Speeches by Sullivan.

“Last month I attended a celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the reopening of Bathgate railway station in 1986, as part of efforts to regenerate the local economy. More than 80 passenger trains now travel through Bathgate railway station every day between Edinburgh and Glasgow, playing an important role in suppo…”

“As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on endometriosis, I thank the ministerial team and my honourable Friend in the other place, Baroness Merron, for the focus that they have placed on that condition in the strategy, and for putting women’s voices front and centre; too often, they have been ignored. I also com…”

“Good morning, Minister. We heard just last month that the Government have announced plans to trial bill discounts for consumers in areas with high network constraints, but there has not been much detail on that as yet. Can you tell us how that will work in practice?”

“Okay. We know that constraint costs reached £1.8 billion last year—an eye-watering sum that, as you say, could be put to better use in bringing down consumer bills. How much of a reduction in those costs do you expect from consumer flexibility and giving the consumer more control?”

“Years of under-investment and the loss of major employers have left Whitburn and Blackburn facing deep economic and health inequalities, weakened high streets and people generally feeling left behind, yet the strength of local organisations and businesses shows great ambition for renewal. With £20 million of Pride in P…”

“I have one final question, Minister. COP26 in Glasgow, in 2021, was perhaps the halcyon day of political consensus around the need to move towards clean power and energy independence. A key part of that was the role of renewable energy. What efforts are you making to bring back that consensus, which has fragmented, per…”

“Yes, I think I read yesterday about maybe doing your washing when it is sunny and windy outside, so a lot of this will be about behavioural change. I am sure you will appreciate that a lot of the language about some of this stuff can be quite opaque to the average person on the street, so will there be some work to giv…”

“5. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues through the Pride in Place programme to support regeneration in Scotland.”

“I am aware that the trial will be only in certain parts of the country to start with. How narrowly defined will the local discount areas be, and what criteria will determine which communities qualify?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for speaking with such compassion and insight, and for sharing Leah’s journey—one I am afraid many will recognise. I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on endometriosis, which is launc…”

“What barriers do you think exist to prevent companies from fully complying? It is my belief, from what we have heard earlier, that there has not been full compliance and that is what caused some of the issues.”

“What actions do you think are needed to overcome many of these challenges?”

“To what extent do you believe that providers are adhering to the guidance? It seems quite retrospective at the moment.”

“I will reframe the question slightly. Who does this well? Who does resilience well? Which other countries?”

“Are there any examples from other jurisdictions where there are particularly effective resilience arrangements in place? Obviously we want to compare like with like, so other jurisdictions that have similar geographies and challenges.”

“Has some of that best practice been shared here in the UK and taken forward? We have heard very much about the learning points from what happened last year here. Clearly there will be examples from elsewhere. I think it is incumbent on all providers not just to learn the lessons, but to look ahead and anticipate any fu…”

“Thank you, Mr Smith?”

“You said that the guidance has driven real-world improvements. It seems to me, from what I have heard this morning and in other sessions, that what has driven some improvement, particularly in terms of resilience, is the fallout from the damage to subsea cables and the failures in the resilience from some providers. Wo…”

“The thing that I am struggling to get my head around is that although this guidance was already in place, it seems as if resilience was not given the consideration that it merited, particularly for our island communities. We have already heard that other providers were able to have contracts in place that allowed them …”

“I understand that Shetland Telecom was able to make the switch. Regardless, it does not detract from your responsibilities under the Ofcom guidance. Do you have any comment you would wish to make on that?”