Speeches by Robertson.

“The backlog of cases in the Isle of Wight coroner service is the worst in the country, causing pain and distress to too many families, some of whom are waiting 800 days to find out what is happening to their loved ones. Will the Minister offer any comment or support to those families, and will she agree to meet me to d…”

“15. What steps her Department is taking to reduce the use of asylum accommodation.”

“The Government may not be buying hotels, but it is filling them up with asylum seekers. The number has gone up in the past year, not down, yet the Government say that they will reduce them to zero by the end of this Parliament. Will the Minister confirm whether the commitment to end the use of asylum hotels by the end …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I rise to talk briefly about floating bus stops and therefore new clause 47. Floating bus stops exist not least to help with the flow of cyclists, and I support that aim, but they present challenges for the safety of pedestrians, particularly those with …”

“I will make a point that I have made before, following on from the shadow Minister’s description of clause 38 as revealing, and of the Bill as transparently not providing funding for anyone. The clause would also be helpful to demonstrate to small local authorities and local authorities that provide over large rural ar…”

“Janet, you have argued for a strategic lead for speech and language and communication in every ICS. How do you see that role working?”

“More broadly, what practical steps could be taken to improve integration in commissioning of speech and language services in early years?”

“What sort of activities could we see if that funding could be used for a lower-age cohort?”

“Janet, I think you said in your submission that the current guidance on family hubs does not allow early language and home learning environment funding to be used to target parents of children younger than two. Jane, you have just referred to going back to the womb. What activity does that prevent hubs from undertaking…”

“Hello. I want to explore how well speech and language services are integrated into wider service provision. What are your experiences delivering speech and language services through family hubs? What factors contribute to how well speech and language support is delivered in this setting? How can we replicate these cond…”

“That is very interesting. Thanks very much.”

“Does the shadow Minister agree that it is slightly ridiculous to expect cyclists to be able to recognise that somebody disabled is seeking to cross a cycle lane? That seems to assume that people with disabilities are instantly recognisable, which is a very old-fashioned view of disability. It is plainly ridiculous to e…”

“I am grateful to the shadow Minister for highlighting the cost risk for local authorities. He referred to the greater risk for small local authorities, of which my own Isle of Wight council is a very good example. It is dwarfed by other transport authorities, and on cost risk alone would be unable to make use of the so…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“It may be tempting to think that the shadow Minister was particularly detailed, lengthy and comprehensive in his earlier contribution, but from where I was sitting, he was all too brief. There were a great range of issues that he failed to address, and I feel it is my role to address them. Before that, I will agree wit…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I was planning to say a few words about amendment 39, but the shadow Minister has really said it: it not necessary to include healthcare services, schools and other educational institutes in the definition. Of course, I agree with the hon. Member for Brigh…”

“I take the hon. Member’s point about joining up buses and trains. As I am on the Committee, might he also include ferries in that analysis?”

“The more I hear the shadow Minister unpicking all these issues, the more it transpires that the whole franchising model that the Bill offers to local authorities is really rather unattractive. Particularly for smaller local authorities, it is complicated, and there is a huge risk that when the new service is implemente…”

“I agree with the hon. Lady, but of course, it is more complex than that. Obviously, a local strategy will and should sit at the heart of any decision making, but there are great challenges in assessing whether a new service is fundamentally having an adverse effect on an existing service. Even approaching it in that wa…”

“On my hon. Friend’s point about rural areas such as his constituency and my constituency on the Isle of Wight, it is difficult to move between towns. On the Isle of Wight, we have a radial system that makes it easy to get in and out of Newport, which sits in the middle of the island, but it is less easy to go anywhere …”