Speeches by Cocking.

“I am Lewis Cocking, the MP for Broxbourne and a Hertfordshire county councillor.”

“When are we going to get the list of the next tranche of councils that are going to go through this? You have done your initial tranche. They are working on their plans. You have written out to everyone else to say, “We want to hear all the options you have”. When is the next round likely to be announced of councils th…”

“That does not make sense. You have done your priority programme, so you wrote out to people and said, “Do you want to join the priority programme?” Lots of people wrote in and you picked six, so some of those people did not make it on there. When everyone you have written out to submits their next letter, including the…”

“That is not true, is it? The priority programme is not just about mayoral, because the ones that are in the priority programme are doing local government reorganisation as well. You cannot say that the priority programme is just about having a mayor.”

“I draw the Committee’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a local councillor. The Minister proposes to increase fees, but from my understanding they will not go to full cost recovery. Will he set out why they are taking a leapfrog approach and not going to full cost recovery, if th…”

“We need to produce more energy at home from renewables and oil and gas, as we need a diverse energy mix in the UK. That will help us to deal with the volatile global energy markets. When will the Government change course and support the UK’s oil and gas industry, including the cluster based in north-east Scotland, and …”

“I want to talk about how we got to the figure of 500,000. When you were coming up with this proposal within the Department, was that figure of 500,000 in there from the start or did the Department have a different figure in there, but when it got to the Treasury they said, “No, you are not having that. We are changing …”

“You are already adding confusion, are you not?”

“Are councils that have done well to keep their council tax low and keep money in residents’ pockets being unfairly punished by still having to deal with all these cost increases while their council tax base is low?”

“Can I ask a follow-up question about bidding? We have had lots of bidding pots that the last Government did. For example, my local authority of Broxbourne got levelling-up money. The Government then took a different approach with the UK shared prosperity fund, where each council got £1 million or thereabouts. I am not …”

“I am going to talk about the national insurance increase on local government. Council tax can be raised by 2.99%, or a fiver if you are in the lowest quartile. Usually, over the last couple of years, inflation has been above what that brings into local councils. What will the impact of the new employer national insuran…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne.”

“We must bring migration numbers down. They have simply been far too high for far too long. My constituents say that to me loud and clear, and I completely agree with them. Unfortunately, despite the Home Secretary’s words, I am not convinced that the Bill will go far enough. The Government have ignored the National Cri…”

“The Home Secretary mentions asylum hotels. The Government have actually opened more asylum hotels since they have been in office. Can she give us a date when she will have met her manifesto commitment to close the last asylum hotel?”

“3. What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on SEND provision. [R]”

“I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Hertfordshire currently receives the third lowest SEND funding in the country, despite the number of children in the county with education, health and care plans growing by 223% in the last decade. What steps is the Minister taking w…”

“Lewis Cocking, Broxbourne.”

“In the scenario you have just given, he can get the right to vote if he becomes a British citizen; is that correct? In effect, you are misleading us a bit because it is his choice. There is a choice available to him. If he wants to become a British citizen and get the privilege to vote, he can do that. He is choosing n…”

“You do agree though that becoming a British citizen is a real privilege?”

“We received terrible news from AstraZeneca over the weekend. It is businesses across the country, such as those in my constituency of Broxbourne, that create economic growth, not the Government. The Government have increased red tape and employer’s national insurance contributions. Can the Minister outline how he is pr…”