do that.

There are also parents who are separated or divorced who come to a financial arrangement, which is an agreement by the two people. It is quite a good system, because by and large they come to a financial arrangement that is equal to what the CSA or the CMS would have arranged. However, I am frustrated, because sometimes the CSA—or, now, the CMS—will pursue those making financial arrangements to see if they can get more out of them. They almost look at them as easy targets and I find that most frustrating.

This issue is continually raised in my office. Just last week, I had a father in my office who has children from a previous relationship. His ex is in a better job than he is and is much better off financially. He has not run away from his obligations to support his children, but there must be a financial equation that is fair and realistic, and that enables everyone to do what they have to do. Fewer than half the eligible families receive child maintenance, an estimated 70% of closed CSA cases involve outstanding arrears, and £52.5 million is already owed under the CMS system.

Communication is also vital. Whenever a lady phones up looking for her CSA payments, I expect the Department to phone her back, so we must initiate a better system, because communication is so important. In the life that we live as MPs in this House, communication—how we relate to and respond to our constituents—is so much of our bread and butter.

I am conscious of the time, so I will finish with this. There are failures that are clear, and these must be addressed, so we must look at the rules, regulations and guidelines that come out of Westminster and consider how we can change them so that the system can work better, whether in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales or England. I look to the Minister for assurance that these past debts will be actively sought and that changes will be made to prevent that situation from continuing. With that in mind, we must do better than collecting just 12%.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

Before I call the last Back Bencher, which will be David Burrowes, let me say that I will now start the wind-ups at 12.33 pm, because this is a Backbench Business Committee debate and we want to make sure that Back Benchers have a chance to speak in it.

Armed Forces Bill

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Wednesday 16th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Temporary Chair]

We are debating clauses 3, 4 and 5 together if any Member wants to speak on them.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Thank you, Mr Bone, for clarifying the process. I have put this all together, if the Minister could just bear with me.

The Minister referred to investigation and charging in relation to clauses 3 to 5 and I want to ask a question about that. We see a simplification of the process relating to service personnel charged with offences. I assume the Minister is saying that that will be achieved by reducing the number of stages required for the decision to bring charges. Not only will the provision make it easier to bring charges where appropriate, and ensure discipline and order are maintained in our armed forces, it will streamline the process and reduce bureaucracy so that commanding officers are free to go about other duties essential to the smooth running of all aspects of our armed services. Will the Minister clarify the role of the commanding officer in an investigation?

If the Minister will bear with me, clause 2 related to alcohol and drugs. As we are talking about investigation, I want to comment on that. The new rules on drug and alcohol testing are similar, but not identical, to the provisions under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003. The 2003 Act provides for an alcohol and drug testing regime that is applicable to both the maritime and aviation environments, but the armed forces have Crown exemption. Will the Minister clarify this matter in relation to the new rules on drug and alcohol testing and investigations?

The Bill will remedy that and strengthen the approach to alcohol or drug misuse within the armed forces, as well as being more specific about what grounds justify a drug or alcohol test. It will make it easier for those in charge of an investigation to order a drug or alcohol test when needed, which can only make our armed forces safer and more secure, while simplifying the process to make it easier for commanding officers to secure a drug or alcohol test.

The new statutory framework for immunity from prosecution will give the Director of Service Prosecutions and service courts powers that may assist investigators and prosecutors in cases where it may otherwise be difficult to persuade service personnel to co-operate with the service police and to give evidence. The Minister will be aware of a specific case in Northern Ireland where investigations are ongoing. I believe the provisions are a positive development that will improve transparency across our armed forces and improve the security of individuals. Of course, this could be particularly important to Northern Ireland where there have been continuous attempts, through spurious allegations, to drag the names of former soldiers through the mud. We must never let the legitimate forces of law and order be equated with cold-blooded murderous terrorists. I hope that this aspect of the Bill can ensure that the brave service personnel who fought terrorism in Northern Ireland will never be dragged through the courts by those who terrorised our state, or by their sympathisers and supporters.

On investigation and prosecution in relation to this particular issue, what role will the Minister play? I am sure we are keen to put in place a transparent method of investigation and prosecution. There has to be protection for our brave service personnel. Where we can, we should give them immunity, but we must always give them our full and unreserved legal support and aid, should they need it.

I hope that was clear for the Minister. I have raised several issues about investigation that have to be addressed.

[The Temporary Chair (Mr Peter Bone)]

As it is coming towards Christmas, we let the hon. Gentleman go back slightly to clause 2. [Hon. Members: “And forward!”]. And forward, yes. But we have been moving rapidly, and he was seeking advice as he went.

European Union Referendum Bill

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Bone]

My hon. Friend is far too kind, as always, but I was not making a point about any individual Members. My point, to all Members sitting here, is that if we really care and campaign about something—as the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin) has done consistently —we can get there in the end. We should never be scared to stand up and be in the minority, because after a while the minority often becomes the majority.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Does the hon. Gentleman welcome the fact that all UK nationals, including those in Gibraltar, will have a vote on this issue? We in Northern Ireland want to see it happen so that we, too, can make our choice. The only thing that I am a wee bit perturbed about is that we would prefer the referendum to be held earlier, rather than later. Does he agree that we should have it as soon as possible?

[Mr Bone]

This is a Second Reading debate, so I want to support the principle of what is happening and to celebrate the fact that we will have the in/out referendum. However, the hon. Gentleman raises an issue that slightly concerns me, which, it will be no surprise to learn, is the timetabling of the Bill’s Committee stage.

The Bill is a constitutional one so, rightly, the Committee stage will be held on the Floor of the House. Today, immediately after Second Reading, we will vote on the programme motion, which we are not allowed to debate at that point, although by tradition we may refer to it on Second Reading. My concern about the timetabling is that the Bill is scheduled to be in Committee in the House for two days, which will be Tuesday and Thursday of next week. The programme motion states that the first set of clauses will be debated for four hours after the commencement of the Bill in Committee. We know what happens, however, especially on a Thursday—there will be business questions after normal Question Time, and that is two hours used up. If there is then a statement and an Urgent Question, although we will have been able to debate the first group for four hours, we will have no time at all to discuss the last group.

Before we have the business statement on Thursday, will the Minister ask the business managers whether they can change the programme motion so that, instead of the debate on the second group of new clauses finishing at the moment of interruption, it can go on for as long as necessary? This is an important constitutional Bill, and we should not be in a position of having only about 10 minutes to debate certain new clauses. That happened too often in the old Parliament. If we could just remove from the programme motion those two little bits that would cause the Committee stage to fall at the moment of interruption, it would help the democratic process a lot. Many people have said today, whatever side of the argument they are on, that they want a fair and proper referendum. I absolutely agree with that, and if the House has the ability to consider properly what is going to be in the Bill and what is going to happen in the referendum, we will be all the better for it. This is the one point that I ask the Minister to look at.

Government Policy (Kenya)

Debate between Jim Shannon and Peter Bone

Wednesday 20th March 2013 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to make a small contribution to the debate.

I want quickly to comment on the importance of Kenya and the United Kingdom and their role together, and also to comment on the opportunities that I have had in Kenya and in my interaction with some Kenyan citizens with British passports who live in my constituency. The hon. Member for Falkirk (Eric Joyce) and others have talked about the importance of Kenya, and it is good to come to this Chamber to speak on the issue and to underline the importance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Kenya, and of where we can go from here.

Question marks over the election have been well illustrated by other Members, and I do not intend to dwell on them. I agree with the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) that it is important to move on, realise where we are and take advantage of opportunities. The importance of the link between us and Kenya is well known because of the colonial relationships we have had over the years. We have become very interdependent, and the strong traditional and historical links between that nation and ours are important, as are the links today as Africa changes. The economic links are also important, and perhaps the Minister will comment on that in his response. I am always impressed with the Minister, and I do not say that in a condescending way, because when it comes to the issues that I and others feel in our hearts, he recognises them too, and that is the important thing when it comes to responding and encapsulating what we are all thinking. We look forward, therefore, to his response.

Economic links with Kenya are important, and we already have them in place. Traditionally, those links have been more important for the United Kingdom than for other parts of the world, but we must be aware that other countries are now equally interested in taking advantage of them. I had the opportunity of being in Kenya last year, and China’s presence there was very apparent. China was deeply involved in massive road building, and I would like to have the tarmac or the cement contract for that because it would last for ever.

We have people skills in this country, and yesterday my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast North (Mr Dodds) spoke on the importance of the UK’s links with other countries. We have people skills and construction skills, and the ability to take people from here to Kenya to help. We should be doing that sort of construction work in Kenya. No disrespect to the Chinese, but why are we not there? That is the very point that many Members made in this Chamber at this very time yesterday morning. Whether or not it is the direct responsibility of the Minister, I would like to see some ideas about how we can build on that.

Something that did not come up in yesterday’s debate was the importance of water. Water in all parts of Africa is important, and we have many capable companies in the United Kingdom that could be given the contracts to improve accessibility to clean water right across Africa, and in particular in Kenya. Perhaps the Minister will give us an idea of how we can do that. We have very strong health and medical contacts with Kenya as well, and that is important because we want to increase the life span of people there. Tourism is important, not because of the programmes on TV that we have all seen but because it is an opportunity to see Kenya’s potential and its preservation of wildlife so that, rather than taking advantage, we can enjoy what there is in Kenya.

As I mentioned, the presence of China in Kenya is obvious. They are active everywhere in the country, and they are in every country in Africa. They are a major influence in the continent, and we do not want to lose our influence in any part of Africa, especially not in Kenya, to other countries. When it comes to mining, industry and the economy, what are we doing as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to help?

I have been involved with helping some Kenyan citizens in my constituency with immigration and personal issues, as all Members will have done as society across the whole United Kingdom becomes more cosmopolitan than ever before.

In the past two years I have been a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, which has given me the opportunity to go to many parts of the world. One place I went to last year was the British Army Training Unit in Kenya—BATUK—of which the hon. Member for Falkirk spoke. Our training camps in Kenya are vital, because they train our soldiers before they go to Afghanistan. As the sphere of war and our influence decreases in Afghanistan and the possibility of other spheres of conflict in Africa increases, BATUK is more important than ever. The British Government have spent a lot of money on their training camps in Kenya. We were there last year, when they were spending more money on a new training camp. That again underlines the important role that, for many reasons, we in this country have with Kenya. We need stability, and it is very important to have that over the next period.

I want to comment on the importance of Kenya and its stabilising role in the area. As other Members have said, Kenya contributes 2,000 troops to Somalia. Kenya is a very stabilising country in east Africa, but other countries, including Somalia, are very destabilising. It is important for this country and for Africa as a whole that Kenya is stable, and that it can use its influence in other countries in the area to ensure that peace reigns and that the destabilising influences of Muslim jihadist and other terrorist groups are diminished. That comes off the back of Kenya, backed by us and the United States of America, playing a very clear role.

Piracy off the east coast of Africa has been touched on by other Members. I believe that we can play a bigger role, as can Kenya, in addressing that issue. Perhaps it is time for the Foreign Office to have an officer in the embassy whose role would be to work with other countries to ensure that the piracy issue is addressed at the highest levels. There is a diplomatic role, as I have said, but there is also a military role, and perhaps that officer in the embassy in Kenya might, if at all possible, co-ordinate and improve such matters.

To conclude, Kenya’s role is critical to the future of Africa, but the relationship of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with Kenya is also critical to that, because Kenya alone cannot achieve the stabilisation that is needed. It is time to move on from the elections and to grasp the future for all the people in Kenya. Whether people are religious or not, I was very impressed to be informed on my travels in Kenya that no other place has as many churches per 100 yards. I have never seen as many churches in my life—Presbyterian, Elim Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witness, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Church of Kenya—and they were incredible. That tells me that the people have a wish to do better and have an interest in each other. It is in our interests to play our part for Kenya, through this Government, as well as through this Westminster Hall debate.

[Mr Peter Bone (in the Chair)]

Before I call the shadow Minister, it might be helpful to say to the Minister, because I appreciate that he does not have a Parliamentary Private Secretary here, that inspiration from his officials should come via the Doorkeeper.