Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Frazer and Maggie Throup

Monday 21st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Maggie Throup (Erewash) (Con)]

T7. Our precious green belt should never be prioritised over brownfield sites. However, local authorities are coming under increasing pressure to include green belt in their core strategies because of unfair housing targets. Will my right hon. and learned Friend help councils to better implement a “brownfield first” policy by reforming the formula used to set housing targets? Will she meet me and representatives from Erewash Borough Council to discuss the matter further?

[The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lucy Frazer)]

We are absolutely committed to making the most of brownfield land. In fact, the national planning policy framework sets out that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land in settlements and should prioritise that. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Frazer and Maggie Throup

Thursday 23rd May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is a very well respected criminal barrister and has done a great amount of work here as a member of the Justice Committee. He is absolutely right to highlight the incredible work that lawyers undertake for free, which does go unrecognised. He is also right to highlight the Manchester attack. We are in the anniversary week of that terrible tragedy and my thoughts are with all those who have suffered. The Manchester Law Society did a call for support and over 100 firms and barristers offered free advice and representation.

[Maggie Throup]

I welcome my hon. and learned Friend to her new role and wish her every success.

As has already been said, pro bono law work is an important resource for all of us as constituency MPs. Given that fact, as well as the message we have heard that lots of pro bono work is being carried out, will my hon. and learned Friend outline what more can be done to encourage law firms and universities outside London to provide more pro bono work?

[The Solicitor General]

That is a good point, because students can play a critical role in giving support, and of course both London and the regions need to help and support those in need. In my role as a constituency MP, I was at the Anglia Law School law clinic only few weeks ago. It brings law firms in Cambridge together with those studying at the local university to help to support people.

Criminal Legal Aid

Debate between Lucy Frazer and Maggie Throup

Tuesday 8th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Frazer]

My right hon. and learned Friend, who was a Minister at an early stage in this process, makes a very important point. The scheme we are debating today came about because both the Bar and the Government accepted that the old scheme was outdated. Advocates told us that it did not reflect the amount of time and effort they put into their cases. For example, under the old scheme there were no separate fees for the second day of a trial and there were no fees for a sentence hearing. The new scheme is the result of a two-year exercise involving the leadership of the Bar—the Bar Council—the Criminal Bar Association and the circuit leaders. When the scheme was put forward in a consultation in 2017 it was widely welcomed by those organisations.

[Maggie Throup (Erewash) (Con)]

I am not a lawyer, so it may be that I am looking at this issue in a very simplistic way. It seems that my hon. and learned Friend is saying that the professionals said that the old regime was broken, yet the Opposition seem to be arguing that they want to go back to that old regime. Can my hon. and learned Friend enlighten me on why the Opposition are opposing modernising the system?

[Lucy Frazer]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point, which is at the very heart of this debate. The old system is not supported by the Bar. It did not want that system. The new scheme is an improvement, so the answer to my hon. Friend’s question is that the Labour party is simply playing politics with an honourable and important profession.