David Warburton: If prison is to achieve anything, it must change lives. It has the best chance of doing that if we offer people both education and assisted places to work on release. Given that three fifths of offenders still leave prison without identified education or any employment opportunities, will my right hon. Friend or my hon. Friend assure us that these programmes will be at the centre of the...
David Warburton: What assessment he has made of the contribution of the UK single market to Scotland.
David Warburton: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the best deal for Scotland is to stay part of the United Kingdom and to work with the UK Government to do all it can to support a new free trade agreement with the EU?
David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether plans to dual the A303 and upgrade the A358 will change in response to the recommendations in the recently published National Audit Office report, Progress with the Road Investment Strategy.
David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the most recent consultation with local authorities took place on their capacity to receive vulnerable children under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016; and what steps her Department is taking to consult local authorities on whether they can make more places available.
David Warburton: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith). I feel I should apologise for not talking more about Manchester. Fabulous place though it is, I think that it has been well-represented in the Chamber today so, instead, I will talk briefly about the importance of buses to rural communities, which has been mentioned by my hon. Friends the Members for North...
David Warburton: Absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, and he must be reading my mind, because that leads on very neatly to my third point, which is about increasing choices in the chain of provision—passenger choice and supplier choice. I am conscious that the franchising measure will ensure, as the Government have made clear, that “only authorities with the ability, powers...
David Warburton: In the past year international tourist rates and spend grew faster in the south-west than in London, and the south-west also attracted more domestic tourists than any other region. Given the Mayor of London’s plans for a hotel levy, will the Chancellor look again at cutting the rate of VAT on tourism?
David Warburton: Safetech Engineering in Frome offers superb expertise in nuclear safety and cyber-security, but to get security clearance and bid for work at Hinkley C or the Ministry of Defence, it needs to be a list X company. The only way to get that status is to be sponsored by another list X company or the MOD. Does the Minister’s Department have plans to let business escape from that circularity...
David Warburton: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Burnley (Julie Cooper). Her words about healing division and working for the will of the people—a phrase we are not allowed to use any more—very much chime with me. This is clearly an historic moment—the result of decades of campaigning in this House and outside it, and of course the result of a decision by the people of the...
David Warburton: On 27 December, another young woman lost her life driving through the west country on the A303. In the past decade, more than 1,000 people have been killed or injured on that road. For 40 years, Governments have promised to dual the lethal parts of the road where two lanes become three or three lanes become two, with no central reservation. The queues on the road are also legendary. I know...
David Warburton: I join other hon. Members in wishing the Minister for Housing and Planning a happy birthday. The House has been very patient. I will not hold up our proceedings for long as I am sure the Minister wants to enjoy his birthday for a couple of hours. The House has also been very accommodating, as we are yet to hear a lot of the detail regarding the Bill. As Members on both sides of the House have...
David Warburton: What further plans the Government have to provide prisoners with (a) drug rehabilitation and (b) education and skills training to improve their prospects for finding work on release from prison.
David Warburton: I thank the Minister for that. Given that 42% of adult prisoners in England and Wales were permanently excluded from school, does he agree that it is only through education that the cycle of reoffending can be stopped? What more can be done to ensure that this message properly resonates across the prison estate?
David Warburton: I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agrees that one of the main challenges facing the justice system is integrating ex-offenders back into the outside world upon their release. Does she agree that this requires the co-operation of employers as well as former prisoners? What is the Department doing to ensure that such co-operation is both encouraged and increased?
David Warburton: What steps her Department is taking to confiscate money from criminals; and what plans she has further to strengthen the asset recovery regime.
David Warburton: I thank the Home Secretary for that. The Criminal Finances Bill contains many measures to combat illegal and immoral financial activity, but can my right hon. Friend confirm that the new law enforcement measures in relation to unexplained wealth orders will ensure not only that we can better combat illegal activity but that the principles of transparency will be upheld?
David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will assess the potential merits of introducing licensing regulations for drivers of large tractors and farming machinery on public highways similar to those governing HGV drivers.
David Warburton: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on applications of appeals processes for commercial banking overdraft refusals being conducted by the same bank which originally refused the application; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) changing that process and (b) taking steps to make the process more...
David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is giving to rural nurseries to ensure they are able to meet the Government's commitment of providing 30 free hours of childcare.