Speeches by McNally.

“Thank you all very much. I am conscious that you have touched on some of the areas I was going to explore further, so I will hand back to the Chair.”

“Following on from David’s question, do you consider it appropriate or advantageous to integrate claims for other benefits? Are there any that you would be keen that we focused on in the Department for Work and Pensions or that Government more widely focused on?”

“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. The National Wealth Fund has recently invested £43.5 million in Pulpex Ltd to construct a sustainable packaging facility near Glasgow, which is a welcome move and will support jobs and growth. What further measures are planned to attract similar green industry inve…”

“18. What steps he is taking to help increase levels of international investment in Scotland.”

“Ramesh, do you have anything to add from your perspective as a smaller organisation? How does it differ for you—again, both in terms of weaknesses and strengths?”

“Good morning to you both. Can I ask about the role of devolved Governments and Administrations? In Scotland we have a situation where skills and careers are devolved to the Scottish Government, and we see levels of devolution in Wales and Northern Ireland. The White Paper recognises that there will have to be different…”

“So it is more effective transparency and more effective partnership.”

“I appreciate that. I suppose that leads on nicely to my second question, which is about some of the lessons that can be learned from the practices that have been put in place by devolved Administrations. Could you outline some examples of areas that are working in a good way or areas that are causing concern, which the…”

“Thank you for your perspective.”

“Yes, no problem. Thank you.”

“Good morning to you both. I am grateful to you for outlining some of the relationships that you currently have with Jobcentre Plus. I want to unpack that a little further, because the Committee is keen to get a sense of the effectiveness of the work and engagement that your members have with Jobcentre Plus. Elizabeth, …”

“Thank you very much for that. Finally, in addition to some of those points that you have raised there, would you identify any other areas of risk that you are seeking to mitigate?”

“Good morning. If I can just build on the questions of David a moment ago, the FCA will be responsible for regulating the dashboard operators, and you have highlighted the standards that you have published around operators and what their compliance is going to be. I am conscious of the concerns that were highlighted in …”

“I thank the Minister for updating the House on this troubling matter. The Israeli Government’s decision is contrary to international humanitarian law and clearly undermines such a fragile ceasefire. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been absolutely clear about the right of Palestinians to return ho…”

“I commend my hon. Friend for today’s statement and wholly welcome the up to £20 million for the town of Coatbridge in my constituency. I am grateful to him for taking the time last year to speak to me about the former towns fund. Coatbridge was earmarked for levelling-up funding, but that was put at risk by the previou…”

“As has been replicated across the country, people in Coatbridge and Bellshill have opened their doors to those forced from their homes by Putin’s illegal attack. Public authorities have also stepped up: North Lanarkshire council has provided homes and supported integration for more than 200 Ukrainian families at the Hi…”

“I suppose that is an interesting point about where those services are being provided. One of the challenges that Citizens Advice highlighted around the Help to Claim scheme as it is currently set up is that their advisers can undertake a much more thorough examination about the claimant’s circumstances and provide that…”

“Good morning. I want to pick up on the Help to Claim scheme. In January 2022, the previous Government took their decision around the new contract with Citizens Advice and focusing that on telephone services and digital services. That brought about a fair amount of criticism from a number of organisations and Citizens A…”

“Thank you very much for that. I will move on to talk about that migration from ESA to Universal Credit. Certainly for me, it was a welcome move in the Budget to accelerate that, as is the need to ensure that enhanced support journey for those who require it. You may be aware of evidence to the Committee from the Child …”

“I am conscious of the time. I will finish with this final short point. In evidence to this Committee, one of the areas of concern that CPAG flagged was linked to the discretion to escalate a case at the end of that enhanced support journey and a lack of understanding around the criteria that was used to make such deter…”