Speeches by Buckley.

“Are they from the council? Where are they based? Are they a volunteer?”

“I would like to talk about the important role of community organisations. Mr French, what has helped your community to come together to prepare for flooding? What kinds of support or partnerships have made the biggest difference?”

“To be clear, Ms Connor, if only 40 people had come forward, what would have happened to them? Would they have got a grant?”

“Ms Connor, you mentioned that you organised a public meeting to find 50 other flooded homes in order to access the grant. Could you explain that, in case the others are not aware? What would have happened to your grant if 49 other homes had not been found?”

“When will the review conclude?”

“I have a small follow-up on your remarks about the resilience measures and the fact that you are feeding into the review at the moment. We have some examples in Shrewsbury, where residents applied for a grant and got planning permission for flood doors, but they have to go through the framework of contractors, so they …”

“I declare an interest: Siobhan Connor is known to me as a very active constituent in Shrewsbury.”

“Thank you. That is really helpful.”

“We heard in a previous panel, on another day, about other types of impact, such as social impacts. You might have a village with one shop or one school, and that whole village then becomes isolated through lack of access to public transport. Do you think that that is another criterion?”

“It has taken you a long time to answer that question. You can understand people’s frustration. Even you took a long time to get to the bottom of who is responsible, who we should contact and who does what, because it is incredibly complicated. That is what residents are telling us every day. We need to tidy that up. My…”

“There is water in my home. There is some coming from a drain and there is some coming from the river next to my home. Who do I call first?”

“I know. I am asking you, as the expert, whether I should call the Environment Agency the next time that happens. Who should I contact?”

“My question is who is responsible.”

“What do you think, Ms Foley?”

“Will the Leader of the House join me in welcoming tomorrow’s launch of the national celebration called Love Your Local Market? It is a two-week campaign where markets upload their details to a map, and we can promote their businesses, food and culture as a key driver of local economic growth, such as my fabulous indoor…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) for securing this important debate. As the Member for Shrewsbury, flooding is always a priority for me, as it is for my residents, businesses and local services, because our historic town is encircl…”

“Excellent. Thank you.”

“Can I press you on that? I am conscious of the time. Do you have any particular recommendation about how we could help smaller sites if they are struggling with the costs?”

“On the issue of cost, Mr Spearing, could you tell us the financial implications of BNG for developers, and how they are responding?”

“That is a very positive reply. We sometimes hear that this is called a tax on developers. What do you think, Mr Duncan? Is BNG a tax? How do you factor in the price?”