Contributions
1,006 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRemote Attendance and Proxy VotingToday we have published the Government’s response to our recent consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting in local authorities. The Government have previously set out our…05 Jun 2025HANSARDLocal Government Re-organisationOn 24 March I updated the House on the latest steps on local government reorganisation. This set out the commitment that all areas had shown to reorganising local government in…03 Jun 2025HANSARDLocal Government Pension Scheme: Member Benefits ReformThe local government pension scheme in England and Wales gives 7 million dedicated public servants security in their later years. The majority of its members are women on low-paid…15 May 2025HANSARDChurches and Religious Buildings: CommunitiesWhat I can say is that the passion, enthusiasm and commitment shown by all Members here today in talking about the importance of these places of worship—not only the historical…13 May 2025HANSARDChurches and Religious Buildings: CommunitiesI did my best to outline the range of different funding available to local churches and places of worship; this fund is just one of a number. On my hon. Friend’s particular point…13 May 2025HANSARDChurches and Religious Buildings: CommunitiesIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. Good morning to everybody in the Chamber. I thank the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) for securing the…13 May 2025HANSARDLocal Government Best ValueI have previously updated this House that this Government are committed to reset the relationship between local and regional government, and to establish partnerships built on…08 May 2025HANSARD Havering Borough and Essex DevolutionI am grateful to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) for securing this important debate and raising the question of Havering borough’s place in relation to devolution…07 May 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI do not think there is a single example—although I am prepared to be corrected—where equal pay has not had winners and losers on the edges. That is an element of equal pay that…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI am sure that sounded a better question when it was being drafted this morning. I do not think anyone takes pride in the strike action and the waste that accumulated on the…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionThat certainly gets the award for the silliest question yet. There is no kowtowing or bowing. We played this with an absolutely straight bat in the interests of the people of…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionThere has been almost daily communication with the council, and the trade unions have made representations, too, but we need to be clear about appropriate roles and…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionWe have been here repeatedly for questions, statements and even urgent questions in the House, and on not a single occasion has the shadow Secretary of State or shadow Ministers…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI share the hon. Member’s appreciation of community volunteers who are cleaning up the streets, just as I welcome the hard work of hundreds of frontline council workers who have…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI am usually a bit suspicious when somebody starts their question with “This is a genuine question”, but that was actually a proper question. Members could learn from it. […22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI think I have covered this at least a couple of times. As I said, we are grateful to our colleagues in the Ministry of Defence for the logistical support they have provided. We…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionIt is clear from the negotiations that there are a number of moving parts. I should declare that we are not replicating those negotiations in this Chamber; they should be between…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI do not think that anyone could criticise my work ethic, but reorganising a third of England and the 20 million residents affected would be quite a reorganisation to deliver. As…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionI have already covered the value that the MOD has provided, and of course, we work in partnership. The offer of support was made to the council, which received that offer…22 Apr 2025HANSARDBirmingham: Waste CollectionWe can certainly agree that people have the right to strike, but people also have the right to go to work. We saw a restriction of the number of bin trucks that could leave the…22 Apr 2025