Speeches by Milne.

“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention; I very much agree. We need to look at every measure to utilise water that is already there, in addition to reservoirs, which take up lots of space. When it comes to our groundwater bodies, 40% are already classed as over-extracted, and only 16% of England’s surface waters ar…”

“The shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions recently stated that “millions are getting benefits for anxiety or ADHD along with a free Motability car.” That is clearly nonsense, because only 200,000 claimants—at most—would be eligible to apply in the first place, and many of them also have a physical disability,…”

“I shall speak to new clauses 8 and 13, which stand in my name, among others. With its title, the Pensions Schemes Bill, this piece of legislation was probably never destined to grab headlines—sorry, Minister, but that is the case—which is a pity, because it contains some genuinely intelligent measures, developed over y…”

“19. What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of US foreign policy on Ukraine.”

“A lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved if we remove the incentives for war. However, President Trump’s initial peace plan—badly translated as it was from the Russian—included such measures as a dramatic cut in Ukrainian army manpower, the surrender of key fortress positions, a pledge never to join NATO, and an…”

“The Government are looking to delay access to the health element in universal credit for under 22s. What kind of impact do you think that is going to have on NEET rates? In the light of the evidence you have already given about what is driving high rates, is it a fair way to go about things? Who wants to volunteer for …”

“The Government have decided to defund level 7 apprenticeships for over 22s. I was in a conversation with the CEO of my local district council last week who was not impressed, shall we say, and thought it was going to severely impact their ability to offer places. What is your opinion? Emily, perhaps you would like to k…”

“Not as NEET. Turning to you, Sam, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has said his priority is to focus on NEETS and I guess that is the context of this change of lopping off the top years. How would you respond to it?”

“The bad news is the farmers are arriving outside.”

“Sam, perhaps if I go to you first because this partly follows on from what you were just saying. What are some practical challenges and implications of moving the skills brief to DWP? Given that it has moved quite a few times over the years—let us face it—can we learn anything from experience?”

“Would you see that as perhaps a contradiction with the Government’s intentions to upskill the workforce?”

“I will speak to new clause 10(a) in my name. Devolution may be in the title of the Bill, but not everything in it lives up to that name. In many respects, the Bill actually takes power further away from the people back towards the centre. When I look at my constituency, which will be affected by both devolution and loc…”

“We are facing a national affordability crisis, but handing out planning permissions like confetti did not bring down prices under the last Government and there is zero reason to expect it will do any better this time. Does the Minister accept that relying on private developers to bring down prices can never work, becau…”

“The Liberal Democrats largely welcome all the measures in this legislation. We also agree that it will be of great benefit. I am seeking clarity on just one thing: communications. CDC schemes are harder to explain than DB guarantee or DC individual pot arrangements. Misunderstanding could lead to some negative conseque…”

“Is there not a danger that as a result of that Bill, the surpluses will be used in other ways to reward the company, so that opportunity will go? I understand that you want to see the legislation have impact but this is a point where we take the opportunity now or we lose it.”

“I have a question about pre-’97 pensions and lack of indexing. A lot of people looked at the Pension Schemes Bill that has been passing through Parliament as a possible solution to this long-standing problem. Are they wrong? Do you think that the distribution of surplus payments is a potential solution? I was on the Bi…”

“I appreciate that, but we heard evidence that I would think cast doubt on whether that will be effective.”

“Okay. This research was provided to the PHSO prior to its report to Parliament, so there is a little bit of confusion as to why it has only just come to light.”

“I agree, but the employers, who are the guilty parties in this, have shown their hand over many years. I am not seeing anything happening unless they are forced to take action. I cannot see why they will behave in a different way.”

“Good morning. From April next year new claimants for universal credit health benefit will see their award roughly cut in half from today’s claimants. The rationale is to incentivise pathways into work. Have you modelled what percentage of this cohort you expect to be able to find jobs, particularly from a regional poin…”