Results 1-20 of 1,098 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Kitty Ussher

Todmorden Rail Link (15 Oct 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I am extremely grateful for the constructive approach that my hon. Friend is taking. As a Minister, he has a large amount of personal experience of how these things work in other parts of the country. Does he think that it is a realistic aim for the local partners to try to achieve starting work on the ground in 2011?

Todmorden Rail Link (15 Oct 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise an issue of critical importance to my constituency, both now and for its future prosperity. When I first rose in this House to give my maiden speech, a mere four and a half years ago, I drew the House's attention to two critical strengths of my constituency of Burnley. The first is our proud manufacturing tradition, which I am pleased to say is still...

Todmorden Rail Link (15 Oct 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I agree with my hon. Friend. Notwithstanding the fact that the track that would benefit my constituents lies in her constituency, her constituents would benefit from it, too. She has got right to the heart of this issue, because we must not view transport links as simply a tool to reduce congestion; they are also a regeneration tool in themselves. My constituency provides a good example of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: The latest gross household savings ratio is for the fourth quarter of 2008 and it shows that 4.8 per cent. of total household resources were saved.

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this point, because the Government announced in this year's Budget that we will contribute an additional £100 a year to the child trust fund accounts of all disabled children, with the most severely disabled receiving £200. We are doing that because, as he mentioned, we recognise the particular issues that face disabled children as...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this point, and we obviously hope that people will be treated with decency in what is a very difficult time, not only for Lloyds but across the financial services sector. The question of the number of people employed by Lloyds is obviously a commercial matter for the company itself, but I am sure that Members in all parts of the House who have...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: Well, I am delighted to be able to report to the House that the Chancellor is currently at ECOFIN fighting for this Government's interests, and in particular ensuring that the UK's interests are represented as the European Community discusses the de Larosière report, which is entirely relevant to the City of London as it deals with the European supervisory framework. I think that that is...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this point. People over 50 will be able to save £10,200 in their ISA from October this year, of which £5,100 can be saved in cash. We know that this will be particularly welcome as savers seek better returns on their assets. It is, of course, a competitive market out there, so I urge anybody who has been adversely affected by the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was listening, but I just explained one thing that we are doing for the over-50s to ensure that they can get a better return on their savings—we have increased the limits up to which they can save tax-free in ISAs. This Government's policy is to promote saving across the whole of a person's lifetime, which is why we introduced child trust...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Topical Questions (9 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: This being my first day as a Treasury Minister, having previously been at the Department for Work and Pensions, I can say I will be delighted to hold such a meeting.

Family Benefits (Absent Teenage Fathers) (2 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: As is customary, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on securing the debate. I also thank him for his kind words and know that he speaks with considerable expertise—as he has mentioned, he chairs the board of the teenage pregnancy taskforce in his constituency. Moreover, I know that he shares my strong personal interest in getting the policy...

Family Benefits (Absent Teenage Fathers) (2 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: We certainly need to find a way to make it easy to do that. There is an inherent tension between the role of registrars and wider social policy, because registrars are, by definition, very important clerks—they register. They do not have a wider social policy goal. I agree with what my hon. Friend is trying to achieve, but there may be other ways of doing that, which I shall come to. I...

Family Benefits (Absent Teenage Fathers) (2 Jun 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: Indeed. I welcome my hon. Friend's contribution and completely agree. Contact centres have an important role to play in the tapestry of policy in certain circumstances, and it is not easy to work there, so I pay tribute to the staff and, indeed, to everyone involved. My hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North raised the issue of lower socio-economic groups, to use his words, and how they...

Council Tax Benefit (21 May 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: I start, as is customary—but I particularly mean it on this occasion—by congratulating the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on securing the debate. I say that I particularly mean it because it is the culmination of an excellent campaign. He has raised an important issue and one that is dear to our hearts, as I shall explain. It is not just the hon. Gentleman whom we...

Council Tax Benefit (21 May 2009) has video

Kitty Ussher: When I said that our advice was that a change required primary legislation, I did not say that that was a hurdle. However, it is obviously relevant to the way in which any change would be made. If primary legislation makes the change harder to achieve swiftly, is it sufficient to rebrand? It may be possible simply to do that, if local authorities agree that that is desirable. The words that...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Local Housing Allowance (11 May 2009)

Kitty Ussher: The information is not available for the past 12 months. However, evidence from the nine local housing allowance pathfinder evaluations indicated that payments of local housing allowance were made to landlords in 12 per cent. of cases where local authorities assessed the claimant as vulnerable.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Local Housing Allowance (11 May 2009)

Kitty Ussher: My hon. Friend raises an extremely important point. The guidance to local authorities on how to implement the regulations, and in particular the safeguards for vulnerable claimants, has been set out clearly. Indeed, we have provided comprehensive training and guidance material to local authorities. Like my hon. Friend, I too have been concerned that some local authorities are implementing the...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Local Housing Allowance (11 May 2009)

Kitty Ussher: The hon. Gentleman needs to check his facts. In fact, 25 per cent. of the broad rental market areas are being reviewed this year; 14 of those reviews will be published quite soon and a further 18 in the next few months, and 25 per cent. a year will be looked at. I have asked the Rent Service to prioritise areas where there was less local consensus and encourage them to involve all local...

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Local Housing Allowance (11 May 2009)

Kitty Ussher: My hon. Friend is right to raise that point. It is precisely why shortly—in the next few months or so—we shall be starting a public consultation on what has so far been an internal review of housing benefit, designed to make sure that work incentives are at the core of the way we implement the benefit system.

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions: Local Housing Allowance (11 May 2009)

Kitty Ussher: I mentioned in response to the earlier question that 14 reviews were being fast-tracked. Cambridge is one of those and I expect to have recommendations about what should change, if anything, in the next few weeks. Any changes will, we hope, be implemented from 1 July.