Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Will the Minister arrange for himself and his colleagues to have geography lessons?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I thank everybody who has taken part in this debate. I think we have all learned from each other, and it has been really interesting to see the different levels of experience and how they have come together, but I hope the Minister is acknowledging that, despite people coming at this from different levels of experience, the actual message is extremely clear: we have a crisis in...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I am pleased to have this debate today. I thank those who have put their names down to speak. It is really interesting to see the level of expertise on this subject here, which proves the value of this House in contributing to wider debates. One of the reasons that I wanted to discuss this issue was the pressure on maternity services that I have been hearing about in my local area....
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Will the Minister acknowledge and confirm that Home Office officials insisted on a letter of direction on this matter because they did not consider that this would be value for money? Can the Minister also tell the House why the Government are not devoting resources of this size to tackling the criminal gangs that are so cruel in bringing people in in such a dangerous way?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Hunt on securing this debate and on outlining not just current problems but potential ways forward, which is what we should be concentrating on. This is an important debate, because few issues are more significant for us as individuals and indeed as society. Our individual and collective health and well-being very much depend upon a robust NHS....
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, who in the committee gave us many examples of practical things that could be done. I am glad he has had the opportunity to raise them in the House today. To say that the investigation into the water companies was timely is a great understatement. There has been a great deal of public concern about the performance of the...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to deposit in the Library of the House all tender documents for modular classrooms since July 2023 under the Offsite Constructions Agreement (Framework Agreement RM6184).
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the email from the Secretary of State for Education to school leaders and others on 20 July entitled 'Thank you for your work this year', (1) how many people were sent that email, (2) what proportion of recipients were sent it by virtue of (a) having signed up to receive it, (b) being school leaders, or (c) both, (3) what were the open rates for...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Education records the academic proprietor in respect of complaints they receive about (1) academy schools, and (2) multi-academy trusts; and whether they will publish a table of the number of complaints received in respect of each trust in each of the past five years.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I thank all those who have been involved in the progress of this Bill and in getting us to this stage. Most of all, I thank my honourable friend the Member for Bolton South East, Yasmin Qureshi. At Second Reading, one Member of this House described the Bill as being put forward by the “Bolton mafia”. We not only plead guilty but are very flattered by that description—we will...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, I understand that no amendments have been set down to this Bill and that no noble Lord has indicated a wish to move a manuscript amendment or to speak in Committee. Unless, therefore, any noble Lord objects, I beg to move that the order of commitment be discharged. Motion agreed.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, with the leave of the House, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. I also thank 10 women colleagues on the Front Bench, who are showing such support for this piece of legislation. I just hope somebody is able to take a photograph of this rather unusual occurrence. It has been a very interesting debate, and probably longer than many Private Members’ Bill debates,...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, this is a modest but quite significant Bill that will take us a step closer to introducing the important changes that are necessary, I believe, for people to have the right to request flexible working. I thank my honourable friend Yasmin Qureshi, who is the Member of Parliament for Bolton South East—the Bolton connection will not be missed by some people there. I am very glad that...
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My Lords, will the Minister take this opportunity to apologise for those Conservative leaflets that have been distributed in Norwich and other places, specifically telling people that they do not need ID to vote?
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the damage to the marine environment caused by the disposal of single use vapes.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban the sale of single use vapes.