Speeches by Edwards.

“That is really helpful. Lastly, we have slightly touched on different models, but are there any lessons that we can learn globally from how to finance railway infrastructure?”

“Thank you. Jim, do you have anything to add on that, otherwise I will move on?”

“Thank you. David, do you have something to say?”

“I am quite interested in what your views are on how a pipeline could engage private investment. One of the examples would be that pension funds are always looking for things that they can invest in and do their due diligence, and we have some consolidation and a real focus from the Government. That is just one example,…”

“The infrastructure strategy has come out. How do you feel about that? If I, again, slightly wear two hats, we know that these are overlaid with other strategies. Do you think they fit well? If we take the industrial strategy and the fact that we need to gain growth in that way, how do you feel about the infrastructure …”

“Thank you. We have identified that some of the processes might not quite work. Are there any other tools that are often used that do or do not work or should be there that could be used to help to assess the suitability of the pipeline or the appropriateness of the projects? Jim, would you like to come in?”

“Thank you. Just moving on to the tools—”

“Thank you. David, what are your thoughts?”

“Let me know next time.”

“That is really helpful. Would you like to comment, Jim?”

“Are the rules ever reviewed? Have they ever been? Have they ever changed?”

“Who makes the decision around that scoring?”

“Thank you very much. I am going to bring a slightly different slant to it. It was very interesting hearing the points that you made about HS2. It goes through my constituency. Tamworth is in Staffordshire. There is the whole issue about demand. I now have fewer trains going to my constituency in some respects because o…”

“That is really helpful. Thank you.”

“That is really helpful. Did you want to comment on some of the pros and cons? I know you touched on some of them, but are there any others that you wanted to add into the mix?”

“I believe there are some talks to do that and expand that for exactly that reason, to make sure that it is much easier to find that land. I have also spoken to some small house builders about this issue around proportionality and how much you pay for your planning consent. It is much cheaper for a volume house builder …”

“Just building on that, I am the chair of the SME house builders APPG. I have been getting to grips with a lot of the challenges that SME house builders have been raising. Could you elaborate on what you were saying about the issues in navigating the complexity of the regulations and how workable they are for smaller fi…”

“Thank you. That is really helpful.”

“Leading on from that question, you have all given different answers. We have heard a lot of things that need to change and a lot of problems. One area that we have looked at is business energy costs. In particular, the issue is not just around how high the cost is but the behaviour of the suppliers and the imbalance in…”

“This morning, I led a debate on the issue around commercial energy billing, particularly the problems that small businesses face. You have all cited energy as being a particular issue. Do you have any thoughts on what needs to change in that industry to support small businesses? Where would you start? I will start with…”