Speeches by Cocking.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) for securing this very important debate. In recent years, banking services have been withdrawing from my constituency. Every single high street has seen bank branches close, and w…”

“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point and I completely agree. Now is the time to change the rules and it is up to the Government to step up, be accountable to the electorate they serve and change the rules, rather than hiding behind unaccountable bodies such as Link, which do not determine the rules but just sit in t…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) on securing this important debate. He is a passionate defender of small and medium-sized businesses in his constituency and across the country. I meet small business owners in my c…”

“We have all mentioned a number of businesses that think this Labour Government are taking the wrong direction. Can the Minister list the businesses in his constituency that believe that this Labour Government are taking the right direction for business growth in this country? If he lists the businesses in his constitue…”

“I commend the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), for securing this important debate. I congratulate her on her fair and robust approach to leading the Committee, and every now and again she allows me to ask some difficult questions of Government Ministe…”

“I am MP for Broxbourne and am also a leaseholder.”

“Sorry, can I interrupt you there? I do not want waffle; I just want to know what you have implemented since you have been in charge of the company to make FirstPort better, please.”

“I have a few questions for you, Martin. You became managing director of FirstPort in 2024. What changes have you implemented at the company since you have been in post?”

“Just on communication, are you happy with where it is now in the company then, with residents?”

“I just wanted to come in there, Beth. What information do conveyancing tell people when they are going to buy one of these leasehold properties that has a service charge? What information do you provide to them and how well do you point out the potential charges and all the rest of it to buyers?”

“Hang on, I will come to something else in a minute. You basically say, “We give it all to them. It’s their fault if they don’t know where it is.” But then you succinctly explained about FirstPort and another company charging £390 and what have you. When someone is buying a property, you could really be doing more in th…”

“I just want to go back to something Beth said. I was asking around the conveyancing process and what information you give to the buyer, and you basically said, “We give them a whole load of information, wash our hands, and that—"”

“I have one quick follow-up. You said 94% regret buying leaseholds. Do you think you are doing enough to point out the pitfalls when people buy?”

“I think conveyancing is part of the problem. I do not think you guys are as transparent as that. I do not think you guys in your association will tell people what they need to know when they are buying the property. I can understand that a few people might not know, but I will have whole estates write to me that have g…”

“Houses in multiple occupation throughout Broxbourne—on our high streets in particular—are causing my constituents lots of issues. What will the Minister do to review the powers that my local councils of East Herts and Broxbourne have to stop HMOs where we do not want them?”

“I rise to speak to a number of the amendments before us. I spent a lot of time with colleagues on the Public Bill Committee, and some of the amendments are very good and some are not so good. I will try to rattle through as many as I can. I support new clause 43, which stands in the name of my hon. Friend the Member fo…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and of course I agree. She makes an important point, and I fully support her new clause. I know she is a keen advocate for this provision in her constituency; it is about creating communities. As I have said, this Government are interested only in hitting a national target,…”

“I completely agree with my right hon. Friend. It is really important that we expand the rules to get banking hubs in more locations across the country. Not least of all, my nan does not do online banking. Every time I go and see her, she badgers me about it. She will specifically bank with someone where she can have fa…”

“I commend the hon. Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) for securing this important debate. Like so many places across the country, bank branches have closed at an alarming rate in my constituency. Not so long ago, residents could pop down to a branch of every major high street bank in the towns of Waltham Cross…”

“I have an issue in my constituency down White Stubbs Lane, where we have raw sewage going over the road. The Environment Agency is unaccountable, hardly wanting to meet with MPs or engage. It told me during the purdah period, “We can’t meet with you, because there is a local election going on,” which is absolute nonsen…”