Speeches by Atkinson.

“I think we can all agree that the better the technology and the real-time information that is needed, the more people will be encouraged to use our buses. We absolutely need to encourage more people to use our buses. Over the 15 years up to 2023, we saw a massive loss of bus services. Where the cuts hit has varied, but…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered regional transport inequality. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate. It was originally due to take place on the first day back from the summer recess, but there was not time because so many people wanted to speak. I am grateful to those in atten…”

“I am grateful for the support that my hon. Friend, alongside many colleagues, has shown for electrification and the benefits that it can bring. It would be a fitting celebration of 200 years of the modern railway to continue the electrification of the midland main line, which would bring jobs, skills and hundreds of mi…”

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate. I thank my many colleagues who spoke passionately and persuasively for better transport options for their regions, but also raised fantastic examples of new investment. The number of contributions shows how important transport equality is, and it is huge…”

“I am just about to finish. If the UK is a body, Derby is geographically at its heart and is asking to have the same chance as everywhere else to be connected. We need to maintain our change of direction to reduce the inequality in the spend per person on transport, stay on track towards the reduction, and ultimately th…”

“This morning, I was at the Nuclear Skills Academy in Derby. It is a partnership between Rolls-Royce and the University of Derby that teaches the skills needed to create the reactors that power our submarines, and it delivers 200 apprenticeships a year. The defence industrial strategy delivers the biggest investment in …”

“I strongly endorse what my hon. Friend says. The majority of the people First Steps ED support are children and young people, but sadly demand is at a record high, outpacing the support available. I welcome the additional funding that the Government are giving to these services, but does my hon. Friend agree that ensur…”

“The crime of group-based child sexual exploitation is probably the most heinous imaginable. It is so brave of victims to speak out, seek justice and drive change so that other young lives are protected from such crimes. Can the Minister tell us more about how the national inquiry will engage with victims and survivors …”

“More than 60 year 4 pupils from Walter Evans primary school in Derby wrote to me and the Secretary of State worried about sewage dumping and plastic pollution in our rivers. I thank the Secretary of State for his clear commitment that the Government will halve pollution in our rivers by 2030. Does he agree that had the…”

“The oldest surviving locomotive roundhouse in Britain is in Derby, and what was once at the forefront of Victorian engineering is now a cutting-edge learning environment for local young people who will build the homes of the future. But the site is full to bursting—Derby college needs more space. Does the Minister agre…”

“6. What steps she is taking to help improve the condition of the further education college estate.”

“That will be a living breathing plan, not something that is set out once and then does not get updated. Do you agree that it would be important for it not just to produce one but to maintain it?”

“Will that be included explicitly in the Bill or its licence?”

“Alex Hynes was talking about how consistency of strategy and doing more means that you learn, and that brings the cost down. That is what we were seeing when it came to electrification of the midland main line. The cost of electrifying that was coming down significantly per kilometre. It was something that was being de…”

“The written evidence talked about encouraging Great British Railways to produce a pipeline that draws together rail investment, rolling stock and major programmes as well as the smaller-scale renewals. Is it not within your gift to require Great British Railways to do just that rather than just encouraging it?”

“Thank you. I want to ask questions about fragmentation and Great British Railways. It has been acknowledged in the written evidence that an unsteady pipeline, as we have been talking about, creates inefficiencies in the sector. You have talked about Great British Railways enabling that kind of long-term thinking and pl…”

“I have just one final question, Chair. Would you acknowledge that it means that electrification will cost the taxpayer more by having this pause? Is there not also a risk that we will lose national capability in electrification when skills and plant go to other countries that have much more stable pipelines of work whe…”

“But this decision is absolutely in contrast to everything that national strategy seeks to achieve. We have seen the open letter from RIA—the Rail Industry Association—and the Rail Forum on Monday. That is absolutely in line with the evidence this Committee has received from rolling stock and others, saying that electri…”

“While I absolutely accept that further south you will have the benefits of those who live alongside the tracks having lack of the air pollution that is now going to continue to be seen for the rest of the midland main line, doesn’t it also smack of short-term decision making when there is general agreement that it need…”

“Thank you.”