Speeches by Curtis.

“The automotive industry is incredibly important for workers in Milton Keynes, with many headquarters based there, such as Volkswagen’s. I realise that these tariffs will be incredibly difficult for the automotive sector, and it is good to hear what the Secretary of State said about looking for a pragmatic approach to t…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that that is why we need significantly more planning officers in our local authorities to ensure that we can unlock a lot of that development?”

“I note the length of time that that reservoir has taken to be built. It would be nice if someone on the Conservative Benches started by acknowledging their Government’s lack of ability to build the infrastructure that this country so desperately needed for decades. The barriers that they constantly put in the way of bu…”

“That is true. Certainty is incredibly important to enable the housing sector to invest in the skills, development and modern methods of construction that will enable us to alleviate the country’s housing crisis. Beyond housing, we must recognise that our failure to build vital infrastructure in Britain is leaving our c…”

“I thank the people across Government and from the Department who have worked so hard to pull this Bill together quite quickly. I also thank the hon. Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) for the first shout out to Milton Keynes in the debate. Hon. Members may be about to hear many more. In politics we all lik…”

“Would the hon. Member like to take this moment to congratulate the absolute heroes in his party who forced it to change its policy at conference last year in favour of building homes? Many of those who sit on the Benches alongside him were calling out the members of his party for trying to get it to do so, one of whom,…”

“We have already heard comments from Conservative Members about cases where planning permission has been granted, but nothing has been built. Almost every developer I have spoken to during this Parliament has said that that has one cause. It took so long to get planning permission—the Bill is designed to fix that—and wh…”

“I recently visited my 93-year-old grandmother, who was a constituent living in rural Buckinghamshire back in the 1960s. At that time, she expressed many of the concerns that he has just expressed about a city being built around her rural community, but if you ask her now, she will tell you about the fantastic opportuni…”

“I have an essay in front of me, in which it is argued that when the Government pay for new infrastructure, new roads or new developments in order to unlock new housing, the landowner “has only to sit still and watch complacently his property multiplying in value, sometimes manifold, without either effort or contributio…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I agree, and I hope that the nature restoration fund can be an opportunity to make those spaces more biodiverse. I am trying to support a wetlands art project in my constituency that would use such money to improve biodiversity. I hope that all the organisations that, like me, care about nature recovery will do the rig…”

“I am the Labour MP for Milton Keynes North.”

“I am increasingly concerned by the rising number of young people in Milton Keynes who are out of work due to mental health issues, which I think is a key factor behind the nearly 12% increase in young people claiming unemployment benefits in Milton Keynes since 2024. Can the Secretary of State outline what steps the Go…”

“11. What steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Milton Keynes.”

“We talked a little bit about council tax and reforms that might have helped. Do you think there are any more taxation powers that should be devolved down to local councils that would have helped you avoid some of the challenges that your councils have been facing?”

“I am Chris Curtis, MP for Milton Keynes North. Councillor Marland is the leader of my council.”

“I think we are all assuming that there may be some announcements from the Government on extra ringfencing on planning and planners, with relation to potentially increasing planning fees. Would you include that under the list of things that you do not think should be ringfenced?”

“We have heard in a lot of our evidence that radical solutions are needed to resolve funding issues in the long term for local authorities. Can any of you think of any radical solutions that might work?”

“Can I ask a very quick question on logistics? Creating all these new local authorities is going to involve creating a lot of new ward boundaries very quickly. Are we confident that the Local Government Boundary Commission for England has the capacity to do all of that work over such a short space of time?”

“I get the point on the savings generally, but you could have gone, “We get the point about unitarisation. We do not need to have a number.” You decided to put the number in there because you have looked at some evidence, I assume, that points to that number being the right one. It would be good for us to know what that…”