Speeches by Milne.

“I recently met Richard, a publican in my constituency, and he told me the trade had never been so tough. He said: “The truth of the matter is, for the first time I’m thinking I shouldn't have bothered taking the risk of going into business. I should have stayed with the big brewer, taken my salary and relied on my pens…”

“Gatwick is precisely the airport that I was going to raise. It jumped to £10 in very short order, over a couple of years. That is an enormous amount of money for something that takes a couple of minutes. The objective is allegedly to cover the increase of business rates and to fund airport expansion. Does the hon. Memb…”

“We keep hearing that disability spending, and welfare spending in general, is spiralling out of control, but the truth is that, as a percentage of GDP, it has barely moved since the mid-1980s, under Margaret Thatcher—that famous supporter of welfare. Does the hon. Member agree that if we are going to reform welfare, we…”

“We have talked a lot about the BBC’s news output today because clearly that is what is going to interest a room full of politicians most. However, I am glad that we are now focusing a little on the creative output. We have a fantastic creative and cultural industry, which is a major export and one of the jewels of this…”

“Access to the grid for new energy suppliers is patchy across the country, and it leads to an overconcentration of solar farm and battery energy farm applications in unexpected places, such as the village of Cowfold in my constituency. What action will the Government take to ensure a fair distribution of renewable energ…”

“This Government have bent over backwards to not criticise President Trump directly, but that only makes him think he can get away with more and more. If President Trump really does invade Greenland, it is the end of NATO and the end of the special relationship, so will the Foreign Secretary accept that the best way for…”

“T3. Merry Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. In just its first year, biodiversity net gain has helped restore the equivalent of 7,300 football pitches of habitat, leveraged over £320 million of private investment and supported more than 4,400 jobs. However, the Government’s intention to exempt developments und…”

“This feels like some kind of unholy Labour-Conservative alliance to avoid electoral humiliation. At West Sussex county council, the dysfunctional Conservative administration will surely grab the chance to cling on to power for yet another year past its sell-by date. To make sure that any decision to delay is taken for …”

“Perhaps I can direct this to you, Richard. Building trust and employment support is vital. We are talking about a lot of vulnerable people in this group as well. How well do you think Connect to Work is performing? Are there any particular factors that you think have worked well?”

“On the importance of local relationships, in your view, do local authorities and providers have the training and capacity to implement the framework effectively? What additional support might be needed?”

“Richard, as the Shaw Trust was one of the first organisations delivering Connect to Work, what practical challenges have you faced in embedding supported employment principles within local delivery? How are you addressing them?”

“Thank you. Adam, is there anything to briefly add to that?”

“To conclude, I will put a question to Ben and Adam. How effective is IPS—individual placement and support—at getting people into work? How easily can it be scaled up, given how intensive it is and the cost of delivery?”

“You touched on this in your answer, but on the importance of implementation, what is the balance in what makes schemes more likely to succeed? Is it design or implementation?”

“Thank you, Chair. We are under time pressure so I will direct these questions to Becci and Adam. How has employment support for disabled people evolved since the NDDP? It seems to me that there have been a large number of programmes and trials, which suggests that the problem is growing faster than the solution. Do you…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for bringing attention to this important issue. As far as local planning authorities are concerned, what matters is not the national target for housing but the local target as set by the standard…”

“Nicola, do you want to come in?”

“I very much agree with what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the lack of infrastructure provision and with his previous comments on the failure to prioritise brownfield, but does he recognise that all those errors were inherent in the previous system under the Conservative Government? The problem is that they have no…”

“I direct my last question to you, Gareth. In terms of delivery and what has worked so far, what lessons can be drawn about what does and does not work in overcoming hesitancy?”

“My constituent Steve is currently being denied access to justice because he cannot afford to take action against a publicly funded body under Competition and Markets Authority legislation. His only other option is to proceed on a no win, no fee basis. Will the relevant Minister agree to meet me and Steve to discuss pos…”