Speeches by Milne.

“Thank you. We are tight on time. Any other comments?”

“You also say that we need to be radical. Are there specific areas that you have in mind? Would it be changing the curriculum?”

“You have not been in touch with me! No, that’s not true—carry on.”

“Professor Ertl, as has been mentioned, Germany has a very good track record on this, but the German dual system is deeply embedded and has more than 100 years of history behind it. In the absence of that history, what can the UK learn from it? Is there anything that we can realistically emulate?”

“Have you gone about building cross-party support?”

“Dr Erickson, can I turn to you?”

“Dr Erickson, you mentioned the high cost of an apprenticeship in the UK compared with other countries. Why are costs so high here? There is an obvious question alongside that: is there a way to bring them down?”

“Ultimately, you will publish your report, but what do you see as the next course of action? What will happen afterwards?”

“Is that something that they are not doing now that they used to do, or has the need changed?”

“These are things separate from national insurance and so on—you are going beyond that.”

“There are lots of different systems around the world. What countries do you think have the most effective systems of vocational education and training, and what makes them so effective? Perhaps I could turn first to you, Dr Miranda.”

“I will throw open my final question. In England, apprenticeships historically have a more negative image compared with a university education, which is always assumed to be the superior route. What can we do to change that image?”

“You said that your report would be “unafraid to shine a light on uncomfortable truths.” What uncomfortable truths have you uncovered?”

“The CIL rules manage to be too inflexible and too vague at the same time. My constituent Ruth has had to pay a £38,000 CIL charge because unfortunately her husband did not submit the correct forms, as a result of what turned out to be Alzheimer’s. As my hon. Friend said, any potential refund would be technically agains…”

“In my constituency of Horsham, Chess Dynamics, which is part of Cohort, is a world-leading developer of counter-drone and air defence technology—exactly the capabilities that we need. Yet Chess, like much of the defence industry, has been kept on hold since last year, awaiting clarity on the defence investment plan. Wi…”

“4. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the effectiveness of the defence industrial strategy.”

“My disabled constituent Joanne was holding down a good job, but delays in Access to Work resulted in her not receiving the necessary support to stay in it. The Government’s new “right to try” initiative is a positive move, but will the Minister commit to resourcing vital support services like Access to Work, and to eli…”

“On the specific issue of powers, do you think you have enough powers from Government?”

“We have been talking a lot about the challenges of youth employment, but you do not actually have a specific priority around young people. How does increasing youth employment, education and training fit within your priorities?”

“Good morning. I have a couple of questions. The first is: what do you think your main achievements have been in your first 10 months? It is perhaps a little unkind to ask you that after only 10 months. Going forward, what do you see as your main challenges for the future, and do you think that you are reasonably equipp…”