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  • >> Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab): If she will list her official engagements

  • for Wednesday 10 January.

  • >> The Prime Minister (Mrs Theresa May): I hope that it is not too late to wish all

  • Members and staff in the House a very happy new year.

  • This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties

  • in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

  • >> Mike Amesbury: I, too, wish members of staff a happy new

  • year.

  • At least 1.4 million households across the UK have been victims of unfair practices in

  • the leasehold market, including my constituent Emily Martin. In advance of any intended legislation,

  • what commitment will the Prime Minister make to ensure that Emily and thousands of people

  • tied into this PPI-like scandal are compensated by developers now?

  • >> The Prime Minister: We are concerned when we hear of unfair practices

  • taking place. I am sure that the Housing Minister will be happy to hear of this particular case

  • as an example. We are looking to see what action the Government can take to ensure that

  • people are secure in their homes and are not subject to practices that they should not

  • be subject to.

  • >> James Cleverly (Braintree) (Con): In December, when the Brexit Secretary met

  • Michel Barnier, they hugged. In that spirit, would my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister

  • passionately embracenot me, Mr Speaker; don't worrythe agenda that she set out

  • last year to build a Britain fit for the future, to encourage home ownership, improve education,

  • health and life chances, and leave this country in a better place than we found it?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend talks about passionate embraces;

  • I do not think that he has ever had the kiss that he once asked for. He is absolutely right:

  • we are determined to deliver a Britain that is fit for the future. That means that we

  • need to get Brexit right and do a lot more. He references house building; yes, we are

  • committed to building the homes that this country needs. That is why we have made £15

  • billion of new financial support available over the next five years, and why we scrapped

  • stamp duty for 80% of first-time buyers. We are also improving school standardsthere

  • are 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools todayand we are protecting our

  • natural environment. We are building a Britain that can look to the future with optimism

  • and hope.

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab): Mr Speaker, may I wish you, all the House

  • and all our staff a very happy new year? Everybody is agreed? Yes? Thank you. I know it seems

  • a long time ago, but just before Christmas, I asked the Prime Minister about the 12,000

  • people left waiting more than half an hour in the back of ambulances at A&E departments.

  • She told the House that the NHS was better prepared for winterthan ever before.”

  • What words of comfort does she have for the 17,000 patients who waited in the back of

  • ambulances in the last week of December? Is it that nothing is perfect, by any chance?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I fully accept that the NHS is under pressure

  • over winter. It is regularly under pressure at winter time. I have been very clear: I

  • apologised to those people who have had their operations delayed and to those people who

  • have had their admission to hospital delayed, but it is indeed the case that the NHS was

  • better prepared this winter than ever before. [Interruption.] Yes. It might be helpful if

  • I let the House know some of the things that were done to ensure that preparedness. More

  • people than ever before are having flu vaccines, and 2,700 more acute beds have been made available

  • since November. For the first time ever, urgent GP appointments have been available across

  • the Christmas period across this country, and more doctors are specialising in treating

  • the elderly in accident and emergency.

  • The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the last exchange we had in this House. In our last

  • exchange, he said mental health budgets have been cut; that is not right. Simon Stevens

  • from the national health service has made it clear that mental health spending has gone

  • up both in real terms and as a proportion of the overall spending. So will the right

  • hon. Gentleman now apologise for what he previously said?

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: The Prime Minister knows full well that child

  • and adolescent mental health services budgets have been raided and many people who need

  • help are not getting that help. We saw onITV Newsthe other night that nurses

  • are spending their entire shift treating people in car parks because of backed-up ambulances.

  • We know the Prime Minister recognises there is a crisis in our NHS because she wanted

  • to sack the Health Secretary last week but was too weak to do it, and if the NHS is so

  • well resourced and so well prepared, why was the decision taken last week to cancel the

  • operations of 55,000 patients during the month of January?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I say to the right hon. GentlemanMembers

  • on the Labour Front Bench sayApologise”; if they had listened to the answer I gave

  • to their right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, they will have heard me make it

  • clear that I have already apologised to those whose operations have been delayed, and we

  • will make sure they are reinstated as soon as possible. We are putting record funding

  • into the NHS and record funding into mental health, but the right hon. Gentleman keeps

  • on about the preparations for the NHS and I was very pleased last week to be able to

  • go and say in person a thank you to staff at Frimley health trust from both Frimley

  • Park and Wexham Park hospitals for the work they have been doing to deliver for patients

  • across this period of particular pressure across the winter. Our NHS staffnot just

  • doctors and nurses, but support staff such as radiographers, administrative staff, porters,

  • everybody working in our national health servicedo a fantastic job day in and day out, and they

  • particularly do that when we have these winter pressures. In terms of being prepared, this

  • is what NHS Providers said only last week:

  • Preparations for winter in the NHS have been more extensive and meticulous than ever

  • before.”

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: We all thank all NHS staff for what they do,

  • but the reality is that the 55,000 cancelled operations means those 55,000 people join

  • the 4 million already waiting for operations within the NHS.

  • Perhaps the Prime Minister could listen to the experience of Vicki. Her 82-year-old mother

  • spent 13 hours on a trolley in a corridor, on top of the three hours between her first

  • calling 999 and arriving at hospital. Vicki says:

  • “A volunteer first responder from Warwickshire heart service whose day job is in the Army

  • kept mum safe until paramedics arrived.”

  • Her mother had suffered a heart attack just a week before. This is not an isolated case.

  • Does the Prime Minister really believe the NHS is better prepared than ever for the crisis

  • it is now going through?

  • >> The Prime Minister: Nobody wants to hear of people having to experience

  • what Vicki and her mother experienced. Of course we need to ensure that we learn from

  • these incidents, and that is exactly what we do in the national health service. I am

  • very happy to ensure that that particular case is looked at, if the right hon. Gentleman

  • would like to provide me with the details. But week in and week out in the run-up to

  • Christmas, and now today, he has been giving the impression of a national health service

  • that is failing everybody who uses it. The reality in our NHS is that we are seeing 2.9

  • million more people going to accident and emergency, and over 2 million more operations

  • taking place each year. Our national health service is something that we should be proud

  • of. It is a first-class national health service that has been identified as the No. 1 health

  • system in the world. That means that it is a better health system than those of Australia,

  • the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Germany and the United States

  • of America.

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: We on this side of the House are all very

  • proud of the principle of the national health servicehealthcare as a human rightbut

  • the reality is that, in the past year, 565,000 people have spent time on trolleys when they

  • should have been being treated. The number of elderly people being rushed into A&E from

  • care homes has risen by 62% since the Tories took power, and Care Quality Commission figures

  • suggest that nearly a quarter of care homes need improvement. This is not only robbing

  • older people of their dignity, but putting pressure on A&Es and ambulance services. So

  • why, instead of dealing with the social care crisis, has the Prime Minister rewarded the

  • Health Secretary with a promotion and a new job title?

  • >> The Prime Minister: There are many voices across the House, including

  • from the right hon. Gentleman's party, who have been encouraging me to ensure that we

  • have better integration between health and social care. I am pleased that we have recognised

  • this by making the Department of Health now the Department of Health and Social Care.

  • That has been recognised by Age UK, which has said that this is a

  • welcome and long overdue recognition of the interdependence of health and social care”.

  • I saw for myself last week at Frimley Park the good work that is being done by some hospitals

  • up and down the country, working with GPs, care homes and the voluntary sector, to ensure

  • that elderly people can stay at home safely and do not need to go into hospital, with

  • all the consequences of them coming into hospital beds. That is the way forward, and we want

  • to ensure that we see the integration of health and social care at grassroots level. From

  • the way in which the right hon. Gentleman talks, you would think that the Labour party

  • had all the solutions for the national health service.

  • >> Mr Speaker: Order.

  • >> The Prime Minister: If the Labour party has all the answers, why

  • is funding being cut and why are targets not being met in Wales, where Labour is responsible?

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: The Prime Minister leads a Government who

  • are responsible for the funding of national Governments, such as the one in Wales, and

  • she knows full well what has been cut from Wales. She is also directly responsible for

  • the NHS in England, and giving the Health Secretary a new job title will not hide the

  • fact that £6 billion has been cut from social care under the Tories. Part of the problem

  • with our NHS is that its funds are increasingly being siphoned off into private companies,

  • including in the Health Secretary's area of Surrey.

  • >> Mr Speaker: Order. Mr Shelbrooke, calm yourself, man!

  • You are supposed to be auditioning to become an elder statesman, but on present evidence,

  • there will be many more auditions to come. Calm yourself; it will be good for your health.

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: Even more money is being siphoned out of our

  • NHS budgets into private health companies. In the Health Secretary's area of Surrey,

  • a clinical commissioning group was even forced to pay money to Virgin Care because that company

  • did not win a contract. Will the Prime Minister assure patients that, in 2018, less NHS money

  • intended for patient care will be feathering the nests of shareholders in private health

  • companies?

  • >> The Prime Minister: First, this Government have given more money

  • to the Welsh Government. It is a decision of Labour in Wales to deprioritise funding

  • for the national health service in Wales. On the issue of the private sector and its

  • role in the health service, under which Government was it that private access and the use of

  • the private sector in the health service increased? No, it wasn't.

  • >> Mr Speaker: Order. I say to the shadow Secretary of State

  • for Health, the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), that he, too, is

  • supposed to be auditioning for something. He is normally a very amiable fellow, but

  • he is gesticulating in a very eccentric fashion. He must calm himself. It is not necessary

  • and not good for his image.

  • >> The Prime Minister: First of all, we have put more money into

  • Wales, but the Labour Government in Wales have decided to deprioritise funding for the

  • national health service. Secondly, the increase that was seen in private sector companies

  • working in the health service did not happen under a Conservative Government; that was

  • under a Labour Government of whom the Leader of the Opposition was a member.

  • >> Jeremy Corbyn: My hon. Friend the shadow Health Secretary

  • is auditioning to be Health Secretary, and he shows real passion for our NHS.

  • Under this Government, Virgin Care got £200 million-worth of contracts in the past year

  • alone—50% up on the year before. The Prime Minister needs to understand that it is her

  • policies that are pushing our NHS into crisis. Tax cuts for the super-rich and big business

  • are paid forYes, Mr Speaker, they are paid for by longer waiting lists, ambulance

  • delays, staff shortages and cuts to social care. Creeping privatisation is dragging our

  • NHS down. During the Health Secretary's occupation of the Prime Minister's office

  • to keep his job, he said that he would not abandon the ship. Is that not an admission

  • that, under his captaincy, the ship is indeed sinking?

  • >> The Prime Minister: This Government are putting more money into

  • the national health service. We see more doctors and nurses in our NHS, more operations taking

  • place in our NHS, and more people being treated in accident and emergency in our NHS, but

  • we can only do that if we have a strong economy. What would we see from the Labour party? We

  • have turned the economy around from the recession that the Labour party left us with. What do

  • we know about the Labour party's economic policies? Well, we were told all about them

  • in a description from the shadow Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for

  • Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), who I see is not in her place on the Front Bench today

  • >> Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab): She is in hospital.

  • >> The Prime Minister: I do apologise. I did not realise that the

  • shadow Education Secretary was undergoing medical treatment, so I apologise unreservedly

  • for that comment. However, I have to say that she described the economic policies of the

  • Labour party in unparliamentary terms, which included the wordbust”, saying that

  • the Labour party's economic policy washigh-risk”. That means high risk for taxpayers, high risk

  • for jobs and high risk for our NHS. That is a risk that we will never let Labour take.

  • >> David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con):

  • Moving on to a positive note about the NHS, my NHS trust, Morecambe Bay, has turned around

  • from being one of the worst in the countryit was safe to say that five years agoto one

  • of the best. That happened due to injections of huge amounts of cash, but the staff were

  • amazing and turned the hospital around. Jackie Daniel, the chief

  • >> Mr Speaker: Order. I gently invite the hon. Gentleman

  • to be sensitive to time. We want not a long spiel, but a short question with a question

  • mark at the end of it.

  • >> David Morris: Jackie Daniel has received a damehood for

  • turning around the Morecambe Bay trust along with the staff, which is very positive. Does

  • my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister look forward to working with Jackie Daniel's

  • successor to carry on turning the trust around, and will she wish Jackie well?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I am happy to join my hon. Friend in paying

  • tribute to the work of staff at the Morecambe Bay trust. I particularly wish Dame Jackie

  • well, and I recognise and pay tribute to her work in turning that trust around. This is

  • just another example of the huge gratitude we owe to our NHS staff, who work so tirelessly

  • on our behalf.

  • >> Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP):

  • Mr Speaker, I wish you, all staff and all Members a guid new year.

  • The Government's European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is quite simply

  • not fit for purpose and must be changed.”

  • Those are not my words; they are the words of the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Paul

  • Masterton). Does the Prime Minister agree with her colleague that we must amend clause

  • 11, which is nothing more than a power grab from Scotland?

  • >> The Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman knows full well that

  • we have said we will look to improve clause 11. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor

  • of the Duchy of Lancaster made it very clear when he was answering questions earlier that

  • we continue to look to amend clause 11. However, as I discussed with the First Minister before

  • Christmas, we are looking to work with the devolved Administrations to ensure that we

  • put the right frameworks in place so that, when we come to bring forward any amendment,

  • it is done in the best possible way in the interests of all concerned. I thought that

  • had been accepted by the Scottish National party, but we will be looking to bring forward

  • amendments in the Lords.

  • >> Ian Blackford: That is simply not good enough. The Secretary

  • of State for Scotland promised a “powers bonanzafor Scotland and that, crucially,

  • amendments would be tabled ahead of next week's debate. Yesterday it was revealed that no

  • amendments will be tabled. The Tories always promise Scotland everything and deliver nothing.

  • The Prime Minister has one last chance. Will she assure the House that amendments will

  • be tabled ahead of next week, as promised?

  • >> The Prime Minister: The SNP says it wants to work with us on the

  • future frameworks; we are doing exactly that. It says it wants clause 11 amended; we are

  • doing exactly that. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is intensifying

  • his discussions with the Scottish Government and, indeed, with the Executive in Wales as

  • part of that. We will be bringing forward amendments. The right hon. Member for Ross,

  • Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) says this is a Government who never deliver for Scotland.

  • An extra £2 billion as a result of the Budgetthat is delivering for Scotland.

  • >> Stephen Kerr (Stirling) (Con): Speaking of delivering for Scotland, the Stirling

  • and Clackmannanshire city region deal is a massive investment in Scotland's economy

  • and a huge vote of confidence in Scotland by a Conservative and Unionist Government.

  • With projects such as the UK Institute of Aquaculture and the national tartan centre,

  • which will have UK-wide impact and global reach, will the Prime Minister now confirm

  • that the UK Government are ready to sign off the heads of agreement with the Scottish Government

  • and the local councils so that we can get to work?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I am very happy to give that commitment to

  • my hon. Friend. This is another example of how this is a Government who are delivering

  • for Scotland. I know the importance of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire deal, which

  • will be transformative. He has championed this cause since he was elected, and he is

  • doing a great job for his constituents. We are all working to get an agreement as soon

  • as possible.

  • >> Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab):

  • I have been contacted by 11 constituents who are frightened, many of them suicidal, because

  • they have been told either by Hull clinical commissioning group or by East Riding of Yorkshire

  • clinical commissioning group that their desperately needed pain infusion treatment will be stopped.

  • This is the cruel reality of the NHS having to ration treatment due to funding cuts. Will

  • the Prime Minister personally intervene to ensure that the Hull and East Riding CCGs

  • review their decisions and guarantee my constituents the additional funding that will allow this

  • treatment to be delivered?

  • >> The Prime Minister: We are putting extra money into the national

  • health service. We are not cutting funding for the national health service. CCGs will

  • be taking individual decisions about how they apportion their funding, but to stand up here

  • and suggest that we are cutting funding for the national health service is plain wrong.

  • >> Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con): Telford is a rapidly growing new town where

  • thousands of new houses are built every year. People come to Telford to buy their home on

  • a new-build estate and live their dream, but for far too many the reality is unfinished

  • communal areas, unadopted roads, non-compliance with section 106, developers failing to take

  • responsibility and the local council passing the buck. Colleagues on both sides of the

  • House see similar problems in their constituencies. Will the Prime Minister agree to strengthen

  • the rights of home owners on new-build estates so that people can come to Telford, or to

  • any other new-build area, and buy a new-build home confident that they can live their dream?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I am happy to say to my hon. Friend that of

  • course we recognise the concern she has raised; this is a similar issue to the one raised

  • by the hon. Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury). I understand that it is Telford's 50th anniversary,

  • so I congratulate it on that. We are committed to legislating in relation to the unfair practice

  • my hon. Friend has identified, because it is only fair that freeholders should have

  • the same rights as leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of the service charges

  • they are being submitted to.

  • >> Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP):

  • On a scale between one and 10, how does the Prime Minister think her Brexit is going,

  • with 10 meaning everything is going perfectly, we know what we want to achieve and we know

  • how to get it; and one being chaotic cluelessness? I know what I would give the Prime Minister,

  • but what would she give herself?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I think

  • >> Mr Speaker: Order. Let me just say to the hon. Member

  • for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart), whom I have known for a long time, that when

  • he comes to reflect on his conduct, he will know that he can do better than that.

  • >> The Prime Minister: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I say to the hon. Gentleman

  • that anybody who saw the success we had in negotiating phase one of Brexit, and getting

  • that sufficient progress, will say that this Government know what they are doing, and that

  • they are getting on with the job and doing well.

  • >> Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con):

  • Environmentalists across the UK were delighted with the announcement of co-operation with

  • the Woodland Trust to develop the new northern forest, but will the Prime Minister assure

  • us that plans to create new landscapes will not obscure the need to protect existing areas

  • of outstanding natural beauty? Will she confirm her commitment to protecting the Chilterns

  • AONB as we pursue the Government's economic and housing development plans?

  • >> The Prime Minister: First, I congratulate my right hon. Friend

  • on becoming a Dame in the recent new year's honoursit is very, very well deserved.

  • I assure her that we are committed to maintaining the strongest protections for AONBs and other

  • designated landscapes. As regards the Chilterns AONB, I have to say to her that I enjoy walking

  • in the Chilterns. I recognise the value of that particular environment, and we are committed

  • to protecting AONBs.

  • >> Thelma Walker (Colne Valley) (Lab): I was a teacher and a headteacher for 34 years,

  • so I know that I speak on behalf of thousands of teachers and support staff when I ask the

  • Prime Minister this: in the light of the recent announcement of a fall in teacher training

  • application numbers by a third, will the Government listen to professionals and fully and fairly

  • fund our schools and colleges; end the toxic culture of targets and tests; deliver a broad

  • and balanced curriculum; and, most of all, return the joy of teaching and learning to

  • our classrooms?

  • >> The Prime Minister: We are putting record sums into our schools.

  • More than that, we are ensuring that we are seeing increasing standards in our schools.

  • That is why today there are 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than

  • there were in 2010, and I hope the hon. Lady would welcome that.

  • >> Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con): The Prime Minister will be aware that there

  • is great potential in the south-west to increase prosperity and productivity. Will she therefore

  • confirm how her Government will be backing the south-west, in particular on the need

  • to invest in our vital road, rail and digital infrastructure?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that,

  • and he is a great champion for the needs of the south-west. We do want to increase prosperity

  • and productivity in the south-westand indeed right across the countryand we are taking

  • some particular steps. Across the country we are committing significant sums in relation

  • to infrastructure investment and the road investment strategy. We are committed to creating

  • an expressway to the south-west, which will be part of an important development. We are

  • investing more than £400 million into the rail network in the area. I am pleased to

  • say that more than 600,000 homes and businesses in the south-west now have access to superfast

  • broadband as a result of our superfast broadband programme. There is more we can do for the

  • south-west, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend in doing that.

  • >> Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op): The Secretary of State for Health said that

  • the Government wanted the UK to be the best in the world for cancer diagnosis, treatment

  • and care. Today, according to a memo from the head of chemotherapy at Churchill Hospital

  • in Oxford, terminally ill cancer patients will have their chemotherapy cut because of

  • a massive shortfall in specialist nurses. Will the Prime Minister apologise to cancer

  • patients and their families for this appalling situation?

  • >> The Prime Minister: That trust has made it clear that there are

  • absolutely no plans to delay the start of chemotherapy treatment, or to reduce the number

  • of cycles of treatment given to cancer patients. Simon Stevens has said that over the past

  • three years the NHS has had the highest cancer survival rates ever. The latest survival figures

  • show that over 7,000 more people are estimated to be surviving cancer after successful NHS

  • treatment, compared with three years prior. There are 3,200 more diagnostic and therapeutic

  • radiographers than in May 2010. We will continue to look at this issue and we are continuing

  • to put in the funding that is enabling us to improve treatment for cancer patients.

  • >> Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con):

  • With record funding, our NHS is doing more than ever, but when the UK is in the bottom

  • third of countries for heart-attack deaths, when we have significantly worse survival

  • rates for stroke than France and Germany, and when our closest matches for cancer survival

  • are Chile and Poland, is it not time to act on calls from all parts of the House, backed

  • this week by the Centre for Policy Studies, to establish a royal commission on health

  • and social care in this, the 70th anniversary year of our most cherished national institution?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is right that we need to continue

  • to look at the national health service and ensure that we continue to improve its performance

  • in a variety of areas. The independent Commonwealth Fund has been clear that the national health

  • service is the best healthcare system in the world, and that it is better than systems

  • such as those in Germany, France and the other countries I listed earlier, but of course

  • we need to look at what more we can do. That is why we are putting more funding in and

  • looking at the better integration of health and social care on the ground. It is about

  • making sure that we are making a change and doing that integration now, because that is

  • when it is going to make a difference to people.

  • >> Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab): The Prime Minister said that she had reshuffled

  • her Ministers so that they look more like the country they seek to represent. I am not

  • sure about that, but in that spirit, will she acknowledge the massive problems in the

  • private rented sector with absentee private landlords? Will she commit to come to visit

  • Easington to gain her own appreciation of the scale of the problems that face many working-class

  • communities? In the spirit of good will, will she support and give free passage to the Bill

  • on homes fit for habitation that my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck)

  • is promoting?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I have many fond memories of the time I spent

  • in the north-east when I was a candidate up there. We do need to ensure that we have a

  • good private rented sector in this country, but the one set of policies that would damage

  • the private rented sector are the policies put forward by the Leader of the Opposition.

  • >> Bill Grant (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Con): I was delighted last week to hear the Secretary

  • of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirm the Government's commitment to supporting

  • farmers after we leave the European Union. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the

  • unique needs of Scottish farmers and, indeed, crofters will be taken into account in the

  • design of any new system?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is right that as we leave the

  • European Union, we will of course be able to put in place our own policy of support

  • for farmers. We want that policy to recognise the particular needs of farmers in all parts

  • of the United Kingdom, and that will of course include the particular needs of farmers in

  • Scotland.

  • >> Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab):

  • My constituency office and local citizens advice bureau are receiving ever-increasing

  • complaints about personal independence payment claims. Assessments are being refused and

  • 65% of decisions are currently overturned on appeal at tribunal. The growing number

  • of appeals means that the tribunal process is taking longeranything from four to seven

  • months. Does the Prime Minister agree that the PIP assessment process is fundamentally

  • flawed? What action can she take to avoid the unnecessary expense of going to court

  • and, more importantly, the undue stress and hardship being caused to my constituents and

  • others throughout the country?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I understand the hon. Gentleman's point

  • about ensuring, as we want to, that these assessments are being conducted as well as

  • they can be, and that people are getting the awards that they should be getting and that

  • they are entitled to. Since we introduced the personal independence payment, we have

  • carried out around 2.9 million assessments, 8% of which have been appealed, but only 4%

  • of those decisions are changed following an appeal. In the majority of cases, that is

  • because new evidence is presented at the appeal, which was not presented when the original

  • case was put forward. The Department for Work and Pensions continues to look at ensuring

  • that, when these assessments are made, they are done properly and that people get the

  • right results.

  • >> Maria Caulfield (Lewes) (Con): My constituent, Justin Bartholomew, was just

  • 25 when he committed suicide late last year. His family is convinced that his intake of

  • high-energy drinksmore than 15 cans a dayincreased his anxiety and contributed to his death.

  • Given the increased safety concern around the high-energy drink market and the actions

  • of people such as Jamie Oliver and Waitrose, will the Prime Minister consider introducing

  • a national ban on the sale of these energy drinks for the under-16s?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend has raised a tragic case, and

  • I know that the thoughts and the sympathies of the whole House will be with the family

  • and friends of Justin Bartholomew. We have introduced the soft drinks industry levy.

  • We recognise that there are issues around drinks that are high in sugar and we know

  • that energy drinks high in sugar can be damaging to children's health. We are supporting

  • schools and parents to make healthier choices and to be able to identify those through clearer

  • labelling and campaigns. Of course this is an issue that the Department of Health and

  • Social Care will continue to look at, and it will continue to look at the scientific

  • evidence in relation to these drinks.

  • >> Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (SNP):

  • I have a constituent who escaped an abusive relationship and has been passed from pillar

  • to post between the old Child Support Agency and the new child maintenance service. After

  • four and a half years of that, she has now been told by the CMS that she has to start

  • the whole process all over again. On top of that, it is insisting that she passes on her

  • personal and her bank details directly to her ex-partner to receive payment. Will the

  • Prime Minister agree to help resolve this problem and to look at the system that has

  • allowed this abuse to continue?

  • >> The Prime Minister: The hon. Lady raises what is obviously a distressing

  • case; I recognise that. Arrangements are in place that ensure, as I understand it, that

  • an individual does not have to pass on their bank details directly. The fact that her constituent

  • has been asked to do so is something that should be looked into. I am sure that if she

  • passes those details to the appropriate Department, it will look into the matter.

  • >> Colin Clark (Gordon) (Con): Does the Prime Minister welcome the findings

  • of the Social Research survey that the majority of Scots believe that the rules on trade and

  • immigration should be the same in Scotland as in the rest of the UK? It looks like they

  • agree that we are better together.

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend has raised a very important

  • point. People across the UK want to see controlled immigrationthat is people in Scotland as

  • well as people in the rest of the United Kingdom. As we leave the European Union, we will be

  • able to introduce our own immigration rules and to control that immigration to Britain

  • from Europe. The only point of differentiation is that, of course, we do have a Scotland-only

  • shortage occupation list to recognise the particular labour market needs in Scotland.

  • For the most part, that actually matches the UK-wide shortage occupation list, which shows

  • that this is an issue for the whole of the UK, and that we need the same policy approach.

  • >> Fiona Onasanya (Peterborough) (Lab): In a March 2005 interview, the Prime Minister

  • said:

  • Not getting things done; and seeing people's lives hurt by government bureaucracy

  • makes her depressed. In light of that comment, can the Prime Minister tell me whether she

  • considers it reasonable and acceptable for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to

  • withhold the licence of my constituent, Mr Coleman, for more than 18 months despite evidence

  • showing that he was fit and able to drive, as she has not responded to my letter of 5

  • December?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I will ensure that the hon. Lady receives

  • a response to her letter. She has raised a particular case in this House. I will need

  • to look at the details of that case and I will respond to her letter.

  • >> Mr Simon Clarke (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Con):

  • Last week, Cleveland Potash announced 230 job losses at Boulby mine in my constituency,

  • which is devastating for Loftus and the wider east Cleveland community, where the mine is

  • by far and away the largest employer. Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, the hon. Member

  • for Redcar (Anna Turley) and I all agree that it would be incredibly helpful if some of

  • the funds remaining from the 2015 SSI rescue package could be repurposed to support people

  • leaving Boulby. Will the Prime Minister agree to look into that with the Business Secretary,

  • and will she make a commitment that Government agencies will do everything they can to support

  • people affected by this dreadful news?

  • >> The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is right to raise this case.

  • It is obviously a worrying time for the workers who are affected by the announcement by Cleveland

  • Potash. We will help people to find other work, and support those affected through the

  • rapid response service of the Department for Work and Pensions. We will co-ordinate with

  • the Tees Valley combined authority to ensure that we work together to make the best possible

  • support available and ensure that it is aligned. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial

  • Strategy will look at the situation and the specific issue that my hon. Friend has raised.

  • >> Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab):

  • Ava has been a foster-carer for years. When her privately rented home failed the inspection

  • for an electrical certificate, which she needed to continue fostering, her landlord evicted

  • her because he did not want to do the repairs. Now Ava and the kids are living in temporary

  • council accommodation in a converted warehouse in the middle of a working industrial estate

  • in Mitcham. The council that placed her there is going to withdraw her right to foster because

  • her accommodation is not good enough. Can the Prime Minister tell Ava, kids in care

  • who need foster-carers and the overworked British taxpayer how that makes sense?

  • >> The Prime Minister: As the hon. Lady has set it out, that does

  • not appear to make sense: as a result of what has happened, we will lose someone who has

  • been a foster-carer. I would like to pay tribute to the work that her constituent has done

  • in foster-caring. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to those who care for people

  • as foster-parents. As the hon. Lady has raised this in the House, I am sure that the local

  • council will want to look at it again.

  • >> Mr Speaker: Finally, Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

  • >> Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. While most

  • of us were celebrating on new year's eve, the crews of the Poole-based tug, Kingston,

  • and the Swanage and Weymouth lifeboats were battling mountainous seas and 70 mph winds

  • off the coast of Dorset to prevent a cargo ship from being blown on to the rocks. Thanks

  • to the skill of the tug's crew the tow was fixed and a disaster prevented. Will my right

  • hon. Friend join me in praising the professionalism, courage and determination of all those involved,

  • not least the volunteers of the RNLI?

  • >> The Prime Minister: I am very happy to do that, and to praise

  • all those involved in averting a disasterboth the tug crew and the RNLI. Indeed, I would

  • like to go further. RNLI volunteers do a fantastic job around our coastline day in, day out,

  • and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

>> Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab): If she will list her official engagements

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首相の質問に2018年1月10日 (Prime Minister's Questions: 10 January 2018)

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