House of Lords
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Garden asks what plans the government has to fund pay increase for further education teachers.

Education Minister Lord Agnew says "all teachers are valuable to us" and the government is evaluating the pay of further education teachers before the spending review.

Baroness Garden asks why college funding has been cut by 30% and staff pay has fallen by 25%.

She also asks why the recent ring-fenced pay for school teachers was not extended to further education colleges.

The minister says according to ONS data, "when accounting for inflation, further education teachers' pay has been stable since 2013".

"By 2020, further education centres will receive higher funding than ever before," he adds.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Committee Chair Yvette Cooper asks if the panel could explain what happened to their families.

Philippa Addai, tells the committee her son Marcel was stabbed in 2015 aged fourteen by a gang of seven. She says she was in Coventry attending college at the time.

Ms Addai says when she returned home, there was still blood on the floor where her son had died. She added that when she viewed him there was a slash on his face.

Yvonne Lawson, CEO of the Godwin Lawson Foundation, says her son Godwin, aged 16, had a scholarship with Oxford United. He came to London every fortnight.

Ms Lawson continued that in 2010, he was chased by a group who were after two brothers that he was with.

He escaped but went back to stop the fight and a knife stabbed him in the heart, she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Recently elected chair of the standards committee, Labour MP Kate Green, says Dame Laura did not have the opportunity to speak to the committee as part of her review.

She says they have warned that "introducing policies in haste would be a mistake, and that her report should have been awaited."

She quotes Dame Laura's report in suggesting that many believe new systems introduced to tackle abuse are "already unlikely to deliver coherence or restore confidence."

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom says the working group "consulted very widely and at length with the standards committee".

She adds that the forthcoming review will be a "chance for the committee to provide further input".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Lord Kennedy asks what plans the government has to help local authorities set up private rented sector licensing schemes.

Housing Minister Lord Bourne says the licensing of multiple-occupant tenancies is self-funding, and local authorities have power to receive income from civil penalties and rent repayment orders.

"Selective licensing is something we are not against.

It can be used under the 20% threshold, and where there is a 20% threshold, we will scrutinise schemes to see if they are beneficial".

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Thornhill says "the system is not working" and "local authorities need more power as soon as possible."

The minister says the government is working closely with local associations to ensure licensing schemes are working "as well as possible".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Lord Collins asks the international development minister to react to a September report by the International Development Committee on the definition and application of overseas aid.

International Development Minister Lord Bates says the department is committed to the foreign aid target of 0.7%, as was stated in the Conservative party manifesto.

"We are leading efforts in aid, and it's our reach which makes our aid well respected," he says.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Sheehan says although financial flows to developing countries have increased, she is concerned that overseas aid focusing on the poorest in the world may be "undermined or redefined by the secretary of state".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Jess Phillips says she is "totally and utterly maddened" by the reponse to Dame Laura's findings.

She says there are "twelve people, and we know exactly who they are and how they're getting away with it" who are involved with bullying and harassment.

"Nothing I have heard today fills me with any hope that politics will be taken out of this", she says.

"Some of us don't actually care who is the offender, it is the victims we care about and we won't use it for political gain," she says.

"Nothing fills the victims with more dread than when people play with their feelings, so don't do it. Don't do it in here, don't do it for them while speaking only for yourself."

House of Lords
Parliament

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Over in the Lords, Labour peer Baroness Wheeler introduces the first oral question about the report by Independent Age, the older peoples' charity, on how to fund free personal social care.

In response, Health and Social Care Minister Lord O'Shaughnessy says a green paper will be introduced shortly outlining a sustainable system involving a balance between the state and individual paying for care.

Baroness Wheeler says social care has become "a game of chance based on where you live, your social class and your ability to pay."

"I agree, more does need to be invested in social care," the minister replies.

Labour peer Lord Foulkes asks why it is not possible to provide free personal care for the elderly in England if it has been introduced in Scotland.

The minister says Scotland receives higher funding for this, but that "progress is being made in this area".

Conservative peer Lord Hamilton says "there is no such thing as free social care, it is just a matter of who pays for it".

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MPs on the Home Affairs Committee will this afternoon hear from parents whose children have died as a result of knife and gun crime.

The committee will also take evidence from clinicians on the scale and nature of injuries, how these have changed over recent years, and possible contributing factors.

Knife crime rose by 22% in England and Wales in 2017, according figures from the Office for National Statistics. An 11% increase in firearms offences was also recorded.

Figures from Scotland Yard show a significant rise in homicides in London, from 109 deaths in 2016-17 to 157 in 2017-18.The figures show a 44% increase.

In the first 100 days of 2018, 52 people were killed in the capital, many as a result of stabbings.

House of Commons
Parliament

Former chair of the standards committee and Labour MP Sir Kevin Barron says "this is a long running issue" and calls for time limit on historical allegations to be scrapped.

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom says everyone on the harassment working group was "really keen" that a new procedure could address "all historic allegations".

However legal advice suggested it would not be possible to create a system that "looked back and judged you for something that had just been agreed, for behaviour that happened a long time ago", she says.

She acknowledges that Dame Laura's report challenges that advice, and says she will be "very pleased" to add this to the list of things to be reviewed.

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Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen says current senior management of the House of Commons "are so criticised" in the report.

He asks: "who can be trusted to take ownership of this important issue, and how can those deemed to be the problem themselves ever possibly be part of the solution?"

Ms Leadsom says the point raised "is an important issue" and says that "the starting point...is this urgent House of Commons Commission meeting which will take place on Monday."

Tory MP Anne Main suggests "the fish rots from the head down".

Echoing the point made by Andrew Bridgen, she says that "nobody should be involved in this process that has potentially been linked as part of the problem.

Ms Leadsom says "there are some unique challenges".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow Leader of the House Valerie Vaz says the report needs to be looked at carefully, and it is an inquiry not an investigation. She says due process is needed.

Ms Vaz asks Andrea Leadsom if a staff panel with trade union representations would be helpful.

She highlights the report's criticism of the working group's decision to enact a new code of conduct without the results of the inquiry.

In reply, Andrea Leadsom says there were trade unionists on the steering group and says staff members will be included on reviews.

She adds that people "had already waited" and it "wasn't right" to make people wait further for the report.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The SNP's Pete Wishart says Dame Laura's report should "shame and appall all of us who work on the parliamentary estate" and suggests "historic patriarchy oozes out the walls in this place."

He expresses support for calls for an independent inquiry, suggesting the issues "go all the way to the top." He says work is needed to tackle the culture in Parliament.

Ms Leadsom says "we have started on a journey, by no means are we at the end of it".

She adds that the complaints system is working well, but there will be a chance to review it thoroughly after its initial six months.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Maria Miller, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee, says the Cox report identified a "shocking culture of fear" that is "driven right from the top" of the Commons.

She adds that the behaviour described in the report would not be tolerated elsewhere.

She welcomes the new grievance procedure, but adds that it is "not enough".

The report, she adds, said there needs to be a "complete change in leadership at the most senior level - including you, Mr Speaker".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Andrea Leadsom tells MPs that the report is "the beginning not the end", noting an urgent meeting has been scheduled by the House Commission for Monday to discuss the report further.

"We must respond fully and promptly to ensure Parliament is a modern, professional and safe place to work", she says.

Labour MP John Mann, who introduced the urgent question, says there are "many serial offenders" in Parliament, and calls for all recommendations to be implemented.

"All members of the opposition should provide their unequivocal support for Dame Laura Cox's recommendations so they can be pushed through speedily and effectively", he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom says she has been "shocked and appalled" at the reports of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment in Parliament.

"I am determined to stamp it out," she says.

She says the report's findings are "worrying" and "everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect."

"I am so sorry to hear the experiences highlighted in the report," she tells MPs. "I speak to them directly when I say: you deserve better", she adds.

Mrs Leadsom says culture change will not happen overnight, but her ongoing purpose is to overturn entrenched attitudes.

An independent complaints and grievance policy has been up and running since July, she says, and "a new induction scheme and two new helplines for have been introduced for staff".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Speaker John Bercow says he is persuaded by "at least" two recommendations from Dame Laura's report.

He adds that he believes the "only possible way" to resolve the issues raised in the report is to set up a body to deal with harassment allegations which is "entirely independent" of Parliament.

Such a body, he says, should be able to decide how far to investigate past misconduct against both MPs and staff.

It should be in "complete control from start to finish", he adds.

He concludes independence and transparency are the best "guarantor" of a fair process.

MPs have now moved on to today's third urgent question on the report published yesterday by Dame Laura Cox on bullying in the House of Commons.

Dame Laura said bullying and harassment were not being dealt with in the Commons due to a culture of "acquiescence and silence".

She was appointed in March after a Newsnight investigation uncovered complaints about a number of MPs, including Speaker John Bercow - allegations which he denies.

Mr Bercow has faced calls to quit following the publication of the report.

House of Lords
Parliament

Business in the House of Lords today begins at 2.30pm with oral questions.

Today these include a question about funding for free personal social care for the elderly, and a question about further education teachers' pay increases.

The main business in the Lords today is the first day of the report stage of the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Bill.

The bill, introduced by Conservative peer Lord Keen, will authorise court and tribunal staff to exercise judicial functions and give legal advice.

The final business of the day is a debate on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Juveniles) (Amendment) Order 2018, where Liberal peer Lord Paddick has raised a regret motion.

This order amends a regulation from the year 2000 which contains special provisions for the authorisation of covert human intelligence sources who are under the age of eighteen.

The amendments extend the duration of such authorisations from one month to four months, and clarify safeguards for meetings with sources under the age of sixteen.

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs have now moved on to today's third urgent question, from shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth, on the incineration of clinical waste.

Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) was recently stripped of NHS contracts after hundreds of tonnes of clinical waste from hospitals was allowed to pile up at its sites.

Health Minister Stephen Barclay says that HES is under criminal investigation.

He tells MPs that the capacity for incinerating waste is sufficient, and reaffirms there is no danger to public safety.

The Shadow Healthcare Minister says he is asking for is full "transparency", and that NHS Improvement had concerns over incinerator capacity in August.