Speeches by Young.

“Is there not a bit of a chicken and egg thing here, in that the Government is looking to prioritise new grid connections based on projects being ready to go, including having planning consent, but if you give weight to the availability of existing grid connections, those projects that don’t currently have one will not …”

“Peta, we have heard that objectors to infrastructure projects are already demanding sight of commercial and grid connection agreements. Shouldn’t that be necessary, if grid connections are to be a relevant consideration?”

“If we give significant weight to grid connection, is that not going to tip the balance even further in favour of infrastructure build, and raise concerns about overlooking environmental and other considerations?”

“Thank you.”

“Julian, you seemed to suggest earlier that it was not possible for you to communicate with the whole of the public, but, in producing the electricity transmission design principles, how will you ensure that there is close engagement with the communities who will host these transmission projects, so that the rules do no…”

“How will the EDP interact with existing guidance on overhead lines? Does that not need to be explained in the national policy statements as well?”

“So you do not expect there to be any conflict between the two.”

“Julian, is it not premature for the national policy statements to endorse the principles at this stage, when they have not yet been put to public consultation?”

“Lawrence, the draft update says that the principles will not apply to projects that have already been through the strategic front-end design phase. Would a better transitional approach not be to apply them to all projects as much as is possible?”

“We have heard that national policy statements could provide much clearer guidance on what is considered proportionate—this is in relation to solar farms, by the way—when investigative archaeological work is required. Chandni, would you agree?”

“It has also been suggested that both the national policy statements and the agricultural land classification could usefully be updated to protect agricultural production while recognising the patchwork nature of land grading. Do you agree with that?”

“One of my constituents waited more than eight hours in a mental health crisis for 111 to get back to them, in which time their mental health deteriorated. Previously, they accessed a dedicated local support line, which gave them prompt access to professional support. Does the hon. Member agree that prompt access to sup…”

“I welcome last week’s written statement confirming that the cases of many of the Triples—the Afghan commandos who served shoulder to shoulder with UK special forces—will be reviewed. What guarantees can the Minister offer that those individuals will be protected, wherever they are, and that their evidence will be heard…”

“Flooding is an increasing concern across the country. Only last month, I met agencies involved in tackling flooding on the railway at Old Sodbury, which impacts on the surrounding farmland and caused homes in Yate to be flooded during Storm Bert—yet the Government have made no funding commitment for flood protection be…”

“The Transport Secretary recently refused to commit to keeping the £3 cap on bus fares outside London beyond the end of this year, leaving many in rural areas worried about how much more they will end up having to pay to get to work. Residents across my constituency have already seen vital routes scrapped or scaled back…”

“Minister, I want to talk about regional and local labour supply, skills and planning. We know about the warm homes skills programme in England, which is over a relatively short timescale and is allocated by way of competition. There is a question about whether that is the right way to get the skills in the different re…”

“Have you considered reviewing how the apprenticeship levy works so that the unused money stays within an area? At the moment that is returned to the Treasury, isn’t it?”

“We have heard in the evidence that has been presented to us that some companies would like more modular skills programmes that can be more tailored to their needs, whereas from the employee’s point of view you still want to ensure that you have national portability. Are the Government considering supporting education p…”

“Have you been working with the DfE on trying to map out those areas where you have commonality between different sectors and the skills they need, and then identifying the add-on skills that particular technologies require?”

“Given the small size of most enterprises in construction and the focus of many of them on the owner-occupied sector, are the Government confident that public procurement can drive demand for skills?”