Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of (a) Stratford, (b) Ebbsfleet and (c) Ashford of the High Speed 1 rail line.
Esther McVey: Is it not about time that we introduced a British Bill of Rights to address ludicrous cases such as that of the convicted foreign killer Mohammed Ibrahim, who is avoiding deportation by claiming the right to family life, even though he killed Amy Houston, thereby denying all her relatives the right to family life?
Esther McVey: I am delighted that this debate has been secured, because youth unemployment and the lack of youth opportunities are one of the main reasons why I came into politics. Given that I grew up in Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s, it is understandable that I wanted to change that. It feels a bit like déjà vu at the moment; it reminds me of what happened in the ’70s and ’80s. Sometimes there...
Esther McVey: It is slightly off the subject to talk about a specific housing renewal project, but I will say that infrastructure is key, and we have put £450 million into the Mersey gateway. We have set up enterprise zones in the area, and we are putting money into the Royal Liverpool hospital, which will develop the Merseybio campus to extend the knowledge economy. We are also considering ways to...
Esther McVey: She will indeed.
Esther McVey: I have.
Esther McVey: The future jobs fund had some successes, but 50% of people never ended up in a job. It focused on providing temporary and short-term jobs, which led to false expectations and a lot of upset when jobs did not come to pass. It was also one of the most expensive schemes ever. I do not think that it was a success. It might have been for a small set of people, but it was expensive. Given the...
Esther McVey: It is about not only cost but sustainability. We should not have short six-month schemes, because such programmes must lead to sustainability. It is about cost and sustainability.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the contribution to the economy of High Speed 1.
Esther McVey: Does the hon. Lady agree that high-speed connectivity is vital? At a time when we are talking about rebalancing the economy, particularly for the Merseyside area, this is not just about speed. We want to develop our port and make it the port of the north. We need freight and people connectivity, so high-speed rail is vital.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the net financial value to the Exchequer has been of (a) the let of a concession to manage the High Speed 1 infrastructure and (b) franchise payments for High Speed 1 since 2009.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from businesses in the north-west on high-speed rail.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the extent to which (a) victims and (b) witnesses of crime participating in a video identification parade are able to pre-identify suspects through social media.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to share good examples of data reporting on the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund among strategic health authorities; and if he will make a statement.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether provision has been made to ensure that monthly and quarterly reporting that are required under the Department of Health's guidance on the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund will be made publicly available by strategic health authorities on a monthly basis; and if he will make a statement; (2) what assessment he has made on the data that...
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) victims of crime and (b) families of victims of crime are able to claim (i) transportation costs, (ii) lunch expenses and (iii) accommodation costs when attending the parole hearing of a defendant relevant to their case if they are unable to meet such costs.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) victims of crime and (b) families of victims of crime receive at no charge transcripts of any court case relevant to them.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many court cases a defendant who pleaded guilty subsequently appealed against the sentence passed in each of the last five years.
Esther McVey: What the timetable is for the implementation of local retention of business rates.
Esther McVey: Businesses on Wirral are concerned that the retention of business rates might result in increased business rates. As the party of the small business, how are we going to protect those small engines of growth in these difficult times?