Speeches by Smith.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I thank and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) on securing this important debate. It is the second on this topic today, but it puts a particular focus on the support that the Government should be providing. I a…”

“In the summer of 2001, on a University of Southampton history field trip to the east end of London—part of the course “The Making of Englishness” on changing notions of British and English national identity in relation to issues of race, ethnicity and immigration from 1840 to the present day—Professor Tony Kushner, who…”

“Given that HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are reportedly being sold to another navy for a figure that could well undervalue previous spends on refits and maintenance, how does the Minister justify the economic impact of their sale on Plymouth and Devonport dockyard, let alone the reduction in amphibious capability in the N…”

“2. What his plans are for the disposal of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.”

“T6. The Government have a long-standing position that they do not engage with the Muslim Council of Britain, so why did the Minister for Social Security and Disability decide to breach collective responsibility to attend a recent dinner hosted by the MCB?”

“It is a pleasure to wind up this important debate on behalf of the official Opposition. It has been a really interesting debate, with some strong views expressed by Members from all parties, and the disagreements did not necessarily come from where we might have been expected. In fact, it seems the official Opposition …”

“I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. I think that all of us in this Chamber will agree that having a post office within these banking hubs is vital. We have seen 76 hubs open across the country in the last few years. Clearly, there is an appetite and a need for them, but it does not make sense to the public, a…”

“In September 2021, Plymstock post office closed. It was part of the collateral damage of the closure by Morrisons of more than 80 newsagents. It was a legitimate business decision no doubt, but it highlights the issue of the post office franchise model. Those businesses just disappeared from the high street. What follo…”

“The community of Plymstock in my constituency saw its main post office close in September 2021, when Morrisons closed more than 80 of its newsagents across the country; the post offices were essentially collateral damage. Despite the best efforts of the community, my predecessor and councillors—including me, at the tim…”

“11. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Post Office closures on local communities.”

“Where you have local authorities that have lower ratings, what do you do specifically to help them improve?”

“If you want a good example, I would be very happy to welcome you to my constituency, because we have been working for years on trying to get everyone joined up. We have some good examples of what needs to change and what has worked well.”

“What will happen before devolution happens? We had this conversation last week. It could be three or four years before CLAs exist in certain areas. Do people just carry on regardless, as if nothing has changed until it changes as far as what they are doing with you is concerned?”

“What is your role in ensuring that individual local authorities take opportunities to develop and deliver sufficient schemes to increase active travel in their area? I suppose you can flip it on its head. How can they best get what they need to do what they want to deliver in their local area through you?”

“How have capability ratings for local authorities influenced your decision making?”

“That then leads me really well into the question that I was supposed to ask. How have capability ratings for local authorities influenced ATE’s decision making? What are you doing to assist local authorities with low ratings?”

“On the back of what you said about the percentage of funding that you have compared to Highways England, do you think there would be value in an equivalent of National Highways for cycling so that there is almost an equal footing?”

“I knew that was happening.”

“Can I come back? In response to that, one of the challenges you have—we had this when we were talking about railways last week—is that we already have the big combined authorities, but the vast majority of councils do not have those. As a local politician I have brought officers together to talk to each other across th…”

“Sorry. Following Alex’s question, particularly on the urban fringe and boundary issue, how do you seek actively to work where there is a changing responsibility? I am thinking of one brilliant example. One local authority has a brilliantly laid cycle path that becomes the responsibility of another where it turns into a…”