Speeches by Osborne.

“I asked those questions because investor confidence is critical. If we lose that—and there is still uncertainty with investors around where we are heading—it will add to people’s bills. Oxera Consulting has calculated that £27 a year will be added through the regulatory burden if we do not have clarity on where we are.…”

“My questions are linked to the IWC’s concerns around financial resilience and investor confidence. I suspect that one of my colleagues will pick up on some of my points. I was surprised when you said earlier that you felt there was investor confidence in the sector. The credit rating agencies have done numerous reports…”

“I want to probe on those reforms. If I look at investor sentiment, they are concerned that yesterday’s White Paper does not have enough clarity on some of those reforms. If I might push back on what you have just said, you have clarified that the transition plan will be published within months, but it would be helpful …”

“I appreciate those answers. One of the other concerns from investors’ perspective is that Ofwat had too many strategic policy statements. As I understand it, you had 59 of those. As Rupert Lowe rightly raised, you had a dearth of regulation, but where was the focus in those SPSs? Again, from an investor-confidence pers…”

“I agree 100% that we do need to support more agricultural colleges. Clearly, individual courses will need to have throughput with apprenticeships into wine producers. There are not many of those and they are, at present, quite contained. I absolutely agree that, as the industry grows, we need to encourage skills develo…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the UK wine industry. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank all the Members who are here. As we are running half an hour late—I appreciate your management of the Divisions earlier, Ms McVey—if Members are here for the bins, that debate will be…”

“Absolutely, there are challenges in the industry and I will raise a number of them in a moment, but first I want to offer an overview of the success of the sector. There are a lot of hard-working wine growers and merchants. Despite some of the challenges, the industry is already showing real success and we need to supp…”

“Indeed, different ways of distributing wine have been established in this country by Tetra Pak and others. There are innovations that we need to consider and there are lessons to be learned from other European nations. Demand is rising in whatever form. Sales of domestic wine increased by 10% in 2023, with sparkling wi…”

“I went to the Oxfordshire event today and tried some of the wine, which is of outstanding quality from an established producer of 50 years; long may that success continue. The hon. Member is correct that we have award-winning sparkling wines, and across Europe we are now seen as a choice region for many champagne produ…”

“Is there one specifically for your area of—”

“You mentioned a board. I cannot see any reference to a board here; this is something that is not in the Report. Could we have some detail about who is a member of that board? Could you submit that to us as evidence, perhaps? I appreciate that it might be new, since the NAO Report, but could you give us some clarity on …”

“Moving on to transformation programmes, in 2.30, it indicates that major transformation programmes have been delayed and that there are reactive fixes—also highlighted in the Home Affairs Committee report. Do you have a programme grid for change and deliverables to reform technology and transform processes within your …”

“I would like to see your evidence base for that, because what I understand from the Home Affairs Committee report is the complete opposite—that large-scale sites are much more expensive than hotels.”

“You have mentioned a whole-systems approach today. I think quite a lot of the answers I am getting are Home Office-specific, so I just want to probe you on the whole-systems approach that you mentioned. Are these savings based on a whole-systems approach, or are they savings that they have been identified just from the…”

“You have stated there that hotels are cheaper than large-scale sites.”

“Lastly, I asked that question because, in paragraph 25 of the Home Affairs Committee’s report on the management of asylum, it has done a cost equivalence that compares hotel costs with medium and large-scale accommodation, which has indicated that it is more expensive to be housing individuals in medium and large-scale…”

“I have three further small points. One of the areas where we will see success is clearing the asylum backlog. Figure 6 in the Report indicates that you have a 35% attrition rate in staff. Can you provide us with detail on the total headcount within the Department over the last five years, and also the attrition rate? M…”

“Lastly, you referenced earlier in an answer to Paul, that an external review of contracts and asylum was taking place. I am interested to know with whom, when that will be published, and whether we can see it in the public domain. Obviously, I am reading that the Home Affairs Committee report on asylum accommodation: p…”

“My questions will be on the cost savings promised in the spending review, and then I will dig into the detail beneath that. The spending review announced £1 billion savings per year up to 2028-29. A footnote to table 5.8 of the comprehensive spending review says that the “Asylum support cost forecasts contain some inhe…”

“Okay, but the NAO Report said that major transformation programmes are delayed. Interestingly, perhaps that board needs to be held more accountable.”