Speeches by Atkinson.

“Business confidence increases when businesses know that they have the skilled workforce they need in order to grow. We have just had Nuclear Week in Parliament, and it was a pleasure to host Rolls-Royce and its apprentices. Its nuclear skills academy is providing a pipeline of talent, and the same is needed across othe…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that what has been presented suggests that families must choose between branded uniform and fashion brands? Does this clause open up options for parents so that they can have more affordable uniform for their children and save the family money?”

“The shadow Minister’s new clause 56 sets out specific things in great detail. It seems really odd that he has a concern about micromanagement in light of the provisions he has tabled.”

“There is a uniform shop, Uniform Direct, in my constituency in Derby, which was opened by Harvinder Shanan. Like me, she is a mum of three. She is determined to drive down the costs of school uniform and understands the financial pressures that local families face, particularly with the cost of living crisis that the l…”

“You mentioned that you now meet with Ministers on a weekly basis. Obviously, there has been a change of Government. Has that changed your working relationship with Government? Has it changed or impacted on your priorities?”

“In the light of what you have done, are your priorities changing going forward? Your recent corporate plan did not list your priorities beyond 2024. It would be great to get a little bit more around your strategic priorities for 2025-26.”

“On that, I would like to ask how you think Active Travel England has grown and changed over the last two years, and whether you think the responsibilities of Active Travel England have changed.”

“The contract that our Defence Secretary has announced at Rolls-Royce in Derby today is the biggest Ministry of Defence contract in its history. It will make a major contribution to the long-term investment in our city that I and neighbouring MPs have been calling for, creating 1,000 jobs and protecting 4,000 more. It i…”

“I rise to speak to amendments 36, 37 and 18. It has been a number of years since I was regularly involved in care proceedings as a barrister, but I did so for the best part of a decade. I and a number of my former colleagues hugely welcome this requirement for family group decision making to ensure that it can consiste…”

“Giving that discretion is really important, but by saying “should”, amendment 37 would give a directive to the local authority to first look at including the child, and only reject that in circumstances where it can be demonstrated that including them would be harmful and inappropriate. In my view, that fetters the dis…”

“I fully agree that the list in subsection (2) is clearly not an exhaustive list, and many local authorities, as a matter of good practice, will set out the variety of services available to children who live in kinship care and to kinship carers. However, I also invite the Minister to consider the guidance already avail…”

“In making sure that you enable those successes to come to the fore, and move away from the silos we have seen, how can the design of what GBR will look like address those issues?”

“Laura, you have talked a lot about the need for real cultural change, and Lord Hendy was talking about concerns around blame and fragmentation, and different metrics. What is your assessment of what has gone wrong with the railways in Great Britain?”

“GBR would be addressed maybe more to Lord Hendy, and then certainly what SGBR is doing in preparation for that.”

“I am interested in the social and environmental outcomes that GBR will be focused on. What role will GBR play in addressing the concerning skills shortages in the rail industry?”

“Some of the concerns arise from the view that when you are talking about taxpayers’ money more is being spent because of delay and micromanagement at lower levels rather than setting the direction at the top. Is that something you recognise? Do you feel that there will be progress away from that?”

“It is one thing for the Secretary of State to set direction, and absolutely that is right, but it is anticipated that GBR will be arm’s length, isn’t it?”

“You do.”

“When we were talking about some of the things that needed to change, an issue that was not raised but I hear regularly when talking to different rail bodies is concern that part of the delays has been created by micromanagement from the Department and the Treasury. With that in mind, I would be interested, Lord Hendy, …”

“Do you anticipate greater ambition for growth in freight than we have previously seen?”