Anne McGuire: Given the enthusiasm of the Scottish electorate during the referendum campaign, how will the Secretary of State maintain the enthusiasm, engagement and transparency of the process, so that on 30 November it does not look as though we have delivered a fix, instead of something that has support among the Scottish people?
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of assessing the eligibility of (a) people with learning disabilities, (b) deaf people, (c) blind people, (d) people with primary or secondary MS, (e) people with Alzheimer's disease, (f) people with motor neurone disease, (g) people with muscular dystrophy and (h) deafblind people who are in receipt of...
Anne McGuire: What steps his Department is taking to support projects which foster co-operation and co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Anne McGuire: We realise that peace is not just about a settlement between Governments, but about people living together. I know that the Foreign Office invests significant resources in single community projects, but in order to build up confidence and break down barriers between the peoples in the region will the Minister look at how we can support cross-community initiatives?
Anne McGuire: Promises come cheap, but results take sustained action. The fact is that a promise was made to the families of those with learning disabilities to move them out of assessment and treatment units by June 2014. What exactly is the situation now? The latest figures revealed that only 35% of that promise had been fulfilled.
Anne McGuire: The Secretary of State commented on the Ernst and Young report, and it also identified that although investment was increasing, the number of jobs related to that inward investment was decreasing. I wonder what action the Minister can take, hopefully in co-operation with the Scottish Government, to ensure that there is greater correlation between investment and jobs created in Scotland.
Anne McGuire: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Julian Smith), but I must tell him that I think I speak for all Opposition Members when I say that I rather resent his suggestion that any criticisms of the inefficiencies of the Secretary of State’s Department are laid at the door of hard-working civil servants. Let me also tell him that when he next makes assertions about...
Anne McGuire: Will the hon. Gentleman let me finish my sentence? I had only got as far as a comma. The hon. Gentleman should realise that, in fact, we had a consensus on welfare reform. Indeed, the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper) mentioned that we had worked together in the last Parliament. We are now debating a reform programme that is not about consensus—it is not about talking to other...
Anne McGuire: What steps he is taking to improve competition in energy markets.
Anne McGuire: Notwithstanding the Secretary of State’s answer, around 98% of homes in Britain still take their energy supplies from the big six. Wholesale prices are falling and consumers are seeing no benefit. Does he not wish that he had been a bit braver in the Energy Act 2013 to ensure that when wholesale prices fall, consumers get some of the benefit? He could have included such proposals in the...
Anne McGuire: It is a privilege to speak in this debate. This is the last opportunity I will have to speak in a Queen’s Speech debate as a Member of this House. I have to say, however, that the Queen’s Speech we heard last week was not nearly as exciting as the first Queen’s Speech I heard in this House in 1997. I want to pick up on a few of the comments that have been bandied around by those on the...
Anne McGuire: Very briefly, as I want to take Mr Speaker’s advice.
Anne McGuire: I remember it well, and there is now the mirror image of that: they are in government now, and they are calling for even more expenditure in their individual constituencies. That certainly puts a whole new slant on “Think nationally—or globally—and act locally.” It is almost as though there is no connect between the two. I first want to welcome two elements of the Queen’s Speech,...
Anne McGuire: The hon. Gentleman was obviously so busy talking to himself that he did not hear what I was saying, which was that there are instances in which zero-hours contracts might well be suitable. However, a zero-hours contract approach is now being embedded in our mainstream way of employing people. That stokes up people’s uncertainty about their income, creates instability in their lives and...
Anne McGuire: Given the First Minister’s threat to blockade Scottish fishing grounds if he does not get his own way on EU membership and given that licences are held across the United Kingdom, what analysis has the Secretary of State done on the impact on employment in the Scottish fishing industry?
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress his Department has made in the development of the Woodland Carbon Code.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when work will begin on the bioenergy strategy review; and if he will make a statement.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to increase the planting of conifers.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department gives the private sector on steps to increase the area of woodland with a current UK Forestry Service compliant management plan.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recommendations have been made to him by the Natural Capital Committee on the ecosystem services provided by woodland.
