Speeches by Brewer.

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt) for securing this debate. It is clearly essential to build homes. One reason why I am sitting in this place is my work to support victims of domestic abuse. For those, often w…”

“Thank you, panel. This is already very interesting. James, what steps would you like the Government to take to ensure that employers across sectors are, wherever possible, designing flexible jobs that suit a greater range of disabled people?”

“In that sense, we should be leading by example. Do you think there are sufficient incentives for businesses and other organisations to open up these jobs, to make them more flexible, and to have those working conditions?”

“Fazilet, what flexibilities do people with disabling impairments and health conditions need at the job-seeking stage, for example, job advertising, application, and recruitment processes?”

“That figure of 6% of people with a learning disability being in any kind of paid employment has been really sticky for a long time. Do you think more needs to be done to make mainstream recruitment processes more inclusive for people with learning disabilities, or should it remain as a targeted approach?”

“Patricia and Clare, do you have anything to add? To what extent do you think people are being put off applying for jobs because of conventional or rigid application and recruitment processes? Is there anything the Government could do to address this problem?”

“Alison, I have also supported young people with Down’s syndrome when they approach working age, so I am very interested in digging into Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities specifically. What support do people with Down’s syndrome and other learning disabilities need to navigate the job applications and interview …”

“A subject for a whole other session.”

“We have talked a lot today about the employer-employee relationship. Of course, that is one area of work. This Committee has inquired into female entrepreneurship, so I want to touch very quickly on self-employment, freelancing, and setting up your own business. There are obviously many barriers in that world and I won…”

“I do not mind at all.”

“The Basingstoke and North Hampshire hospital rebuild has been delayed by up to two decades. The buildings are in a dire state and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Land for the new hospital is secured, so what possible justification can there be for further delay in building this new hospital?”

“I would like to ask you about safeguarding, Leanne. You mentioned this briefly just now. Your research, Women in Sport, found that 91% of sports organisations have safeguarding and reporting mechanisms in place but they are not consistently effective in supporting victims from harassment and abuse. Why do you think tha…”

“What might those effective policies and processes look like? How might we practically get trust into that system?”

“Yes, I absolutely agree; that is a precise summary of the current position. When we think of early years, most of us automatically think of nurseries, but in many areas of the country, and especially North East Hampshire, many families rely on local childminders. Earlier this month, a constituent of mine, Lorna, told m…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the adequacy of early years funding in Hampshire. It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Alec. A Hampshire nursery manager recently told me: “Sometimes the funding arrives so late that we are genuinely worried about making wages.” That sentence has stayed with …”

“The small businesses that my hon. Friend is talking about make up 84% of store closures nationally. That trend is felt very much in my constituency, as I am sure it is in hers. Does she agree that the Government must urgently reform our business rates system before those independent businesses vanish from our high stre…”

“Having female coaches leading to more participation of girls would, one hopes, lead in turn to more female coaches, as those girls and young women progress through the sport. Are there interventions that are more effective than others in increasing women’s access to coaching opportunities and progression?”

“Not just in sport, by the way.”

“Like my hon. Friend’s constituency, mine has beautiful countryside pubs but they are struggling. Pub owners have told me that this year is worse than the covid years. They face closure, despite being the only place for communities to meet in rural areas, as in many others. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must overhau…”

“Understood. What is your view on the impact of female coaches in the participation of women in the sport? Do you think it makes a difference for girls and young women coming into judo to have female coaches?”