Speeches by Milne.

“I think you have answered all my questions already. We have tabled an amendment, and I would really appreciate your input on whether we could improve it or argue around it between now and when it is raised in Committee. Roger Sainsbury: Thank you.”

“Q So to summarise, you approve of the attempt to take control, as it were. William Wright: Absolutely. One of the huge challenges in the UK pensions debate over the past 25 or 30 years has been that we sort of knew what was not working and where corporate DB pensions were going to go, and then there was a hiatus and no…”

“Q The Bill makes the notion of using pension money for macroeconomic benefit—investment in the UK—an explicit objective. Other countries seem to have done this already. Did they do so explicitly and deliberately, or was it just an accidental outcome of good investment decisions? Did it take a conscious effort to make i…”

“Q It has been a long-standing battle over pre-1997 compensation rights. Would you agree that this Bill is perhaps an opportunity to at last address that issue, perhaps by a judicious amendment or two? Do you think that that is feasible, and what framework might that take? Michelle Ostermann: We have been progressing on…”

“I want to move on to another area: housing. This is a very important issue nationally and in my constituency of Horsham, where, as it happens, I will attend a local housing summit on affordability tomorrow, so I am hoping to pick up a couple of tips and some advice from you today. The temporary accommodation subsidy al…”

“I am happy to do that.”

“I shall pass that on tomorrow. The Government have also said that they intend to merge discretionary housing payments and the household support fund into a new crisis and resilience fund. How do you think that might work in practice? For example, will any funding for needs such as housing be ringfenced within that?”

“And on the specific question of ringfencing?”

“They are coming together in a rather big way in a couple of years.”

“I completely agree with the long-term ambitions and on the necessity. However, the short-term problems are considerable. The neighbouring constituency of Crawley, for instance, is suffering very greatly from temporary accommodation issues. But I will move on—”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. Since my election last year, I have visited most of the schools in my constituency. That has been one of the nicest parts of my new job, but it has been less nice to hear about the tremendous pressure that schools face in coping with the ever-increasing demand…”

“That is a gross generalisation. There are local factors everywhere. The hon. Gentleman really cannot make generalisations like that.”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Not entirely, although I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. The standard method was intended as an objective way to calculate local housing targets. It is objective in the sense that it is mathematical. However, the question has to be asked: does it give appropriate targets? I would say it very much does not. …”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) for drawing attention to this often-neglected area. For many years, planning has been the subject of intense argument and dispute, both locally and nationally. Part of that argument is around environme…”

“Yes, I agree that that is an additional concern. The implication has been made, both by this Government and the previous one, that much of the rise in claims is down to benefit chasing and people simply exaggerating their conditions. This is an assumption that needs serious interrogation because it looks to be substant…”

“I cannot agree with the hon. Member, and I will partly explain why in a moment. We need a more honest assessment of the overall financial situation that is being used to justify these drastic cuts, because the wrong diagnosis leads to the wrong solutions. The dramatic rise in PIP claimants is at least partly driven by …”

“I rise to speak in support of amendment 36. Over the past weeks, I have met numerous disability organisations, from Parkinson’s UK to Action for ME, and heard directly from those living with complex fluctuating conditions. I have also seen the impact at first hand as an employer of people with long-term invisible disab…”

“The targets are centrally driven and set by the standard method. In many areas, they are extremely difficult to fulfil, and that is why we get pressure on the green belt or protected conservation areas. That is the fundamental cause. Across the country, many councils of many different persuasions all face the same prob…”