Speeches by Milne.

“Related to that, do you think we should keep the triple lock?”

“To go back to possible mitigations, what would be the pros and cons of providing additional support through the working-age benefit system as we rise to 67?”

“To follow on from some of your previous answers, the coalition Government did two big things in pensions. One was to signal the rise in state pension age, which I suspect you are rather glad of, actually. The other, of course, was the triple lock. The two things are related. There is a trade-off or a tension between ha…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Do you support the idea of the Pensions Commission setting some adequacy measure or lifestyle measure, even if it might be fulfilled by tracking—”

“Do you see a potential conflict or challenge? If you are setting a lifestyle adequacy, it is open-ended and hard to set its limits, whereas if you say, “I’m going to track inflation,” or, “I’m going to track wages,” it is a precise objective. Do you see a potential tension between those two?”

“Your decision to provide indexation on pre-’97 benefits for FAS and PPF members from January 2027 is very welcome, but the lack of any retrospectivity means that the indexation will apply only to a fraction of their original entitlement. Would you continue to consider the case for a one-off uplift to at least partially…”

“So the answer is no?”

“The IFS has suggested two specific options, with one costing around £200 million, if you target just those on disability benefits, versus £600 million if you go for a wider group. Overall, the potential savings from increasing the age are £10 billion. Do you think that is an acceptable price to pay or mitigation?”

“I agree that you need to think about the purpose, but the bill at the end is not irrelevant.”

“That would be close to your retirement.”

“I think you have partially answered this question, but what are the arguments for targeting support at defined groups such as carers and people with long-term health conditions or disability, as opposed to increasing the standard rate for everyone on UC aged 66 and above?”

“The Government want to cut funding for level 7 apprenticeships and redirect resources to younger groups, but bodies such as the Royal Institute of British Architects tell me that young people are unlikely to enter professional training in the construction sector, because funding will be withdrawn at the later, more exp…”

“T10. My constituent Lucinda Ritchie is a disabled woman with full mental capacity. Until recently, she was living in her own home in Horsham, with NHS support. Against her express wishes, she has been moved into a nursing home an hour away from her family, and denied the right to return. Will the Minister look into Luc…”

“In the last 20 years, traffic on locally managed major roads has fallen by around 5%, yet damage has never been worse. Why? Because rural routes are carrying traffic they were never designed for. Heavy goods vehicles are increasingly using villages such as Cowfold, Colgate and Lower Beeding in my constituency as rat ru…”

“Now my final question, if I can just throw it open generally for swift answers if possible. As part of the jobs guarantee, the Government are offering grants of up to £2,650 per participant to cover wraparound costs. Do you think that is enough? Is there any other sort of form of support that you think would be appropr…”

“What actions might be most effective in preventing young people from becoming NEET in the first place? Do you have the tools and resources to identify them in advance? If not, what might you look to see?”

“Thank you. Chris, from the point of view of your members, any comments?”

“Thank you. And Tim in construction?”

“A key part of the Government’s response to the problem of youth unemployment is the jobs guarantee. How attractive do you think that is to employers? Kate, I know you referred to it earlier.”