Speeches by Payne.

“I have one final question, which is for Sarah. Each year, in the provisional local government finance settlement, there is an envelope set out by the Minister and then there is a consultation period. Each Government Department holds consultations. However, for your Government Department, the trust and partnerships with…”

“We touched a little bit on prevention earlier, and Nico, you were just talking about it a bit more. From 2016-17 to 2023-24, spending on the NHS has gone up 20% in real terms. Over the same period, spending on public health—largely prevention—is down more than 10% in real terms. If you take that as an example, the ques…”

“That is very helpful, Conrad. Historically, as I think the Heseltine report pointed out, central Government tends to be focused on function rather than place. If I may, and without being critical of the Treasury, the Treasury has probably come into criticism for that historically. Do you recognise there is a need to sh…”

“Thank you, Sarah. That is very helpful. Conrad, is there recognition in the Treasury of the crucial role that local government plays in delivering Government’s missions? I declared an interest at the start of today’s session as somebody who spent 14 years as a county councillor and was a deputy leader responsible for f…”

“I think you would accept, as people who work in local government, that a good state relies on having good local government, but anybody walking around their local community sees that their leisure centres have closed in recent years and that the roads they drive on are full of potholes. They see the additional litter a…”

“Q Thank you both for sharing your experience and expertise with us this morning. It is estimated that there was about £5.4 billion-worth of fraud and error in temporary covid-19 schemes that were not run by HMRC. You will know that this is an area of significant public interest. The Public Accounts Committee said: “It …”

“Q There has been some discussion today about the use of technology and AI. As Ministers, what are you doing to ensure that humans still take the final decisions on whether the powers should lead to enforcement? Andrew Western: As it relates to the DWP—I do not know whether you want to say anything about the PFSA powers…”

“Q Throughout the previous witness sessions, there have been questions about concerns with respect to training for PSFA enforcement officers. I wondered whether you wanted to say anything more than you have already to the Committee about training for enforcement officers. Mark Cheeseman: I will come back to what I said …”

“Q Thank you for being with us, Mr Cheeseman. The National Audit Office put the amount of fraud and error outside the tax and benefits system at between £5 billion and £30 billion in 2023-24 alone. I wondered what your assessment, and the PSFA’s, is of the quantum of fraud against the public sector. Will you share a bit…”

“I would like to declare an interest as a member of both Nottinghamshire county council and Gedling borough council, which are both responsible for administering benefits.”

“Permanent secretary, you have mentioned the clean energy mission of the Government a couple of times throughout today’s session, alongside your colleagues. As energy bills continue to rise, the constituents of Members across the House are asking what makes up the total cost of their energy bill. Ofgem published a table…”

“If I may, Chair, I will return to this point about vulnerable customers, which Ms Dixon was just asking about. The Department has a commitment around data matching and data sharing with other Departments. As of last autumn, the Government’s figures showed that 880,000 pensioners were not in receipt of pension credit bu…”

“Thank you.”

“If I may press the point, permanent secretary, I think we were originally anticipating hearing a plan around that, taking into consideration the points that you have made that Ministers were considering in 2024. Obviously, we have had a general election and you have a new set of Ministers. What is the timescale for tha…”

“Permanent secretary, you talked earlier about some of the possible key drivers around the costs of electricity and gas. My question is about the rebalancing of costs of electricity and gas. You made reference to the UK’s reliance on natural gas and also the limited gas storage capacity in the UK. Chris O’Shea, the grou…”

“If I may press on this point, Mr Mills, you anticipate seeing, in the near future, the 43% of people’s energy bills that is aligned to the wholesale energy cost that you referenced declining, and the 11% that is made up of Government social and environmental policies increasing. Am I understanding you clearly?”

“I associate myself with the remarks of my right hon. Friend the Minister on the tragic loss of Harvey Willgoose, and extend my deepest condolences to his family. I also thank Chief Constable Kate Meynell and all her police officers and staff at Nottinghamshire police for the important and heroic work they do for the co…”

“Michael Payne, Labour MP for Gedling.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) for securing this debate ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December. With his background as the head of policy for the National AIDS Trust, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertis…”

“If I may, just on this point about potholes, the NAO Report shows that 31.6% of the capital allocations from DfT last year alone were specifically on the pothole fund. I have seen with my own eyes—I am sure that this happens around the country—this money being spent and literally poured down the drain. This is valuable…”