Tony McNulty: On the first point, I take that very seriously, as a student of history and politics for the best part of 30 years, not least of the Irish situation. There are reasons for taking these things very seriously. Let me answer in a kind of strange way. There are no doubt aspects of our counter-terrorism legislation that that charge can be laid at. But not this. Even if it could be...
Laura Moffatt: Does my hon. Friend agree that the new clauses are directed at exactly the right people? Where there are small businesses in our communities, they have a direct interest in those communities. I have driven through my hon. Friend's constituency where someone may have suffered an attack of graffiti. When those businesses see graffiti, the next day it is often gone, because they understand that...
Alec Shelbrooke: I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the types of community, and Mr Bellringer has given evidence that wards generally reflect communities in an area, and that to split them therefore risks splitting local ties. However, I think the argument falls down around extending the parameters and not splitting wards. We have seen in the past that in order to stay within wards, and to get the...
Paul Goggins: That is a considerable amount to get through. I shall try to do so as thoroughly and speedily as possible. The schedule lists the offences that trigger the notification requirements. Some of the offences cover a range of offending behaviour, so disposal thresholds are applied that must be met before the notification requirements are triggered. That ensures that the requirements are...
James Brokenshire: It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman talks about the discretion of the relevant officer in this situation. I would argue that there should be discretion for the relevant police officer in how they deal with community safety and with offences in their community. It may be the case that an officer in the circumstances that the hon. Gentleman has indicated might, on a one-off occasion...
Peter Bone: Earlier in the debate—indeed, throughout the debate—we have heard that we do not need to put the words in the Bill because it already complies with Community law. Anything in Community law applies to the Bill, so the words are unnecessary. If we take them out, and if the Government are right, the context does not change because the European Communities Acts apply. The wording seems...
Nick Gibb: Thank you, Mr. Chope. My hon. Friend’s amendments reflect the Government vision originally set out in the White Paper. Paragraph 2.5 of the White Paper states: “We will encourage all primary and secondary schools to be self-governing and to acquire a Trust.” The amendments therefore reflect the Government’s intention. I shall talk about the clause more generally, if I may, and make a...
Roberta Blackman-Woods: I absolutely accept that. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to remind me that local authorities do a very good job in trying to assess local housing need. The purpose of the new clause is to make sure that in doing so they understand the need for accessible homes, and perhaps look at ways of adapting future stock to meet the needs of people over a lifetime, rather than only having to think...
Alison Seabeck: I beg to move amendment 104, in clause 71, page 52, line 3, at end insert— The amendment arises out of concerns raised with Opposition Front Benchers by transport operators, although I am sure that they have raised similar concerns with Ministers in both the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport. They are worried that the powers in this...
Mr Richard Allan: I have a worry about that point. As we all recognise, under the current system, there are individuals who stay in a community for a long time—well in excess of a year, perhaps—while waiting for a determination of their status, and sometimes there is resentment in that local community that those individuals are not learning languages. There is a perception that they have access to courses...
Jane Milne: Perhaps one issue concerns cases in which the local authority has a different view of what would be beneficial to the community from the business community. We would not suggest that local authorities were deliberately setting out to cause business problems—of course not—but they might not fully appreciate all the issues involved. The BIDs process enables all of that to...
Caroline Flint: I refer to the report of the Select Committee on Education and Skills from the time when I was on the Education Sub-Committee that considered school governors. One of the difficulties identified in that extensive inquiry, to which the Department for Education and Skills responded, was how bound governing bodies were by inflexible structures that prevented recruitment. It must be recognised...
Gail Adams: From a work force perspective, one of the challenges in community provision is the ageing profile of the work force providing that service. From a nursing point of view, the overwhelming majority are in the last 10 to 15 years of their service. Between 2010 and the academic year of 2011, the Government will be commissioning 20% fewer student nurse places. We are talking about a...
Roberta Blackman-Woods: May I move on briefly to consultation about the code? The view of my local community is that it is very hard for communities to make their voice heard in the operation of the Licensing Act 2003. When there are consultations about reviews of licensing, for example, they seem to get drowned out by the voice of the industry or police or some other institution. I wonder, Don, whether you have any...
Damian Green: As my hon. Friend says, the new clause would introduce two additional powers that chief constables could confer on PCSOs. The first is a power to stop a cyclist and issue them with a fixed penalty notice for riding without the lights required under road traffic legislation; the second is a power allowing them to search individuals and vehicles for controlled drugs. I pay tribute to my hon....
Steve Reed: I will be brief. The proposal for the Secretary of State to be able to set up riot claims bureaux is welcome and a sensible move forward. First, after the 2011 riots one of the problems was that communities did not have a voice in decisions taken about compensation or about models of reinvestment in affected areas. For example, in Croydon the council set up an independent riots panel with the...
Chris Bryant: The hon. Gentleman must calm down a little. I used to be a Hackney councillor, for my sins, which must have been many, and I represented a ward that had large Muslim and Hasidic Jewish communities. My worry about the new schedule is that it would dismantle the current protection for Jews, because the Jewish community in this country is not one community, just as the Christian community in...
Simon Hughes: In my experience, asylum seekers do not cause more trouble or commit more offences, and are no more prone to engage in criminal activity. We must be careful when we discuss such issues. I shall be blunt: there is no logic, history or evidence to suggest that asylum seekers commit or are liable to commit more offences, or that they are more likely to be less law-abiding than any other group in...
Maurice Mcleod: You are very right to bring up the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Of all of the communities that make up Briton, they are already among the groups that are most likely to be disenfranchised. You do not need to be a genius to work out that if you are moving around, and your residence is not set in one place, it makes it very hard to know who to engage with, and what...
Bill Wiggin: During the Select Committee's evidence gathering, the hon. Member for Conwy (Mrs. Williams) asked ''what the main differences are between CHCs in Wales and the Patients' Fora in England?'' Ms Hutt replied: ''I think the main difference is the Community Health Councils are going to be independent and they are not going to be part of the Health Service.'' Clearly, we are questioning that...