Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

No one would welcome such a debate more than me, but I cannot promise my hon. Friend one in the immediate future. He makes a point. The Mayor intends for the Met to have 32,510 fully warranted police officers by the end of his first term, which is significantly more than he inherited. I pay tribute to what the Mayor of London has done in his first term.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

May we have a debate on the contribution that apprentices make to their local communities? Eight young apprentices from MBDA in my constituency are about to compete against seven other teams in the Brathay challenge. They will raise money for a local charity, raise awareness of apprenticeships and take part in an outdoor challenge. This is just one of the many commendable activities in which they take part each year, and I am sure that the Leader of the House would like to join me in wishing them good luck in the challenge.

[Sir George Young]

Indeed, I do wish them good luck. I also wish good luck to the more than 400,000 apprentices starting their apprenticeships this year. That is a record number and a significant contribution to tackling the problems of youth unemployment that we inherited from the outgoing Government.

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the concern of my hon. Friend’s constituents at the Indian Government’s decision to back the Rafale rather than the Eurofighter Typhoon. During an exchange at BIS questions, the Secretary of State outlined the action still open to this Government and this country to try to secure the order. I cannot promise an immediate debate, but my hon. Friend might like to apply to you, Mr Speaker, for an Adjournment debate or a debate in Westminster Hall.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

International women’s day will be celebrated worldwide on 8 March. The theme this year is connecting girls, inspiring futures, which is timely at a time of such austerity. It would be a travesty if there were not a debate in this House, the mother of all Parliaments, on 8 March. Will the Leader of the House help to ensure that a debate takes place, in the main Chamber, on international women’s day?

[Sir George Young]

Last year, there was a debate, rightly, on international women’s day in the Chamber. As she will know, responsibility for finding time for international women’s day is specifically mentioned in, I think, paragraph 145 of the Wright Committee report. I will seek to make available to the Backbench Business Committee a day on or around that specific day, so it has the opportunity to fulfil the hon. Lady’s request.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I would always encourage any local authority to work with the local community on the provision of community libraries and to provide the support of a professional librarian behind the community library service.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

11. What assessment he has made of the potential legacy of the London 2012 Olympics for children and young people.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

There is a cross-party commitment to use the games next year to have a lasting sporting legacy for young people. That will partly be through the school games, which my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport and the Olympics has talked about, as well as through the extraordinary sports facilities that will be built next year and a new youth sport strategy that is designed to boost participation among young people, which we will be announcing in the new year.

[Julie Hilling]

I saw first hand the real difference that a school sports partnership was making to the participation rates and, indeed, the performance of young people in Bolton West. Now that it has gone, how will the Secretary of State ensure that my constituents benefit from the Olympics?

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to one of the ambitions of our economic policy, which is to switch the emphasis on growth from spending and borrowing to investment and exports. The fact that we are not in the eurozone enables us to have a competitive exchange rate, which in turn gives our exporters a head start over those in some other countries.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

Are the Government delaying the Queen’s Speech because the economy is flatlining, because they have run out of ideas or because their legislation is so bad for Britain that they cannot get it through the other place? Are we ever going to have the Queen’s Speech?

[Sir George Young]

The Government’s legislative programme has made good progress through this Chamber and is now in the upper House, where we are awaiting the Welfare Reform Bill, the Health and Social Care Bill and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. I hope that those Bills will receive legitimate and proper consideration down there and then come back. When the Government have got their Bills through this House, it will then be time to give the date of the Queen’s Speech, but not until then.

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I support the work that Cord is doing not just in the countries that my hon. Friend mentioned but in Burundi, where it is helping those affected by HIV. I know that many such organisations are supported by the Department for International Development, which has a particular fund for such initiatives. I would welcome such a debate, but I am afraid I cannot promise one in the very near future.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

Next Tuesday, hundreds of young people and youth workers will lobby Parliament to save their youth services. Youth work is en route to being the first public service to disappear completely, and indeed in a number of places it already has. Please may we have an urgent debate in Government time on the disappearance of youth services?

[Sir George Young]

The youth service is an important service provided by county councils, and it is up to them to decide which of the resources that have been made available to them to put into it. Of course Ministers will be happy to respond to a lobby, but decisions on resource priorities are made by locally elected authorities.

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I welcome the fact that within a relatively short time some 24 free schools are up and running, given that the legislation only hit the statute book in July last year. That compares favourably with city technology colleges and academies, and many more free schools are in the pipeline. I hope that there will be opportunities to take the debate forward, perhaps in Westminster Hall, so that we can tell more people about the success of free schools. Some of them have been established in the teeth of local resistance.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

As President Obama promised that Palestine would be a new member of the United Nations by this September, may we have a debate on Palestine’s application for membership before the UK casts its vote, so that we can show our overwhelming support for a yes vote?

[Sir George Young]

I understand that there was a debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday on precisely that matter, so I do not think it would necessarily be the best use of time to have yet another debate when we have already had one this week.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

The Leader of the House was asked—

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee on means for that Committee to receive representations from hon. Members.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath)]

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House meets regularly with the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee to discuss a range of issues relating to Back-Bench business. My right hon. Friend and I have attended meetings of what he calls the Backbench Business Committee’s weekly salon. We have been impressed by the work of the Committee and the quality of presentations by hon. Members.

[Julie Hilling]

With all the non-legislative debates being transferred to the Backbench Business Committee, does the Deputy Leader of the House recognise that hon. Members will want to make representations for more parliamentary time to be allocated to Back-Bench business, particularly given its popularity since its introduction?

[Mr Heath]

It is important that we get the right balance in the House between legislative business, which is the proper business of the House, and the debates that the Backbench Business Committee organises on behalf of the House. The Wright Committee made clear proposals on how we should allocate time to the Backbench Business Committee, which the Government have followed. The days have been transferred and I think that it is working extremely well.

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 17th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s initiative at business questions in giving the service the publicity to which it is entitled. The whole House will endorse the good wishes that he has just mentioned.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

This week Oxfordshire joined the growing list of local authorities that are closing their youth services completely. In view of the gravity of the situation, and as there is a statutory duty to provide youth work, may we have an urgent debate in the Chamber on the issue?

[Sir George Young]

Again, I say to the hon. Lady that there was an opportunity to debate the situation two weeks ago when we discussed the revenue support grant. Those decisions have now been taken. I will draw her concern to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and ask him to write to her.

Business of the House

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Of course I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern, but the former Home Secretary made it clear before the last election that if his party had been returned, it could not guarantee that there would not be a reduction in police numbers.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House consider holding a debate on our industrial heritage? On 21 December 1910, my community was devastated by the loss of 344 men and boys in the Pretoria pit disaster, the third largest such disaster in British history. I hope that he will join me in congratulating the communities of Westhoughton and Atherton on the efforts that they have made over a number of years to commemorate the centenary of the disaster next Tuesday and in sending sympathy to the many families who still remember their relatives and coal mining heritage with pride?

[Sir George Young]

I welcome the initiative taken by the hon. Lady and those in her community, who recognise the tragic disaster that took place at the Pretoria pit 100 years ago. It is right that we should recognise that many sacrifices were made in building the industrial strength of this country and the initiative that she has mentioned will be widely applauded in her constituency.

Business of the House (Thursday)

Julie Hilling Excerpts

Wednesday 8th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Hilary Benn]

Undoubtedly, it is not enough time. My hon. Friend makes an extremely powerful point.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

Will my right hon. Friend enlighten me on whether we will discuss student bursaries in tomorrow’s debate? I believe that should be the subject of its own debate and not be crammed into the five hours that we will have tomorrow. If bursaries are paid for by universities, universities that draw from the poorest people in the population, such as the university of Bolton, will be badly disadvantaged. There will be no similar effect on universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Jones]

I accept what my hon. Friend is saying, but I do not think that an extra half hour would give the House enough time to debate this issue. The words of the Leader of the House in his opening statement are important. As a reason why the statutory instrument needs to be rushed through this week, in a matter of five hours, he said—I wrote this down—that otherwise we would slow the process down, and that the fiscal position we are in is important. That exposes the truth of why this measure is being driven through. It is nothing at all to do with higher education or ensuring that Members can have a debate tomorrow. Rather than the Government thinking about the future of the country and its educational needs, they are saying that future generations will have to start paying now, to try to help them in the financial position in which they now find themselves.

[Julie Hilling]

Does my hon. Friend agree that tomorrow we will be debating an issue of such importance for all young people in this country that we owe it to them to spend a reasonable time having a reasoned discussion, in order to make a decision on something that will live with them until they reach retirement?

[Mr Jones]

It will, and what seems like a simple statutory instrument will tomorrow change fundamentally the future of higher education in this country. That is why five hours is not long enough.

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Farrelly]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the situation in north Staffordshire, where we live, which is a situation that will be replicated across the country. The danger is that we will not have the time to debate, area by area, the risk to the entirety of an institution that will follow—or may follow—the teaching cuts and the fees combined.

[Julie Hilling]

Does my hon. Friend agree that people studying courses such as youth and community work will be disadvantaged? It is mainly poorer and older people who go into the profession, and they are people who spend their lives in the service of young people and their communities, but who will never earn the salaries—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Lady is very much focusing on the substance of the issue, but we must get back to the allocation of time.