Speeches by Ellis.

“Like many of my colleagues today, I am truly exhausted by the cynicism of the culture wars around this topic. I hope we can focus on how we make any changes work practically. Does the Minister agree that all of us in this House should be mindful that human beings are affected by every comment we make on this matter, an…”

“How concerned are you that shortages in the workforce may negatively impact the Government’s ability to achieve their house building targets?”

“Great. I appreciate that you are still working on this, but can you tell me a bit about the criteria and experience you have looked for when appointing members of that panel, and whether their role will be purely advisory, or will the Government have to accept their recommendations?”

“You said “very soon”; could you give us more of an indication of when you expect the independent panel to be appointed?”

“To build on the theme of how we move forward safely and efficiently, we heard concerns from stakeholders about the lack of resource in the building control sector. Can you tell me a bit about how you are planning to ensure that enough building controllers and surveyors can be recruited across the sector?”

“I am Maya Ellis, the Member of Parliament for Ribble Valley.”

“I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this debate. When I became a new parent, I was shocked to my core to see in my communities, both in person and online, the extent to which relationships between new parents can suddenly descend into coercive control, gaslighting, financial abuse a…”

“May I first thank the Secretary of State for visiting Preston last week to attend this year’s convention of the north? It was a fantastic event and reinvigorated the case for northern investment to be a key determinant in Government decisions. In that vein, can the Minister outline what conversations are being held wit…”

“Looking broadly at this country at the moment, we know that political and democratic engagement is quite low. Unitarisation and devolution should be aiming to re-engage people more with government, to have more faith in what it can do and to improve it, so I will ask a few questions around unitarisation. Particularly i…”

“Building on that, there was a mention in the White Paper about a local government workforce development group. I just wondered whether you could give a bit more of an update or detail on where that is up to. I am particularly interested in whether that is just around those tiers of local government. This is one of the …”

“Essentially, if there are competing priorities, you will judge based on how well they meet each of those criteria.”

“You would say that those are the three criteria.”

“I have one more specific question going back to unitarisation and how you make decisions locally. I will be putting you on the spot, so if you cannot answer now I would appreciate a response on this in writing. Where councils in a local area cannot come to a single consensus in terms of a proposal for reorganisation or…”

“Is there anything that you are trying to bed in, though, to the process over the next year where the decisions are being made about how areas reorganise where you expect local councils to engage locally? Is it in your judgment that actually that is for the councillors to decide?”

“How do you make sure that you do not fall back into grant funding and that those local growth plans do not just become another application into a national pot for innovation funding, for example, that people have to bid on based on how good their local growth plan is?”

“My question is building on that. Where is your current thinking? Taking innovation funding for example, I think that there are lots of people who would argue that, historically, in the last 10 years a lot of the innovation funding has gone directly to the combined authorities because it is a bit of a shortcut and an ea…”

“Like many of my colleagues, I found that this year’s National Apprenticeship Week really brought to life the amazing work being done by businesses, organisations and students across my constituency. Listening to many of the comments from across the House about how we need to improve the culture and perception around te…”

“While all the plumbing that we have been discussing is really important, I am moving on to questions now about how we actually make the most of the opportunity of strategic authorities going forward. Some of the witnesses we have heard from on the subjects have raised concerns about the lack of agility and flexibility …”

“I am Maya Ellis. I am the MP for Ribble Valley in Lancashire.”

“Given that 70% of youth services investment has been slashed since 2010, does my hon. and learned Friend agree that we need to provide opportunities, aside from school, where children can interact before taking away one of the few places that they have to spend time with their peers?”