Clive Betts MP: speeches 2024

60 published records · newest first.

Speeches

18 Dec 2024 · Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement · Hansard source
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I very much welcome today’s statement and the extra funding that has been announced. I commend the Minister for repeatedly reminding the Conservative party of 14 years of austerity, during which local government saw bigger cuts to its budgets than any other part of the public sector. Of course, the Lib Dems were a party to the coalition Government when the worst of those cuts were made. May I ask my hon. Friend two questions? First, when he comes to consider more fundamental reforms—which we accept will not be in place for another year—will he look at the council tax system as a whole? It is an unfair and regressive system that takes a disproportionate amount of money from the poorest people in the poorest houses. Secondly, can he confirm that the local audit office will be a stand-alone body that looks at public sector audit, not an add-on to the audit, reporting and governance authority—a previous proposal—which was basically to be a private sector body that looked at local government as an afterthought?
17 Dec 2024 · Trades and Apprenticeships · Hansard source
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Probably much to his surprise, I am going to call Jim Shannon as the next speaker.
17 Dec 2024 · Community Pharmacies: Devon and the South-west · Hansard source
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Order. Interventions should be brief and to the point for hon. Members to respond to. They should not be another speech.
17 Dec 2024 · Community Pharmacies: Devon and the South-west · Hansard source
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We now move on to the Front Benchers. The two Opposition spokespeople have no more than five minutes, and then the Minister will probably have about 10 minutes left.
17 Dec 2024 · Community Pharmacies: Devon and the South-west · Hansard source
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Order. I am going to have to squeeze speeches down to no more than four minutes.
17 Dec 2024 · Community Pharmacies: Devon and the South-west · Hansard source
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Order. “You” and “your” refer to the Chair.
17 Dec 2024 · Community Pharmacies: Devon and the South-west · Hansard source
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Order. Given the number of Back Benchers who wish to speak, you will probably have to keep to less than five minutes each. Also, at some point we may have to suspend the sitting for 45 minutes to vote, so please do not speak unless you are prepared to come back when the debate resumes.
12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source
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I declare my interest as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. I welcome the commitment to overall house building targets—we cannot hit a national target with clear local targets. I welcome in particular the commitment to social housing. Will the Minister confirm that that means social housing, not the affordable housing that the shadow Minister mentioned? There is a big difference there. The viability of brownfield sites is lower and section 106 contributions will be lower, so if we are to concentrate on brownfield sites, will the Minister make the point to the Chancellor that to deliver social housing in the numbers needed, she might have to reconsider the amount of social housing grant that she provides?
9 Dec 2024 · Planning Committees: Reform · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend will know that I am passionately committed to local councils and local democracy, but does he understand the frustration that many of us feel when a planning authority democratically approves a local plan after consulting the community, but then, when an application is made to build homes, the same councillors turn down the application, despite it being consistent with the local plan? Is the Minister’s main objective to try to remove that sort of decision making, which holds up the whole process, and to ensure, in consultation with the Local Government Association and others in local government, that we can find a better way forward, so that we can get the permissions to build the homes that the country badly needs?
2 Dec 2024 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way on the point about industry’s responsibility. It is right that social housing tenants and leaseholders should not have to bear the burden of rectifying these buildings. Individual developers and the development industry have been financially held to account, at least to a significant degree, but the one part of industry that has got completely away with it so far is the product manufacturers. So far, they have not been asked to pay anything towards rectifying the buildings, and as the Grenfell inquiry showed, they are responsible for a lot of the problems. Will my right hon. Friend indicate what consideration is being given to a scheme to make sure the product manufacturers pay their fair share of the costs?
2 Dec 2024 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way once again. To go back to the issue of the product manufacturers, I am really pleased to hear what she says about Government contracts for the worst offenders, but will she consider giving guidance to local authorities and other public bodies, such as the NHS, to make sure that they are also aware of the need not to award contracts to these companies?
2 Dec 2024 · Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments about the work of the Select Committee. On product safety and product testing, what the Hackitt report, as well as the Select Committee, found was the extent to which product manufacturers were going from one testing place to another until they found one that agreed that their product was safe. Products often failed the tests, but those failures were never in the public domain. Does he think that there ought to be a change of process, so that when a product fails in one testing place, that failure is made known publicly?
26 Nov 2024 · Israeli Settler Violence: Sanctions · Hansard source
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I listened carefully to my right hon. Friend’s answer. He said that he will not speculate on future sanctions, but the two Israeli Ministers named are encouraging settler violence and have called for the annexation of the west bank by Israel. Does my right hon. Friend accept that, even if he will not talk about further sanctions today, he can recognise that the threat of annexation is real, and that until we come out clearly in support of an independent Palestinian state, the settlers will continue their violence in the belief that they will eventually achieve the annexation that they want?
26 Nov 2024 · Israeli Settler Violence: Sanctions · Hansard source
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10. Whether he plans to extend existing sanctions in response to settler violence in the west bank to Israeli Ministers.
19 Nov 2024 · Ukraine: 1,000 Days · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. Indeed, I thank him and our right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary for their joint leadership on this matter. The key issue, as far as I can see, is the shipment of oil. Oil is the lifeblood for Putin financing his illegal activities, and sanctions are the way we have to stop that. Will my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary give an assurance that there are now no British individuals or companies engaged in the illegal shipment of oil or its financing? If he cannot give that assurance today, what further action will he take so he can come to the House in the relatively near future and do so?
14 Nov 2024 · Council Tax · Hansard source
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Let me take my hon. Friend on a trip down memory lane. When I first became a councillor—only 48 years ago—councils had the freedom to raise rates for domestic and non-domestic property. Should we not, at some point, start a conversation with councils and the wider public about whether thresholds at all are appropriate? Councils in this country have less freedom to raise local taxation than virtually any other councils in western Europe. Council tax itself is regressive, both between individuals and between different local authorities. Can we not start that conversation at some point?
14 Nov 2024 · Council Tax · Hansard source
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I really do not know how the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds), can stand there and talk about cuts and shortfalls with a straight face. We know where responsibility lies—and on the Lib Dem Benches as well. [ Interruption. ]
14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source
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If we are to reform the NHS, we need to move resources over time into primary care. The reality is that GPs see at first instance 90% of patients, but receive only 8% of NHS funding. Will my hon. Friend ensure that, in the settlement that is agreed with NHS providers, particular attention is given to supporting GPs? On the social care sector, when we help the hospices and social care providers, which are charities and small organisations in particular, can perhaps do so without subsidising some of the hedge funds that are now investing heavily in social care? We do not want to add to their profits while supporting the small charities involved.
13 Nov 2024 · Future of the Post Office · Hansard source
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During the last Parliament, some time before the Liberal Democrats took up the issue, I met with my constituent, Richard Trinder, the sub-postmaster at Handsworth post office, and, online, with some of his colleagues from across the country. They raised the issue of mutualisation. I brought that up with the previous Post Office Minister, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), who gave the matter positive consideration and said he would support it. I note that my hon. Friend the Minister has said exactly the same today. I know it will be some time before we get the fundamentals of the Post Office sorted out, but will the Minister say how he will engage with sub-postmasters? They are key to the issue. We need to work and look with them at how mutualisation might work, and what sort of structures they would like to see created that can make it work positively, going forward.
5 Nov 2024 · Renters' Rights Bill (Seventh sitting) · Hansard source
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With this it will be convenient to consider clauses 135 to 141 stand part.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
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Jim Shannon probably will want to make a speech.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
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I thank all hon. Members for adhering to the time guidance; that is really helpful. We now move on to the Front-Bench speakers, who will have 10 minutes each—
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
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I call Noah Law.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
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Order. I count seven Members who would like to speak, so that gives us about a six-minute maximum for contributions. I am not imposing a rigid time limit, but that is an indication of how long you should try to speak for.
31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source
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Order. I remind Members that interventions are supposed to be brief and to the point, not a substitute for a speech.

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