To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what recent assessment he has made of levels of unemployment amongst recent university graduates in the North East;

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what recent assessment he has made of levels of unemployment amongst recent university graduates in the North East;

The outgoing chief executive of the North Eastern local enterprise partnership has said:

“I have six big programmes, most are £100 million-plus, with a six-person team. That simply does not work.”

Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with those comments and, if so, what are the Government going to do about it?

The outgoing chief executive of the North Eastern local enterprise partnership has said:

“I have six big programmes, most are £100 million-plus, with a six-person team. That simply does not work.”

Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with those comments and, if so, what are the Government going to do about it?

If I understand it correctly, that is an issue about the resources which are allocated in the council to those big projects. One of the answers—the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) alluded to this earlier—is ensuring that there is greater devolution, greater control, greater autonomy and freedom to local councils and local areas. That is why the city deal, for instance, has been so warmly welcomed in the north-east.

If I understand it correctly, that is an issue about the resources which are allocated in the council to those big projects. One of the answers—the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) alluded to this earlier—is ensuring that there is greater devolution, greater control, greater autonomy and freedom to local councils and local areas. That is why the city deal, for instance, has been so warmly welcomed in the north-east.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure the viability of the financial position of the North East Refugee Service; and for what reasons her Department has not yet paid exit costs to that organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure the viability of the financial position of the North East Refugee Service; and for what reasons her Department has not yet paid exit costs to that organisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many seizures of (a) class A drugs, (b) mobile telephones and (c) knives there were from each prison in the North East in 2013.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many seizures of (a) class A drugs, (b) mobile telephones and (c) knives there were from each prison in the North East in 2013.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure that the application for exit costs submitted to her Department by the North East Refugee Service in March 2014 is paid immediately.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure that the application for exit costs submitted to her Department by the North East Refugee Service in March 2014 is paid immediately.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the quality of care and treatment of patients with heart failure in the North East.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the quality of care and treatment of patients with heart failure in the North East.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Sanders. As a west country man, you may not fully agree, but I believe that the quality of life that we enjoy in the north of England is higher than that of the south. I recognise, however, that...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Sanders. As a west country man, you may not fully agree, but I believe that the quality of life that we enjoy in the north of England is higher than that of the south. I recognise, however, that...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing a debate on a subject of great importance both to his constituents, who live in a rural setting, and to businesses on the largest industrial estate in Europe—Trafford Park, in my constituency. Does he agree that although those businesses may have very different...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing a debate on a subject of great importance both to his constituents, who live in a rural setting, and to businesses on the largest industrial estate in Europe—Trafford Park, in my constituency. Does he agree that although those businesses may have very different...

Yes, I strongly agree with that argument. I do not think that the scale or sector of a business, or the geography, really matter. The point about broadband is the ability to get access to customers all over the world. We need it, and quickly. The hon. Lady’s point is...

Yes, I strongly agree with that argument. I do not think that the scale or sector of a business, or the geography, really matter. The point about broadband is the ability to get access to customers all over the world. We need it, and quickly. The hon. Lady’s point is...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He is absolutely right to praise the work of Superfast North Yorkshire and what it has done so far in the roll-out of superfast broadband across North Yorkshire and York. I am pleased to hear about the success in Boroughbridge,...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He is absolutely right to praise the work of Superfast North Yorkshire and what it has done so far in the roll-out of superfast broadband across North Yorkshire and York. I am pleased to hear about the success in Boroughbridge,...

My hon. Friend is as wise as ever, and I strongly agree with him. I am about to deal with those points so, if he will forgive me, I will not address them now.

The question now is about looking ahead. I want to share a couple of points with my...

My hon. Friend is as wise as ever, and I strongly agree with him. I am about to deal with those points so, if he will forgive me, I will not address them now.

The question now is about looking ahead. I want to share a couple of points with my...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sanders, and to be able to speak in this debate to balance the Yorkshire impact from Lancashire. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones). Even though he comes from Yorkshire, he makes a good...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sanders, and to be able to speak in this debate to balance the Yorkshire impact from Lancashire. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones). Even though he comes from Yorkshire, he makes a good...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Sanders. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) on securing this important debate. He made an excellent speech, and I want to pick up some of his points and perhaps embroider them a bit.

I...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Sanders. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) on securing this important debate. He made an excellent speech, and I want to pick up some of his points and perhaps embroider them a bit.

I...

Cornwall is widely regarded as having the best superfast broadband in Europe. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) pointed out, North Yorkshire was the first place to start the rural broadband roll-out.

Cornwall is widely regarded as having the best superfast broadband in Europe. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) pointed out, North Yorkshire was the first place to start the rural broadband roll-out.

All I can say to the Minister is that he should look at the map produced by Ofcom. I am sure that he will quote Ofcom’s report back to the Chamber in a minute, but he should look at that map, because it also shows significantly worse performance of the...

All I can say to the Minister is that he should look at the map produced by Ofcom. I am sure that he will quote Ofcom’s report back to the Chamber in a minute, but he should look at that map, because it also shows significantly worse performance of the...

I thank the hon. Lady for her warm comments, but I do not think the Government are saying that it is acceptable. I think they are saying, “We know this matters and we are trying to roll it out.” The points I was making were a bit on the more...

I thank the hon. Lady for her warm comments, but I do not think the Government are saying that it is acceptable. I think they are saying, “We know this matters and we are trying to roll it out.” The points I was making were a bit on the more...

I have two criticisms: one is of the way in which broadband has been rolled out; the other is of the behaviour of the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, because they are now demanding that people deal with them solely online. That...

I have two criticisms: one is of the way in which broadband has been rolled out; the other is of the behaviour of the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, because they are now demanding that people deal with them solely online. That...

Does the hon. Lady not agree that the UK has the highest uptake of superfast broadband across the whole of the EU? Superfast North Yorkshire is a prime example of a beacon of success, showing how to deliver superfast broadband across the north and in rural areas. The issue with...

Does the hon. Lady not agree that the UK has the highest uptake of superfast broadband across the whole of the EU? Superfast North Yorkshire is a prime example of a beacon of success, showing how to deliver superfast broadband across the north and in rural areas. The issue with...

I am sorry to tell the hon. Gentleman that the Government have put a large amount of money into the super-connected cities programme—it ran into a rural challenge in Europe—instead of putting money into and prioritising rural areas such as his constituency and mine. I wish that what he is...

I am sorry to tell the hon. Gentleman that the Government have put a large amount of money into the super-connected cities programme—it ran into a rural challenge in Europe—instead of putting money into and prioritising rural areas such as his constituency and mine. I wish that what he is...