Speeches by Griffiths.

“Businesses in my constituency have told me categorically that they are very concerned about this. Entrepreneurs who have taken all the risks to create jobs in their communities run the risk of the Fair Work Agency, which will be given these powers, coming into their businesses and riding roughshod over the work they ar…”

“I recently launched my Bognor Regis and Littlehampton business club. Many who joined are independent hospitality and leisure businesses, and their No.1 concern is how difficult it is to take on new staff under this Government. What assessment has the Department made of the impact of the Treasury’s new jobs tax, and the…”

“20. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment.”

“So what is the gap in-between? What is the trigger that pushes you to the next stage?”

“I want to go back to the point about new sanctions coming in on the fourth anniversary. The key question I have is: why wait until the fourth anniversary, which in all honesty, while an emotional and symbolic date, is actually arbitrary? If the additional sanctions are needed, surely they should have been imposed earli…”

“I would not say that was the overarching thing, but carry on.”

“The continued use of legacy IT equipment is a particular vulnerability across the Government estate. That will take some time to address entirely, but is there a strategy in place to prioritise the upgrading of this legacy equipment, given that it is one of the greatest areas of exposure?”

“I want to follow up on the comment you made about investment having been low for a long time. I was director of strategy at Innovate Finance, the fintech trade body. I am sure you are aware that in fintech, we are third—behind only China and the US—for inward investment. That is on the back of the rule of law, skills a…”

“New clause 5 simply asks the Government to commit to reporting back on meeting the milestones they have set themselves for increasing cyber-security standards. Is the Minister confident in the Government’s ability to deliver on their cyber strategy, or is the document not worth the paper it is written on?”

“I suppose that is an internal piece, but you said that you should always look to do more, and I was asking specifically about interventions. What have you not intervened in that you think you should have been?”

“Is that something that you need the DBT to approve?”

“I am delighted to hear the Minister’s response. Zachary Merton hospital in Rustington was closed temporarily, but that closure became permanent and the site is being progressed for disposal. More than half of residents in Rustington are elderly, and rely on intermediate and step-down care. They have not been consulted …”

“Do you feel that you are intervening as much as you need to, or do you plan to do more?”

“15. What steps he is taking to increase access to care in the community.”

“Once you have picked an area, what criteria are you then going to apply to determine how to take it forward?”

“I want to move on to the criteria and principles that you apply when you are determining on what to intervene. Can you start with overarching principles and then get down to some more specific criteria that you would address?”

“Given that CMA staff wrote part of that consultation, is that sufficiently independent? With the benefit of hindsight, how would you have made it more independent and enabled us to get to a scenario where we do have the correct oversight?”

“Going back to open banking, I think the open banking organisations would now say that they want to be given more access to create that. What have you done as interim CMA chair to make changes that will start to deliver the growth that has been seen in other sectors?”

“In my constituency and across West Sussex, the number of EHCPs has risen by 75% since 2019, but the funding to support them has risen by only 37%. Can the Secretary of State reassure parents that the correct funding—not just £24,000 per school—will be in place for support?”

“Further to that point of order, Mr Stringer. Genuinely, I simply need the Minister to speak slowly and clearly. Yes, I am wearing hearing aids; I am sure that others wear them too. I am doing my very best to make sure that I can lip-read, but that is almost impossible given the speed the Minister is speaking at. One ca…”