Speeches by Greenwood.

“I am grateful to the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane) for securing this important debate on the Ely area capacity enhancement programme—EACE. I want to recognise her tireless advocacy on behalf of her constituents, rail passengers and freight operators across the region on a matter that affe…”

“My hon. Friend is a great champion for growth in his constituency and his region. I can assure him that this scheme is in the pipeline of future rail enhancements and will be reconsidered as further funding becomes available.”

“As I am sure the right hon. Gentleman knows, there are a number of considerations that go into making decisions about which schemes go forward.”

“The BCR is, of course, one of the things that is considered, but wider strategic issues are always brought to bear. It is just one of the tests that is considered. I would not for a moment suggest that this scheme does not have a good BCR. Improvements to East Anglia’s rail network will benefit not only local passenger…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that important question. He will know that last year we commissioned groundbreaking independent research to better understand the problems of headlight glare. We are looking at that and considering how we might take it forward, although—as I am sure he knows—the matter is subject to internat…”

“My hon. Friend is a great campaigner for road safety. He is right to raise this tragic case and the growing menace of drug driving. I am proud to tell him that our first drug driving focused THINK! campaign will be launching this coming Monday. If my hon. Friend —or indeed any Members across the House—would like to kno…”

“Rail plays a crucial role in kick-starting economic growth, including by connecting communities through new and reopened stations. In July, the Secretary of State confirmed investment in new stations in the south-west—at Wellington and Cullompton—and in South Wales, as well as the reopening of Haxby station in Yorkshir…”

“My hon. Friend has been a great supporter of her local team’s plan for a new home town stadium. Warwickshire county council will receive £68.7 million through the local transport grant, which local leaders can use to support schemes that are in line with local priorities. The Department will issue guidance later this y…”

“As I am sure the hon. Lady knows, the Railways Bill will shortly come before this House. We will create Great British Railways, which will make our railways much more convenient for people across the country. I am sure that she looks forward to debating that Bill.”

“On 3 November, the Government launched a consultation to inform the development of the third cycling and walking investment strategy—CWIS3. That follows the announcement of £616 million of capital funding for active travel at the spending review, with allocations and details concerning revenue funding to follow in due …”

“Earlier this year, we announced £300 million of funding for active travel for local authorities, supporting the delivery of high-quality pavements across England to enable more people to walk and 20 million new walk-to-school journeys by children and their parents. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that pavements must…”

“We are committed to providing a rail network that delivers reliable connections for people and unlocks growth across the country. In addition to building High Speed 2, we are providing £10.2 billion over the spending review period to enhance the railway, reducing congestion and travel times, and connecting more people …”

“My hon. Friend is a great champion for her community. The Rail Minister has said that he will be happy to meet her to discuss the benefits and challenges of that project. She will know that we have had to prioritise funding during this spending review, and I am afraid that currently none is allocated to this project, b…”

“We have spoken quite a lot in this session about how important it is to ensure that we are training and reskilling the existing workforce. Of course, that is going to be a partnership and a collaboration between Government and employers. The industrial strategy includes that major skills boost, that £1.2 billion extra …”

“We are getting the balance right. As I have set out, there is a huge challenge for our young people in making sure that we are equipping them to have long and fruitful careers. We cannot have a situation where one in seven young people is not in education, employment or training. We really need to change that, but we a…”

“No. Over the course of the last hour, we have talked a lot about the things that we are investing in, in order to upskill our existing workforce. It is just a reprioritisation, in terms of the Skills and Growth Levy funding going into apprenticeships; we are really concerned about young people. It is quite a shocking s…”

“As we look to the future, we know that demands on our transport system are going to only grow. We have a huge shift to zero emission vehicles, the integration of digital technologies and automation. There is a profound transformation going on when it comes to transport, and if we do not get it right on skills, then fra…”

“From my perspective, it is about priorities. We know that there has been a really large decline in the number of young people starting apprenticeships: around 40% down in the last 10 years. Frankly, that is just not acceptable. It is not good enough. We want to reverse that trend, and our decisions reflect that. The fo…”

“I was going to say, from your perspective, it probably is a bit of a work in progress because it is a changing landscape and Skills England is relatively new. I have had the skills within my portfolio for only a relatively short time, but it is really important that we are bringing those insights together and building …”

“Look, I am really glad you have asked me that because building an inclusive workforce is not just the right thing to do, it is a bit of a no-brainer really, is it not? You want to bring in the best talent and get people building long-term careers in the manufacturing sector. If you are not fishing from the widest possi…”