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Tag: Gerald Jones

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the CPS about the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales.

    Robert Buckland

    The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Attorney General, if he will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales and the disciplinary decisions of the Nursing and Midwifery Council about three of the nurses involved in that neglect; and if he will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider the decision not to bring any criminal prosecutions in relation to the findings of operation Jasmine.

    Robert Buckland

    The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-01-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces have sufficient numbers and adequate powers to deal with incidents similar to which took place during New Year celebrations in Cologne.

    Mike Penning

    Enforcement of the law and decisions on how resources are deployed, are responsibilities of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands which they face.

    Since the disorders seen in summer 2011 and the issue by the Home Secretary in 2012 of the first Strategic Policing Requirement, the police in England and Wales have taken significant steps to strengthen their capability to manage the risk of disorder. These steps include:

    • ensuring sufficient public order trained officers are available to respond to local and national strategic threat and risk assessments;

    • enabling the quick and effective deployment of police officers across the country, through the National Police Coordination Centre and the National Mobilisation Plan;

    • ensuring the effective use of public order powers and tactics;

    • ensuring the early detection of, and effective mitigation against, any issues through an improved national capability to intelligently monitor open source media.

    The police have a range of powers they can use across a broad canvas of criminal offences enabling them to proactively prepare for, and provide, a coordinated and proportionate response to disorder incidents, similar to those seen in the New Year celebrations in Cologne.

    With regards to the sexual violence seen in Cologne, the key message must be that anyone who disrupts the communities and livelihoods of our citizens will face the full force of justice, because it is the victims who matter most. This includes those seeking asylum and we are clear we will remove asylum eligibility from those who commit serious crime. I am also clear that every incident of sexual violence and rape need to be treated seriously, every victim needs to be treated with dignity and every investigation and every prosecution needs to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefit sanctions have been reinstated after mandatory reconsideration in (a) Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency and (b) Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is available at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html

    “

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been subject to benefit sanctions in (a) Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency and (b) Wales in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the reasons for those sanctions were.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is available at:

    https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

    Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

    https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started—SuperWEB2.html

    “

  • Gerald Jones – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement

    Gerald Jones – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement

    The parliamentary question asked by Gerald Jones, the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2022.

    Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)

    What progress she has made on the commencement of the UK-Australia free trade agreement.

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Nigel Huddleston)

    The UK-Australia free trade agreement is expected to unlock more than £10 billion pounds of additional bilateral trade. We are working at pace to implement it, so that businesses can benefit from it as soon as possible. The Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill is making its passage through Parliament. It passed Report and Third Reading on Monday, and was introduced into the House of Lords on 13 December. The Government and the devolved Administrations are working together to progress the required statutory instruments to implement the agreement. We expect the free trade agreement to come into force in spring 2023.

    Gerald Jones

    The UK-Australia trade deal has been beset by difficulties and major delays to its passage through this House, and even the previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), no longer has to put a “positive gloss” on what was agreed. I, too, have serious concerns about the impact of the deal on Welsh and UK farmers. Will the Minister explain the delay behind the scenes? What discussions have been had with business managers about the delays to the Bill’s passage through the House, and will he give us some clarity?

    Nigel Huddleston

    I would like to correct the hon. Gentleman. We are progressing at pace, and we are having conversations with the devolved Administrations—indeed, I had conversations with Ministers from Wales and Scotland recently. Overall, enthusiasm for the deals is considerable right across the UK. Let us not forget that they will boost the economy, to the tune of £2.3 billion for the Australia deal and more than £800 million for the New Zealand deal. That will bring huge benefits right across the country, and all nations of the UK will benefit from a 53% and 59% boost to bilateral trade through the Australia and New Zealand deals respectively. We all want to move at pace, and we are having constructive conversations with the devolved Administrations.

    Mr Speaker

    I call the shadow Minister.

    Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)

    The UK- Australia free trade agreement is, so the House has been told, a stepping stone to accession to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. As we saw on Monday, it is not clear that Ministers have learned the lessons from the rushed negotiations on the Australia deal, and there is real concern that the existing rules of the CPTPP will be largely forced on Britain. I am sure the Minister will not want Britain to be a rule taker, so can he assure us that we will not be subject to any new secret courts through the investor-state dispute settlement?

    Nigel Huddleston

    The hon. Gentleman will be aware that discussions with the CPTPP are ongoing, and we are confident that we will strike a mutually beneficial and extremely good deal. I advise him to watch this space.

  • Gerald Jones – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Local Housing Allowance

    Gerald Jones – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Local Housing Allowance

    The parliamentary question asked by Gerald Jones, the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, in the House of Commons on 5 December 2022.

    Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)

    What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of real-term reductions in local housing allowance rates on levels of poverty.

    The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)

    First, on behalf of the whole House, may I welcome the hon. Member for City of Chester (Samantha Dixon) to this House, and wish her every happiness and a productive time in the House?

    The Government have maintained the uplift they provided in the local housing allowance in 2020, at a cost of almost £1 billion, targeting the 30th percentile of rents. Those who need assistance with housing costs also have recourse to the discretionary housing payments administered by local authorities.

    Gerald Jones

    I welcome the Secretary of State’s comments about my new colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester (Samantha Dixon), but that is as far as I can go.

    The local housing allowance is a lifeline for tenants to access the private rented sector. The Government have accepted the need to uprate most benefits in line with inflation, so why have they chosen to freeze the local housing allowance, which will have a disproportionate impact on constituents in my constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? Will he commit to reviewing that situation urgently?

    Mel Stride

    As the hon. Gentleman will know, annually I review all benefits, including LHA—indeed, around this time next year, I will do precisely that. It has to be borne in mind that we are currently spending almost £30 billion a year on housing allowance and that figure is expected to increase to around £50 billion by 2050, so there are cost considerations.

  • Gerald Jones – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    Gerald Jones – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    The tribute made by Gerald Jones, the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

    On behalf of myself, my family, and my constituents in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil and the upper Rhymney valley, I send our sincere condolences to His Majesty the King and all members of the royal family.

    As we know and have heard, most of our fellow citizens have known no other monarch. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has been an ever-present rock of stability throughout our country and the Commonwealth, and around the world. Her presence has indeed been the glue holding our country together for so long. It is so difficult to think of our country without her. There is no greater example of unstinting and exemplary public service anywhere. We have been so lucky to have lived during these times, and to have witnessed her service, grace and dignity, which were an example to us all. We will undoubtedly never see her like again.

    From an early age, Her Majesty followed her parents’ example of duty, which was so important in holding the country together during world war two. For over 70 years, she has been a constant, and has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the service of the nation and the Commonwealth. She was the longest reigning monarch in British history, and the longest reigning female monarch and second longest serving monarch in world history. She served right to the very end, as she declared she would do on her 21st birthday in 1947. Just a few short weeks ago, communities across all four nations of the United Kingdom and across her other realms, the Commonwealth and the world were all celebrating the first ever platinum jubilee. As she appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the last time and witnessed the outpouring on the Mall, I hope that she was in no doubt as to just how much she was loved.

    We all have examples of Her Majesty’s links to our communities. In my constituency, the most poignant is the community of Aberfan. Her late Majesty visited following the tragedy in 1966 and a number of times during her reign, which was a comfort to many in the village and beyond. Her last visit to the community was as part of her diamond jubilee tour in 2012, when she opened the brand new Ynysowen Community Primary School.

    On behalf of the people across my constituency, I say thank you for your life of service, Ma’am. May you rest in eternal peace and rising glory. God save the King, and God bless the new Prince and Princess of Wales.

  • Gerald Jones – 2022 Speech at the Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment Debate

    Gerald Jones – 2022 Speech at the Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment Debate

    The speech made by Gerald Jones, the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, in the House of Commons on 21 July 2022.

    I, too, pay tribute to Sir David Amess for the work that he did in Parliament. I hope that our Parliament continues to do justice to his memory.

    I wish to continue in the vein of the hon. Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) as we approach the summer recess. I am sure that during the recess many Members will reflect on the Government’s performance. Time will not permit me to go into great detail, but I would like to cover one or two key points that are causing much frustration not only to me and my staff but, I am sure, to many other Members in the House.

    A key priority for all Members of this House is dealing with constituency casework on behalf of the people we serve. Over the past few years, our country has faced the most difficult of times and my office, like those of many others, has seen a considerable increase in the numbers of people seeking assistance. Delays in responses really hamper our work and cause frustration for our staff. From delays at the Passport Office to long waits for driving tests, backlog Britain reaches far and wide. Indeed, the delays have now spread to Ministers’ private offices, with considerable delays across multiple Government Departments.

    In one urgent case, I waited 59 working days for a reply from the Department for Work and Pensions; in another, I waited 58 working days for a response from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. One constituent has suffered as a result of an error at the DWP whereby his details were mistaken with those of a family member. His benefits have been stopped and attempts to resolve matters have been unsuccessful. I wrote to the Secretary of State on 23 May and am still awaiting a response. I have even resorted to using parliamentary questions to try to break the logjam.

    Such delays are on top of the eye-watering delays at Her Majesty’s Passport Office, UK Visas and Immigration and the DVLA. The excessive waiting times across multiple Departments not only add to the backlog and the frustration of the British people but could be seen to impede the work of Members of Parliament. Many Members have consistently raised the delays, and have done so more frequently in recent months. I have raised the issue, too, and hope that the Deputy Leader of the House agrees that they are unacceptable. If so, when he responds, will he outline what action the Government could take to address such disrespectful behaviour? If he would take a suggestion from the Opposition Benches, I would say that the wrong-headed decision to sack 91,000 hard-working civil servants will only exacerbate the incredible delays.

    In the time I have left to speak, I wish to raise one more issue, which is HS2. The Government have designated the scheme as an England and Wales project, even though it has no positive impact for Wales. In fact, the evidence suggests it has a negative impact. Designating it as an England and Wales scheme means that Wales is not entitled to consequential funding, which in this case could be as much as £4.2 billion. The cross-party Welsh Affairs Committee and the leader of the Welsh Conservatives have also raised this issue. I have to ask how anyone in Government can continue to justify this position, which is surely untenable. I hope the Deputy Leader of the House can offer some positive comments this afternoon.

  • Gerald Jones – 2022 Speech in the No Confidence in the Government Motion

    Gerald Jones – 2022 Speech in the No Confidence in the Government Motion

    The speech made by Gerald Jones, the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, in the House of Commons on 18 July 2022.

    The very fact that we are having a debate on a motion tabled by the Government on the Government’s confidence in themselves shows how out of touch with reality they really are. Just 10 days ago, many Government Members were writing open letters to the Prime Minister telling him that they had no confidence in him. Nothing has changed—we still have the same Prime Minister in Downing Street, leading this Government—so I do not know how on earth they are able in all good conscience to vote for this motion this evening. It is bizarre.

    We all know that the Prime Minister is unfit for office. Government Members all know it too, but rather than remove him from the position immediately, they have left him in No. 10 at a time when the country needs honest and respected leadership—something that he seems unable to offer. Last week, the Government blocked Labour’s vote of no confidence, and that was after the resignation of more than 50 members of the Prime Minister’s Front-Bench team. In blocking that vote and creating today’s spectacle, it is clear that the Prime Minister has only ever been interested in doing what is right for his own ego, rather than for the good of the country.

    Many of the Prime Minister’s former allies resigned from his Cabinet, but rather than remove him, they are indulging in fantasy economics in the leadership contest, distracting themselves from the chaos facing the country with party infighting, and attempting to disassociate themselves from their time in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet of chaos. The Conservative leadership candidates are also trying to wipe the slate clean after 12 years of Conservative rule, but on their watch taxes are going up, food and energy bills are spiralling out of control, crime is rising, and many of the public services we rely on have simply stopped working.

    The Prime Minister is squatting in No. 10, presiding over a zombie Government, while the country is gripped by a spiralling cost of living crisis and worsening backlogs caused by his Government’s economic policies and political failures. In just the last few days, I have spoken to constituents who are living through the Government’s cost of living crisis. A couple I met who are both in full-time employment get to the middle of the month and have to rely on the local food pantry to support them in putting food on the table for them and their young child. That is utterly depressing and shameful. Another couple told me that they visit the local baths at least three times a week for a swim at a reduced rate, thanks to the Welsh Government. That is great news for their health and wellbeing, but they also use it as an opportunity to have a shower to save on water and heating costs at home. We should not be normalising this in the 21st century.

    We should have a Prime Minister and a Government who focused on dealing with these issues and others that are causing great hardship across the country. Instead, we have more chaos, which is why I simply have no confidence in the Government. Since the Prime Minister announced his intention to resign on 7 July, the Government have dropped legislation and called off a number of Bill Committees on issues of the utmost importance, from protecting people online and fraud to national security and levelling up. That is a direct consequence of the chaos engulfing the Government at this moment.

    The country does not need a fourth Conservative Prime Minister in six years. Britain needs a fresh start and a Labour Government, which is why we will vote against the Government’s motion this evening.