Speeches by Milne.

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this very important debate. In my Horsham constituency, a family has approached me who are kinship carers for their grandson. They feel they are discriminated against in a system that gives more resources and attention to children in care than to kinship carers. Given the shortage o…”

“In my constituency of Horsham, food bank usage increased by 25% last year, and it has increased by 700% over six years. In the light of that evidence of the pressures, will the Government consider putting a minimum level on universal credit?”

“I am sure that I speak for all hon. Members when I say that putting a stop to fraud of any kind is welcome, especially at a time when public money is scarce. However, many of my Horsham constituents have contacted me to say that the powers outlined in the Bill are very far-reaching and, if abused, could have hugely det…”

“You would not consider doing something like getting people accessing it by age—oldest first—as a way to, as you say—”

“Q13. In my constituency of Horsham, my local council faces a tax bill of half a million pounds from the rise in national insurance, and my local hospice, St Catherine’s, has had to mothball a brand-new ward. What message does the Prime Minister have for all the public services that are outright losers at the hands of t…”

“It just seems strange that we ended up with one being recommended that was never going to get approved.”

“Yes, sorry—that the discussions would have taken place.”

“You will remember that you told our predecessor Committee that the pension dashboard available point, which is when the public can access their dashboards, was “perhaps not so very far away”. How far away would you say it is now?”

“Why have the Government decided to prioritise launching the MoneyHelper first, as opposed to connecting the commercial dashboards?”

“I might, but we do not have time. Finally, to really have an impact, the dashboards will need to link to the money platforms that people already use. What tests will need to be met before you can allow commercial dashboards to connect?”

“Thank you, Chair. Following up on some of those points, as you know the suggestion that the letters would not have worked anyway was a major part of the Secretary of State’s reasoning in not offering compensation. It is a remarkable claim, because letters, as a form of communication, were used—and are still used—by eve…”

“If the case is that the letter would not have worked anyway but a better letter would have done, then is the Department not still responsible, because the onus was on the Department to do more effective communication, which was perfectly possible?”

“With regard to the various forms of compensation that you were talking about, the choice of the scheme had quite a bearing on whether or not compensation would be paid at all. Obviously, some had higher cost implications than others. Did you actively engage with the Secretary of State over the various options, to perha…”

“Yes, did you actively discuss with the Secretary of State, “Okay, these are the various ways we could do it. Maybe pick this one,” or, “Would you accept this one, because it has a £2 billion cost, rather than this one, because it has a £10 billion cost?”?”

“I thank the hon. Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) for securing this important debate. Just a few weeks after my election, I received a letter from my constituent, Jane. She is a mother who has had to endure the unthinkable pain of burying her 17-year-old son. Will died in a collision in June. He was a smart and po…”

“Will the Minister confirm what compensating measures the Government will take, if airport expansion is to go ahead, to ensure adherence to carbon budgets? They must have already been agreed on by now.”

“On the funding of local arts and theatres, my constituency has a wonderful local theatre called The Capitol, which is owned and managed by the district council. However, our council is likely to be merged with some debt-laden neighbouring councils, with some of the responsibilities my hon. Friend has outlined, and that…”

“The key stewards of our landscape for hundreds of years have been our farmers: no one has done more to make our countryside as beautiful as it is or has a bigger stake in protecting its health for the future. Does my hon. Friend agree that the path to net zero and sustainable local food production lies through our farm…”

“Farmers have made their inheritance tax plans in good faith, based on existing rules. In effect, the measure is a retrospective change to tax law, so will the Minister agree to at the very least delay its implementation until the effects are properly understood by both farmers and the Government?”

“Yes, indeed. We talked about how these days you might send a text. Texts have impact because they are personalised. The figures have not distinguished between generic letters and saying, “This is you. This is your particular issue.” Thank you.”