Speeches by Edwards.

“Just on that point, on 12 November, the Secretary of State said that Israel is not committed to comply with international humanitarian law. That was the decision that was made. Article 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty does not talk about this clarification of intent; it talks about, “Could be used.” That is the key phrase: “…”

“As a member of the Business and Trade Committee, I am pleased that Belfast has seen a successful economic redevelopment, partly driven by embracing its heritage, which will now be further supported by the Belfast region city deal. Does the Secretary of State agree that we must continue to support heritage as a regenera…”

“Does the hon. Member think it was fiscally responsible for the SNP Finance Secretary to have used all of the £460 million from offshore wind? He has spoken a lot about this Government, but does he think that that was appropriate?”

“5. What discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the future of city and growth deals in Northern Ireland.”

“Thank you very much for coming today, Secretary of State. I have been listening to some of what has been said, and people have brought up a lot of the challenges that businesses have raised. One of the areas that consistently gets raised with me is around business energy. I thought that we could time-travel back to whe…”

“I just want to clarify the point about how when they submit, they do not get legal advice, but then after that point they are able to get it. Do you know how many people were made aware of that, or how they were made aware of it? I think we heard in a previous session that a very small number of people took that up. My…”

“Following on from that, given that there is a reassessment panel and mediation, is there any particular reason why we are seeing cases go to the reassessment panel, which is very overstretched—there is a time constraint there—rather than proceed with mediation? Is there any decision making around that? Do you have any …”

“Can you say a little about the average timeframe in the HSS for somebody receiving their first offer?”

“This question is for Rob Francis. As claims facilitators, Dentons were called in a previous session “a highly paid post box”. You mentioned that you have billed for about £840,000. We understand that the contract is for £2.52 million; perhaps you can explain the difference, or whether they are different. But what is it…”

“To follow up on that, the experience of people seems very different from the description that you have just given of the different component parts, KCs and the like. Why do you think their experience feels as though it is simply a post box, and why do they not have that understanding of the process?”

“Thank you, Minister Thomas, for that information. We have talked quite a lot about the speed and complexity of the process. We heard in previous sessions about how the assessment panel feels overstretched and unable to get through the cases quickly enough. It was cited previously that people have been waiting for 20 ye…”

“In our previous session, we heard about the potential delays being created or the obfuscation tactics that are used, so it is like a queue is being created for the assessment by the panel, rather than people going through a mediation process. Are you aware of that? Can you explain why that may be happening?”

“Sir Alan and other individuals told us that they were quite unhappy with how their claims were progressing and that no claims have yet gone to Sir Ross Cranston. Could you explain why or what the process is that means that Sir Ross is able to look at a claim only at the end of the process?”

“I am pleased to hear the statement on care leavers. Children who leave care have previously been let down by a system that pretty much stops support once they leave care. To ensure that care-experienced young people can make the most of their future, will the Secretary of State outline the Government’s plans to support…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing such an important debate; we have heard many important points already. My constituency may not sit on the Elizabeth line, but it forms a part of that wider rail connectivity that ma…”

“I want to ask about the requests for further information. Could you say how many times they have been applied? For example, are they using it once or are they then coming back again?”

“Do you think this is in line with the other overturned conviction schemes? If it is not, do you have any thoughts as to why not?”

“Thank you. My next question was going to be whether fear played into it, because you touched earlier on the pressure that people are under. Do you think a higher proportion are being impacted by that?”

“Have any of your clients progressed to the first stage offer yet under that scheme? If so, could you describe some of their experiences or your own interpretations?”

“Yes. Have they progressed to that first stage under those schemes?”