Speeches by Scrogham.

“The Minister will know how proud we in Barrow are to be building our world-class nuclear submarines. Working in the shipyard requires security clearance, which is provided by UKSV. However, some of my constituents have lost job offers due to the significant delays in receiving clearance. That has a severe impact on tho…”

“Confusingly, I am going to talk about the workforce, because what you said earlier about over-recruiting and over-training is something that I felt was unique to Barrow and Furness, with that massive uplift in numbers in the shipyard putting pressure on all the other businesses in the area. For anybody with skillsets i…”

“On bringing people to live in the area, we went through that model after we had lost 10,000 jobs. Those people did not hang around to wait for another job to pop up when the Government decided, “Oh, actually, we do need these submarines.” We have seen people come into the area but commute back to their home towns. The …”

“My favourite subject—thank you. We have just touched on some of the issues around delivery, the communities that are building the submarines and the resilience in them. Most of us in this room will know what happened in Barrow when we delayed those decisions and very nearly lost the ability to produce our own nuclear s…”

“Mr Timms?”

“To go back to the security arrangements, you started with slippage, Steve, or the need to make sure that we start on time and do not slip. We know we have a skills shortage, and we cannot get security clearance for staff. When we are trying to recruit, how much is it going to impact our workforce if we cannot speed up …”

“Do you think the potential for SMEs to contribute to developing pillar 2 capabilities has been fully recognised?”

“What do you think they could do better?”

“If they have not fully recognised and harnessed the SMEs in what we have developed in pillar 2, what should they be doing? What would you like to see more of?”

“Moving on to industry engagement, how effective is the Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum, and how do you think Government and industry engagement on AUKUS, both within the UK and across the trilateral, could be improved?”

“I would go directly to that decision about the ICU level 3. If we lose levels 1 and 2, and do not have the services for those families that you want to live here to have their babies here—if we lose maternity and A&E—what does that do to the national endeavour?”

“I welcome the pride in place funding announcement and, in particular, the £20 million that has been allocated to Barrow Central ward in Barrow-in-Furness. It is one of the most deprived in the whole country, and it is refreshing to see that under this Labour Government, we are delivering to those who were left behind b…”

“I am the MP for Barrow and Furness. We have a huge interest economically in what happens with the nuclear deterrent: we build the submarines. I have been critical in the past of the amount of engagement we have with the wider public nationally. Locally, people understand what we are building and they are very proud of …”

“Touching on what Jesse Norman said about “up to 12”, what are your views on how business and industry work with that? I know that when working in business, the definitives are always easier. Do you think that industry can cope working with an “up to” number?”

“A huge part of Team Barrow is the Government understanding that we need to pull all those different levers to make it deliverable. You hit the nail on the head when you talked about the wider aspect. It is not just about whether the shipyard itself can build the infrastructure and the submarine; it is about bringing in…”

“Do you have anything to add, Sophia?”

“What do you think are the risks and opportunities for the UK of the planned rotational deployment of the Astute class out of Australia?”

“Are you saying, “Put the ideas on the table that we want them to work on, and back them with the funding”? The whole idea within business tends to be, “We need clarity. We need to be able to have a decision before we can move.” That has obviously been a long-term issue in the submarine programme, with the lack of clari…”

“I agree that we have spoken mostly about job creation and putting money into the economy—we understand that very clearly in Barrow and Furness. Nationally, the message about what AUKUS delivers to counter the deeper threat is not really out there. On pillar 2, we have had criticism of the Government for not engaging wi…”

“This Government are resetting the relationship between those who serve and those who served. The Government’s response to the Defence Committee’s inquiry into the armed forces covenant was positive. Will the Minister provide an update on the work that is being to strengthen the covenant?”