Speeches by Gibson.

“At the report stage, the recordings and data and such like.”

“What about offsite construction in terms of reducing our requirement for skills so that more of our skilled construction workers could be concentrating on the more difficult things, like retrofit, which you mentioned?”

“Thank you. Dr Howard, I do not know whether you—”

“That is good to hear. One very final question. We are seeing Homes England in the next few weeks, and I just wondered—first to Mr Berry—what role you think Homes England could play in supporting the development of a skilled workforce in low-carbon construction and sustainable housing delivery, specifically aimed at SME…”

“Thank you. I do not know if either of the other two want to come in on that.”

“That is good to hear. One very final question. We are seeing Homes England in the next few weeks, and I just wondered—first to Mr Berry—what role you think Homes England could play in supporting the development of a skilled workforce in low-carbon construction and sustainable housing delivery, specifically aimed at SME…”

“Thank you. Then a slight change of tack: questions for Mr Berry to do with SMEs supporting the Government’s goal to build the 1.5 million homes. I share your thoughts—we need these biblical type skills, especially in the smaller construction sites where other systems are just not appropriate—but I just wondered what im…”

“What areas of technology do you think might be able to help?”

“It is certainly a cost saving but it increases the embodied carbon of that project dramatically.”

“Yes, I just wanted to clarify that point and then I will bring Ms Searle in. If an energy product is rated at a low VAT rate or a zero VAT rate, the work to install that should be rated at the same—”

“Thank you. Dr Howard, I do not know whether you—”

“If you are doing energy-efficient improvements, if the product is zero rated—”

“Graham, I do not know whether there is anything in your coastal areas that is similar.”

“Thank you. I see what you mean. It is about trying to get them to form a very specific and visible group, to give more trust and more transparency. Can I ask Tracey what value that local knowledge can bring to the flood risk planning and response? How can volunteer networks and flood groups be better supported to contr…”

“To follow up on the Chair’s point about community engagement in flood risk management, I represent Chippenham, which is a constituency that floods regularly. I live in Bradford-on-Avon, which is an area at low level. In the most recent floods, it was the community emergency volunteers who made all the difference. They …”

“I recently met a group of farmers and landowners in my constituency: the Bremhill Vales Farmers Group, who work with another group called BremZero. What is really interesting is that they are working with the Environment Agency on a project called Wiltshire Rural Run-off, where, as landowners, they are looking at mitig…”

“I can see that. Out of curiosity, though, if the project were to go ahead, would there be community buy-in? Does it feel as if it would be a step forward in mitigating at source?”

“Mary, do you know of similar projects?”

“I am aware that our flood warden was trained by the Environment Agency, and I am absolutely not criticising the local Environment Agency officers and wardens in my area, in any way. They work tirelessly and are incredibly accessible. It is just about this disconnect that people feel in the case of emergency, and this k…”

“We have not quite decided which is the lead authority yet, have we?”