Speeches by Robertson.

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the problem with the Government’s housing policy is that they are failing to identify the right places to build the right homes? Until they do that, they will not deliver these eyewatering numbers, especially if they are relying on greenfield rural sites.”

“I was not suggesting that it is an obligation. Plainly, franchising is an option. My point is that it is an option that is unattractive to smaller local authorities, which cannot benefit from the economies of scale of franchising bus services. It is much more attractive for city areas. Of course I want rural bus servic…”

“All the comments I was going to make have already been made by the shadow Minister. He was so complete and comprehensive that he leaves no space for any additional comment. However, I will briefly give my slant on some of the points. When I rose at the beginning of this sitting, it was to talk about the costs that woul…”

“The hon. Member is making her points very well, and I congratulate her on her success in bringing this debate to the Chamber. I agree with what she has said about fair pay for social care workers—I support that as well—but does she agree that a fair pay agreement will put undue pressure on providers unless there is som…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I rise to endorse the comments made by the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland and Fakenham, and to draw further attention to an issue with new clause 22: placing duties on local authorities without money coming in. Central Government are …”

“I am a serving Isle of Wight councillor.”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Earlier this week, I was unsuccessful in trying to amend the Government’s proposed new spiking law to ensure that reckless spiking is an offence. Will the Solicitor General meet me to discuss the challenges of prosecuting violent crime towards women and girls if the Government are unpersuaded to ensure that reckless sp…”

“I think that the Government would say that the money is the same but there is no ringfence there, but as soon as you remove a ringfence there is then competition for other priorities that end up raiding the pot, or part of the pot. That is very helpful, unless you want to add anything by way of questioning, Chair.”

“I have some questions on the planning guidance, although that discussion about funding was quite interesting. The latest planning guidance is less detailed than in previous years on lots of things, including maternity. How will you ensure that ICBs still prioritise maternity care? What tools are available to hold them …”

“Good morning. I am going to ask questions on funding, if I may. The Government have reduced the amount of ringfenced funding—they would say not overall funding but ringfenced funding—for the national service development funding for maternity services. Can you tell us what activities this money currently funds?”

“Yes. You might be anticipating my next question, which was to you, which was around what the knock-on effects of the shortage of midwifery on obs and gynae are that you deal with.”

“Just so I am clear, going back to my very first question, do you feel the Government’s current strategy is effective—yes or no?”

“That is helpful. Janet, during our previous session there was a discussion around task shift. What potential do you think this has to help to mitigate some of the shortages that you were talking about?”

“Of course, yes.”

“My next question was going to be whether you have any examples of where this worked well. Having listened to you, you seem to be very clear that task shifting is not something you favour.”

“Do you have examples of where there may have been potential impacts on patient safety because of task shifting? You do not have to give me names and examples.”

“That has been very clear. Thank you.”

“My questions are on funding and planning guidance. The Government have reduced the amount of ringfenced funding, though not necessarily the overall funding, for national service development funding for maternity services. That has been transferred to the core ICB budget. This has been justified as providing greater fle…”

“I will come on to that as a separate question. Just sticking with funding, how will you monitor how ICBs are spending money now that the ringfence has been removed? There will always be a concern—it is a natural concern—that, if you remove a ringfence, it makes that money more vulnerable to other priorities and makes i…”