Alex Norris: That is an excellent point. The question of who provides the requisite equipment and who does not will differ greatly between authorities. I cannot believe that that is the Government’s intention, and I hope that in her closing speech the Minister will clarify how the problem is to be resolved. Let me now deal with new clause 1. If the Government were truly serious about improving...
Alex Norris: I share my hon. Friend’s view. What I hear during my visits is very much in line what she is hearing. We know that 16 and 17-year-olds, when given the chance, take it very seriously. In Scotland and Wales, they have higher rates of turnout than 18 to 24-year-olds, with 75% voting and 97% saying that they would vote in future elections. They have also accessed more information from a wider...
Alex Norris: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I hoped that we were going to talk about his new clause, but instead, as he knows as well as I do, he is creating a false equivalence between a licensed event and going to vote in a polling station, where, as yet, I have not been offered a pint at the ballot box. Maybe that will be in the next elections Bill.
Alex Norris: The hon. Gentleman knows that I will always take an intervention from him, so should he wish he will find me in listening mode.
Alex Norris: I have significant issues with new clause 13, as drafted, which simply asks to introduce a proportional system. For something as seismic as that, there ought to be greater detail about what is being proposed. I am also a strong believer—this speaks to new clause 5 in the name of the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O’Hara)—in the desirability of a citizens convention on our...
Alex Norris: There are many difficult decisions to make in this place—matters of fine balance, of public policy or of genuine disagreement—that are hard for all right hon. and hon. Members, but this is not one of those. This is a bad Bill brought forward by a bad Government in the pursuit of bad intentions. They have pushed it through without pre-legislative scrutiny, avoided the Committee of the...
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to request that the role of citizens assemblies be placed on the agenda for the 2022 Summit for Democracy.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will make it its policy to ensure access to the countryside as part of the Environmental Land Management regime.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will place Care Workers and Home Carers on the Shortage Occupation List, as recommended in the Migration Advisory Committee’s 2021 Annual Report.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make Care Workers and Home Carers eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa, as in the Migration Advisory Committee’s 2021 Annual Report.
Alex Norris: To ask the President of COP26, whether the Government plans to sign up to the International Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for his Department to issue clear guidance on the prioritisation and coordination of covid-19 booster doses for immunocompromised people alongside booster doses for all 18 to 39 year olds and second doses for those aged 12 to 15 years.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of offering antibody tests to people who are immunocompromised and suppressed, who are unsure whether or not they have generated an immune response to the covid-19 vaccines, or whether they remain immunologically vulnerable and need to shield.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to close full-time unregistered schools; and if he will give Ofsted greater powers to seize evidence, search premises, and close illegal operations in relation to unregistered schools.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Ministers participated in the Summit for Democracy 2021 and what contribution did they make.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of encouraging deliberative democracy to strengthen citizens engagement with UK democracy; and if she will make a statement.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to issue guidance for people who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, and therefore vulnerable to covid-19, to work from home.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which non-governmental organisations and individuals were formally consulted by the Government as part of preparations for the Summit for Democracy 2021.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department did not undertake a Child Impact Assessment on the Health and Care Bill.
Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential need to clarify and raise awareness that the Better Care Fund applies to the integration of health and care services for children and young people.