No. 118 899 House of Commons Wednesday 14 October 2009 Votes and Proceedings The House met at 11.30 am. PRAYERS. 1 Private Bills [Lords] (Suspension): City of Westminster Bill [Lords] Motion made, That so much of the Lords Message (12 October) as relates to the City of Westminster Bill [Lords] be now considered.—(Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means). Objection taken. Ordered, That the debate be resumed on Tuesday 20 October. 2 Questions to (1) the Secretary of State for Scotland (2) the Prime Minister 3 Statement: Afghanistan and Pakistan (the Prime Minister) 4 Equalisation of Tariffs for Gas and Electricity Bill: Presentation (Standing Order No. 57) John Austin, supported by Dr Alan Whitehead, Dr Vincent Cable, Mr Andrew Dismore, Miss Anne Begg, Susan Kramer, Dr Brian Iddon, Peter Bottomley, Mr David Drew, Mr Martin Caton, John McDonnell and Mr Don Foster, presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to make regulations for the purpose of equalising certain tariffs for gas and electricity; and for connected purposes. Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 16 October, and to be printed (Bill 150). 5 Cervical Cancer (Minimum Age for Screening): Motion for leave to introduce a Bill (Standing Order No. 23) Motion made and Question proposed, That leave be given to introduce a Bill to require NHS bodies in England to provide cervical screening for women aged 20 and over.—(Mr Brooks Newmark.) Motion opposed (Standing Order No. 23(1)). Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Mr Brooks Newmark, Mr Fraser Kemp, Angela Watkinson, Mr John Baron, Simon Hughes, Ms Sally Keeble, Susan Kramer, Mrs Eleanor Laing, John McFall, Mrs Ann Cryer and Mr Nick Hurd present the Bill. Mr Brooks Newmark accordingly presented the Bill. Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 16 October, and to be printed (Bill 149). 6 Opposition Day: Leader of the Opposition (17th allotted day (Standing Order No. 14)) (1) Higher Education 900 Votes and Proceedings: 14 October 2009 No. 118 Motion made and Question proposed, That this House congratulates those who have secured a higher education place for 2009–10 and wishes them well in their studies; regrets the increase in the number of applicants unable to secure a place this year; further regrets the financial difficulties faced by up to 175,000 students who started term without the loans and grants to which they are entitled; believes it is unacceptable that three-quarters of a million telephone calls to the Student Loans Company went unanswered in three months and that an avoidable contact policy was adopted; notes with regret that warnings about the problems in Student Finance England appear to have been ignored; asks the Government to clarify the treatment of emergency loans made by higher education institutions; regrets the problems faced by international students as a result of the poor implementation of the new visa system; notes the need for additional, fully-funded, higher education places in 2010–11; calls on the Government to consider new ways to improve access to university for 2010–11; further calls on the Government to provide more information on its planned sale of the student loan book; and welcomes the idea of a cross-party student finance review to look at the long-term sustainability of the higher education sector, a fairer deal for part-time students and links with further education.—(Mr David Willetts.) Amendment moved, in line 1, to leave out from ‘House’ to the end of the Question and add ‘welcomes the record number of students attending university or college this year meaning more students benefiting from higher education (HE) today than at any stage in UK history; commends the Government for its record levels of investment in HE, an increase of over 25 per cent. over the last decade compared to a 36 per cent. decline per student under the previous Government; recognises the Government’s commitment to expanding opportunities to participate in HE, including an extra 10,000 opportunities this year in courses related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and 10,000 recently-allocated additional student numbers for 2010–11; commends the Government’s generous student support package and regrets that this year the Student Loans Company (SLC) has been unable to provide the level of service students and their families have rightly come to expect; notes that 800,000 English-domiciled students have already had their applications for funds approved and that following additional Government support the SLC has allocated extra resources to deal with enquiries and processing; further notes that the vast majority of students who applied within the deadline will have received their money, that interim payments are available for students and the Government’s Access to Learning fund provides help for students suffering financial hardship; further notes the significant contribution international students make to the UK, and believes that the new student immigration system is effective and fair; and further notes the Government’s confidence in future economic growth which will enable a viable sale of the student loan book.’.—(Mr David Lammy.) Question put, That the original words stand part of the Question (Standing Order No. 31(2)). The House divided. Division No. 218. Ayes: 220 (Tellers: Bill Wiggin, Mr Stephen Crabb). Noes: 284 (Tellers: Mr Bob Blizzard, Mr Dave Watts). Question accordingly negatived. Question, That the proposed words be there added, put forthwith (Standing Order No. 31). Question agreed to. The Deputy Speaker declared the Main Question, as amended, agreed to (Standing Order No. 31(2)). Resolved, That this House welcomes the record number of students attending university or college this year meaning more students benefiting from higher education (HE) today than at any stage in UK history; commends the Government for its record levels of investment in HE, an increase of over 25 per cent. over the last decade compared to a 36 per cent. decline per student under the previous Government; recognises the Government’s commitment to expanding opportunities to participate in HE, including an extra 10,000 opportunities this year in courses related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and 10,000 recently-allocated additional student numbers for 2010–11; commends the Government’s generous student support package and regrets that this year the Student Loans Company (SLC) No. 118 Votes and Proceedings: 14 October 2009 901 has been unable to provide the level of service students and their families have rightly come to expect; notes that 800,000 English-domiciled students have already had their applications for funds approved and that following additional Government support the SLC has allocated extra resources to deal with enquiries and processing; further notes that the vast majority of students who applied within the deadline will have received their money, that interim payments are available for students and the Government’s Access to Learning fund provides help for students suffering financial hardship; further notes the significant contribution international students make to the UK, and believes that the new student immigration system is effective and fair; and further notes the Government’s confidence in future economic growth which will enable a viable sale of the student loan book. (2) NHS Dentistry Motion made and Question proposed, That this House supports maximising public access to NHS dentistry; notes that under the Government’s new contract considerable numbers of patients now do not have access to an NHS dentist; believes the dental contract imposed by the Government is not adequately meeting its objectives for improving oral health or access to dentistry; recognises that any future contractual arrangements should be appropriately consulted on and piloted; calls for stronger incentives for dentists to carry out preventative care; recognises the opportunity to bring about better patient care by ensuring the best treatments are provided at the appropriate time and by fostering the stability that will allow new investment in NHS practices; supports an approach to NHS dentistry focused on preventative care; further believes that the oral health of children should be protected by re- introducing dental screening programmes in schools; and further supports the introduction of patient registration, allied to capitation-based funding rather than fee-for-service, restoring a relationship between patient and dentist conducive to an improvement in long-term oral health.—(Mr Andrew Lansley.) Amendment moved, in line 2, to leave out from ‘dentistry’ to the end of the Question and add ‘welcomes Professor Steele’s review report and its endorsement that the principle of local commissioning introduced by the 2006 reforms provides a firm basis on which to develop NHS dentistry; agrees with the vision set out in the review of improving incentives to support dentists in delivering access and quality; acknowledges the Government’s commitment to working with the dentistry profession and other stakeholders to ensure through careful piloting that it implements the recommendations in a way that delivers the best possible system for patients, dentists and the NHS; acknowledges that children’s oral health in England is already among the best in the world; welcomes the commitment of the NHS to deliver access for all who seek it by March 2011 at the latest, supported by some £2 billion in central funding for dentistry, and understands that access is now growing again; notes that in the last four quarters the number of people seeing an NHS dentist in the previous 24-month period has grown by 720,000; further notes that the dental workforce is growing, with 655 more dentists working in the NHS in 2007–08 and a further 528 in 2008–09; and recognises the support that the dental access programme of the Department of Health is providing to clinicians and managers to help them rapidly expand NHS dental services where necessary.’.—(Mr Mike O'Brien.) Question proposed, That the original words stand part of the Question (Standing Order No.