Speeches by Olney.

“Two months ago, Ham and Kingston riverside became the first site in London to gain bathing water status, but Thames Water’s ill-conceived Teddington direct river abstraction proposal will see treated sewage discharged into the Thames above Teddington lock. Thames Water has submitted a report to the Environment Agency o…”

“5. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Teddington direct river abstraction proposal on the environment.”

“I am sure that Members on both sides of the House have heard from businesses on their local high streets and throughout their constituencies about the challenges that they face from unaffordably high energy bills, the Government’s increase in national insurance contributions, and recent business rates increases. This i…”

“I am terribly sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I did not hear all the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. He said something about unemployment in 2012. That was, of course, very soon after the global banking crash, which had a huge impact. The state of our economy requires bold action: addressing the workforce skills crisis…”

“My hon. Friend is, of course, entirely right. A youth mobility scheme would benefit not just young people who live in this country, but our businesses; it would allow them to recruit from across the EU, and obtain the short-term staff that the hospitality businesses in his constituency so badly need. Businesses across …”

“That is very good to hear. Thank you.”

“Just quickly, what led to that recommendation? Have you found that there are officials in Government Departments who are continuing to operate under a ministerial direction that should have—”

“That was my question.”

“Mr Cheeseman, what specific actions can Departments take to increase the amount they are recovering?”

“Thank you; that is really interesting. I will come back a bit later to your recommendations, particularly those that have been only partially accepted, including on your point about the small companies regime. You have talked about the NHS and the difficulty of data, as well as the unknown counterparties, which is prob…”

“I also want to ask about recommendation 3(c): the Treasury “should amend Managing Public Money to require Accounting Officers who have sought a Ministerial Direction regarding fraud risk to provide an update…to their minister.” Do you want to say a little more about that?”

“Are you suggesting that there should not be open-ended ministerial direction? There should be a defined end to a ministerial direction issued in a time of crisis.”

“Beth, you were leading me to my next question: do you think that, as a result of the recommendations, the Government are now better prepared and in a better position to manage or minimise fraud losses in future crises?”

“Mark, would you agree with that assessment, or do you think there is more that the Government still need to be doing?”

“Tom, I said earlier I would come back to the recommendations at the end of your report. What do you think is the most important recommendation, which you really want the different Government Departments to take on board?”

“Let me come back to your earlier point about the small company reporting regime. The Government only partially accepted your recommendation, on the basis that Companies House accounts reforms will improve transparency and data reliability. Could you expand a little on what you were saying earlier about why you think th…”

“Reading your report was a slightly unusual experience: someone had something nice to say about HMRC. That is not a common experience for us on the Committee, or as constituency MPs.”

“Only if you would like me to. I do not want to re-ask the same question, given that we are pushed for time.”

“You laid out all the steps that HMRC took to be much more effective at dealing with fraud than other Government Departments. Can you explain for the record what it did, and what other Government Departments that were more successful at countering fraud did, to make themselves more effective than the rest?”

“Chris, to what extent did delivering schemes to local authorities and lenders limit the ability of local government to prevent fraud and recover it?”