Speeches by Stephenson.

“Are you saying you think that would be achieved through the current Planning and Infrastructure Bill or that there needs to be change to achieve your brilliant idea?”

“I have some questions on place making. The broad question is: how do we ensure that social and environmental considerations are embedded and central to the design of developments, and not treated as an add-on? In the interests of time, the second part of the question, about car dependency, is slightly narrower. With cu…”

“Are you arguing that we should have more density in towns and cities around infrastructure, and less building in greenfield sites, which is what your company is doing?”

“Yes, please.”

“5. Whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the interaction between mayors and integrated care boards, in the context of the English devolution White Paper.”

“T5. Residents in Mid Bedfordshire are concerned about the standards of maintenance at our two local hospitals. What action are the Government taking to support our hospitals in Luton and Bedford to catch up on maintenance backlogs?”

“Funding and delivery of a GP surgery for Wixams in my constituency continues to fall between the cracks of developers, local councils and the local ICB. Does the Minister agree that to break those deadlocks and build the infrastructure that our communities require, new mayors should have the power to direct ICBs, makin…”

“As the UK’s top export country, the US is a vital partner to many UK businesses, but with Trump now reported to have made the UK a second-order priority to Asia and with the UK possibly on the verge of giving up its Brexit freedoms in favour of EU alignment, how confident is the Secretary of State of achieving a compre…”

“Talking of experts in deindustrialisation, over 1,000 jobs at Luton’s Stellantis plant have been lost, impacting my constituents, because this Government did not respond to concerns about energy policy. If the Minister does not agree with us on net zero, does she agree with the general secretary of the GMB, who says th…”

“When the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer recently visited Mid Bedfordshire, they will have experienced at first hand the lack of step-free access at Flitwick station. Does the Leader of the House agree that this has been an issue for too many years across the country, impacting not just disabled pass…”

“12. What recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on tariffs.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered planning and development in Bedfordshire. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. Mid Bedfordshire—indeed, all of Bedfordshire —has played its part in delivering new housing. My constituency was once home to the world’s largest brickworks at Stewartb…”

“Will the Minister confirm whether new towns will contribute to current house building targets or be in addition to them?”

“I thank my right hon. Friend—”

“Again, I must declare my interest as a Central Bedfordshire councillor. I learned recently of the sums that are held at Central Beds from section 106 contributions. The council is very good at collecting the sums but not necessarily at spending them, particularly in the right places and on the right things. Residents w…”

“I absolutely agree. There is a lot of support for brownfield-first development, but also for gently densifying our towns and cities so that we have houses where people want to live within the existing infrastructure. The Government have been elected with a clear mandate to build, build, build, and I accept that. But I …”

“Will the Minister take this opportunity to talk about building on flood plains? He may be coming on to this matter, but it is close to the hearts of my constituents and, particularly, constituents in North Bedfordshire. It is important that we do not build houses in areas that are going to flood.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention—I forget which positions people have had over the years. I absolutely agree. I will discuss new towns later in my speech; it is important that the Government provide clarity, and clarity soon, on where those new towns will be built. In my constituency too, people want the in…”

“In my constituency there is a particular problem of hyper-prolific shoplifting. There are no credible deterrents and it is a scourge on our local communities and shop owners. Can the Justice Secretary rule out any possibility of allowing career criminals to avoid prison, even for short sentences?”

“3. What steps she is taking through the criminal justice system to help tackle hyper-prolific offending.”