Speeches by Cooper.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Barker. I begin by thanking the petition organiser and all who engaged with it. Like many colleagues from across the House, I entered politics because I wanted to make sure that all children, regardless of their background or circumstances, had the opportunity to ha…”

“Perhaps I have misunderstood, but I am sure that the Minister has clarified that the standardised pay across the sector should be a floor, not a ceiling. Can the hon. Gentleman confirm that that is his understanding too?”

“7. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK city of culture and UK town of culture competitions on local communities.”

“This Budget is about building an economy that works for working people and families, not returning to the short-term decisions of the previous Government, which left public services stretched and household finances fragile. I welcome the fact that the Government are choosing stability, fairness and long-term investment…”

“Northwich and Winsford, in my constituency, have long punched well above their weight when it comes to cultural vibrancy and creativity. Winsford, in particular, has earned a proud reputation as an incubator for musical talent, with emerging acts, such The Luka State and The Voke, making waves on the national indie mus…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) on securing this important debate on NEETs. This is an issue that affects the future of our young people, and it is a persistent challenge that we must tackle head on. In Winsford in…”

“I am Andrew Cooper, the Member of Parliament for Mid Cheshire.”

“How do you ensure consistency in assessment between different providers? Do you do any work going out with the surveyors to make sure that they are following a common set of standards? What do you do?”

“I understand your point about not going and spot-checking a home to make sure that it really is decent—that if it has been reported as decent, you do not check to see if it is not decent—but does your data insight team correlate between the data that you get on, for example, a repairs and maintenance backlog and a repo…”

“I want to come back to something you just said. If I am a tenant and I refuse to have my kitchen replaced or something like that, and that would result in a failure to meet the decent homes standard, are you saying you would exclude that from your reporting of 1%—that you would count it as a decent home, even though it…”

“The English Housing Survey estimated that 9% of social homes provided by housing associations failed to meet the decent homes standard. That is substantially different from the data that you have estimated, which is more like 1%. Can you explain to us where you think that difference has come about?”

“I absolutely agree. If we are going to give people dignity, we have to make sure that we are catering for everybody’s needs. When the previous Government declined to act in Northwich, a funding application was submitted to the Department for Transport under the Access for All programme. The previous Conservative Govern…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend and her councillors on securing that improvement. I agree with her entirely, and I am sure the Minister has heard what she has said. Passengers in Northwich who cannot use stairs cannot get to the Chester-bound platform. There is no lift and no ramp; there is just a steep footbridge with 4…”

“From a debate about the personal property rights of crypto tokens, we move seamlessly into a debate I am proud to have secured on railway station accessibility, specifically at Northwich in my constituency. My thanks go to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity to talk about it. This is…”

“Will, I would like to come to you about the issue of why RICS valuations are needed for any shared ownership transaction above a 1% staircase. It has been criticised because there is no negotiation element. You have to take the valuation and that is the price you pay for your staircasing, whereas if a property was put …”

“My hon. Friend mentioned Storm Christoph. Both Northwich and Winsford in my constituency flooded twice in an 18-month period, most recently during that storm. Our section 19 investigation found that although Northwich’s flood walls held, the ancient Victorian combined sewerage system was not up to scratch. Does she agr…”

“I am MP for Mid Cheshire.”

“We have heard about the issues that can happen when someone dies in a shared ownership property; that arrears continue to build up and that service charges continue to be levied. When you were developing the Code, did you consider including anything around that, for example, buyback if the beneficiaries cannot sell the…”

“I am going to be asking you about valuation staircasing and re-sale. The BBC reported in June that many shared owners feel trapped in their properties and unable to sell. I would like to come to you first, Sue. Why do you think that is and what do you think we can do about it?”

“Ann, do you think there is scope to broaden out the use of the house price index, for example, as an alternative valuation method? What are your thoughts?”