Business of the House

I call the acting shadow Leader of the House.

Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?

The business for next week includes:

Monday 2 March—Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill.

Tuesday 3 March—My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will make her spring forecast statement, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill.

Wednesday 4 March—Estimates day (4th allotted day). There will be debates on estimates relating to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Business and Trade. At 7 pm the House will be asked to agree all outstanding estimates.

Thursday 5 March—Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) Bill, followed by a general debate on the contributions of Commonwealth troops in world war one, followed by a debate on a motion on the future of palliative care. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.

Friday 6 March—The House will not be sitting.

The provisional business for the week commencing 9 March includes:

Monday 9 March—Consideration of Lords amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Tuesday 10 March—Second Reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill.

Wednesday 11 March—Remaining stages of the Finance (No. 2) Bill.

Thursday 12 March—General debate to mark International Women’s Day.

Friday 13 March—The House will not be sitting.

It is a pleasure to be doing business questions and responding to the right hon. Gentleman. He was a Chief Whip—a Whip, like me, but more grand—and he was much respected, revered and sometimes feared by Members of this House. I will be honest and say that even I was terrified of him, and we are not even in the same party. It is a pleasure to be here today.

As we reach the fourth anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is important that we restate our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine. We must never abandon them.

I know that it has been a challenging few weeks for Labour Members—we have all been there—who have come to realise what the British people have long understood, which is that we have a Prime Minister who has U-turned on every principle he held and every promise he made. He is a Prime Minister elected on a promise not to raise taxes on working people, and then he raised them. He is a Prime Minister who promised to be pro-business, and he has become the most anti-business Prime Minister of modern times. He is a Prime Minister who promised to raise standards in public life, but he is presiding over an ever-growing mountain of Government scandals. “The grown-ups are back in charge, no more sleaze”—how is that going for them?

While the Prime Minister stumbles on, his Ministers are out of control and out of their depth, and the British people are paying the price. Let me start with the Justice Secretary. This week we saw that he intends to pursue his reckless plan to cut jury trials: a principle that has existed for over 800 years; a principle that he wants to wreck without proper debate in the House. Will the Leader of the House give me a categoric assurance that we will have time in the House to debate the changes that the Justice Secretary wants to make before we get to May?

Let me turn to the Education Secretary, who is also the Equalities Minister. There can be no justification for the delay in providing guidance on single-sex spaces. The Supreme Court ruled a year ago that biological sex defines a woman—a fact that most people knew without needing a judge to tell them. I do not know whether the Education Secretary deep down still does not agree, but the inaction must end. Will the Leader of the House confirm when the guidance will be laid before the House, and grant a debate in Government time on the unacceptable delays and risk it has proved to women and girls?

I thank the hon. Lady for her questions and for her warm welcome, but let me gently warn her that soft soap will get her absolutely nowhere.

Let me join the hon. Lady in expressing our continued support for Ukraine. This week marks four years since Putin’s full-scale invasion. The Government remain steadfast in our support for the people of Ukraine, as did the previous Government. This week we announced a landmark sanctions package against Russia. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to achieve a just and lasting peace. That underlines the importance of NATO and, frankly, the foolishness of any party in this House that wants us to leave NATO.

I am sure that the whole House will wish to congratulate Team GB on their most successful winter Olympic games ever, and send our best wishes to Paralympics GB ahead of the Paralympic winter games starting on 6 March.

I want to send my condolences to the family and friends of Harry Barnes, who passed away last week. He diligently served as MP for North East Derbyshire for nearly 20 years.

I also wish to send my condolences to the family and friends of Martyn Butler, the co-founder of the Terrence Higgins Trust. Martyn supported the trust for five decades and fought for LGBT rights. It is undoubted that his legacy will live on.

This week, Ofgem announced that electricity bills will come down for millions of households as a result of the action we took at the Budget. We have announced major changes to the special educational needs and disabilities system. We are putting children and young people first. Every child with additional needs will benefit from better, more tailored support, with SEND support in every school and community.

Finally, I want to wish all those celebrating a happy St David’s day on Sunday.

My constituent Bethany is 27. She has spent time in various residential care units and with at-home support provided by Worcestershire county council. During that time, she has experienced unexplained injuries and neglect, resulting in health problems and weight loss. Her family have submitted various complaints about that poor treatment, but the council will not provide a final response to their complaints and has not replied to my office’s multiple requests for that to happen. In fact, the council is still trying to reclaim fees from the family while the complaint remains unresolved. Will the Leader of the House advise me on how best to escalate that distressing case when the county council refuses to engage?

May I first express my deepest sympathies for the case that my hon. Friend raises? His constituent, and indeed all our constituents, deserve better than what he has outlined. If he sends me the specifics, I will ensure that they are taken up with the relevant Minister.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I join the Leader of the House in his comments about Ukraine. It is clear that Vladimir Putin underestimated Ukrainians’ resilience and Europe’s willingness to stand by Ukraine. He will find out that we will all stand by Ukraine right to the end of this war.

The cost of living has been piling pressure on people for years, and people have been plunged into debt. Bodies such as Citizens Advice and StepChange offer advice on how to get out of debt situations, and one thing they commonly raise with me—I see it in my inbox as well—is the aggressive debt recovery actions of those in the public sector. If people fall behind on council tax payments, councils are often quite quick to cancel their existing payment plans and order them to pay a fine. They also get to a stage involving bailiffs quite quickly—often within six weeks. This is different from what happens in the private sector, which is more heavily regulated and where there is a need to show more meaningful engagement with residents, offer payment plans, and get to court action much later.

I see this again in the case of the Department for Work and Pensions. We have spoken in this place about the carer’s allowance overpayment scandal and how those people were chased for payments, but in the last couple of weeks I have had examples in my inbox of somebody whose debt with the DWP rose to £10,000 due to errors on the Department’s part, and started being chased aggressively for that. Of course, the DWP can automatically deduct payments of up to 15% from someone’s universal credit almost immediately, leaving them with no understanding of what happened in the past, let alone how they will manage going forward. The Government are seeking new powers to go into bank accounts and take payments directly, which is extremely worrying given the errors that the DWP has made in the past.

This relates not only to the DWP, but to all public sector bodies, so I am not sure who is the relevant Minister, but I would appreciate it if the Leader of the House engaged with the Government to see if they can get more sympathy and understanding into the debt recovery process across public sector organisations.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks on Ukraine. It is important that every party in this House stands with Ukraine, and it is a pity and a disgrace that that view is not shared by everyone in the House.

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the matter of debt recovery, because it must be fair to everyone; if someone falls into debt, they must be treated fairly and supported to get back on their feet. That is why we are reforming the enforcement sector to safeguard debtors and creditors alike while building a more sustainable future. It is a question of balance, because any Secretary of State has an obligation to protect public funds and ensure that, wherever possible, overpayment and penalty debt is recovered; it should, however, be recovered as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible without causing undue financial hardship to debtors. I will draw the hon. Gentleman’s remarks to the attention of Ministers, starting with those in the DWP, to ensure that they have heard what he has said today.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Coloma Convent girls’ school in my constituency, where students are campaigning on the vital issue of debt relief for developing countries and what this nation can do about it. They highlighted the stark reality that 3.3 billion people live in nations that spend more on servicing debt than on health, infrastructure and education. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the teachers, students and staff at Coloma for their work to highlight this issue, and will he make time for a debate on the growing global debt crisis and the UK’s role in supporting meaningful debt relief?

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the work and campaigning of Coloma Convent girls’ school and will certainly join her in thanking the teachers and staff at the school. The Government fully recognise the pressure that many developing countries face, and we are committed to delivering an international financial system that supports development needs and helps countries to address their debt vulnerabilities. I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary hears my hon. Friend’s words.

I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.

I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the business for the next two weeks. May I make a plea to him—and to you, Mr Speaker—about the estimates day debates? We had seven excellent bids, from which we had to choose three, and time will be compressed in those debates. I hope that a very high bar for urgent questions will be implemented and that the Government will not put on statements on that particular day—

Order. Maybe I can help: don’t put in as many questions for the Government. [Laughter.]

I don’t think I have submitted a request for a UQ for a very long time, Mr Speaker.

Next week.

I might do next week.

The business in Westminster Hall on Tuesday will be a debate on strengthening community cohesion, which might be quite appropriate after today’s by-election. On Thursday 5 March, there will be a debate on the importance of local museums, followed by one on World Book Day. On Tuesday 10 March, there will be a debate on the import and sale of fur and fur-related products. On Thursday 12 March, the Liaison Committee has a debate on Northern Ireland, followed by a debate on Government support for carnivals. On Tuesday 17 March, there will be a debate on productivity and economic growth in the east midlands.

Unfair service charges implemented by companies across the UK are frequently raised at business questions, but I think I have one that tops the lot. In my constituency, we have a development called Stanmore Place, which has a mixture of housing association-managed property and 798 private leased properties. It is managed by St Edward Homes, with a managing agent called Rendall & Rittner.

Due to its incompetence, R&R has failed to deliver the costs of heating for the shared services for the past 10 years. It has now decided to re-invoice individuals, who have paid their bills, saying—generously—that it will not invoice them from 2015 to 2021, but that it will invoice them from 2021 to 2026. Ofgem is apparently changing the rules so that this will not be allowed in future; companies will be able to go back only 12 months, which is reasonable. However, Ofgem is not making the change until 2027, meaning that in this particular case, and across the UK, we have a wild west show in back billing.

I know that the Government are looking at leasehold reform and service charges in particular. Could the Leader of the House therefore encourage Ministers to ensure that this practice is outlawed immediately?