Results 1-20 of 799 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Tom Levitt

Closed Circuit Television (Monitoring and Promotion): Schedule 22 — Repeals (27 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: I may not be the obvious Member of the House to speak about marine environments or coastal access, because we have neither coast nor marine environments in my constituency. However, High Peak is the philosophical home of the right to roam: we had the Kinder trespass in 1932 and the first open-access land designated under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, and we have more open-access...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Clause 291 — The coastal access duty (26 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: As my hon. Friend knows, my constituency has no coastal path but does contain a huge number of well-established mountain-climbing areas. All the risks are thoroughly understood and agreed on by landowners and climbers, and there is no reason why the same arrangements should not apply to coastal paths.

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Clause 291 — The coastal access duty (26 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: My High Peak constituency has more open access land as defined under the CROW Act than any other constituency in England, and I am not aware of there having been even one case of liability. People have been relieved that the liability provisions of the CROW Act have worked, and there is no reason to believe that they will not work in this Bill too in a way that reassures landowners, users of...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Tom Levitt: My right hon. Friend is right that the Conservative parliamentary party has been absolutely consistent in its support for suicidal economic policies, but is she aware that in local government some Conservative councils are taking up offers under the future jobs fund? Why does she think that some are seeing its benefits, but others, such as High Peak borough council, are still insisting on not...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009)

Tom Levitt: My right hon. Friend will agree that it is absolutely crucial that employment is maintained at as high a level as possible during the recession and that jobs are created. Is he as surprised as I am that the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) did not mention in 45 minutes anything to do with job creation? Is that perhaps because, if we read the Conservatives' work...

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day]: Economic Recovery and Welfare (19 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: I would like to give the right hon. and learned Gentleman the opportunity to talk about creating jobs, as I think that must be an important part of any approach to dealing with the recession. He is a very reasonable man, and I am sure he acknowledges that the future jobs fund is in place to create sustainable, long-term jobs with Government help. I am sure that he will also acknowledge that...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Tom Levitt: Mrs. Dean, you will not be surprised to hear that my remarks will complement and reinforce the message of my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber). As the MP for a constituency bordering Derbyshire, I am sure that you look with envy—as does my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), whose constituency also borders it—at the high quality...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Tom Levitt: To that particularly long intervention, let me give a particularly short answer—yes. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. At last week's Bookstart event, a lady told me about the books that she had received—the ones that people are given when their child is nine months old. When the family subsequently went on holiday, they took a bag of books with them, and the parents would read...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Sure Start (15 Oct 2009)

Tom Levitt: I apologise to my right hon. Friend the Minister and to other hon. Members because I am unable to stay for the whole debate: I have to meet two employees from the Hadfield Sure Start children's centre in my constituency who are attending, as my guests, an event for community heroes at No. 10 Downing street this evening. I am pleased that she mentioned Jobcentre Plus, because the Hadfield Sure...

New Member: New Clause 1 — Purchase of tobacco on behalf of children (12 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: The hon. Gentleman began his remarks by saying that he accepted that smoking should be an adult pastime. Does he accept that banning cigarette machines may push consumers from that unsupervised sale towards a supervised sale in small shops, and that therefore the only people who would be deprived of the chance of buying them would be the under-age children who should not be buying them in the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families: Libya (12 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: Given that this was a decision by a Scottish Minister on compassionate grounds, I wonder whether my right hon. Friend has seen any assessment of the evidence that the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) mentioned a moment ago—particularly that on the medical grounds—or whether, in a few months' time, we might discover that compassionate release is as effective a cure for...

Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families: Independent Safeguarding Authority (12 Oct 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: My right hon. Friend will have been pleased to hear that Volunteering England has welcomed the introduction of the vetting and barring scheme as a simplification and a sensible step forward. On the question of frequency and intensity, will he answer a question from my local town-twinning organisation? When a group of foreign children is in the town for a week or 10 days at a time, will that...

Business, Innovation and Skills: Economic Downturn (16 Jul 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: What assessment he has made of the role of higher education in assisting individuals and businesses during the economic downturn.

Business, Innovation and Skills: Economic Downturn (16 Jul 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: I am grateful for that reply and I am sure that my right hon. Friend would wish to pay tribute to the university of Derby at Buxton, which is co-ordinating work with nine major companies in the food industry to promote and co-ordinate apprenticeships and the upskilling of the work force. Will he recommend that regional Ministers throughout the country follow the example of the east midlands...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: UK Low Carbon Transition Plan (15 Jul 2009)

Tom Levitt: Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Kingspan on recently winning the Queen's award for enterprise? As he knows, Kingspan, which has a factory in Glossop, creates high-quality insulation materials. What will he do to promote the use of insulation, both in retrofitting and in new property, before the 2016 zero-carbon new homes limit, not just in the homes of the fuel-poor but in...

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department: Building our Common Future (6 Jul 2009)

Tom Levitt: In eight weeks' time, I shall be in Tanzania—at my own expense—looking at what is being done by British university students working in Tanzanian schools for the summer. They are there under the auspices of READ International, a charity of which I am patron. Does my right hon. Friend agree that however good the relationships between voluntary organisations in this country and...

Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Lisbon Agenda (30 Jun 2009) has video

Tom Levitt: Does my hon. Friend agree that the Lisbon agenda is about setting up the mechanism whereby Europe can effectively tackle the problems of the international economy, of trade and of the environment by bringing together mainstream groups from every country? That is the way forward, rather than opting out to the fringe—lunatic and otherwise—which is the Opposition's policy.