Speeches by Platt.

“T4. Social enterprises contribute 3.4% of GDP, and towns such as Leigh and Atherton benefit greatly from them. Will the Minister outline what the Department is doing to support social enterprise and co-operatives so they can contribute to the growth agenda in the UK?”

“Last but not least, Mr Speaker. The mass grouping of these questions on this subject proves the failure of the previous Government to get a grip on this particular issue. Can the Minister reassure me, and SMEs such as WJ Structures and Rothwells Paper in my constituency, that this Government will take steps to simplify…”

“May I draw the House’s attention to my position as chair of the all-party groups on long covid and on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)? In recognition of International Women’s Day, I wish to draw attention to the significant gender disparity in the impact of chronic illnesses. Given the gravity of the issue, will the Lea…”

“20. What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement.”

“I thank the Minister and his Department for today’s announcement and for the commitment to Leigh in the plan for neighbourhoods. As he knows, Leigh is home to some amazing community organisations and businesses that are working hard to improve our area, but they have been doing it alone for too long. Today’s cash boost…”

“Thank you for attending this inquiry. I want to explore what the aims of physical education should be. I am interested as a mum whose children are now older but partook of some amazing activities that were provided by school and knowing the merits of that, and also as a previous athlete. I gave that up at 15, but I und…”

“That was a good answer. Can I have a really short answer to this next question? Alistair, when delivering sport to children, should there be more of a focus on enjoyment and fun over learning technical skills that obviously put children off?”

“To the athletes, starting with Montell: how important is choice to young people, and did you have enough choice for sports in and outside of school?”

“I like that. We need to understand why I gave up at 15 and did not continue. Academics have identified that current PE favours children who are already technically able. Another question for Ali: what changes do we need to foster more positive relationships between children and sports?”

“I will follow on from that, because this is a real bugbear of mine. Where we have some of our more challenging areas locally and funding is supplied to provide provision, I feel it is a missed opportunity if, say, there is six weeks of funding for an activity and then it goes. For me, that is not good enough. What are …”

“From the community world and from sports, how do we make it fun for children to be included?”

“Although Leigh and Atherton are a part of Greater Manchester, they are also close neighbours of Warrington and St Helens. The road network designed around our factories and mills now struggles with the increasing amount of traffic and congestion. Will the Leader of the House commit to holding a debate about improving p…”

“First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) on securing the debate. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) for all the hard work he does for our coalfield communities. My now older children groan whenever I mention the industrial revoluti…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. One in 15 residents in Greater Manchester faces gambling harms—that is one and a half times the national average—and recent research reveals that the Wigan borough has the highest referral rate to specialist gambling services in the region. We have heard the…”

“Jay, how wide should the scope of a statutory deposit scheme be, and should it include online content?”

“Thank you for attending this morning. I am going to go back to screen heritage and the fantastic trip we had, where we conducted a roundtable. It was really important to follow on from the predecessor Committee and its findings, and to discuss the challenges and concerns. This first question is to Ben: what would be th…”

“How effective do you think that ScreenSkills is as an industry-wide skills body?”

“Similarly, independent cinema argues that the exhibition has historically been ignored with public funding for skills and development. Just 2.6% of ScreenSkills funding has supported skills in the exhibition sector. How can Government address that?”

“I want to continue on the skills challenges, but more industry-specific—this follows on from what you were saying. We visited the archives and learned that there is no formal training for film archivists in the UK, at either apprenticeship or degree level. That is a huge problem for that particular industry. The indust…”

“This last question is to you Ben. The BFI had its own screen strategy, but that expired in 2022. You have referred to it in a few of the other questions. What are the gaps in support for the archives that you would want to see if—and when—developing this new strategy?”