Mr Robin Squire: In part, the hon. Member makes a valid point. I, too have spoken out on that matter. The Companies Acts contain areas where we could and should tighten up, and where existing legislation is not complied with. I am not sure that that is the same context, because no one is suggesting an alternative to replace the Companies Act, whereas we are discussing, and we discussed in Committee, a...
Mr Robin Squire: I thank my hon. Friend for that interjection. I share his hopes that at least part of the problem that I am identifying will be reduced or tackled in this way. I am pleased to hear his undertaking that we may look forward to a further instalment along these lines. Time has enabled me to see the changes in a considerably more favourable light than when they first emerged. We now have a...
Mr Robin Squire: I have been listening with rapt attention to the hon. Gentleman. In fairness I should explain that one of the posts that I hold as vice-chairman of the Back-Bench trade committee requires me to look at these matters for a little more than two minutes.
Mr Robin Squire: Does my right hon. Friend agree that his role at these meetings would be made immeasurably easier if there were a general acceptance across the party divide on our membership of the EEC? We could then advance within the Community and my right hon. Friend would not have the constant sniping that he receives in his present role from people who have never accepted anything beyond the shores of...
Mr Robin Squire: May I congratulate my right hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the time that they are taking to consider the submissions from both local authorities and Conservative Members? May I continue to assure him that solutions that rely on greater centralisation are unlikely to be the best solutions in the long term?
Mr Robin Squire: Will my hon. Friend continue to bear in mind the importance of uprating the value of our housing stock? In the context of Government expenditure, will he look in particular at the large number of houses and units that are currently in a state of disrepair and are housing people who expect to be in better accommodation?
Mr Robin Squire: Does my right hon. Friend recognise that to some of us, at least, the criteria adopted by the Commission in considering the House of Fraser issue, and to some extent the Sealink reference, are rather worrying? Will she continue to ensure that she keeps an eye on the criteria that are adopted? Is she aware that some of us think that we are getting the wrong answers and that we may be asking...
Mr Robin Squire: Will my right hon. Friend accept my sincere congratulations on his proposal to drop the Bill as presented to the House, especially the proposals on referendums which would have affected central and local government relations dramatically? Secondly, I congratulate him on the solution that he has put forward. Thirdly, will he resist the siren voices—not least that of my right hon. Friend the...
Mr Robin Squire: Has my right hon. Friend yet had formal notification of the change in the deputy leadership of the Labour Party?
Mr Robin Squire: I had some sympathy with the earlier comments of the hon. Member for Preston, South (Mr. Thorne), but I lost that sympathy rather easily when he spoke of guerrilla tactics during the night. Hon. Members are aware of what that means in practice. If there are defects in the Bill, the way to defeat them is by rational debate, not by hammering through the night. There is a song that runs What a...
Mr Robin Squire: Does my hon. Friend none the less recognise that rather less than 0·5 per cent. of the total education budget is now spent on adult education and that one of the best services that he could do for adult education during his term of office would be to increase the percentage of the education budget, let alone other budgets, that is spent in this vital area?
Mr Robin Squire: Notwithstanding the observations of try hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mr. Chapman), does my right hon. Friend recognise that for many years local government has been able to determine its level of spending and has been answerable to the ratepayers for any excesses? In the consultations, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the importance of speedy legislation—preferably in...
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many right-to-buy applications have now been processed by housing authorities.
Mr Robin Squire: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the success to date of that policy. Does he, none the less, accept that in a number of areas, including Conservative-controlled authorities, thousands of tenants have been waiting for over a year for the completion of the purchase of their homes? Will he consider sympathetically an amendment to the 1980 Act that would impose a timetable on all the...
Mr Robin Squire: Will my hon. Friend confirm that the leader of the local authority sits on the LDDC? Will he also undertake to give greater publicity to the considerable achievement of the LDDC already, and our great expectations for even greater achievements in the future?
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether the review of the restrictive trade practices of the Building Societies Association has yet been completed.
Mr Robin Squire: I thank my right hon. Friend for the interim nature of her reply. Is she satisfied with the monitoring of the BSA-Office of Fair Trading agreements, especially the choice of insurance company, which, in practice, a number of building societies still do not grant? Does she agree with the National Consumer Council report that few members have any influence on the way in which their building...
Mr Robin Squire: May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her statement about the Government's support for the measure? Does she recognise that for certain services, such as plumbing, only registration will protect the consumer over the whole range of services, in addition to selective supply?
Mr Robin Squire: Will my right hon. Friend also ask the President to advise the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) and his constituents of the real benefits that the mining industry has received from a whole range of EEC grants?
Mr Robin Squire: Does my right hon. Friend consider that a factor in some of our colleagues' attitudes to budgetary payments is Britain's outstanding financial success in the past year on payments to the EEC, which have been less than half of 1 per cent. of total expenditure.
