Speeches by Campbell-Savours.

“If I could pick up on that last point with Ms Wright, I have read in various places that there needs to be scope for some local variation, but to be honest, I am not quite clear I have any examples in my mind of what that local variation looks like. I know this might be something that Councillor Boughton wants to pick …”

“I believe the LGA guidance is that councils should consider doing that, so to not adopt it in full is within the scope of what the LGA envisaged. These are not people making a Frankenstein’s monster; this is something that you have promoted as the LGA.”

“Just to clarify, you mentioned that in some instances councils had adopted the LGA’s model code of conduct, but not in full because they had made their own amendments. Do they all relate to this issue of scale?”

“Yes.”

“It is something that came out of the much earlier reforms, and a question as to whether we should return to it. Should failure to declare pecuniary interests be a criminal offence?”

“That was a sanction under the old regime, was it not?”

“I just wondered if we could drill into that last point a little further, in terms of what constitutes personal and what constitutes people working in their capacity as a councillor. I have witnessed a situation where what I consider to be a fairly libellous post was posted online, by a councillor, talking about the inn…”

“I have indeed.”

“I should just add that he was cleared by the adjudication panel at the end of that investigation.”

“In terms of carrying out investigations, potentially sanctioning, if there is sanctioning available?”

“Are whistleblowing rules sufficient? I come into this discussion remembering a councillor by the name of Paul Dimoldenberg, who was pushed through a standards system after calling out the Westminster city council on its failure to get money back following the famous gerrymandering case. There was a huge injustice in th…”

“I have a question for the whole panel, and I say this as a former parish councillor, town councillor, district councillor and unitary authority councillor. I am frustrated that the system does not have any sanctions. A system with teeth is what everybody seems to want. Is there not a risk that when we give it teeth, mo…”

“Thank you. To the Minister, will this country be required to comply with EU regulations on plant protection products—pesticides and herbicides—or mycotoxin levels that have been devised, without considering UK scientific evidence or the unique climate conditions? Some may have concerns that they are not appropriate for…”

“Does Hermione want to come in on that point?”

“So expectations management. What should we expect to see published in advance of the negotiations?”

“How soon will the scope of the SPS negotiations be known and published?”

“If I were to bump into a member of the EFRA Committee in the corridor later on and they wanted to know how they could scrutinise the “trade-off decisions” that you described, what is the best way for them to do that?”

“I would like to return to the issue of the SPS agreement, and in particular the role of Parliament. Last year, you told the Committee that on something like the SPS agreement, although DEFRA holds responsibility for the detail of the negotiation, the “ultimate trade-off decisions”—I think those are the words that you u…”

“On that sense of working with the full authority of the Prime Minister, are there lessons for other Departments, where you feel that may be lacking?”

“Minister, you have been in post for about 18 months. Given your responsibilities, what are the advantages and disadvantages of you being based within the Cabinet Office?”