Results 1-20 of 230 for speaker:Dawn Butler

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill: Clause 215 (26 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: Thank you, Mr. Chope. First, I should like to put on record my thanks to the staff of the House for all their help today. There has been no formal agreement on how far we are going to get today. In fact, the provisional planning for the Committee, annexe 4, suggests that we should be way ahead of where we are at the moment. We have spent a lot of time discussing the Bill today and yesterday...

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill: Clause 215 (26 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: I am not quite sure what you meant by your reference to the Chairman’s involvement, Mr. Chope, but as I said, quite clearly, we would like to continue making progress with the Bill. I thank you for your time in the Chair—I think you are doing an excellent job—but I would like to continue the Bill’s progress. Further to that, I am also not sure whether there is a formula...

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill: Clause 215 (26 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: Thank you for that clarification, Mr. Chope. I apologise for not being able to say what time we will finish, but at the beginning of the Committee the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings spoke for very long periods of time and not always to the Bill. I was unable to say when he would stop talking, so I could not say what time we would finish or even get to  the clauses that we...

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill: Clause 195 (26 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: On a point of order, Mr. Chope. I move that the question now be put.

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (3 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: You refer to good employers. What about the employers who are not as good? How would you suggest that we try to disseminate good practices to them?

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (3 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: Do you think that the Bill will not encourage those employers, who are not doing as well as the good ones you talked about, to participate in Train to Gain and to look at it more favourably than they do now?

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (3 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: My last question is, which of you and Tom Wilson has most contact with employees?

Public Bill Committee: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (3 Mar 2009)

Dawn Butler: May I ask Tom the same question?

Written Answers — Communities and Local Government: Community Groups (1 Jul 2008)

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on her proposals for the transfer of assets to community groups; and what effect the Empowerment White Paper consultation will have on this process.

Opposition Day — [15th Allotted Day]: Cost of Living (24 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: rose—

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: I, too, congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Keith Hill) on bringing this very worthy Bill before the House and, as an ex-trade union official, it is a pleasure to support it. Last year, employees in Britain suffered nearly 250 work-related deaths, nearly 30,000 major injuries and well over 100,000 lesser injuries. As hon. Members can imagine, that has caused great...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. As my constituency is the most diverse in the UK, I think that it is powerful and important point. We must ensure that everyone understands the legislation and their responsibility, and that might mean that we need to translate aspects of the Bill. Ignorance is no excuse for not obeying the law, and employers cannot cite ignorance in that respect....

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: Absolutely; a prison sentence certainly focuses the mind. In 2005, Philip Hampton noted in his report on regulation and enforcement for the Treasury that the existing maximum fine of £5,000 was "an insignificant sum" for most businesses. That point was reiterated in 2006 by Professor Macrory in his regulatory justice report, subtitled "Making Sanctions Effective". On the option of...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: Absolutely; it is important for the House to send a clear message about what is expected of employers and a clear message to workers and the public that we will protect their rights, and the Bill will enable us to do that. Breaches of financial and competition regulations should be punished heavily when appropriate. As a trade union official, I often felt frustrated when suitable punishments...

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: The Bill has three clauses and three schedules. I think that the most important is schedule 1, which covers the mode of trial and maximum penalties. Does my hon. Friend agree?

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: I am sure that my hon. Friend, like me, will have received correspondence that shows that the trade unions are pleased that employers now have to carry out a fundamental risk assessment in the workplace. Often, their failure to do that results in accidents that could have been avoided.

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: To help those small businesses especially, the Health and Safety Commission has local environmental health officers, whose role is preventive. The Bill adds to that preventive function, so employers should not fear the Bill, but should implement it in order to prevent accidents.

Orders of the Day: Schedule 3 — Repeals (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: I thank my hon. Friend for giving away again; she has been very generous. The Bill deals with prosecutions, but it is reserved for the most serious offences, so does she agree that employees should not fear if they are doing their job correctly? Only the most serious offences would go to court.

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Health and safety offences: mode of trial and maximum penalty (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Health and safety offences: mode of trial and maximum penalty (13 Jun 2008) has video

Dawn Butler: Will my right hon. Friend clarify whether, for example, breaches of fundamental requirements to conduct risk assessments for breaches of asbestos regulations would be included?