Speeches by Ranger.

“I have one final question. How effective is the planning system as a mechanism for dealing with these contaminated sites?”

“I believe the time is right for a renewed conversation about careers education and the role it can play in enhancing social mobility. Recent reports from the ONS have shown that 872,000 or 12% of young people aged between 16 and 24 are not in education, employment or training. We know that in many cases, this is not be…”

“Not an Opposition one, but I think I can get some. I have some interest; I just need to get them signed up.”

“Yes, Education.”

“10. What steps he is taking to support Ukraine.”

“I am incredibly proud that, since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wrexham has welcomed many Ukrainian families. Among them are Yaroslav and Oksana, who had long dreamed of opening a café in their home town of Chortkiv. Despite the war preventing them from realising that dream at home, they now own a thriving…”

“This is a quick-fire question for everyone. If you could ask for one change from Government to improve the promotion of Wales as an investment destination, what would it be? I think you have touched on it already, Mr Poole, but I will start with you.”

“Q5. The Wrexham and Flintshire investment zone is one of the flagship examples of how, when the Government talk about kick-starting economic growth, they mean it. This £160 million plan will breathe new life into the local economy and create 6,000 good local jobs, meaning that young people in Wrexham will be able to fi…”

“I see that you have your hand up, Mr Poole. I will need to be brief—I am sorry.”

“Mr Poole, may I follow up on your response to my colleague about skills? Is it across the board? Is it university? Is it schools? Is it how we approach it all together? Is the system reactive enough to get the skills that we need? Will you elaborate a bit on that?”

“Along a similar line, if you will indulge me, a report by Sport Wales highlighted that every £1 invested in Welsh sport generates £4.44 in social benefits. Speaking from direct experience, because I am the MP for Wrexham, we have seen huge investment in sport in Wrexham, which is giving benefits widely across our commu…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Investment in Wales by the UK Government demonstrates the strength of the Union. I was therefore delighted to see the UK Labour Government announce their plan for neighbourhoods, which will see a £100 million investment in Welsh communities, with £20 million of that going into my constituency, straight into vital local…”

“6. What steps he is taking to strengthen co-operation with the devolved Administrations.”

“Although much of public service delivery is devolved, all four nations face a shared challenge of reforming these services in a tight fiscal environment. What can the nations learn from one another about reforming these services, and does the Minister agree that it is important that they do learn from one another?”

“You recently referred to the very out of date and spurious estimates for the electrification of the north Wales main line from the previous Government, and the fact that the announcement that they made about it therefore carried very little substance. Can you tell me a bit more about where you think the assessment of t…”

“Welcome, all, and thank you for coming today. I just want to probe a little bit further, Lord Hendy, on some of the comments you were just making. The Secretary of State for Transport has said that the Government should prioritise the proposals around the north and south Wales main lines and the Wrexham to Liverpool li…”

“Anything to add, Ms Sheikh?”

“A slight change of tack here. With all the infrastructure that we have talked about today, we are looking at better services, better reliability and all those other things that we have spoken about today. I would be interested in your assessment would be of the part that open access operators have to play in that. Coul…”

“I have a broader question as well. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff planned here and great things happening. Do we have the breadth and depth of resource available in terms of people, skills and materials? Is that a concern in terms of being able to deliver these projects speedily or as quickly as possible?”