Business Today: Chamber for Wednesday 18 December 2013

11.30am Prayers

Followed by

 QUESTIONS

Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland

1Mrs Anne McGuire (Stirling)
What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the employment interests of workers in the whisky industry in Scotland. (901633)

2Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East)
What steps the Government is taking to tackle low pay in Scotland. (901634)

3Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering)
What estimate he has made of the number of illegal immigrants in Scotland. (901635)

4Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire)
What plans the Government has to review the Barnett formula. (901636)

5Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton)
What recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on fisheries policy. (901637)

6Mr Mike Weir (Angus)
What assessment he has made of the effect of energy prices on consumers in rural areas of Scotland. (901638)

7Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
What assessment he has made of the interim report by Sir Ian Wood on the future regulation of oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. (901639)

8Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central)
What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of Scottish independence on the economy of the North East of England. (901640)

9Mr Michael McCann (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Whether he has had discussions with the Cabinet Secretary on the impartiality of the civil service in Scotland in relation to its involvement in preparing the Scottish Government document, Scotland's Future. (901641)

10Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
When he last met representatives of the Post Office to discuss the Network Transformation programme and its potential effect on post offices in Scotland. (901642)

11Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock)
What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on HM Treasury's Scotland analysis papers. (901643)

12Mr Frank Roy (Motherwell and Wishaw)
What steps the Government is taking to tackle low pay in Scotland. (901644)

13Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith)
What assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's infrastructure programme on Scotland. (901645)

14Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central)
What recent discussions he has had with the UK Civil Aviation Authority on helicopter safety. (901646)

15Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
What assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the Scottish Government document Scotland's Future; and if he will make a statement. (901647)

At 12.00pm

Oral Questions to the Prime Minister

Q1Mr David Anderson (Blaydon)
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 18 December. (901683)

Q2Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (901684)

Q3Mr Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich) (901685)

Q4Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (901686)

Q5Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (901687)

Q6Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (901688)

Q7Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (901689)

Q8Derek Twigg (Halton) (901690)

Q9John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (901691)

Q10Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (901692)

Q11Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (901693)

Q12Mr Steve Reed (Croydon North) (901694)

Q13Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (901695)

Q14Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (901696)

Q15Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (901697)

 URGENT QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS

12.30pm

Urgent Questions (if any)

Ministerial Statements (if any)

 BUSINESS OF THE DAY

1. credit union (armed forces): Ten Minute Rule Motion

Up to 20 minutes (Standing Order No. 23)

Mr Gareth Thomas

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the establishment of a credit union for members of the armed forces and family members who live in the same household; and for connected purposes.

Notes:

The Member moving and a Member opposing this Motion may each speak for up to 10 minutes.

2. OPPOSITION DAY (15th allotted DAY)

Until 7.00pm (Standing Order No. 9(6))

Accident and Emergency

Edward Miliband

Andy Burnham

Liz Kendall

Ed Balls

Andrew Gwynne

Ms Rosie Winterton

That this House is concerned about recent Government statements on Accident and Emergency (A&E) and Government claims that it is not in crisis; notes that last week, 79 A&Es and the NHS overall missed the Government’s A&E target; further notes that attendances at hospital A&Es have increased three times faster since 2009-10 than in the period from 2004-05 to 2009-10, and that in the last 12 months more than one million people have waited more than four hours; believes there are a range of reasons for the current pressure on Accident and Emergency but that difficulty in accessing GP services is one of the primary causes; regrets the Government’s decision to cut funding for evening and weekend GP opening and scrap the guarantee of a GP appointment within 48 hours; and, to ease the pressure in Accident and Emergency, calls on the Government to reverse for winter 2013 its scrapping of the 48-hour appointment guarantee.

Foodbanks

Edward Miliband

Maria Eagle

Rachel Reeves

Mr Chuka Umunna

Caroline Flint

Ms Rosie Winterton

That this House notes that the number of people using foodbanks provided by the Trussell Trust alone has increased from 41,000 in 2010 to more than 500,000 since April this year, of whom one third were children; further notes that over the last three years prices have risen faster than wages; further notes the assessment of the Trussell Trust that the key factors in the rising resort to foodbanks are rising living costs and stagnant wages, as well as problems including delays to social security payments and the impact of the under-occupancy penalty; calls on the Government to publish the results of research into foodbanks commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers promised would be made public in the summer of 2013; and further calls on the Government to bring forward measures to reduce dependency on foodbanks, including a freeze on energy prices, a water affordability scheme, measures to end abuses of zero hours contracts, incentives to companies to pay a living wage and abolition of the under-occupancy penalty.

Notes:

The selection of the matters to be debated has been made by the Leader of the Opposition (Standing Order No. 14(2)).

 ADJOURNMENT DEBATE

Until 7.30pm or for half an hour (whichever is later) (Standing Order No. 9(7))

Coastal flooding in Waveney: Peter Aldous

BUSINESS TODAY: WESTMINSTER HALL

 ORDER OF BUSINESS

The first part of the sitting will last for two hours. The second part of the sitting will last for two and a half hours (Standing Order No. 10(1)).

9.30am

Homelessness and rough sleeping: Shabhana Mahmood

11.00am

Crowd funding for innovation and enterprise and the role of the FCA: Mr Barry Sheerman

Notes:

The sitting will be suspended from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

2.30pm

Hospice and palliative care for children and young people: Stuart Andrew

4.00pm

Electrical safety in the private rented sector: Mr Michael Thornton

4.30pm

Television services in Scotland: Michael Connarty

The debate will arise on a motion for the adjournment, to be moved by a Minister.

The second part of the sitting will be suspended and time added if divisions take place in the main Chamber (Standing Order No. 10(1)).

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

 Statements to be made today

Attorney General

1.Parliamentary Written Answer (Correction)

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

2.Summary of responses to the consultation on Banking reform: draft secondary legislation

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

3.Assisted Areas Map 2014–2020 consultation

4.Contingencies Fund advance

5.Notice of the application of the UK Opt-in with regard to the accession of Yemen to the WTO

6.Triennial Review of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UK Commission)

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

7.Firefighters’ Pension Scheme Consultation

8.Local Government Finance

9.Planning applications

Deputy Prime Minister

10.Electoral Registration

Secretary of State for Education

11.Funding allocations

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

12.EU Energy Council, Brussels 12 December

13.Second DECC Annual Progress Report on the Roll-out of Smart Meters

14.State aid

Secretary of State for Health

15.Health Council: 10 December

Secretary of State for the Home Department

16.Provisional Police Funding Announcement

Leader of the House

17.Parliamentary Privilege

Secretary of State for Wales

18.Publication of Draft Wales Bill

Notes:

Texts of Written Statements are available from the Vote Office and on the internet at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/todays-written-statements/.

COMMITTEES MEETING TODAY

The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be changed without notice.

 Public Bill Committees

Leasehold Reform (Amendment) Bill Committee

To consider the Bill

Room 9

9.30am (public)

 Select Committees

Science and Technology

Subject: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Witnesses: Dr Pat Goodwin, Society of Biology, Professor Laura Piddock, British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Professor John Threlfall, Society for Applied Microbiology, and Professor Sharon Peacock, Cambridge Infectious Diseases Initiative, University of Cambridge

The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

9.00am (private), 10.15am (public)

Education

Subject: Responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Education

Witnesses: Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State, Department for Education

The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

9.15am (private), 9.30am (public)

Work and Pensions

Subject: Support for housing costs in the reformed welfare system

Witnesses: Steve Fothergill, Director, Industrial Communities Alliance, Councillor Sharon Taylor, Chair, Local Government Association Finance Panel, Local Government Association, Councillor Joyce McCarty, Deputy Leader, Newcastle City Council, and Laurence Coaker, Head, Housing Needs, West London Housing Partnership; Jennifer Barnes, Policy and Research Manager, Centrepoint, Carolyn Uphill, Chairman, National Landlords Association, and Chris Town, Vice Chairman, Residential Landlords Association (at 10.45am)

Room 15

9.15am (private), 9.30am (public)

Welsh Affairs

Room 6

10.00am (private)

Defence

Room 7

2.00pm (private)

Environmental Audit

Subject: Plastic bags

Witnesses: Waste and Resources Action Programme, Dr Wouter Poortinga, Cardiff University, and Environment Directorate, Welsh Government; Campaign to Protect Rural England, British Retail Consortium, and Packaging and Film Association (at 2.50pm); Dan Rogerson MP, Minister for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Resource Management, and officials, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (at 3.30pm)

The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

2.00pm (private), 2.15pm (public)

European Scrutiny

Room 19

2.00pm (private)

Public Accounts

Subject: Emergency admissions to hospitals–managing demand

Witnesses: Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chief Executive, Sir Bruce Keogh KBE, Medical Director, Dame Barbara Hakin DBE, Chief Operating Officer, NHS England, and Richard Douglas, Director General, Finance, Department of Health

Room 15

2.00pm (private), 2.15pm (public)

Scottish Affairs

Subject: Blacklisting in Employment

Witnesses: Pat Swift, Former Head, Human Resources, Bam Ferrovial Kier

Room 6

2.00pm (private), 2.30pm (public)

Culture, Media and Sport

Subject: Work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Witnesses: Rt Hon Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

2.30pm (private), 3.00pm (public)

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Room 16

2.30pm (private)

Committees on Arms Export Controls

Subject: Scrutiny of Arms Exports (2014)

Witnesses: Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Edward Bell, Head, and Chris Chew, Head of Policy, Export Control Organisation, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Room 8

3.00pm (private), 3.15pm (public)

Procedure

Room 20

3.00pm (private)

Selection

Room 13

4.45pm (private)

 Joint Committees

Human Rights

Subject: (i) The implications for access to justice of the Government’s proposals to reform judicial review; (ii) The Government’s Human Rights Policy

Witnesses: (i) Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; (ii) Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (at 3.30pm)

Room 4A

2.00pm (private), 2.30pm (public)

COMMITTEE REPORTS PUBLISHED TODAY

 health

5th Report: 2013 accountability hearing with Nursing and Midwifery Council, HC 699

Time of publication: 00.01am

 joint committee on the draft voting eligibility (prisoners) bill

1st Report: Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill, HC 924

Time of publication: 00.01am

 culture, media and sport

5th Report: Pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s preferred candidate for the Chairman of Ofcom, HC 933

Time of publication: 11.00am

 joint committee on human rights

8th Report: Legislative Scrutiny: Immigration Bill, HC 935

Time of publication: 11.00am

 public administration

4th Special Report: The role of the Charity Commission and “public benefit”: Post-legislative scrutiny of the Charities Act 2006: Charity Commission Response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2013-14, HC 927

Time of publication: 12 noon

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Forthcoming End of Day Adjournment Debates

Monday 6 January to Monday 13 January

Applications should be made in writing to the Table Office by 7.00pm or rise of the House, whichever is the earlier, on Wednesday 18 December. The Ballot will take place on Thursday 19 December.

 FUTURE DEPARTMENTS ANSWERING IN WESTMINSTER HALL

Week beginning 6 January

Cabinet Office; Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media and Sport; Defence; Energy and Climate Change; Health; Leader of the House; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Treasury; Women and Equalities.

Weeks beginning 13 January and 27 January

Attorney General; Business, Innovation and Skills; Deputy Prime Minister; Education; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Home Office; International Development; Justice; Transport; Wales; Work and Pensions.

Week beginning 20 January

Cabinet Office; Communities and Local Government; Culture, Media and Sport; Defence; Energy and Climate Change; Health; Leader of the House; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Treasury; Women and Equalities.

 CHRISTMAS Adjournment 2013

Members wishing to table questions in person may do so in the usual way through the Table Office until 5.30pm or the rising of the House, whichever is earlier, on Thursday 19 December. Thereafter, Members may table questions for oral and written answer electronically or by post. Questions for written answer received after 19 December and before 4.30pm on Friday 3 January will be treated as having been tabled on 3 January.

Questions for oral answer

Under Standing Order No. 22(6), the Speaker has made the following arrangements for tabling Questions for oral answer when the House returns:

The results of the shuffles on 19 December will be published on 20 December. They will be available from the Vote Office and on the internet at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmfutoral/futoral.pdf

For further details of last tabling days for other departments and answering bodies, see the Order of Questions rota available from the Vote Office and on the internet at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-table-office/order-of-oral-questions1.pdf

Notes:

* The latest time for tabling is 12.30pm on each of these days.

** First sitting day after adjournment

Questions for written answer

For Questions tabled between Tuesday 17 December and the rise of the House on Thursday 19 December, the earliest named day for a Question for written answer is Monday 6 January.

After the House has adjourned on Thursday 19 December, Questions tabled for ordinary written answer and for named day written answer up to 4.30pm on Friday 3 January will be treated as having been tabled on 3 January. Questions for ordinary written answer will be for answer on Tuesday 7 January. Questions for named day written answer will be for answer not earlier than Wednesday 8 January; each Member may table five such questions during this period.

 Determination of Business by the Backbench BUSINESS Committee

Thursday 9 January in the Chamber

General debate on rural communities: Miss Anne McIntosh

General debate on inter-city rail investment: Ian Swales