Speeches by Voaden.

“Great. Lastly, what mechanisms will you use to co-ordinate cross-departmental working, and do you think they will give you the leverage that you need to operate effectively cross-government?”

“I want to come back to something that you touched on earlier, Mr Smith, about the pathway that children take through the education system and whether they aim for university or look at other careers. I wondered whether you felt that the whole education system in this country has moved too much in one direction. The goa…”

“It involves the whole education system as well as children and parents choosing that route. There has to be a route for them to go down and it has to be properly funded.”

“We have touched on this a little bit in your answers to the previous question. The Government have talked about introducing shorter apprenticeships and new foundation apprenticeships. Is there anything you would like to add on what measures you think Skills England and the Government need to take to ensure the success …”

“In South Devon last year, we had an astonishing 49,904 hours of sewage leaks, or 5.69 years-worth of sewage pouring into the glorious Dart and Avon and into the sea around South Devon. Meanwhile, my constituents write to me about bills that have gone up by as much as 50%. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is an outrage…”

“I represent that neighbouring constituency, and those in the largely rural area of South Devon will be severely threatened by the closure of out-of-hours coronary care in Torbay because somebody decided it would be a good idea to merge it with coronary care in Exeter, meaning a potential increase of up to 45 minutes in…”

“I am going to change the tone of the debate a little bit from the hon. Member for Watford (Matt Turmaine) and welcome the Minister’s comments about a strategy for hospital building that is based in reality and not on a fantasy programme that had no funding behind it. It is also good to hear that capital funding will be…”

“Yes, I absolutely agree. I will come on to that a little later. To get back to the core issue of estate management companies, every type of resident—leaseholders and freeholders—is affected by rogue practices. Perversely, the situation is often more difficult for freeholders, who do not have the same statutory rights a…”

“I agree that it is an absolute disgrace. We must have some kind of legislation to bring these companies to book. In the UK, we have a rather strange situation whereby a new housing estate is built, but the council may not adopt the new area, so the builder has responsibility for roads, green spaces and communal areas a…”

“I absolutely agree and will come on to that as well. As a new MP coming into this place, I realised that some issues would be pertinent only to my constituency and others would reflect similar casework elsewhere, but when I reached out to colleagues to see who else was dealing with casework about estate management and …”

“The right hon. Member raises a very good point. The ownership of some of these companies is murky to say the least. Service charges are going up way beyond inflation, with no clear explanation of what the increases are for, and management companies refuse to give clear explanations when asked. At Camomile Lawn in Totne…”

“I will be very quick as we are short of time. I thank all hon. Members for coming and sharing their experiences. It is clear that there is a strong feeling in the House that we need to act and that millions of people are being badly served by estate management companies. It is good to hear that looking at the behaviour…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. Imagine being 14, 15 or 16 and being stuck in a rural village. For rural kids, bikes mean freedom. We have to make it easier to create cycle paths alongside dangerous rural roads, so that kids can have the freedom to travel independently. On that note, I …”

“I am glad that the hon. Lady says that the Government are in a hurry. We are looking forward to seeing the legislation come before the House. Out of the 1,100 people to whom I was referring, only 10 were happy with the way things were going with their management company. By anyone’s measure, that is a pretty shocking s…”

“rose—”

“We have a case in my constituency of a young offender, well below 16, who is causing havoc—he has been arrested many times—and is not complying with a court order. The assumption is against incarceration because of his age. Will the Minister explain what work the Government are doing to crack down on prolific offending…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered residential estate management companies. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for listing this debate. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. It is good to see so many MPs back straight after the Easter break, ready to get stuck into the gritty is…”

“It might not be about Staffordshire, but we also have young people in Devon. We have a case in my constituency of a young offender who has been arrested multiple times and put under a court order, but the presumption is against incarceration because of his age. Local residents tell me that there is a disaster waiting t…”

“I have a very quick follow-up on that. Do any of you have a view on what effect pulling out of Erasmus+ has had on the university sector? Would going back into Erasmus+ or trying to restore relations with the European Union help the situation we are facing with regards to international students?”

“Both the Russell Group and MillionPlus have proposed increased tuition fees linked to inflation and higher government spending. How realistic do you think that these two proposals are?”