Speeches by Jones.

“To what extent will recent changes to the Green Book, such as the social value featuring more strongly, improve the chances of projects like Shetland’s tunnels being approved?”

“Mr Sloan, you have said that political will and Government backing are key challenges to building fixed links in the UK. Do you see this as more of a constraint in Scotland than in other countries you have worked in? If so, can you tell us why?”

“According to a CBI report published in 2025, the contribution of the wood panel industry to the UK economy was £1.1 billion gross value added. Given that significant contribution, will my right hon. Friend make time for a debate on how the Government’s industrial strategy will support the UK timber and wood sector, inc…”

“I am proud that this Government are backing British industry, from ceramics to British steel, in today’s announcement. Will my right hon. Friend look at possible measures to support the UK wood and timber sector? It is facing challenges such as price volatility, rising costs, supply chain pressures and missed targets f…”

“Does the Minister agree that expanding the use of home-grown timber in construction and manufacturing would not only support UK forestry and small businesses, but strengthen supply chain resilience and reduce our reliance on imports, which currently make up 80% of the timber we use? What specific measures will the Gove…”

“Does the right hon. Member agree that there should be a national SEND programme for armed forces children throughout the United Kingdom to support them in changing schools so often?”

“Just picking up on your point, Chair, in regards to contracts and what customers might expect the providers to do during periods of outage, is it possible that each of you can provide the Committee with contracts that were live during the dates of the outages just to help the Committee members understand and see for th…”

“Can you give me some examples of what a fine might look like for a communications company in an instance such as the outage from the subsea cable failures?”

“When you are exploring that topic, would you involve the communities in that resilience plan and guidance, rather than it just being a UK-wide issue?”

“Just as a general comment, we have seen in the media how well Faroe Islands do this: 5G connectivity 150 metres below sea level and subsea tunnels. It must be frustrating for islanders in rural communities here in the UK that they cannot get that connectivity because of climate events, storms, heat or whatever. To what…”

“Another point that was mentioned was the legal obligations. I would be interested to know if any communications companies were fined by Ofcom for failing to fulfil their legal obligations to their customers following the outage periods.”

“Sorry, I did not hear Ms Davidson’s number from your company, the customers that left following both outages, and similarly with Mr Smith. Could I just have the numbers, please?”

“Yes.”

“Would you agree that there is a greater role for Ofcom to play in order to ensure rural communities are adequately considered?”

“It is really just a statement, rather than a supplementary, in response to the point about how nobody knew about the £10 million match funding. I have the letter here from the Ministry of Defence, Scotland Office, to the First Minister, and it is to request £10 million match funding. It is clearly written within that l…”

“It is 12 March. It was the date of the announcement. Thank you.”

“It was asked by my colleague and has been answered by Mr Donoghue.”

“We have briefly touched on this but I am going to ask the question nevertheless. Ms Mander and Mr Johnston, does the scale and design of the UK Government’s warm homes plan align with what you think is needed to reduce energy bills and improve energy efficiency?”

“Would you be able to send that to the Clerks after the session?”

“Given rising network costs, will consumers feel the benefit of the UK Government’s £150 bills cut announced in the autumn Budget?”