| Gerry Steinberg MP | In the House... |
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Legislative ActivitiesBoth in the Chamber and Parliamentary Committees |
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Public Accounts Committee in session, Gerry 5th from left.
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PAC Publications Read verbatim reports of PAC sessions
The Public Accounts Committee is in session frequently and absorbs much of its members' time at Westminster. The extracts below are not a full record of the PAC's deliberations. Hansard does not record the proceedings in the same way as Commons debates etc. and verbatim reports are published much later and may be accessed from the links above. The items below are a sample selection.
09/11/05 PAC missing Gerry
23/03/05 The NHS Cancer Plan (HC 499-i)
09/03/05 Fraud and Error in Benefits Expenditure (HC 447-i)
02/03/05 Department for Employment and Learning: Jobskills (HC 417-i)
02/03/05 Local Management of Schools (HC 418-i)
08/02/05 Improving School Attendance in England (HC 404-I)
23/02/05 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Foot and Mouth Disease: Applying the Lessons (HC 387-i)
09/02/05 Home Office: Reducing Vehicle Crime (HC 332-i)
07/02/05 The Accounts of the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster (HC 313-i)
31/01/05 Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2004 (HC 294-i)
31/01/05 Tax Credits, Stamp Duty Land Tax and Deleted Tax Cases (HC 269-i)
26/01/05 Helping those in financial hardship: the running of the social fund (HC 282-i)
12/01/05 Managing National Lottery Distribution Fund Balances (HC 223-i)
14/12/04 Department of Health - Reforming NHS Dentistry: Ensuring effective management of risks (HC 167-I)
13/12/04 Reducing Crime: the Home Office working with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (HC 147-i)
08/12/04 Tackling congestion by making better use of England's motorways and trunk roads (HC 134-i)
01/12/04 Facing Justice: Tackling defendants' non-attendance at court (HC 103-i)
15/11/04 Welfare to Work: Tackling the Barriers to the Employment of Older People (HC 1249-i)
12/11/04 Managing risks to improve public services (HC 1245-i)
10/11/04 Improving public transport in England through light rail (HC 1258-I)
02/11/04 The Use of Operating Theatres in the Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services (HC 1227-i)
02/11/04 Navan Centre (HC 1228-i)
27/10/04 PFI: The STEPS Deal (HC 1211-i)
25/10/04 Ministry of Defence: Battlefield Helicopters (HC 1191-i)
13/10/04 Helping Farm Businesses in England (HC 1131-I)
15/09/04 The BBC's Investment in Freeview (HC 1065-I)
08/09/04 Improving patient care by reducing the risk of hospital acquired infection: A progress report (HC 1044-i)
30/06/04 Improving the Speed and Quality of Asylum Decisions (HC 837-I)
25/06/04 Visa Entry to the UK; The Entry Clearance Operation (HC 737-i)
16/06/04 Tackling cancer in England: saving more lives (HC 712-i)
14/06/04 The management of sickness absence in the prison service (HC 680-i)
26/05/04 Network Rail - Making a Fresh Start (HC 639-i)
24/05/04 Health and Safety Executive: Improving health and safety in the construction industry (HC 627-i)
19/05/04 Department for Education and Skills: Connexions Service (HC 618-I)
17/05/04 The Drug Treatment and Testing Order: early lessons (HC 609-i)
12/05/04 The UK Emissions Trading Scheme: a New Way to Combat Climate Change (HC 604-I)
10/05/04 English Regions: Success in the Regions (HC 592-i)
05/05/04 Recovery of debt by Inland Revenue (HC 584-I)
28/04/04 Department for Regional Development: Management of Industrial Sickness Management (HC 561-i)
26/04/04 Increased resources to improve public services; a progress report on departments' preparations (HC 552-i)
21/04/04 Improving departments' capability to procure cost-effectively (HC 541-I)
31/03/04 HM Customs and Excise: Tackling VAT Fraud (HC 512-I)
24/03/04 English Regions: New Deal (HC 309)
10/03/04 Early years: progress in developing high quality childcare and early education accessible to all (444-i)
08/03/04 Income generated by the Museums and Galleries (HC 430-i)
01/03/04 Strategic Rail Authority: Improving passenger rail services through new trains (HC 408-i)
25/02/04 MOD: Major Projects Report 2003 (HC 383-ii)
23/02/04 MOD: Major Projects Report 2003 (HC 383-i)
23/02/04 National Audit Office Supply Estimate 2004-05 (HC 384-i)
11/02/04 Risk management: the nuclear liabilities of British Energy plc
09/02/04 DVLA 2002-03 Trust Statement (HC 336-i)
04/02/04 Identifying and Tracking Livestock in England (HC 326-i)
02/02/04 Youth offending: the delivery of community and custodial sentences (307-i)
26/01/04 HM Customs and Excise: Standard Report 2002-03 (284-I)
21/01/04 MOD: Operation Telic - United Kingdom Military Operations in Iraq (HC 60)
15/12/03 Transforming the performance of HM Customs and Excise through electronic service delivery (138-I)
10/12/03 Progress in improving the medical assessment of incapacity and disability benefits (120-i)
08/12/03 Making a difference: performance of maintained secondary schools in England (104-I)
03/12/03 Tax Credits
19/11/03 Getting it right, putting it right: Improving decision-making and appeals in social security benefits (1335-i)
17/11/03 Housing the homeless (1280-i)
10/11/03 Helping Consumers Benefit from Competition in the Telecommunications Market [HC 768]
27/10/03 Community Fund: Review of Grants made to the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (1229-I)
22/10/03 Warm Front: helping to combat fuel poverty (1216-i)
20/10/03 Procurement of vaccines by the Department of Health (1209-I)
17/09/03 Improving Service Delivery: The Veterans Agency (HC 522)
10/09/03 Progress on 15 major capital projects funded by Arts Council England (HC622)
04/06/03 Fisheries Enforcement in England (HC563)
12/05/03 A Safer Place to Work: Improving the management of health and safety risks to staff in NHS trusts (HC 623)
07/05/03 Improving access to, and education about, the moving image through the British Film Institute (HC 593)
26/03/03 Regulation of Weights and Measures (HC 495)
24/03/03 PFI: Construction Performance (HC 371)
19/03/03 Highways Agency: Maintaining England's Motorways and Trunk Roads (HC 431)
17/03/03 Progress in Protecting Consumers' Interests (HC 430)
05/03/03 Safety, quality, efficacy: regulating medicines in the UK (HC 255)
03/03/03 Tackling Benefit Fraud (HC 393)
26/02/03 The Management of Substitution Cover for Teachers (NIA 53/02)
24/02/03 National Audit Office Supply Estimate 2003-2004
24/02/03 Ensuring the effective discharge of older patients from NHS acute hospitals (HC 392)
12/02/03 Department for International Development: Maximising impact in the water sector (HC 351)
10/02/03 New it systems for Magistrates' Courts: the Libra project (HC 327)
03/02/03 HM Customs and Excise Annual Report and Accounts 2001-02
27/01/03 Using call centres to deliver public services (HC 134)
22/01/03 Protecting the Public from Waste (HC 156)
15/01/03 Innovation in the National Health Service - the acquisition of the Heart Hospital
11/12/02 Community Legal Service: the introduction of contracting
09/12/02 Invest to Save Budget
27/11/02 Facing The Challenge: NHS Emergency Planning in England
06/11/02 Victim Support
04/11/02 Individual Learning Accounts
03/07/02 The 2001 Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease
25/03/02 Gerry chases top postman
06/03/02 DEFRA says "sorry" to Gerry
Front Page
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Gerry in combative mood in the PAC
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Gerry was concerned about the level of pay of postal workers. He asked Mr Roberts if it were true that the starting pay for a postal worker in London was £12,500 per year. When Mr Roberts confirmed this, Gerry said this was "disgusting" and asked Mr Roberts to agree, which he then did. When further pressed by Gerry, Mr Roberts said this was due to pay restraint imposed by previous governments which Consignia was not now in a position to remedy.
Gerry was also scathing of PostComm's report because he said none of them had any experience of working in a postal service.
25 Mar 2002
Gerry Steinberg: "I haven't got a large farming constituency, but there are a lot of farmers in it who wrote to me, and I couldn't get responses from DEFRA for nine months. That causes me a huge amount of embarrassment and makes me look a prat to be honest, which I'm not. I'm being let down by a government department and it makes me look as if I'm not doing my job, which is unfair. I've waited nine months to say that."
Mr Bender: "I hope you won't have to say that again, Mr Steinberg."
Having received the apology and assurance from Mr Bender, Gerry then turned to questions on the details of the apparent ineptitude of the department in the case of the frauds carried out by Mr Bowden.
6 Mar 2002
| Member | Constituency | Party |
| Mr Richard Bacon MP | South Norfolk | Conservative |
| Mr Ian Davidson MP | Glasgow Pollok | Labour |
| Geraint Davies MP | Croydon Central | Labour |
| Ms Angela Eagle MP | Wallasey | Labour |
| Rt Hon Frank Field MP | Birkenhead | Labour |
| Mr Nick Gibb MP | Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | Conservative |
| Mr George Howarth MP | Knowsley North and Sefton East | Labour |
| Mr Brian Jenkins MP | Tamworth | Labour |
| Mr Nigel Jones MP | Cheltenham | Liberal Democrats |
| Ms Ruth Kelly MP | Bolton West | Labour |
| Mr Edward Leigh MP (Chairman) | Gainsborough | Conservative |
| Mr George Osborne MP | Tatton | Conservative |
| Mr David Rendel MP | Newbury | Liberal Democrats |
| Mr Gerry Steinberg MP | City of Durham | Labour |
| Jon Trickett MP | Hemsworth | Labour |
| Rt Hon Alan Williams MP | Swansea West | Labour |
Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO
Gerry Steinberg is a past Chairman of the Northern Group of Labour M.P.s, as well as having served on the Education and Employment Select Committee, Education and Employment Sub-Committee
| June 1987 | Set up an information desk to help people with the Poll Tax |
| Sept 1987 | Complained that shake up of schools meals service would rob the poorest of free school meals |
| Nov 1987 | Named to the Education Select Committee |
| Dec 1987 | Visited the Falkland Islands |
| Jan 1988 | Warned that the Social Fund was a "savage attack" on the poorest people |
| March 1988 | Warned of the dangers of speeding coaches |
| May 1988 | Complained that ordinary people could no longer afford to go to law |
| July 1988 | Suceeded in amending the Education Reform Act to get a better deal for children with Special Needs |
| Sept 1988 | Condemned government's "Scrooge-like" cuts for the industrially injured |
| Jan 1989 | Raised the issue of inadequate nursery education, especially in Tory areas |
| Jan 1989 | Complained of the "declining service" of British Rail |
| Feb 1989 | Attacked government ban on political activity on local government employees earning £13,500 or more |
| March 1989 | Said government was not tackling the problems of food contamination adequately |
| Nov 1989 | Warned that government's NHS changes would lead to a two-tier National Health Service |
| Nov 1989 | Complained that government policies would lower the standard of living for ordinary people |
| Dec 1989 | Backed the creation of a drop in centre for drug addicts |
| Jan 1990 | Led motion deploring the force feeding of geese for pate de foie |
| Jan 1990 | Complained that teachers were undervalued and "disheartened" |
| March 1990 | Warned against Durham University's advice to students to buy houses, forcing up prices and causing congestion |
| April 1990 | Voted for 24, 26 and 28 week ceilings for abortion |
| June 1990 | Backed right of double amputee to mobility allowance although she could "string a few steps together" on artificial legs The law was later changed |
| June 1990 | Attacked charging for sight tests which had reduced local testing by 60% |
| Nov 1990 | warned underpaid teachers' morale at its lowest ebb |