Speeches by Atkinson.

“It would be fantastic to get something in writing with that detail. Do the Government intend to produce the criteria for how they are going to assess where to electrify next and in what order?”

“From what you said, though, the only role that GBR will have is providing clarity, as opposed to more actively looking at the kinds of skills that are needed and how we ensure that the training is in place for that.”

“I am certainly keen to understand more about operational skills, but could I come back to manufacturing skills? There is not a rail-related industry that I go to that does not talk about its real concerns about skills going forward. You mentioned the private sector being able to plan for that. Will GBR not have a role …”

“I am certainly biased in considering Derby as a city that makes things, in terms of the wide talents that are there. How is the Department planning to address the skills crisis that we have in the rail sector?”

“As a Derby MP, the damage done by boom and bust is something that I am very familiar with. How can we ensure that when it comes to their supply chains we are really encouraging and enforcing the use of British talent and British jobs to provide the work that they need further down the supply chain?”

“Yes, thank you. What progress has been made on establishing a long-term rolling stock strategy? What relationship will it have to the Government’s planned industrial strategy?”

“Chair, I was going to move on to rolling stock if that is all right, unless anyone else had anything on electrification.”

“I would be hugely grateful for a follow-up answer just in terms of that detail.”

“Is that where they are going? They have gone from midland to trans-Pennine.”

“The practical work is finished at the moment. The only work is design work. When we now face such a huge delay until the end of the tendering process, what will happen to those companies and those skills?”

“My concern is that I stopped you telling us more about what you were doing when it came to operational skills and more workforce for future drivers. We didn’t get into that.”

“Bus cuts are absolutely devastating for the woman I spoke to who could not get her weekly shop, the young man I met who had to leave for work hours early to try to get multiple buses, and the husband who could not get a bus to the care home his wife was in. Since 2008, the east midlands has suffered bus cuts of 60%—mor…”

“At the Excel parking on Copeland Street in Derby, some residents are getting parking fines if they do not pay for their parking within five minutes. I am pleased that the Government will drive up standards in the private parking sector and are on the side of motorists. Could we have an update from a Local Government Mi…”

“You’ve raised four particular areas: pay, travel to different test centres, forced weekend working and the culture and pressure. In relation to the 130 that we see being lost annually, what do you think the main issue is for them? Is there an order to those concerns?”

“You were talking about the possibilities of instructors doing part-time examining. You said there were some regulatory obstructions to that. Is it regulatory?”

“There is an element of them being paid less and having to travel further.”

“Examiners. It is about whether or not we can encourage more instructors to do part-time examining to be able to fill the void. What are your thoughts on how that could be encouraged and whether or not there are barriers to that encouragement?”

“There was a suggestion about trying to increase the number of those who are part-time instructor, part-time examiner. Is that something you are looking at? As a follow-on, what more can be done about addressing the drop-out rate?”

“Your DVSA 2023-24 business plan said that you would be asking your “people and external experts to help us shape our employee value proposition, (our offer), to attract and retain the best people to deliver our vision.” In terms of the people we have heard evidence from already, there is some concern about who you have…”

“There was a specific concern raised that pressure was being brought to bear on examiners to pass learner drivers even when they didn’t think it appropriate. Could you address that concern? Is it something you would be willing to explore further considering it has been raised?”