Speeches by Turner.

“Will you be updating the airports national policy statement to that effect?”

“I have one final question. What is the earliest date when you think the first flights from a third runway could take off?”

“I recently visited the Royal Orthopaedic hospital in my constituency, which has an outstanding veterans’ care service. Does the Minister agree that it is essential for former and current service personnel in Birmingham and beyond to continue to have access to specialised musculoskeletal rehabilitation services?”

“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. My hon. Friend and I previously both advocated for and represented workers in children’s social care for Unison and the GMB respectively. Does he agree that driving up pay and terms and conditions for those workers is just as important in ch…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) on bringing forward this incredibly important debate and thank her for having the strength to share her experience. She has shone a light on a matter that will resonate with people in every constituency across the country. I rise to raise a related matter…”

“Thank you. Chris, you said earlier that the 50% target was challenging. To push you a little further on that, is it still feasible?”

“I will come back to funding, Chair, but to pick up Graham’s point on the statistics, according to the national travel survey, compared with 10 years ago the number of walking journeys per head has increased, but the number of cycling journeys per head has fallen. You may feel that this question has been answered, becau…”

“Returning to funding, we heard a short while ago that the greatest barrier to achieving a 50% target is resourcing. What is the gap in terms of your current budget?”

“That document set a short-term target to increase the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities undertaken by active travel to 46% by 2025. What is the current, or latest, figure?”

“I think you have touched on this, but do you take a view on the merits of particular types of schemes? I am thinking in particular about bollards on streets that can prevent pavement parking, but which can be hard for some road users to navigate; or floating bus stops, which can be convenient for some cyclists but less…”

“Thank you. Are all of those toolkits in the public domain?”

“Graham, going back to your comments on disability participation and working with local authorities, what does that work look like in practice, and do you monitor disability participation and set targets in that regard?”

“A final question because I am conscious that colleagues may want to come in on this topic. In your role as a statutory consultee, how stretched are you on all the planning applications and other topics you may be asked to take a view on?”

“I won’t speak for others, but I think we understand the importance of long-term certainty and funding. Returning to those in-year budget reductions for ’23-24, is it accurate to boil it down to saying that those projects not proceeding meant that fewer people are now cycling and the 50% target is harder to hit?”

“I see. One thing that has changed perhaps is the budget cuts, which you spoke about. I noted that your last annual report said that operating expenditure had fallen from £258 million in ’22-23 to £146 million, with most of that funding reduction coming from the local authority grants. What were the practical effects of…”

“Almost a decade ago, I had the interesting experience of working for the Labour party on aviation policy and, on Heathrow, the fundamentals have not changed. The exhaustion of that sovereign hub capacity is offshoring our emissions and is a stopper on growth in every part of the country. Does the Chief Secretary agree …”

“Are you still working to the targets as set by the second cycling and walking investment strategy?”

“It is right that in this debate we all champion our local and regional airports, including Birmingham International. However, the reality is that no other airport is a serious rival to the long-haul hub capacity that Heathrow provides, and its exhaustion of that capacity is a block on growth in every region of the UK. …”

“I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Member’s Financial Interests, given my background in the GMB trade union, which represents ambulance workers in the West Midlands ambulance service. Does he agree that during the difficult winter period, ambulance st…”

“As a former official of the GMB shipbuilding and ship repair union, I warmly welcome today’s announcement. Does the Minister agree that an aim of the defence industrial strategy should be to open up opportunities for jobs and apprenticeships to people from disadvantaged communities?”