Speeches by Powell.

“I welcome the sanctions against Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, and the coalition that was built to exert maximum pressure. It is very significant, as the Government’s sanctions have been in other contexts around the world relating to human rights, corruption and other issues. Next week’s conference will be critical to, in the …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for sharing those statistics. I think the reality is that the money is there; what we need to do is go building by building and solve the problems. That is where I welcome the Government’s emphasis on devolving some of the decision making, for example, to a London remediation board, which might b…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for making that very valid point. It is good news that the Government have accepted all of Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s recommendations, and I applaud them for taking the time to come back in detail rather than rushing a response. However, it is absolutely vital that timelines are met. The example of …”

“I know that this is one of the biggest teams that the Met police have in operation, and of course it is right that they keep the funding in place until their work comes to fruition. I also agree with my hon. Friend that we must make sure that taxpayers’ money is no longer going to those companies. I hope the Minister c…”

“Obviously, there has been some concern about the US Administration’s recent shift on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Will the Minister assure us that the SFO is looking at the impact of that, where there is international bribery across jurisdictions? I am not expecting a political judgment about whether that is the …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky) on securing this debate on the important work of the SFO in tackling economic crime. The all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption and responsible tax recently met with the Serio…”

“Our main goal is to do it before 11 June.”

“That is a good question. The envelope in the spending review has already been set by the Treasury, so I suspect it would be MHCLG, in terms of the settlement to London and specifically housing. We want a cross-cutting discussion about all these different issues, so we will take the Government’s advice on who is best to…”

“Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Committee. I am bringing forward an application for a debate on London as an engine for growth. This proposal is from a cross-party group of London MPs, and we wish to have it considered before the spending review. We want to look at how we can make London more productive and increase i…”

“As others have said, 14,000 babies are at immediate risk of starvation—this could not be a more serious moment. I welcome the suspension of trade negotiations and the expansion of sanctions. However, with other sanctions designations—on human rights and corruption; on Russia, Georgia, Belarus and others—we have taken t…”

“The reduction to 0.3% will require painful decisions, but there are innovative financing mechanisms on which Britain could lead—for example, increasing special drawing rights, using the exchange equalisation account, guarantees and debt relief. Can the Minister commit to working with the Treasury to look at all these n…”

“7. What steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Kensington and Bayswater constituency.”

“I recently visited the North Kensington jobcentre to learn about its support for young people and discuss the potential for working more closely with our brilliant local college, the North Kensington Centre for Skills, so that people can access opportunities in industries such as trades and housing. Will the Minister o…”

“Minister, you mentioned how to calculate deprivation. As you know, there are a few questions about how to do that in order to deliver the best outcomes, so I will ask a couple of them. One is on the inclusion of housing costs. In some of our big cities, housing costs have accelerated massively. Is your plan to include …”

“Joe Powell, MP for Kensington and Bayswater.”

“In your assessment you mentioned the local audit backlog. Do you anticipate that with the local audit backlog reduced, that will help you with your decision making on EFS?”

“You mentioned there could be things that you discover through the audit process.”

“So your goal, by the end of this Parliament, is to reduce the use of EFS because funding is more sustainable?”

“For how long do you anticipate using EFS?”

“There are some councils that are coming back for multiple rounds of EFS.”