Speeches by Kirkham.

“You are the ones who have to call them out, are you not? You are the ones who tell them that there is a pollution incident, so it is up to you to report.”

“Thank you for coming. Please excuse my pronunciation if I get the names of places wrong; I am from Cornwall, not the north-west. The BBC reported on untreated sewage being released at Wallasey pumping station, which is within an SSSI by the Mersey, but the event was downgraded and the EA did not attend. The “Panorama” …”

“I welcome the support in this statement, and the fact that 300,000 houses will be insulated in the next year. Does the Minister agree that the only long-term solution that will lead to energy security is our clean power plan? It will be good for areas like mine. The Confederation of British Industry pointed out yesterd…”

“Falmouth is to have a banking hub. We are losing our last bank; Lloyds is going at the end of the year. The interesting thing about that is that the banking hub will be open 9 to 5, five days a week—and potentially even more—whereas the banks were very slowly cutting their opening hours after covid, and it was hard to …”

“I was on the Bill Committee and I have followed the Bill throughout, mainly because I represent Truro and Falmouth, which has huge potential to benefit from floating offshore wind, with Falmouth docks and our position in the Celtic sea. If the build-out in the Celtic sea is done quickly and done well, our young people …”

“Does the Minister agree that, after the real neglect of our energy infrastructure for the past 14 years, setting up GB Energy to help UK ownership of energy production can only be a good thing, and that our investment in critical minerals, particularly in Cornwall, and in the supply chain for floating offshore wind wil…”

“As the Minister pointed out earlier, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service has taken a prominent role in protecting our subsea infrastructure. I welcome the settlement of the RFA pay dispute. Will that help the Minister to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis that saw numbers of RFA seafarers fall by 30% under the p…”

“The Crown Estate has started to consult, and is publishing plans before it takes decisions about where to put floating offshore wind stations, for example. Can the Minister assure us that that will be the case in the future, and that when the Crown Estate is planning to build out in the ocean, there will be consultatio…”

“As my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay partially explained, there is an issue relating to, for example, the Celtic sea, where the Crown Estate has great interest in floating offshore wind. That lies between Wales, Cornwall and the south-west, so where would the line be drawn? It would open up a huge nu…”

“The Crown Estate, until now, has made decisions on the leasing of the seabed based mainly on price and cost and nothing else. This Bill will change that by asking commissioners to “keep under review the impact of their activities on…sustainable development”. Amendment 1 simply clarifies “sustainable development” and sl…”

“I will ask this now, but it is probably a question more for later. You talk about the BCP not being at Dover. That was a DEFRA decision, obviously. Do you have any idea what the rationale was for moving it 22 miles inland and if, at some point, that could be changed or reversed? How difficult would that be?”

“In your opinion, it sounds like, from either the personal or commercial route, the unintentional non-compliance is very small; mainly it is intentional. Would you agree, Helen?”

“To move on, we are getting a picture that there is a lot of intentionally illegal meat coming in, in what appears to be ever‑increasing quantities through Dover, and that is incredibly concerning. My part of the questioning is to look at unintentional non‑compliance. It seems to me, from what you are sayi…”

“I am not an expert. What I am getting is that you are there all the time. You have a lot of other things to do. This is not the top of your list. The port health authority are the specialists, but they are not really there very much, and so all you can do, when they are not there, is detain. It is not your specialism. …”

“You talked earlier about DEFRA sharing intelligence with you, so if it is not that, what sort of intelligence is it that they are sharing?”

“4. What steps her Department is taking to support female offenders.”

“Gaie Delap, the mother of a constituent of mine, was recalled to prison just before Christmas, despite complying with her curfew conditions, because the Government’s electronic monitoring services contractor could not fulfil its contract and find a tag to fit a frail 78-year-old woman. Can the Minister and the Secretar…”

“From murals on beachside walks to a thriving Cornish film industry, and from a town-council-owned art gallery, theatre and library, to live music, including the biggest international shanty festival in the world, during which the population of Falmouth triples, we are blessed with the creative arts in Truro and Falmout…”

“15. What steps he is taking to reform public procurement.”

“I am so pleased to hear about the national procurement policy statement next month. As well as encouraging buying British, there are huge opportunities to use procurement to encourage growth and local supply chains, such as in floating offshore wind in Cornwall, as well as in other industries. Will the Minister confirm…”