Speeches by Chowns.

“I thank the hon. Member for his comments and agree that we must see the decoupling of electricity prices from gas. That situation currently contributes to the problems that people face. We have established that the problem of fuel poverty is related in part to prices, which the Government have levers to control, but al…”

“I thank the Minister for giving way and for her comments so far. On the point about tackling the fragmentation and ad hoc nature of the previous system, does the Minister agree with me that home insulation upgrades are a win-win-win policy. They are good for people’s warmth and health, they are really good for jobs and…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I thank the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) for securing this very important debate. As he set out in his introductory remarks, the historic opinion from the International Court of Justice has significant implications for the UK Gover…”

“Exactly. I totally take that point, that there is not a blueprint that says, “If you do these things, one, two, three, you will sort it out”. Your point about farmer-to-farmer, peer-based learning is very important. I am tempted to ask you, based on what you have said: do you think the NFU is doing enough to support an…”

“That is a great politician’s answer.”

“You talked about the great stress that farmers are facing, with flooding adding to that. Would you agree with me that there is just so much potential synergy between flood resilience and food production and that it is not an either/or—it is not necessarily at all about setting aside land for one and not for the other, …”

“Two further questions. On the one hand we have increasing problems of flooding in everybody’s face, so it is increasingly hard to ignore. At the same time, we have extended periods of drought as well at some points, so there is an issue here about balancing managing water over an extended period, over the full year. Ca…”

“I want to ask about what government support you need, but I think you might be asking that, Chris.”

“Although changing farming practices means water goes in different directions sometimes and in different volumes.”

“I rise to speak to new clause 52 on bereavement policy in schools, which is closely related to new clause 9. The hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire has already alluded to the fact that no official data is collected on the number of children and young people who are bereaved of someone important in their li…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the clause. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 15 National statutory inquiry into grooming gangs “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, set up a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs. (2) An inquiry established under subsection (1) must seek to—…”

“I get regular messages from constituents facing terrible waits for care with potentially serious consequences, including a one-year delay for an early dementia referral and an 18-month delay for a cardiology review. Although I understand the case for the short-term, one-off use of spare private capacity to tackle the b…”

“5. What progress his Department is making in reducing waiting times for elective care.”

“Shortly after Christmas, a person came to see me who had given evidence to the IICSA inquiry and who was deeply upset by their perception that their experience, and the experience of others like them, was being used as a political football. They were outraged to find that the conclusions and recommendations of the inqu…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful case for banning smartphones in schools, but does he agree that banning smartphones in schools will not, in and of itself, tackle the problems that he has articulated? A recently published study, the first proper nationwide study of its type, shows that banning smartphones in sch…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I rise to speak in particular to new clause 72, which is on a similar topic to new clause 30, although arguably is not quite as simply drafted. The number of children in care is at an all-time high, and outcomes for those children remain poor. Evidence from t…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. I am pleased to speak to new clause 13, which proposes that the Bill should provide a default delegated authority for foster carers to make day-to-day decisions for the children and young people in their care, which I think is quite straightforward. Foster carers sh…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the clause. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 9 Requirement to provide information about bereavement services “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations establish a protocol for the collection and dissemination of information relating to bereavement support services for childre…”

“The hon. Member makes an absolutely excellent point, not just about the excruciatingly low threshold for eligibility of free school meals, but about the fact that these thresholds, when set in law, get stuck at the numbers. Does she agree that thresholds should be set at, for example, a percentage of average household …”

“This new clause seeks to address the very real problem that up to 250,000 children, or approximately 11% of those eligible for free school meals, even under the currently very restrictive eligibility criteria, miss out on them because it is an opt-in process. It is simply not okay that so many eligible children are mis…”