Speeches by West.

“Would a six-month period be reasonable? Perhaps you could come back in six months.”

“No, it did not happen—too expensive. One of the problems was getting Ministers and senior people there, because if there are 10 meetings in a day, it is more efficient to be doing things here. Trying to get that balance is really important, so I am very pleased to hear that the boss has been up there—”

“I will certainly write to you, Minister, but may I also ask about definitions? For shared office spaces, such as a unit, a building or units in a building, there was a very generous scheme during covid. Unwinding that is quite detrimental to the Government’s overall growth agenda. What steps will you take to look at th…”

“You’re on the naughty step again.”

“And I am the trade envoy to Pakistan. This question concerns the UK’s last issuance of sovereign sukuk in 2021, maturing in July of this year. In the assessment of the panel, how has the sukuk performed?”

“Q10. This House legislated 126 years ago to make Alexandra Palace“available for the free use…of the public forever”, and last year Luke “the Nuke” changed darts forever by rewriting the record books. Today Ally Pally plays host to world championship darts, Masters snooker, Haringey Huskies and Haringey Greyhounds ice h…”

“Zone 2 of London does not provide for anything under £100,000.”

“What lessons have been learned through that process, which is relatively new compared with how long we have been selling debt?”

“Covid did teach us that there is something special about face-to-face. I wonder, for example, how often James might have been up there.”

“Finally, this is something that has been trailed in the House. Some grassroots music businesses, such as recording studios, will not benefit from the relief given to live music venues. Why have your extra reliefs differentiated between different parts of the grassroots music infrastructure? Is there an opportunity for …”

“Regional jobs are part of the Government’s priority. I understand that there were going to be 333 Treasury staff based in Darlington. Will you say if that has changed, or are you on target? Is it subject to the “smaller but more agile” working arrangements that Mr Bowler outlined? Regarding the way that you interact wi…”

“How much is the return ticket to Darlington, and does that have an impact on your travel budget?”

“And the cost is a standard return, so it is quite available for other people to take it?”

“Is the business rates system sufficiently sophisticated to tell apart live music venues that are based on their fair maintainable trade from ones valued in the same way?”

“We will now move on to definitions. The Government have provided extra relief to all music venues, irrespective of whether they are currently valued as pubs or like other high street businesses. Will this result in an unfair advantage for some live music venues, versus other firms on the high street? For example, some …”

“I was very impressed to see the Edinburgh example and, personally, wanted the Glasgow one, but we can talk about that outside the room with Mr Grady.”

“Minister Pennycook, you mentioned the impact of new homes and supply bringing down prices. How many homes do you think would need to be built for that to start taking effect? Can you quantify—if not necessarily down to the single home—where you think the balance tips into more affordability?”

“Under the Leeds reforms, the Treasury has pushed the FCA to simplify mortgage affordability checks, which is relaxing safety nets and increasing potentially riskier borrowing and debt. How concerned is the Treasury about arrears over the next 10 years?”

“Can we expect that instrument to be laid in advance of the summer recess in July or after the summer recess?”

“On mortgage finance limits and regulations, the Building Societies Act 1986 and the 2024 amendment Act gave the Treasury the power to lay secondary legislation to update the funding limit rules for building societies, but the statutory instrument to enact this change has not yet been laid. What is the reason for the de…”