Speeches by Ellis.

“If changes are made around allocating more towards deprivation, what will be the challenges for more affluent areas?”

“From the conversations that you have had—you mentioned speaking to chief execs—is there planning for that? What steps are those more affluent areas looking at taking to deliver that?”

“To build on that question of what is appropriate, and again touching on rural areas, many rural councils face significantly higher costs for home-to-school transport. Could you talk a little bit about how that pressure could be better alleviated?”

“Just to stress-test that a bit, in rural areas the cost of home-to-school transport is around £93 per pupil, which is about 10 times the average in urban city areas. Following the logic, in a means-tested situation, there would be cases in rural areas where the funding would need to be much higher to support some of th…”

“2. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.”

“As the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on babies (pregnancy to age 2), I have had the privilege over the past few months to meet leaders from across society who have incredible passion and energy for Government policy that relates to babies from pregnancy to age two. Will the Leader of the House consider a d…”

“The national conviction rate for domestic abuse cases is woefully low, standing at 4.5%, but the picture is even worse in rural constituencies such as Ribble Valley, where the overall conviction rate is only 3%. What does the Solicitor General regard as the unique challenges in rural areas, and what steps is she taking…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for bravely sharing the devastating story of her friend. I also have a wonderful friend, Sarah, whose daughter was a month old when the covid lockdown hit. She was so worried about breaking lockdown rules that she did not lean on friends and family and ended up having a mental breakdown. Does my …”

“As pointed out earlier council elections take up a greater proportion of the time. Does the prospect of unitarisation of district and county councils across the country carry risks in your opinion for democratic legitimacy?”

“Maya Ellis, Ribble Valley.”

“Can I ask one follow-up on that? Where do you think the discussion needs to sit on what we need to do alongside that? Whether it is education, whether it is community engagement, what needs to sit alongside that to make that a success in terms of voter engagement and participation at that age?”

“This Government are committed to introducing legislation to lower the voting age to 16; Dr Patel, I believe you have recently released a report very much in support of that, saying that it would build a norm of democratic participation. A question to all of you: what would the main impacts and opportunities be of lower…”

“One of the biggest challenges we face at the moment in our political landscape is that the everyday person on the street does not feel engaged or does not know how to engage with our political system. We debated in the previous panel the most effective way to do that. Does it depend on the size of the tier of governmen…”

“It is interesting that we have gone from size to resources and I just wanted to ask for your thoughts on whether there is another angle on this: that it does not matter how big or small; some places are great at engagement and consultation, and some places are not. I just wanted thoughts on that.”

“Just a final specific question on debts and reserves of existing councils and how you think they should be treated when combining councils. The Minister for Local Government has been pushed on this a few times and has not given a clear answer. Where I am, in Lancashire, it is one of those things that actually, if it is…”

“I am Member of Parliament for Ribble Valley in Lancashire.”

“I am MP for Ribble Valley and a parish councillor.”

“I am going to ask the opener that we asked the previous panel: do you believe strategic authorities have currently been provided with enough powers from the Government to achieve full-scale devolution?”

“A major argument in the debate on assisted dying has been about making it accessible to all, rather than only those who can afford to travel to access it. The argument is made about dignity in dying. I struggle to see the fairness, however, in pursuing spend to allow dignity in dying when we struggle to fund dignity in…”

“I will not, if that is all right. Sorry. At the other end of the spectrum, we need to be acutely aware that we are not today expanding overall budgets in the NHS, so what we agree to in this money resolution will put further strain on our already stretched NHS. That means that, for example, St Catherine’s hospice in my…”