Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to develop and implement community-based alternatives to detention for (a) vulnerable people who have already been detained and (b) people at risk of vulnerability as a result of detention.
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what community-based alternatives to detention her Department developed and implemented as a result of the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, published in March 2015, and the report by Stephen Shaw, Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons, Cm 9186,...
Rob Flello: rose—
Rob Flello: Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Rob Flello: Six. My right hon. Friend highlighted the fact that the Prime Minister for 12 months dithered over whether she wanted an election, and all the time said that she did not want one, but is not the reality that her mind was focused by the fact that she may well lose some of her Back Benchers if the Crown Prosecution Service has its way?
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reduction in the rail freight grant on the volume of freight that will be carried by (a) rail and (b) road.
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria were used to set the £535,000 per annum base salary of the new chief executive officer of HS2.
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 64112, if he will publish details of Mark Thurston's previous experience, which was used to inform the decision to appoint him to the role of Chief Executive Officer of HS2 Ltd.
Rob Flello: I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Luton South (Mr Shuker) for asking this urgent question. We are approaching Easter, which is a time when many families, with many nervous flyers among them, will be taking flights. What reassurance can be given to families taking flights from other destinations—not the ones listed—that the terrorists will not just think that as they can no longer...
Rob Flello: The Minister is right to point out the investment in culture by organisations, but it is also important to highlight investment by businesses. For example, although I know my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) will be upset by this, Valentine Clays Ltd is about to open a fantastic brand-new facility in a big, marvellous building in Fenton. It shows that businesses...
Rob Flello: It is, as ever, a delight to see you in the Chair, Mr Hollobone. I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate—although my colleagues have stolen most of my lines—because for me, no city is more suitable than Stoke-on-Trent to be the UK city of culture 2021. I am proud to call Stoke-on-Trent my home and to serve as one of the three ambassadors from within the...
Rob Flello: Absolutely. I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because his point leads nicely to the next paragraph of my speech. We saw off UKIP last month because of a fantastic campaign, the excellent candidate we had and that positive message, as my hon. Friend has just noted, but also, I think, and as he also said, because the people of Stoke-on-Trent know deep down that our city is better than we were...
Rob Flello: I thank my hon. Friend. There is nothing I can add to what she has said, but I will just say that I am a trustee of the community fund of Stoke City and never cease to be impressed by the outreach work done by the club. I, too, pay tribute to the Coates family and the investment that they have made in our city. What I have not mentioned but cannot be ignored is the ceramics industry....
Rob Flello: Indeed, and long may that continue, and long may I continue to be a member of the pot turners club as well. I say this just as an aside: we need to ensure that that industry gets the best possible deal out of Brexit. The fact that the campaign to save the Wedgwood collection was the fastest fundraising campaign in the 111-year history of the Art Fund tells us everything we need to know about...
Rob Flello: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. It is important that the bid has that backing from across parties and across Staffordshire. City of culture status for Stoke-on-Trent has the potential to inspire, to build pride in our city and to showcase our true face, not the impression that has been built up through decades of cheap shots and uninformed criticism.
Rob Flello: Absolutely—I have a feeling that my hon. Friend will be receiving a packet of oatcakes before too long. I can absolutely guarantee that no other city that has bid for city of culture 2021 will embrace it like Stoke-on-Trent will. Residents of our great city have always embraced the opportunity to highlight all that makes Stoke-on-Trent a fantastic place to live and, as many of my colleagues...
Rob Flello: I cannot allow this opportunity to pass by without mentioning Gertie Gitana.
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61445, on health services: contracts, if he will publish the paper referred to in that Answer with any commercially sensitive information redacted.
Rob Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Colombian counterpart on the deaths of (a) Alicia López Guisao on 2 March 2017 in Antioquia, (b) Fabián Rivera on 2 March 2017 in Antioquia, (c) José Antonio Anzola Tejodor on 5 March 2017 in Meta and (d) Luz Ángela Anzola on 5 March 2017 in Meta; and if he will make a statement.
Rob Flello: I am enjoying my hon. Friend’s contribution. I wanted to make a point about some of our stations, as I shall very shortly experience the joys of Euston station, to get back to Stoke. Why is it, for example, that we are told only 15 minutes before departure which platform our train to Stoke is to leave from, even though the train has been there for ages? That sort of thing drives people crazy.
