Speeches by Stephenson.

“I have some questions on qualifications and training. To what extent do current qualifications and training programmes equip us to meet the demands of England’s housing and nature restoration targets? Maybe I can start first with Sue Searle.”

“Earlier, you said that postgraduates leaving education need lots of training to be useful in ecology. Does something need to be done to university education or is it appropriate enough and you would then do lots of training with them to get them ready?”

“Mr Berry, perhaps the same question to you but perhaps with a focus on the housing targets part rather than the ecology part.”

“It will take some time for the Government to bring those new measures forward and in the meantime, there is a skills gap.”

“Would you say that existing qualifications and training are not enough to achieve the target of 1.5 million new houses?”

“Finally, Mr Berry, in addition to what the Government are doing and what they are planning to do, is there something on top of that that you would expect to see to make a meaningful difference?”

“Dr Howard, the same question. We would be interested in your perspective on this.”

“My final question to Dr Howard. Is there sufficient read-across between ecological and planning and construction qualifications? If not, how can this be improved? Sue may also want to answer that. Maybe I will start with Dr Howard.”

“Do you have any final reflections on that, Ms Searle?”

“Thank you very much, all of you. Thank you, Chair.”

“I declare an interest: I am a Central Bedfordshire councillor. It is important that the boundary commission delivers electoral arrangements that provide strong local representation throughout English devolution. Will the hon. Member assure the House that resources available to the commission with be sufficient to ensur…”

“Under these proposals, foreign criminals will be deported after serving 30% of their sentence, which I appreciate is an improvement. The public want them to be deported right away—does the Lord Chancellor?”

“3. If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the resources available to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to deliver electoral arrangements under the “English Devolution” White Paper.”

“I know the hon. Member was about to conclude, but it is notable that she decided not to talk about hospitality, leisure and retail businesses, private schools or all sorts of other industries in her constituency. Businesses talking to me are deeply worried about the policies of this Government. Will she reflect on the …”

“I am being closely supervised by the Whips, as I have been told to keep this speech quite short, so there will be no 25 minutes from me. Hard-working British people are losing their jobs. Is it any wonder when every policy that this Government announce seems designed to make it harder for British people to do the right…”

“In places such as Maulden in Mid Bedfordshire, we too often see inappropriate or poorly maintained sustainable drainage, which contributes to worsening flooding. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government’s plans for 1.5 million homes can be considered a success only if they can tackle such problems so that everyone…”

“I thank the Minister for that response. Thanks to the introduction of auto-enrolment, millions of young people are now saving for their retirement, but I have heard worrying reports in Mid Bedfordshire that increases in employers’ national insurance, which have resulted in pay freezes, are now causing people to decide …”

“9. What steps she plans to take to encourage young people to increase their private pension pots.”

“It can be done already if developers want to?”

“I have time to ask one further question on place making. If there were one or two things that you wanted to see in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that are not there, but if they were, they would improve place making and the development of communities, not just housing estates, what would you like to see in that B…”