Speeches by Smith.

“What are the barriers to simply pooling different funding streams at local level to fund integration? Would dedicated budgets or incentives for integration be a better way of supporting joined-up networks?”

“I suppose the point on parking is that if it is the combined authority that put the lane in, it should have the power to enforce. I want to ask about the integrated national transport strategy. I sat on both the Bus Services Bill Committee and the Railways Bill Committee, and it is very disappointing that the strategy …”

“About 6,200 cases are awaiting justice in the south-west. Sexual offences cases take about 320 days, but local victims and defendants deserve justice. The excellent example of Liverpool Crown court highlights how it is possible to tackle the case backlog and secure justice without impacting defendants’ right to a jury …”

“10. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposed changes to jury trials on the criminal justice system.”

“The new contract has stated that GPs must offer on-the-day appointments for urgent requests—which they already do—and unlimited access during opening hours up to 6.30 pm, with no definition of “urgent”. Katrina, a constituent who messaged me today, said, “This will mean that those with complex needs, like me, will wait…”

“One in 10 women have endometriosis, seriously impacting their ability to work. What plans does the Minister have to ensure that employers have clear guidance about the reasonable adjustments that they should be offering, not just for endometriosis but for all gynaecological issues that impact women’s work?”

“We all agree that it is important to protect our overseas bases and personnel deployed on operations, and that must include Ukraine. Over the weekend, the MOD posted a video on social media from a British-run military repair facility in Ukraine. It has been taken down, reportedly because it revealed the geolocation of …”

“When the Secretary of State and I last met like this, he lauded the roll-out of youth hubs and the introduction of the youth guarantee as the solution to tackling the scale of young people not in education, employment or training. Since then, however, apprenticeship figures have been updated. The latest figures show th…”

“On the South African regiments, does my right hon. Friend agree it is vital that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission continues its work to honour those labourers, as it has done with the recent opening of a memorial in Cape Town—and, soon, in Kenya and Sierra Leone—with a commitment to do whatever it takes to ensure…”

“Does the hon. Member agree that a significant contribution was also made by the 140,000-strong Chinese Labour Corps, ironically enough, who came over from 1916 to do a lot of the work on the front, which then freed up the soldiers to do the fighting?”

“The hon. Member is making a powerful speech. Does he agree that this is where the role of the public engagement co-ordinators at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is so important, as they go out to tell those stories? We have graves right around the country of Indian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh service personnel. Ensu…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) on securing the debate. “Their name liveth for evermore”— Those words are carved on to each stone of remembrance in large Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and memorials right around the world. Today’s debate, ahead of Commonwealth Day on Monday 9…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I rise to speak on behalf of the official Opposition. The draft order that we are debating will allow the Construction Industry Training Board to raise one more year of levy on the construction sector for the specific purpose of funding training. The purpose …”

“The roll-out of free breakfast clubs and the Government’s wider child poverty strategy are supposed to be driven by data, yet the Department does not even hold information on which councils in England have implemented auto-enrolment for free school meals. If the Government do not hold that basic data, which would show …”

“Over the weekend, I heard from families in my constituency whose loved ones—also constituents of mine—are among the 300 service personnel in Bahrain who were within metres of the Iranian missile strike. Given that we have known for some time about the build-up of US forces in the region, why did the activity to decommi…”

“My question is about integration in different areas—urban, suburban and rural—and it leads on from Alex’s, so I am going to pick it up from what Samuel said. One challenge the Committee faces is that a lot of success stories are based in the big cities and it gets difficult when you try to roll them out. I am sure my c…”

“You can’t come to a safe stop; it’s too heavy. I once rode around Hyde Park and then realised that I couldn’t get out of the park. Anyway, that’s too much information. Alex made an interesting point about integration. In a lot of suburban areas or smaller cities, you might have a car park that you can use for free for …”

“That sounds really interesting, in the sense that you have these local authorities coming to you. Do you think there is scope within the integrated transport strategy planning to almost incentivise local authorities to use that data? It strikes me that you are going to have some councils jump on board and others that m…”

“Just briefly on the safety of women, and violence against women and girls, we did a big piece of work in Plymouth on this about three years ago after a couple of really horrific incidents. One of the issues was about people feeling safe on transport. The challenge in a place like Plymouth is that no one is on the roads…”

“That is helpful. It is an issue of the development of council services, local government reorganisation, and where those services are delivered in those different areas. This is where the integrated transport strategy is going to be so important. Obviously, we are not quite keeping on track with that.”