Commons committees examine range of items

Posted on March 18, 2024 by ianchisnall

This week in Parliament several important subjects will be raised with committees involving Sussex MPs. This afternoon Jeremy Quin, the MP for Horsham is involved in a several events that afternoon; the Public Accounts Committee discussing “Non-executive director appointments” and Caroline Lucas, the Brighton Pavilion is on the Environmental Audit Sub Committee on Polar Research to discuss “The UK and Antarctic Environment” with exploring the effects of climate change in Antarctica and the role that UK science can play in understanding and protecting the region.

In tomorrow the Education Committee involves Caroline Ansell from Eastbourne on the “Impact of industrial action on university students” particularly looking at the Marking Assessment Boycott. In that afternoon there are several events, the Foreign Affairs Committee sees participation from Henry Smith, the Crawley discussing “Western Balkans”. The debate explores how making a combined approach of the UK’s global, economic, scientific, security and diplomatic strengths goes beyond aid to improve our development partnerships. Jeremy Quin is involved in several events with the Defence Sub-Committee to discuss “Developing AI capacity and expertise in UK Defence” It will examine how the MOD can strengthen the defence and security to transform a number of defence activities. He is also listed on Liaison Sub-Committee on “Scrutiny of Strategic Thinking in Government” and his own discussion, the “Child Trust Fund access for people seeking to manage the finances of others’’. Also Tim Loughton, the East Worthing and Shoreham MP has organised a discussion about “Baby loss and the role of coroners”. Interestingly Mims Davis described some aspects of this subject for Mid Sussex,

Parents who’ve experienced the devastation of losing a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy can apply for a certificate to have their grief and loss recognised. Parents can now access a voluntary scheme to record and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their loss.  The certificates will not be compulsory, but the choice of all parents based on their feelings with details on Gov.uk.

This has the Pregnancy Loss Review group.

On Wednesday the Home Affairs Committee with Tim debating “Fire and Rescue Service” with the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee and Lloyd Russell-Moyle from Brighton Kemptown with Energy Security and Net Zero Committee “Keeping the power on: our future energy technology mix” later in the day “A flexible grid for the future” sees the The Public Accounts Committee involving Jeremy which will cover “Delivering value from government investment in major programmes” The Environmental Audit Committee which involves Caroline and “The role of natural capital in the green economy”. This inquiry investigates the natural capital in the green economy and the Government’s proposals to increase private investment in measures to support nature recovery.

The Conservative MP from South London, Elliot Colburn, is organising a debate connected to two “e-petitions 630932 published by Fares Rahmani and 631529 published by Dan McCarthy relating to LGBT content in relationships education” The “Remove LGBT content from the Relationships Education curriculum” number 630932, achieved nearly 250,000 signatures with significant numbers in Sussex. 1,423 in West Sussex, with 631 signatures in Crawley, 778 in Brighton, Hove 336 and 270 in East Sussex of which Eastbourne has 160. The “Do not remove LGBT content from the Relationships Education curriculum” 631529, received nearly 105,000 signatures. A total of 1,739 in West Sussex which included 311 in Shoreham. 2,214 in Brighton and Hove (957 alone in Brighton Pavilion) and 1,069 in East Sussex with 314 from Hastings and Rye.

Another event that is planned to take place today is a discussion that is described as “Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill: Consideration of Lords Amendments” The amendments were approved by the House of Lords which means the House of Commons is now able to consider the documents that relate to the Bill that was first established in December last year. Penny Mordaunt speaking on Thursday 7th March stated

there will be a debate today which is “Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.”

During the week that Penny was commenting there were around 500 members of the House of Lords who voted for 10 amendments relating to the Bill. It is not possible to be sure of all of those that could be from Sussex but a few of them are very clear. Four of the Sussex members of House of Lords approved the first five amendments on Monday and approved at least three of the items on the Wednesday. These four people are Lord Bassam of Brighton a Labour member, Viscount Hailsham who is Conservative member, Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint who is now a Crossbench member although he was earlier a Conservative MP and finally Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb who is a member of the Green Party. Bassam and Jones did agree with all of amendments. There were also three Sussex members who rejected all or most of the amendments. These were Lord Moore of Etchingham who is also a Crossbench member, Lord Soames of Fletching and Lord Herbert of South Downs who are both Conservative members. However, the largest group of the Conservative and DUP members totalled 187 and the smallest group in favour of all of these ten items were 226. They were Labour, Liberal Democrat and many Crossbenchers and a few Conservatives. Clearly the amendments could be rejected by the Government because the Conservative dominates the Parliament.

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St Patrick’s Day: Irish Diaspora in the UK

Posted on March 17, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Thursday in the Parliament a session that was entitled St Patrick’s Day: Irish Diaspora in the UK took place in the afternoon. The event was organised by Rebecca Long-Bailey who is the Labour MP for Salford and Eccles which began with “I beg to move, That this House has considered St Patrick’s Day and the contribution of the Irish diaspora to the UK.” and she then stated the comment that is below. The whole of the session is available from here.

As we know, the feast of St Patrick will be celebrated on Sunday. Here in the UK, we will be celebrating the strong cultural, political and business ties between Britain and Ireland, and the immense contribution of the Irish diaspora in Britain—and what a contribution it continues to be. Niall Gallagher, the chairman of Irish Heritage, has described the contribution of the Irish to cultural life in the UK as “incalculable”. The contribution of Irish labour to the British construction industry was described by Sir William McAlpine as “immeasurable”. As of June 2023, 13,700 members of NHS staff in England reported their nationality as Irish, including around 2,300 doctors and over 4,200 nurses. When President Higgins came to Manchester 10 years ago, he said that 55,000 directors who are Irish sit on the boards of British companies, and that number is even bigger today. The brightest and best who lay claim to an Irish heritage are smashing the glass ceiling in every aspect of working and public life, and I am proud to celebrate them today.

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Caroline Lucas spoke about the Gas-fired Power Stations

Posted on March 16, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Wednesday in the Parliament there was a session entitled Gas-fired Power Stations and Caroline was the person who created that document to be responded by the Government in their response. The Minister who responded it is Graham Stuart and after Caroline opened the issue several other MPs also took part which can be seen here. However the initial call from Caroline was very significant and here is that text.

Caroline: (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to make a statement on the Government’s plan to build new gas-fired power stations.

Graham: The second consultation of the review of electricity market arrangements was launched yesterday. It sets out the choices that we need to make to deliver a fully decarbonised electricity system by 2035. Since 2010, the Government have reduced emissions from power by 65% and thus made the UK the first major economy in the world to halve emissions overall. We have built record volumes of renewables, from less than 7% of electricity supply in 2010 to nearly 50% today, allowing us to remove coal altogether by October this year.

Our success in growing renewables is the reason we need flexible back-up for when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. Our main source of flexible power today is unabated gas. More than half of our 15 GW of combined-cycle gas turbines could be retired by 2035. Meanwhile, electricity demand is set to increase as heat, transport and industry are electrified. We must ensure that we have sufficient sources of flexibility in place to guarantee security of supply. We need up to 55 GW of short-duration flexibility and between 30 and 50 GW of long-duration flexibility. Our aim is for as much of that capacity as possible to be low carbon.

While low-carbon technologies scale up, we will extend the life of our existing gas assets, but a limited amount of new build gas capacity will also be required in the short term to replace expiring plants as it is the only mature technology capable of providing sustained flexible capacity. We remain committed to delivering a fully decarbonised electricity supply by 2035, subject to security of supply, and we expect most new gas capacity to be built net zero-ready. The Government have committed £20 billion to carbon capture, usage and storage, and are developing comprehensive support for hydrogen. In the future, unabated gas plants will run for only a limited number of hours a year, so emissions will be entirely in line with our legally binding carbon budgets.

Caroline: I am a bit tired of this Government shunning any scrutiny of their climate record and instead relying on a past record, because while the UK may indeed be the first major economy to cut its territorial emissions by half since 1990, we are not on track to achieve our 2030 targets, and if we factor in consumption emissions, the UK has cut emissions by only 23%. So let’s have a little less complacency from the Minister. He will know that the Government’s announcement on new gas-fired power stations does in fact, contrary to what he claimed, risk undermining our climate targets and leaving the country reliant on imports of expensive gas. Members should have been given the opportunity to question the Minister on its implications for the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy system by 2035, with 95% of UK electricity being low carbon by 2030.

First, why was the statement not made in Parliament? Why was it made instead at Chatham House, where Members were not able to question the Minister on the impact of this decision? Secondly, will the Minister explain how this proposal differs from the functioning of the existing capacity market, or will he admit that it is just the Government’s latest attempt to stoke a culture war on climate? Thirdly, the Climate Change Committee is clear that no new unabated gas plants should be built after 2030, so what is the Government’s timeline for developing these new gas-fired power stations?

I asked the Minister about this yesterday in the Environmental Audit Committee; I did not get a response. I also asked him what is being done to ensure that these gas plants are zero carbon by 2035; that was not set out either in the Secretary of State’s speech yesterday or by the Minister today. The Minister did tell the Environmental Audit Committee that the plants would be required to be both carbon capture and storage-ready and hydrogen-ready. That does not amount to a meaningful plan, so will he please give us more than his thus far unevidenced words of assurance, and will he explain what the Government’s plan is to support the development of batteries and long-term storage technologies and to drive innovation so that we can get off volatile gas for good?

Graham: It is rather odd to be asked about the ability to scrutinise this, when yesterday was the launch of a consultation that will go on for some time and, as the hon. Lady knows, I was in front of the Select Committee yesterday. It is rather strange that she should highlight that point.

The hon. Lady is confused, as she often is, because she is so political. She would appear to set politics always ahead of climate. She struggles to recognise that that United Nations framework convention on climate change rules are about territorial emissions—countries own the emissions in the territory where they take place. Her numbers on embedded emissions are wrong, but she does not care about that; she just carries on with a political diatribe against the Government, who have done more than any other in any major economy on this Earth to decarbonise their economy. And we have done it not as the hon. Lady would have us do it—by being reduced to living in yurts—but while growing the economy by 82%. It is people like the hon. Lady who make people on my side of the Chamber at times think that we are perhaps engaged in some form of madness; we are not, but she doesn’t half make it sound like we are.

Can these new gas plants be consistent with the Government’s commitment to decarbonise the power sector by 2035? Our published net zero scenarios for the power sector—I invite the hon. Lady to read them—show that building new gas capacity is consistent with decarbonising electricity by 2035. From those scenarios we expect that, even with new gas capacity, rather than the 38% of electricity generation which in 2022 came from gas, that figure will be down to 1% by 2035—or, if we follow the scenario set out by the Climate Change Committee, perhaps 2%. We are going to have that as a back-up. It is sensible insurance; it is about keeping the lights on while we carry on the remarkable transformation this Government have achieved in moving from the appalling legacy of the Labour party of less than 7% of electricity coming from renewables to nearly 50% today.

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A significant question on Prioritising Early Childhood

Posted on March 15, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Monday this week on 11th February there was a discussion in House of Lords which is entitled Prioritising Early Childhood: Academy of Medical Sciences Report which was opened by Philip Hunt who is a Labour member. The Government member who responded was Nick Markham. After a number of other people corresponded there was a very significant question which was submitted by the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow. So here is the opening comment from Philip followed by the comment from Martyn. The rest of the text can be found from here.

Philip Hunt: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report of the Academy of Medical Sciences Prioritising early childhood to promote the nation’s health, wellbeing and prosperity, published on 5 February, particularly regarding children under 5.

Nick Markham: The Government welcome the report. We have taken significant action to improve children’s health in the early years. This includes reducing sugar in children’s food, supporting healthy diets for families from lower-income households through schemes such as Healthy Start, and investing record amounts into children’s and young people’s mental health services and around £300 million in the family hubs and Start for Life programmes. We are also improving children’s oral health through our dentistry recovery plan.

Martyn Snow: My Lords, there is strong evidence that in the early 2000s increases in child benefits led to an increase in the amount parents spent on fruit and vegetables and books and toys for their children. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of the two-child limit on benefits and, in particular, on the health and well-being of the 1.5 million children affected?

Nick Markham: We recognise very much, as said in the report, the importance of poverty in all this. We have seen the number children in absolute poverty decrease by 400,000 since 2010, which is a significant reduction. The Chancellor’s announcement last week showed the importance we place on child benefit in getting money to people to help. It is a very important area.

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Several significant MPs rejected the Capital gains tax

Posted on March 14, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Tuesday this week on 12th February there were two votes that took place, both of them were set out by the Government and so most of the Conservative MPs and indeed DUP MPs endorsed on the two events. The first one was entitled Income Tax (Charge) and so nearly 320 MPs endorsed the request and the people who tried to close it down was the SNP and two previous Labour MPs who are no longer formal members of Labour which were Jeremy Corbyn and Jonathan Edwards who is a Wales MP and there was also a member of the Alba group and a previous SNP member. Then the next vote was Capital gains tax (reduction in higher rate for residential property gains to 24%) and again the Conservative MPs and DUP MPs and the only people who rejected them were the same people who challenged the other item but in addition there was two Plaid Cymru MPs, Caroline Lucas who is the Green MP who represents Brighton Pavilion and also George Galloway who was previously a Labour MP.

It is very significant that on the second item that Caroline Lucas and the Plaid Cymru added to the SNP and Jeremy Corbyn. It was also fascinating that in Sussex that all of the Conservatives voted with the Government apart from Peter Bottomley who is the Worthing West MP and he is also the Father of the House of Commons!

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Six brilliant headteachers from across the UK

Posted on March 13, 2024 by ianchisnall

Last week in Parliament there was a session entitled Educational Attainment of Boys which took place and the Conservative MP for Don Valley who is Nicholas Fletcher opened the session out. He referred to many aspects but his comment included the text “six brilliant headteachers from across the UK—from Dorset, London, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Sussex and Rochdale”. The full item can be obtained from here and his opening comment was

I beg to move, That this House has considered the educational attainment of boys. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. I thank the Backbench Business Committee, which agreed to this debate.

A few minutes later he then stated these words

I chair the all-party parliamentary group on issues affecting men and boys. Our fourth policy report in this Parliament focused on boys’ educational underperformance. As in all our reports, we asked experts in the UK and across the world to speak to us. Crucially, they included six brilliant headteachers from across the UK—from Dorset, London, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Sussex and Rochdale—who have closed the gender attainment gap in a way that has also supported their female students.

We also heard from a national network of educators led by Dr Alex Blower, the access and participation development manager at Arts University Bournemouth. They are implementing an educational framework based on the “taking boys seriously” principles developed at Ulster University. I highly recommend that as a starting point, alongside how the six headteachers are succeeding at a practical level.

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Big ‘no’ to suggestion House sits in private

Posted on March 11, 2024 by ianchisnall

This week in Parliament there are a few public items that involve several Sussex MPs and also one theme that it would be interesting to see if any Sussex MPs will participate.

Today the Public Accounts Committee meets this afternoon with the Sussex MP contributing Jeremy Quin. The group is focusing on “Progress in implementing Universal Credit”.  Tomorrow the Education Committee which is taking place in the morning with Caroline Ansell contributing and the session is “Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing”. There is a session taking place in the afternoon “Information on support available for parents and carers of infants” which is being arranged by Sally-Ann Hart. On Wednesday Jeremy Quin is again involved in the same Committee in the afternoon, debating, “DHSC Annual Report & Accounts 2022-23” which refers to the Department of Health and Social Care and how it has spent it has funded its activities and used its resources. On Friday Sally-Ann Hart is due to organise her “Support for Infants and Parents etc (Information) Bill” which, if there is sufficient time for it to be included is a really important Bill.  This week includes an e-petition planned for this afternoon entitled “e-petition 608237 relating to prescription charges for people with chronic or long-term health conditions” organised by the MP Tonia Antoniazzi. The petition, “Free prescriptions for those with a long term and/or chronic condition” which was ended on 9th August 2022 and it only obtained 20,258 signatures across the whole of the UK. However, all areas, across Sussex did involve, the largest area for signatures was Brighton.

Recent activities include meetings that Mims Davis held last Monday. She writes

I joined fellow Sussex MPs in meeting with Royal Mail in Parliament to discuss residents’ concerns. It was good to meet with their Regional Operations Director, John Doyle, and Head of Public Affairs Fiona Hamilton to discuss the challenges, including its future size and shape as the needs of our Sussex communities evolve but most importantly to hear their plans to improve the services they deliver. I know from my recent meeting with the local Haywards Heath sorting office team just how hard they are all continuously working, along with their colleagues in the BH and EG sorting offices, and how stressful the current conditions are for everyone.

Two weeks ago, there were several discussions across the UK Parliament with interesting contributions from Sussex MPs.  On Monday 26th February Sally-Ann Hart endorsed a very significant Early Day Motion that was created by a Conservative MP William Wragg, at Hazel Grove in the South of the Manchester. He had created the EDM in the previous week entitled as “No confidence in the Speaker”, the motion text is very limited with the words “That this House has no confidence in Mr Speaker.” The session currently records Ninety Five MPs which includes forty six extra Conservatives, 42 SNPs and all of the 3 Plaid Cymru’s. Only one Sussex MP has signed it so far, but it is significant that Sally-Ann signed it because she has never participated any EDMs before. I hope she will consider signing EDMs in the future. On Tuesday 27th February there was five opportunities to vote across the whole day about the same subject.  They were contributions connected to the “Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill”, listed as “Insolvency of certain persons with an interest in higher-risk and relevant buildings” None of them were successful because the Government opposed all of the sessions and indeed most of the Sussex Conservative MPs voted against them as did the DUP members. The first point, “New Clause 1 – Estate management services” there were only fourteen votes, mostly Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru MPs. There were votes from both Caroline Lucas and Peter Bottomley. The rest of the four points received more significant support in favour of them, even though they were not successful. The Labour Party endorsed the remaining four aspects with Lloyd Russell-Moyle from Brighton but he and his group ignored clause 1 and Caroline Lucas voted for all five items. Peter Bottomley ignored three of them but he supported “New Clause 39 – Rights of first refusal on disposal of freehold homes” which included votes from Peter and also Bob Blackman who is a London Conservative MP and six DUP MPs.

The final day of that week, Friday of 1st March with contributions from local MP’s. The first item was entitled “Prayers” with a vote named “Motion for the House to sit in private”. Sixty two MPs voted ‘No’ and literally no MPs voted in favour. The people who voted ‘No’ were mostly Conservative and Labour MPs including Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Maria Caulfield and Nusrat Ghani.

The second item was the bill that Lloyd Russell-Moyle published on Friday, entitled “Conversion Practices (Prohibition) Bill” It is the second reading item of the Bill. Lloyd spoke to 26 items in the discussion. Caroline Ansell spoke briefly and Maria Caulfield from the cabinet office spoke several times. There were 68 in Agreement, 11 Conservatives, 51 Labour and a few others from Sussex, Lloyd and Caroline Lucas. Fifteen MPs rejected the Bill and only one was not a Conservative. The only Sussex MP who rejected it was Caroline Ansell. At the end of the session, it was stated that there would be a further discussion for that Bill which is scheduled for Friday at the end of the next week.

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Two Skilled Workers questions have both created STEM

Posted on March 9, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Wednesday 6th March the York Labour MP, Rachael Maskell submitted this written question that was entitled Skilled Workers: Research and the response from the Government came from Andrew Griffith who is the West Sussex MP at Arundel and South Downs which included “the skills needed to support a world-class workforce in STEM sectors”. The following day Rachael sent this written question which was entitled Skilled Workers and the response came from Robert Halfon who is from Harlow and he included “Institutes of Technologys bring education and industry together to deliver world class technical education and training in key STEM subjects aligned to the skills needs of the local economy they serve.”. So here are the two questions and answers.

Rachael: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what criteria she uses to assess the impact that research funding has on future skills required across the economy.

Andrew: As set out in the Science and Technology Framework, the Government is committed to, and delivering on, its ambition to create an agile and responsive skills system, which delivers the skills needed to support a world-class workforce in STEM sectors and drive economic growth.

We will continue to track our progress through a range of metrics and identify new ways to evaluate and evidence the impact of our science and technology system, including the impact of research funding for skills.

Rachael: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help close skills gaps in the (a) public and (b) private sector.

Robert: The government is committed to creating a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality and fit for the future. The department’s reforms are strengthening higher and further education to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives, as well as to improve national productivity and economic growth. These reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen higher and further education. The department’s reforms will help equip people with the education, training and skills that employers demand both in the public and private sector.

The department has established the Unit for Future Skills (UFS), which provides decision makers in skills system with information they need to invest in the right skills to meet national and local employer needs and support economic growth. The work of the UFS aims to improve data and evidence to support a better understanding of current skill mismatches and future demand throughout the country.

Apprenticeships are crucial in driving growth and social mobility as they boost skills across the economy and improve people’s earnings and career opportunities nationwide. To support growth, the department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, which will encourage more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices.

The department has introduced employer-designed T levels which are equipping thousands of young people with the skills, knowledge, and experience to access employment or further study in some of the most in-demand skills areas. 18 T levels are now available, being delivered through over 250 providers across all regions of the country.

The department has invested £300 million to establish 21 Institutes of Technology (IoT) across England to significantly increase the number of learners with higher level technical skills and offering an alternative route to high paid jobs. IoTs bring education and industry together to deliver world class technical education and training in key STEM subjects aligned to the skills needs of the local economy they serve.

The department is delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige, and uptake of higher technical education. Central to these reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), which are Level 4/5 qualifications approved against employer-developed standard and quality marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education. This means students and employers can have the confidence that HTQs provide skills employers need. To date, 172 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across seven occupational routes and over 140 providers are approved to deliver HTQs.

The department has introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme which enables eligible adults to gain a high value qualification for free. In addition, the department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer.

The department has established Local Skills Improvement Plans across the country, which are employer-led, locally owned plans. They have galvanised and brought together businesses, providers, local leaders and stakeholders to help better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs.

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Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

Posted on March 8, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Wednesday in the House of Lords there was a session which was set out by Des Browne who is a member of the Labour. His item is from here and it was entitled as Former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration: Reports and the Government response came from Andrew Sharpe and there were a group of people who contributed which included Clive Brooke from Labour and also Jenny Jones from the Green Party. The opening session from Des Browne was “To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the release on 29 February of 13 reports produced by the former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, and their findings in particular with regard to the conduct of staff responsible for unaccompanied refugee children in Kent.” The initial response was from Andrew and then there was a second request from Des which was then responded by Andrew

Andrew Sharpe: My Lords, last Thursday we published 13 reports that were outside the normal eight-week commitment to review and respond. We also published the Government’s responses. We take the ICIBI reports seriously and do not wait until their publication to act on their recommendations. We have already implemented several of those recommendations. As regards the incident at the hotel, there was an immediate investigation and the support worker in question was removed.

Des Browne: My Lords, the reports are damning, documenting the disappearance of 467 asylum- seeking children and Home Office employees asking lonely unaccompanied children to play a cruel guessing game as to which of them will receive foster care; and revealing systemic failures at the border and in the asylum decision-making process. It beggars belief that David Neal was not sacked for revealing these truths, or that his 13 reports were not released en bloc to minimise security. Who ultimately is responsible for the culture of defensiveness in the Home Office, which Neal suggested had allowed these failures over time to go unchecked? If the Minister disputes this characterisation, can he inform your Lordships’ House in what respect the comprehensive evidence provided in the reports that support his assertion is mistaken?

Andrew Sharpe: I am afraid I do dispute that characterisation. David Neal had his appointment terminated after he broke the terms of his contract and lost the confidence of the Home Secretary, because he released sensitive and misleading information from unpublished reports, well within the time commitment for publication. The Home Office had therefore not had time to fact-check and redact inappropriate material. I will give an example of the fact-checking required in some cases: the asylum casework report contained 67 factual inaccuracies, the vast majority of which were indeed accepted by the ICIBI. It is important to mention that a new inspector will be appointed following a full and proper process.

As regards the situation in the hotel, as I said, on both occasions of the inspection, the ICIBI found that children accommodated temporarily at the hotels reported that they felt happy and safe and spoke well of the staff caring for them. But, once we learned about the incident from the chief inspector, there was an immediate investigation and the support worker in question was removed and did not return.

After several other people response at the end of the session Clive and Jenny responded and they received responses from Andrew:

Clive Brooke: Do we not have thousands of people in this country who should not be here, but of whose whereabouts we have no knowledge? Had the Government and the Lib Dems not abolished the Labour Party’s plan to introduce an identity system, we would know where they were.

Andrew Sharpe: The noble Lord makes a very interesting point.

Jenny Jones: My Lords, the Government got confused and in a bit of a mess about assessing the age of many people coming into the country. Further to the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, how can the Government be sure that the number of primary school-age children is accurate, according to their judgment?

Andrew Sharpe: As the noble Baroness will be aware, there are a number of different views on this. Age assessments go both ways. I was reading of a case earlier where a number of children requested that one of their number who had been imposed on them be looked into because the said person was significantly older than he appeared to be, and that was found to be the case. It works both ways.

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Railway operators to avoid disruption on Gatwick trains?

Posted on March 7, 2024 by ianchisnall

On Wednesday in the House of Lords there was a question from a person called John Anderson who is the Viscount Waverley and he is the of Westdean in the County of Sussex. He asked a question under the headline of Airports: Railways and his question was responded by a Government member who is Byron Davies who is the Lord Davies of Gower. The question and response is below that can be observed from here and there is the opportunity to ask “Does this answer the above question?” and we can answer as Yes or No which so far has not been responded by anyone.

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with railway operators to avoid disruption such as occurred on 26 February on trains to Gatwick; what discussions they have held with airlines regarding compensation for those who may miss their flights as a result of rail disruption; and what steps they will take to avoid such scenarios in future.

Lord Davies of Gower: Unfortunately, Govia Thameslink Railway services were very heavily disrupted on the morning of 26 February by a number of Network Rail infrastructure incidents across the Sussex area.

Network Rail, which is the organisation responsible for rail infrastructure, continues to work closely with train operators to improve how the industry responds to unplanned disruption. The Department monitors operational performance closely and engages with the rail industry at all levels which includes regular meetings on punctuality and reliability with both Network Rail and representatives from the train operators.

Train operators do not offer compensation to passengers for missed flights and as such there have been no discussions between the Department and airlines on this matter. The Department would urge passengers to use the Delay Repay scheme for compensation on their rail journey and consider other claims using their own travel insurance.

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