Speeches by Hinds.

“The point about being able to play it later in life, compared with tennis, is quite important. I am not sure it is that well understood widely. People who are in tennis already probably understand it, but what marketing is going on to reach people who have not been playing active sport for some time?”

“Fantastic—thank you. Scott, can I ask you specifically about padel? The LTA has taken the decision to have the same governing body for your primary sport, tennis, and its No. 1 competitor, padel. What pros and cons of that decision did you consider at the time?”

“Thank you, Paige. Scott, I think the Chair would want me to ask that we keep things moving at a clip.”

“Hello, everybody, and thank you for joining this Committee today. You have had a lot of growth in your sports. Could each of you say what is holding you back? What are the barriers to further growth? Bear in mind that this is a Committee of Parliament, so we are in the business of making recommendations to the Governme…”

“Hopefully, your open weekend will introduce more children to it, including mine.”

“This question comes up quite a lot—the definition of a core subject. What difference do you think that terminology would make, or do you really mean, “We want a minimum of 2 hours a week, and that has to be programmed in. It is not an ambition or something we ask of schools; it is something we require”? What do we real…”

“Thank you. Jon, I am going to let you off this question, just because of the time. Kate?”

“I do recognise that, and hopefully I will be able to come on to it. While broadband and mobile connectivity have improved markedly in many areas, there is still a big gap between towns and rural areas. With electricity, the key point is that we have been having storms more frequently—and in our sorts of rural areas, wi…”

“Absolutely. I found it difficult to get reliable data for a local geographic area on the instances of power outages but, like the hon. Member, I can say from my personal experience, as well as from constituents’ reports, that in my constituency we do have power cuts—as we would call them in old language—that are freque…”

“I do. It is a major infrastructure change and there are particular considerations around the elderly and the vulnerable. I have heard from many constituents who have shared their concerns about the switchover, mostly about fear of losing that means of contact during a power cut and not having a mobile phone signal to f…”

“I am aware, and I do agree.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of the switch to digital landlines on rural communities. It is good to see you in the chair, Mr Betts. You are correct that a 30-minute debate is normally a two-person debate. This subject has attracted more attention than is normally the case. I come at this fro…”

“I hear him. The hon. Gentleman is right—I cannot claim coastal for my area, by the way, but I can claim rural. Telephony is a fundamental service, most acutely for contacting emergency services whenever that need arises, but there is also a broader question about people just being able to stay in touch. Although the wo…”

“The Minister is right that the most vulnerable people must be at the very top of our list of concerns, but can I be really clear that this debate is not only about that group? It is about anybody who is cut off in a storm and may need to phone the emergency services, because anybody—they may not even be elderly—might h…”

“Will the Minister give way? I know he is very short of time—”

“This may be the last thing in the debate, but it is important to say that in many of our constituencies, there are places where people cannot make a voice call on a mobile telephone indoors. That is what an elderly person would be trying to do. It is not about a data transaction; it is about being able to make a phone …”

“I agree entirely about the importance of communication. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Esther McVey) said, it is important for businesses as well as vulnerable consumers to understand some of those implications. When we communicate things, we need to think about people who do not use the internet. Organ…”

“First, my sympathies to the hon. Gentleman’s constituent’s family in that terrible case. I do agree, and those are points I will come on to. Identifying vulnerable users is vital; some will already be known to the communications providers, but the list of vulnerable customers is further expanded by data-sharing agreeme…”

“The hon. Lady is, of course, right. My constituency is not quite as rural as hers, but it is true that, while it sounds great when people talk about reaching 95%, 97% or 98% of households, hon. Members in this Chamber represent the 2%, the 3%, and the 5%, and we absolutely need a robust, reliable solution for them as w…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that we need to find robust solutions.”