Speeches by Dickson.

“Since the big fee hike back in 2022, businesses and consumers have been paying an estimated £150 million to £200 million a year in additional charges. They are quite impatient to see this resolved. Do you have any thoughts about what the timescale for the permanent cap might be, based on all the variables that you have…”

“On the substantive issue itself, you were going to impose an interim cap and then we had the litigation. You then decided to drop the idea of the interim cap. Was that as a result of the litigation or did you reconsider the way that you want to take the whole issue forward in any event?”

“Thank you, Dame Meg. We have noted the High Court judgment from last month. Can I just ask you two questions on that? First, how much time and resource have you, as the PSR, spent on the litigation? Secondly, being part of the FCA, will assistance be given to you and will it be an easier process to challenge big compan…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. We can see by the numbers here how serious it is. I have heard from a number of constituents, as she has, in the situation she describes. Heartbreakingly, one constituent, Collette Reeves, retired at the end of last year to care for her husband who has been diagnosed wit…”

“Just to unpack that a little bit more, what sort of metrics would we be looking to apply to a fair banking Act, to understand whether banks were succeeding and whether we are making real inroads into, for instance, unbanked customers or citizens or other signs of financial inclusion?”

“I pay tribute to the hon. Member for securing the debate and for the great speech she is making. She mentioned the role of buses. There tends to be an assumption made by people outside the south-east that we all have bus networks similar to those in London, but they would not have to go very far from London—to my const…”

“There has been some criticism in the US that some of the Community Reinvestment Act activity is a little bit tick-box, rather than really looking at outcomes for communities. Clearly, we would need to avoid that, would we not?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Anna Gelderd) on her great speech and on securing this debate. On the Government’s spend on transport infrastructure, those present and the Minister may know that I remain a very strong supporter of the lower Thames crossing project, which will, when bui…”

“In my constituency and across Kent we are pleased to be one of the trailblazer areas for the Connect to Work programme, which started under this Government, not the last Government. It gives people personalised support to stay in work and to get jobs in the first place, ensuring that they have a long-term future in the…”

“I am a member of a credit union in south London.”

“Chair, I should add that I am also a member of the Co-op Party.”

“I have a final quick question: was there anything that was not in the Financial Inclusion Strategy, which you would like to see in it, that we should we question the Government on? Are there things that would have supported the building society or the credit union sector that you still wish to see?”

“On the same theme, the Financial Inclusion Strategy says that the community finance sector can serve underserved communities. In my area, I have an excellent credit union, Greenwich and Bexley, which, despite its name, covers Dartford, my constituency. Since its formation, it has helped 17,000 residents. Currently, onl…”

“Obviously, it is a national investment, but these will be quite significant extra elements of investment for a credit union that may be relatively small. Is there enough business acumen in the sector? Mr Glen reminded us that previous efforts did not always go as well as they should have. Can we have certainty or certa…”

“I welcome the statement and the Minister’s great work. Leaseholders and freeholders across my constituency, in places like Greenhithe, Ebbsfleet and Stone, will hugely welcome the cap on ground rents and the rest of the detail on the draft Bill. May I impress on the Minister the need for us to go further on supporting …”

“I thank the Minister for his statement. The pubs in my constituency, from the Growler Stop and Ivy Leaf in Dartford to the Bull in Stone and the Spring River in Ebbsfleet, are the heart of our community. Does the Minister agree that it is crucial that we find ways to protect them as places for people to come together a…”

“Communities in Kent are pleased to see that funding for police next year will be 20% higher than in the final year of the previous Government, with a target for 43 new neighbourhood police officers across the county to police our streets and rebuild community policing after years of neglect. Does the Home Secretary agr…”

“T8. Residents in Dartford regularly tell me that they want every pound of public spending used to best effect. Will the Minister update the House on the progress that is being made on cracking down on fraudsters and ensuring that UK taxpayers get back the money they are owed?”

“I want to ask a couple of questions about loan-to-income flow limits. As you will know, you have recently increased the threshold for mortgage lenders from £100 million to £150 million. Is that enough? Does that really support growth and competitiveness in the marketplace? It only increases the number of lenders by abo…”

“Just returning to the US for a second, we talked about political instability in the US and how things like that leading to issues around tariffs and trade could potentially pose a risk to us. On the aspect of public debt rising that we see in the US, how do you assess that risk to the UK? For instance, is there a possi…”