Speeches by Mayer.

“In principle, do you think it would be a good idea if it were updated, or would you scrap the whole thing?”

“There is also Network Rail’s enhancements delivery plan published quarterly. Do you think that that gives certainty to industry?”

“We have already touched to some extent on devolution. To what extent are investment decisions being made with regional input at the moment? What do you think will be the challenges and opportunities for that as we get more mayors and potentially a regionalised GBR structure?”

“The economy is set to benefit from a £50 billion boost from the Universal theme park in Bedfordshire, which will star Paddington Bear; all Members will welcome that. Does the Minister agree that stars like Paddington Bear have an enormous amount of soft power? We have heard that in the Chamber today. What can the Minis…”

“I absolutely think that everyone’s contributions to the war effort were vital to ensure victory and peace. This Thursday, I will be at Leighton Buzzard war memorial with local people, laying a wreath in memory of those who served at Q Central. It is vital that we make sure that the people whose wartime service was carr…”

“Eighty years ago, celebrations broke out across the country that were spontaneous, joyful and often very noisy. There was a group of people, however, who were not talking loudly about the work they had done during the war. Some were based in Leighton Buzzard, in a place called Q Central. It was a secret communications …”

“There can sometimes be disputes between local authorities and utility companies. We have heard evidence especially around what I have learned are called section 81 defects. We understand that there may be some ambiguities in Government guidance. I wondered whether the Department had any plans to update that and whether…”

“A lot of things that the Government want to do, such as EV charging points and faster broadband, involve digging up roads and pavements. Could you outline how you are working across Government to ensure the need to manage these works well is understood?”

“We have also heard that some disputes are referred to the Highways Authorities and Utilities Committee, but one of the issues is that it is a very balanced committee, with exactly the same number of utility companies and highways authorities. Therefore, they tend to side with their own side when making a decision or ha…”

“In my constituency, there was an example of five organisations digging up the same road over the course of a couple of months. One of the reasons for that was that the road was right next to a new-build housing estate that needed water, gas and broadband. The local authority said to me that it was unable to identify an…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a bit of a disconnect between the scientific possibility of non-animal alternatives and what is happening on the ground? For decades, there have been suggestions of ways that we can use non-animal alternatives, yet we are not using them. Will she also commend the work of Cruelty …”

“Absolutely. We understand that now two thirds of fares are less than £3, outside London and Manchester, which, therefore, gives us the question of what a better plan going forward might be. Originally, under the £2 cap you had 90% covered; now we have far fewer, so the question is whether it is now a sensible policy go…”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“On a wider level, obviously there are a lot of people wanting electricity, more and more increasingly. What discussions are you having with other Departments to make sure that grid capacity will be available for the transport electric infrastructure that we need?”

“On the LEVI funding that you just mentioned, I appreciate it came with capacity funding. Do you believe that there are the skills, particularly around procurement, in the local transport authorities to make the best use of that funding?”

“Thank you, Chair. Sticking with electric vehicles, the Public Accounts Committee’s recent report on the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure found a lot of geographical discrepancies in the number of charge points. It also suggested that the roll-out had been slower than anticipated in terms of spending the money tha…”

“Should people be prepared now to think about the future when it comes to an end?”

“You seem to suggest that the main aim now is to use it to increase passenger numbers. Is that what you are saying?”

“The Government introduced the £3 bus fare cap on 1 January. Can you explain the main objective of this policy?”

“There is an obvious discrepancy between Network Rail regions that exist at the moment and mayoral combined authority regions.”