Speeches by Baker.

“Not immediately, Chair, but thank you. Good morning, Lord Pickles. You have made this a very entertaining and interesting session, so thank you for that. I think I heard you say earlier in response to Mr Quigley that you were not persuaded that ACoBA needs to be put on a statutory footing—”

“‘Appen it would. Excellent response.”

“I used to work for Age Scotland, so may I say how welcome it is that the Government have listened to older people’s charities and made today’s announcement? I understand it will mean some £100 million additional funding for the payments in Scotland. Does my hon. Friend agree that SNP Ministers should now rethink their …”

“When my right hon. Friend discusses with SNP Ministers, through announcements made this week, the huge employment opportunities that this Government have created for young people in Scotland, will he impress on them the urgent need to finally tackle the persistent—and in some areas widening—attainment gap faced by pupi…”

“I recognise the need for the Government to raise funds, given the economic context that they inherited, but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) said, a number of family businesses have come forward with alternative proposals that would raise the funds in a different way. Would the M…”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. I have worked in this area of policy and services, and I am aware that some of the most powerful advocates for change in dementia care are people with dementia themselves and their families. Does he agree that, when formulating new strategies for dementia care, people with de…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) on securing this vital debate, and particularly on her excellent work with the UK Friends of Ukraine on authoring this important but distressing report. I want to focus…”

“T7. Does the Minister agree that shipyards—such as Methil in my constituency, which has been saved by this Government—have fantastic opportunities to benefit from increased defence spending in the UK, and from initiatives such as Programme Euston? Will she continue to do all she can to identify opportunities for Scotti…”

“Does the Secretary of State agree that that should be a case of “only when absolutely necessary”? In my previous role, I provided advocacy for the family of a young man who has been in a state hospital in Scotland for 17 years under a compulsory treatment order. His family live several hours away in north-east Scotland…”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) on securing this debate and on her excellent speech. Youth services are fundamental in my constituency, where in some wards, one in three children are living in poverty. That is completely unacceptable and shows how important the work of the chil…”

“Does the Minister agree that there is a certain irony in the SNP raising this matter, given the regularity with which SNP Ministers trail Scottish Government announcements in the press before coming to the Chamber in Holyrood? That was certainly the case when I served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. It is vital…”

“I could not agree more. On the issue of learning, it is so important, good and welcome to hear that, ahead of this vital summit, the Minister for the constitution and European Union relations, my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds), attended a meeting with SAFE in Edinburgh yesterday. I under…”

“I could not agree more. This will absolutely be in line with previous agreements. In our new relationship with Europe, we are doing far better than the previous Government, who agreed very poor deals, which resulted in economic decline; we could have achieved more with a different approach. I urge my right hon. Friend …”

“This has been an interesting debate, but, to reflect on the unhappy nostalgia of my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy), it is quite clear that some people are having trouble moving on, as we need to. The summit is happening because of the process agreed by the Conservative party when it was in governmen…”

“You said the three tests should be revised in terms of their approach to this process and the Government have raised potential legislation around this, which would give Parliament a great opportunity to consider the strategic approach around what the role of public bodies should be in the future. But they have said the…”

“That is helpful advice. Do you think the four principles that Government have set up are likely to bring about more closures of public bodies than in previous reviews? How successful do you think they are likely to be in achieving that outcome?”

“Thank you, Chair; kind praise indeed. I am not sure if that will be realised in my course of questions. We have covered some of this ground already to an extent, but we are keen to understand your views around the latest review into public bodies that was announced last month by the Government. We would like to know wh…”

“Given that there has been such a minimal reduction in the number of public bodies in this eight-year period, is it not right to say that we have too many and need to look at how many there are? You did say that the savings might be moderate but that there have been savings in terms of reduction of the number of public …”

“It could be that the state needs to do these things but it should not be done by a public body; it should be taken directly under control of Ministers.”

“Although it seems to me some would do. For example, Mr Lamont talked about the proliferation of public bodies in Scotland over a period of time when the numbers in the rest of the UK reduced, certainly in England. I would say stakeholder involvement would be one area of that where a body is created to—as the Chair put …”