Speeches by Edwards.

“Thank you. I think we would be interested even in advance of the publication if you could provide us with an overview of the public appointments for the last year since that 2023-24 report.”

“Moving on to the annual report, we were expecting to be able to question you about the 2024-25 report at this session but unfortunately that has not been published yet. Can you explain for us why that is the case?”

“You discussed earlier the Government accepting a recommendation to publish the list of appointments the Prime Minister has an interest in. The involvement of the Prime Minister in an appointment process was cited as one of the main factors that extended the length of campaigns. Do you think this change will address tha…”

“It is helpful to know what other changes you think will have more of an impact. Is there anything that the Government are not doing or have not made a commitment to do that you think they should consider to improve the timeliness?”

“T3. I understand that the 1,000 careers advisers the Government committed to introduce will now sit within jobcentres. Will the Minister outline how the Department will work with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that improving careers advice in schools remains a priority? Reaching children in primary scho…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) for securing the debate. As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for skills, careers and employment, I have chaired several evidence sessions over the last year of a skill…”

“Brambletree wharf in Borstal in my constituency has been blighted by an illegal tip for years. A council enforcement notice recently expired without the site being cleared, yet I have recently been informed that unfortunately the Environment Agency will not be prosecuting those responsible but will instead leave it to …”

“Obviously, we hope the split works well, but we need to plan for if it does not. Have you given thought to what would happen if there was a conflict between the national statistician and the permanent secretary? An example could be that the permanent secretary was making decisions about how things were being run at the…”

“Thank you for coming along. I will ask first about broader board effectiveness. You are recruiting a new chair of the UKSA at the moment. Throughout the inquiry, many of us thought numerous times: what were the UKSA board doing at particular points in time? Do you have any plans for a broader review of the board’s effe…”

“Review after review has been clear that good statistics require improvements in the way that data is shared across Government. I think our predecessor Committee in a former inquiry found that Whitehall is quite bad at sharing data, because it lacks the incentives to do so. The Cabinet Office was the lead Department on …”

“This is a question for Cat. You mentioned earlier in your comments that you will be taking on a line management role for the national statistician. What specifically is that going to involve?”

“Looking at the job description for the national statistician, it did not seem to make reference to the UKSA board, which is where we understand that the legal duties sit, rather than with yourself. How do you see that working in practice?”

“In terms of your engagement with the interim national statistician, how often have you met since she agreed to take on the role?”

“That makes it clear that you need a strong chair and a strong, effective board in that case.”

“We have spent quite a bit of time talking about whether the data-led approach to mission government can be delivered within the funding envelope. Something that has concerned me quite considerably about the ONS’s recent performance is the deterioration in the labour market statistics, and certain institutions—the Bank …”

“Are the results of that effectiveness review shared with the Cabinet Office?”

“Do you know when the last one was done?”

“Are those annual board effectiveness reviews done independently?”

“Given that SUVs, which are generally larger, higher cars and have LED lights, now make up more than half of new cars sold in the UK and demand is growing, does the Minister agree that it is critical that the Government address this issue urgently?”

“From my hon. Friend’s research, how concerned is he about the role that increasing glare from headlights could be playing in increasing social isolation? A lot of my older constituents say they are quite frightened about going out at night, particularly in winter as the nights are drawing in, which leaves them feeling …”