Speeches by Kane.

“In paragraph 2.10, it says that the Government are launching Skills England, a new arm’s length body, “to form a coherent picture of skills gaps” across the United Kingdom. Is that correct that it is Skills England’s job to form a cohesive UK picture?”

“When I look at that integration between immigration and skills in the devolved nations, I want an assurance that, in terms of the policies, procedures and, Antonia, all the changes that you have suggested for getting the data and an assurance, these structures will be as strong for the devolved nations—so that you have…”

“You have; I am happy to ask a few more questions on the devolved approach to this. Listening to what you are saying on the devolved nature, while recognising that any variations are a Government decision, if that were to be the case, can you give me the assurance that, in terms of collecting the data and engaging with …”

“Thank you both for that. Can I now move on to paragraph 2.10 of the Report? This is about the Government’s plans, announced in July, to develop closer links between immigration policy and sectoral labour market policies, with all the intentions listed in that paragraph. Simon, how will improving the links between immig…”

“Recognising how new into the job you are, can you give us an indication of how long you think it will take to get these processes in place? I am not looking for a date.”

“I want to talk first about paragraphs 2.4 and 2.9 of the Report. Paragraph 2.4 says, “In considering entry requirements on the Skilled Worker visa route, the Home Office must balance government immigration policy with the priorities of other departments and the route’s objective to enable employers to recruit the skill…”

“If it is useful feedback to hear, I am hearing a lot of frustrated researchers and professors at universities say that it is not working for them. Their frustration is palpable when they are writing to me, but thank you for that. Antonia, you look like you want to say something.”

“Can I finally ask about paragraph 1.11 in the Report? This is about the additional charges that are levied. There is a section on the immigration skills charge where it says, “DfE does not directly receive this income, so it is unclear how the money is allocated by HM Treasury, or spent.” I do not know who wants to tak…”

“Let me ask it this way. Is there a curiosity being expressed by your Department as to what is happening with this? Are you engaging with the Treasury to get a better understanding of it?”

“I have one final point. In my constituency, Camphill Blair Drummond is a remarkable residential service for people with learning disabilities. It attracts volunteers from all over the world to work with residents. It is reporting to me that the high increase in, for example, the health surcharge is limiting who they ar…”

“Thank you. I can write you on that one, but certainly it is being caught up in that. It is reporting to me that the health surcharge is causing problems.”

“Can I quickly talk about customer experience? This is about paragraph 3.7 and 3.8. I am conscious of time, and I did want to get into this a little bit more. Given that figure 8 shows that you are getting good feedback from your customers on the bits of the process that they do not like or they are having difficulties …”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) for securing this important debate. Parkinson’s UK tells me that there are about 230 people living with the condition in my constituency of Stirling and Strathallan. Across Scotland, almost one in six people with Parkinson’s are under 65 and o…”

“As you know, Mr Speaker, the parliamentary archives are moving from Victoria tower to the National Archives. I was fortunate to be part of the final tour yesterday led by archivist Mari Takayanagi. In my constituency, our archives hold treasures such as letters from Bonnie Prince Charlie and King James VI, and they are…”

“Residents in Buchlyvie in my constituency are losing their only pub, which is being turned into holiday lets. This comes despite the objections of local residents and Stirling council’s planning panel refusing the change-of-use application. The Scottish Government’s planning reporter has stepped in and made what many l…”

“Scotland produces world-class potatoes, which are supplied to our iconic fish and chip shops, such as the Real Food Café and the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum, Vincenzo’s Fish and Chips in Stirling—its fish supper won an award last year—and Corrieri’s in Causewayhead; Robert and Peter Corrieri will retire this year after…”

“T6. Given the recent decline in the number of international students coming to the UK, what measures is the Minister taking, along with colleagues from other Departments, to ensure that universities such as Stirling, which have long benefited from diverse international student populations, remain attractive and accessi…”

“I think that the line in the report is “strategic tolerance”. I suppose, to finish that answer, we probably need a better understanding of what strategic tolerance means in this instance.”

“If you have named it, it must have an importance. What I have heard is that strategic tolerance seems like an important day, but you have said, “It is not really because we can change that”.”

“It seems to me that you are using this 2039 as this is when you want it finished. I think that it was the tolerance level for the infrastructure. It feels to me that you are using 2039 as the date that you are aiming for and then you are working back and saying that this is how much—I think that it was 130 cubic metres…”