Speeches by Caliskan.

“And that is: is that judgment correct, given that we still have a backlog?”

“You can’t have that blank cheque, though.”

“So, fundamentally, the way you do things is broken. You are saying that even if there were not an increase in the number of cases coming through, you would still see an increase in the backlog because of the nature of the cases, which are complicated and take longer.”

“With all due respect, that is what I am asking you and what I am probing—”

“3. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of patient access to primary care services.”

“I thank the Secretary of State for his answer on the critical issue of access to GPs in primary healthcare. My constituency of Barking is woefully under-served by primary healthcare, and especially by GPs. On average, each GP looks after 2,000 patients; the national average is 1,600. In particular, the area of Barking …”

“Just before Christmas, I met care workers in my constituency, who told me about the day-to-day work that they do supporting the most vulnerable people in our community. Does the Secretary of State agree that just as access to GPs helps to relieve pressure on hospitals and A&E departments, an adequate number of adul…”

“But do you accept that if carbon capture is a key component of the Government’s commitment to reducing carbon, and over a 25-year period technology changes and gets better, which inevitably it will, there may be a cost associated with that, and therefore there is a risk that is difficult to calculate and build into the…”

“One in four Barking households is privately renting, which is higher than the national average, and 40% of residents are homeowners, which is 20% below the national average. The number of people in temporary accommodation is through the roof because of the housing crisis. My constituents will welcome the Government’s s…”

“Over time, but initially they may be more expensive, and 25 years is not a long period of time for evolving technology.”

“So the five projects are the pipeline that you refer to over 25 years.”

“And I have a supplementary question about the technology.”

“I will try to be brief. For clarity, Mr Pocklington, when you refer to the whole-life budget, are you referencing the budget of the project or the pipeline of projects?”

“Okay, but the pipeline is open for 25 years.”

“My second question is about the fact that this is a moving field. Technologies evolve almost all the time, and when you are talking about an agreed envelope of money—whether it is from the taxpayer, privately funded or coming through levies—a project plan over such a long period of time is at risk of changing that enve…”

“I welcome the Government’s decision to appoint Dame Margaret Hodge as the anti-corruption champion. She will do important work on illicit trading, not least in relation to drugs in Syria. We must not allow those routes to be a source of resource for violent terrorist groups. On the night when it became clear that the A…”

“That is really helpful. I am sorry to interrupt, but I think we will come on to house building later. I wanted to refer to that £1.8 billion figure, which I know you absolutely recognise is a burden on the public finances, but it is also a burden on local authorities. In most cases, it is the thing that will tip them o…”

“That preventive work had halted or reduced over the last few years, hadn’t it?”

“For context, from somebody who was a council leader, you get the homelessness grant every year and you have some flexibility in how that can be used. It goes into a budget and, broadly speaking, you have to make some choices. You either say, “I’m going to use some of this money to help people to put a deposit down so t…”

“I am interested in what officials think about that point. How can we use taxpayers’ money to help drive up standards through either procurement or other legislative powers?”