Speeches by Paul.

“Q The Bill sets out that it should be brought into force within two years. If the intention is to provide assisted dying through the NHS, can the NHS be ready in time to deliver the service equitably and safely? What needs to be deprioritised in order for it do to so? Professor Whitty: As we have seen in covid, the NHS…”

“Q In terms of the data showing that palliative care has not improved as quickly in locations that offer assisted dying, can you offer us any further insight into why that may be? What should the Committee be thinking about, in relation to the Bill, to safeguard against that happening? I think we all agree that we do no…”

“Q My questions are to Alex Ruck Keene. Thank you for your written evidence, which I read with great interest. I have two questions for you. This follows on nicely from the discussion we have just had. Is there any risk that if the terminal illness definition were to remain in the Bill, it could be challenged under the …”

“Q My question is to Dr Sarah Cox. What do you think will be the impact on palliative care of introducing assisted dying? Dr Cox: Professor Ahmedzai has talked about the evidence, which was written up to 10 years ago. There is actually more recent evidence, looking at the last 10 years, where European countries and Amer…”

“Q What would a more sustainable model of funding for palliative care look like?”

“Yes, the 5,400. That is really, really helpful. Thank you. Effectively, the SDS40 and some of the other measures reduce the shortfall in capacity by roughly 7,000.”

“It went up, but just not to the maximum. It did not go up to 113,000, which is the maximum.”

“That is helpful. Thank you. Just linking back to the previous hearing we had where we talked about the significant remand population, the number you gave us at that hearing was 17,600, so it is actually 20% of the prison population. I am not going to go over old ground that we went over before, but I am interested in s…”

“It is really nice to see you again, Dame Antonia. I wanted to move on and talk a little bit about the capacity shortfall numbers. I was hoping you could help me to understand the numbers in the first instance, because that would be really helpful for the Committee. I can see from paragraph 3.5 in the NAO Report that by…”

“No, absolutely. Do you have any thoughts on how long SDS40 is going to need to continue in order to allow you to manage the very challenging situation that you have at the moment?”

“I fully appreciate the challenge you are under with that, because, as I said at the beginning, 20% of the prison population are on remand. That is a really, really difficult thing to manage. I appreciate you obviously did not make the decisions around the court sitting days, but I am interested in what the capacity sho…”

“It is relevant in terms of understanding the capacity shortfall.”

“I obviously do not expect you to have that number to hand.”

“You would not want the court sitting days to go up to 113,000. Is that what you are saying? It would not work.”

“No, I am trying to understand whether, if you moved to the optimal amount of sitting days, it is more than what we are currently sitting. That is the question, because you said at the time it was 106,000.”

“It is interesting to get a different perspective, because there has been evidence given recently at another Select Committee on this. I will not labour the point and I will move on. I appreciate that you have had to use various emergency measures. You brought in Operation Safeguard and Operation Early Dawn in order to …”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s clarification on the timing of the new Sutton specialist hospital, which will serve my constituency. I am really pleased that the project is going ahead, although the delay is disappointing. The current situation at Epsom and St Helier university hospitals NHS trust is not sustainable…”

“My hon. Friend raises an important point about unintended consequences. Does she agree that it is important we consider our key workers, such as NHS staff and police, who rely on accommodation tied to their employment? With the abolition of assured shorthold tenancies, it is important to ensure that provisions are ther…”

“That works out as 770 people. That is 770 people who have families, who have potentially lost their livelihoods as a result of this. There is the whole human impact.”

“This is my last point. I have found this really eye-opening, I have to say. I am thinking about what it would be like if I were in a position where I were accused of something, and what might I do. I have children, I have another life. Is there a risk, when the reality is that you could end up in prison for six months …”