Speeches by Dixon.

“No; I have very little time. How much will it cost for the additional doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals? How much time will be required to do a proper consultation? What about the lengthy paperwork? Will new clinics be set up, or will existing facilities be repurposed? What will be the costs of the let…”

“6. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold system.”

“Earlier this month, together with about 40 Labour MPs, I met the managing director of FirstPort. I raised the case of 90-year-old Tom, who lives in a retirement complex in Bingley in my constituency. Like many of the residents whose stories we shared, he has been hit by extortionate service charges that have risen way …”

“Last autumn, I met the Secretary of State to discuss the rebuild of the RAAC-infested Airedale general hospital. I reiterate my thanks on behalf of my constituents, who are being treated in wards with propped-up ceilings, for his and the ministerial team’s commitment to ensuring that this vital new hospital goes ahead …”

“One of the positives we saw during the covid pandemic was an outpouring of neighbourliness. Churches and faith communities played a key role in mobilising support for those most in need, delivering meals, shopping and prescription medications to those who were advised to stay at home. Will the Minister join me in payin…”

“I encourage Opposition Members to heed the appeal from the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) to stop scoring party political points on such an important and sensitive subject. I welcome the Home Secretary’s announcement, in particular the Government’s commitment to take action to protect victims and secure ju…”

“12. What steps he is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

“I thank the Minister for her response, and I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s efforts to secure a sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages. Many of my constituents have expressed concern about the recent raid of Kamal Adwan hospital, which was one of the last healthcare facilities still operating in Gaza. The h…”

“Given the importance of absence, as we heard earlier, any evidence base about what works to prevent persistent absence and to re‑engage particularly young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in education, particularly in secondary schools, certainly seems like a gap.”

“It was just a point that colleagues were making about auto-enrolment, and about the problems of some areas having higher and others having lower FSM data. Whoever raised it might want to raise it, Chair.”

“In terms of all this extra money that is going in, you mentioned it being on two metrics, one of those being disadvantage and the other being attainment. Is that using free school meals again for the education investment areas getting money? Is that the measure of disadvantage, or is it something else?”

“They like their freedom to make choices, and colleagues will be coming back to accountability, so I am not going to do that. You raised the pupil premium. Given how important it is in the funding available and how much emphasis you are putting on it with regard to tackling disadvantage, why has it not kept up with infl…”

“Welcome to the witnesses. Before I proceed with my questions, I need to declare a conflict of interest. I worked with Juliet when she was director of care and transformation at the Department of Health. For the record, I also have a personal association with Tony’s wife. I am going to pick up some colleagues’ themes ab…”

“That sits with you.”

“There is one other question from me, which is about the education investment areas. I was wondering about the way you work with them, and you also mentioned earlier the expanded RISE teams. The EEF obviously produces evidence, but what some areas and schools need is support. It is all very well reading a nice report te…”

“For clarification, whose responsibility is it to capture that learning and spread good practice? Is it Ofsted’s?”

“What about shared evaluation? Again, we have spoken already at some length and the Education Endowment Foundation has been mentioned a number of times. It was set up as a What Works centre. I probably should have declared an interest: I led another What Works centre, the Centre for Ageing Better. I see that you have re…”

“From my work on health inequalities I know there is a win-win there, in a sense. Obviously, from the Marmot work on health inequalities, we know those early years are drivers of lifelong health inequalities, as well as the inequalities that we are concerned with today in education. I can see that for the DHSC it would …”

“I want to come to cross-Government working, recognising that when the NAO Report was being prepared we did not have the opportunity mission, and you have already talked a little about that. Obviously it is vital for disadvantaged children that schools, and indeed the DFE, work very closely with other Government Departm…”

“I wanted to come on to that, in terms of how you therefore balance decisions about where to invest, given some of the emphasis here on academic attainment, and the point that you were making particularly in relation to the opportunity mission, which is on wider outcomes. Again, some of the local schools that are in mor…”