Speeches by Hack.

“The Children’s Commissioner talked earlier about devolution and looking at localised solutions to progress on child poverty. How should the Government’s approach to devolution and local progress be looked at?”

“That is useful; thank you.”

“Thank you to the panel for coming to speak to us today. Laura, you mentioned previously in your testimony about capturing the human story, and Priya, you were talking about experience and how we get that children’s voice. Reflecting on that, what do you think should be set out in the baseline report this summer and the…”

“I have every sympathy with the point that my hon. Friend is making. My train has been cancelled for six decades, which shows the impact in my constituency. There is a real issue with connectivity. I would welcome the Minister setting out what assessment has been made of the economic benefits of previous lines in the re…”

“Electrification of that line is long overdue, and it is something that I worked on as a county councillor before I came to this place. It really will be important to the east midlands. My constituents tell me that if they are getting into their car to drive to the nearest station, they may as well just keep driving, an…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) for securing this incredibly important debate. I will never miss an opportunity to talk about how isolated my community is in terms of public transport. The ability to get to London by train would be transformational for North West Leicestershire, but as …”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is really problematic if nobody is able to get to these hubs.”

“I thank my hon. Friend, whose constituency almost neighbours mine, for her intervention. I absolutely agree; buses and trains make up the bulk of my constituency casework, as people are struggling to get to where they need to go. I would happily campaign alongside my hon. Friend on that issue.”

“I absolutely agree. Economic growth and getting people to where they need to go are the most important parts of this debate.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I think the Minister will be incredibly busy after this debate. The tourism connection my hon. Friend identifies is so important. My constituency is home to the heart of the national forest—I think it is an absolute travesty that people have to travel by car to get there. Th…”

“That’s useful. One of the things that is frustrating, particularly when you look at the health impact, is that some jobs can flex to support somebody with a health condition, and some just cannot. As an employer, I employed somebody who managed a health centre and somebody who was a direct care worker. They had the sam…”

“Researchers at the University of Edinburgh told us that later-life work is beneficial, unless you have to do it because of financial necessity. What thoughts do you have around that statement?”

“The IFS found that the increase in the state pension age from 65 to 66 increased employment. However, that was mainly due to people who were already working. There has been no real impact on people getting a new job or getting back to work. My casework proves that, and it is certainly a problem. What conclusions do you…”

“We will come on to that next. Before we move on, the state pension is starting to increase to 67 in April; what advice has been sought from the chief medical adviser on the potential impact on health and frailty?”

“As in the constituency of the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns), one of the impacts in Leicestershire has been the sheer volume of water, and the villages in rural parts of Leicestershire have just felt left behind when it comes to money. I am grateful that Diseworth was selected this time round, but…”

“Thank you for coming to speak to us today. The Health Foundation said that the failure to address the factors contributing to the low employment rate for people with health limitations would undermine the long-term viability of a higher pension age. To what extent do you agree with that statement?”

“We are going to move on to the impact of pensionable age on mixed-age couples. The previous Government introduced the policy that benefits would be dependent on the working-age person in a couple rather than on those people of pensionable age. Independent Age told us about a 79-year-old who was on universal credit due …”

“I understand that, but obviously the household does not then qualify for pension credit. If they were both over retirement age, there could be a pension credit assessment. Overall that household would get less money than if both members of the couple were of retirement age. Do you think there is an option to review tha…”

“When we look at getting people who are unemployed into work, there is generic support for all ages; do you think we need to improve support for older workers? What limitations do you think that might have?”

“One of the things that is problematic about the hon. Gentleman’s line of questioning is that one in 10 people in Leicestershire are on an NHS waiting list. In order to increase economic productivity, we need to make sure that people of working age are well enough to work. Does he agree that investment in health is also…”