Speeches by Mayer.

“I absolutely take your point that the funding was about to run out and there was a cliff edge. When the £2 fare cap was introduced, it was very clearly as a cost of living measure. As you rightly said, the £3 cap was much less so, because so few of the tickets actually cost £3. If I get on a bus from Leighton Buzzard s…”

“Therefore, would it perhaps be better to give local authorities the chunk of money and let them decide what the bus fares are?”

“In a way, we have moved into a brave new world of buses. The skills that are needed in local transport authorities have very much changed, moving away from officers who were used to coming up with sticking-plaster solutions for propping up unviable services, to the need to do contract negotiation, financial modelling a…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) on securing this debate, although I fear she is not going to agree with what I am about to say. Glass is one of the most used materials in the world—we have used it for thousands of ye…”

“I am absolutely aware of Frugalpac in Ipswich. The east of England, where I am from, is leading the charge. These modern green manufacturing organisations face certain issues. I urge the Minister to talk to other Departments as well, not least about the Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988, which I am …”

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

“Do you feel that the advent of more mayors will make it more strategic, or is there a danger that a mayor has a fairly defined geography, and railway lines tend to run through those, normally all the way to London?”

“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?”

“I take your point that it does not make sense for different regions of Network Rail to be following different processes. Hopefully, within whatever format of regionalised structure, if there is one, in GBR, that might be wiped out. We know that there will be more devolved mayors, strategic authorities and the like. Do …”

“With the move to the brand-new world of GBR, how do you feel that GBR could be best structured to deliver a more robust investment pipeline?”

“Do you think that funding for enhancements should be reintegrated into the control period process?”

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

“We heard from our last panel of witnesses that the rail network enhancements pipeline was a flawed proposition and not a strategy for the railway. Do you agree with that? What purpose do you think it currently serves?”

“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?”

“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…”

“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…”