Speeches by Milne.

“T3. Merry Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. In just its first year, biodiversity net gain has helped restore the equivalent of 7,300 football pitches of habitat, leveraged over £320 million of private investment and supported more than 4,400 jobs. However, the Government’s intention to exempt developments und…”

“I very much agree with what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the lack of infrastructure provision and with his previous comments on the failure to prioritise brownfield, but does he recognise that all those errors were inherent in the previous system under the Conservative Government? The problem is that they have no…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for bringing attention to this important issue. As far as local planning authorities are concerned, what matters is not the national target for housing but the local target as set by the standard…”

“I direct my last question to you, Gareth. In terms of delivery and what has worked so far, what lessons can be drawn about what does and does not work in overcoming hesitancy?”

“Nicola, do you want to come in?”

“Perhaps I can direct this to you, Richard. Building trust and employment support is vital. We are talking about a lot of vulnerable people in this group as well. How well do you think Connect to Work is performing? Are there any particular factors that you think have worked well?”

“On the importance of local relationships, in your view, do local authorities and providers have the training and capacity to implement the framework effectively? What additional support might be needed?”

“Richard, as the Shaw Trust was one of the first organisations delivering Connect to Work, what practical challenges have you faced in embedding supported employment principles within local delivery? How are you addressing them?”

“Thank you. Adam, is there anything to briefly add to that?”

“To conclude, I will put a question to Ben and Adam. How effective is IPS—individual placement and support—at getting people into work? How easily can it be scaled up, given how intensive it is and the cost of delivery?”

“Thank you, Chair. We are under time pressure so I will direct these questions to Becci and Adam. How has employment support for disabled people evolved since the NDDP? It seems to me that there have been a large number of programmes and trials, which suggests that the problem is growing faster than the solution. Do you…”

“You touched on this in your answer, but on the importance of implementation, what is the balance in what makes schemes more likely to succeed? Is it design or implementation?”

“In 2023, the Prime Minister told the National Farmers Union that “losing a farm is not like losing any other business”. He has also said, “If somebody makes powerful representations, then my instinct is to consider what’s being said. Getting it right is more important than ploughing on with a package which doesn’t nece…”

“My constituent Steve is currently being denied access to justice because he cannot afford to take action against a publicly funded body under Competition and Markets Authority legislation. His only other option is to proceed on a no win, no fee basis. Will the relevant Minister agree to meet me and Steve to discuss pos…”

“1. What steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate provision of legal aid.”

“As we discussed in the last panel, life expectancy is not improving as much as it was expected or projected to improve. In particular, there are some very sharp regional variations. What implications do you think that has for the state retirement age?”

“I thank the Minister for her response. I guess it is quite a challenge being a water Minister at a time when we seem to have endless droughts, but there we go—I will not blame her personally. This issue is a great big challenge for Government, because we are discussing changes that need to be made 20 or 30 years in adv…”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered water scarcity. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. In a country where we always complain about the rain, we have somehow contrived to have a water shortage. I am reminded of the words of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “Water, water, everywhere …”

“11. What fiscal steps she is taking to help increase growth in rural areas.”

“Later today I will chair a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group for rural business and the rural powerhouse, which focuses on generating rural growth. If we could push rural productivity closer to western European averages, it would fix the Government’s budgetary black hole all by itself. Will the Minister agre…”