Speeches by Ranger.

“Q When people leave the armed forces, they state that morale is one of the biggest reasons for why they intend to leave. Do you think the commissioner’s appointment and the powers they will be given will have a direct impact on improving morale and therefore decrease the number of leavers in the forces? Angela Kitching…”

“Q What do you think would be a sensible timeframe in which we could say there had been a direct correlation between the commissioner being in place and seeing an improvement? What would be a timeframe to measure that over? Ted Arnold: Again, I think that will be difficult to measure. Having an annual review that report…”

“Q Very briefly, how quickly do you expect to have the commissioner up and running in post? Luke Pollard: I would expect the Bill to complete early next year. I would expect the appointment process to take roughly a year, and the office to be stood up as a commissioner’s office at the start of 2026, taking cases and, im…”

“A recent report by the Social Mobility Foundation showed that on average people from working-class backgrounds are paid an incredible £6,000 less than their privileged peers. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Labour’s opportunity mission will be critical to ending that damning statistic and finally smashing the clas…”

“16. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the Government’s five missions.”

“Just to flip it on its head slightly, is there an importance that they should also differ in their approaches to cover more ground?”

“Slightly changing the context—this is for Joe and Jessica—we have GB Energy and Ynni Cymru. Is there a risk that there might be some duplication there? What are the best ways that the two Governments can work together to make sure that they hit the targets and get a successful roll-out across both countries, or the who…”

“I would like to move on to look at how community energy plays into this. The UK Government are committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower, and the Welsh Government are aiming to achieve 70% of their energy consumption from renewables by 2030. Just how much of a role do you envisage community energy playing i…”

“GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund could probably enable the public and private sectors in Wales to work together to deliver the scale of development that we need to reach net zero. How should that happen? Is the public sector in Wales culturally ready for the risks involved with that?”

“Where are those skills being developed? Is it within firms and companies, or are you working with universities and public institutions on research?”

“Emily, I come back to the original question about the significant financial barriers, particularly to new and emerging technologies. If you have anything to add on the skills side as well, I would be interested.”

“Moving on to the financing side, we have touched on some of this throughout the discussion already, but do any witnesses have anything to add in terms of what the most significant financial barriers are to investing in renewable energy in Wales, and particularly the new and emerging side of the technology?”

“This is a question to Victoria. Given how earnings differ across the UK nations, will the national minimum wage increase have a disproportionately high price for Welsh businesses? Adding on to that, will that mean that low-margin, labour-intensive sectors like retail and hospitality will struggle to stay viable?”

“Linked to that, should Wales, if it needs to, use its own income tax powers and should there be devolved tax thresholds?”

“Yes, thank you, Chair. Good morning. It is great to have you with us. I have a couple of supplementary questions linked to the framework. You have already mentioned it, Victoria, but the needs-based factor in the Barnett formula, 5%, is that still appropriate now, given, as you mentioned, the relative older, poorer, si…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her answer. Universities in Wales, such as Wrexham University in my constituency, are crucial not just for the educational and research outcomes they provide, but for the economic opportunities they give our towns and cities, with a recent report by Universities Wales showing that the…”

“5. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing economic growth in Wales.”

“Diolch yn fawr, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during this important debate. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), and also to follow the great maiden speeches from my hon. Friends the Members for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) …”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her answer. My constituency of Wrexham is home to one of the UK’s largest prisons. It is well known that if an offender has fixed and secure accommodation to go to, they are less likely to reoffend. What steps is she taking to ensure that those released today under SDS40 will have acc…”

“16. What steps her Department is taking to increase prison capacity.”