Speeches by Darling.

“The Government have made a promise that those transferring from legacy benefits to universal credit will find themselves no worse off, yet Liberal Democrat colleagues from all over the country are finding that people are worse off. Will the Minister share evidence of how the Government are supporting the most vulnerabl…”

“Brixham has the highest-value catch in England, yet it is in Torbay, which is the most deprived local authority in the south-west of England. How will local levels of deprivation colour the allocation of funding for England?”

“T10. I have recently been contacted by International House Torquay, a language school, which has welcomed the opportunity for German foreign students to use ID cards to travel as a group. Can the Minister advise what further opportunities there will be for other European countries such as Switzerland, Italy and Spain t…”

“I have a couple of questions but, strangely enough, I think we know the answer to this one. How effective would you say the mechanisms are for making complaints about not making additional payments?”

“Looking at the ombudsman process, are there any particular wicked issues within that that you feel we need to be alive to and it would be useful to cast some light on?”

“Are any members of the panel aware of any successful complaints in these systems one way or another or is it fairly barren?”

“Thank you. I would welcome from across the panel some reflections in respect of the ombudsman and the courts, and where you are aware that people may have felt let down by them. Do you have any reflections on how that could be tackled? There has already been comments about expectations and outcomes. Are there any ways …”

“Mr Robinson, do you see that members have effective mechanisms to challenge where discretionary payments are not being made? Where would you see opportunities to improve if you do not believe that they are effective, if I could put a slight word in your mouth?”

“What is the general atmosphere? Is there an adversarial relationship between trustees and employers because there is this refusal, or does it rarely happen because trustees are not pushing at that door?”

“In your view, is the idea—I don’t know if you were here earlier—of enhancing the number of beneficiary employees a false panacea, or would it be helpful anyway?”

“I would be grateful if the panel could reflect on the relationship between employees, employers and trustees regarding releasing additional payments and how that may have changed over time.”

“To unearth that a little more, what has your collective experience of the power of the pensions ombudsman in this situation been?”

“That is abhorrent. Thank you.”

“You are effectively flogging a dead horse with any form of complaints?”

“The Conservatives still have not apologised for the appalling state that they left our NHS in. Torbay hospital is the third oldest hospital in the United Kingdom. It has a tower block wreathed in scaffolding to stop bits of it falling off rather than it being under repair, and it has sewage leaks throughout. Sadly, it …”

“5. What progress his Department has made on the implementation of the new hospital programme.”

“Thank you for chairing this debate, Mr Efford, and I congratulate the hon. Members for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) and for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on securing it. Homelessness—what we see on the streets across the United Kingdom—is just the tip of the iceberg of the crisis in our housing system. For more than…”

“Torquay Boys’ grammar school has long delivered the international baccalaureate. My own eldest son, George, has benefited from that and, under the scheme, has volunteered in a care home. He is now on the cusp of becoming a registrar for care of the elderly. During my meeting with the head of Torquay Boys’ last Friday, …”

“I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and welcome the core principle that she described: giving our communities the power to decide how to put money to best use. I am delighted that Torbay has been awarded two tranches of pride in place funding. However, it is a perverse badge of honour, because it demonstrate…”

“On funding, the Devon partnership NHS trust looks after people with mental health challenges in the Torbay community, where levels of depths of despair are particularly high. The trust is facing a £21 million cut, so does my hon. Friend agree that changes will be irrelevant if we do not have adequate funding?”