Speeches by Smith.

“I share your excitement, because I hope that it will benefit places like Hyndburn. The review recognised that there are huge inequalities in capacity and capability in different places in the country. What will the Department be doing to address those inequalities? Places like Lancashire have huge potential, but we mus…”

“Are details of those pilots coming before summer?”

“Coming now to the Green book review, action 1 of the reforms announced at the spending review stated that the Treasury would work with your Department to introduce place-based business cases. What conversations have started on that? Have you explored any place-based business case pilots at this stage?”

“Sarah Smith, the MP for Hyndburn.”

“Will secondments also be offered to areas that are not mayoral and not yet on that trajectory? There is a risk that we end up leaving some places further behind. Certainly, Lancashire could be one of those places at risk. Are there offerings to those that might be CCAs at this point, or further behind on their devoluti…”

“9. What steps the Church of England is taking to support community cohesion in its parishes.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the work she is doing representing the Church Commissioners. The community of Hyndburn is vibrant and rich in its diversity, and I was proud to see how we responded to the awful riots last summer. What conversations has she had with the Church Commissioners on how the Church can continue to s…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that it is not good enough that children are growing up without the basics that they should expect? They are no longer able to access education, many have lost their lives, access to water is being restricted and there is absolute devastation. We must stand up against that and do all we can to…”

“I am MP for Hyndburn.”

“I absolutely agree that there is problem with the amount that is available and how it is distributed, but I have seen in my casework in Hyndburn that there are also ways in which the processes could definitely be improved. I am interested in the panel’s views on how the use of these grants could be improved to save str…”

“Millie, it would be really interesting to understand the difference between disabled facilities grants and local authority adaptations, and the efficiency, or lack of efficiency, within those processes.”

“The fathers who met me in Haslingden will welcome the review and the Minister’s announcement, but in conversations I have had I have been struck by the difficulties faced by some of our public sector workers, with teachers almost forced back perhaps a week—if they had been able to take that—after a holiday period, and …”

“To follow up on that, I would be interested to hear more about how you think the mistrust of the police and local authorities can play a role in how and where those riots took place, but also in how we tackle it going forward. I guess there are two sides to that, aren’t there, in terms of both sides—both communities, i…”

“Sarah Smith, Hyndburn.”

“Carrie, you wanted to come in.”

“In my wonderful constituency in Hyndburn, about 15% of my community are Muslim. We had this special moment in the horribleness of the riots when it was captured on video, people just coming out of the pub offering a hug to the Muslims who were going past because they wanted to make a presence in our town centre to make…”

“Would you also point to some of the other longer-term causes being increasing levels of inequality, and particularly in parts of the country where there are such huge levels of inequality between different regions and different parts of the country as well as between communities and within communities themselves? Do yo…”

“Sarah Smith, the Labour MP in Hyndburn, also in Lancashire.”

“Finally, before handing back to you, Chair, do you believe that the Government provided adequate support to communities after the riots? What role could the Government play in future going forward to help prevent more riots from occurring?”

“Nothing is more important than ensuring that every child in every part of our country has the opportunity to thrive. That is why breaking down the barriers to opportunity is such a key part of this Government’s plan for change We are determined to undo the failure of the previous Government and to see that every school…”