Speeches by George.

“6. What steps she is taking to promote a Palestinian state.”

“I congratulate the Minister on bringing forward this raft of very important changes. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Lauren Edwards). I would ask my hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mr Reynolds) to address the points raised—I am not qualified—but I imagine that the purpose of …”

“I have discussed this issue with the Minister, and she knows about it because we have also corresponded on it. I know that my constituent would be enormously grateful to have an opportunity to meet her, and I am very grateful for her response.”

“The Trussell Trust recently reported that three in 10 people who were referred to food banks in 2024 were in working households and that the majority, 72%, were on universal credit. What more can the Government do to ensure that work pays and we can take low-paid workers out of poverty?”

“Are you satisfied that that level of integration operates throughout the country?”

“That is three years now.”

“Where and why? This goes back to Danny’s point.”

“My apologies for missing the opening section. I thank Danny for protecting the inevitable spillover between his area of very good questions and that of workforce planning. Zara, a moment ago you were going to refer to the 2023 survey of members and those working in the service. Can you say a little more about the state…”

“Surely, at the local authority level, most local authorities have the strong leader model, so it is primarily just one local councillor who you need to be talking to, not the whole council. I do not understand why you cannot make significant progress without having to have a wider discussion. Is that true?”

“So does it come down to elected members making those decisions that cannot go forward simply by officer decisions in the public health service?”

“Do you think, therefore, that there should be a greater emphasis on the clinical side within the workforce plan? Or should there be a greater emphasis at the public health end of the service?”

“That draws me into the 10-year workforce plan, which is anticipated but not yet published. A moment ago, you predicted that there will be a greater range of challenging diseases that the service will have to respond to. Looking forward, what does that mean for the service, at a local authority level and at NHS secondar…”

“Now in comparison to when?”

“Is that reflected from your perspective, Matt?”

“Since you have a view across the piece, is the pressure on the workforce in this area greater than that across the NHS as a whole?”

“The survey had a particular emphasis on retention of workforce. Is the issue primarily one of the retention of staff, rather than of having to step up recruitment in order to get numbers to levels that are sustainable?”

“Sounds quite young to me!”

“Exactly. Has it improved since?”

“There is no time for courtesies. Homelessness is one end of a continuum that starts with thousands of wealthy people purchasing holiday and second homes in places such as Cornwall and ends with 5,000 people annually presenting to the local authority as at risk of or experiencing homelessness. For a number of years, I l…”

“T2. I acknowledge that the Government have inherited local government finance and SEND requirements in what is probably their worst crisis in history. However, Cornwall has faced one of the steepest—indeed, the steepest—demands for education, health and care plans in recent years, and one of the greatest SEND needs, as…”