Will the Minister meet me to discuss the decisions of Walsall council, including the closure of the Walsall Leather Museum against the wishes of local people?

Will the Minister meet me to discuss the decisions of Walsall council, including the closure of the Walsall Leather Museum against the wishes of local people?

I will.

I will.

Walsall Leather Museum

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that the Walsall Leather Museum, built in a nineteenth-century leather factory, is the heart of the town’s heritage and the pride of the community; notes that Walsall Council plans to relocate the museum and lease the site to Walsall College...

Walsall Leather Museum

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that the Walsall Leather Museum, built in a nineteenth-century leather factory, is the heart of the town’s heritage and the pride of the community; notes that Walsall Council plans to relocate the museum and lease the site to Walsall College...

Walsall Leather Museum

May I wish everyone, including you, Madam Deputy Speaker, a very happy Christmas and new year? I present this petition on behalf of the residents of Walsall and the UK.

The petition states:

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that the Walsall Leather Museum, built in a nineteenth-century...

Walsall Leather Museum

May I wish everyone, including you, Madam Deputy Speaker, a very happy Christmas and new year? I present this petition on behalf of the residents of Walsall and the UK.

The petition states:

The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,

Declares that the Walsall Leather Museum, built in a nineteenth-century...

Motion that this House has considered the governance and accountability of public bodies. Agreed to on question.

Motion that this House has considered the governance and accountability of public bodies. Agreed to on question.

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the governance and accountability of public bodies.

It is a pleasure to serve under you for this debate, Sir John.

I start by thanking the Minister in advance for attempting to respond to what sounds like a very esoteric topic. This debate is not...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the governance and accountability of public bodies.

It is a pleasure to serve under you for this debate, Sir John.

I start by thanking the Minister in advance for attempting to respond to what sounds like a very esoteric topic. This debate is not...

I commend the right hon. Lady for securing the debate. Formidable lady that she is, I am surprised that she has not been able to crack the whip and get the desired result. The issue for us all—for you, Sir John, and everyone in this room—is that elected representatives are...

I commend the right hon. Lady for securing the debate. Formidable lady that she is, I am surprised that she has not been able to crack the whip and get the desired result. The issue for us all—for you, Sir John, and everyone in this room—is that elected representatives are...

The hon. Gentleman pre-empts something I will come to at the end, as one of my asks is to do just that.

Visits to the museum are on an upward curve, with 14,000 over the past year. Now, the collection will be closed and put in storage until a new position...

The hon. Gentleman pre-empts something I will come to at the end, as one of my asks is to do just that.

Visits to the museum are on an upward curve, with 14,000 over the past year. Now, the collection will be closed and put in storage until a new position...

I take a real interest in these matters, and my right hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. I believe it is ultimately about unaccountable power, and we need to find ways to hold these institutions to account. I can give the example of Bootham Park hospital in my constituency....

I take a real interest in these matters, and my right hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. I believe it is ultimately about unaccountable power, and we need to find ways to hold these institutions to account. I can give the example of Bootham Park hospital in my constituency....

I thank my hon. Friend for that example, and it is important that she put it on the record. In the end, we as politicians get blamed for things that do not happen. I know the Minister has been tasked with a huge job, but hopefully these buildings will be...

I thank my hon. Friend for that example, and it is important that she put it on the record. In the end, we as politicians get blamed for things that do not happen. I know the Minister has been tasked with a huge job, but hopefully these buildings will be...

It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I want to take a moment to pay huge tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall and Bloxwich (Valerie Vaz). She is the epitome of a first-class MP and a doughty champion for her...

It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I want to take a moment to pay huge tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall and Bloxwich (Valerie Vaz). She is the epitome of a first-class MP and a doughty champion for her...

I want to draw another two bodies to the Minister’s attention. Integrated care boards are completely unaccountable as they make clinical decisions about our constituents. They need to be evidence-based, but they are simply not working. Multi-academy trusts, too, are certainly not accountable—I have felt as though I was in...

I want to draw another two bodies to the Minister’s attention. Integrated care boards are completely unaccountable as they make clinical decisions about our constituents. They need to be evidence-based, but they are simply not working. Multi-academy trusts, too, are certainly not accountable—I have felt as though I was in...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. She articulates the struggle that so many of us find in picking up bits of casework and trying to champion our constituents’ needs and wishes; we can get lost in the matrix, and it can be deeply frustrating. I know that Secretaries of...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. She articulates the struggle that so many of us find in picking up bits of casework and trying to champion our constituents’ needs and wishes; we can get lost in the matrix, and it can be deeply frustrating. I know that Secretaries of...

My concern is about interim officers in local government, and CEOs who pop up in one place and then pop up somewhere else a couple of months after they have resigned. What safeguards are in place to ensure that negative behaviours or actions in one organisation do not appear in...

My concern is about interim officers in local government, and CEOs who pop up in one place and then pop up somewhere else a couple of months after they have resigned. What safeguards are in place to ensure that negative behaviours or actions in one organisation do not appear in...

My hon. Friend raises an interesting and important issue. Far too often there have been departmental silos, and silos within other public bodies, and they are not talking to each other. As she says, people can bounce around, failing upwards, and far too often there have not been channels of...

My hon. Friend raises an interesting and important issue. Far too often there have been departmental silos, and silos within other public bodies, and they are not talking to each other. As she says, people can bounce around, failing upwards, and far too often there have not been channels of...

Could the Minister quickly say how we can participate in the review the Government are undertaking?

Could the Minister quickly say how we can participate in the review the Government are undertaking?

That is a great question. I will take it on myself, as an outcome of this discussion, to write to colleagues to invite them to submit the kind of examples and evidence that we have heard here to the relevant Departments, and to me, as the Minister responsible for arm’s...

That is a great question. I will take it on myself, as an outcome of this discussion, to write to colleagues to invite them to submit the kind of examples and evidence that we have heard here to the relevant Departments, and to me, as the Minister responsible for arm’s...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase public awareness of the effect of the beef and leather industry on deforestation in the Amazon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase public awareness of the effect of the beef and leather industry on deforestation in the Amazon.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with the government of Bangladesh about toxic, insanitary and unsafe working conditions in Hazaribagh, Dhaka.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with the government of Bangladesh about toxic, insanitary and unsafe working conditions in Hazaribagh, Dhaka.