Speeches by Milne.

“I have a more general question. In our report, the Committee made recommendations for improving accessibility of information. The DWP felt that there was a danger of overloading people with information. Does anyone have any reflections on that? How could we get the balance right? Rick, you have your hand up.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I want to bring a case of injustice in the visa system to the attention of the Minister. It concerns two residents in my constituency, Mary and Geoff—not their real names. My office has tried every means of finding a solution through the Home Office, but wit…”

“Josephine, do you have anything to add?”

“There are lots of causes of poverty. Some of them, such as higher housing costs, are by necessity a long-term fix. However, the risk of criminal exploitation is happening now to today’s kids. Is there anything the strategy is missing to help with that very real problem today, or is it doing the job we hope it is? If I …”

“Thank you very much.”

“I am overrunning my allotted time. Are there any other comments?”

“Annabel, you touched on this already to some extent, but are there things in the strategy that you think could improve working relationships between local authorities and the third sector?”

“Thank you—a very good answer.”

“We have heard in evidence that charities are being asked to do more and more. There is greater demand on them, against a context of tight council budgets and now cost of living pressures. What is your experience of that? Do you think the balance between what we ask of charities and what the state should be doing is fai…”

“To get the best out of intermittent energy producers such as wind and solar, we need to invest in battery energy storage systems. However, these face new safety challenges. The National Fire Chiefs Council recently issued guidance that understandably concentrates on firefighting techniques rather than design. The Minis…”

“I welcome the Government’s youth guarantee scheme; something similar operates in a number of European countries. However, under the proposals, it will not kick in for 18 months. If someone is unemployed for 18 months, the damage is already done. Will the Government consider acting earlier?”

“To get the best out of intermittent energy producers such as wind and solar, we need to invest in battery energy storage systems. However, these face new safety challenges. The National Fire Chiefs Council recently issued guidance that understandably concentrates on firefighting techniques rather than design. The Minis…”

“I welcome the Government’s youth guarantee scheme; something similar operates in a number of European countries. However, under the proposals, it will not kick in for 18 months. If someone is unemployed for 18 months, the damage is already done. Will the Government consider acting earlier?”

“Have you gone about building cross-party support?”

“You said that your report would be “unafraid to shine a light on uncomfortable truths.” What uncomfortable truths have you uncovered?”

“These are things separate from national insurance and so on—you are going beyond that.”

“You have not been in touch with me! No, that’s not true—carry on.”

“You also say that we need to be radical. Are there specific areas that you have in mind? Would it be changing the curriculum?”

“Is that something that they are not doing now that they used to do, or has the need changed?”

“Ultimately, you will publish your report, but what do you see as the next course of action? What will happen afterwards?”