Jacqui Lait: May I add my thanks to you, in particular, Mrs. Humble? It has been a cheerful Committee, despite the degree of disagreement that has been evident. I was very interested in some of the Back-Bench comments. The Committee stage has shown which areas we need to work on on Report and which require more clarification, so your excellent chairing has allowed us to do that. I also want to thank the...
Jacqui Lait: In the interests of co-operation, another thought that has crossed my mind is to give the executive member a status similar to that of an adviser to a Select Committee.
Jacqui Lait: Over which I hope this lot all fall, but never mind.
Jacqui Lait: I am most grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I could not have put the point better myself. There is a potential resolution to the problem, because the issue of conflict of interest is very important and could lead to a lot of trouble in the future. There are not many councils I know that could be browbeaten, but it is possible that an executive member could browbeat the other members of...
Jacqui Lait: Warm Front is a national scheme. It is the hon. Lady’s job to raise the issue here; it is not for local government to raise it impotently in the local area.
Jacqui Lait: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that explanation, and I hope that the Minister can be equally positive. However, it still prompts the question of when the regulations, which are meant to be being prepared, are likely to emerge. Without them, district councils will be excluded. We are considering this legislation against the background of an imminent general election, so if the Bill...
Jacqui Lait: This is a very interesting point. My first thought when the right hon. Gentleman began to outline the powers in the Bill was that there would be duplication of scrutiny. Would he be prepared to accept an amendment to the Bill to explore whether the overview and scrutiny committees would thereby repeal all the other scrutiny legislation that affects bodies such as health authorities, because...
Jacqui Lait: My hon. Friend will be aware that councils are responsible under the Freedom of Information Act. Given that the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport mentioned that there would be commercial confidentiality, I wonder whether my hon. Friend might care to speculate on how the FOI would play into commercial confidentiality for small companies.
Jacqui Lait: I am sorry to interrupt the Minister. The point that I made in my few remarks is that the regulations for joint scrutiny have not yet emerged.
Jacqui Lait: I am grateful to the Minister for being generous with her time. This may sound trivial, but I want to return to the point about energy. The Government have just published their tariff for individuals who use microgeneration to feed into the grid. In rural areas, many individuals put up wind turbines, which generate extra electricity that goes into the grid. Will those people therefore be...
Jacqui Lait: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his conciliatory approach. However, I shall stick to my suggestion and encourage my colleagues to vote against clause stand part. This brief debate has revealed many flaws in the Bill, which need to be debated. Because of the speed of proceedings, which I accept the right hon. Gentleman did not necessarily desire, we have not been able to...
Jacqui Lait: I do not see why the hon. Lady thinks that there is a conflict between councils working closely with their communities, and therefore not needing the Bill, and the imposition that the Bill would place on local authorities because it is felt that these powers need to be there. A good local authority does not need the Bill. If we pass the Bill, we put on a burden. There is no need for the Bill...
Jacqui Lait: I, too, welcome you to the Chair, Mrs. Humble. This is the first time I have sat under your chairmanship, but in the brief, few minutes in which you have been in the Chair you have established your personality, and I hope that we continue to proceed in such an amiable fashion. I did not take part in the debate on Second Reading, but when I was first approached and asked to take part in the...
Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to publish further proposals on reform of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system; and if he will make a statement.
Jacqui Lait: I am grateful to my hon. Friend because my constituents have exactly the same problems as the ones she describes, and I congratulate her on securing this important debate. However, my constituents have had not only that 50 per cent. cut, but on the Crystal Palace line, City workers cannot now get to the City without using another form of transport. Does my hon. Friend agree that the situation...
Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons certain papers submitted to Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr. David Kelly are not to be disclosed until 70 years have elapsed.
Jacqui Lait: What assistance her Department makes available to existing long-term incapacity benefit claimants to help them move into employment.
Jacqui Lait: I thank the Minister for that information. I am surprised that he did not mention that today's papers include an element of congratulation on the reduction in the number of people on incapacity benefit. In inviting the Minister to give me the figures for the number of people with mental health problems who have moved from incapacity benefit to jobseeker's allowance or jobs, I also ask him to...
Jacqui Lait: I will do my best to help, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is interesting that we have debated the problems of out-of-hours care. That follows endless debates over the years about abuse, or the increasing use, of accident and emergency services, the problems of single-handed doctors, the provision of GP services, and the wide range of options that exist for people to access health care outside the...
Jacqui Lait: My hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) mentioned that doctors from the European Economic Area do not have to take a language test, and I seem to remember that that comes from the directive on the free movement of workers. Will the Minister clarify whether they still do not have to?
