Speeches by Taylor.

“It is a pleasure briefly to the debate today. May I associate myself with the words of other hon. Members, reflecting the respect and gratitude we have for servicemen and servicewomen, past and present, and of course, remembering all those who have been lost? Around the country, communities have been gathering around a…”

“Thank you very much. Professor Orsini, do you have anything further to add?”

“Dr Schwarz, do you consider there to be essential or protected uses of certain PFAS, and what are they?”

“For uses where an alternative can be found, what responsibility should industry and Government take for designing safer alternatives to PFAS? I will start with Professor Orsini.”

“Dr Schwarz, do you have anything else to add?”

“That is probably enough, because I know we will be short of time, Chair, but it might be that the Committee want to follow up for a little bit more information afterwards, if that is okay. Professor Orsini, just one final question and then I am going to bring in Dr Schwarz. How should the industry be encouraged to shar…”

“Thank you very much. That has been really helpful. Dr Schwarz, do you want to come in?”

“That is really helpful. Thank you both for your contributions.”

“Thank you very much. I am sorry, but I am sticking with you, Dr Orsini. What do you think would help to ensure that PFAS alternatives are truly safer before they enter widespread use in production? We heard a little bit in the previous session about regrettable substitutions. If you could just expand on that, please.”

“Thank you very much for all your answers. This is the last question. The previous Government rejected the previous Committee’s call for the Environment Agency to require discharge permits for outfalls on to roads with heavy traffic, but they said it should be kept under review. We know there are wider changes to regula…”

“That is good to hear. Thank you very much.”

“I had not appreciated that.”

“Just to sum up, are there any measures that the Government should be looking at to reduce road pollution at source rather than just mitigating it?”

“I have a few brief comments, Chair. My background is in surveying. I just want to ask a few questions. Was it all external consultants, or was an element of the project management dealt with internally by your own team? It is really good that you are learning lessons from it. That is really important. Going forward, ar…”

“Does the Minister agree that taxation is intrinsically linked to economic growth and that there are already green shoots of recovery in the economy, with three trade deals and five interest rate cuts?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, which includes the fact that I remain a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. My contribution is to assist the Secretary of State and the Government in ensuring that this important Bill will truly deliver on my r…”

“Thank you for coming to give evidence to the Select Committee today, Mr Duffy. I know you have a very difficult job, so I do appreciate you coming along. I have a few more questions on planning and flood risk. We have heard about the sustainable urban drainage systems, and we have heard that they are often poorly deliv…”

“Do you think the Environment Agency should have a bigger role going forward, in enforcing maintenance of sustainable urban drainage systems?”

“Thank you. What approach does the Environment Agency play in embedding property flood resilience within building regulations and planning policy, particularly the existing housing stock, and how can this approach be improved, enhance uptake and effectiveness?”