Speeches by Cane.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) and the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Juliet Campbell) on securing this debate. I thank them for their excellent speeches, and I echo their calls for a national dyslexia strategy. Within six weeks of …”

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as an affiliate member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. Cambridgeshire Scouts’ Archaeology Squad in my constituency gives children a chance to get involved in archaeology and hold…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) on securing this debate and on his excellent speech. As we have heard today, Britain’s aid budget supports international development in countries facing extreme poverty and conflict. We…”

“Our servicewomen urgently need investment in female-specific tactical equipment, particularly bras and body armour. What steps is the Minister taking to provide funding for research, development and implementation of kit for the female anatomy and to ensure that fitting services and task-appropriate provision are stand…”

“15. Whether he is taking steps to implement the outstanding recommendations of the Defence Committee’s report entitled “Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life”, published on 25 July 2021.”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Students in my constituency are served by Impington Village college for the IB. They are deeply unhappy that the college received a letter from the Department announcing the change with no warning or consultation. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government decisi…”

“Earlier, you said that Departments take the management of their ALBs very seriously, but you also touched on the importance of the framework giving them access to information that allows them to do that. In practice, therefore, how seriously do you think they are taking the oversight of their public bodies?”

“That would be useful, thank you. What does good oversight from the sponsor team look like?”

“Yes. You are asking the team to have quite a range of competencies, experience and understanding of the ALBs. Do you think that the sponsor teams are clear about that, and do they have the resources to do it?”

“In addition to lots of ALBs all doing different things, a range of them have not only their framework agreement, which is their governance from the sponsor Department, but another structure that gives them another set of governance—for example, they might be a registered company or charity, or have been set up by Parli…”

“You talk about the sponsorship teams knowing the ALB and what it does, and understanding that. Do you see any issues with people staying long enough to build up such experience, or with a good handover when new people come into the team?”

“Yes. I trained as an auditor and there was always a permanent file, so you had a back history that you could go to. I often wonder if something like that would be useful to have.”

“Yes. I think you have already answered that it does vary between Departments. We have also touched on the oversight from the centre. There are now guidelines, but is anyone taking an overview of whether they are being followed? Should that be the Cabinet Office or do we wait for an audit report to see if it is being fo…”

“What tools do Ministers have to influence how the ALBs are run? And how mindful are the ALBs themselves of what the Minister wants?”

“Is anything in place to have a cyclical review of the frameworks?”

“The Venerable Bede first wrote of the “Isle of Eels” back in the 8th century. He explained that the Isle of Ely is known as such because it was surrounded by water, with an abundance of eels, but these eels do not spend their whole life in Ely or, indeed, in the UK. The biological story behind eels is a quite remarkabl…”

“You touched on the fact that you are not sure all consultant lobbying is actually required to register under the current rules. Of those that are required, how confident are you that they are all registering?”

“You think it is the reputation that is more important?”

“When you find a breach, your maximum fine is £7,500 which, frankly for a lot of lobby firms, is very little. Is that sufficient to deter people?”

“With things like the Bribery Act, if somebody tries to bribe you, you are meant to report it. Is there anything that says that if somebody tries to lobby you, you should check they are on the register and, if not, you should report it?”