Sally Keeble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parents who use childcare vouchers also claimed the childcare element of working tax credit in the last 12 months.
Sally Keeble: I shall be brief, as I know that others also wish to comment. I am proud to have taken responsibility for the Bill. I am only sorry that my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) was unable to do so, although I suspect that he is watching our proceedings on television, as he has before. The Bill has cross-party consensus, but coming at the end of the Session it has had...
Sally Keeble: I am going to be quite honest about this. Opposition Members have to make up their minds about which side they are on. On Second Reading, another Member said: "My heart goes out to the people of heavily indebted poor countries."-[ Official Report, 26 February 2010; Vol. 506, c. 580.] He then proceeded to block the entire Bill from going through, to the outrage of many members of the public....
Sally Keeble: No, I will not. The hon. Gentleman's colleagues on the Front Bench, who have behaved entirely properly throughout this process, have described the measure as a sunset clause, and so it is. It was their measure, and they also got in the measure for making the Bill permanent. If the clause were taken out, the effect would be that the Bill would continue for more than one year. There has to be...
Sally Keeble: My hon. Friend is exactly right. The other side of the argument is that it was important to ensure that we had cross-party consensus, given that the legislation was complex and that we were coming to the end of the Parliament. It was also thought important to ensure that there was a proper way forward and that there was provision for a new Parliament to take a further look at the matter. My...
Sally Keeble: I shall come to that. First, I am going to go through the hon. Gentleman's comments on his amendments, because there were some contradictions in relation to amendment 3. Originally, the Bill did not create an incentive for creditors to hold on to their debts in the hope that the Act would expire, as it would have taken permanent effect immediately. That risk was one reason for the caution...
Sally Keeble: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. One problem has been the cost of lawsuits, which is in part why the Government and other donors have set up a fund to enable developing countries to deal with some of the lawsuits that have arisen as a result of the vulture funds. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary will want to say more about that. Furthermore, there is a real...
Sally Keeble: I am pleased that this Bill has made it into the wash-up. It is a tribute to the business managers all round that that has happened. There is cross-party support for this important Bill. I am very sorry that my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) is ill again, and I am therefore standing in for him. It is a great shame that the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr....
Sally Keeble: The right hon. and learned Gentleman spoke of delaying tactics. He has now been speaking for nearly half an hour without addressing himself to the real issue of the debate: the Budget, and in particular the education budget. The only proposal that he has come up with so far is not to increase national insurance contributions, which would add £6 billion to the deficit. What I want to hear,...
Sally Keeble: I very much welcome my right hon. Friend's commitment to protect the schools budget. In the course of his speech, will he explain how the extra £6 billion in cuts advocated by the Opposition would impact on it?
Sally Keeble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much public funding has been provided to assist banks since the start of the credit crunch.
Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government provided in grants to Northampton Borough Council in (a) 1997, (b) 2001, (c) 2005 and (d) the last year for which figures are available.
Sally Keeble: Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. There is a mistake on the Order Paper, because although it says that there is an amendment, I understand that it was withdrawn this morning, so unless anybody raises any further objections or tables a further amendment to the legislation, I understand that the Bill can go forward to the wash-up. However, that will require a bit of good will on both...
Sally Keeble: Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill is down for consideration today with an amendment that the sponsoring Member has tried to withdraw-although it was not selected for consideration in any case? Will that count as an objection and prevent the Bill from going into wash-up? If so, will she have urgent discussions with the Opposition...
Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many nursery places there were for children in Northampton in (a) 1997, (b) 2001, (c) 2005 and (d) 2010.
Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people had been waiting for treatment at Northampton general hospital for (a) over two years, (b) between one and two years, (c) between six months and one year and (d) up to six months in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001 and (iii) the latest year for which figures are available.
Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what obligation (a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts have in respect of NHS guidance on the provision of three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to NHS patients; (2) how many primary care trusts provide up to three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation treatment to NHS patients; (3) how many strategic health...
Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what projects and programmes Preventing Violent Extremism funds will be spent in Northamptonshire in 2009-10.
Sally Keeble: Has the DWP talked to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which has enormous experience of data cleansing and rapid processing of large volumes of claims, as with the Icelandic banks?
Sally Keeble: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill, which was tabled as Government business yesterday, is not on the Order Paper at all today. Can you assure me, Mr. Speaker, that it will be tabled again tomorrow? We want Government time in which to debate the remaining stages of the Bill, and to vote on it.