Peter Soulsby: I support the carry-over motion. It is no coincidence that, as Members reminded us, the Select Committee on the Crossrail Bill submitted its report to the House today. I am one of the 10 Members who served on that Committee for the best part of two years. I hope that it will not disappoint the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) too much if I do not entirely take his suggestion that...
Peter Soulsby: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I entirely accept your guidance on that matter. There will no doubt be other occasions on which I shall be able to refer to that strange and unsatisfactory part of the process. We as a Committee were charged with a quasi-judicial role in relation to the Bill. We provided an audience for petitioners, and we were successful in concentrating the efforts of the...
Peter Soulsby: The Leader of the House will be aware that the BBC's recent announcement about the future of its news-gathering services comes hot on the heels of ITV's proposals to slash its commitment to regional news, which includes doing away with a dedicated news service in the east midlands. May we have a debate on the future of radio and television news services, and may we also have an opportunity to...
Peter Soulsby: I wish to present a petition with more than 600 signatures of constituents of Leicester, South and other users of Britain's inland waterways. It expresses widespread concern about the future of those waterways—a concern that I share. I commend all involved in this campaign, particularly Mr. David Stevenson and, of course, the indefatigable Inland Waterways Association. The petitioners...
Peter Soulsby: My hon. Friend made a telling point about the failure to predict the number of applications, but does he not agree that by the time the Committee was issuing warnings the number was known, and that even at that stage the Government did not listen to the alarm bells that we were ringing?
Peter Soulsby: Does my hon. Friend agree that it is most unfortunate that the Government's response to this important report and the criticism within it was not made available to the Committee in good time? The Committee was not, therefore, able to report it to the House so that it could inform the debate.
Peter Soulsby: I am sure that my hon. Friend recalls that Accenture's contract was worth something in the region of £54 million, and that when it gave evidence to the Committee, despite having been paid such a large sum and apparently being at the heart of the project, it tried to absolve itself of responsibility for the system's lack of delivery. I will not refer to the response that the House has not yet...
Peter Soulsby: The Government's response to the Select Committee's report on the Rural Payments Agency has not yet been reported to the House, so we cannot refer to it in detail. Were the Government in that response to seek to hide behind the argument that Select Committees ought not to act as disciplinary tribunals on matters relating to officials, or if the Government were to hide behind the ministerial...
Peter Soulsby: May I join the chorus of welcomes to the new Leader of the House? Is she aware of the recent collapse of First Solution Money Transfer Ltd? The company specialised in taking remittances from Bangladeshis to Bangladesh, but its collapse means that some 20,000 people have lost money that might amount to millions of pounds. I suggest that the matter is too important to be left to an Adjournment...
Peter Soulsby: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham (Jon Cruddas) on obtaining this debate on what is, undoubtedly, a matter of great concern to many Members of the House. That is clear from the contributions that have been made. The debate deals with the significant suffering and exploitation that are either unnoticed by the country at large or, perhaps worse, grossly misrepresented by...
Peter Soulsby: Will the Minister join me in congratulating Midland Mainline on its high-quality service and on the very high levels of customer satisfaction that are recorded in the survey? Will he reassure me and others in the east midlands and south Yorkshire area who rely on Midland Mainline services that they will not be unduly disrupted and that the quality of service will not be lost as a result of...
Peter Soulsby: Listening to the hon. Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), it is hard to recall now how much scepticism the Opposition expressed about the Bill when it first came before the House. I recall Opposition Members failing to find anything of merit in it. It is interesting and encouraging to hear the difference in tone of the hon. Gentleman's contribution this evening. As the Bill...
Peter Soulsby: Let us be clear. Is the Minister saying that unitary authorities that were formerly metropolitan district authorities can revert to elections by thirds if they held such elections at some point since the 1973-74 reorganisation?
Peter Soulsby: The Minister opened by saying that she doubts whether any Members' views have been changed by the debate. I attended it perfectly prepared to hear evidence of the need for the Bill—to hear examples of the danger, which the Minister has just referred to, in respect of the relationship between Members and their constituents. However, as we have heard no such evidence, does the Minister not...
Peter Soulsby: I want to comment briefly on four amendments. First, I welcome the amendments in the name of my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford) that recognise the role of registered social landlords. As he rightly pointed out, RSLs play an important part in the local scene in many areas and are often actively engaged in their local communities and local councils. The...
Peter Soulsby: I too am deeply concerned about the proposal of Post Office Ltd to close 70 Crown post offices and replace them with inadequate alternatives—in Leicester's case, in the basement of a nearby newsagent, which makes the branch far less accessible and is wholly inappropriate for such an important public service in a major city. I hope the Secretary of State will encourage Post Office Ltd not...
Peter Soulsby: Does the Minister agree that the key to individuals' action on these issues is individuals' understanding of them, and that the concepts of carbon footprints and carbon emissions are quite difficult for many people to comprehend? Does he agree that the fact that the terms carbon dioxide, carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions are used interchangeably by his Department and others does not add to...
Peter Soulsby: I think that the Leader of the House is aware of the proposals of Post Office Ltd to close 70 of its Crown post offices in our town and city centres and also of the proposal to replace them with outposts in nearby branches of WH Smith, and in the case of Leicester in the basement of a nearby branch of WH Smith—much smaller premises. As Post Office Ltd is not allowing debate on the principle...
Peter Soulsby: I hope that London Members will forgive me if I begin with an admission. When I was elected two years ago, I had not given a great deal of thought to Crossrail. I have to say that it is not a subject that comes up often on the doorsteps in Leicester, South, nor does it often feature in the columns of the Leicester Mercury. During those two years I have learnt quite a lot about Crossrail, but...
Peter Soulsby: Will the Minister give way?