Results 1-20 of 864 for speaker:Judy Mallaber

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

Judy Mallaber: Does the right hon. Gentleman think that it is a tough decision to give a huge tax giveaway to multi-millionaires by cutting inheritance tax? Is that what he means by a tough decision?

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 9 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I am still a little confused as to what difference changing the wording, as proposed by the amendment, would make. The tenor of the amendment is not clear. Would the Minister explain further what she understands would happen as a result of the amendment?

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I spoke to Ministers about these proposals last week. I draw attention to the early-day motion tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney) and a similar one stimulated by Grandparents Plus, which has attracted considerable support across the House. Hon. Members outside this room think that this issue is important. Last week, I explained to the chief executive of the...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I am delighted to have discovered just now, Mr. Key, that your daughter is one of my constituents, which is a very nice thing to  say. I am sure that you had impeccable child care for her when she was being brought up, which brings me back to the subject that I was talking about before the Committee adjourned. I will not be long. I was supporting my hon. Friend the Member for...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: The hon. Gentleman may have noticed that we do not think that the recession should be dealt with through cuts. The recession should be dealt with  through increased growth and, although obviously there will be very tight financial regimes, it is clear if one looks at the record of last week’s debate in Westminster Hall on Sure Start that we have a continuing and very strong...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: We do not have much time in this debate, but I will give way.

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I completely contest that that is the situation. Families do have health visitors. The question is what kind of workers they have, for how many visits and for what ages. When I was canvassing in a recent election, I put that point to one parent, who said, “We as a family do not need a health visitor for a long time; we need some other provision for my older child, who’s not an...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I do indeed, but I did feel that I should allow him to intervene—he was very good at provoking me into wishing to intervene on him, so it was only fair. The other example of the complex way in which all these building blocks fit together is equal pay. Earlier this week, I was a bit astounded to hear on the radio a Conservative Front-Bench spokeswoman who was discussing equal pay with the...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I support everything that my hon. Friend has just said. She made a complex speech—

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that many of us represent rural and semi-rural constituencies, but I thought it necessary to put it on the record. My constituency—an ex-mining community—is largely rural, with market towns. The Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, has just told me that her constituency is 800 sq km,...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that there is some rationale for not including absolutely everything? The provision of financial support for children and parents so clearly has the Child Support Agency and the administration of the benefit system at its core that I cannot see that anything would be added by listing those items. I think that the baubles can be limited, even if a few extra...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I understand the hon. Gentleman’s argument and I am having similar difficulty about what should and should not be included. Would he not agree, however, that there is a difference between what is included and some of the other items that are being suggested, which are subject areas and services, and a separate category that would not fit into the existing structure relating to...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 8 (29 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that levels of financial support should be determined by need and based on the number of children and the amount of finance available to that unit, rather than on whether the family arrangement is that of two parents or of a lone parent? As I understand it, the current arrangements seek to put financial need as the criterion.

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 3 (27 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: May I ask for a statement of fact? I might be stupid and may have missed some documents, but will my right hon. Friend tell us where the list of factors relating to material deprivation is set out, explain how we can get hold of it and say whether we have already been given a copy?

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 1 (27 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I agree that the amendment and the new clause would create a much less focused Bill. Some of the items in the new clause are slightly curious. For example, it asks for “regulations setting out the causes of poverty targets”, and one of those causes is “serious personal debt”. Surely it is the fact that a person is poor that causes them to have serious personal debt, rather...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 1 (27 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: The hon. Gentleman’s comments show the complexity and the difficulty of adding extra targets in the way that the new clause does. I could give another 40 targets, but if I did, I would be accused of being target-mad. We all know that we have moved between having too many targets and having too few. As my hon. Friend the Member for Regent’s Park and Kensington, North, pointed out,...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 1 (27 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: I agree. In the questioning session I specifically referred to many of my constituents who, if given additional income, do not have those other problems and are perfectly able to cope with their lives. Their sole problem is a lack of income. That in no way denigrates the really serious problem faced by a certain proportion of our population, and nobody downplays the importance of any of the...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill: Clause 1 (27 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: The hon. Gentleman refers to the witness statements, but I quizzed the witnesses about the difficulty already referred to. We say that we should not have too many targets, yet the Opposition now suggest that we have a lot more targets. I could add another 20 to the list. Does he not accept that the Bill places two duties on the Secretary of State? The first relates to the minimum income...

Public Bill Committee: Child Poverty Bill (22 Oct 2009)

Judy Mallaber: We seem to be partly in an argument about whether it is a lack of income that leads to other problems. While accepting some of the very difficult families in multiple deprivation that we have been talking about, I see a large number of families in my constituency who have been helped solely because they have been given more income. Could you all comment on whether it is the case that for a...