House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Steve Double says he finds himself in an odd position because he does not believe it is sensible to reduce "democratic representation" in the Commons.

He says if the government wants to save money in Parliament, then it should be focused on cutting the number of Lords.

But, he adds, he will not be supporting the motion as it is the "wrong way to address this issue" as it would be "undermining the government".

He says he is happy to wait until the result of the boundary review before putting forward his case for keeping the same number of MPs.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Afzal Khan, who introduced the bill which has still not received a money resolution, says that the public has been outraged by last week's events on the upskirting bill, which he says shows that the private members' bill system is broken.

He says today marks the 200th day since his bill passed second reading, and other bills behind his in the queue have received money resolutions.

"The government is abusing its executive power," he states.

He says that the level of cross-party support for his bill has surprised him, with Conservative backbenchers also saying that this bill needs to be introduced.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP and former government chief whip Mark Harper says that in his experience, constituents are not "hanging on every detail of these constitutional matters".

He says it is important for the Boundary Commission to be allowed to produce its report and for the Commons to discuss and debate it.

"There is nothing magical about 600," he says, referring to the reduction in MPs proposed at the last general election of around 10%. "It saved a significant amount of money," adding that there was nothing "particularly suspicious about it".

He says you can either have boundary reviews which are more frequent and less disruptive, or less frequent and more disruptive.

He adds that online registering to vote has made the whole process much easier for people.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP's constitutional spokesperson Pete Wishart says he has "never known the House to be lectured in such a way on its rights and responsibilities".

He says the key issue is that the private members' bills system "is broken", possibly "beyond repair".

"Something is wrong" and "it's not getting better", he says.

He asks for solutions, saying that if the government wish to oppose a bill, then they should vote against it, not refuse to give it a money resolution so it cannot proceed.

His understanding is that Mr Khan's bill "trumps" the Boundary Commission review as it was voted for in the Commons.

Select Committee
Parliament

Labour's Stephen Doughty asks what is driving high vacancy rates in policing, giving the example of a 20% shortfall of detectives.

Sir Thomas Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, says there are a mix of factors: there is an acute professional risk that puts some people off but pay issues are certainly a factor.

He explains that there is no longer extra pay for detectives, despite additional training being required. He recommended additional allowances for a variety of roles, including detectives, following a review seven years ago, he says.

However, these changes were ferociously opposed by the Police Federation at the time and "condemned as being elitist", although he believes the current leadership would hold a different view now.

Adding to this, he says the police service is "awash with bureaucratic impediments", many of which prevent the right candidate getting or applying for jobs.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom says she "welcomes" the opportunity to respond on this bill, as she has done before during an emergency debate and an urgent question.

She says that the Boundary Commission is undertaking a boundary review which will be complete within "four sitting weeks" in Parliament. The government believes it is "right" to not proceed with this until the result of this review is in.

The bill will cost £8m to implement, she adds.

"The government is not killing this private members' bill," she states, adding that the government deals with all money resolutions on a "case by case basis".

House of Commons
Parliament

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The Commons turns their attention to the lack of money resolution for the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill, a private members' bill which was introduced by Labour's Afzal Khan. Shadow leader of the House, Valerie Vaz, is introducing the Labour motion, which calls for consideration to be given to the bill.

The bill would fix the number of MPs at its current number, 650, as well as allowing variations in electorates of only 7.5%, and requires the Boundary Commission to use election data from the 2017 election data rather than an "old electoral register".

The government has not granted the bill a money resolution.

Ms Vaz says that this is against all standard conventions and protocol.

"All bills should be treated fairly," she says, and she asks how the government "can justify" which bills get money resolutions and which do not.

The government is "thwarting the will of the House" by not giving this bill a money resolution.

What's a money resolution?

A money resolution must be agreed to by the House of Commons if a new bill proposes spending public money on something that hasn't previously been authorised by an Act of Parliament. Money resolutions, like Ways and Means resolutions, are normally put to the House for agreement immediately after the bill has passed its second reading in the Commons.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Commons has voted against the Labour motion on a lack of faith in Chris Grayling's handling of the railways crisis.

Ayes: 285

Noes: 305

Majority: 20

Select Committee
Parliament

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Asked for the top of his list on priorities for the future of policing, Mike Cunningham, the College of Policing CEO, says that it comes down to how policing at local and national levels work together.

He says that over the past decade, the mantra has been localism; he understands why, it has had many useful consequences, but it has led to struggles in the national policing landscape.

The modern issues police face, such as cyber crime, need to be addressed from a national level, he says.

That is where much of the current struggles stem from, he goes on to say.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Transport Minister Jo Johnson says disruption has been "unacceptable".

The transport secretary has left the rail industry "under no illusion" that they must improve their services, he states, adding that there has been an independent inquiry set up.

Around 80% of trains arrived on time since the modified timetable, which is better than the previous fortnight, which had only 66% of trains on time, he adds.

Northern and GTR are both working to increase the reliability of their services. On GTR, timetable changes are announced on Friday evenings to prevent changes during the week so people can plan ahead, he states.

Passengers who have been severely affected will receive additional compensation, he says.

The Commons divides to vote on whether or not they have confidence in the transport secretary.

The public is often bemused by the way events unfold in Parliament. Maybe the time is coming when MPs should have the argument, and cast their votes, rather than rely on procedure.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow transport minister Rachael Maskell says that Labour would deliver a nationalisation of Britain's railways.

She says that the public "will not be forgiving" when it sees how ministers have responded to complaints from MPs.

She warns that constituents "will act and vote accordingly" at the next general election; and adds that Mr Grayling has allowed his "ideology" of private franchises ahead of the needs of passengers.

"He was warned time and again and failed to act," she states.

She says that constituents have missed meals and family time as well as lost jobs because of the rail crisis.

Select Committee
Parliament

Policing minister Nick Hurd says he doesn't agree with Yvette Cooper's suggestion that a 17% increase in violent crime, a 6% fall in arrests and a 5% fall in charges means criminals are "more likely to get away with it".

He says that he's shown through his actions that he recognises police are very stretched and need more resources, and says the government is investing far more than they were three years ago.

He points to the deficit, however, and suggests the country still remains in a position whereby it needs to be careful with spending.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Asked about the use of technology by police forces, the minister says "policing is a human business, but the biggest opportunity lies in technology".

He says police are "not where they need to be" in terms of taking advantage of opportunities presented by technology, however.

He says there needs to be proper plan in place, along with evidence that the police system will buy into that plan.

Committee Chair Yvette Cooper says it sounds extremely similar to what the Home Office were saying 10 years ago, Mr Hurd points out he's only been in office for a year.

Select Committee
Parliament

Responding to a suggestion by Scottish Conservative MP Douglas Ross that creating fewer, larger police forces hasn't worked in Scotland, Mr Hurd says it's important to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of Scotland's approach, as there have been some positives.

Asked by Mr Ross whether he has properly looked at the situation in Scotland, which has been in place for four years, he says the Home Office is not pushing for a major top down re-organisation of police forces.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Asked by the committee chair how the newly announced Early Intervention Youth Fund, which has been set up to address serious violent crime and is worth £11m over two years, will be spread across the country, the policing minister says the arrangements are still being finalised.

He struggles to respond to a follow up question of how the work of the fund compares to the Youth Justice Grant, which Yvette Cooper points out covers similar areas and has since 2010 experienced cuts six times greater than the investment recently announced.

Challenged to provide an example of one thing the fund will provide that doesn't already exist, Mr Hurd says he can't give specific examples as arrangements are still being finalised but points to a national co-ordination centre that will be set up.

Select Committee
Parliament

Asked whether responding to online fraud will receive more funding, the minister says it, in the short term, "involves resource building".

He explains that among the priorities is ensuring cases are dealt with in a "more streamlined ways".

Select Committee
Parliament

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Policing minister Nick Hurd says that the Home Office attaches a high level of importance to the issue of child sex exploitation, which takes up a considerable amount of police time.

He says it's a large part of the growing demand and complexity of modern policing.

He says that he would need to know more about the context of comments by police chief lead on child protection Simon Bailey, which some took to suggest police should not charge some involved, before he could comment.