Speeches by Egan.

“Our undersea cables are critical to the economy, public services and social order in this country. Given the hostile activity undertaken—the surveying of our cables—can Ministers give assurances that the full needs of our Navy will be reflected in the strategic defence review, so that we can defend our homeland securit…”

“Finally, in your latest annual report and accounts you assessed the risk of there being a “failure to identify and implement effective measures to reduce work-related ill health” as likely to be major. Why is that assessment so negative and what are you doing to address that problem?”

“I want to ask a follow-up to Gill’s question, but before I do, I have appreciated doing the research before this session. I am a newish MP and it has opened my mind to extent of the work that the Health and Safety Executive does and the impact that you have had. You have said already that you are always thinking about …”

“Have there been any studies into the impact on people’s mental health in working from home and the ability or right to switch off?”

“During covid, assessments for personal independence payments were moved either online or to over the phone. Today less than 5% of those assessments have returned to face-to-face, so what assessment have Ministers made of that change and are there any links with the rise in fraud?”

“I will move on to a question about the “Get Britain Working” White Paper. What can we expect to see by this time next year, particularly in terms of what a customer can expect to change?”

“This April the state pension will increase by £470 a year, and over the course of this Parliament it will increase by up to £1,900, benefiting millions of pensioners. Does the Prime Minister agree that means-testing the state pension would do severe harm, and will he confirm that this Government will always protect the…”

“Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 29 January.”

“Can I ask about the PIP assessments? My understanding is that, before covid, they were face to face but are now overwhelmingly virtual. I think that in October 2024 just 2% were done face to face. Is that having an impact?”

“We all know about the increase in the number of people on health-related benefits, and that is projected to increase further. The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee did a short study, and as part of that there is a UK household longitudinal survey. That says that although health benefits have gone up, there is n…”

“It must be a blessing.”

“I have been twice to my local jobcentre in the last few weeks. The first time was a general visit, but I went back a second time because the work coaches were keen for me to come in. They were talking about fraud—I was speaking to women who had been working at the jobcentre, one for 45 years and one for 41 years—and sa…”

“The BBC has a responsibility to share content that licence fee payers can trust, yet the Asserson report found widespread evidence of bias in the BBC’s reporting of the Israel-Hamas war, which, from what I can see, continues. What representations have been made to the BBC and Ofcom to ensure that impartiality is upheld…”

“I, too, thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement, particularly his words about how we break out of the cycles of violence, which many of us worry will be replicated in future, and move towards a peaceful future. This is a bitter-sweet deal, in many ways, because the reality is that overnight we have seen Hamas put…”

“The BBC has a responsibility to share content that licence fee payers can trust, yet the Asserson report found widespread evidence of bias in the BBC’s reporting of the Israel-Hamas war, which, from what I can see, continues. What representations have been made to the BBC and Ofcom to ensure that impartiality is upheld…”

“Turkey has increasingly been threatening interventions beyond Syria. It has given shelter to Hamas and has announced a new programme to develop long-range weapons. As a fellow NATO ally, how will the Government work with Ankara to secure peace and stability in the middle east?”

“I am going to ask some questions that are focused on the work of the JCP psychologists with the work coaches. You have talked a bit about that already. What role do they have in ensuring the wellbeing side of the work coaches so they get involved in the occupational side?”

“The previous chief psychologist said that he was involved with helping DWP to develop improved guidance for frontline staff. How involved are you with the development of safeguarding policy for frontline staff? Can you point to any specific examples?”

“The work psychologists mainly focus on the customers, which makes sense. John asked about the success that they have in identifying people. How is the the success of getting people into work monitored and would you describe their work as being successful?”

“That is really nice. Does that mean that we do not have a way, or can a way be developed, where we can quantify how successful that programme, the investment in those 85 work psychologists is? A slight follow-up to that, given you are talking about the supply issues of the number of graduates coming through. In the fut…”