Speeches by Atkinson.

“It sounds like you have a particular issue with examiners and being able to speak to examiners, and therefore to PCS. Certainly the evidence we have had today is that it sounds like that interaction has not been as open and full, or the learning that it posed has not been taken on board as much as it could have been.”

“That was my question.”

“Acknowledging the intention that you set out, if it seems to be having the opposite impact, and we are still facing really difficult attrition rates, at what point do you look at it again and decide that maybe it was not the best direction to go in, and change your mind?”

“The staff satisfaction level on pay and benefits is only 15%, so it feels that there is a lot more discussion that needs to be happening to try to ensure that lessons are being learnt to increase that. We were specifically told about pay and culture, and not being paid extra for weekends or recompensed for having to do…”

“The point is that you were going to speak to your own people and others about your offer, about what was going to be attractive in order to recruit and retain.”

“Can that be explored to see what would need to change?”

“I will probably be directing my questions more to the DVSA and Loveday. We have been told that we have an examiner attrition rate of approximately 130 examiners per year. Why do you feel you cannot retain examiners, and what are you doing to improve that retention?”

“The drop-out rate?”

“More than two thirds of care proceedings involving the most vulnerable children in our society cannot be completed within six months. Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is a real concern that the safeguard is not deliverable, or risks being the rubber stamp that I know my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley …”

“Derby city centre is turning the page on 14 years of Conservative decline, with a new performance venue, a new business school and a restored market hall, but across the country we see too many empty shops and quiet high streets. [Interruption.] This Budget is putting more money into the pockets of working people to sp…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for coming to Derby last year to see our flood defences and to meet firefighters who had saved lives and property when Derbyshire was hit by floods. May I echo the calls for him to explore with the Home Office the possibility of putting the water rescue that they perform on a statutory fo…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise to speak in favour of Lords amendment 3 and the public sector equality duty. I welcome the Government’s plans for an accessible road map, and the fact that they will work with disabled communities to ensure that the Bill properly meets the needs of people with disabilities who tr…”

“rose—”

“I met members of an endometriosis support group that was set up recently by Derby County Community Trust. I heard from women who had not been taken seriously and who had had their pain dismissed, taken significant time out of education and work, and faced appallingly long waits for surgery. I also met some of their mum…”

“Since 2008, as you indicated, we have seen such a decline in rural buses; I think across England and Wales it is a 52% decline. In the east midlands it is 60%; in some local authorities it is over 80%. The previous Government had a national bus strategy and our predecessor Committee wrote a report that said that “despi…”

“Yes, if I could. You mentioned that stop-start and boom and bust massively contribute to cost when you do not have a steady pipeline of work, whether it is the supply chain or other infrastructure projects. What is being done to try to ensure that we do have that steady pipeline, which is a real way of bringing down co…”

“Building on that, what work is being done to look at the differential between on-street charging costs and motorway charging costs? It is one thing if you can always charge from home, but if you are looking at charging elsewhere there seems to be huge variability in the costs.”

“The Transport Secretary will know how much it meant to me and Baggy Shanker when the enhanced Great British Railways was confirmed, with its headquarters in Derby, particularly at a difficult time for train building in Derby, which, thankfully, is back on track; but the whole country—particularly passengers—is keen to …”

“How do we ensure that freight is not forgotten when it is not part of GBR? I spend a lot of time talking to rail companies and providers. There is real concern about skills and the workforce. How will that feature in the work of Great British Railways, and how will work be done across the Department with other Departme…”

“When you became Transport Secretary, you said that transforming infrastructure, promoting social mobility and tackling regional inequality were strategic objectives. In this room you are likely to find many who agree that investment in transport infrastructure is key to the Government’s growth mission. As you just indi…”