Speeches by Betts.

“The Public Accounts Committee has had a number of hearings on this issue, and I am sure the Chair, the hon. Member for North Cotswolds (Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown), will want to ask some questions. First of all, there is a shared responsibility here. MyCSP has responsibilities, but I have to say that the Cabinet Office…”

“The right hon. Lady had the courtesy to advise me in advance that she would have to leave shortly after 4 pm, so I think it was reasonable to allow her to speak in the debate.”

“We move on to the Front Benchers, who are entitled to 10 minutes each. I hope that we can allow at least two minutes for Julian Lewis to wind up at the end. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.”

“Order. Six Members wish to contribute to the debate and we have about 50 minutes, so people can do the sums on that—it is about eight minutes maximum for each speech.”

“I welcome the strategy. Sheffield’s history is inextricably linked to steel, and we want our future to be linked to steel as well. My right hon. Friend mentioned the excellent work that Forgemasters is doing to provide steel for our nuclear reactors, our nuclear submarines and, hopefully, our civil nuclear program, thr…”

“Order. We have five speakers, which gives each of them between eight and 10 minutes, so that we can get the Front Benchers in after that. I call Chris Evans.”

“Order. The hon. Gentleman has not been reading the media—we had some good news this morning, which has moved us forward. I just wanted to make sure everyone is up to date with the important information.”

“We now come on to the Front Benchers. Everyone is entitled to at least 10 minutes, but I think you can work out that you have a little bit more if you want to take it.”

“Can the Minister make sure that he allows two minutes at the end for the mover to wind up?”

“Order. Six Back Benchers want to speak in the debate, so I suggest about five minutes each as a guideline.”

“We now move on to the Front Benchers. The Liberal Democrat and Opposition spokespeople will have five minutes, and the Minister will have 10. There is a bit of flexibility on that time, so we can be a little more generous if required.”

“Minister, it would be helpful if you could allow a couple of minutes at the end for the mover to respond.”

“I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. May I raise two specific issues relating to post offices in my constituency? First, Mosborough post office, a fairly small but growing business, is on the margins of viability. Will the Minister think again about how small post offices in communities that rely on them can be s…”

“The Public Accounts Committee has looked at the cost of home-to-school transport. Clearly, one of the drivers is the cost of sending kids with special needs miles away from their home to very expensive private schools. The Government have announced help on the statutory overrides that have been incurred by local author…”

“I certainly do. My next point was going to be that deprivation is properly recognised in the funding settlement. The problem is that councils that have deprivation either across their area, or in part of it, have borne the burden of the cuts over many years. Under previous Governments, both coalition and Conservative, …”

“First, there are many more councils with Labour MPs. It might be the case that Labour MPs represent councils with higher levels of deprivation. That might be the simple explanation.”

“Absolutely. Councils should be funded according to need, not according to political representation. [Interruption.] Before Conservative Members start, I do not know whether they are old enough to remember Dame Shirley Porter and Westminster council, and how they were stuffed with money over visitor nights, just to ensu…”

“The reform needed is so fundamental that the system would not be recognisable from what we have now. That is how we have to try to move forward. We were promised business rates reform, but what we have had so far is not reform, but some minor changes. Yes, we have had good changes to try to help pubs and leisure facili…”

“I will not go through every detail of this settlement. There is always a balance to be struck in local government settlements, and Ministers have to make their own judgments about that. It is the overall impact that I want to judge the settlement by. For me, this is a fairer settlement for those authorities with high l…”

“Absolutely. I think that goes for both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, as my hon. Friend will understand. This Government clearly face a serious situation, and we must say that they have got some things very right indeed. First, we have the multi-year settlement, which has been called for, cross-party, for…”