Andrew Selous: I very much support the second proposal in the Select Committee report; local authorities should initiate an immediate review if more than 2 per cent. of their housing stock is vacant. That recommendation is along the lines of an amendment to the Homelessness Bill tabled by the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) who is also present this afternoon. The amendment was supported by all...
Andrew Selous: Will the Secretary of State give way?
Andrew Selous: rose—
Andrew Selous: I express my wholehearted support for the new clause of the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) and I am pleased that it has been supported by my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) from the Opposition Front Bench. Women who choose to look after their children at home do not currently have a genuine choice in terms of the income that they forgo and the benefits to which they...
Andrew Selous: Are not the Government correctly righting a wrong through considering the underpayment of women who worked in colliery canteens in the 1950s? I know from one of my constituents that that is happening. That is absolutely just, but does not that mean that the Government have already established the principle of righting past wrongs?
Andrew Selous: I, too, speak as a member of the Select Committee on Work and Pensions. Sadly, I note that only Conservative members of the Committee are in the Chamber for the debate. The Committee's excellent Chairman, the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood), frequently reminds us that, as Committee members, we are simple seekers after truth. That splendid phrase encapsulates the...
Andrew Selous: At the moment.
Andrew Selous: If he will make a statement about the fees for enduring powers of attorney.
Andrew Selous: I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. Will she give an undertaking to the House to publish a yearly total of the number of EPA registrations, to enable us to see whether the recent trebling of the registration fee is acting as a disincentive to vulnerable people?
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to prevent the activities of the Women Incentive Network.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what purpose money was allocated to Luton borough council by the European Union, which is now to be spent in Pakistan; and what criteria his Department will use to authorise the spending of this money in this way.
Andrew Selous: If she will make a statement on the repayment of third world debt.
Andrew Selous: Do the Government agree with the Jubilee debt campaign that the number of countries that benefit from the HIPC initiative should be extended to include further countries that have unsustainable levels of overseas debt?
Andrew Selous: Does my hon. Friend agree that Bedfordshire's council tax payers would appreciate an assurance from the Minister that they will not have to pay the costs of the Yarl's Wood fire through their council tax? Furthermore, the county would appreciate a reassurance that the Government will put in place measures to ensure that similar events centering on national facilities do not fall on the...
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement regarding the implementation of European recycling directives.
Andrew Selous: rose—
Andrew Selous: The hon. Gentleman is right to say that there has been a gradual decline in the membership of funded schemes, but does he accept that it has been far steeper since 1997?
Andrew Selous: Many Opposition Members fully support the Government in their intention to try to shift the balance of pension provision so that 60 per cent. of pensions are provided by the private sector and 40 per cent. by the public sector. We give that support not because there is any magic in a particular ratio, as the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) pointed out, but because we want as many...
Andrew Selous: I cannot resist doing so just once, very briefly.
Andrew Selous: One of the advantages of not being a Front Bencher is that Back Benchers have slightly more freedom to expand thoughts that may or may not be taken up by the Front Bench. I will of course abide by my party's decisions as and when they are made, but I hope to contribute to debate on them. My second proposal is for a reduction in complexity. When the National Association of Pension Funds asked...