Speeches by Murphy.

“Moving the conversation on to network upgrades, what will the combined effect be of the presumption of consent for critical national priority projects and the endorsement of the centralised strategic network plan? What is going to be the effect of that presumption of consent?”

“Are you saying that the streamlining has not gone far enough?”

“We heard from the RSPB, which has given us written evidence. It said that the CMP policy could lead developers to override environmental concerns and result in the environmental impacts of developments not receiving enough scrutiny. How do you respond to that?”

“We have been told that the introduction of the critical national priority status has lowered the threshold for developers to gain planning consent. Would you dispute that?”

“In terms of impacts on irreplaceable habitat that cannot be mitigated or avoided, could there now be scenarios where the infrastructure could go ahead because the need and the public interest is so overwhelming?”

“Can I just briefly take you back to onshore wind? Its reintroduction into the NSIP process was very welcome, certainly from my point of view. Could there be any improvement in the guidance that would help avoid the same local opposition that ended up with it being banned in the first place?”

“You think the threshold should be much lower. Do you have a number in mind?”

“Charles, do you have any thoughts on possible changes to guidance and the threshold?”

“Thanks for your answers. I will just ask that guidance question slightly differently. Is there anything that we are doing now or should be doing now that is different from the approach that was taken when the ban was first imposed and that would bring more communities along with us?”

“Just very quickly, the guidance says that the most significant impacts are only going to happen within a close vicinity of the site. Is that true? It is a genuine question. Is it that, if people are impacted because they can see it from a distance, that should not be classified as a significant impact?”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I want to ask the Minister a couple of questions about compulsory purchase and redevelopment and regeneration schemes. A significant regeneration scheme has been proposed in Basingstoke for the communities of South Ham and Buckskin by the housing associa…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I thank the hon. Member for giving way, and apologise to the rest of the Committee—I do not have a quote. Under its new leadership, his party is reflecting on the policies of the previous 14 years, so given that he is making an argument about first-time buyers and SME builders, why did the number of SME builders in the…”

“I acknowledge that this is an important part of the Bill and that some organisations have expressed concerns about the matter. I agree with the hon. Members for North Herefordshire and for Taunton and Wellington pointing out what the OEP has said about this part of the Bill, but we should acknowledge that what the Mini…”

“Thank you, Dr Huq; it is a delight to serve under your chairship. Listeners to the debate have missed out on an entertaining discussion of the procedure of voting on amendments and clauses. I rise to comment briefly to amendment 29. I do not think that anyone on the Government Benches disagrees with the notion that we …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship Mrs Hobhouse. I do not agree that this is the right place to make such an amendment to the Bill, but I agree with the hon. Member for North Herefordshire about chalk streams and I want to put on my record my appreciation for those rare and irreplaceable habitats. In Basing…”

“The Committee should hear exactly what the Minister has said: he and the Government are reflecting on what the OEP has said. It is only seven working days since the OEP sent its letter, so to rush forward with a full response now would be foolhardy. It is right that the Government reflect on it and we should accept the…”

“I rise to speak to clause 50. The Government and the Minister deserve complete praise for their attempt to thread the needle of building more homes while protecting and restoring nature. We must recognise that the system we inherited was failing on both counts. The innovative approach outlined in this part of the Bill,…”

“7. What progress his Department has made on using technology to help increase levels of productivity in the public sector.”

“I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. The Government are rightly focused on driving public sector reforms through the smarter use of technology, and in Basingstoke we have seen what is possible. ICS.AI has already helped Derby city council to save millions of pounds using AI. GemaSecure, another local firm, i…”