Speeches by Newbury.

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“As the father of five-year-old, I know at first hand how important indoor play facilities are. Providers in Cannock Chase, such as the Beach Hut in Norton Canes and the Kids Rule Play Cafe in Cannock, have written to me asking for consideration for a sector-specific VAT reduction and the opportunity to shape the reform…”

“Finally, on that point, when you are talking to farmers do you get the impression that the fear of an outbreak and, perhaps, the thought that support will not be there is weighing on them as much as when an outbreak does happen? Is the fear of it just as bad?”

“You will be aware, as we are, that DEFRA recently announced it is investing £208 million to set up a new national biosecurity centre, which it says will modernise the Animal and Plant Health Agency facilities at Weybridge. We have heard, as a Committee, that Weybridge needs billions of pounds of investment; some of its…”

“Richard, do you agree that Dover is the priority, but that the investment at Weybridge is not adequate either?”

“One thing we are hearing loud and clear is that we cannot have single points of failure when it comes to disease outbreak, biosecurity and preparedness. On the point of partnership with industry, on behalf of your members, have either of you yet had the opportunity to feed into the process of creating this national bio…”

“Finally, on that point, when you are talking to farmers do you get the impression that the fear of an outbreak and, perhaps, the thought that support will not be there is weighing on them as much as when an outbreak does happen? Is the fear of it just as bad?”

“9. What steps her Department is taking to support small theatres and performing arts venues.”

“I thank the Minister for that response. In my constituency, formerly represented by the great Jennie Lee, the council-owned theatre and museum are due to close in just two months’ time. Passionate members of our community have come together to form the Cannock Chase Theatre Trust and the Chase Heritage CIC to save thes…”

“T6. Alongside our theatre and museum, which I mentioned earlier, Cannock also has brilliant small music venues, such as The Station, all of which give our budding actors, museum curators and musicians a foot on the ladder. However, we still long for the opportunities that are open to children in other parts of the coun…”

“There were quite a few themes coming out that really portray why that customer satisfaction rate has dropped. I heard about leaks being reported by MPs, but no follow-up received. We heard, as you have touched on, about the buck being passed between Severn Trent and the Highways Authority. In my neck of the woods, it i…”

“There were quite a few themes coming out that really portray why that customer satisfaction rate has dropped. I heard about leaks being reported by MPs, but no follow-up received. We heard, as you have touched on, about the buck being passed between Severn Trent and the Highways Authority. In my neck of the woods, it i…”

“I will absolutely share that with colleagues who have written to me.”

“You cannot deal with every case, so I would just ask you to go away and look at the customer service journey. It does seem like sometimes there are not regular updates.”

“If we are talking about profit before tax and profit after tax, you are paying out more in dividends than you are getting in profit after tax. Are you telling us that you have paid out so much in profit that, once you have paid your tax, which you have to do, you are at a loss because the dividend number is greater tha…”

“If the cost of living is an issue, though, would it not be preferable to keep bills down? Alongside all other water companies, you have asked for enormous increases in customers’ bills. If giving out dividends to customers to help them with the cost of living is part of the consideration, why do you not just lower bill…”

“Can I just touch on a slightly different angle? This is something that was raised with me by a few colleagues. Although you are justifying your remuneration and the dividend based on the company’s performance—it is going up at a certain rate, and you say we should accept that is fair given the performance of the compan…”

“Thank you for coming this morning, Liv. I represent Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, so along with Julia, I am both a representative in your area and a customer, of course. We wanted to pick up questions around this, because I expect that you want to be as open with your customers as you possibly can. You have answered …”

“Can I just touch on a slightly different angle? This is something that was raised with me by a few colleagues. Although you are justifying your remuneration and the dividend based on the company’s performance—it is going up at a certain rate, and you say we should accept that is fair given the performance of the compan…”

“If we are talking about profit before tax and profit after tax, you are paying out more in dividends than you are getting in profit after tax. Are you telling us that you have paid out so much in profit that, once you have paid your tax, which you have to do, you are at a loss because the dividend number is greater tha…”