Speeches by Dixon.

“The NAO Report, in paragraph 3.25, highlights evidence of people being charged significant fees in their home countries, which I mentioned briefly. Given the criticism here that there was potentially limited engagement with the FCDO and overseas partners, we have touched a lot on what is going on in the UK, but could y…”

“I have examples currently of people overseas still having agencies advertised to them, and distinguishing between those that are exploiting and those that are fair is really difficult. Those people will ultimately be coming through your skilled worker visa route and may find themselves here already destitute, because t…”

“The sponsors’ requirement extends to where there has been an agency in the country abroad that effectively makes the introduction and charges a fee there.”

“As constituency MPs, we get quite a lot of casework through, including relating to visa applications. I just want to share briefly one case, that I think illustrates the challenge of not having any targets for your non-straightforward cases. A care assistant from Zimbabwe arrived in April 2023 under a skilled worker vi…”

“Are there timescales for the administrative review process to conclude?”

“Would you agree that there is a need for greater transparency, at a minimum, and potentially also to set some improvement targets around these other areas once people are outside of the straightforward cases?”

“Yes, but we know from human behaviour inside organisations that, if you have one element where there are very public targets and service standards and other areas where there are not, there is a risk that those get priority over others. I want to note my reaction to your comments about a working single parent. Obviousl…”

“Good morning. I should briefly declare that I know Mr Ridley from a leadership programme some years ago. It is very good to see you. I would like to clarify with Mr Hobbs, if I may, when the evaluation that you just mentioned was actually commissioned.”

“We are going to come on to what was done and whether it was done in a timely enough way to protect very vulnerable workers coming into this country with good intentions and for good reason. There are nearly 2 million—I think it is 1.8 million—workers in the care sector doing an amazing job every day looking after older…”

“I apologise for not getting here earlier; I have been listening to carers who have been sharing their stories. I spoke to a woman who is caring for her husband, who has a neurodegenerative disease and currently scores only two points across the board. Their family would be penalised under the tightening restrictions. D…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The Lansley reforms were implemented top down by the Conservatives. The idea that the NHS could ever be truly independent, when it is there to serve us—the taxpayer and the general public! Does the Secretary of State agree that it is absolutely the right decision to move funding away from the centre to the frontline to…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker), the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) and other colleagues for securing this important debate, and I thank all Members who have made contributions illustrating something that is a sc…”

“I recently visited an early years provider. One of the other things is, are we getting the same level of data as we might expect through schools? But obviously as we move towards more publicly funded childcare hours and also school-based nurseries, whether we can bring in more data on early years settings as well. Is t…”

“I think we will be coming back to some points there but thank you.”

“I am guesting from the Public Accounts Committee and thank you for your contributions so far. Obviously since the Children and Families Act in 2014 we have over a decade now of attempts for joint working. I think back in 2015 there was a SEND code of practice and it described that partners must agree on how they will c…”

“In the Public Accounts Committee report we said there was this risk of a lost generation because so many children are not getting their needs met at the earliest opportunity. We have had evidence from an organisation Contact, they are suggesting perhaps a joint legal duty across health, social care and education. We he…”

“I am conscious that you are particularly health but social care is also part of this join up. Is there anything more there that you see needed to bind social care in?”

“I want to go back a little to the SEND and joint commissioning. I think we are all in agreement that there is some strengthening needed around the engagement of health and perhaps social care in joint commissioning arrangements. Some of the evidence the Committee has received from the Council of Disabled Children talks…”

“Are there other sources of data or information that you think we should be gathering to be in that more anticipatory approach?”