Results 1-20 of 222 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Anthony D Wright

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Elderly People (Long-term Care) (8 Jul 2009) has video

Anthony D Wright: On Monday, while some Conservatives were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ending of the dock labour scheme—with Lord Fowler, the architect of that legislation, as their guest speaker—11 of my dock workers were being told that their jobs were ending owing to the casualisation of the port. This is happening despite the fact that Lord Fowler, when he was a Minister in this...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: We are not talking about an individual member of staff; I know of dozens of members of staff who are finding things extremely difficult. I can understand perhaps that one or two might fall through the net, but about 30 or 40 per cent. of the 135-strong work force at Havenbridge house are going to find things extremely difficult. Multiply that across every other constituency, and we have a...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman. Is he suggesting that the Conservative party manifesto will propose an increase in public-sector jobs rather than what we have been hearing for a number of months—billions of pounds-worth of cuts in the public sector?

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I agree with the hon. Gentleman. The one thing that we have done wrong is to remove front-line services; as a result, jobs have gone in the Department for Work and Pensions and in other areas. Over the past two and a half or three years I have been working extremely hard on the consultation, and I have come to know many of those in HMRC who work with individuals. It is clear and apparent that...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: As you can see, Mr. Caton, I brought my fans along as well—[Interruption.] Unfortunately, I cannot control them, as I am sure the record will show. I am pleased to have secured this debate, but it is unfortunate that we have to discuss the possibility of up to 200 offices of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs throughout the UK closing. Many Members have turned up today, but I know that...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend on job moves, which will affect the whole of Norfolk; for example, the office in Dereham is also up for closure. I believe that we would all say exactly the same thing: we do not want jobs to be taken from other areas. I shall discuss the deprivation indices in my constituency, but first I want to develop my argument a bit further. As I said, Great...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Yes, absolutely. As I said earlier, everything that is happening to us in Great Yarmouth is replicated throughout the country. I shall prove that point when I develop my argument about the issues that were not taken into account when assurances were given.

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Absolutely. The hon. Gentleman has hit the nail on the head in terms of experience, because, in my constituency, the average number of years that people have worked in the department exceeds 20. I do not know of any other industry or profession with such consistency, and over those 20 years, people have built up their professionalism, contacts and local knowledge. However, if we put in their...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: That is a very valid point about compliance offices. The proposal creates other issues, problems and, indeed, questions about what will happen within the compliance units when they are moved away from their localities, where they know local businesses and people and can keep their finger on the pulse. Bridging the gap created by the huge amount of businesses and business people who may evade...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Absolutely. I really wanted to give those examples, because we can multiply them hundreds of times over, and individuals find themselves in such situations throughout the country.

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Absolutely. I could not have written the script much better if I had asked hon. Members to intervene. The hon. Gentleman raises another issue that must be looked at. I expressed my constituents' concerns about these job moves, because they weaken the base for young people to come through and take up jobs in what they consider to be good, long-term professions in the civil service or public...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Again, that is an extremely valid response to an issue that affects Great Yarmouth, as well as other areas. Many of the jobs are part time, and people took them because they were flexible and allowed them to strike a work-life balance. I commend the Government's moves on equality to give women the opportunity to go back to work, but here we have the perverse opposite. The profession contains...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I can develop an argument about the procedure that was missing from the consultation. During the post office closures, for instance, criteria were laid down saying that a post office in an area with deprivation could not even be considered for closure unless there was another one within a mile and, if that was so, it was taken out of the equation all together. However, no account has been...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: That is a point, but as I just mentioned the millions of pounds that have been put into my constituency have created further employment opportunities. I find it perverse that, as the hon. Gentleman rightly says, we are supporting regeneration in our communities—mainly seaside ones, by and large—and a huge amount of investment is going in, yet because of the peripherality and...

[Mr. Martin Caton in the Chair] — HMRC (Office Closures) (11 Mar 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Absolutely. Using the argument about the recession and what my hon. Friend has said, the latest closure programme covering all the offices that I have mentioned should be ceased forthwith and the Department should have another rethink. Let us get the answers to this problem and find out what the savings will be, compared with the alternative advanced by the unions. The union in this case is...

HMRC Office (Chorley) (25 Feb 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. I cannot really link my constituency with Chorley except that—

HMRC Office (Chorley) (25 Feb 2009)

Anthony D Wright: Absolutely, and the closure might effect the ability of some to do so. Does my hon. Friend consider that during the consultation process the officials did not take into account the difficulties that people would face in having to move offices? The vast majority of the people affected are fairly low paid and have life balances to consider. Furthermore, we will lose staff with an average of 25...

Nigeria (21 Jan 2009)

Anthony D Wright: I joined my hon. Friend on a visit to Nigeria recently and was amazed at the opportunities there. Does he agree that, as he rightly said, the issue needs to be tackled not only by the UK but by other Governments as well, and that there are immense opportunities in terms of reducing carbon emissions and human rights? There are also opportunities for the business community in the UK and wider...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support Agency (24 Nov 2008) has video

Anthony D Wright: What progress has been made on the Child Support Agency's transition to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Child Support Agency (24 Nov 2008) has video

Anthony D Wright: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. During its existence, the CSA collected more than £6 billion, but billions more are still uncollected. Will that debt pass to the new commission, and will the commission's new powers cover that debt, or will it be written off?