Speeches by Beales.

“I have one follow-up question about what has been discussed so far, and then I will get to my substantive question. It seems from our discussion today that, after 25 years of discussion about reform—you talked about the Sutherland review of 1999—there still is not consensus on the core question of how to fund the chang…”

“I do not know whether Simon or Kathryn would like to add anything.”

“I hear that as there not being a consensus, but you are looking for decision making. I respect that. My reading of the situation is that there has been a request for Louise Casey to come up with the groundwork to take those decisions. One of the things that struck me early in your presentation was that you talked about…”

“I welcome the Government’s commitment to a new armed forces covenant. Will the provisions apply to local councils, so that we see Conservative Hillingdon council end its unfair parking charges on military personnel and their families in service accommodation—an issue that was raised with me recently when the Secretary …”

“8. What steps he is taking to improve support for veterans.”

“T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

“Recent investigations have shown that a lack of investment in drainage infrastructure has contributed to significant flooding in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. How will water companies including Thames Water be held to account where their lack of investment blights communities through repeated flooding?”

“I think this has been outlined in a response to the Committee.”

“I am conscious of time and that colleagues will want to get in. I think this is an important point. The Committee heard from a group of lesser-heard or seldom-heard voices—traditionally one would have said “hard to reach”, but they were not hard to reach and they were incredibly engaged and passionate about contributin…”

“That is a welcome change that I was going to come to. The second shift, which I hope you will also agree with, is that what we have seen traditionally is that, despite a lack of capital investment to meet need, capital was still being unspent—although some of it was raided because of revenue pressures. Can you assure u…”

“Hello Secretary of State. On that point about enabling transformation, we heard compellingly from Darzi, regarding his review, about how far the NHS has slipped behind European averages for capital investment, and how the secondary and primary care infrastructure is holding back efficiency gains. There is £22 billion, …”

“Let me turn to that specifically, Secretary of State. For that statement to be true, the under-represented groups will have to be addressed in a meaningful way. We have heard from, for instance, the RCPCH a concern about under-representation of children and young people. The portal is only available if you are 16-plus.…”

“When launching the consultation, you said that the 10-year plan “will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it.” With the consultation so far, are you confident that that commitment will be kept?”

“One of the challenges to that point is that NICE care guidelines are not implemented. You speak to anyone—fundamental, basic care standards are not implemented, time and again. There is huge variability in care. I am sure that there are good reasons for that and challenges.”

“I suppose that would only be if the data is captured on whether the NICE processes are implemented. That is the point: if we are not measuring or collecting that data, you would not know, necessarily, that one practice in an area offers a very low level of its patients a foot check, for example, which is a NICE care st…”

“That is really helpful. My final question is about the role of patient and peer review in accountability and dealing with variability at primary care level. How could patient voice and patient experience be used? Patient participation groups seem in some places to be a genuine engagement tool, but many are not particul…”

“I was going to ask about the investment standard, but it sounds overwhelmingly like you are in favour of an investment standard for primary care, general practice or a combination, so I will take a different tack. Beccy, you mentioned the frustration with QOF. There seems to be endless discussion about the adequacy of …”

“Sorry to challenge you on that, but if you are living with diabetes or a heart condition, would your local circumstances mean that you should not have a care plan or preventive education?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for opening the debate on this important petition. Fireworks have many positives, and we have heard a number of them already. Many of our earliest memories are related to the times that we come …”

“It is almost as if my hon. Friend had a copy of my speech, because I am just about to turn to that point; I might speak to my researcher, in case he has been leaking my emails. My hon. Friend makes an important point. It must be said that the public displays of fireworks that many of us were used to are now often a thi…”