Speeches by Stephenson.

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to nip out to my Delegated Legislation Committee without missing my spot. I met with businesses this morning, and it is clear that the people who take risks, invest, create jobs and drive tax receipts are busy scratching their heads to find some positive from this Budget…”

“My constituents want politicians to work on a cross-party basis to improve SEND education. Is the Secretary of State committed to working cross-party, and if so, what steps is she taking to do that?”

“The Chief Secretary to the Treasury failed to answer a critical question raised by my right hon. Friend the shadow Chancellor and a similar question raised by the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper), so I will ask the question in a slightly different way. Does the Minister agree that the FCA must urgently investig…”

“I, too, would like to ask the Secretary of State some questions on the TFFF. I am glad that he is proud of the previous Government’s actions and innovation in setting up that facility. He has explained that there is a tough fiscal situation and that is why the Government are currently not committing to that fund, but i…”

“I totally understand that there is not an infinite amount of cash out there. We always want more cash to do more things. I am sure that you feel that day in, day out.”

“You have the core funding, but the £7.3 million is really important to Bedfordshire police to do its job. It has uncertainty, because it does not know, year in, year out, whether it is going to get that funding. It has to fight for that every year. It just so happens that it has been rolled over. Would it not be better…”

“Using Bedfordshire as an example, it has the lowest Government funding per capita, at 57.6%. There is a reliance on these special grants. There are two important special grants that come to £7.3 million, which is 5% of the force’s total budget. It has been rolled over for seven years. Every year, there is a level of un…”

“Thank you. I just thought that it would be helpful to get that on the record. Moving on to the police funding model, just for background, I am the MP for Mid Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire has some challenges as a county. It is rural but also has Luton, which has a make-up that is much more like a London metropolitan borou…”

“I have a few questions on the police funding model. Before I get to that, can I ask a quick supplementary to the Deputy Chair’s questions earlier about abolishing PCCs? From my recollection of that announcement, there is an expected £100 million saving from that. Would you be able to describe to the Committee how that …”

“T7. The Government have said that they want to improve standards in public life, which I entirely agree with. At a recent council meeting, the leader of Milton Keynes council swore and was abusive following the speech of a 16-year-old resident. Does the Secretary of State agree that that behaviour is totally unacceptab…”

“I have lived in my constituency for 11 or 12 years now. Every police and crime commissioner has come in and said that they are going to fight to update this funding formula. National politicians say that we need to change this funding formula. Everybody gets it, but, as soon as people get into power, it never happens. …”

“It has, yes.”

“My final question is on the rural impact. As I explained at the outset, my constituency is very rural, but the police force has to deal with very acute demands in places such as Luton. It is absolutely right that it focuses resource and attention in the likes of Luton. I know that there are MPs around this table who re…”

“They have, endlessly, year after year, but nothing ever happens.”

“Stamp duty is the worst kind of tax; there seems to be cross-party consensus on that point today. It stands in the way of the aspiring young couple who want to buy their first home, or move on and bring up a family. It punishes the older couple who want to downsize to a more suitable home once their family have flown t…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be helpful if the Government were much more ambitious in finding the savings in their Budget, in order to deliver this ambitious policy that would support young people up and down our country?”

“The hon. Member is making a powerful argument. I just wonder whether he has reflected on the size of the welfare budget. Is he making the argument that welfare spending should not come down at all?”

“The hon. Member is making a powerful point in support of our motion. Does he intend to support it this afternoon?”

“I appreciate that you will, I am sure, be doing everything you possibly can to minimise those costs. Chair, it would be really helpful to get that high-level number to this Committee in writing. It is extraordinary that we cannot have that number.”

“And that’s it? Nothing else? Just add those two numbers together, and that is what it is costing us?”