Speeches by Newbury.

“There are many people who have extremely difficult jobs under really tough circumstances. But only the water industry seems to need to give people extraordinary payments to be able to commit to a minimal amount of service. I will just finish with this; is it not the case that the worse the state of Thames Water gets, t…”

“It is because they are not executives; that is the only difference I can tell.”

“Ian, you mentioned that pride in the organisation and a feeling that perhaps the good work of Thames is not recognised is an important part of motivation and morale at work for frontline members of staff; it is one of the things keeping them in their job. Why is that not the case for the likes of the CFO? Why do people…”

“Are any of the new staff going to get a retention payment to keep them in their roles?”

“To be honest, if I were a frontline worker at Thames Water I would be very depressed about some things you have said about how people at the top are valued versus people on the frontline.”

“You will be acutely aware, as we are, that we are in a time where customer satisfaction and confidence is probably at an all-time low. So do you think it is appropriate for you to play any part in these discussions, given how that might look?”

“I very much welcome the report, which I look forward to reading in detail. I thank the Committee for all its work on this important matter, and of course the Chair for introducing its many excellent recommendations so comprehensively. There is a lot to go on, but I wish quickly to touch on two points. I declare an inte…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing today’s debate. As others have done, I start by saying that the numbers are stark. By almost every measure, boys are falling behind. By the end of primary school, just 57% of boys meet the expected standard in English and maths, compared…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will come on to many of the issues that he refers to. He represents a community with a demographic that is similar in many ways to my own, so I very much welcome his efforts in this space. In Staffordshire, as across the country, boys are around 50% more likely to be excluded t…”

“Next week is Bees’ Needs Week, a chance to highlight the vital role that pollinators play in our environment and to encourage everybody to get involved to help these essential species. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw Gardening Club on its recent successful open gardens…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier), who is sometimes mistaken for my twin, for opening the debate in a very balanced and fair-minded way. What struck me when I saw the petition was that the petitioners are hitting on so…”

“It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain, for what may be the final time on this Committee. I thank you for guiding us—particularly those of us who are new to the world of Bill Committees—through this process. I would like to speak in favour of the Minister’s approach to clause 38, which, though c…”

“I question the logic of the hon. Member’s statement that the increased cost is £10 per week. He is assuming that somebody travelling two journeys per day buys a single fare each time, but most people who use the bus regularly will invest in day savers, weekly savers, monthly savers or even longer season tickets. Perhap…”

“It is a pleasure to make my first speech in Committee with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain, particularly on a matter as important to the residents of towns and villages in Cannock Chase, which I represent, as socially necessary local services. When I first read the Bill, clause 14 was one of the measures that I was mos…”

“I have just looked at how long floating bus stops have been in use in the UK, and I found that they were first installed in London around 2013. That was clearly under the previous Government, some 12 years ago. I also did a quick search of Hansard to see if the hon. Member had mentioned floating bus stops in the House …”

“As a supporter of The Dad Shift campaign, I wholeheartedly welcome this statement. One of my constituents told me that after the birth of both his children, his wife had complications. The first time around, he was able to take only two weeks off and then had to return to his 40-mile commute, leaving his wife to recove…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and echo the comments of other colleagues: he is being very generous with his time. I thank him for calling this debate and giving us the opportunity to debate the role of parish councils. It is something that we seldom do, but should do a lot more often. In my constituency, an iss…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) not only for leading this statement but for her forensic and passionate scrutiny of water companies as part of this inquiry. It has been a real pleasure to sit with her on the Committee. Whether it is billpayers or citizen scientists, as a Commit…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing today’s debate, particularly during Drowning Prevention Week. I will speak of not just the risks of wild and open-water swimming, but the enormous benefits that it can offer when done safely and responsibly. Specifically, I would like…”

“T2. Whether it is cheap vapes littering our parks and town centres, or fly-tipping blocking country lanes in Norton Canes, my constituents are rightly fed up with waste crime. My local council has had to deal with 1,500 instances of fly-tipping in the past three years, and it is all too often paid for by taxpayers, not…”