Speeches by Voaden.

“My constituency has a large employer with several sites who is now looking at automation because of the impact of the NIC rise. It will add a quarter of a million pounds to his bottom line, so he is actively looking at how he can make redundancies to keep his business afloat. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is not …”

“I recently surveyed all the farms in my constituency, and 85% of the people who responded said that they would be affected by this inheritance tax, mainly because of the cost of land in South Devon—practically all farms will be subject to it. When will the Government listen to the evidence that we are collecting from o…”

“More money.”

“The entitlements of children and young people with SEND are explicit in the Children and Families Act 2024. A question to Kate and Phil: why do you think local authorities continue to allow cases to escalate to the SEND tribunal despite the financial and reputational costs and what role can early intervention and dispu…”

“But surely the cost of repeatedly going to tribunal is not helping county council budgets either.”

“If you had a magic wand?”

“You have already referred to it, Phil, but we know there is disparity in how much funding schools get under the high needs block, depending on the national funding formula. How can the current allocation and distribution of high needs funding be improved to ensure that it effectively meets the current and future needs …”

“In response to what the hon. Lady has just said, I would like to congratulate the Liberal Democrat-led South Hams district council, which has just contributed £623,000 to support a community housing project that will offer 39 new energy-efficient, 100% social rented homes for people with a local connection, including a…”

“In November 2024, research by Riverford Organic Farmers, based in my constituency of South Devon, showed that 61% of farmers are concerned that they will not be operating within the next year but only 25% of them believe the claims that the big six grocers support British farmers. Would my hon. Friend agree that the bi…”

“Luke, do you have any great ideas?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I pay tribute to Kim and the other petitioners for bringing the petition to the House. In the Government’s response to the petition, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology referred to “a systematic review by the UK Chief Medical Officers in 2…”

“Your foster mum sounds like an amazing woman.”

“The question was just about school. What do you think supported you when you were at school and what do you think school could have done better?”

“Louise, do you want to tell us about school? What worked for you? What could school have done better?”

“It sounds like it is a lack of understanding of your circumstances and what your life was like, expecting you to be the same as every other child.”

“I would like to talk to you a little bit about school and/or college. Could you tell us a little bit about what you think schools and colleges could do to make sure that children who are in care are supported to thrive and to do well and to make the most of school? Is there anything you think schools should not do, sho…”

“Lastly to Roger, what do you think the implications of these measures are for local authorities? The age-old question: will additional resources be required?”

“The offer is clearly very patchy and not very good. Do you have confidence that legislating—putting it in the Bill—will make a difference?”

“Sam, what are your views on the measures in the Bill requiring local authorities to publish a kinship offer and extending the role of virtual school heads? I do not know whether you could answer this, but do you think virtual school heads should also be extended to include adopted children who do not feature in the Bil…”

“I have got a supplementary question for Sam on family group decision-making. The Bill says that children may be involved in the family group decision-making process. What are your views on that, and do you think that language of the Bill should be strengthened to say that children should, wherever possible, be part of …”