Speeches by Smith.

“Q Are you effectively saying that if you put the customer first, which is ultimately what this entire piece of legislation is trying to do, then, at the moment, other regulations will stop that from happening, so we might want to look at that? Dale Critchley: Yes.”

“Q This builds on something that was mentioned in the previous panel by Age UK—that a lot of the education that will need to be done to ensure that people understand what is going on, particularly with the small pots consolidation, could fall on Government, charities or providers. As pension provider representatives, wh…”

“Q Are there not going to be too many hoops to jump through to prove that the trustee is correct, if they have to prove it to a regulator? I suppose that is what the safe harbour means. Will the trustees have the benefit of the doubt, or are they going to have to be watertight in their belief that they are right, to mak…”

“Q Obviously, a big part of the Bill is the assumption that mandation is a good idea. I would be interested to know to what extent you agree with the Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey, that mandating pension scheme investments is not appropriate? Charlotte Clark: Following on from Zoe and Rob—I think they have art…”

“Yes, but the local authorities that have combined authority mayors are in the north. That is not the ones that are down in the south-west.”

“I was going to bring this in much later, and I may well come back to it if I feel that there are more angles to explore. Ultimately, you have just talked extensively about long-term national interest and about the need for a pipeline for key infrastructure projects. You listed all the ones we always hear about in the n…”

“There is no doubt that that is what happened, and that is welcome. On what Lord Hendy and you are saying, Alex, it is the reassurance needed that should something happen that is unexpected, the money is there. They are monitoring the cliffs because of climate change, and something extraordinary could happen that is not…”

“Both the Secretary of State in her statement last week and you, Lord Hendy, have said that Network North was not funded because there was no money. In the same answer you have just talked about HS2 2a, which was very clearly what the last Government said was going to fund Network North. Help me to understand how HS2 2a…”

“It is a chicken and egg situation, though. Ultimately some of them could get that long-term funding.”

“On GBR and the national plan, and having a national framework and strategy, I am interested in your reflections a year in on how that is going to work with local government reorganisation where, particularly in the bus sphere, we are offering local authorities more control, whereas the creation of GBR feels like it is …”

“Further to that line of questioning, we are interested to know whether the schemes that have been halted are effectively first in line for reconsideration when funding becomes available.”

“Pushing on this further, can you explain how the Department arrived at which schemes it would prioritise and how in future it will determine which of the paused schemes will be prioritised going forward as well?”

“Drilling down a little bit more if I may, and then we can move on, you have said several sometimes, Lord Hendy, that they have been looked at under the framework of “growth, jobs and homes”. Bringing it to a local perspective, Plymouth has been announced as a defence hub. It has had billions of pounds invested over the…”

“Mid Cornwall Metro has nothing to do with the scheme. It is ultimately a central Government-funded defence investment. With all due respect, we have heard that the Government are apparently better than the previous one because everything is being joined up and transport is central, but ultimately they have just given b…”

“I will follow up and write.”

“It is my understanding that South Hams district council is in an arguably more sound fiscal position than the neighbouring Plymouth city council. What can the Secretary of State say to reassure me that local government reorganisation will not mimic either a forced marriage or a bad marriage where the fiscally prudent o…”

“17. What progress he has made on publishing a tracking dashboard for the plan for change metrics.”

“The Government are clearly very happy to claim that all is rosy after their first year in power, yet on the ground in my constituency and around the country, the opposite story is being told. The Government’s policies are hitting my constituents hard—whether it is the impact of increased national insurance contribution…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, but I am really disappointed that the TavyRail scheme has received a red light. We have heard quite a lot about the investment in Devon and Somerset. The Government are delivering a huge amount of investment in Plymouth, which is welcome, but without a rail link between…”

“It has been a privilege to hear so many well-informed and considered speeches this evening. I am sure we would all agree that there is clearly significant expertise in the Chamber. The heart of this Bill is people doing the right thing by preparing for their future and saving into their pension pots. With auto-enrolmen…”