Speeches by Milne.

“You have answered one of my questions about certainty in the future.”

“Thank you. That is reasonable. Looking ahead, what role do you see for the support fund from April 2026? We have had seven rounds. Are you committed to continuing or is ending the fund under consideration?”

“We were talking about the household support fund a little earlier and variable allocations across the country. Do you have any data on how effectively the fund was used to target people needing support, for example people just above the pension credit threshold?”

“That was useful. Thank you.”

“Danny has just asked most of the questions I was about to ask. Going back to the taper question you were answering, I know you do not want to say in advance what you will do, but could you lay out for us perhaps what the pro and cons are, the arguments for and against, without saying which side of the equation you will…”

“Moving on slightly, one of the suggested changes for the criteria is through the tax system. What work have you done with HMRC to assess the practicality of recouping the payment from higher rate taxpayers, as happens with child benefit?”

“Anecdotally, a lot of people who say that they do not need it say that they gave it to charity or some other use.”

“In your replies so far you have already made it clear that you are not in favour of restoring universal access. Those who argue in favour of it say, “Yes, it has misses—it goes to some people who have no need of it—but on the other hand it gets all the hits. It is 100% guaranteed to reach all the people who do need it.…”

“My constituent has been through no fewer than eight Justice Secretaries, looking for a solution to the problem of locked child trust funds; he has had to start over again each time from scratch. Will the Minister give me and Mr Turner a clear understanding of what exactly the legal impediment is to a solution, and of w…”

“4. When the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services plans to meet the hon. Member for Horsham’s constituent Andrew Turner to discuss locked child trust funds.”

“For many years, rural bus services have been dying a slow death by a thousand cuts. In my constituency of Horsham, we have lost about a third of our services since 2010, and funding has fallen by as much as 43% in some areas. This is how it works: we cut the timetable, which means fewer people use the service, so we cu…”

“Since being elected to represent Horsham, I have been approached by many residents facing impossible prices for urgent dental treatment. Annie is 67 and caring for a husband with terminal bowel cancer. You would think that she has enough things to worry about, but given the state of dental services in the Horsham area,…”

“Over the last six months, I have visited most of the schools in my constituency, and the message I am getting loud and clear is that they are on the brink, especially over special educational needs and disabilities provision. That threatens to throw into sharp reverse any progress on educational standards. I ask the Go…”

“As you say, a cliff edge. In Scotland, the Government have taken a different course. They have a £100 payment, which partially mitigates. Can you see any contrast or difference between the impact in Scotland and the rest of the UK?”

“Focusing particularly on the winter fuel payment, which is back in the news—if it ever fully left it—what do you feel the impact has been of the decision to drastically reduce access? Simon, do you want to start?”

“You will have heard in the previous panel we were talking about winter fuel payment reduction and access. What assessment has the energy industry made of this and, for example, do you know how many pensioners in fuel poverty are now missing out?”

“One final point, what steps do you think are needed and by who to address the pension credit slippage, which we have talked about a lot as well, which is a big issue where just a few pounds over the threshold and you miss out not just on winter fuel payment but all the other passported benefits.”

“You slightly anticipated my next question. In terms of being able to access DWP data, has that been easy, can it be improved?”

“What steps so far have industry providers taken to identify and target support of people?”

“The Department chose not to make a full impact assessment prior to this decision. Do you think there is a case for evaluating the impact now for future policy? If so, what would you expect it to look at? For example, should it include wider impacts, such as on health and social care services, and how could it practical…”