Speeches by Stephenson.

“7. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of planned reforms to leasehold on integrated retirement communities.”

“To close the session, I have a few questions on engagement with MPs, but first may I ask some clarification questions about some of the planning risks, which the Chair was talking about earlier? Earlier in the session, you described a cost of between £95 million and £160 million by not going down to one option, and the…”

“I guess my advice would be to focus on the money, because we all care about value for money. With some of the upper estimates, we could build 50 hospitals for that. Focusing on what we care about as constituents, there are some trade-offs. Do we spend £50 billion on restoring and renewing a palace, or do we have 50 hos…”

“I think we all know how difficult planning is in this country. If it were easier, we would get infrastructure over the line much quicker. Do you have a sense of how much that could cost, in addition to this £95 million to £160 million? What is the dollar value? I have also got judicial review in my mind. I don’t know t…”

“Can I just pause you? You used the word “briefing”. For me, if I am being briefed, I am being told rather than being asked for an opinion. The nub of my question is to what extent this whole process is geared towards getting feedback. Obviously, you need to inform.”

“From the briefings I have had, the expected costs of these options have not been briefed to MPs and you haven’t had engagement from us. Between now and these motions coming before the House, what work are you intending to do with MPs so that they understand the costings, rather than just providing this great document, …”

“Thank you. Moving on to engagement with MPs, right at the start you talked about your statutory duty. Would you just confirm what that is? I think you have been using “consult” and “engage” interchangeably, and those things are quite different.”

“With those numbers in mind, do you take the view as a programme management team that you have satisfied your statutory duty?”

“Sorry, I haven’t been on one of your tours either, although I have seen the pictures and it looks quite interesting. I should probably do that.”

“Would you be able to describe the consultation process for this Committee? I am particularly interested to know whether it is genuinely two-way, or whether people are going on a tour, being told stuff, and then disappearing.”

“Okay. So thus far, from the numbers you provided earlier, you have consulted with and/or had feedback from 41% of Members and 38% of newly elected Members. Is that right?”

“Only 38% of newly elected Members have been engaged, consulted or briefed, and 41% in total. I don’t want to be controversial, but clearly your outreach to MPs has not worked as well as it might have done. Had it done, you may have had higher take-up. Are you thinking creatively about how you may get out to MPs and eng…”

“Is it worth emphasising that the Conservatives froze fuel duty for 14 years, which took £100 billion off the cost of driving? That is an example of taxes that we cut over those 14 years. In contrast, this Government have increased taxes by £66 billion in the past two years. Is it not outrageous?”

“I thought I would intervene to give the hon. Gentleman a little more time. Is he arguing for an amnesty here in the UK? What does he think British citizens would think of such an amnesty? Does he believe that that would be fair or unfair?”

“I could not agree more. That is clearly a back door to Britain, and we need to close it. Our public sector is dependent on a huge number of worker visas, while we debate—even today, in the Chamber —record youth unemployment. As my right hon. Friend said earlier, we need to get those young people into work rather than r…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) on securing this important debate. Immigration is one of the defining issues of contemporary politics. Polls regularly show that it is one of the most important issues for the public. Much like my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland an…”

“First, I thank Ministers for inviting me to a meeting yesterday on unduly lenient sentences. My constituent, Tracey Hanson, and other campaigners like her continue to raise powerful points on the need for victims to have parity with offenders on rights and support. Will the Minister assure the House that the Government…”

“But you will still have three separate systems; they will just talk to one another better?”

“To summarise, we should expect to see, by the summer, improvements such that caseworkers are making more decisions per day and they are being more consistent in that decision making so that there is fairness in the system.”

“Sorry to labour the point, Chair—”