Speeches by Pakes.

“Do you think that debt loading by Thames Water and maybe some other companies has enabled some of them to get out of some of the responsibilities that they have?”

“Are you comfortable with the level of debt loading?”

“Thank you. One of the frustrations that may be coming through some of our questions is that we seem to have a lot of discussion on how things could be done differently when looking in the rearview mirror but very little about a sense of urgency about what we are driving towards. That may be a sense of frustration. If t…”

“I have a few questions about Thames Water, and I presume you may have expected that there would be some. I represent a city in the Anglian Water area and it strikes me that something has reached significance when in community and other meetings people in my patch recognise the national significance of what is happening…”

“Do you think that it is acceptable, given that you measure performance and the expectations of companies, to say that some of those expectations should be about a bonus for having met them, whereas for most of us doing our job is the expectation?”

“No, that was a very good line. In most other walks of life, having a criminal conviction would get you sacked, not just losing your bonus. Do you think that the public will accept the verdict that you are giving, that it is just about bonuses?”

“Would it be better, given the recent history of playing off bonuses and others, just for directors to be paid a salary for the job that they do?”

“You talked about some of the powers that the new Bill would give you. In what circumstances should water companies be able to pay large salaries and bonuses to its executives, and do you think that any companies are meeting those standards?”

“I have a couple of questions on that. First, Thames Water’s boss took a £195,000 bonus for three months’ work at the end of March. Do you understand why the public is angry?”

“Thank you, Secretary of State. I would like to put on record my thanks to farmers in my patch of the fens who have been in today, and who have spoken to me since the Budget. Any change on taxation is going to be complex and we need to work through it in an intelligent and patient way. The farmers I have met have certai…”

“Yesterday, I heard from a disabled constituent who has spent over a year trying to find an NHS dentist, but without success. The only solution was to come to London for emergency treatment—that became a shockingly common story under the previous Government. As a first step, our integrated care board is putting 12 extra…”

“You are very indulgent, Chair, and I promise that this will be my last question.”

“7. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dentists.”

“We love you dearly for it, for the record. Wearing my previous hat before I came here, I was an official for Prospect, which looked after many of the specialists in biosecurity at the airports, the ports and other areas. One of the ongoing challenges was about the ageing workforce and the impact of austerity under prev…”

“It is good to hear you talk about food security. You are the food security champion within the Government. Given that there are cuts across so many different departmental responsibilities—we talk about imports, exports and domestic production, but we have seen imports being advantaged by disastrous trade deals in recen…”

“I want to ask a couple of questions and get your thoughts on food security. This is a very exciting time, but probably you are the Secretary of State who has taken over the Department at one of the maximum periods of insecurity facing the world—let alone farmers. Today marks the 1000th day since Putin’s illegal invasio…”

“T7. Groups such as Light Project Peterborough do vital work to support homeless veterans, but as we know, demand has risen in recent years. Will the Minister welcome and congratulate groups such as Light Project and outline what steps he is taking to ensure support for veterans facing homelessness this winter?”

“14. What progress the floods resilience taskforce has made on protecting at-risk communities from flooding.”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s answer. We talk a lot in this House about extreme weather and flooding, but we do not talk enough about the vital role that our internal drainage boards play in protecting and keeping safe our agricultural land and farming. I welcome the Government’s inclusion of the internal drainage boards …”

“9. What steps she is taking to support job creation in the renewable energy sector.”