Speeches by Olney.

“What processes do you use to ensure that you are getting the best value for money when you are procuring consultancy services?”

“Do you think they are misleading?”

“Mr Leigh, how much does your Department, DESNZ, spend on consultants, and what do you use them for?”

“Just to quickly follow up, you talked about your three objectives—cutting overall costs by 16%, halving consultancy spend, and a shift away from back office towards front office. Do you see any conflict between the commitment to halve consultancy spend and the other two objectives? Does that make it harder to achieve e…”

“Are you confident that you will not see too much difference, in either individual accounts or across Government, in spending on consultants once you have done that exercise?”

“Just very quickly to ask on that, is it consistent between Departments? Are they all classifying consultancy spend in the same way so that you can take, say, the DESNZ accounts and know that consultancy spend is classified in the same way as in any other Department?”

“I am interested in the Minister’s formulation of free and fair trade. Would he not agree that fair trade is free trade, and that free trade is fair trade? It is about bringing down barriers, which may have been put in place by the larger producers or people with a market advantage. The point is to create a fairer playi…”

“rose—”

“I wish to come in after question 6, Mr Speaker—apologies.”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for his work in securing this debate and for his authoritative opening speech, which set out the case for Fairtrade with clarity and thoroughness. It was very impressive. Fairtrade is a global system that c…”

“Thank you, Mr Speaker—I appreciate you giving me the time. I listened carefully to the Minister’s response to my hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). Some £90 billion is being lost every year in tax receipts, 20,000 small firms have stopped all exports to the EU and 33% of currently trading businesses are e…”

“The Government have repeatedly said that they would introduce permanently lower business rates. We were pleased to hear the Chancellor announce lower multipliers in the Budget, but the recently announced higher valuations will wipe out any benefit that businesses will get from the lower multipliers. UKHospitality estim…”

“Our allies in America are becoming increasingly unreliable, and it is absolutely right that we should look elsewhere for our alliances, not just on trade but on defence. Recent moves just this week show us the shaky ground on which our agreements with the US are built. For the long-term future of the car industry in th…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for sharing that knowledge with us all. Obviously, that is something to reflect upon. That is why we are pressing the Government. It is the Government who hold the purse strings and the pen here. It is up to them to make those advances on behalf of the country.”

“That approach is very piecemeal and it is taking time. If we had a more wholehearted approach to a customs union, we would be able to unlock all sorts of benefits that are not possible with a piecemeal approach.”

“I will give way to the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) and then I will come back to the hon. Gentleman.”

“I thank the hon. Lady, my colleague on the Public Accounts Committee, for her intervention. She is absolutely right. I 100% and wholeheartedly welcome any boost to apprenticeships and that announcement in the Budget. However, there has been and continues to be caution over whether there will be sufficient business grow…”

“It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. Training, hiring and retaining a skilled workforce are issues that affect businesses across the country. Many businesses, such as those in the farming and agricultural sectors, depend on recruiting the right people at the right time. Obstacles to hiring seasonal workers can hav…”

“It is tragic to hear of the closure of my hon. Friend’s local organisation. Not only will local people be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the services it provided, but young people will be deprived of the opportunity to take on their first job. On the Employment Rights Bill, the Liberal Democrats have been clear t…”

“A couple in my constituency fled persecution from the Egyptian authorities, who accused them of being traitors and terrorists due to their work as professional journalists. They gained refugee status here in 2021 and are now three months away from being eligible for indefinite leave to remain. The UK is their home, but…”