Results 1-20 of 177 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 Woolmer of Leeds

Financial Supervisory Framework: EUC Report: Motion to Take Note (12 January 2012)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, first may I add my voice to the congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, on his chairmanship of EU Sub-Committee A and the way in which he has managed to take the committee to a unanimously agreed report. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, and I will be truncating some of my remarks at the end as a result, because that was the second theme on which I was...

NHS: Hinchingbrooke Hospital — Private Notice Question (10 November 2011)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, the Minister referred to an accumulated deficit. What is that deficit at this point? Will the contract require the new providers to ensure that that accumulated deficit is, over the years, paid off, or is it to be written off at the point at which the new provider takes over?

Health: Cardiology — Question (24 October 2011)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: Will the Minister confirm that in Yorkshire and Humber, there are 5.5 million people-more than in Scotland-and that there are nearly 14 million people in the catchment area of the Leeds children's heart unit? Does the Minister imply by his remarks that he rules out Leeds as continuing to have a heart surgery unit? Will the Minister play any role at all in bringing good sense to the need for a...

Universities: Impact of Government Policy — Debate (13 October 2011)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lord Giddens for introducing this debate. I declare an interest as the chair of the board of governors of Leeds Metropolitan University, and in a former existence I was Dean of the Business School at the University of Leeds, of which my noble friend Lord Bragg is the distinguished Chancellor. It is a pleasure to follow him today. It seems that the...

EUC Report: Economic Governance: Question for Short Debate (16 June 2011)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, I, too, join colleagues on the committee in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, the staff of the committee and our special adviser for ensuring that an excellent report was produced on these important issues. I recognise the importance of the euro and the eurozone to the United Kingdom. I also recognise the various measures being put in place for strengthening Governments,...

Energy: Carbon Capture and Storage — Question (28 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, does the Minister agree that, while gas will eventually need to engage with carbon capture and storage, the priority for the next few years is to relate it to the coal industry, because coal-fired power generation plants will be coming to the end of their life in the next few years? Does he further agree that the important matter now is to press ahead with the four working...

Energy: Annual Statement — Statement (27 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: I thank the Minister and congratulate him on the Statement made on biomass grandfathering rights. I am delighted-

Energy: Annual Statement — Statement (27 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: I congratulate the Minister on the Statement on grandfathering rights for dedicated biomass plant. It is very welcome and an important step forward. Does the noble Lord agree that the support given for offshore wind through the renewable obligation requirements on energy suppliers is an important element in securing investment in offshore wind; that this is reflected in electricity prices and...

Sheffield Forgemasters — Question (22 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords-

Environment: Low-carbon Technologies — Question for Short Debate (14 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: It is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sugar, with his typical incisive and practical proposals. I join my noble friends in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, for bringing forward this debate. Given the number of speakers, it is clearly a welcome and timely one. I join all other noble Lords in warmly congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Prescott. He is a fellow Yorkshireman,...

EU Committee: Alternative Investment Fund Managers — Motion to Take Note (6 July 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Cohen on opening the debate and on her chairmanship of the committee over a considerable time. It is 14 months since the draft directive came out. It was conceived in a rush, it was supported by a very weak impact assessment, and it was conceived in a heavily political and politicised context both before and following the financial crisis. In many...

Draft Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) — Motion to Resolve (Continued) (29 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My noble friend's words might be misinterpreted on nuclear energy. He may have said that applications that took generation up to 25 gigawatts should be considered. I understood the Government's policy to be that there would be no artificial limits set to nuclear energy so applications for nuclear energy that went beyond that would also be considered. Am I correct in my assumption?

Draft Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) — Motion to Resolve (Continued) (29 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, on an equally optimistic note I should like to say how thorough a job the Government have done and how thorough a service they have provided in setting out the background to major infrastructure and planning decisions in the energy area, because that is what this is all about. Today and on other occasions, a number of noble Lords, and of course Members of the other place, have...

European Council — Statement (29 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, in the case of the alternative investment fund managers directive currently under discussion in the European Union, the position of London is not being fully and properly balanced? If the European Union progressed to use a majority voting system to outvote the United Kingdom, that would be a very damaging position for it to take. Secondly, on the...

Energy Bill — Second Reading (23 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: I may be wrong about this, but I understood that the European funding will really contribute only modestly to the initial consideration of it, and that the whole question of that then becoming a practical project plant and the transport, the pipeline and storage would certainly not be covered at all. Is the Minister saying that the Hatfield project would not be able to be considered in the...

Energy Bill — Second Reading (23 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, from whom I learn something new every time he speaks. I am most grateful to him. I, too, want to talk overwhelmingly about carbon capture and storage, initially in the context of the region where I live-Yorkshire-but I shall widen the discussion to the issues raised by the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh, and others. The...

Energy Bill — Second Reading (23 March 2010)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: I entirely agree with the noble Lord. I would not suggest one grid for the whole of the United Kingdom, but certainly in the Yorkshire region, with its 12 major sources of emissions-as I have explained-it would be logical and extremely sensible to have a grid. What is the intention of the Government in this regard? If they really believe in this and intend it to be a strategic investment for...

Economy: Modern Languages — Debate (3 December 2009)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Baroness on obtaining this debate. It has been very useful and was magnificently led in her opening remarks. I welcome Professor Worton's review of modern languages in higher education in Britain. I should declare two interests. First, I am on the board of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, which is a non-governmental forum bringing together business...

EU Trade Policy: EUC Report: Motion to Take Note (1 December 2009)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, like other speakers, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Cohen on securing the debate and on so ably chairing the committee that produced the report before your Lordships today. As the noble Lords, Lord Haskins and Lord Trimble, said, the report was produced in 2008 and published almost 11 months ago. Since then, the financial crisis and the collapse in demand in north America and...

Reforming Financial Markets — Statement (9 July 2009)

Lord Woolmer of Leeds: My Lords, does my noble friend welcome the fact that the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, on the opposite side, did not on this occasion commit the Conservatives to splitting up major banks into investment and retail banks? Such actions could only be a threat to the position of London and the importance of the major institutions. Does he agree that, up to March, there had been 46 bail-outs of...