Speeches by Shanker.

“Laura, you mentioned the delivery plan earlier. That is good because there are rumours, and people are saying they have not heard about the progress of the delivery plan and that it is not going to happen. You have confirmed that it is still happening, which is good. The next question obviously is, when, and is there a…”

“This question is probably more for Lord Hendy. Can you give us an update on the status of GBRTT and the workstreams it has been working on to deliver?”

“The previous Secretary of State said that she wanted to move fast and fix things. I am sure you guys agree with that. Everybody I speak to in the rail sector absolutely agrees with that as well. I am sure that the current Secretary of State also agrees with that. How will the DFT and shadow GBR consult with the wider s…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) for raising this incredibly important topic and securing the debate. You may not know this, but Derby and Derbyshire have the largest deaf community outside of London. The …”

“Do you see some benefits of setting standards Government-wise where regions would follow that?”

“On planning consent—our favourite topic—there are various obstacles in the planning system that prevent the delivery of infrastructure projects, particularly around transport. Can you describe what you think the major obstacles are but, more importantly, what could be done to work through them? Sir John Armitt: The ana…”

“If the Government were to prioritise any reforms to speed up transport infrastructure projects in particular, do you have any thoughts on what they would be?”

“Before I go to variability of costs, I want to come back to a point you made, Sir John, about the client setting priorities and areas where they are prepared to accept some compromise. Day one, hour one, of any project management course will say costs, scope and time. You cannot have all of it; you have to compromise s…”

“On the variability point again, I know there are international comparators, but even within the UK we are saying that there is quite a bit of variability if you are building a road down south or up north. What drives the variability within the UK?”

“Your cost drivers report talks about variability of costs. There is quite a wide range, both for transport infrastructure generally and roads. Why do you think that is, and what are the reasons behind it? Sir John Armitt: We were asked to do an international comparison, not just a sectoral comparison. The research was …”

“2025 is an exciting year for Derby, partly because of the progress on Great British Railways, which will be headquartered in Derby, and rightly so. Can we also make this the year that the British public fall in love again with rail travel, by giving GBR a strict timetable to simplify complicated ticketing and fares and…”

“I welcome the Government’s commitment to crack down on waste incinerators. In my constituency, I have campaigned for 16 years against the Sinfin waste treatment centre, which failed initial testing in 2017 and has never been put into operational use. But the project continues, and over £150 million has been wasted. It …”

“T2. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Globally, billions of pounds of investment are flowing into companies that are creating new technologies to power data centres, and communities across the UK should be sharing the opportunity of well-paid, skilled jobs that that investme…”

“It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate under your chairship, Mrs Harris. The new year offers a good opportunity to reflect on a busy 2024, which saw the country choose to elect a Labour Government after a long and hard-fought election campaign. Though we are rightly proud of our democratic political system in th…”

“On Small Business Saturday recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Derby’s small businesses of various types, which are the beating heart of our city. However, as our planned city centre regeneration project recognises, empty shops on our high street do not reflect the high-performing, high-technology economy that we …”

“16. What steps his Department is taking to support high streets.”

“What do you expect the shadow GBR team will do that the GBR transition team is not doing, or cannot do?”

“I think you have touched on this. Will the GBR transition team continue to be funded and staffed in parallel with the shadow GBR?”

“Specifically on Laura’s role, how will that work, and what will be the reporting structures for that?”

“Is there no plan for having permanent staff, and a chief executive, ultimately to drive improvements for passengers?”