Speeches by Smith.

“The excellent team at Plymouth city council work tirelessly to tackle homelessness, but pressures on the private rented sector in the city, increased because of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, has hindered the supply of permanent move-on accommodation. We know that it does not all need to be social housing and that we ne…”

“T10. What would the Minister say to businesses such as the Rusty Tractor Farm Café in my constituency? It is already paying long-term staff above the minimum wage, and it is now faced with an inflated wage bill, as it has to increase the minimum wage for its young staff, and potentially inexperienced staff, while also …”

“Ben or Sue, is there anything you want to add?”

“I want to ask a question based on what you have said already. It was interesting to hear you mention the business aspect as well. I think I had forgotten that we all use a business interface to buy, and it obviously offers rail tickets and flights. Yesterday, in his winding-up speech, the Minister said that anybody who…”

“Ultimately, there is a double meaning to accessibility, isn’t there? There is access to the actual trains, and then accessibility to the system as a whole. Is that something you think needs to be made more explicit on the face of the Bill?”

“Promoting the needs of disabled passengers is only one of several matters GBR will have to take into account, and we have heard concerns about how accessibility will be prioritised. What guidance do you think will be needed on how to balance these considerations against each other?”

“Do you think that the Government are getting themselves involved in something that they could be leaving to the market? Going back to what Sue said about what the Bill is offering for booking of accessibility, it is offering this amazing landscape, but might we be better off developing what already exists rather than s…”

“You were nodding, Emma. Do you want to briefly add anything?”

“So you are effectively saying that there is a concern that there would almost have to be a second investigation if it went to the ORR, which then slows things down for passengers.”

“The Government’s dithering on grooming gangs has gone on for so long that it is now unlikely that any report into what has happened will be published before the next general election. Does the Minister think that is acceptable, and will she commit to publishing interim findings before the next general election?”

“Do you think the watchdog should have powers to enforce its findings?”

“Would you welcome further powers for the watchdog, so that you are able to take more of that enforcement? The concern is that you will do all the nice “Let’s have a conversation about this and try to solve it and see if it changes” but could then get to a point where you cannot do anything. Do we need to be clearer tha…”

“Do you need more in the Bill, then, to make sure that that does not happen?”

“Do you think that the ORR will be able to enforce things that you cannot, and do you have confidence that it will have sufficient powers to escalate issues that the watchdog is not able to?”

“Looking a little bit more deeply at the ORR, what do you see your relationship with it being under this new system?”

“You are not sure yet what that looks like.”

“It feels as if there is an elephant in the room, which is the National Rail platform. I assume that National Rail is already the national platform, and data is already being shared. Are we perhaps in danger of getting a bit red herringed with the GBR thing? Surely the data sharing that will have to happen for a GBR pla…”

“My actual question comes off that. Do you think that effective provision is being made to ensure that there is a competitive tender process for GBR retail’s back office systems?”

“My right hon. Friend raises an interesting point, which is that the very good conditions that private companies have been forced into by trade unions will end up TUPE-ed across to these state employees and, ultimately, the best conditions will be the ones that get delivered to the most, all in that huge new employer. M…”

“Great Western Railway fares are 2.2 times higher than those of European operators for similar lengths. Rail users in my constituency will be all too familiar with this reality, regularly paying more than £100 for a return ticket to London. Since the Labour Government came into power, we have seen the power of the union…”