Speeches by Gibson.

“Q Do you think that the measures in the Bill go anywhere in the way of supporting those with family or carer responsibilities? Dr Stephenson: Obviously, the provisions about paternity and parental leave as a day one right will benefit those with caring responsibilities. We are pleased to see that there are plans to rev…”

“Q Fair enough. My last point is one that was made earlier by one of our witnesses—it possibly also comes under the Department for Work and Pensions—about losing your universal credit when you take on employment. If that employment is flexible because that is what you need in order to get yourself back into work in a gr…”

“Q I have to say that if you considered that to be two questions, then I have four. My second question—your third—is to do with the fact that we have had quite a lot of evidence concerning sick pay and the fact that it is so much lower than almost everything else. As any employer will know, having employees limp in when…”

“This is slightly more specific and comes up from your report, to do with methane emissions, where the reduction rates in agriculture from your Committee’s recommendations for the balanced pathway need to almost increase eightfold. Can this be achieved with the current agricultural practices? Would methane suppression f…”

“I am going back to the housing issue because we are talking about building more in rural communities, and you are saying, “Well, so long as they have electric cars, it is fine for them all to travel on their own in an electric car”. I find that incredibly worrying, because is the Committee really looking at full lifeti…”

“Yes, okay. I was going to say that if you come and spend some time in the rural community outside the M25, the biggest difference in terms of connected cities and connected small towns is the second car. If you do not provide good public transport and good access to towns then what happens is people buy a second vehicl…”

“I was going to move on to agriculture and I am sure that Toby has organised this very well because he knows that, if I talked about heat pumps and air-tightness on buildings, you would never get me out of here. That is probably a sensible thing. This is quite important because we are seeing these drops in terms of our …”

“Are there any specific policies that you think Ministers should be adopting in the short term that would make a significant difference?”

“That makes perfect sense, which brings me on to a slightly more specific area that is—”

“I am conscious that we are running over time, but I want to talk a little bit about something that we have touched upon, which is the community engagement side of it. Councillor Wright mentioned the issues around legislation inflicted upon communities and local governments. Having been a member of a local government fo…”

“I think we have answered the second part of that question more than the first, to be honest. We quite clearly need better engagement and earlier engagement.”

“So the argument is earlier and more meaningful engagement. Mr Stafford, do you have anything to add?”

“I am conscious that we are running over time, but I want to talk a little bit about something that we have touched upon, which is the community engagement side of it. Councillor Wright mentioned the issues around legislation inflicted upon communities and local governments. Having been a member of a local government fo…”

“I think we have answered the second part of that question more than the first, to be honest. We quite clearly need better engagement and earlier engagement.”

“So the argument is earlier and more meaningful engagement. Mr Stafford, do you have anything to add?”

“I have a quick curveball before you all go. The reviews talked about new towns, and 10 or 15 years ago we talked about new villages, which of course quite often would be in the green belt. Do you have any quick thoughts on whether you consider the options for new towns—or new villages, perhaps more appropriately—viable…”

“I have a quick curveball before you all go. The reviews talked about new towns, and 10 or 15 years ago we talked about new villages, which of course quite often would be in the green belt. Do you have any quick thoughts on whether you consider the options for new towns—or new villages, perhaps more appropriately—viable…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this incredibly important debate, as shown by the number of Members present. I agree with Members, who have spoken so eloquently today, that the guiding principle of the …”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement today that every region of England and Wales will benefit, especially rural areas and small towns. In Chippenham, large agricultural industries based in the countryside are currently having to find private transport themselves to get shift workers in and out of their busines…”

“I also thank the Minister for his statement. Post Office branches across the UK are a vital part of our local communities and high streets, with millions of people depending on them, especially in more rural areas of the south-west, such as my constituency. The news that 115 branches and around 1,000 jobs could be at r…”