Results 1-20 of 3,176 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Lord McKenzie of Luton

Local Audit and Accountability Bill [HL]: Second Reading (22 May 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, for introducing the Bill and for yesterday’s briefing. As we have heard, the Bill introduces a new audit regime for local authorities and health bodies, although the Government have not been able to resist tagging on two largely unrelated matters: amendments to the council tax referendum rules and draconian powers concerning observance...

Mesothelioma Bill [HL] — Second Reading (20 May 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of the Bill, for facilitating a briefing with officials and the follow-up notes, and indeed for his kind words. The core of the Bill, a lump-sum payment scheme funded by insurers for those diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma who cannot otherwise access redress from their employer or an employer liability insurance policy, is one that we...

Bailiffs — Question (14 May 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of the consequences, including the use of bailiffs, of increased indebtedness to local authorities arising from the localisation of council tax benefit with the 10% funding cut?

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill — Commons Reasons and Amendments (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Before the Minister sits down, can he just help us with one issue? If it is the Government's position that the problem to be addressed is the perception of a compensation culture, why should that be addressed by making the reality of accessing compensation claims more difficult?

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill — Commons Reasons and Amendments (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Can the Minister give us some examples of where there is gold-plating of regulations under health and safety provisions?

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill — Commons Reasons and Amendments (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, we remain steadfast in our opposition to the Government's position, and fully support the case led by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hardie, and spoken to in support by my noble friend Lady Turner and the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. We are dismayed that parliamentary process has allowed so little time for consideration of this matter in the House of Commons and that more than a...

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill — Commons Reasons and Amendments (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The point I sought to make is that in some circumstances it has been accepted, I believe, that there is a near-impossible burden. That is not necessarily the case, but even the route to proving negligence is a greater burden than the route to proving breach of statutory duty, which is what operates generally at the moment. The "near-impossible burden" description was particularly applied to...

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Commons Reasons (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I start by thanking the Minister for dealing extensively with the queries that were raised and all other noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. There are two strands to it. Most noble Lords believe that sufficient progress has been made by the amendment to be able not to stick with the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord True, if that is where they originally were. The noble...

Growth and Infrastructure Bill — Commons Reasons (22 April 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I should explain that we tabled this Motion, which insists on the position originally taken by your Lordships, as the clock was ticking on Friday without our then having sight of the government amendment. The Secretary of State, in announcing an uncharacteristic conversion to the spirit of consensus, gave neither us nor the Commons a clue as to what this revised approach to...

Homelessness: Rough Sleepers — Question (27 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, on the basis of government figures, rough sleeping in England has risen by 23% since 2010 and some 25% in London. The Mayor of London, supported by the coalition Government, committed to end rough sleeping by 2012. Are there any conversations or interviews planned with the mayor to find out where it is all going wrong?

Growth and Infrastructure Bill: Third Reading (26 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, we have no problem with this amendment. I reciprocate by thanking the noble Baroness and her team for the extreme courtesy with which they have handled this Bill and for the very extensive discussions that the noble Baroness has organised, some of which one could get to and some of which one could not. I also thank the Bill team for its helpful input.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill: Third Reading (26 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: For the record, I think I was engaged on other legislation at the time.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill: Third Reading (26 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 3, which is intended to have the same effect as Amendment 2. If it is pre-empted by Amendment 2, I would be more than happy with that outcome. At the moment we have a sunset clause that is in rather an unsatisfactory situation. Effectively we have the right for developers to renegotiate affordable housing obligations on which the sun indeed may never set....

Growth and Infrastructure Bill: Third Reading (26 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord True, has been clear and consistent on this matter, and he has our support. I am delighted that he also has: the support of the noble Lord, Lord Tope, who said that, given the statistics, there cannot be much wrong with the current system; the authoritative support of the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, as a distinguished technician; and the support of the noble Lord,...

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, first, I thank my noble friend Lady Lister for her support for this amendment. I believe that my noble friend made a powerful contribution and painted what I think we would all agree is a very troublesome picture of what is happening on the ground in too many instances. She specifically asked about whether the review would receive evidence from outside bodies, and I do not think...

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: I beg to move. I wish to test the opinion of the House.

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, in moving Amendment 4 I will speak also to Amendments 5A and 6. I look forward to hearing from my noble friend Lady Lister on Amendment 5 and what appears to be a very worthy extension of the scope of the promised review and report, which we can also support. Amendment 4 relates generally to the criteria for Clause 2, and Amendment 5A has been tabled with the strong support of the...

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: On the point about national insurance credit, I am not sure that the Minister's answer deals fully with the issue that I raised. Perhaps the noble Lord will look at the record tomorrow and write in due course.

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I indicated at the start that these are probing amendments. That highlights part of the problem of having this truncated process: that we do not have the chance to take away and read the Minister's comments. We have to try to absorb both what is said and what is not covered this evening. In relation to deferred decisions, I will not use the term to which my colleagues objected. The...

Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill — Committee (and remaining stages) (25 March 2013)

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 1 and 3 in this group. These are probing amendments, but I want to start by saying how much we deprecate the fact that we are having to debate this significant and retrospective piece of legislation at this hour and to complete all the stages before we draw stumps this evening. It might be helpful if I set out from the start how we are approaching these...