Speeches by Olney.

“Yes, of course. Ms Knight, at the time when the Report was being put together, the Department was in the process of putting together a road map of how it was going to deliver the new strategy. That includes how success will be measured. This is particularly looking at preventing overpayments. I wonder whether you could…”

“That work is under way.”

“As you are training your machine learning and getting better at this, will you be publishing the outputs to show the fairness analysis?”

“Is there not a requirement for the claimant to provide further evidence?”

“Can I stop you there? It specifically says in the Report “age groups 45 to 54 and above”, which is not pension age.”

“To go back to the Chair’s previous questions about the model and fairness, Mr Couling, you referred to disability as being something that might be overrepresented. The Report highlights that it is older claimants and non-UK nationals who are being over-referred in terms of what you might expect. First, is that a concer…”

“You sent us this letter at the beginning of the week with the revised forecast from the OBR. Is the OBR forecast based on a detailed analysis of your plans and its estimate of the impact they are likely to have, or is it just a reflection of the fact that greater investment is going into tackling fraud and error?”

“Sir Peter, the Department will be receiving £6.7 billion of dedicated funding to tackle fraud and error. Can you give us more of an outline of how you plan to use that, particularly in the three years going forward from 2026-27?”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that, although it is certainly advantageous to encourage pension funds to invest in the UK, mandation creates the risk of reducing returns on investments? Would it not be better to incentivise pension funds to invest more productively—in housing and social care—through the creation of appropri…”

“Families and businesses across the country will have heard yesterday’s Budget and been disappointed that the Government missed their second opportunity to seriously address some of the key issues we are facing. Energy bills remain sky high, the cost of employment continues to rise, and, with no substantial reference to…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Because the Minister was maintaining his own running commentary throughout my speech, he probably missed me making the point that, although he keeps saying that this is equalising council tax between poorer areas and richer areas, he must admit that it in fact does nothing of the sort. When people owning £2 million hou…”

“On that point, will the Minister give way?”

“My constituency covers two local authorities: the Royal borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. For a number of years, they have both operated a committee system that works extremely well; it is well accepted by the local community and both local authorities function extremely we…”

“I congratulate the Secretary of State and the Department of Health and Social Care on the launch last week of the men’s health strategy. My constituent Philip Pirie, who sadly lost his son to suicide, has been calling on the Government to launch a public health campaign to reduce the stigma of suicide. Nearly 75% of th…”

“T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

“I also thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement. Critical minerals are vital to national security, economic development, the green transition and regional prosperity. The Liberal Democrats believe that the UK must strengthen and regularly update its industrial strategy. The 2022 plan and the Critical Miner…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of reducing the stigma associated with suicide. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, in this very important debate; I am grateful that time has been found for it. Suicide can be an extremely difficult topic for people to discuss, whether…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, and I am so sad to hear Sam’s story. It is very encouraging to hear about the steps that Ben has taken to raise awareness of the issue. The hon. Member makes an important point about academia at schools and universities; that is another big risk factor for young people. Th…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point about how specific groups and particular sectors can be impacted. Just under an hour ago I was having a conversation with my friend Diana Chrouch, who is the adviser to the APPG for ethnic minority business owners, of which I have been a co-chair for many years. She pointed out t…”