Speeches by Smith.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I grew up in a rural community as well, and I know how hard farmers work. I know how long it takes for generations to pass on the expertise involved in managing and cultivating the land. It is not like any normal apprenticeship or training programme; childre…”

“A farming survey shows that the farmers we are speaking about make an average profit of £96,000 per year, which means that even those who are impacted will not be subject to the same level of inheritance tax as many people on similar incomes. They face half the rate of inheritance tax, and through gifting they can avoi…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Do my hon. Friend and the Minister agree that we need to ensure the ongoing funding of the critical organisations in our communities that are supporting women and girls, such as the Emily Davison centre? It was the first centre for ending violence against women and girls to be established in the UK, in Accrington. Furt…”

“Sarah Smith, the Labour MP for Hyndburn.”

“I want to move on to what you have laid out in terms of placemaking, specifically in some of the recent updates. Your consultation proposes cutting the references to beautiful design from the NPPF. I just want to understand a little bit more about why, and its potential impact.”

“You have just touched a little on the strategic planning aims. I want to understand a little more the plans to deliver those strategic plans and enable local authorities to work more effectively together to bring forward housing and infrastructure projects, which has certainly been a challenge in my constituency. What …”

“You have also taken the decision to disband the Office for Place. I want to understand how you envisage the role of local design codes in delivering high-quality placemaking on the new developments that come forward.”

“What is the ambition for the timeline for that to be deployed? How is progress on that?”

“I think you were moving towards this, but how will it operate in practice in areas that do not have a mayor and are not yet in that phase of their plan for devolution? Are you confident that you can roll it out across England by the end of this Parliament?”

“The statistics in Hyndburn are even more shocking, with 38% of children growing up in poverty. Today, statistics from the Social Mobility Commission outlined that one in three children across the UK are growing up in poverty. That is the inheritance that we received, and it is evident from the empty Conservative Benche…”

“Thank you, Mr Pritchard, for your chairmanship. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for securing this very important debate. I first got involved in politics because I thought it wrong that, far too often, the postcode in which a person is born dictates their life outcomes. I have …”

“What additional challenges do families face when they are placed in hotels and bed and breakfast temporary accommodation for the extended periods that you have described?”

“This Budget provides absolute clarity that the Government are focused on putting working people back at the heart of economic decision making. This is most evident in the Chancellor’s decision to protect and support public services, enabling the Government to kick-start a mission-led approach to reform. Let us be frank…”

“As a member of the Government at the time of the disastrous mini-Budget, does the right hon. Gentleman seriously expect us to take lessons from him on how we grow the economy, return to economic stability and get the desperately needed investment into our public services that his Government failed to deliver for the pa…”

“Are there regulations that are intended to limit B&B placements for families to six weeks, and are they fit for purpose?”

“We have slightly covered this question, but are the current financial penalties for exceeding the six-week rule an effective sanction to improve temporary accommodation provision or are there other levers that could be implemented to try and tackle that?”

“I could see some different views potentially at the other end of the panel on the previous question, but I am glad that you mentioned that issue because I have certainly experienced it myself in casework where, yes, basically families do not get the support until they are evicted. I am getting the perspective that mayb…”

“What can local authorities do to minimise the number of families being placed in B&B accommodation and particularly the number that are placed for extended periods?”

“I am interested in the panel’s awareness of the economic impact. Has research been undertaken to demonstrate the wider economic impact of failing to act on this issue on that whole family, on the children’s future and so on?”