Results 1-20 of 4,009 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Caroline Spelman

Petitions: Equitable Life (Meriden) (4 Nov 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I wish to present a petition from residents of my constituency, who are members, former members or the personal representatives of deceased members of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. I have been handed 61 signatures in support of the petition, and, Madam Deputy Speaker, you are probably aware that more than 400 former members and members of Equitable Life attended a rally at Parliament...

Muscular Dystrophy (3 Nov 2009)

Caroline Spelman: I am listening carefully to the Minister, but does she agree that the situation that she describes is precisely the problem? Muscular dystrophy does not have a target or a priority attached to it in this system of targets, so there is a danger that it will be given lower priority when providers and commissioners try to decide how to make use of resources.

Muscular Dystrophy (3 Nov 2009)

Caroline Spelman: I have called this debate to draw attention to the need for specialist, multidisciplinary care for everyone with muscular dystrophy and related neuromuscular conditions. Around 75 people in my constituency and more than 60,000 people in the UK are sufferers. I have a personal interest in the matter as a maiden aunt, with whom I grew up, suffered from a degenerative muscular condition, which...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: Does the hon. Lady accept that the problem is that the RDA spend is not broken down by constituency? From time to time, we get a letter from the chief executive telling us a bit of good news, but it is piecemeal. Does she accept that one of the reasons the debate at times has been tense—although I would not characterise it as yah-boo—is the absence today of the written ministerial...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: Actually, the Secretary of State is going the right way about committing his own economic vandalism, by misrepresenting the policies of the Conservative Opposition and stoking unjustified fears about our clear plans to provide more housing and more jobs, which his Government have failed to provide.

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: rose—

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, and I think this latter part of the debate has been interactive and interesting. Does the involvement in driving the Total Place agenda of the Treasury, which is essentially the largest cross-cutting Department, make it easier both to extract the information and to extract more clearly on a comparable basis how much public money is being...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I beg to move, That this House welcomes the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 requiring the publication of local spending reports; believes that people have a right to know how their money is spent by public bodies; especially welcomes the assurances given by the then Minister for Local Government, the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth, that the local spending...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful information. Residents in Cumbria have access to the sort of information that we would all like to have. His intervention shows that providing such information is perfectly possible . The information is the bedrock for finding out where there is duplication, where spending can be pooled or better aligned to optimise efficiency, and where funds can...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: Once again, my right hon. Friend's observation about Cumbria shows that it is perfectly possible to provide such information for every area. The question is why that is not happening. This huge chunk of public spending, which is channelled through non-departmental public bodies, including RDAs, has been granted an exemption. So what started out as a means of shining a light on the way that...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I am sure that you would not want to have to answer such a disingenuous question, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Given that the Government are already in bad odour in the Chamber for failing to produce a document pertinent to today's debate, attempting an intervention that is just point-scoring party politics is not a good start by a comparatively new Secretary of State. The important point is that we...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: Most hon. Members find it an extraordinary afterthought that, so late in this Parliament, the Government have realised that there might be a problem with lack of accountability in the regional structures that they have tried to create. All of us understand that there is something fundamentally wrong with the regional structures that the Government have set up. My party would seek to solve...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Local Spending Reports (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: When the Secretary of State replies, he will have a golden opportunity to explain those discrepancies. I shall draw my opening comments to a close, because I am keen that others have an opportunity to speak. It is an important debate because it goes beyond the subject of local spending reports and to the heart of what the public expect of us and how Parliament responds to them. The past year...

Points of Order (28 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make clear my displeasure at the fact that a written ministerial statement pertaining to today's debate has in fact not been released. The Government have announced publication of the responses to the consultation on local spending reports, but I find it curious, to put it generously, that the statement is being published on the day of the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Contingency Arrangements (Fire Service) (27 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I begin by welcoming the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett) to her new Front-Bench role. Will the Secretary of State confirm that, in the event of fire service strikes, there are no contingency vehicles, because the green goddesses have been sold off to places such as Albania and Peru, and that there are no...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Contingency Arrangements (Fire Service) (27 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: Nothing seems to exist, therefore, at the centre. As the threat of fire service strikes continues, our country faces a winter of discontent, with rubbish piling up in the streets and Christmas post gathering dust in sorting offices. With no leadership and no authority, this Government have become a sitting target for their union paymasters, so will the Secretary of State now accept that in...

Parliamentary Elections (Recall and Primaries): Schedule 7 — Repeals (13 Oct 2009) has video

Caroline Spelman: I want to record our thanks to all those who have devoted so many hours to debating the Bill, but it also falls to me to point out to the Secretary of State, who has kindly graced us with his presence for the final 10 minutes of the debate, that the Minister for Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination undoubtedly shouldered most of the load, and I commend her on that. However,...