Speeches by Mayer.

“Our buses report asked your Department to consider adopting an ambition for local transport authorities to provide a minimum level of public transport connectivity based on settlement types. You rejected that recommendation, saying that it would be very challenging. What is your evidence that it would be very challengi…”

“This morning, I was thrilled to unveil a plaque in Leighton Buzzard, next to the church, to honour the people who served at a place called Q Central. It is not very well known that during the second world war, 5,000 personnel served just outside Leighton Buzzard, and they were predominantly women. During the war, this …”

“The BBC is unique and special, and it is ours. Yes, it is absolutely a part of the national conversation—but, importantly, it is also a part of the regional and local conversation. I have fantastic local journalists in my patch on Three Counties Radio and on “Look East”, and the fact is that a local story, which a loca…”

“In our last panel just before, we heard how there were cleaners working on trains. Is it an issue that our policy does not talk to people like that? In the sense that we have policies that talk to people who are furthest away from the labour market, but what about those people who have a job already, they are in work, …”

“We have heard that qualification requirements can sometimes hamper movement between different manufacturing sectors. Do you think this is something where, basically, the job adverts and the expectations of the company need to change, or is it that we need to change the qualifications themselves so that they, in essence…”

“We heard in a previous session that the skills that people need for making biscuits can overlap with the skills needed to make batteries for electric vehicles. What is the Government doing to make the best use of those overlapping skills, ideally without causing a shortage of custard creams?”

“It is also important to get letters into the postal service in the first place. In Bidwell West, which is in my constituency, residents face a 30-minute walk to the nearest post box. That is because Royal Mail refuses to put in new post boxes on unadopted roads, despite the fact that the developer is perfectly happy fo…”

“A year ago, I delivered a petition to Downing Street calling for quieter fireworks, keeping the whoosh but getting rid of the bang. This year, fireworks night falls on a Wednesday. Will the Leader of the House consider having a debate on designating a specific weekend for bonfire night and fireworks, to reduce all the …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) for securing this important debate. I have no doubt that one day autonomous vehicles will be the norm on our buses, and I am perfectly okay with that, because I am fairly sure that any robot wou…”

“Women make up half the workforce but only around a quarter of the manufacturing workforce. What more do you think both the sector and Government can do to reduce that disparity, but particularly within the transport sector?”

“Do you think there is some hope in the sense that transport as an industry is changing? We are getting more electric and autonomous vehicles. It feels like a greener and cleaner environment. Should we be selling that as we try to encourage more women into the workforce for transport?”

“Regarding the new airports national policy statement, can the Secretary of State clarify whether “airports” is in the plural? If so, will she be looking to change the planning process so that it can take into account the cumulative environmental impact of different airport expansions around the country?”

“As Britain faced peril in world war two, Winston Churchill took a radical step: he changed the clocks to shift extra daylight into the evenings. As the clocks go back this weekend, will the Prime Minister take a look at the evidence on trialling Churchill time again to cut carbon, reduce bills, improve road safety, boo…”

“A new school has been in the offing in Bidwell West for almost a decade now. The independent council promised me that places would be available from September 2027, but now appears to be backtracking. Is the Minister willing to meet me to discuss the obvious concerns of parents, many of whom moved into the new build es…”

“The whole Government seems to be moving in the direction of devolution and more regional mayoral authorities. However, if you look through the evidence we have received, most of the councils that currently hold licensing powers do not seem that keen on it. Maybe that is unsurprising. Do you think that moving taxi and P…”

“That is our next question.”

“Do you have any suggestions of specific additional measures that could be put in place to improve safety?”

“The Casey audit linked weaknesses in taxi and private hire vehicle licensing to serious passenger safeguarding failures. How confident are you that the current licensing framework enables licensing authorities to adequately protect passengers?”

“David or Helen, anything to add to that?”

“What role do you think CCTV in vehicles can play in protecting both drivers and passengers? We have seen in the evidence that there are some barriers, and like everything else, it appears to be a bit of a postcode lottery. What are the main barriers?”