Speeches by Atkinson.

“I completely agree. Firms hand out more than 43,000 parking tickets to motorists every day—one every two seconds. In line with what my hon. Friend said, I acknowledge the important role that private car parking plays, especially in our city and town centres. I want people to shop in our brilliant independent shops, suc…”

“In Derby, and up and down the country, we often see examples where it is the same roads that seem to be dug up time and time again. Co-ordination between local authorities and other companies is so important. What can be done to ensure that we get consistently good co-ordination to stop that happening?”

“There is definitely room for improvement on communication. I understand that, if you are co-ordinating multiple projects, you need the time and resource to acknowledge when something has finished early and to make sure that you have a rapid response to alter the traffic systems that might be put in place. That is why t…”

“Just getting them to turn up sounds like it would be a step in the right direction. It is great that you are willing to look at how that can be facilitated, encouraged or enforced.”

“Should forward planning notices be made mandatory?”

“The evidence we heard was that local authorities are required to hold meetings to co-ordinate, but that companies are not required to attend them. Does more need to be done to require companies to attend co-ordination meetings?”

“Commercial sensitivities.”

“I can understand not wanting to work for really long hours over really long periods. The concern is often where nothing is happening, just because it sits with different teams, or because they have booked it in advance to say, “We will clear it up at the end”, but the work has being done much more quickly. There does n…”

“My next question might help with that.”

“If I can follow up on that, you are right that people have a lot of sympathy if it is emergency works, or things that cannot have been planned well in advance. You are right that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that really may need to be brought together. The concern comes that, when there does seem to be the oppo…”

“There might be opportunities for greater flexibility within a permit that says that, if things can be done more quickly, they should be.”

“How can we share that good practice? People will be the first to complain, although, usually, some areas will be first to also say when something is going really well. How can we try to ensure that we are driving standards upwards, so that we are sharing that good practice? Is there a role for Government in enabling th…”

“Pre-sentence reports, as the Minister has set out, are important in considering punishments that can address offending behaviour and help reduce the likelihood of reoffending. But, very often, probation is stretched so thin that officers do not have time to complete them. What will the Minister do to ensure that, where…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) on securing this debate, and on his powerful and personal speech. It is an honour to follow the speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols)…”

“It is a big week for Derby County, as we fight valiantly to stay in the championship. There are no guarantees of who will rise and fall in the football league, but we trust that our clubs themselves will go on. To be able to speak in support of a piece of legislation that gives more control and certainty back to our co…”

“Transport creates and underpins so much economic growth, but there is significant inequality between the regions in transport spend. The east midlands and the south-west get little more than half the United Kingdom average spend. Will addressing that regional inequality be a priority for you in the spending review?”

“Certainly going forward, we would expect, would you agree, that all new trains should absolutely have level boarding?”

“A very quick one, building on what you have said about people living alongside lines, when you have poor air quality. The midland main line is at 48,000 tonnes of carbon. It is a line that is really densely populated. When you are looking at the significant savings there are with continuous electrification, will you al…”

“The Railways Bill consultation said that Great British Railways would enjoy operational independence from the Department, which has been welcomed by many of those I have spoken to in the rail sector, although obviously they will be bound by direction and guidance from you. Given that the Government have been looking at…”

“I think that in part you have already answered my question. With GBR rather than ORR being the ultimate arbiter, there has been concern about what incentives GBR would have to allow use of its network for open access and for rail freight. Do you feel that when it comes to making those decisions there are adequate safeg…”