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Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. I understand why the hon. Gentleman wishes to refer to this matter, but we need a question relating to next week's business.
Mr. Devine: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Will my right hon. Friend support early-day motion 1807?
[That this House notes with sadness the passing of Celtic and Scotland legend Jimmy Johnstone and offers his family its condolences at this difficult time.]
It is in my name and the names of 113 other hon. Members on both sides of the House, and extends our condolences to his wife Agnes and to his friends and family.
Mr. Hoon: I would like to join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to a great footballer. This country has lost a number of very talented footballers in recent times, and I know how strongly those north of the border feel that Jimmy Johnstone was never recognised as he should have been south of the border in his playing career. I certainly join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to him.
Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): Can the Leader of the House arrange for a debate in Government time on the role of the Health and Safety Executive? It is responsible for the safety of industrial work in this country as well as for investigating disasters such as the one that took place at Buncefield. However, it could end up prosecuting itself, because it is the prosecuting authority as well. Its inquiries are carried out behind closed doors, so could we have a debate on the Floor of the House into its future role in dealing with disasters such as that at Buncefield?
Mr. Hoon: I believe that health and safety standards in this country are among the very highest in the world and that that in no small part is the result of the work of the Health and Safety Executive. If the hon. Gentleman has specific concerns about the way in which it operates, I will have them investigated if he lets me have them.
David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/Co-op): I congratulate the Leader of the House on referring to the considerable successes that we have had since 1997 in the national health service and in many aspects of its work. However, did he see earlier this week the announcement by Laing, the midwife of many private finance initiative projects, that the book value of its contracts had quintupled and that its profits had increased by 43 per cent? That stands in stark contrast with the acute problems that one or two acute hospital trusts face. May we have a debate on PFI, which is increasingly seen as prohibitive in cost, flawed in concept and intolerable in consequences for taxpayers, patients and clinical staff in the UK?
Mr. Hoon:
I do not accept that argument. A huge amount of extra money has been put into the national
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health service by the Government but, at the same time, extra money has come from the private sector which would not otherwise have been available, providing, for example, significant additional capital projects, including the construction of new hospitals, wards and facilities that contribute directly to the NHS and to in-patient care. I urge my hon. Friend to look carefully at those schemes, which are an excellent illustration of the way in which the public and private sectors can work together for mutual benefit.
Mr. Mark Lancaster (North-East Milton Keynes) (Con): May we have a debate on domestic violence victims who do not have any recourse to public funds? I pay tribute to good work of the MK Lighthouse project, but overseas nationals who are married to British and EU nationals face a stark choice if they are victims of domestic violence. Either they leave the home and face destitution, because they do not have recourse to public funds, or they stay in the violent home. The Government have acknowledged that problem by giving funds to Women's Aid, but those funds have now run out.
Mr. Hoon: That is an important and difficult issue. The Government have recognised the dilemma particularly of women in that position, and it is something that we will keep under review.
Mr. Tom Harris (Glasgow, South) (Lab): The Leader of the Opposition told the House yesterday
This morning, however, when I attended the Ninth Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation to consider the Civil Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2005, not a single member of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties bothered to turn up. We were bereft in particular of the hon. Members for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) and for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes). May we have an early debate, but not too early in the morning, on the subject of alarm clocks and the Government distribution thereof to Opposition members?
Mr. Hoon: I have discovered in the course of my responsibilities that I am expected to deal with a range of different institutions and answer questions on their behalf. I have not previously been asked to be responsible for the organisation of the Opposition Whips Office, but I am always willing to give it the benefit of my advice.
Mr. Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP): Will the Leader of the House consider holding a debate on male health? I have tabled early-day motion 1639, which has already been signed by more than 55 Members.
[That this House notes the statistics contained in the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry showing that in the last 10 years the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased by almost 50 per cent.; recognises that hospitals and clinics dealing with this type of cancer are doing so against a traditional reluctance among males to use their services; and calls upon all hon. Members to offer assistance in promotional activities that demonstrate the utter folly of such attitudes regarding male health.]
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A debate would help us to try to dispel men's traditional reluctance to go to hospital, and ensure that there is a reduction in the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Mr. Hoon: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on raising that important issue—the more publicity that is given to the question, the better—and he is right to do so on the Floor of the House. I join him in urging people to support that campaign.
Mr. Jim McGovern (Dundee, West) (Lab): I apologise for my late attendance in the House—I was at a meeting with a Tesco representative. Last Saturday, I was delighted to attend an event at the Tesco superstore in my constituency to promote its involvement in Fair Trade fortnight. I was therefore outraged to find out on Monday in the local press that Tesco is shedding more than 400 jobs in my constituency, without any prior consultation with the local council, the local chamber of commerce or me. May we have a debate in the House to discuss employment relations to ensure that employers such as Tesco do not behave in such a cavalier fashion?
Mr. Hoon: My hon. Friend has made his point. It is clearly important that major employers, particularly when contemplating significant reductions in their work force, ensure that Members of Parliament and others affected by such matters are given as much warning as possible.
Bob Spink (Castle Point) (Con): Will the Secretary of State for Health come to the House and make a statement about the impending redundancies of NHS dentists, which are an unintended consequence of the new dental contract? Strategic health authorities and primary care trusts must be told by the Department of Health to stop the loss of NHS dental care, including from the excellent practice of Foreman in my constituency and other practices in south Essex.
Mr. Hoon: I will certainly ensure that my right hon. Friend writes to the hon. Gentleman, but I doubt that any dentist will be out of work for long, given the significant demand for their services.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East) (Con): On 16 February, the Leader of the House dismissed my request for a debate on honesty in sentencing, and today he was equally dismissive of the same request from my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), saying that he had focused on one case. John Monckton was murdered in his own home by someone who was released five years early from his sentence, and yesterday we read about Robert Symons, who was murdered in his own home by someone who was released nearly three years early from his third sentence for burglary. Is it not the case that people are being killed because there is a policy to get offenders out of prison when they ought to remain there? Is not the solution to supply enough capacity in prisons to keep them there?
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