Contributions
893 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)indicated assent.04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Gary and finally to be here debating this Bill. I pay tribute to the Joint Committee that produced its excellent report in…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)My right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will come on to that. The point of that experience is that it is not for us to prescribe how the Sponsor Body might do this, but a…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)I think we will hear from the ceramics sector in a moment. There are an awful lot of opportunities for our local businesses. I am sure that local authorities and business…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. That is one of the things that could happen, but as we have seen—I had the privilege of visiting Crossrail a couple of times, most…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We need to start now and make it a mission of this place to set a tone for how other large projects should be run, to ensure that we…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)The Minister is making an eloquent argument against the word “need”, but we have an elegant amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford, which talks about…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)I seek some guidance from the Minister. He is the Minister presenting the Bill. The law was drafted by Government, because that is the way that Bills are drafted and the Sponsor…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (First sitting)I thank the Minister for giving way; he is being generous. However, I refer to what my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda said. The clause already sets out specific criteria.…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)I will not press my amendment to a vote on this occasion. I hear what the Minister says; the Sponsor Body is an unusual body. In the time that I have had available, we have not…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)I beg to move amendment 15, in schedule 2, page 22, line 6, at end insert— “(10) The Comptroller and Auditor General must have access rights to allow him to examine the…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)I am very happy to explain. The Comptroller and Auditor General is an officer of the House and accountable to Parliament. His role—it is currently a he—is to make independent…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)rose—04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)Any parliamentarian can ask the National Audit Office to do a value-for-money study on anything. It is unusual for Departments to ask for work to be done, but it would be normal…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill (Second sitting)On the basis of what the Minister has said, I will withdraw this amendment now, but with the right to return to it, perhaps in a simpler form, at a later stage. I beg to ask leave…04 Jun 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) BillWill the right hon. Gentleman give way?21 May 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) BillThe Comptroller and Auditor General at the National Audit Office is coming to the end of his term at the end of this month, and one item on my list of things to talk to the new…21 May 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) BillThe Joint Committee gave some thought to this, and the view was that members of the Sponsor Body should come to the House as Members representing the House of Commons Commission…21 May 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) BillThe hon. Gentleman is critical of spending money on the UK Parliament so it amuses me that there are colleagues of all of ours up the road, as he would say, in a wonderful,…21 May 2019HANSARDParliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) BillLabour gains.21 May 2019