Speeches by Mayer.

“That is all on that, thank you. We have somewhat covered this already—particularly with Maggie—but given the parameters placed on the ORR as an appeals body for access decisions, will it be equipped to act in the best interests of the rail network as a whole?”

“Nick, can I go back to what you said before about this hypothetical GBR service being blocked by a real-life open-access service? You said that you would like to see policy to address that. Where would you like to see that policy? Would it be in the Bill or in guidance—and from whom?”

“I really welcome devolution and look forward to a time when every local area really wants a mayor. I have tabled a number of amendments and new clauses, which I will go through in turn. First, on the question of commissioners, I have to say that I disagree completely with the hon. Member for Guildford (Zöe Franklin) in…”

“Do you think it could ever be a legitimate strategy to have slightly easier-to-achieve standards in order to attract drivers because you have an undersupply? Would that ever be a consideration?”

“I was a bit concerned that we seem to be using arrested, charged and convicted interchangeably—”

“What about having regional standards as a midway point? James, you made the point that the authorities in Manchester cannot agree, but if the power goes to the mayor or the combined authority, as is the situation in London to some extent, would that be a halfway house? Would that be a good idea or should we just go the…”

“This is probably specifically to Arooj, although others can join in: why do you think some licensing authorities decide to adopt lower standards than others?”

“Yes, because they are very different things, including from the perspective of the driver. At what stage do you think that information should be passed across?”

“I was wondering about the complaints that come in. Presumably, some complaints come in via the app because a passenger thinks that is the easiest and simplest way for them, and some complaints you will be told about from licensing authorities. Are they very different, the complaints you are getting from those two angle…”

“The answer cannot be “all of them”. If you think it is all of them, try to rank it a bit.”

“We have heard from some local taxi firms that feel they face unfair competition from the larger app-based private hire platforms. To start with, who do you feel that you are competing with? Are you competing with each other? Are you competing with ABC taxis from somewhere or other, or are you competing with the taxis o…”

“I, too, thank John Tizard for his tireless work in securing extra resources for Bedfordshire police. I tend to agree that the mayoral model is the best way forward. Does the Minister agree that it is vital that we redouble our efforts to move at real pace to ensure there is a mayor in every area of England, rather than…”

“In the Government’s response, it talks a lot about funding mechanisms. You have talked about franchising. A lot of us welcome the new powers in the Bus Services (No.2) Bill. It is possibly an Act now.”

“That is fantastic. In your response, it says that you want to see a better standard of public transport right across the country. It is just that there does not seem to be much of a description as to what that would mean for a passenger. Does that mean frequency, reliability or accessibility? Do the Government have tar…”

“I do not think that our recommendation called for that. Is it your view that a national ambition is always going to be incompatible with local decision making?”

“Can I just press on our bus recommendation? It was recommendation 7, which is the one that I was just talking about, in terms of mandating local transport authorities to publish the transparent methodology. I was a bit confused, to be honest, as to why that was completely rejected, given that we had already had a lette…”

“Transport did really well in the Government’s first King’s Speech, and you have been very busy with lots of legislation. As a Committee, though, we think that there are some outstanding issues, notably pavement parking, as well as micro-mobility, which I know you have said you are keen to legislate on when time permits…”

“The cost of a practical driving test has not increased very much in recent years, whereas it used to in the past. I was looking at the figures when I was—very slowly—learning to drive. Between 1998 and 2004—when I was failing my test all the time—it increased by 25%, yet it has not gone up since March 2009. When you la…”

“Do you think that the cost recovery model is the right one for today, or do you think that perhaps these fees and charges could be used as a demand management tool?”

“We are always very grateful for the prompt and detailed responses that we get to our reports, but we have noticed that the nuance of what we are suggesting in our recommendations is sometimes perhaps overlooked, and we get some answers that are at a bit of a tangent. Maybe I could give you two examples. In our street w…”