Speeches by Vince.

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way at such an early stage in her excellent speech. She has talked about the impact of austerity on the country’s finances; I would add that austerity has had a huge impact on productivity, particularly in my constituency, where we have seen 13-hour waits in A&E and year-long waits…”

“Members across the House will be disappointed that my mother has not yet been mentioned in the Budget debate. She has just been on the phone to champion the 4.8% increase in the state pension, which she claims will mean that she will have an extra £39 a month. Does my hon. Friend agree that this is good news for our pe…”

“My hon. Friend makes a valid point about the importance of insulating homes. As he will be aware, my constituency of Harlow is a new town, so many householders face the same challenges at the same time. The people who are in the most poverty are least able to insulate their home. This issue is really important to them,…”

“I do not disagree with the hon. Member about the importance of financial education; I had a long rant about whether it should be in the maths curriculum. However, we have recently had a curriculum review that recognised the importance of financial education. This does not have to be a political point. Does she agree th…”

“This is going to sound like a bit of a leading question, because I think I know what you are going to say. The Committee recently allocated a debate on freedom of religion or belief in foreign policy, which was David Smith. I think I know what your answer will be, but are there specific issues with freedom of religion …”

“The OfS and the Government are considering linking domestic student numbers and fees increases to securing silver and gold rankings in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Fifty-one providers would currently fall below that threshold. Are you confident that the TEF is a robust enough measure of teaching quality to carry …”

“The Chair used the phrase “anchor institution” earlier and I think it is true to say that some of these institutions are a key part of a local community. If they were to suddenly be picked up and removed, it would have a huge impact on lots of things like employment and so on. The Government White Paper actually called…”

“Finally from me, we are aware that maintenance grants exist in Wales, but the Welsh Government did not look at introducing a levy. This is your pitch, I suppose, if you like. Why do you think that in England the levy is the only way or the best way to fund these maintenance grants?”

“I could have made that question shorter.”

“I will try to shorten this question because I reckon we are running out of time. Professor Brian Bell, who is Chair of the Migration Advice Committee, raised a concern about the fact that we are looking at maintenance grants, which is great. Is there potential that some of the issues that we have discussed previously w…”

“You have spoken about how this levy will pay for maintenance grants, which I welcome. How will you ensure that this money is devoted to this purpose and not potentially diverted to other government priorities? If you will allow me, Chair, as the MP for a constituency where a lower-than-average number of young people go…”

“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement today, and for his continued leadership on a global scale, particularly in respect of Ukraine. I also welcome what he said about the investment that the Government will put into the Global Fund, because I recognise the importance of tackling HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. Ho…”

“You have talked about the Government’s intention to raise fees and maintenance loans in line with the forecast inflation. We know that forecast inflation has been markedly lower than actual inflation in the last few years, and this has contributed to growing pressures on the students’ income while studying. Can you exp…”

“We know that higher education funding comes from different sources, government direct funding, home and overseas tuition fees and subsidies through unpaid student loans and various other sources of revenue that we have touched on. Who do you think should have the strategic overview of the different funding streams and …”

“That is not a bad thing. Thank you.”

“To come back on that, I suppose what you are trying to say is that for every university and institution what that civic role looks like is going to differ.”

“On that, there are lots of great initiatives and I think back to when I was a teacher and the importance that was put on pastoral care, for example, which is right and we know that. However, I worry that that is something that is quite hard to measure. Have you thought about how you are going to measure the success of …”

“I declare an interest, as I formerly worked for a homelessness charity in Harlow called Streets2Homes. Can the Minister tell me how the increased funding of £1 billion to tackle homelessness will support local authorities—which we have discussed—as well as Streets2Homes and other charity groups to get people off the st…”

“Mr Speaker, I thank you on behalf of the people of Harlow for allowing us Back Benchers to get a voice in Parliament on these issues. That is really important. Last month, the Government set up the Ethics and Integrity Commission, which I welcome. Could the Minister touch a little more on its scope and remit, to ensure…”

“7. What steps she is taking to ensure that Great British Railways holds consultations with passengers.”