Speeches by Young.

“Q2. The people of Thornbury have been promised a new health facility for more than 20 years, but they have seen every proposal fall by the wayside. That is why it was a great relief to residents when the Minister for Secondary Care) confirmed to me in writing that the funding to rebuild the centre would be made availab…”

“Storm Darragh is the second serious storm to hit my Thornbury and Yate constituency in recent weeks; it came soon after Storm Bert, which caused serious flooding disruption. I thank everyone involved in the response. These storms are not going away; owing to the impacts of climate change, they are likely to get worse. …”

“What did I say? [Hon. Members: “You said ‘you’”.] Did I? Sorry! The Minister mentioned infrastructure. We have seen significant delays on the line from the west country in the last few weeks owing to flooding. In particular, trains are having to divert between Bristol Parkway and Swindon and having to go via Bath and C…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) for securing this debate. Our public transport services have been run down for years because of the previous Conservative Government, and many rural communities across my Thornbury and Yate constituency have seen their vital bus services disapp…”

“You mentioned infrastructure—”

“I welcome the proposals. I was talking to a constituent earlier today who feels that the family courts are not only enabling her ex-partner to continue abusing her, including following and harassing her, but are undermining the criminal case against her former partner. Will the Minister commit to looking at the role of…”

“Constituents have made me aware of problems when the family courts have not understood that they can be used to perpetuate the abuse of the violent partner. Does the hon. Member agree that we need greater understanding in the family court system so that people fleeing violence do not see that abuse continue?”

“Many of my Thornbury and Yate constituents have been impacted by the loss of the 84/85 bus. I am told that funding is made more difficult because that bus is a cross-border service between Gloucestershire and the west of England. Does the Minister agree that the rules need clarifying, so that they do not get in the way…”

“11. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of bus services in rural areas.”

“Could you say briefly what those are?”

“You have obviously purchased the sites at Wylfa and Oldbury. You have already touched a little on the question of the steps you are taking to evaluate the potential for further gigawatt-scale nuclear power in the UK. Given that Hitachi has already abandoned its plans for a new nuclear plant at Wylfa due to rising costs…”

“Okay. You talked earlier about the fact you are focused on SMR at the moment, because you are waiting for the policy on gigawatt, but how do you foresee your role evolving over time? From your earlier answers, I suspect the answer is that you will focus on gigawatt next, but are there other things that you are likely t…”

“In answer to my question, you are essentially saying they have no specific responsibilities in relation to nuclear?”

“Obviously, we spoke to GB Energy previously. How do you expect GB Nuclear to work alongside GB Energy, and can you clarify what its specific responsibilities are in relation to nuclear energy?”

“You have obviously purchased the sites at Wylfa and Oldbury. You have already touched a little on the question of the steps you are taking to evaluate the potential for further gigawatt-scale nuclear power in the UK. Given that Hitachi has already abandoned its plans for a new nuclear plant at Wylfa due to rising costs…”

“Do you think the proposals set out in the civil nuclear road map and the consultation for a new nuclear national policy statement are adequate to realise the Government’s stated ambitions?”

“If I understand your answers to the previous questions, you have been focusing on the SMRs, so you have not taken significant steps to do that evaluation. What are you basing your confidence on?”

“It is not just about skills; these bodies have also been doing work on issues related to technologies. You talk about technology clusters, and some of the work on that has involved those partnerships. I am just trying to understand how you relate to them, if at all.”

“Just following up on that last point, you talked about engagement with local authorities, and pan-regional partnerships have been doing work in this space on skills. Do you see a role for partnerships like the Western Gateway and the Northern Powerhouse, and if so, how do you plan to engage with them?”

“You need policy in order to be able to take those next steps, but beyond that simple decision that we should go ahead with gigawatt, is something else needed in order to make this realisable?”