UK Parliament / Open data

Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Queen's speech debate on Monday, 20 November 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Ruth Kelly. The answering member was Caroline Spelman.

Queen's speech debate (third day) on communities and local government, environment, food and rural affairs.

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

453 c263-380

Session

2006-07

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Communities and Local Government

Procedure

Addresses to the Crown

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Proceeding contributions

Speaker | 453 c277 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must inform the House that Back-Bench speeches will be limited to 15 minutes.

David Curry | 453 c272 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that three dates matter—when the report is delivered to the Government, wh...

Show all contributions (166)

Caroline Spelman | 453 c269-70 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me for expressing my disappointment, but I thought the point of the debate on the Gracious S...

Barry Sheerman | 453 c270 (Link to this contribution) As Chairman of the Education and Skills Committee, may I give a little more detail to the House on t...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c270-1 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to a parliamentary question that I tabled in July, and I will send him a ...

Paul Beresford | 453 c270 (Link to this contribution) Given that we are supposed to have joined-up government, does my hon. Friend not agree that this is ...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c270 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is a lack of coherence between Departments on the issue of...

Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 453 c271 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady not agree that the question that the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr....

Lord Bellingham | 453 c271 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned waste. Is she aware that well-intentioned policies on waste management can ...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c271 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, because it allows me to point out that the Government’...

David Curry | 453 c269 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady give way?

Tobias Ellwood | 453 c266 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State speaks of infrastructure investment, but although Bournemouth has been told t...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c266-7 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would be better off lobbying his own Front-Bench team. As far as I am awa...

Jim McGovern | 453 c267 (Link to this contribution) As MPs, we are good at meeting the leaders of ethnic communities. It is right that that should conti...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c267-8 (Link to this contribution) I do. My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. We should listen not only to established vo...

Lord Bellingham | 453 c268 (Link to this contribution) Did the Secretary of State note that the head of Security Service said that the Government were in d...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c268 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. We must reach out to more people who are active at grass-root...

David Curry | 453 c268 (Link to this contribution) I sense that the right hon. Lady is close to a peroration, and I have not yet heard her mention the ...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c269 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his contribution. I thought someone might ask me about the coun...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c266 (Link to this contribution) I can tell the hon. Gentleman, and the House, that I speak to my colleagues regularly, on that matte...

John Bercow | 453 c266 (Link to this contribution) Given that new housing has to be accompanied by high-quality infrastructure if development is to be ...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c265-6 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady does her research, she will find that Bolton, West has already met its housing targ...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c265 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that we have to tackle the issue of investment in new soci...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c265 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Member for Meriden will use this debate to clarify her party’s position. I also...

Barry Sheerman | 453 c265 (Link to this contribution) What my right hon. Friend says is good news, but is she aware that in constituencies such as Hudders...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c264-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. It is not really my job to add even more yuck to the yuck f...

Brian Iddon | 453 c265 (Link to this contribution) Has my right hon. Friend received any indication of where Her Majesty’s official Opposition want hou...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c263-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to open this section of the debate on the Gracious Speech. At the heart of the Gove...

Lord Stunell | 453 c285 (Link to this contribution) We seem to have got a few people going. I will give way to the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c285 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Stunell | 453 c285 (Link to this contribution) It was said of Mussolini that he made the trains run on time. I have no doubt that, if we take much ...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c285 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will recall that the Stern report suggested that we have about 15 ...

Robert Neill | 453 c285 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of such balance, may I inform Government Members that the Belvedere incinerator, re...

Mark Field | 453 c284 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that the length of the inquiry into terminal 5 at Heathrow airpor...

Barry Sheerman | 453 c284 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we must consider the national interest, certainly with things suc...

Lord Stunell | 453 c284 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valuable point. In fact, I wonder whether he has had a quick look at my n...

Lord Stunell | 453 c284 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was doing quite well to begin with, but obviously he veered off at the end. The i...

Lord Stunell | 453 c282 (Link to this contribution) I broadly agree with the hon. Gentleman. In particular, I am sure that we do not want any fetishism ...

John Bercow | 453 c282 (Link to this contribution) The antidote to voter disengagement is not to rush headlong towards the structural fetishism that se...

Lord Stunell | 453 c281-2 (Link to this contribution) I listened carefully to what the Secretary of State had to say as she introduced the debate today, a...

Andrew Smith | 453 c280-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point on that very important issue. On the real problem of aviation...

Lord Stunell | 453 c282-4 (Link to this contribution) I already have on my desk a number of glossy brochures from various local authorities—not yet includ...

Patrick Hall | 453 c282 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised at the hon. Gentleman’s choice of language. Is he saying that the proposals that loca...

Linda Gilroy | 453 c280 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that low-energy light bulbs and traditional filament bulbs should be...

Andrew Smith | 453 c279-80 (Link to this contribution) I have just devoted quite some time to explaining—logically and persuasively, I thought—why that is ...

Chris Huhne | 453 c279 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, if there is to be an independent annual assessment, that w...

John Bercow | 453 c278 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Andrew Smith | 453 c278 (Link to this contribution) I will make some progress, if I may. I look forward not only to the Secretary of State providing th...

Andrew Smith | 453 c278-9 (Link to this contribution) I am going to move on. Time is limited, as the hon. Gentleman knows. I have commended the Secretary...

Andrew Smith | 453 c277 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. The other thing people wonder about locally is why some neigh...

David Drew | 453 c277 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that there is no more obvious example of the chaos that two-tier ca...

Andrew Smith | 453 c278 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to Oxford having the opportunity to find its own way through. If we are to rebuild th...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c278 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned Swindon. Unitary authorities are good. They are welcome, but some of ...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c276-7 (Link to this contribution) I cannot comment on the specific case, but it gives me an opportunity to make clear how strongly my ...

Andrew Smith | 453 c277 (Link to this contribution) I want to focus on climate change, which was barely mentioned by the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. S...

Barry Sheerman | 453 c276 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady quoted the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer). Many of us strongly be...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c274-6 (Link to this contribution) I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that you have not missed the point. Unless I am very much mistaken, in other...

Alison Seabeck | 453 c274 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is scaremongering. If she looks at the detail in the White Paper, she will see that it...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c274 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and I agree with him, because the concept of Governmen...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c273-4 (Link to this contribution) I cannot agree with the hon. Gentleman, and nor do the London electorate. He will recall that, as re...

Andy Slaughter | 453 c273 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one reason that the Mayor might need those powers is the appalling rec...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c272-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman heard me state that the local area agreement has potential as a vehicle for bring...

Tom Levitt | 453 c272 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the hon. Lady’s interest in local area agreements. I am sure that she agrees that local au...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c272 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It will become increasingly difficult politically for the ...

Celia Barlow | 453 c358-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree that elections by thirds have proved very successful for many councils, but it should be up ...

Andrew George | 453 c359-60 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Hove (Ms Barlow). Interestingly, early in her contrib...

Peter Ainsworth | 453 c360 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman elaborate further, and explain why the Minister thought it appropriate to de...

Andrew George | 453 c360-2 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to embarrass the Government or the Minister. I am sure that an explanation will be giv...

David Burrowes | 453 c365-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for this opportunity to take part in this wide-ranging debate, and I shall take the li...

Celia Barlow | 453 c366 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Government’s approach of combining prevention and treatment w...

David Burrowes | 453 c366-8 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, there have been successes in crime reduction, but the hon. Lady makes my point: the focus...

Anne Main | 453 c369-70 (Link to this contribution) I want to touch briefly on the joined-up thinking that we will need if we are going to deliver truly...

Martin Horwood | 453 c374 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is assiduous in criticising the Government’s targets, but can he give us one exam...

Michael Jack | 453 c378 (Link to this contribution) In the light of the international picture on climate change and the national picture, which we have ...

David Miliband | 453 c378 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman will know that when the energy review was published last June, two themes w...

David Miliband | 453 c375-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to have the chance to wind up this important debate. Local government and the environme...

Peter Ainsworth | 453 c379 (Link to this contribution) I did not blanche at all. Will the Secretary of State tell the House whether carbon emissions have r...

David Miliband | 453 c379-80 (Link to this contribution) I can tell him very clearly that carbon emissions have risen by 1.5 per cent. and that greenhouse ga...

Martin Horwood | 453 c378 (Link to this contribution) Why will the Secretary of State not accept the need to include annual targets in the Bill? The Depar...

David Miliband | 453 c378-9 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I shall return to that in a few moments. Secondly, the Bill wi...

Peter Soulsby | 453 c310-1 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, having served for thirty years as a member of a local authority, the requirement that we ...

Bob Russell | 453 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak about the aspects of the Queen’s Speech relating to climate change and local governm...

Andrew Gwynne | 453 c310 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will be aware that, before arm’s length companies and trusts were set up to run counc...

Mark Field | 453 c309 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman in mid sentence, but does he not believe that those two a...

Bob Russell | 453 c313 (Link to this contribution) I believe that Colchester and surrounding areas could reach that size. Colchester is bigger than Thu...

James Duddridge | 453 c313 (Link to this contribution) As a Member of Parliament who represents Southend, which has a unitary authority, may I ask the hon....

Bob Russell | 453 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is right in one sense, but that could be more an excuse for a coun...

Mark Field | 453 c312 (Link to this contribution) Without necessarily wishing to defend the Conservative-run county council in Chelmsford, does the ho...

Bob Russell | 453 c313-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention, but it was an intervention on my answer to a question about siz...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c315 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking exclusively about council houses, ignoring affordable housing schemes ...

Speaker | 453 c316 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady has made her point.

Bob Russell | 453 c316 (Link to this contribution) I was merely drawing the House’s attention to the decision by the Labour conference, but it is inter...

Bob Russell | 453 c313 (Link to this contribution) I’ll take you all on!

Mark Field | 453 c313 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman’s last point not sum up the precise problem? If we examine local authorities...

David Leslie Taylor | 453 c317 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions a period of 15 years. Does he agree that the sector of the economy and of so...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c316-7 (Link to this contribution) I wish to address the climate change, local government and draft transport Bills. As the hon. Member...

James Duddridge | 453 c318 (Link to this contribution) I broadly support the outcome that the hon. Gentleman seeks to achieve, but is there not a danger th...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c317-8 (Link to this contribution) With that important point my hon. Friend anticipates, possibly by reading over my shoulder, some of ...

Andrew Gwynne | 453 c286 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s comments about housing need but how do his words fit with Stockpor...

Lord Stunell | 453 c286-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I shared a train this morning and we also share a borough. Stockport borough ...

Lord Stunell | 453 c285-6 (Link to this contribution) It does not, does it?—[Laughter.] I have already commented on what I believe will be included in th...

Michael Jack | 453 c290 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was a distinguished fisheries Minister, so he will remember the rolling multi-ann...

Elliot Morley | 453 c288-90 (Link to this contribution) I want to focus on the climate change Bill, but it is appropriate to say a few words about the commu...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 453 c287 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share my concern that, despite the Stern report and the appointment of a Ministe...

Elliot Morley | 453 c291-2 (Link to this contribution) Such targets are desirable, of course, but will the effect be desirable if there is an over-concentr...

Chris Huhne | 453 c291 (Link to this contribution) Surely the problem with a five-year target is that five years is outside the normal lifespan of a Pa...

Elliot Morley | 453 c290 (Link to this contribution) That is why I do not think that our parties are too far apart on such issues. We will have a bumpy r...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c292 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that that discriminates against families, particularly with young chi...

Elliot Morley | 453 c292 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. If one has children one takes on responsibilities, one of which is to consider alterna...

Michael Jack | 453 c292-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) and to pay public tribu...

Joan Ruddock | 453 c296-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on climate change. As I could not exp...

Joan Ruddock | 453 c297-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the right hon. Gentleman, but I stress that people can do even easier energy effective ...

Michael Jack | 453 c297 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one way to encourage citizens to engage in this issue would be the rap...

Barry Sheerman | 453 c301-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be called in a debate with such high-quality contributions. I listened with rapt...

Paul Beresford | 453 c299-301 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for the fact that I will not be able to hear the Front Benchers sum up the debate. I wil...

Peter Soulsby | 453 c308-9 (Link to this contribution) I would like to return to issues relating to local government and begin by warmly welcoming the posi...

Linda Gilroy | 453 c342-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. Such issues need to be assessed by the carbon committ...

Martin Horwood | 453 c342 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept that another way in which climate change relates to water resource managem...

Linda Gilroy | 453 c340-2 (Link to this contribution) I found it difficult to choose a debate to which to contribute this week. The Queen’s Speech include...

James Duddridge | 453 c338-40 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and hope that her assessment is correct. I cannot speak f...

Angela Eagle | 453 c338 (Link to this contribution) When the Treasury Committee visited Shanghai some 18 months ago, we were encouraged to discover that...

James Duddridge | 453 c338 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with my hon. Friend that water is a key issue in the climate change debate; indeed...

Anne Main | 453 c338 (Link to this contribution) As we all know, China is having a major impact in this regard. I am concerned about the possibility ...

James Duddridge | 453 c337-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He is right that the sooner we know about any shortfal...

Lord Barker of Battle | 453 c336-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Is not the point on targets that, if or when a Governm...

Andrew Pelling | 453 c343-6 (Link to this contribution) The primary sensitivity about the proposed Greater London assembly Bill relates to planning powers a...

Robert Neill | 453 c351-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. For that reason, the London government commission suggested in our fina...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c358 (Link to this contribution) On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that on many of the issues that she so eloquently describes...

Celia Barlow | 453 c354-8 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the opportunity to speak in the debate. I welcome the Government’s new approach on loc...

Martin Horwood | 453 c347 (Link to this contribution) I join the hon. Lady in applauding many local campaigners who have lobbied hon. Members for the targ...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c346-7 (Link to this contribution) It will not surprise the House to know that I believe that this is an excellent Queen’s Speech which...

Robert Neill | 453 c350-1 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Member for South Swindon (Anne Snelgrove) will forgive me if I take a slightly ...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c347-50 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I do, as Friends of the Earth forms part of the Swindon climate change network: it is already i...

Andrew Pelling | 453 c346 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is exactly right. GOL’s expenditure is more than £16 billion and the GLA’s curren...

Tom Brake | 453 c346 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman would perhaps have expected something in the Queen’s Speech on t...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c318-20 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. As far as capping and trading are concerned, the UK can do c...

Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 453 c318 (Link to this contribution) There is a huge consensus around the House on much of what the hon. Gentleman is saying. Does he agr...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c318 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right that that danger exists, but capping and trading are devices that requir...

David Leslie Taylor | 453 c322 (Link to this contribution) I am reluctant to intervene on my own constituency MP between noon on Monday and 9 pm on Thursday, b...

Mark Field | 453 c322 (Link to this contribution) I have made it clear that I understand the view that says that we should increase the Mayor’s powers...

Anne Snelgrove | 453 c321-2 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm whether he wants to abolish the Mayor of London and to give the Olym...

Mark Field | 453 c320-1 (Link to this contribution) One immutable rule of UK governance is that local government reorganisation and restructuring are al...

Mark Field | 453 c323 (Link to this contribution) I am not saying that the Stern Report is wrong; I have not read enough of it to make a definitive ju...

Mark Field | 453 c322-3 (Link to this contribution) Nothing of the sort. I think we all realise the importance of making certain contributions. In many ...

Angela Eagle | 453 c323 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is clearly a climate change sceptic. Is he saying that the Stern report, with its...

Mark Field | 453 c323-4 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point that we need to make decisions now, because there i...

Alan Whitehead | 453 c323 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that even if that were to happen from tomorrow, not one kilowatt of n...

Anne Main | 453 c326 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I serve on the same Select Committee. Would he like to expand on his comments...

Clive Betts | 453 c324-6 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome the inclusion in the Queen’s Speech of a climate change Bill. Like many hon. Mem...

David Leslie Taylor | 453 c327 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend referred to the ability of local authorities to borrow against revenue funding stream...

Clive Betts | 453 c326-7 (Link to this contribution) When I refer to a city region, I mean a region that surrounds a city. That is probably not rocket sc...

Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 453 c328-32 (Link to this contribution) I greatly enjoyed the contribution of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts), as he ...

Clive Betts | 453 c327-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right, and the Government have accepted in principle that the prudential borrowing...

Angela Eagle | 453 c332-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis), who made a ...

James Duddridge | 453 c336 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been wide-ranging and all the more interesting for that. However, I wish to focus on ...

Caroline Spelman | 453 c271-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman invites me to repeat that the local government White Paper had an obvious hole in...

Robert Neill | 453 c274 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that perhaps the real reason for the Government’s lack of action is their ...

Stephen Pound | 453 c264 (Link to this contribution) May I say, for the record, that this is not remotely a leadership bid on my part, although there is ...

Charles Hendry | 453 c305-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) who gave an expert speec...

Tom Brake | 453 c351 (Link to this contribution) In my constituency, our acute trust and the PCT may be about to close the accident and emergency dep...

Peter Ainsworth | 453 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) That is a silly question and I am sorry that I gave way. The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well tha...

Peter Soulsby | 453 c309-10 (Link to this contribution) They are inextricably linked but that is not a reason for not welcoming the steps that are being tak...

Peter Ainsworth | 453 c370-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure—and rather surprising—to be about to deliver my maiden wind-up speech. We have had ...

Lord Stunell | 453 c287-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has applied the point that I made earlier about the planning Bill to a local matter. ...

Ruth Kelly | 453 c269 (Link to this contribution) No. I have given way once to the right hon. Gentleman. Strong and prosperous communities are centra...

Julie Kirkbride | 453 c265 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for challenging our Front-Bench Members on the matter, but I re...

Subjects

Climate change

Housing

Environment protection

Infrastructure

Green belt

Local government

Planning

Standards

Social rented housing

Taxation

Link

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