Teresa Pearce: I would like to thank my fantastic family, my friends and my staff, who are amazing, as well as all the people I have worked with here and in the constituency, but most of all I would like to thank my husband, who nine years ago put his life, dreams and ambitions on hold so that I could follow mine. When you come into this place, it is the strangest thing. The first thing I did was to look...
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding was provided by his Department through the Deeds of Amendment signed with London and South Eastern Railway Ltd in (a) December 2016 and (b) September 2017.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Erith and Thamesmead constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.
Teresa Pearce: Housing, I believe, is the first of the social services; without it, we cannot have education, productivity or health. The NHS has a diagnosis code for inadequate housing. The Department of Health wrote to me saying that poor housing costs the NHS £1.4 billion a year, but that figure is now four years old. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Department of Health writes to me with the...
Teresa Pearce: It is my understanding that one of the key roles of the Covent Garden Market Authority is to nurture good relations with tenants. How do such actions nurture good relations?
Teresa Pearce: The hon. Gentleman is being extremely generous in giving way. On the issue of shareholdings and profit, when I was doing research for this debate, I came across something in the Wall Street news that told me that Vertex gives a higher than average return on investment. Most companies that operate in this area give a return on investment to shareholders of 20%; last year, Vertex gave 45%.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has withheld consent for Govia to vary the (a) pay and (b) conditions of Southeastern staff under schedule 15.2 of the franchise agreement in relation to the last twelve or thirteen months of the franchise.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department received a request from Govia to vary the pay and conditions of staff employed by Southeastern railway in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of extensions to the Southeastern Railway franchise on the pay and conditions of staff working for that franchise.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to further extend the Southeastern Railway franchise.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the outcome of the Southeastern Railway franchise competition.
Teresa Pearce: What the net revenue income has been from the Dartford crossing since construction debt relating to that crossing was repaid.
Teresa Pearce: I thank the Minister for his response, but according to my reading of the legislation and the accounts, the income from the Dartford crossing is paid to the Department for Transport with no ring fence, so it can be spent anywhere on anything transport related. Will the Minister confirm whether that is the case? Given the crossing’s adverse effect on Bexley and Dartford residents in terms of...
Teresa Pearce: In March 2014, my constituent Jadwinder Singh Bhogal went on holiday to Dubai and never came home. He was arrested, made to sign a confession in Arabic and convicted of cocaine possession, despite no drugs or evidence of drugs being found on him. He is now serving 25 years in a Dubai jail. We applied, under the prisoner transfer agreement, for him to serve his sentence in the UK so that his...
Teresa Pearce: The Minister is saying that the Tory Government want to spend on things that work. I can tell him that what works is the troubled families programme, which is due to end next year. Will he take this opportunity to commit to the House to doing everything he can to keep that programme running after 2020?
Teresa Pearce: There appears to be a serious issue around rail pensions. The Minister has said that there are two pension-compliant bids on the table. Could he tell me whether the Department has made any changes to the franchise specifications in respect of pension obligations, and what conversations have been held with the Pensions Regulator regarding the deficit?
Teresa Pearce: What steps he is taking to increase access to the criminal justice system.
Teresa Pearce: I thank the Minister for that reply, but there is a crisis in legal aid and in legal representation. The Law Society data says that within five to 10 years there will be insufficient criminal duty solicitors in many regions. She has mentioned the review and mentioned more money, but what specific steps will she take to make sure that people have their right to be represented while being...
Teresa Pearce: I wasn’t.
Teresa Pearce: Will my hon. Friend give way?