Speeches by George.

“Further to the questions raised by the hon. Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) and several other hon. Members, I, too, have picked up numerous cases in my constituency of Government-sponsored defective home insulation work and of extortionate, poor-quality and defective work of unscrupulous cowboy contractors who masquera…”

“8. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government-funded home insulation schemes.”

“The right hon. Gentleman has not mentioned the rural exceptions policy. He is talking about rural housing, but to achieve the outcome he is describing, surely he should be advancing rural exception schemes. There is massive hope value on the edges of towns and villages if the targets are high, but rural exception schem…”

“The long-term workforce plan has been in place for only 18 months, but now that you have had associates in place and had the opportunity to look at some of the pressures within the system itself, has there been any kind of study to see whether that approach is producing productivity or counterproductivity?”

“No one is arguing to the contrary. In other words, no one is saying that you want the wrong nurse in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pardon my expression, but management babble is worthless unless you have something by which to measure it. I would have thought that the RCN and others were looking for mandated staff-…”

“It was not intended to be a trick question to draw you down the route of just looking at the plan in two-dimensional terms—purely in terms of productivity. Looking at workforce needs, your other clear headline requirement for efficiency gain, is there not a tension between some of the policy, such as pursuing changes t…”

“On the issue of workforce and workforce planning, there hadn’t been a long-term workforce plan until about a year and a half ago. I wonder to what extent the lack of workforce planning up until that point had hampered the ability of the NHS to achieve the productivity and efficiency gains that you are seeking. Now that…”

“On greenfield development, whether it be in the green belt or outside it, rural housing developments often take place in green locations. In the light of that, will the Minister ensure that the Government strengthen local authorities’ ability to use the rural exception policy? We would rather pay 10 times agricultural …”

“I beg your pardon, Ms Jardine—I ran away with myself. As far as my hon. Friend’s question is concerned, a range of reasons make it extremely difficult to deliver on rural exception sites. One of the difficulties, which I have expressed to the Minister, is that the viability thresholds are quite difficult for housing as…”

“Well—”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) on securing this important debate. It is interesting to follow the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith). His constituency is a different environment, with a different set of …”

“It is a pleasure to support my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) and the excellent work she has been doing in advancing the Bill. Indeed, for many years I have supported it in its previous iterations in the local authority in Cornwall. I had a speech prepared to encourage the Government to support …”

“Yes, of course I agree. I am a strong supporter of the Bill and want it—certainly its intent—to proceed as rapidly as possible, and for us to make progress in all the areas that have been advanced. We must challenge and ensure that we not only meet the commitments that successive Governments have made in relation to ou…”

“I speak as the MP for the Isles of Scilly, which have a population of approximately 2,500. There are a number of anomalies that often apply to the Isles of Scilly.”

“Will those who receive an invitation to undertake a digital check-up be invited to undertake a face-to-face check as an alternative?”

“When will you know?”

“I must congratulate my hon. Friend on her preparation for this debate, which has attracted so many people to Westminster Hall today—except, of course, from the party that created a lot of the problems we now face. On her point about mainstreaming and special school education, does she agree not only that many rural are…”

“So when will you know? You are rolling it out in three areas at present: Norfolk, Lambeth and Medway. It is well known that the most digitally enabled are in your high take-up groups and not in the target groups that are most at risk, is it not? Are you not fearful that pursuing a digital methodology will actually just…”

“Are you not expressing it clearly enough? What is happening?”

“So it is a communication issue.”