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Queen's speech debate on Monday, 8 December 2008, in the House of Commons, led by John Denham. The answering member was Lord Willetts.

Employment, Universities and Skills and Housing

Queen's speech debate (third day) on employment, universities and skills and housing.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
485 c306-80 
Session
2008-09
Department
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Department for Communities and Local Government
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Lindsay Roy | 485 c336-41 (Link to this contribution) It is a great privilege to have been elected to this Chamber and to have the opportunity this evenin...
John Denham | 485 c314-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The overseas students who come to study here are not only welcom...
Show all contributions (116)
John Denham | 485 c316 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that what really matters is the number of people who complete their a...
Lord Willetts | 485 c316 (Link to this contribution) Members in all parts of the House who have an interest in skills and training and housing have had a...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c319 (Link to this contribution) Another fact that the Secretary of State conveniently left out is that the apprenticeship schemes ar...
Lord Willetts | 485 c317-9 (Link to this contribution) We are talking about the Government's figures for the number of advanced apprentices in training, an...
John Denham | 485 c315-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows, if he has been listening, that we will invest £100 million a year more tha...
John Howell | 485 c315 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. It is very generous of him. Will he answer the questi...
John Denham | 485 c316 (Link to this contribution) It is not for me as Secretary of State in any way to seek to determine the questions that Opposition...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c316 (Link to this contribution) And will ask the same question again.
Lord Willetts | 485 c319-20 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right and, contrary to the caricature painted by the Secretary of State, one of ou...
Lord Willetts | 485 c320 (Link to this contribution) Yes. If in the absence of an intervention from the Secretary of State the hon. Gentleman will help w...
Rob Marris | 485 c320 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Willetts | 485 c321-2 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely wish to see more apprenticeships across the public sector. One of the reasons why I tab...
Kelvin Hopkins | 485 c321 (Link to this contribution) The backbone of apprenticeship provision in the past was the large-scale public sector organisations...
Lord Willetts | 485 c321 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State should understand that we are talking about genuine concerns raised by people...
John Denham | 485 c321 (Link to this contribution) I shall not repeat the various measures that I set out in my speech. The House will note that the Co...
Lord Willetts | 485 c320 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased with what the hon. Gentleman has said about the public sector. As he will be aware, in ...
Rob Marris | 485 c320 (Link to this contribution) I can help the hon. Gentleman with the inquiry, with reference to what the Secretary of State set ou...
Adrian Bailey | 485 c308 (Link to this contribution) To counter some of the doom and gloom emanating from the Opposition Benches, may I inform my right h...
John Denham | 485 c309 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to raise that example, and to pay tribute to the work that has been done by ...
John Denham | 485 c309 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make a little progress, but I will take an intervention from the Chairman of the Inn...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 485 c309 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State. I want to ask him a positive question, to which I hope he w...
John Denham | 485 c309-10 (Link to this contribution) The important thing is that we maintain our investment in science and research, continue to develop ...
Lord Garnier | 485 c310 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State please comment on the Government's performance in relation to education ...
Joan Ryan | 485 c311 (Link to this contribution) I want to catch my right hon. Friend while he is on the subject of apprenticeships. What the Governm...
John Denham | 485 c310-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Gentleman raises an important point. The Public Accounts Committee reported on ...
John Denham | 485 c311 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. The issue of information, advice and guidance is actively being dis...
John Denham | 485 c312 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with my hon. Friend, and I will return to that point in a few moments.
Bob Spink | 485 c312 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for being late for the debate, as I was attending a meeting. What is the Secretary of St...
John Denham | 485 c311 (Link to this contribution) If I may, I shall make a little more progress. The Opposition have not learned anything from their ...
Rob Marris | 485 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) On apprenticeships, because of the downturn, some employers unfortunately may provide less training....
John Denham | 485 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) The development of the skills funding agency will give us a more flexible vehicle for delivering pol...
Lord Willetts | 485 c313 (Link to this contribution) As the Secretary of State knows, I gave him advance notice that in our debate on universities I hope...
John Denham | 485 c312 (Link to this contribution) That is an important point. The hon. Gentleman will know that we have had to change the contractor s...
Paul Truswell | 485 c312 (Link to this contribution) May I just rewind my right hon. Friend's comments? Is he aware of many people's concern that the tar...
Ian Gibson | 485 c314 (Link to this contribution) Before my right hon. Friend moves on, it would be characteristic of him to remember that internation...
Chris Ruane | 485 c307 (Link to this contribution) The optical electronics research and innovation centre, OpTIC, is in my constituency, so I welcome m...
John Denham | 485 c307 (Link to this contribution) A number of the functions of my Department, especially my responsibility for research budgets, are U...
Tony Baldry | 485 c306-7 (Link to this contribution) What small businesses want in the immediate term is access to credit and some of the assistance that...
John Denham | 485 c307 (Link to this contribution) The new loan guarantee schemes and the support for export credits and for capital investment announc...
John Denham | 485 c306 (Link to this contribution) The worldwide credit crunch is hitting the economy and public finances in every country, and few fam...
John Denham | 485 c308 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has clearly talked to his local regional development agency and...
David Anderson | 485 c308 (Link to this contribution) May I give some advice to Opposition Members who say that regional development agencies are not help...
John Denham | 485 c307-8 (Link to this contribution) If the Opposition had had their way over the past year we would not be discussing a banking system t...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c307 (Link to this contribution) May I go back to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry)? The problem ...
Edward Timpson | 485 c325 (Link to this contribution) I recall that it was not that many months ago that we had a lively discussion about the future of bu...
Brian Iddon | 485 c325 (Link to this contribution) That'll be the day, when they get the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis) to vo...
Brian Iddon | 485 c324-5 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for calling me to speak in this debate, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to participat...
Lord Willetts | 485 c323 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is going to assist with our inquiries, as they say so often around this House ...
Stephen Williams | 485 c323 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, although he may regret it. He said that only this Governm...
Lord Willetts | 485 c322-3 (Link to this contribution) It is. Like the Secretary of State, I had the excitement of being at the event in central London on ...
Bob Spink | 485 c322 (Link to this contribution) Is the Opposition's policy on universities to continue investment and support in large-scale, longer...
Brian Iddon | 485 c328 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. What the Government are worried about—hon. Members in all par...
Evan Harris | 485 c328-9 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman carefully and agree with much of what he says. Does he recognis...
Brian Iddon | 485 c329 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman mentions that, because if he had read the business supplement of T...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 485 c329 (Link to this contribution) Like my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris), I am listening carefully ...
Brian Iddon | 485 c329 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we will hear the truth of that argument when this debate is summed up. Nevertheless, ...
Ian Gibson | 485 c329-30 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there has been a brain drain into Canary Wharf, too? Many young scien...
Brian Iddon | 485 c326 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) was spot on when he said that the Conser...
Bob Spink | 485 c326 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is one of the most respected Members in this House. Co...
Brian Iddon | 485 c326-8 (Link to this contribution) I am hoping to come to that later on in my speech, if the hon. Gentleman is still here. Although th...
Rob Marris | 485 c328 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. I am a great supporter of pure science, in contradistinction to applied...
Baroness Teather | 485 c334-5 (Link to this contribution) As I said a moment ago—I heard a lot of talking to my left, so it is possible that the hon. Gentlema...
Evan Harris | 485 c335 (Link to this contribution) I endorse strongly my hon. Friend's comments. There is the potential for a win-win-win if the Govern...
Baroness Teather | 485 c333-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Part of the problem with the current housing allowance system is...
Jim McGovern | 485 c334 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady acknowledge the recent work done by the Prime Minister and Chancellor to encourag...
Baroness Teather | 485 c335 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Hartlepool (M...
Brian Iddon | 485 c330 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. In fact, one of our Ministers was telling me the other day that we have the...
Baroness Teather | 485 c331-2 (Link to this contribution) The rules of the House dictate that Liberal Democrats get just one Front-Bench contribution during t...
Julia Goldsworthy | 485 c332 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises a very important point about rents. Is she not surprised that while the Govern...
Brian Iddon | 485 c331 (Link to this contribution) Yet again, I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The Select Committee has recently returned from Ch...
Tony Baldry | 485 c341-6 (Link to this contribution) To be able from time to time to congratulate a Member on a maiden speech is one of the genuine privi...
David Leslie Taylor | 485 c349 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend referred to the car industry, and in North-West Leicestershire a good number of firms...
David Anderson | 485 c346-9 (Link to this contribution) I welcome my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes (Lindsay Roy). It is good to have an educator tur...
Baroness Teather | 485 c336 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. We will see many developments that are not completed and t...
Rob Marris | 485 c335 (Link to this contribution) I agree with many of the hon. Lady's comments in this part of her speech. Is she aware that, a few m...
Kelvin Hopkins | 485 c350 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and I strongly agree with every word that he is saying. I am s...
David Anderson | 485 c349-50 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an apt point—that is exactly what I am talking about. We need input from people...
Lord Garnier | 485 c351-2 (Link to this contribution) May I, along with my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) and the hon. Member for Blaydo...
David Anderson | 485 c350-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. That would be a new deal in the same sense as in the States in the 1930s, w...
Charles Kennedy | 485 c356-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a real pleasure to be the first fellow Scot in this debate to congratulate the new hon. Member...
Lord Garnier | 485 c353-6 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on visiting the prison in his constituency. I always urge hon. Members...
Daniel Kawczynski | 485 c353 (Link to this contribution) I recently spent a day at Shrewsbury prison, which is officially the most overcrowded prison in Engl...
Lord Garnier | 485 c353 (Link to this contribution) That is not a controversial thing to say. Unfortunately, there have been cases at the High Court in ...
Lord Stunell | 485 c353 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. and learned Gentleman accept that there are prisoners who are unnecessarily retained i...
Lord Garnier | 485 c353 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right; the issue applies across the piece. Education, in its widest sense, is ...
David Leslie Taylor | 485 c352 (Link to this contribution) A few weeks ago, I was critical of the lack of meaningful activities in many adult prisons. I said t...
David Simpson | 485 c360-3 (Link to this contribution) I realise that many of the matters that we might address in this debate have been devolved to the No...
Edward Timpson | 485 c358 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the consultation and need for a stay of execution that he d...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c363-4 (Link to this contribution) It is an honour to participate in this important debate. It is the usual debate that we have followi...
Speaker | 485 c363 (Link to this contribution) Order. There are 44 minutes left before the wind-ups will begin and five hon. Members seek to occupy...
Edward Timpson | 485 c366-8 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute briefly to this important debate on iss...
Tobias Ellwood | 485 c364-6 (Link to this contribution) Two in three of all jobs created are in the public sector, according to the Financial Times today. F...
John Howell | 485 c370-1 (Link to this contribution) The Government paint a rosy picture of apprenticeships and of the skills of the nation as a whole. H...
Lord Willis of Knaresborough | 485 c368-70 (Link to this contribution) It is always a joy to sit in on debates and hear so many speeches from hon. Members in all parts of ...
John Howell | 485 c372 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friends on the Front Bench appreciate the role played by local government in ...
Rob Marris | 485 c371 (Link to this contribution) With respect, it is the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) who is not being clear. On at least tw...
Robert Neill | 485 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) This has certainly been a wide-ranging debate, and hon. Members on both sides have brought to bear a...
Iain Wright | 485 c376-8 (Link to this contribution) I begin by joining the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) in paying tribute to a...
Robert Neill | 485 c375-6 (Link to this contribution) We could probably have read ““War and Peace”” in this debate. Hon. Members will remember that there...
Iain Wright | 485 c378-80 (Link to this contribution) It is good to see the hon. Gentleman back from the pantomime, but this is a serious point. As with r...
John Hayes | 485 c378 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has referred to unemployment and given some apparently impressive figures. He will know...
Lord Willetts | 485 c323-4 (Link to this contribution) I am full of sympathy for the hon. Gentleman. The world has changed since then, and many more young ...
Charles Kennedy | 485 c358-60 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I congratulate him on his by-election victory of not that long ago. ...
Lord Stunell | 485 c373-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not have long, but it would be remiss of me not to commend the maiden speech by the hon. Member...
Kelvin Hopkins | 485 c321 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Rob Marris | 485 c330-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is very generous in giving way. The university of Wolverhampton is a large university...
John Denham | 485 c313-4 (Link to this contribution) The figures that count are as follows. Compared with the announcements that I made in July 2007, we ...
Subjects
Business Employment Housing Education Further education Investment Financial markets Economic situation Housing stock Public expenditure Standards Universities Training Repairs and maintenance Technology Skilled workers Science Addresses to the Crown
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk