Speeches by Bance.

“One of the things I am most proud of—having stood on doorstep after doorstep in Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley at the general election, hearing people tell the dreadful stories of how long they and their relatives had been waiting for hospital treatment—is the 45% fall in people waiting more than a year for their opera…”

“I am glad to hear that because it is so very important that across the civil service, across Departments and across ministerial portfolios, people get the message totally clear: the priority is British suppliers, British jobs in the United Kingdom and investment to support that. That is the purpose.”

“It contains a significant amount of public money.”

“On that point, we all want to see British SMEs winning public procurement contracts. I was most perturbed—I wonder whether the Minister may want to comment—to read in the Sunday papers that it looks as though the constructional steel work for Net Zero Teesside is going to go to a Chinese-owned company. This was raised …”

“Last week I went to Alucast in Wednesbury, one of our brilliant foundries. I have also been to Newby Foundries. Both told me of their relief that the landfill tax will not impose significant additional costs on them. I wonder whether the Chancellor would like to set out the action she is taking to support our brilliant…”

“Building on that, is there a role for central Government in ensuring that mayoral combined authorities literally have the capacity? I am talking about the numbers of staff. We were talking about the tripling of a staff team focused on growth in one of the combined authorities, turning it into a team of 12 people. We ar…”

“We have just had the mayors of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and South Yorkshire in front of us. One of them is the mayor for Cambridge. He spoke about the capacity constraints on his mayoral combined authority in terms of that championing role, that convening role and that role in creating investable propositions. W…”

“In 2023, it was calculated that two thirds of British equity investment occurred in London and the south-east. This Committee heard evidence from Louis Taylor, the CEO of the British Business Bank, who said there had been a hollowing-out of the investor community in the regions. How would you characterise the regional …”

“You know the proper names; I do not.”

“Will the announcement about the hotel or tourism tax help with some of the revenue needs that you are experiencing?”

“Can you deliver your local growth plans if you are not able to secure the investment in your regions? What are the consequences of this policy failure?”

“The hon. Member seems to be under the misapprehension that the lifting of the cap was not agreed as part of the negotiation on the compromise. It was. Perhaps she would like to revise her remarks.”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for her leadership on the two-child limit, and for always carrying the kids who did not eat last night in her heart. Last week, I was at Sacred Heart school in Tipton in my constituency, where the school council and the teaching staff spoke to me about how children living in temporary accom…”

“I wish to draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, my membership of Unite, and the kind support of ASLEF and the GMB for my election campaign. This Employment Rights Bill is our promise to working people on its way to being fulfilled, thanks in no small part to my right hon. Friend th…”

“I am so sorry that the shadow Health Secretary is no longer in his place. After his astonishing speech, I wanted to invite him to the Black Country, where waiting lists of more than a year are down by 45%. I think that the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) managed somehow to compare a speech he d…”

“It is very worrying to hear about the repeated attempts to access the statement before it was given, and I wonder why Conservative Members are not a little more concerned, given that the same situation may have affected them. Does my right hon. Friend agree that if a Government left themselves with only £4 billion of h…”

“Will the hon. Member address this point that in the case of the six in 10 children who are in families affected by the two-child benefit limit, those families have jobs? Will he address the situation of my constituent who lost her husband? She was working, he was working and they had three kids together. They were work…”

“SMEs tell me that the process for getting an apprentice in is too slow, too cumbersome and too bureaucratic, and they feel like giving up before they get to the end of it. What are you going to do with colleagues in the two other Departments that are now responsible for this to make sure that it is a reality for SMEs t…”

“I am working on the assumption that you do not believe that a 5% to 10% increase in non-domestic energy bills from April will be a good idea for our small businesses.”

“Staying on energy for a moment, the impact of RIIO-3 on non-domestic bills is estimated to be between 5% and 10% from April. What representations have you made to Ofgem and DESNZ ahead of their decision early next month about how this is going to work?”