Speeches by Dixon.

“I thank the Minister for that answer. In my constituency, several planning applications are pending, and one has already been granted in the villages of Wilsden and Cullingworth for battery storage and onshore wind in the wider area. Can the Minister explain how constituents with clean energy infrastructure in their ar…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Over the summer, I was the subject of two online death threats, which the police are investigating. These were posted in response to a video published by the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore). The video accused me of not telling the truth on a very sensitive s…”

“I am no expert on mental health law, but I do have decades of experience in the health and care sector, and my sister is a psychiatrist. I know that the decision to detain someone with severe mental illness is never taken lightly, and that psychiatrists must weigh up a range of factors and information to come to a fina…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“New housing developments agreed under the previous Government have been built on the green belt around villages in the Shipley constituency, such as Burley in Wharfedale, Wilsden, Denholme and Cullingworth, often without the vital investment in infrastructure such as GP practices, schools and other council services. Wi…”

“I was pleased to see today’s report. I believe it has a picture of the Bingley five rise locks in my constituency on the front cover, so I thank the Minister for that. The creaking and leaking water infrastructure, the current drought restrictions and the dumping of sewage in our rivers, including the Aire and the Whar…”

“It puzzles me. We cannot address the problem unless we know what the barriers are in terms of people’s motivations and behaviour change. The Committee has received some evidence, not just about why people have not returned after covid, but about why they do not use buses generally. It is things like not feeling safe, b…”

“That is very encouraging; thank you.”

“Good morning, and apologies for my late arrival. I want to pick up the theme that you have already started on about the decline in bus journeys as a result of covid and the differential in recovery of bus journeys. In my own area, covered by the West Yorkshire combined authority, the number of trips fell from some 168 …”

“Efficiency sounds positive, but if it is because so-called uncommercial routes and uncommercial times have been cut, then from the point of view of the customer it is not a good thing. For lots of people in my rural villages, there are simply no buses, certainly at times of day that are of any use to get people to scho…”

“With the population ageing, more of us are going to have a disability, so ensuring that we can all still get out and about and enjoy our life is going to be a major priority. In the long run, how are you going to get more older and disabled people back on the buses?”

“You have mentioned demand-responsive services a few times. Could you say what difference those could make? I am thinking particularly of that last mile. For a lot of older people, even getting to the bus stop is a barrier. What do you really mean by “demand-responsive”? What would your vision be for that if it was work…”

“I was pleased to hear about training. I remember from work I did at the Centre for Ageing Better how the Isle of Wight was the front runner in training its bus drivers in age suits to appreciate what it was like to try and get on one of its buses. That training made a big difference to driver’s attitudes to people with…”

“Thank you for explaining it; to most people, “demand-responsive” sounds a bit abstract. But the reality is that for many people the ability to dial a ride—or whatever the particular community transport scheme is—can be really life-changing. I hope to see more on those pilots in future. I think that it probably it on ac…”

“We have talked a bit about money and the public subsidy; the Public Accounts Committee is particularly interested in whether we are getting value for money for the public purse. Obviously, the subsidy peaked during the pandemic at 77% of revenue, and while there has been some recovery, it is now at 50% of revenue. Do y…”

“And do the benefits outweigh the risks?”

“Were you able to, and will you be able to, disaggregate by socioeconomic status?”

“Obviously, the concern is that the affordability issues hit those who can least afford it and do not have access to cars because of cost. I would be keen to get any further breakdowns of that.”

“We have talked about lots of different grants. Even as a Committee member, I am still a little confused, so I am not sure how it is for those in receipt of these funding allocations. There are many different pots, many of them short term, and many have previously been extended at short notice. I know that DfT is now lo…”

“Do you have a timescale for bringing forward new reform?”