Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Remploy workers who wish to establish a social enterprise have received working capital from his Department as part of the transitional support arrangements.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements have been made for the disposal of any specialised equipment in Remploy factories.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of (a) carer's allowance, (b) the middle rate of the care component of disability living allowance (DLA) and (c) the higher rate of the care component of DLA; and what his estimate is of the number of claimants there will be in each category following the introduction of personal independence payments.
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the spread of solanum infection to the UK; and what the role of nurses is in preventing any such spread.
Anne McGuire: Given that the Prime Minister continues to state that families with disabled children or with family members as carers will somehow be exempt from the bedroom tax—and before the Minister reaches for her brief and tells me once more about the discretionary fund, she needs to realise that it is time limited and there is not enough in the fund—will the Minister advise the House whether the...
Anne McGuire: Does my hon. Friend share my concern that there may be an ideological trend in the Government’s philosophy whereby social housing is seen as welfare housing only, and not as homes for many people in our communities?
Anne McGuire: Given the list of suggestions that the hon. Gentleman has identified, I can do nothing other than agree with the main thrust of his argument. Does he think that the discretionary payment that the Government have allocated is adequate to meet even his list of exemptions, which is not exhaustive?
Anne McGuire: And others.
Anne McGuire: I hope that I shall be able to prove to the hon. Member for Braintree (Mr Newmark) that one does not have to be young to be radical. I am sorry that the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) has left his place, because, as I am one of the Ministers who took the civil partnership legislation through Parliament in the 2003-04 Session, alongside Jacqui Smith in the then Department of Trade...
Anne McGuire: I want to pay a special tribute to the right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan) because, while in opposition, he led his troops towards what became a consensual approach to civil partnerships. Let us be under no illusion, however. Those of us who were around at the time will remember that, in its own way, the civil partnership legislation was no less controversial than the Bill...
Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the oral answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 1016, (1) what estimate he has made of savings to the public purse accruing from reducing the language options for driving theory tests; (2) whether he has any plans to withdraw the free-of-charge service provided by British Sign Language interpreters to deaf people and those...
Anne McGuire: On 13 December 2012, the Minister announced that there would be “a significantly slower reassessment timetable”—[ Official Report, 13 December 2012; Vol. 555, c. 464.] for the PIP process—the replacement for DLA—which I welcomed. However, did that significantly slower reassessment timetable impact on the contracts that were signed in August 2012 with Capita and Atos on a different...
Anne McGuire: That is always an issue of debate. As I understand it, the Church of Scotland does not see itself as the established Church and takes great pride in that fact. I hate to correct my hon. Friend on such an issue, because I know that he is an expert.
Anne McGuire: Earlier the Minister said that there was collaboration on these issues. Given that the Irish Food Safety Authority’s tests were undertaken in November, could he advise the House when DEFRA was informed of those tests?
Anne McGuire: A couple of days ago, Carlos Tevez, the Manchester City striker, admitted to not having a valid UK driving licence. It was said that the theory test would be difficult for him as it is conducted in English. Given that many people who are legitimately and legally in the UK need to drive after the 12-month grace period, does the Department offer the theory test in other languages? If not, why...
Anne McGuire: I will certainly try to be brief. I want first to hark back to my intervention on the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mrs Laing). I noticed the look of surprise on many faces around the Chamber at the time, and I wonder whether we could get some clarification on the franchise question. I have certainly heard of an electoral registration officer saying that a person had to spend 50% of their...
Anne McGuire: I will not even go there. The hon. Gentleman knows whether I want to say anything nice about him. He is a pleasant enough person outside the Chamber. Sadly, in the Chamber he tends to heckle rather than make positive contributions. I will move on to the issues that have been raised today. The first is the role of the Electoral Commission. We need to have an independent arbiter on the wording...
Anne McGuire: I am not quite sure what the point of the hon. Gentleman’s intervention is.
Anne McGuire: That is a typical red herring being drawn across. We say that we want—[Interruption.]No. The Electoral Commission should be, and is to all intents and purposes, the independent arbiter. The Labour party when it was in government, and even the Conservatives, have accepted that if an independent arbiter is appointed, it is incumbent on the Government to honour that public authority and take...
Anne McGuire: The hon. Lady might not welcome my intervention, because I think she may be in danger of slightly overegging her pudding. My understanding is that people have to prove to the electoral registration officers that they spend the majority of their time in the house at which they wish to be registered. While I understand the hon. Lady’s train of thought, I am not entirely sure that the image...
