Speeches by Bance.

“According to last month’s Skills for Care report, most care workers are paid only a couple of pennies above the national minimum wage, while the sector cannot recruit and retain the people it needs. Will the Minister set out the timetable for establishing the fair pay agreement and adult social care negotiating body, a…”

“6. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on staff salaries in the care sector.”

“One of the last Government’s best policies was the introduction of a £20 additional uplift to universal credit during the pandemic. It stopped poverty growing in its tracks and showed the impact of increasing access to money—not to be facile—on poverty. Does the hon. Member share my hope that the Government will bring …”

“How much has been spent to administer the schemes and on external lawyers?”

“The question was not just about psychiatric injury, though; it was about the culture of disbelieving sub-postmasters. I would appreciate your thoughts on the degree to which the GLO scheme provides for giving sub-postmasters the benefit of the doubt.”

“I understand that you make your assurances, I am sure, in good faith, but given the history I can understand some of the distrust that may be there.”

“I think we are back to the point about whether the Post Office should be involved in the handling of redress, aren’t we?”

“We heard from claimants in a previous session a couple of weeks ago about concerns around the direction given to the lawyers on benefit of the doubt, overly forensic questioning and bargaining down of offers. Do you think you need to provide stronger direction to your lawyers, to whom you are paying a lot of money, to …”

“Mr Chesher, claimant representatives have called your approach to evaluating expert evidence from sub-postmasters, such as psychiatric evidence, “overly forensic” in nature. How do you respond?”

“I am sure we will pick this up in our report and in recommendations to you, but I think, having heard what we have said today and having heard the evidence from the session two weeks ago, some leadership could be applied internally in the Department and in the Post Office to ensure the instructions have been fully appr…”

“Gareth, we have just heard that you want claimants to be given the benefit of the doubt and that offers should be as generous as possible—also that you have instructed lawyers for the DBT and the Post Office to act on that basis. Yet, we are still being told by claimants and their lawyers, as recently as a couple of we…”

“Staying with the Horizon shortfall scheme, the claimants, as we have established, are not getting the advice at this point, and are telling us that the application form is very complex. Can you tell us what you are doing to improve that part of the process?”

“In the answer before the last one, you mentioned the importance of value for money for the taxpayer. Is that an overriding concern for your firm in this process?”

“Following the question asked by the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes), the Standing Orders set out the role of the sponsoring Member in nominating Members to sit on the Committee considering a private Member’s Bill, but they do not recuse the Committee of Selection, which is dominate…”

“On 2 and 3 November, a massive burst water main in my constituency left 8,000 homes without water for more than 12 hours. The response of the water company, South Staffs Water, was slow, ineffective and secretive. Will the Minister remind South Staffs Water, and all water companies, of their responsibilities to help re…”

“Q15. I represent loads of hard-working mums and dads in Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley. Last week, the Leader of the Opposition’s campaign chair, Rachel Maclean, said it was not the right decision for the Tories to expand childcare provision. Will the Prime Minister confirm that this Labour Government believe in suppor…”

“This is redress for what everybody accepts has been a massive miscarriage of justice. It seems completely inappropriate for the processes to be so slow and very legalistic, and for the proof needed to be so high. I wonder whether there is a way of doing this that could have a lighter touch, in terms of the burden of pr…”

“You have spoken about some of the obstacles that the 43 claimants who are outstanding may face. What do you see as the factors impeding their ability to progress those claims?”

“The impact assessment published earlier was 900 pages long, which compares pretty well with some of the impact assessments published under the last Government, a number of which I had the misfortune to read. It confirms that the cost to business will represent less than 0.4% of total employment costs across the economy…”

“As a proud member of Unite and a former TUC staffer, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. In addition, I think ASLEF and the GMB for their kind support of my election campaign. During the election, I met a young man in Great Bridge in my constituency who was living i…”