John Healey: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I omitted to mention that in the earlier part of my question. Does my hon. Friend recall the survey commissioned by the previous Administration covering tourism staff, including museum staff, which showed that 45 per cent. of full-time staff in the sector had received no training since they left education, and that 74 per cent. of part-timers were in the same...
John Healey: I am grateful for the opportunity to debate the Government's plans for the standard spending assessment system. Although I represent part of the borough, my purpose is not special pleading for Rotherham. My purpose is to put the case for those urban authorities outside London which have been systematically short-changed by Government grant settlements under the Tories. I say "short-changed",...
John Healey: My hon. Friend makes a good point. According to her analysis, efficient local councils are being penalised by being more efficient than the targets set for them. I hope that the Minister will bear that point in mind when he replies. The second point on my priority list for change is how an area's population is counted. It is simple enough. Tourists and commuters are added to the resident...
John Healey: If I did not know my hon. Friend better, I would have thought that he intervened while I was in full flow in an attempt to stop me attacking Westminster council. He made an important point. He said that some councils were expecting radical change, but I am not as confident as my hon. Friend, as I believe that the scope for radical change this year is relatively limited. However, my hon....
John Healey: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A damping element will be crucial in the impact that any changes to the SSA system will have in subsequent years on both winner and loser authorities. He also cited figures that some hon. Members are familiar with and that many of us have used. That list of figures shows how, throughout the Tory years, some authorities consistently won and others...
John Healey: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Mr. Pollard) on an excellent and perhaps impromptu maiden speech. It is clear from his performance tonight that he will serve his St. Albans constituents with great distinction in the coming years. I congratulate him on the result in that constituency on 1 May. I am especially glad that he will be able to close his collection of...
John Healey: My reading of the Bill is rather different from that of Conservative Members. I read clause 2 as providing an enabling power for the Secretary of State to take the matters listed into account without placing an obligation on her to do so. I am talking about voluntary sector organisations, which will be faced with difficulties. I have in mind organisations whose very mission in life is social...
John Healey: If that be the case, I would add social and cultural diversity to the list of matters that the Secretary of State takes into account. I consider that my case has been made all the stronger.
John Healey: No, I must press on. Without the powers that are provided by the Bill we risk restricting the growth of some of the most important sectors of our economy. Without such powers, we risk depriving people throughout the country of some of the potential benefit of a new generation of communications technology.
John Healey: What plans he has to increase the presence of community constables on the streets; and if he will make a statement. [11655]
John Healey: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer, but does he agree that beat bobbies are often a unique source of local intelligence and play a special part in practical, preventive policing? Does he further agree that, although they are very highly valued by the people they serve, they are sometimes not as highly valued by the forces that employ them? What specific steps does he plan to...
John Healey: Is the Prime Minister aware that the legacy of the previous Government has left the Rotherham area with the highest unemployment rate of anywhere in the Yorkshire and Humberside region? Nearly one in three of our unemployed are under 25. Will he therefore spell out what guarantees he can offer to the young people of Rotherham and Dearne that their job prospects will improve under the current...
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to move young unemployed people on welfare into work. [4095]
John Healey: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. He will be glad to know that there are already projects in operation and plans in the pipeline in the Rotherham area which offer real training and job prospects to the young and the long-term unemployed. How do the Government plan to draw on such experience, good practice and ideas as they draw up the precise details of the new deal programme?
John Healey: I am grateful for this opportunity to raise the concerns of Wentworth constituents about opencast coal mining, and I am particularly grateful for the chance to combine this debate with my maiden speech. It is a great honour to be elected to represent the people of Wentworth. It is a special privilege and responsibility as it brings together a unique mix of the political and pastoral duties...