Speeches by Osborne.

“Oceans are contested territory at the moment, with grey-zone activities including other nation states interfering with cables and subsea transmission mechanisms, along with concerns about future energy supply. Do you assess your future security and resilience and engage with other stakeholders to ensure that we do not …”

“To declare an interest, I am a vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the ocean. My questions are very linked to seabed management and decisions. There are a variety of uses for the seabed—agriculture, fish farming, renewable energy and conservation—and there are a variety of different strategies that diff…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Within the decisions you make, there will be competing priorities between different operational elements: of planning permissions versus stewardship of the oceans, versus challenges around the natural environment and conservation of fisheries stocks. How do you prioritise those? In nature, they sometimes call it the pr…”

“I am going to ask a series of questions on the business plan going forward, using some examples from the past. I will start with trapped cash. One of the solutions might be a revenue offset position where perhaps the Foreign Office is funding its embassies less and this money is used. The Report highlights that there i…”

“I have one question on income and a couple on the scale of the organisation. Clearly, over the last few years, the proportion of income from exams and teaching has reduced. Had we seen that trend over the previous 10 years? For instance, it was 65% in 2020 and it has gone down to 53% now. Was there a medium-term trend …”

“You say that you are now seeing success in reducing that figure, but it did increase significantly from 2021 to 2024. In that three-year period, there was a significant increase in trapped cash. My question was about whether that was that identified then or picked up later. I suppose that is a moot point. My next point…”

“Lastly, I have a question on the scale and scope. I understand from your website that you currently have offices across the UK—in Cardiff, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I understand that you are a soft power, but have there been questions about whether your headcount is best deployed? Having a soft power within the UK…”

“I do not want to put words into your mouth, but you suggested that it took until 2024 to see that that the previous transformation plan, from February 2021, was not working. That is quite a long time to work out that the direction of travel isn’t right. There might be a lot of different reasons for that, but my forward…”

“Okay.”

“Before I pick up on the turnaround questions, I will touch quickly on cash element that I asked about earlier. When did the Foreign Office become aware of the challenge around trapped cash, and when did conversations about that begin? It seems to me that this has been going on for three to four years. We are now having…”

“Thank you.”

“My constituents will welcome this defence investment plan, which is more than £298 billion over the next four years. Of course, BAE Systems in my constituency is part of that programme of expansion and the new jobs and opportunities it will bring for young people. Can the Secretary of State confirm that the defence div…”

“Of course, one suggestion could be, given that you are saying that there is a lot of market fluidity—one in four people—that it is a standard question that could be asked when people register with a new provider: whether they consider themselves to be a vulnerable customer. They could then provide the details to you. G…”

“Okay. Lastly, one of the solutions that could cater for everyone is back-up connectivity when things go wrong—perhaps another provider stepping in if one provider goes wrong. That would be a solution for everyone, incidentally, not just for vulnerable people. Is the regulator potentially looking into a secondary option…”

“You have already highlighted the fact that the regulatory environment is woeful. If four in 10 are not accessing social tariffs from water companies, and three in 10 from broadband companies, surely it is time to look at a different approach where the regulators actually have some teeth. Are there examples of European …”

“My question is mainly to Melanie, on the use of PSRs in the broadband space. I understand that the history of broadband is more recent. There is a different statutory history, a more complex market structure and a weaker tradition of disconnection protections. Broadband has only really become essential in my lifetime, …”

“Yes.”

“I have a couple of questions about the current estimate. From press reports, the estimate last year was £1 billion and in the latest report it is £1.5 billion by 2028. Obviously, the estimates have changed and increased. The company has net liabilities of £788 million and intergroup debt of £736 million—that is the Chi…”

“It is in the NAO Report, I think.”