Mr Peter Atkinson | ProjectParly

Parliamentary History

Conservative

Hexham

9 Apr 1992 – 6 May 2010 (18 yrs)

Ideology spectrum

82.0

ProgressiveCentreConservative

Conservative — based on 11 coded votes across 1 axes (1% coverage).

Policy axis scores

0 = progressive, 50 = centre, 100 = conservative. Based on coded division votes.

Climate / energy 82

Medium confidence 11 votes

Voting trends (most recent 12 months of activity)

Voting record

November 2009 21 votes

Division	Date	Vote
The paragraph in question is paragraph 3 of schedule 1. The paragraph is about suspensions pending inquiry under the 2005 Act. The hon. and learned Gentleman's point is covered by the drafting in that paragraph, so there is absolutely a belt-and-braces approach. "has indicated approval to the Lord Chancellor, for the purposes of this paragraph". The purposes of that paragraph—paragraph 3 to schedu...	12 Nov 2009	AYE
I agree that we cannot run hundreds or thousands of academies from Whitehall or Westminster. Has the Minister any objection to local authorities performance-managing academies? In our discussions, local authorities constantly talk to us about the performance of schools in their areas. As the hon. Gentleman will know, we have said just recently that what he suggests is not acceptable for the academ...	11 Nov 2009	AYE
We have introduced the YPLA simply because, as the hon. Member for Yeovil said, it simply is not sustainable for the Department to run academies from the centre and to become, in essence, a national local authority for hundreds and hundreds of them. If there were only a few academies, such an arrangement might be appropriate, but as we expect to have 400 of them in a couple of years' time, it simp...	11 Nov 2009	AYE
I am not sure where that leaves aims for a Digital Britain. The Home Office paper, "Protecting the public in a changing communications environment", would better serve the public by enabling roaming than by some of the other activities planned for e-mails and such like. Now, a burden is placed on the consumer to find the ability to access more than one network. Consumers sometimes have to purchase...	11 Nov 2009	NO
Given that the staff working at the sharp end do not want to be involved in mandatory sanctions for women with children up to the age of three, why does my hon. Friend think that Ministers are so wedded to those mandatory sanctions? They have not explained themselves and my hon. Friend might be able to shed some light on this issue. I do not accept that sanctions are necessary. All that can be sai...	10 Nov 2009	NO
I do not accept that sanctions are necessary. All that can be said for them is that they provide a structure for the relationship, because staff cannot simply give up the attempt to make contact; they must continue the encouragement. That is the only beneficial aspect of a sanctions programme that I can see, and if it is to be used so rarely, why invoke it? In an earlier intervention, which was ra...	10 Nov 2009	NO
Indeed, he is capable of doing so. Will the hon. Lady give way? I will in a moment. There is therefore no need for this saving provision on freedom of expression. The provision might be harmful because it might well give some comfort to those people who wish to stir up hatred and who wish intentionally to use threatening words to stir up hatred. They might well be able to argue that it is simply a...	9 Nov 2009	NO
Leaving aside the example of drunkenness that has been given, as we are talking about sexual infidelity, is it not true that we are not talking about somebody who intended to kill or who was out for revenge? We are talking about someone who snapped and lost control, and a jury should therefore have all the facts. The hon. Gentleman sums it up exactly. Somebody snaps and loses control, and whether ...	9 Nov 2009	NO
I agree, and as the right hon. Gentleman will know, we have today been invited by the Home Secretary to extend the remit of the advisory committee to look at the possibility of admitting intercept evidence in coroners' inquests. I cannot speak for the right hon. Gentleman, but I would happily agree to the remit of the committee being widened in that way. With the leave of the House, I wish to repl...	9 Nov 2009	AYE
It is tempting on these occasions to load the IPC with a huge number of responsibilities. Part of what I have tried to set out is a balance of powers, so that it is the role of Government to set out need, get the skills strategy right and obtain the investment. The job of the IPC is to make a specific judgment about specific developments. That said, I am sympathetic to the point my hon. Friend mak...	9 Nov 2009	NO
It is welcome that the Government are looking at this. However, I hope the Minister will be able to say in winding up that they have stopped looking and are now going to start doing, because I do not think there is opposition to this anywhere in the House. The police may object, because they want the ability to start questioning anyone who insults anyone else short of being threatening or abusive,...	9 Nov 2009	NO
"where D acted principally out of a desire". The key phrase is "acted principally". The jury decides whether someone acted principally out of the various matters referred to in the amendment. The Minister's problem with the subjective nature of "perceived" does not arise unless the jury thinks that that is the principal reason. No reasonable jury could possible believe that in the circumstances sh...	9 Nov 2009	NO
I will be very brief—briefer than I would otherwise be—one reason being that like many Members of the House, I would like to hear the views of the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) , if, indeed, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you were minded to call him at any stage. In that hope, I will be as brief as I can be. It is exactly the same with a coroner's inquest. If somebody ha...	9 Nov 2009	AYE
We have made clear that on the question of public subsidy for nuclear—it was clear in the White Paper produced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Mr. Hutton) —we are not going to provide public subsidy for the construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear power stations. Motion made, and Question put forthwith ( Standing Order No. 83A ),	9 Nov 2009	NO
Division 241	9 Nov 2009	AYE
We have had a useful debate, and we have all managed to get on record the importance of the complete discretion and independence of the CAG. Question put and agreed to. Clause 38 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill. I want to ask about the necessity of this clause. The Father of the House might correct me, but I do not remember i...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
My problem is that it is very difficult to compare costs. I intervened on the hon. Gentleman and, perhaps rashly, he insisted that he was comparing like with like. I ask him to think again. It is very difficult to make reliable comparisons for exactly the reason that has been given by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) . There is no like-for-like comparison that we have been able t...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
All I seek to do is point out to the Minister that we are establishing a panoply of corporate governance that could lead to confusion in the NAO, when all that is required is the scrutiny of those two aspects: the longevity of appointment, about which there is no disagreement at all; and, the board's oversight of expenses and NAO organisation, which may be rather more demanding than was intended o...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
That takes us back to the debates that we had earlier this afternoon and the reluctance, it would seem, of the Executive entirely to let go of matters that are within their power. I hope that the Minister will be able to tell us that in the long term that is precisely what the Government intend to do. Of course we must get value for money, which is exactly what I said. As I shall describe in a mom...	4 Nov 2009	AYE
Indeed. I have no doubt that when we come to the third and fourth days, whenever they might be, we will find that yet more important business has been shuffled into the programme. The truth is that this House is being denied an opportunity to make very important changes to the constitution, or, if it is not ready to make them, at least to debate them. I am afraid that this Government like to shut ...	3 Nov 2009	NO
The right hon. and learned Gentleman will also be aware that there is a very high expectation of a statement tomorrow—the second day in Committee—so we will lose yet more time. That is again something that could not have been factored in when the programme motion was first considered. I remember, in the days when I was in Committees upstairs, time after time the habit crept in of putting in the kn...	3 Nov 2009	NO

October 2009 9 votes

Division	Date	Vote
I must tell the Minister that that is an untruth. The Times printed an untruth. That is not what the shadow Chancellor said. It was clearly printed as a result of discussion in which the shadow Chancellor had engaged, and I know for a fact that the Tory Front Benchers were very concerned about that commitment. The hon. Member for Westbury made a number of stringent attacks on me and on my minister...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
In response to the direct questions from the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne, we will-as I said earlier-produce a report in December on the next stages of developing spending reports. On her question about when the next round will take place, it will be-as I again said earlier-when we have assessed and appraised this round. We will certainly consider the role of parish councils in the proces...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 233	28 Oct 2009	AYE
The hon. Gentleman may certainly look forward to us looking at them. We need to move away from the old ways of doing things, and the hon. Gentleman's call for the transformation of the relationship between local and central Government was a good one. In response to the direct questions from the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne, we will—as I said earlier—produce a report in December on the nex...	28 Oct 2009	AYE
My hon. Friend also raised the issue of access to gateway. The civil service gateway gives access to all civil service jobs, not just to those in DEFRA. The MMO will apply to civil service commissioners, via the Cabinet Office, for accreditation for MMO staff. Providing the MMO continues to meet the criteria for accreditation, there is no reason why MMO staff should lose the benefit of access to c...	27 Oct 2009	AYE
Essentially, the argument is about whether the word "habitat" goes far enough in protecting our marine environment or whether it should be added to with the word "ecosystem". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "habitat" means "the natural home or environment of an organism," whereas "ecosystem" is defined as "a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment."...	26 Oct 2009	AYE
Division 230	26 Oct 2009	AYE
Does my hon. Friend agree that, while the Liberal Democrat motion makes no mention of costings, the Government amendment confirms a commitment to spending up to £20 million to help Departments reduce their emissions? Is that not a very good reason to vote for the amendment? I confirm what my hon. Friend says. This country already has a good track record on energy efficiency, and I agree, that ener...	21 Oct 2009	AYE
The design of the scheme will be available by spring 2010, and we will move with all speed to get the payments made. The motion proposes the implementation of the ombudsman's recommendation for a scheme setting up a tribunal, which would mean that individual assessments took longer, and it would therefore take longer for the money to get through. I cannot give way; I have only four minutes left. M...	21 Oct 2009	AYE

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