Speeches by Chope.

“I think that this evidence has shown that this is a really important and very complicated subject, and we are in danger of making it even more complicated. My questions basically arise from something that Matt Copeland said: that for most people the best help is reducing the bills instead of other sorts of assistance. …”

“The 20,000 people in Christchurch who have lost their winter fuel payment do.”

“As long as they are simple. My concern is that this is getting more and more complicated. The Government have announced that they would reduce household fuel bills by £300 and they are well short of doing that. The suggestion I put forward would reduce the average bill by £269 and it could be done with a stroke of the …”

“The 20,000 people in Christchurch who have lost their winter fuel payment do.”

“But should the fuel-poor be paying for those levies?”

“But should the fuel-poor be paying for those levies?”

“I think that this evidence has shown that this is a really important and very complicated subject, and we are in danger of making it even more complicated. My questions basically arise from something that Matt Copeland said: that for most people the best help is reducing the bills instead of other sorts of assistance. …”

“As long as they are simple. My concern is that this is getting more and more complicated. The Government have announced that they would reduce household fuel bills by £300 and they are well short of doing that. The suggestion I put forward would reduce the average bill by £269 and it could be done with a stroke of the …”

“May we have an early debate on the refusal of the Bank of England to comply with its 2% inflation target? Also, will the Leader of the House facilitate a meeting between me and Treasury Ministers to see whether the Government are willing to support my Bank of England (Inflation Targets) Bill, due for Second Reading on …”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am on record as having expressed my appreciation to the Leader of the House for her insistence that Ministers should give accurate and timely responses to parliamentary questions. I am sure she will therefore share my disappointment that in answering my question earlier she …”

“I will just finish quoting from this letter: “If you are lucky enough to get an appointment, the next problem is getting there. Many people don’t drive or have a car, public transport is not easy for those with mobility issues, and taxis are expensive. If you do drive, another problem arises because parking is very lim…”

“I will not, because I want to ensure that the Minister has time to respond to those points.”

“One of the issues is that since the branch surgery was closed, Christchurch medical practice has reduced its number of full-time equivalent GP doctors. There used to be 10.7 and now there are only 10.2, which may be part of the problem. Surely it must be in the interests of the Government, the taxpayer and everybody el…”

“The ICB is not elected or accountable. We have an elected and accountable council—BCP council—which decided that the surgery in Burton, a community facility that had been there for more than 30 years, should remain and that permission should not be granted to change its use, because of its value as a community asset. W…”

“The hon. Gentleman mentions the issue of finances. I tabled a written question about how much the health service has been spending on general practice in the Christchurch constituency. Again, rather surprisingly, the information is available only for the year ending 2023, so we do not have any information for 2023–24. …”

“I will not just at the moment, but I may do later. This whole issue is a test case for the credibility of the new Labour Government’s promises about increasing access to GP services. In August 2024, after the general election, no one in government or in the NHS, including Dorset ICB, was suggesting that a GP surgery in…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered access to GP services in Christchurch. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. This short debate was triggered by the perverse decision, announced last week, of the Dorset integrated care board to refuse permission for Burton surgery to reopen. The surge…”

“Will you be recruiting people who are not currently working? A lot of the emphasis so far seems to be on people switching from one sector to another, but there is a large number of people who are not working at all. The Government are saying they want to attract those people into becoming carers in the care sector. Wha…”

“Is this going to feature in the Government’s workforce plan? You have said that the private sector is doing this, but if the Government want to interfere in this market, which they seem to want to do, will they interfere in it positively by promoting the attraction of these occupations to women?”

“More than 85% of the construction industry workforce is male, and obviously that means there is a great pool of unexploited talent waiting to be recruited or trained. What are you doing to draw that talent into the construction industry, and specifically into helping meet your clean energy targets?”