That this House welcomes the decision by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and major mobile telephone companies to make it free to call DWP 0800 numbers, including the crisis loans service, which had been costing 9,000,000 callers per year up to 40 pence per minute from a mobile telephone; congratulates the staff of Leeds Citizens Advice Bureau for their campaigning and research on behalf of claimants pressing for free telephone calls; notes that this will make a tremendous difference to the 12 per cent. of UK households, many of them amongst the poorest in Britain, who only have access to a mobile telephone and do not have a landline; and urges other Government departments, particularly HM Revenue and Customs, to take action to end the current situation, where people in the most urgent need of a financial safety net face a bill of up to ??12 for a half hour call to 08 numbered Government helplines.

That this House welcomes the decision by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and major mobile telephone companies to make it free to call DWP 0800 numbers, including the crisis loans service, which had been costing 9,000,000 callers per year up to 40 pence per minute from a mobile...

That this House recognises that bio-diesel manufactured from used cooking oil is one of the most sustainable renewable fuels available in the UK; notes the Government's decision to abolish the 20 pence per litre duty differential for bio-diesel in 2010 which will make bio-diesel significantly more expensive than road fossil fuels and therefore commercially unviable; accepts that the tax differential will mean that bio-diesel will become more expensive than fossil-based road fuels with the largest price effect felt by high-blend users such as 3663, McDonalds and Morrisons, that use between 20 and 100 per cent. bio-diesel blends for their vehicle fleets and forecourts and are likely to decide that bio-diesel is no longer commercially viable; recognises that this is likely to destroy the domestic industry for bio-diesel made from used cooking oil; agrees with the UK Sustainable Bio-diesel Alliance that this decision runs counter to the Government's commitment on the role sustainable bio-fuels can play in meeting domestic greenhouse gas and renewable energy targets and the recommendations made in the 2008 Gallagher Review; understands that whilst incentives for bio-diesel for road use provided through the Renewable Transport Obligation are welcome, they do not on their own provide sufficient support for the industry; and calls on the Government to look into ways in which the most sustainable forms of bio-diesel, most notably those made from used cooking oil, continue to receive the necessary support once the differential has been abolished in April 2010.

That this House recognises that bio-diesel manufactured from used cooking oil is one of the most sustainable renewable fuels available in the UK; notes the Government's decision to abolish the 20 pence per litre duty differential for bio-diesel in 2010 which will make bio-diesel significantly more expensive than road fossil...

That this House believes that the Government should establish a High Pay Commission to examine the effects of high pay on the economy and society; acknowledges that over the last 30 years median earners have seen incomes increase at less than the average while the super-rich including UK chief executive officers have seen their pay increase to 76 times that of the average worker; notes three main concerns over the effect of high pay in Britain: the link between excessive pay and the financial crash, the questionable link between economic performance and high pay and the social effects of inequality due to the increase of wealth concentrated at the top of society; and calls for a public inquiry to bring all of the facts, evidence and arguments into the public domain.

That this House believes that the Government should establish a High Pay Commission to examine the effects of high pay on the economy and society; acknowledges that over the last 30 years median earners have seen incomes increase at less than the average while the super-rich including UK chief executive...

That this House congratulates the playwright Kenneth Yates, Alex Chisholm the director and the cast of Dust, a dramatisation at the West Yorkshire Playhouse of June Hancock's legal struggle to prove that the JW Roberts' asbestos factory in Armley caused asbestos pollution in the neighbourhood, leaving a deadly local legacy of hundreds of mesothelioma victims; notes that the drama using the trial transcripts, testimonies and interviews brilliantly captures a story that is still not played out; and urges the Department of Health to devote more research resources to tackling mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

That this House congratulates the playwright Kenneth Yates, Alex Chisholm the director and the cast of Dust, a dramatisation at the West Yorkshire Playhouse of June Hancock's legal struggle to prove that the JW Roberts' asbestos factory in Armley caused asbestos pollution in the neighbourhood, leaving a deadly local legacy...

That this House notes with concern the high cost of calls to Government helplines from mobile telephones; recognises that many people only have access to a mobile telephone and do not have a landline and therefore have no choice but to pay these high call costs; further notes the recent Citizens Advice Bureau report, Hung Up, which provided evidence from 65 citizens advice bureaux that many vulnerable and destitute people are unable to claim a crisis loan because of the expense of calling the Government freephone claim line on a mobile telephone; recognises that it is possible to make freephone numbers free to call from a mobile telephone, for example by registering the numbers with the Telephone Helplines Association; and calls on the Government urgently to ensure that its benefit claim lines, and in particular its crisis loans claim line, are made free to call from a mobile telephone.

That this House notes with concern the high cost of calls to Government helplines from mobile telephones; recognises that many people only have access to a mobile telephone and do not have a landline and therefore have no choice but to pay these high call costs; further notes the recent...

That this House believes that as the fifth largest economy in the world it is unacceptable that 12.8 million people, 1 in 5 of the population, are living in poverty in the UK; further believes that with the economy in recession and rising unemployment, the Government must commit to further measures to protect the poorest in society; and supports calls by the Get Fair Coalition of charities, faith and community groups for the Government to increase levels of income to a minimum living standard for a lasting reduction in poverty in the UK.

That this House believes that as the fifth largest economy in the world it is unacceptable that 12.8 million people, 1 in 5 of the population, are living in poverty in the UK; further believes that with the economy in recession and rising unemployment, the Government must commit to further...

That this House notes the enormous contribution scout groups and other voluntary organisations make in helping local communities; notes with dismay the water regulator Ofwat's decision to change the way water companies charge small charities and community groups for surface water run-off, and the impact that this will have on the financial future of organisations that rely on fund-raising and members' subscriptions for income, and are therefore particularly ill-placed to afford the huge increases in bills as a result; considers that this highlights the need to protect the ability of such organisations and the communities they serve to access water services; and therefore calls on Ofwat to support the Scout Association's call for a social tariff regime for community and voluntary groups by enabling such a pricing system to be used by water companies.

That this House notes the enormous contribution scout groups and other voluntary organisations make in helping local communities; notes with dismay the water regulator Ofwat's decision to change the way water companies charge small charities and community groups for surface water run-off, and the impact that this will have on...

That this House notes with disappointment the announcement by ITV of 160 immediate redundancies at the ITV drama production studios in Kirkstall, Leeds; recognises that ITV is now abandoning a prime location, Yorkshire, for some of its major successful dramas, after nearly five decades of providing brilliant urban and rural backdrops, and sees a worrying shift to cheaply-produced reality TV as a short-term option which will lead to more viewers switching off; regrets the dismissal of highly-trained people with great engineering, electronic and media communication skills as back-up staff; believes that taking them out will reduce the creative industries' capacity in the region; and urges the Government to work with Yorkshire Forward, and the smaller filmmakers and producers in the region to ensure these people and their skills are not lost to Leeds.

That this House notes with disappointment the announcement by ITV of 160 immediate redundancies at the ITV drama production studios in Kirkstall, Leeds; recognises that ITV is now abandoning a prime location, Yorkshire, for some of its major successful dramas, after nearly five decades of providing brilliant urban and rural...

That this House welcomes the launch of Send My Friend to School 2009 organised by the Global Campaign for Education; notes that on 22 April millions of people in over 100 countries will take part in The Big Read to highlight the importance of literacy; calls on world leaders to redouble their efforts to meet the promise made in 2000 that every child in the world would complete a quality education by 2015; notes that over 70 million children still do not get a chance to go to school; and urges the Government to live up to its spending commitments on education in developing countries to ensure that ??1 billion per year is spent between 2010 and 2015, and that those countries furthest from achieving education for all by 2015 are prioritised for funding.

That this House welcomes the launch of Send My Friend to School 2009 organised by the Global Campaign for Education; notes that on 22 April millions of people in over 100 countries will take part in The Big Read to highlight the importance of literacy; calls on world leaders to...

That this House notes that the rapid rise in redundancies and unemployment will undoubtedly leave many households facing significant problems with debt repayments; further notes that the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 contained provision to establish enforcement restriction orders, which would enable county courts to stay debt recovery actions for up to 12 months for individuals facing such problems; further notes that the introduction of these orders is not scheduled until 2010; believes that they are needed now; and therefore calls for the introduction of enforcement restriction orders to be brought forward as a matter of urgency.

That this House notes that the rapid rise in redundancies and unemployment will undoubtedly leave many households facing significant problems with debt repayments; further notes that the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 contained provision to establish enforcement restriction orders, which would enable county courts to stay debt recovery actions...

That this House condemns the arrest of over a thousand further political prisoners since the democracy uprising in September 2007, bringing the total to more than 2,100; further condemns the sentencing of hundreds of these activists to long jail terms; notes that many of the prisoners have been moved to jails hundreds of miles from where their families live; further notes that the United Nations Security Council, United Nations General Assembly, European Union and ASEAN have all called for the release of political prisoners in Burma and that these calls have been ignored; further notes that 37 visits by United Nations envoys have failed to secure a single reform; calls on the United Nations Secretary General to travel to Burma to negotiate the release of all political prisoners; further calls on the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution giving full support to the Secretary General's efforts; and further calls on the British Government to continue to work for a Resolution by the Security Council.

That this House condemns the arrest of over a thousand further political prisoners since the democracy uprising in September 2007, bringing the total to more than 2,100; further condemns the sentencing of hundreds of these activists to long jail terms; notes that many of the prisoners have been moved to...

That this House welcomes the launching of a new autism charity for a new generation, the UK Autism Foundation (UKAF); notes that the UKAF came from the work of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK launched in 2000 by parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea; further notes that the UKAF has three important strands to their work: to build the first ever state of the art autism centre in London, to build an autism school and to launch initiatives to help families with autism below the poverty line; further notes that the UKAF launches a major initiative on poverty and autism on 3rd November; supports the call of the UKAF for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to increase the tax credits, the disability living allowance and the carer's allowance for families with autism in order to help and support the vulnerable and the marginalised during the credit crunch; urges the Chancellor to provide guidelines to banks in order to stop repossessions of homes where there are families with autism who fall into financial difficulty; and calls on the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to support the needs of parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome during the economic downturn.

That this House welcomes the launching of a new autism charity for a new generation, the UK Autism Foundation (UKAF); notes that the UKAF came from the work of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK launched in 2000 by parents and carers Ivan and Charika Corea; further notes that the UKAF...

That this House recognises concerns raised by Crisis and Shelter about the barriers faced by people on Housing Benefit who are trying to move into work; notes that people can often be worse off in work than they are on Housing Benefit; acknowledges that the excessive complexity and sensitivity of the system makes it risky for claimants to go into work; further notes that the withdrawal rate for claimants going back into work is too high; and calls on the Government to use the opportunity of the current review of Housing Benefit to ensure that work pays and to ease the transition into work in line with its ambition of increasing the employment rate.

That this House recognises concerns raised by Crisis and Shelter about the barriers faced by people on Housing Benefit who are trying to move into work; notes that people can often be worse off in work than they are on Housing Benefit; acknowledges that the excessive complexity and sensitivity of...

That this House congratulates Middleton Railway on the 250th anniversary of its foundation in 2008; notes that the Railway was the first to be constructed under powers from an Act of Parliament in 1758 and has remained in continuous use over at least part of the network ever since, and thus has a claim to be the world's oldest working railway; commends the volunteers who devote significant time and energy to keeping it operating; and wishes them success in the anniversary celebrations planned for 2008.

That this House congratulates Middleton Railway on the 250th anniversary of its foundation in 2008; notes that the Railway was the first to be constructed under powers from an Act of Parliament in 1758 and has remained in continuous use over at least part of the network ever since, and...

That this House notes the publication of Adding up: The Range and Impact of School Costs on Families by the School Costs Coalition; further notes that the report reveals restrictive supply arrangements making school uniforms unaffordable, restrictive costs for learning materials such as books, sports kits and art equipment and disadvantaged pupils missing school trips due to charges and widespread bad practice on making information available to pupils and parents when payments are voluntary and help with costs is available; expresses concern that over 70 per cent. of both primary and secondary school parent respondents find it difficult to meet all the costs associated with their child's education, with many experiencing distress from high school cost demands; is further concerned at reports that pupils whose families are unable to meet school costs are frequently bullied and disciplined as a consequence; recognises the need to address school costs to help eliminate child poverty and improve educational attainment; calls on schools and local authorities to monitor charging policies, disseminate good practice and make sure that parents are made aware of help with costs in non-stigmatising ways; and calls on the Government to make the school costs requirements of the Admissions Code enforceable in their own right, with extension of powers to the Schools Adjudicator to allow parents to make direct complaints where school costs requirements are not complied with, and to consider a statutory duty on local authorities to provide uniform grants for families in receipt of maximum child tax credit.

That this House notes the publication of Adding up: The Range and Impact of School Costs on Families by the School Costs Coalition; further notes that the report reveals restrictive supply arrangements making school uniforms unaffordable, restrictive costs for learning materials such as books, sports kits and art equipment and...

That this House believes that homeworkers deserve equal treatment with those employed in factories, offices or other places of work; is concerned that homeworkers are currently vulnerable to exploitation as their rights are unclear under existing English law; believes that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 177 on Homework provides a positive framework for delivering decent rights and protections to homeworkers; and calls upon the Government to take all necessary steps to make good its intention, stated in 1997, to ratify ILO Convention 177.

That this House believes that homeworkers deserve equal treatment with those employed in factories, offices or other places of work; is concerned that homeworkers are currently vulnerable to exploitation as their rights are unclear under existing English law; believes that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 177 on Homework provides...

That this House notes with concern that fuel poverty in the UK has returned to the four million household level as a direct result of sustained high energy prices; also notes that there is considerably more work to be done if the Government is to meet its targets to eradicate fuel poverty among vulnerable households by 2010 and among all households by 2016; believes that social tariffs have a key role to play in helping the fuel poor heat their homes to a comfortable and safe level; observes that there has consistently been wide variation in suppliers' voluntary efforts to help low-income households; further observes with concern that low-income households using prepayment meters continue to pay on average ??127 more a year for their gas and electricity than those paying by direct debit and that this gap has increased by up to 70 per cent. in the last two years; and calls for the Energy Bill to be used to include powers that enable the Secretary of State to require suppliers to offer social tariffs in accordance with minimum standards providing households on low incomes with access to best value tariffs regardless of how they pay for their energy.

That this House notes with concern that fuel poverty in the UK has returned to the four million household level as a direct result of sustained high energy prices; also notes that there is considerably more work to be done if the Government is to meet its targets to eradicate...

That this House notes the publication of the Ground of Justice, a research inquiry into the social and pastoral needs of migrant workers in Catholic congregations in London; notes that the research team from the Centre for Faith in Society, Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds's College Cambridge surveyed and interviewed over a thousand migrants and over 20 clergy; notes that the report records that 40 per cent. of the respondents were paid under ??5 per hour and women on average, less and that the majority of respondents reported working very long hours; and calls upon the Government, the private sector and the voluntary sector to initiate a fresh public debate on this report and other sources of evidence as part of a modern commitment to social inclusion and a wider commitment to tackle poverty in the UK.

That this House notes the publication of the Ground of Justice, a research inquiry into the social and pastoral needs of migrant workers in Catholic congregations in London; notes that the research team from the Centre for Faith in Society, Von Hugel Institute, St Edmunds's College Cambridge surveyed and interviewed...

That this House notes that epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition, affecting around 456,000 people in the UK, or on average more than 700 people in each constituency; notes with concern that annual avoidable deaths exceed 400 owing to historic poor provision of health services; values the excellent work done by the severely inadequate number of epilepsy specialist nurses throughout the UK, enabling many people with epilepsy to reduce or eliminate their call on other NHS resources, leading to substantial and demonstrable financial savings in the short, medium and long-term, and reducing waiting lists for neurologists; further notes that currently more than 10 per cent. of epilepsy specialist nurses are under threat of redundancy, reduced working hours or assignment to non-specialist duties; further notes the Government's recognition of the important role of specialist nurses and its stated desire to see an increase in their number; and strongly encourages the Government to take steps to ensure that their policies as clearly set out in the National Service Framework for Long Term Neurological Conditions and the recent White Paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say are effectively implemented at local level.

That this House notes that epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition, affecting around 456,000 people in the UK, or on average more than 700 people in each constituency; notes with concern that annual avoidable deaths exceed 400 owing to historic poor provision of health services; values the excellent...

That this House notes with profound concern the recent description of the United Kingdom as the fat man of Europe; observes that the number of obese people in the UK increases by an average of more than 1,000 per month; recognises the immense costs to date and the predicted unsupportable rise in future costs associated with the health challenges of obesity, in particular diabetes type 2; welcomes the shift in UK consumer preference for low-calorie versions of carbonated drinks, with diet colas increasingly outselling their full sugar versions, saving an estimated 4,815,245,000,000 calories between 2000 and 2005; and invites the Government to join with primary care practitioners, slimming organisations, the wider food industry and other stakeholders to tackle obesity by welcoming, encouraging and promoting the greater awareness and wider take-up of low-calorie products as a readily available means of substantially reducing the problems of obesity and its associated conditions at no cost to the Exchequer and with no need for legislation.

That this House notes with profound concern the recent description of the United Kingdom as the fat man of Europe; observes that the number of obese people in the UK increases by an average of more than 1,000 per month; recognises the immense costs to date and the predicted unsupportable...