Contributions
450 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillOn the point about not doing any harm to nature, would the hon. Member’s party support the water companies becoming statutory consultees so that we can ensure that, with any new…24 Mar 2025HANSARDArmed Forces RecruitmentIn recent years, for every 100 servicemen recruited, 130 have left. That is completely unsustainable. What is the Minister doing to ensure that we retain more troops, with not…24 Mar 2025HANSARD Planning and Infrastructure BillI welcome much of what the Bill will do. It will speeding up the planning system, which as a chartered surveyor who has practised in planning is I know desperately needed if we…24 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThe announcement was sneaked out with no notice last night. If the Minister knows anything about farming, he will know that it takes months, if not years, to plan. Farmers had no…12 Mar 2025HANSARDEngagementsQ13. Most people would accept that we need more housing in this country, yet so often it is not accompanied by the necessary infrastructure. In my constituency, thousands of…12 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareI thank the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee for her endorsements of the worthy work that all these individuals have put into the health service. The Department of…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareI agree entirely with the hon. Lady. She has obviously been reading my speech— I will cover the announcement later in my speech, at which point she will hear exactly what it says.…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareThe hon. Gentleman is exactly right. The NHS employs an enormous number of staff—more than 1 million people, I think—and their conditions of work are really important if we are to…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareThe hon. Member makes an extremely powerful point. I am coming to the conclusion of my speech, which is on precisely that point. The social care system is not working in this…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareI am sorry to intervene on my deputy, who does an excellent job on the Public Accounts Committee. In the last Parliament, before he joined the Committee, we went to Denmark, where…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareI shall be brief. I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive reply, and I congratulate her on her new role. I also congratulate everybody who spoke in this debate; there were…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for granting us the opportunity to debate this supplementary estimate, which provides an opportunity for all Members of this House to look at the…05 Mar 2025HANSARDDepartment of Health and Social CareI do not want to give way to too many people; otherwise, you will reprimand me for taking too long, Madam Deputy Speaker. However, I am, of course, happy to give way to the hon.…05 Mar 2025HANSARD English Devolution and Local GovernmentI, too, thank the Deputy Prime Minister for ending the uncertainty around the Gloucestershire county council elections taking place this May. Bearing that in mind, will she set…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThe Local Government Minister must be clairvoyant—or he must be reading my notes. I warmly welcome the Government’s consultation on local audit reform, which would establish a…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI will in just a second, but I want to make a really important point to the Minister about why all this matters. Why does it matter? If we do not have a set of properly audited…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI am really pleased that the hon. Gentleman has raised the whole business of devolution, because I am going to come on to that at the end of my speech. What I think we should do…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI am pleased to follow my very hard-working, excellent deputy on the Public Accounts Committee, the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), who has huge knowledge on…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI am grateful to the Minister for giving way, because I am about to raise a really important point that has not yet been addressed. A lot of councils are seeing their reserves…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceJust a second. Another part of the budget that is consuming more and more is temporary housing accommodation; this, again, needs a fix in some way or another. Structurally, we…05 Feb 2025