Former Labour MP for St Albans
I present a petition from my St. Albans constituents, which, I am proud to say, is, I believe, the last of this Parliament. The petition states: The Petition of the St. Albans residents Declares that Vodafone has breached the mobile phone industry's code of best practice in its application to construct a phone mast in London road, St. Albans. The Petitioners therefore request that the House...
rose—
What would the Minister say to council tenants who live in an area of my constituency where a survey was undertaken? Their authority is small but well managed, and its housing stock is in good condition. They voted overwhelmingly in favour of staying with the council, even though the council suggested to them that moving to an ALMO might be a good decision. Therefore, we are not sweating that...
The Minister has not talked about the infrastructure implications of the new build. The East of England regional assembly has suddenly announced that it does not support the extra house building because the infrastructure cost implications of the new build would not be met. Every secondary and primary school in my constituency is full. Our population is increasing. We want to build more...
Does the hon. Gentleman accept that in respect of the 50:50 split, the issue depends on where the houses are being built and how much that costs. For example, there is a great difference in land prices and building costs between St. Helens and St. Albans. The Government did not build as many houses as they needed and as many of us would want, but they are building houses where they are most...
May I give the hon. Gentleman an example from my own constituency? Borras Construction built an office block five years ago and has tried to flog it, rent it and do other things, but it cannot. A planning application was submitted to the local authority, which said that the site was an employment-designated site. It could be guaranteed that there would be 100 per cent. affordable units on the...
My hon. Friend mentioned colleges of further education. He will know as well as I do that they were given their freedom some years ago. Is he suggesting that that was the right way forward and that they have blossomed as a result? Will not the academies go down the same route?
May I offer my hon. Friend some support? As a father of seven children, I believe that I have more parenting skills than most in the House, and I say, "Don't smack children."
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what professional regulation applies to academy teachers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role he plans for pharmacists in (a) promoting health care and (b) providing information to patients.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Medical Research Council on alternatives to the closure and dispersal of the National Institute for Medical Research; and if she will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to (a) science in schools and (b) biology fieldwork following the science and innovation consultation; and if he will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for (a) new diagnostic and treatment centres and (b) new acute hospitals in the eastern region of England.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of trends in the amount of time businesses spend on dealing with regulation; and if she will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department has taken since 1997 to reduce the administrative burden on small and medium-sized enterprises of compliance with VAT regulations; and how many companies are eligible to benefit from these steps.
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when Mr. David Franklin was appointed as a small and medium-sized enterprises adviser to the Government; and in what capacity.
